Ch 42 Get!

So yeah, posted the most recent chapter...and apparently blogpost updated or something? That's cool, I guess!

Anyway, I also posted three oneshots on the challenge that you should read, staring Dapplefern, Chilly, and the ensemble darkhorse of Shattered, respectively. Enjoy those, if you haven't already~

I feel like I had a lot to say about this chappy, but forgot it all? Oh well, I guess.

@Spongestar: Thank you! I like writing about rogues, since their perspectives are quite different from those of the Clanners. As for Leopardpaw, I can't say much at the moment. I'm sure Tubs would love you too, so long as you have something for him to eat. ^^ As for the length, I'm not quite sure. We could track the story by the journey, I suppose: at the moment they have 1/3 herbs from Bluepaw's prophecy, and Sootpaw has listened to the confessions of 3/7 DF cats. That makes it seem like a little under half way, but since they are pretty close to the next herb and the DF cats should move faster here in a bit, I'd say we're quite past half. It will definitely be as long as Shattered, although I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up at 60 chapters? Length is always a tricky thing to guess, so unfortunately I can't be more specific. :x

@Isi Writer: Thank you, I'm glad you like it thus far! Yes, it is almost like two stories in one. I've said it before; Sootpaw's arc is more spiritual/mental much like the 2nd/3rd series (and I guess the 4th, which I haven't read) whereas Spiderpaw's is more down-to-earth, like the 1st series. I like to keep things fresh in my writing, so multiple story lines definitely helps. c:

@Sunspirit: Yep! I could see everyone jumping to rape conclusions regarding Faint, but of course not every she-cat that gets preggers should be because of that! She does have a worse situation than most, though, with no hubby to look after her. It'll be a tough time for the Colony, trying to get used to the new territory. And yes, Spiderpaw is very good at predicting things. He has an analytic mind, unlike his sister (but much like Chilly) and he always uses his observations to his advantage. Thanks! :D

@Hermytail: Sorry I'm so slow. Time keeps getting away from me. :c

@Purple Panda: Yay, I missed you! I was scared my semicolons and adverbs had scared you away. I felt the same way about that chapter; it was a little slower going than most, but I was pleased when I finished it. I'm really glad you liked it! And yeah, I can see why you might like the Spider chapters more, since they have more of that 1st series feel to them, which most of us remember with nostalgia. As for Redpaw, he wasn't there. He doesn't like Spiderpaw and didn't think that wandering around in a dark, cold marsh in the middle of the night following a she-cat that you really can't trust was such a good idea. He was wrong, of course, and looks like a lil turd because of it. I imagine Tubs being jiggly too. He's just such a lardball. I'm lazy roughly all the time, so don't feel bad. |D

@Spiritwing: Thanks!

@Ivystep: That's very flattering, thank you. ^^ That's pretty much how everyone feels about Spiderpaw, it seems like; he started out as a little turd, but has developed quite nicely thus far, methinks. I know some people see Sootpaw as lacking something, which makes sense since her brother overshadows her pretty easily with his personality and all, and she's really passive. I love surprises when I read stuff too, so I always try to tuck in a few here and there. ;p

@Nightkill: I like Shrew too, even though he's a baby-eating monster and all. Thanks. :)

@Lynxeye: The SkyClan-searchers are all in the allegiances on this blog (at least those that have been named). If you search 'allegiances' you should be able to find their entry. I added them below PeakClan. Yup, Shrew's stuff was pretty grisly. I intentionally kind of left it really vague, without any detailed description or anything like I did with Brightstar. That's an interesting comparison between the rogues and AshClan. There are certainly a lot of similarities, as you pointed out...although it's Baron, not Byron, ha. Leopardpaw's even more of a wildcard than ever, perhaps?? She is by far one of my most elusive characters, heehee. I hope you didn't get in trouble, though! It was a lovely review. <3

@Redleaf: No problem, glad you liked it. :)

A timely update for once!

I actually updated in a timely fashion, hooray! I'm so proud of myself, haha. <3
This chapter was pretty fun overall to write. And we get to return to Soot and Chilly and all them peeps again, which is great! :D

Umm, not much to say in this chapter, I guess. Baron has a crush on Fern (he was pretty sensitive when they were talking about Carmelo being dreamy, remember...but Carm's such a sex magnet that there's nothing Baron can do!) and Fireblaze is an upstanding citizen once more...and Tubs is Tubs, I guess. Good times.

@ReploidCat: Mmf, I know. I used to name chapters back in the days of Snatched, but I kinda got tired of it. I think in my next fic (whenever that happens |D) I'll name them again. It's too hard keeping track, otherwise.

@Hannah: Hey, nice to see you again. And yup, you guessed right. Funny how the nice ones can be some of the creepiest, eh? Thanks for the review. <3

@CrystalSakura: Yeah, Bluepaw's kind of a piece of work; she's one of those kitties that keeps everything inside because she doesn't want to burden anyone else...kinda like Sootpaw, in a way, although Sootpaw can at least release her feelings to Chilly. I suppose Sage and Chilly are alike in some ways, you're right. I guess I just have a thing for well-spoken toms this time around? As for Spider/Robin, I actually considered it in the beginning (nasty sharp-tongued cat + cripple fun times?) but decided against it after remembering they're cousins. 'Sides, Robinpaw has nicer toms padding after her. I know what you mean about Swift, it's always been one of my favorite prefixes, partially for its double meaning. And no problem, using his name is fine. I'm fond of Chillwind too. <3

It's been a long time coming, but the rogues finally did /something/ other than skulk around...although it prolly wasn't what you were expecting. I know what you mean about the kits; not having any to write about is kind of depressing, and for some reason I love naming kits. Snowkit just sounds so much better than Snowstep or Snowfur, for some reason; I guess it's the open possibilities for the suffix, and the character or something. I dunno. I miss kits. |D

@Spongestar: Yep, Shrew's kind of an odd character to write because I feel sorry for him but feel that he's a gross dude at the same time. As for the kits, it was probably a mixture of reasons. For one, the timing was close to the ancient times (a few generations after SkyClan left, really) so there weren't many Twolegs around. Twolegs only moved in after destroying SkyClan's territory, and it probably took them a long time to build all their houses and stuff. The Clans wouldn't be used to the Twolegs hanging around, and wouldn't want to get close to them or entrust them with their kits. Plus, most of the kits were sick; only two were alive, and both their parents were dead, so the Clan wasn't focusing on them as much as they should. Most of the Clan was down-in-the-dumps and dejected, and grappling with their own survival/morality was probably closer to their minds than the needs of the kits. It was a bad time for ShadowClan. :c

@Sunny: Ha, sorry. I have a knack for killing off some of my favorite characters. It's a problem. :p

As for the other pairings, I can't say anything yet~

@Zera: Aww, thank you! I'm glad I was able to leave such an impression. I'm glad you were touched by Shrew's scene. I love writing emotional stuff. You're right, we have been lacking a lot of Northy lately! I miss him. Maybe we'll get a oneshot of him when I write the last two Sinner oneshots (we only have Dapplefern and Chilly remaining for those, I believe). I still find it amusing how overwhelmingly popular he is, haha. Northy was always my favorite to rp, and I'm glad you all love him to pieces as much as I do. Thanks for your review. <33

Mffm

Ugh. And again I will say it, ugh.

I really had good intentions about updating the blog yesterday, honest. But our ten hour drive turned into a thirteen hour drive, and then we had the wrong address because hotelsdotcom lied to us, so then we wasted another hour trying to figure out where we were staying, and it was terrible. But now we are in the correct place and it has wifi (glorious, glorious wifi) so I can finish up all dat blog junk.

SO BRACE YOURSELVES.

Now, we just saw Shrew's little story, and I think it's pretty obvious that Shrew embodies Gluttony. Gluttony is usually seen as the sin of stuffing yourself, but basically it's about enjoying anything in excess. Shrew gorged himself on prey when it was needed for the whole Clan, and then he went and nommed some kits out of desperation. Basically, he put himself before everyone else, even those that he swore to protect under the warrior code and all. That's the reason he's one of the few DF cats (the others being Chillpaw and Blight, since Chillpaw refers to himself as Chill...Sootpaw just doesn't listen to him very well) that doesn't have a warrior name. Brightstar, Nettlefrost, and Dapplefern all still consider themselves warriors (Swiftshade just doesn't care one way or the other, and getting used to being called just Swift would be too hard for his lazy butt) but Chillpaw, Blight, and Shrew do not. Chilly and Blight don't for obvious reasons, since they were never all that good with the warrior code anyway, but for Shrew it's more of a self-inflicted punishment. Like he said, he dreamed of being a hero as a kit, but in the end he failed his Clan and himself, and he knows he doesn't deserve a warrior's name any longer.

Again, I'll mention that we saw him in the Skeleton one-shot. He wasn't such a bad dude there, or at least he didn't seem to be; he stayed with the kits when they asked him to. Shrew isn't incapable of compassion; he's just too weak to put that before his own needs.

Also, the reason I named him Shrew in the first place is because shrews have a nasty habit of eating their own young. There are also a few types of shrew that can actually starve to death in a single day because their metabolisms are so high. Nasty little creatures. o:

Also (kinda random fact) Baron is a tuxedo tom, because he is a lil mister fancypants.

Now for the reviews~

@Sunspirit: I'm not even really sure if I like Tubs or not, but I'm glad you do. He probably needs all the fans he can get. Spiderpaw staging an escape would be cool, but difficult on his own. We'll have to see if he manages that or if Eaglestrike is forced to send someone to bargain for his son. As for Tubs mentioning Reedrush...we'll see. c:

@Iceflower: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the audiobooks, I think they're neat. c:

@The Last Clan: Yep, after all that training his first battle was kind of a flop, but that's what he gets for having such a big mouth. As for the two Barons, just remember mine's the one with the most class. ;D

@Sara Darkotter: Oh noes, I'm kind of scared of what your mind might have worked up for her. She's such a leetle thing. D:

@Tangleflame: Ha, that's awesome. Give your Tubbs a big hug from me. ^^

@Crystal Sakura: I can't say much about kit possibilities atm, but I'm curious about your concern about the gap? It seems like the gap would be more beneficial, since I don't think most warriors should receive apprentices until they're sixteen moons old anyway. As for Goldenshine, he's been there the whole time. One of the biggest obstacles AshClan had in getting established was PeakClan's immense numbers. Remember, they've lived on their territory for years and years with more prey than they could ever eat, plenty of water, and a huge camp, not to mention that they don't have any enemies in the forest beyond a stray badger or too. That allowed their population to pretty much asplode. I didn't have time to show every single PeakClan cat, and in the Allegiances I only listed those we've already met. Goldenshine is a normal PeakClan cat, born and bred...he just as a fondness for silver medicine cats. As for the sinners being reborn, that's hushhush for right now. :x

@Nightkill: Well, I do like complicated love triangles. Let's say SootxBrackenxSwanxSagexBluexSpiderxLeopardxFirexReedxJagxMyrtle and call it a day, shall we? c:

Aaaargh

I know everything is taking forever, and I apologize! I just have a lot to do and I'm super forgetful and sljglfjgldfgds

Plus I forgot to update the blog last time, so I'll try to do both at once hererrrr

Also I'm on vacation and I dunno if our next hotel (which we'll be staying at most of the week) will have wifi. The one we're in now does, but we're leaving in less than an hour, sooooo I have a lot of work to do!

CHAPTER 38 (39 IN THE REVIEWS)

@Sara Darkotter: That's one way to look at it, I suppose. I do like me tangles. :D

@Pot of Gold: Sorrrrrrry, I fixed it I think. Most people end up liking Forest, to my knowledge, but not all, so it's okay if you hate him. |D

@Dapplefawn: Thank you! Plot twists and connections are some of my most favorite things, so I try to include them whenever I can. ^^

@i.like.pie: Pffft, Spiderpaw just had a battle-thing the chapter before, don't you remember? Anyway, I guess you got your wish, since he had another in the next Spidey chapter, eheh. Also, it'll be some time before either of them get warrior names, since they've only been training for two moons. :p

@The Last Clan: I'm not planning to, don't worry! Things just keep getting in the way, I guess. The past couple days have been nice, though, I've been plugging away like there's no tomorrow, so perhaps there's still hope!

@Lynxeye: I think you're one of my oldest reviewers, so of course I missed you! And thanks. c: Don't worry about your Sage shipping, I know what you mean. Shipping's one of my great joys in any Warriors-type-thing (or just about any story, for that matter) so I understand your frustration while trying to figure out the angles. We'll have to see! :D

@Anon: I've actually played KH, but only the second one, so I'm afraid I'm not all that knowledgeable about Marluxia. All the Nobodies were pretty cool, though. c:

@ElfCat: Thanks!

@Nightkill: I know, Fireblaze protecting Spiderpaw is like the most shocking twist of all o:

@Sunleaf: That would be pretty convenient for the Chill/Soot shippers, fo' sho. I don't think Shimmer had a crush on him, though, since they're siblings. :p

@CrystalSakura: Love you too. Thanks; I used to be really loose about Warriors names, but I read a couple guides and decided that I liked having a system for it much better than just doing whatever. -feather's perfect for Blackfeather, but not so much for Frostfeather at first glace; I also use -feather for either feathery tabby markings (especially if their prefix was named for their markings) or very thick, feathery fur. It's also a very feminine suffix, and Frostfeather is a very feminine cat, mmhm. Chillpaw's name would have been Chillwind, for his speed.

Right now, it doesn't look like we'll make it to Soot and Spider having warrior names, but it just depends. If we don't, I'll tell you guys what they woulda been called, no worries. As for Blackfeather, I think she was five moons or so when Spiderpaw was born, so that's right (I'd have to check my timeline again, but it's kind of confusing to count days on?). Silverstar and Eaglestrike sort of conferenced on the warrior names, since Silverstar tries keeping up to date with everything. It was more Silverstar's choice than Eaglestrike's.

@Stormy: Good theory, but not quite. Moonpaw is mostly from Sootpaw's imagination. ^^

Running out of time now, so I'll have to end it here. Next chapter's reviews will come later, hoepfully when I get to the new hotel (10 hours from now ;^;). See ya!

Blah blah balance blah blah

Chilly, stop being so weird with your hints. I know you're resisting the urge to monologue about your values and all - I can feel you fighting it, buddy - and I'm very proud, but you really need to stop bringing it up at all. It's hard, reining you back.

Anywho, as I said in my AN my schedule has been kinda whack. I dunno why, I just haven't been all that into writing recently. I actually wrote 3/4 of this chapter yesterday, in about two hours, then finished it up today. My muse is weird, I guess. Shrug!

@The Last Clan: I know, I'm sorry everything has taken so long. Just been kinda weird lately. Ha, Black does seem to be crushing just a leeeetle bit (Spiderit'ssoobviouswhatiswrongwithyou). We've seen Leopard hit rock bottom with her outburst and isolation, so hopefully she'll start moving back upwards, with Spider's help. We'll see!

@Oscuro Dream: Thanks! I can be really finicky with my names sometimes. Every prefix and suffix means something. ^^

@TheCatOwl: Yup, they sure did! Leopard has all of Spider's friendless arrogance, and now he's the one who is attracting attention. That's interesting; I used to have one of the songs in my iPod a looong time ago, but I dunno what happened to it...I really need to watch The Phantom of the Opera, since i've always heard it's amazing but never actually watched it myself. Hmm.

@Sara Darkotter: Best of both worlds, amirite? Can't go wrong there. :D

@Lynxeye: I missed you! I'm glad you're still reading, ha. And yup, I think so too. That's part of why I wanted two POVs, to balance out the mayhem and the development and everything. Soot kind of embodies the newer series, all journey-ish and mystical and junk (admittedly not my favorite, but still fun to write?) whereas Spider has the more typical first-series feel. Fun stuff. And I will continue to torture you with Leopard's mysteriousness, just because you mentioned it! *cackles* More seriously, that is kind of all she has going for her right now, isn't it? Poor thing smashed into rock bottom and doesn't know how to get back up. She's not used to losing, not at all.

@Nightkill: Isn't he? Thanks. :D

Whoops/Hello

I forgot that I promised a blog update. My bad on that.

I know it's been a long time, and I apologize. Things have just been all kinds of busy lately, and it's been hard for me to remain motivated.

Anyway.

@Sara Darkotter: I don't know what you're talking about my characters never flirt they will all be completely celibate forever and ever fo' real.

@Frostblossom: Thanks. And yes, he really is. c:

@The Last Clan: Whether she wants to admit it or not she, like Leopardpaw, is a bit of a lonely creature. And again I'll apologize for the fish thing. My brain is dumb sometimes |D

@Jiay: I hope you're enjoying Chilled! I know the kit bits prolly aren't super-exciting, but they're a good way for laying the groundwork, which I did a loooot of. And you're welcome. :)

@Splashstorm: Thank you! And you probably have a point, sometimes I just slip into 'writer mode' and write whatever I feel rather than what I should. Sootpaw does have a skewed view of herself as being big and clumsy, so part of it is in her head, but part of it should also be more evident. If you have any specific examples of her seeming graceful/sleek (outside of her dreams, since that was intentional; dreams are idealized, after all) please share them! :D

That's all for that chapter, unfortunately. I'll try to have the next one up sooner.

'Til then. <3

Brb, rising from the dead

Omgomgomg it's been forever, I know I know I know, and I am really really truly sorry! There has just been so much going on for me the last two weeks that writing has been really difficult.

Let's see if I can explain myself a bit.

I updated on the 18th, and I wrote a little bit over the next few days, but not much. Usually I kind of procrastinate until five or six days after the most recent update, and then I write a ton and get it all finished and stuff and then post the new chapter. Unfortunately, my computer went down on that Saturday (it was like the 22nd, or something? I can't remember) and it was being worked on until that Thursday. I didn't get it back until pretty late on Thursday night. I spent Thursday night and a lot of Friday restoring old files and stuff (the computer people had to completely wipe the computer clean, but luckily they were able to back everything up first). Then on that Saturday I came down with something and I was coughing and sneezing and miserable the entire week until like Thursday/Friday. I'm still coughing a bit, but I'm feeling better now. Anyway, I wrote a lot Thurs./Fri. and finished it today, so there you go.

Anywho, there's not much to say about this chapter, I don't think, so I'll just hop on to the reviews. ^^

@35226: Thank you!

@(no name given): Thanks, I'm glad you like her. :)

@Hermytail: Aww, glad you think so. Characters are my favorite part of the story, so I do a lot of work on them. ^^

@Scarlet: Interesting thought, but -flash sounds more like a Kalan suffix, to me, like when Birchpool was Brightflash.

@The Last Clan: Shocking twist, haha. Blackpaw's sneakier than we gave her credit for, methinks! And I'm fond of Leopardpaw too. Hopefully we'll be delving more into her and her temper soon....

@Sunspirit: It was pretty obvious that Blackpaw would win (since her being an apprentice for much longer would have been lame!) but I wanted to pull off her victory in a surprising way. I'm glad I succeeded. I kinda like the home scenes too, since they're more 'traditional' Warriors-y. As for Soot's dreams, we'll see. :D

@CrystalSakura: Great to see you again! I'll answer your reviews in separate paragraphs.

Rainwind was kind of rude, but I think you'd agree if you had to put up with Swanpaw, ha. From what I hear, you guys like Nightingale, which is good. And yes, flickin' is totally perfect. I kind of want to use it at any excuse now. xD

Spiderpaw's capable of having a heart, on occasion. :p

I kind of take guilty pleasure from tweaking human expressions to fit cats, even if they don't always make sense (I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind after seeing 'first paw' isn't 'first hand'). For the Clanner's knowledge, only the medicine cats know about the Dark Forest, and their knowledge is pretty hazy. StarClan doesn't tell them a lot, since they don't need to know most of the time.

Thank you! I kind of feel like battle scenes are my favorite and least favorite scenes to write, as odd as that sounds. Sometimes they flow really well (like Spider's imagining of the Moss Rocks battle, I really liked that scene) but sometimes they are just totally icky. It varies. |D

Jaggy doesn't talk much, but when he does he kind of gives everything away. And yup, Myrtle was his mate. Jag tells Reed about her when she's giving birth; all Reed knows is that Myrtle looked kind of like her, and that she died giving birth to Jag's kits.

Eheheh, Sootpaw is soo useless. She'll be getting better, though, even if it won't be instantaneous. Robinpaw and Nightingale are surprising entries on your favorite charries list, since neither of them have done much thus far. How come you like them, out of curiosity?

Brightstar would have made a good elder, if she wasn't totally crazy and stuff. She is a pretty good storyteller, and she certainly has a flair for he dramatic. :D

@nightfrost14: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the story and stuffs. :)

@(no name given): Please, don't be rude. Leaving a two word review demanding an update is rather impolite, and it won't make me update any more quickly. I write when I have time and I'm in the mood.

@Nightkill: Glad you liked it. ^^

Hopefully the next chapter will be out more speedily. Until then, ducklings~

Spiderpaw learns about the birds and the bees

Because that is totally what this chapter was all about. fo' serious.

I'm really sorry this took so long, since I try to update once a week and it's been two. I was kinda burnt out after December (during which I updated much more quickly than normal) and I've been crunched for time, too...plus I've been suddenly flooded with a whole bunch of delicious ideas for my next fic (which I think will be titled Thin Ice...it's a more refined version of the idea that I had for a story about Scourge, the one on my profile) which has meant that my inspiration for Chilled has waned a bit. No worries, though, I'll try to plug away as diligently as ever.

Anywho~

@Sara Darkotter: I feel this way about most of my characters, tbh. Even the bad ones are difficult for me to entirely hate ('cept Blight, he's stone-cold ebil)...and I do find her issues to be intruiging.

@Spottedstream: Yup c:

@ReploidCat: Yep, Brightstar's a piece of work! As for Chilly, it does seem odd that he isn't just telling her what she wants to hear...I wonder why that might be...winkwink.

@The Last Clan: Perhaps! But Brightstar is much too prideful to let anything so embarrassing slip (being the illegetiamate child of a queen and a rogue is bad enough!) so Sootpaw might never hear such a thing. As for the prophecy, we've only heard bits and pieces of it. Bluepaw's being rather clingy, and so far she and Shimmerfrost appear to be the only ones with the full scoop.

@?: You didn't list your name, so unfortunately I can't address you, but I found your review to be interesting. While I agree with the slow pace (mostly because I am setting up plot points that will collapse like dominoes in my mad scheme of chaos and destruction and character development and awesome...which isn't really an excuse, but it's all I've got!) some of the other parts of your review confuse me. I'm sorry, but I can't really see Sootpaw as a Sue. I ran her through several supposed-sue-tests, and she came out just fine, and I don't honestly think that she embodies any of the core aspects of being a Sue. She isn't incredibly popular, she's not gifted at hunting or fighting (or any combination thereof |D), she doesn't have a dozen lovers following her around (unlike Spiderpaw and his harem, ehheh...), she doesn't receive special attention from the adults (positive or negative). Her only Sue-boon would be her special dreams, but she really doesn't like them at all, and if I was in her position, I wouldn't either; dreaming of evil dead cats and failed journeys isn't really my idea of fun...not to mention that she can't tell anyone for fear of being ostracized (because, come on, if someone came out and told the Clan they were aiding the cat that attempted to murder their leader, how mcuh do you want to bet the Clan would turn on them?). Plus, her father's position really has nothing to do with her. She's proud of him, but she doesn't receive any special privileges. He's too busy to be a good father for her (he broke his promise to show her the territory, remember) and he punishes her as he would any other kit, not to mention that she doesn't even have a mentor (and is pretty hampered by this, compared to the other cats she's with). I don't really see how her decision to go on the journey had anything to do with her father or her acting spoiled, and she's not at all like Squirrelpaw. Squirrelpaw was bold, outspoken, and completely unafraid of adventure or ridicule, whereas Sootpaw is much more timid and awkward.

As for Jaggedclaw and Bramblethorn...I'm honestly not sure what to say. I'm sorry you don't like Jag being crippled, I guess, but in the end it was my decision. I was tired of having every character get off completely scot-free, and I wanted to experiment with characters who didn't have the bonuses of being able-bodied warriors, not to mention that it's taking Jag's character in an interesting direction. As for Bramblethorn, his death was decided the moment that certain characters came into being (said characters were introduced waaay back in Chapter 33 of Shattered, but I knew they would exist well before that). I'm not quite sure if many of you realize just how far back I had certain things planned out. I had some major, major plotpoints already staked out halfway through Shattered, even though some of them haven't yet made themselves obvious. Bramblethorn's death was not the result of a so-called "Bus Crash" (for non Tropers, a "bus crash" is a term for when a character no longer has a purpose on the show and has to be written off; more specifically, it is when a character is written off by dying, such as Kutner's suicide on House). Bramblethorn was fated to die well before Shattered ended. His death set off two separate chains of events (one of which was Chillpaw being named a warrior, which has in turn spurred almost all of Chilled's plot!) that will become quite evident very soon.

I realize some parts of this reply are cryptic, but I honestly cannot say much more without releasing quite a few spoilers, and no one wants that. If you could explain your feelings a bit further (specifically on Sootpaw's Sue-tendancies, your issues with Jag being crippled, and why you disliked Bramble's death) I would appreciate it.

@Nightkill: Awesome in a terrible snubby way, yes. |D

Brightstar's Erotic Fantasy Pt. I

What an eye-catching title. I would totally name the latest chapter this if it had anything to do with the story and also if I still named chapters. I kind of miss doing that, actually; finding a few words to sum up chapters is kinda hard, but also kinda fun. Maybe in my next story I will.

Anyway! As promised, some explaining of Brightstar's sin. Pride is pretty straightforward; Brightstar is haughty and full of herself and completely convinced that she is always in the right and can basically do no wrong. Hers is a selfish sort of pride, though, in that she isn't so proud of her Clan, only of herself and what she has shaped her Clan into. Pride is the sin most commonly featured in literature, such as in works like Paradise Lost. Because of that, I didn't want to focus on Pride too much; it's been done by other authors much more talented than myself. This is why Brightstar, although a leader and the eldest cat, is ultimately a background character amongst the DF cats. As much as she hates it, Chilly and Blight are the ones calling the shots. She's only really relevant when she's causing a fuss, and this of course does little to humble her.

Some of the names of the DF cats are little jokes; Swiftshade for the laziest of the bunch, for example. Shrew's name is also a joke (although I won't say why just yet) and Dapplefern has a joke pertaining to her appearance/sin. Brightstar was the exception; I chose her just because I'm really fond of the name and it kinda popped into my head. It wasn't until I was doing some research for a school project that I remembered Lucifer, who is referred to as the brightest angel (and whose name also deals with the Morning Star), was the greatest victim of pride/hurbris. So lil miss Brightstar's name turned out to be a joke after all, albeit an accidental one. :p

Anyway, enough of my rambling. To the reviews~

@Sara Darkotter: If it was a LOTR quote, it was an unintentional one. I've only read The Hobbit all the way through the end, and I must confess that I'm not really fond of the books. I've never seen the movies, either. |D

@The Last Clan: Yep, it was an exciting chapter for lil Blackpaw! As for her warriorship, we'll see how she does facing off against Leopardpaw. The good thing about Chilly visiting Soot in her dreams instead of dragging her out to the DF is that it means her mind is actually getting some rest, so she should be less tired.

@Nightkill: Swanpaw can kick ass when she's not being a big jerkface. :p

@Zerala: Who doesn't love those kinds of characters? Silly people, that's who!

@Tangleflame: Thanks :)

@Spongestar: I read all of my reviews, and appreciate every single one! I started reading the Warriors series in the fifth grade as well, so I can definitely relate. The first series always made me so excited whenever a new book came out (which was good, cuz my fifth grade sucked |D). Thank you so much, and I'm really glad that I could inspire you! I'm sure your fic will be amazing~

@Nightkill: You don't like Leopardpaw? Gaaaasp. It's understandable since she can be a jerk, but from a writer's perspective she's one of my favorites because she's so fun to write for. Leopardpaw doesn't have any limits when it comes to what she feels like saying, which is awesome. c:

@Sharkfin: Thank you :)

@Nightkill: TLK <33 Bluh, I wish we would get a big snow. I think so far it's snowed about two inches? Probably less than that, since we've only had one decent snow and it barely managed to coat my driveway. Mega sadness. :cc

Will there be a Brightstar's Erotic Fantasty Pt. II?? Stay tuned!
(no there will not this title is silly and i am ashamed of it)

Chapter 33

Updated a few days early; Jaggedclaw's story flowed better than I thought it would, so I finished earlier than expected with the chapter. Which is good, because now I have some wriggle room for the next chapter. :p

@Mochihamster: Thank you! :)

@Shimmertail: Yaaay, I'm very glad that you liked it. I'll admit the scene kind of got away from me, it wasn't supposed to be so long (the chapter was like 8k or something, and 3/4s of it was the dream!) but I'm pleased with the result. Also, you earn ten points by mentioning the 'one paw in StarClan' bit, it's been awhile since I've brought that up. It's weird, a lot of people have remarked that they like Moonpaw more now, despite her not doing a whole lot...but I guess that's good. Now I know if I want a character to be liked, I just need to add some snow. :p Again, I'm really glad you liked it. <33

@TheCatOwl: I've never seen The Phantom of the Opera, actually. I tried reading the book once but I was in 5th grade and it didn't make much sense to me so I gave up after like the first chapter. I'd like to watch it some time. ^^

@Sara Darkotter: Join the masses of SootxChill fans. 8D

@Silverblossom: Poor Rainwind was doomed from the beginning of that battle, I'm afraid, but he was a good kitty, and, as Sootpaw said, StarClan is one of the most peaceful places imaginable, so he's prolly pretty happy. And yep, Chilly's a little Mr. Dapper. He's always been that way, even when I rped him foreverrr ago; he's a bit longwinded, the poor kid.

@TheLastClan: Aren't best friend romances the best kind? I love them myself, although I don't think Chilly makes good BFF material (sleepovers with him are pretty awkward!). As for Moonpaw, her disappearing/reappearing was intentional. That happens sometimes in dreams, you lose track of who's with you and who isn't, so she popped in and out. Remember that a big chunk of her is just Sooty's subconscious, so she's subject to the same sort of whimsy rules of existence. As for Rainy and Reed, they were pals, but I think we'll hear more about that later.

@Tangleflame: Ever since the battle, some people have wanted to strangle her and some want to give her a hug, which I think makes for a fun character! Sometimes it's nice to have a 'base breaker' thrown in the mix. :D

@Nightkill: Yup, I did NaNo! It's on my fictionpress account (same username) if you'd like to take a look. Thanks~

@Rainshimmer: Your lateness is forgiven, no worries; Christmas time is busy for errebody. If you're a Homestuck reader, right now Leopardpaw kind of has a kismesis thing goin' on with Spiderpaw. They do not like each other one bit, but Leopardpaw absolutely adores messing around with cats and pushing them just to see how far their temper extends. It's a bit of a curse, really, since as we're seeing it tends to backfire....

As for your dream theory, it's interesting, but of course it could just be coincidence. After all, where would the tension be if the pattern was as straightforward as that (if there's even a pattern at all)? And I do find your attempts to continue hating Swanpaw most amusing. 8D And I don't know what you mean; Blight is the kingpin of relationship advice, clearly. He gets allll the ladies. Granted it's by brainwashing and torturing them, but still, gotta give him props. ;)

@Zerala: Ooh, aspens would have been good for that scene. They always look pretty with snow, and they're usually slender enough to give a more sinister feel...mm. Nice. Thank you!

That's all for now, folks. Enjoy the update. <3

Merry Christmas, etc. etc.

So yes, enjoy your snowy update! I'm really wishing it would snow here (we haven't had a decent snow all year, and a few days ago it was 60 degrees outside! I'm thinking of writing a very angry letter to the weather gods a la Calvin and Hobbes) but I guess this is as close as we'll get!

Hope you all have merry Christmases/Happy Holidays/whatever you prefer~

@Tangleflame: Thank you!

@Sunspirit: Leopard's pretty kickass, yupyup. As for Destiny, Jaggedclaw will share some information about her when Spider spars again with Leopard (which might be in the next update, provided that Spider doesn't totally lose his temper....:p). Destiny was never mentioned in Shattered, but Jaggedclaw's first mate, Myrtle, was. And yes, Blacky has been a big girl lately, and yes Swanpaw is a very good fighter (pity that fighting skills don't correlate with niceness, though).

@The Last Clan: I smell cinnamon rolls, but I s'pose that's because my dad is making them right now. And Leopardpaw is Leopardpaw, silly! She's totally not hiding deepdarksecrets or anything like that. :3

@Silverblossom: Ooh, you used CMoA. Are you a troper? Fine people, tropers. And I'm glad that for once Spiderpaw wasn't a totally disappointing little brat like he usually is. As for Destiny, we'll see!

@Zera: I know I already replied in PM, but I'd just like to thank you again for your review. And for Novacaine. <3

@Miss Tangerineleaf: Bios are the little pictures & descriptions of characters that I post on the blog. They help the readers picture the characters a lil bit...and they are pretty fun to make. Good guesses for the warrior names, we'll have to see!

@Priceless: Thanks! She certainly has been changing a lot. As for Lawless, I'll take a glance when I have time. ^^

Guess that's all, folks. Hope you all get awesome presents and such. <3

Chapter 31~

GahthisislateandI'msorry. The last couple days have just been busy for me. |D

Mmm, I don't think I have much to say about this most recent chapter, though, hmm. So I guess we'll just hop over to the reviews. :p

@Hermytail: It's pretty catchy, no?

@Tangleflame: I like him too, but that doesn't really mean I'll keep him alive. We'll see. ^^

@Sara Darkotter: He has been kidnapped by leprechauns, I'm afraid. There's no saving him now...or is there? :o

@Insane: I know, it's a terrible name. PeakClan really sucks when it comes to naming their warriors. And yup! It looks like it's important somehow~

@Rainshimmer: Your reviews are so looong, it's awesome. Clearly Sooty and Chilly are in love and they are going to have adorable ghost babies as Shimmertail suggested a long time ago. And it will be awesome. As for Swan and Sage, I can't say, but Sage at least has her respect (which is more than most cats earn, sooo). RookxNightingale isn't really a thing (I mentioned it in an earlier entry, I think, but we'll see it in the story soon enough). I've never heard of MirrorMask, actually...what is it?

@Silverblossom: I think Moonpaw might be the single most terrifying character I've ever created, which surprises me, because she's not really supposed to be scary. It's interesting, though, and hopefully I'll be able to make use of it in future stories. I love kitties that can kick tail too, and I figured it was about time Swanpaw did something besides being an enormous bitch. :D And grr, you're right. Guess I have Nightshade on the brain for some reason.../hums innocently

@The Last Clan: I think you meant he, but the sentiment is appreciated anyway. And yay! Maybe Swanpaw will level up. :D

@Priceless: No worries, I've been busy too. ^^

Early Update: Chappy 30

Is 30 a milestone? It kinda feels like one...but I guess once we hit 50 chapters we'll get a real one.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the early update. My goal is to get another Spidy & Sooty chapter out before Christmas. We'll see how that goes. |D

@Hermytail: Glad to hear it. ^^

@Silverblossom: I sure did, thank you! This year's NaNo wasn't as fun as the last, but it was still pretty good. I agree, Pancho is ridiculously adorable in a very doggy way. :p And yeah, poor Jaggy's always a kind of ticking time bomb kind of a cat. It was there in Shattered, but he usually kept it under control; it hasn't really gotten bad until Chilled, methinks. As for Destiny, we'll see! Hopefully I'll have some time for Abrazame too, but we'll have to see. :p

@Sara Darkotter: Missed you too! And it certainly does. :3

@Rainshimmer: BlizzardxRobin was like the third most popular pairing on the poll I did a few months ago, which surprised me since Blizz and Robin have been pretty minor thus far. I guess a few teasy-hints here and there are good for that sort of kindling. As for Spider, you're right; he seems to get a lot of lectures, but whether they do any good is a mystery. He's the kinda cat that's slow to change (which is exactly what irks Jaggy xD). As awesome as Spidey becoming Dark Vader would be, I can't see it. He's fairly loyal to his Clan, even though he hates...certain cats (*cough*"ginger oppressors"*cough*). Darky and Firefire definitely didn't act honorably, though. The problem is that Firefire is blind when it comes to loyalty to his Clan, and Darky is just too much of a chicken to make many moves without someone else's approval. Oh noes, don't be mad at Silverstar! She's obviously not thinking clearly, dying of a terrible disease and all...although I'll agree she's not being a very good role model for Jaypaw right now. As for the orbs thing, I knowwww. I hardly ever use it (prolly what, twice, in all of Chilled? Maybe once in Shattered? xD). Usually it gets on my nerves (especially with humans, bleh) but sometimes if 'eyes' has already been used in the same sentence and it would be awkward to use again, I must resort to it. Although, I would say that cats' eyes are pretty orb-y. xD

Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Reviews are always appreciated. <3

GUYSGUYSGUYS IT'S DECEMBER

JUST IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED ALREADY BY THE CHRISTMAS SONGS PERVADING THE AIRWAVES

Anyway, NaNo's over so we can all party again! Yaaay! I've got some spiffy chapters lined up (there are three that I'm hoping to get out before the end of Dec., we'll see how the actual writing goes) and I can't deny that I'm excited to hear from you all again. Hope you had great Thanksgivings and such. :D

Also, sorry this was late! It was supposed to be finished Dec. 1st, but I only got halfway through it because I had to go back and look at past chapters to kinda refresh my memory (it's amazing what you forget in a month). And then I was gonna finish it tomorrow buuut my dad was stuck at the airport so we had to go and get him and it's a few hours away so I didn't get home until fairly late which was terrible and annoying. But I had lots of free time today, so here you are~!

Now, let's get to those succulent, satisfying reviews, shall we? <3

They're italicized for convenience because some of them (*cough*Rainshimmer*cough*) are rather long.

@The Last Clan: I'm sure the wait was agonizing (prolly not really, but whatever xD) but here we are again with plenty of Spiderpaw! And you can guess about Chilly's sin if you like.


@Sharkfin: Her meeting them would be neat, but also difficult since they'll be reincarnated into their original Clans if they make it, like Cinderpelt/Cinderheart. Aaah, the tantalizing moss thief secrets. We'll get to that eventually, I promise!


@Silverblossom: I love ship-to-ship combat, it's fun to hear about (and ship-teasing both side is fun too! Keeps you guessing :3). I don't think Chilly would be a girl, though. I don't want to get all metaphysical and such on you, so I'll try to keep it simple: the only reincarnation we have to go off of is Cinderpelt/heart, and she not only kept her gender and appearance but also some of her mannerisms and personality; thus in the Warriors world that seems to be part of the overall 'spirit' stuff. So if Chilly does get reincarnated, he'll basically just be baby!Chilly, which is both adorable and terrifying. And you're right about the tensions, the Dark Forest kitties are not at all happy with another (especially since none of them justify things with 'for the evulz' and therefore they see each other as being contemptible for their crimes...and their Clans were enemies). You were right about Sooty not asking about the other Clans, but for the moment she has more pressing issues like coming battles and such...and most of the DF cats scare the poop out of her. xD


@Ravenshade: Sooty's reaction should be...interesting. And I like Ratface, since his original prefix was Rat and all, ha. And you're welcome, I guess. :p


@Sara Darkotter: Hope your NaNo went well too!


@Purple Panda: S;sdkfpojrfnldsknfn such a long review. Kinda hurts my brain. I see what you mean about adverbs, kinda; I don't really pay attention to that much when reading other works, but I prolly should. I attempted to cut down on them this chappy - I'm not sure I could ever do away with them entirely, since I think sometimes they do help add to the tone of dialogue or something without being too wordy...like "he said solemnly" versus "he said in a solemn tone," because in my opinion the latter sounds a bit klunky). As for the phrase thingies, I'll admit it's been aaaaages (like three years now) since I've had a grammar lesson, so I'm a bit rusty. I kinda know what you're talking about, but my memories are a little vague; I tried grappling with them in this most recent chapter (not necessarily using less, but trying to use them properly) but I'm sure a few got away from me somewhere. I'll try harder. :c


@LightningstormZero: I didn't know about the Prin/Principle bit, but I did know about the Pardus! Prin Pardus comes from an older username of mine, which I tweaked to make it sound less kiddy (it was princessleopard). Princess became Prin, and leopard became Pardus, since the name for leopard is Panthera Pardus and all. Neat that you noticed. ^^


@Rainshimmerrrrrr: I missed you, it's great to see you again! I'm gonna have to be brief because there were so many (delicious) reviews from you, darling. <3


I think everyone's thinking that Moonpaw is evil by this point, which I think is amusing since she's basically an extension of Sootpaw's consciousness...but I'm very glad that you like Sooty and Spider and Chilly and stuffs. You're not the first person to theorize about Silvy being preggers, but unfortunately my lips are (temporarily) sealed on the matter.


You think Spiderpaw would be abusive in a relationship? That's kinda scary. I don't think he would be intentionally...but he does have a terrible temper, the little 'git.' As for the noticing, like I said on an earlier entry on the blog, most of the cats suspected Jaypaw was getting sick (and Bluepaw even knew he had a cough before) but since there was nothing they could do they chose to ignore it rather than investigate. Suspecting but not knowing something is sometimes better than knowing something you can do nothing about. As for the prophecies, it's an interesting thought. :3


I think everyone should be happy when Spidey gets his tail handed to him, because he almost always deserves it. :p As for Darkstorm, it's just a phobia. Some people are scared of spiders, some of snakes, some of clowns...Darky just happens to be afraid of tiny, adorable kittens.


I know everyone was looking forward to seeing Bella/Night's kits (two of 'em, anyway)! I love them too. Glad Swanny managed to trap you with her words; she's a master of pity-manipulation. If I could give you a potted snowberry plant, I would. :c


Don't worry, we ran full X-rays and blood tests to make sure that Shimmerfrost wasn't an alien. Blackpaw is really pathetic and sad...sometimes I want to punch her and sometimes I want to give her cuddles. As for Leopardpaw, we'll see!


Your obsessive paring of Chill with Soot is both disturbing and heartening. And Swanpaw isn't fat (although she is mean and you should hate her probably xD). I do agree that Sage is pretty cool, tho. Don't be scared of Minnow, she's a darling. :c


Hasn't Shimmer always been teh evulz, tho? I'm not sure Shimmer's corruptible anymore. Her soul is already filled with kit-eating blackness and wrath. :D

That would be an interesting story, although it almost wouldn't even be a fic since it has zero to do with Warriors until Amber and Cane pair up with AshClan. Still, food for thought. My next story might be of that sort of type, though, so it kinda works.

I see what you mean about Shimmer's description; it was kinda hurried and looking back it doesn't feel quite right, hmm. One more thing for me to hate. D:


Oh noes, I hope nothing happens to your farm. That would be terribbible. And it's interesting how the welfare of Soot and Spider seems to have an inverse relationship, I hadn't really thought of it that way before. As for the dream-ancestor kitties, we'll see. ^^


I think the only time I've heard the word 'lugubrious' is during Hercules when the pink fat demon thing calls Hades 'your lugubriousness'. I love that movie. Glad you enjoyed the scene, it was really fun to write. It was kind of a depressing chapter, but not necessarily in a bad way, I think.


Honesty is a big thing for me, so I like Swifty too (especially considering how his sister totes warped him) although I definitely won't pardon him for his crimes. I think he's interesting because he doesn't fall into the usual types of bad guys; he isn't in it 'for the evulz' or 'trying to do a good thing but using bad methods'. He's unique in that he doesn't have a goal at all and doesn't shirk from his crimes even though he doesn't enjoy them. 


@Nightkill: I finished kinda early too (and by that I mean reached 50k), and used a bit of that time to work on a one-shot, but then I continued working on my NaNo since there's still a lot to finish, plot-wise.

Welp, I think that's all. Thank you for the reviews, ducklings. It's great to be back~
You guys seem very, very split when it comes to Tubs, which is interesting.

Last chapter until Dec.~

Okay, so we've got a lot to talk about, I guess.

First, on Sootpaw's side we skipped about 1 1/2 days, which is kinda important because when we left off they were thinking about confronting Adder. They actually spent the half a day they had left (during which time Spiderpaw was in the Moss Clearing, spoke to Blizzardpaw in camp, etc.) to tend to Rook's leg. Sage and Bluepaw also went to look for some honey, since Nightingale's throat is almost always bothering her. Then they went to sleep, Sootpaw dreamed of nothing in particular, and so on. The next day (during which the Clan mourned Birchpool and Petalcloud and Spiderpaw had their lil chat at GreenRocks) Sage continued to tend Rook's leg while the rest of the group wheelded out information about Adder and the threat that he poses to their group. They decided that it was easier/safer to fight Adder rather than try to go around him, because Adder's territory is basically a long, horizontal strip that crosses the Thunderpath, and it would be nearly impossible to avoid. Everyone kind of took a short break to strengthen themselves. Sootpaw then went to sleep, and dreamed what we saw of this most recent chapter.

So, hopefully it's not too confusing. xD

Now, about Swiftshade. As I mentioned in the chapter & previously, when I was thinking up the Dark Forest cats and deciding who would be in the group, I decided to use a structuring system to create varied characters--in this case, the Seven Deadly Sins. Some of them are intepreted in strange or unusual ways, but that just makes it more fun~

Swiftshade's Sin is Sloth (say that three times fast). Sloth doesn't only mean laziness (although Swiftshade is pretty lazy). It can also mean a lack of motivation, values, or ambition. Swiftshade never truly desired anything out of life other than to be left to his own devices; he was perfectly content to just float through life without any conflicts or struggles. Unfortunately his sister was not so relaxed. Swiftshade allowed his sister's ambitions to overtake his own, and he did whatever she asked with little regard to the consequences of his actions. Because he lacked the moral strength or ambition  to oppose her, his sister took over the Clan with ease, and once she had everything she wanted, she disposed of him.

Now then:

@Ravenshade: Black is pretty wimpy. Hopelessly so, even. Leopard is definitely all of those things. Unfortunately, I won't voice my opinions on the pairings just yet. xD And yes, Birchy's death is a pity; Thistle won't be happy when he gets home. :(

@Insane: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Sorry about that mistake, though, sometimes my fingers and brain don't agree at all, derpderp. xD

@TheVioletGleek: I'm glad you liked it! And you're right that Forest and Bullet met. Originally Forest was looking for Thistle's father, but he couldn't find him so he decided to find Natasha and Mitch instead, as he got the idea of talking to Amber and Cane for help. Forest talked to Bullet, but he never asked him about/mentioned Thistle and Birchy. Bullet definitely knows about them, though; he left them, remember? Also, I'm glad that you don't totally hate Firefire. He's a stuck-up furball, certainly, but not a bad guy when the chips are down. He's got your back, yo~ And I can't wait to see your one-shot. :D

@Sara Darkotter: Hopefully. :D

@Nightkill: BlackxSpider? I don't know what you're talking about. /whistles

@Silverblossom: I know! I'm too much of a goofball to talk about Birchy's deal in a mature and responsible way outside of the fic, but it really and truly was a terrible thing that happened to her. As for Silverstar, as we'll see Shimmer has a habit of ducking out in the middle of the night, but she always returns with herbs, so Silver figures she's just relieving some stress. As for what Forestheart found....Also, the tasting thing made me giggle. It was more in a metaphorical experiencing-the-battle sort of thing, but now that I think about it that's really funny. xD

@CrystalSakura: I'm glad you like Rook and Nightingale. A oneshot chapter about her would be good practice for...something. *mysterious hints of mysteriousness* As for the rogue afterlife, I'm honestly not entirely sure. There are possibilities floating around, but since it won't be an issue in this story, I'd prefer to keep my possibilities open. And the reason that StarClan and the Starwalkers interact is because some members of StarClan have hopped over to the Starwalker side (like ex-FrozenClan cats that died and are now going to guide Tremor's group, since many of the cats in his group are from FrozenClan.)

@CrystalSakura (again :D): Yep, things were really pretty awful for Birchpool. But now she can chillax in StarClan and look at all the clouds she wants (maybe even shape a few). Plus, I'm fairly certain she has her memories back and everything, which is good, right? And gah, it looks like I was making mistakes all over the place. Pretend it was "strength, okay? :p

And yes, Nightshade had three kits, two of which are Sage and Swift. She did have a third, but Minnow had to leave it behind; it wasn't strong enough to make it very far.

Welp, I guess that's everything. Check out the allegiances if you like, all of the ancient journey members that have been introduced so far are on there now. Hopefully you guys will keep an eye on my NaNo, which will be on my fictionpress (fictionpress.com/~prinpardus). Until then, see you in December!

<333

Herp Derp

Sorry this is kind of late, I didn't have time to write it last night (my dad's trying to pull some restrictions again, so I had to get off...we'll see how long this lasts) but now I have time and everything will be wonderfullllll. :D

@The Last Clan: You definitely have a point about Swanpaw, but unfortunately thus far I've had little room to play with her. Every situation she's come up against thus far she's met with hostility, because that's just the sort of cat she is; she's cold and snarky and biting and not really all that nice. The only cats she treats with compassion would be her Clan, but as we've seen she's icy even with them; however, above all she loves her family, and we saw that when she volunteered to embark on a dangerous mission to both save her mother and ensure that what her sister endured will never happen again. She also seems to have clashing feelings about Sage; she hates rogues and their kind (whatever Sage is, since he doesn't really have a structured life, with Tremor's group just starting out and all) but at the same time he saved her life, and she has to respect him for that. I'd like to focus more on her in the future, but right now we haven't had the opportunity to view a situation wherein she would act with grace rather than malice.

@Dawnshine: Indeed he does. Thank you. ^^

@Lynxeye: Sootpaw's a bit too afraid to tell everyone about her dreams; keep in mind that no one (save perhaps Bluepaw) has communicated with their warrior ancestors before, and thus they know absolutely nothing about the original four Clans. Some, like Swanpaw, would love to mock Sootpaw for dreaming up four Clans that (they believe) never existed. As far as Sootpaw knows, even Bluepaw has never heard of the four Clans (plus SkyClan, I guess), since Bluepaw is still very young and new to the job, and if Bluepaw doesn't back her up then no one will believe Sootpaw. Nothing has happened so far to give Sootpaw solid proof of her dreams; all of the situations that have occurred have been different from what happened in her dreams (such as sixteen cats went on the first journey, while there are only eight in hers, and the sixteen cats were forbidden to return until they completed their mission, which was also different from the new journey's; Nightpaw drowned while Swanpaw did not; instead of it being one rogue and real adders, it's two rogues who warn them of the danger of one cat conveniently named Adder; there will be more differences as we go along). Sootpaw isn't yet sure of the purpose of her dreams; they could be warnings, but thus far none of the warnings have amounted to anything, since  everything that has happened would have happened whether she said anything or not. There's also the possibility that the dreams aren't a warning, but some sort of other message, perhaps concerning when the original journey ends up. I'm glad you like Rook and Nightingale thus far, but I'll just point something out: Nightingale doesn't love Rook, at least not how I think you're implying. They aren't a couple, but rather another one of my (seemingly infamous) sister/brother pairs. They're not related by blood, but by circumstance, and they harbor only platonic feelings for one another. :D

@Ravenshade: It's odd that you mention Swansong, I wasn't even really thinking of her. Rook is kind of like Deathy, though (I had actually considered him skulking around the trees and trying to intimidate the cats from above, but it reminded me too much of Deathy's first appearance xD).

@Anonymous: Wow, thank you! That was a long and delicious review. <3 I'm glad you've liked the plot and characters so far (and I see you've jumped on the Northy bandwagon, ha xD). Sootpaw asking them to join was probably surprising, since she is indeed wary of Rook, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Keep in mind that Sootpaw was woken from her dream before she should have been, however; she doesn't know what ends up happening to Smoke. It's possible that she guessed Smoke joined the journeying cats, and decided that having Rook/Nightingale along for the ride was supposed to happen. Or maybe she just felt sorry for them, being the bleeding heart kinda gal she is.

As for why the patrol isn't avoiding Adder's Fangs, we'll find that out soon, but basically they cannot. Adder controls most of the territory on either side of the Thunderpath, so they can't avoid him without making a wide wide wide detour, which would waste a lot of time. There's more to it, but we'll get there. ^^

I don't have an account on the official forum; I've kind of glanced over the place before, but wasn't really intrigued. Posting my fics there would probably help them get more attention at such, but it would be a lot of work (I don't think I would be allowed to simply post a link to Shattered and Chilled, I'd have to actually post them...and since Shattered is loooong (right between the 4th and 5th Harry Potter books, for reference) it would be a lot of trouble. If you (and the rest of my readers, too xD) want to spread the word there it would be fine, but I can't really see myself trying to carry both stories to the forums myself. ^^;

@Nightkill: Glad you like him, he's an interesting little dude. My first posh kittypet, I think. :3

I think that's everyone now, phew. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Sootpaw Dreams About Lots of Weird Crap! :D

Chappie :D

I was gonna put a heart in the title and add a 3 for each review to make it bigger, but the site was freaking out on me, sad face. I guess if I can't put it in the title:

<333333333333333333

Thank you so much guys. ILYA (I love you all :p).

@Tangleflame: I'm sure Reedy would that too...as for making Spider not so much of a furball, I'm not sure if that is even possible, but Jaggy can try, right?

@Koraki: I enjoy a bit of dark humor mixed in with everything, so I guess stuff like that kinda pops out from time to time, ha. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and it always makes me smile to hear of various people's ships. Shipping is so fun, ta? I think it's interesting how divided the shipping is in this story (especially for Spider, omg you people ship him with everyone) compared to earlier stories, where there were fewer possibilities. Everything's an experiment, so I find this one to be very intriguing. :3

@Lynxeye: Aww, that stinks! Computers can be infuriating sometimes; mine really likes to give me lip sometimes. D:< As for the next training session, it should indeed be loads of fun. I'm excited, at least. And yes, this story does kinda have sub-plot overload. So many plot bunnies in my head. xD

@Stormy: Hey, lover! Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it (Dead Walking is rlly cool btw, I keep meaning to review but then I forget D:). If you could give me a reason for your dislike of SpiderxBlack (just outa curiosity) that would be lovely, but since even you aren't quite sure, that's okay. xD

@Silverblossom: Archeye? Eww, sounds painful. I'll agree that the Erins have made some crappy names lately (although really some first arc names were bad too; Runningnose comes to mind). Yes, Blackie's the moss-thief! What a dastardly villain, no one suspected her (at least, I don't think anyone did :p). She could definitely have a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on (how kewl would that be? 8D) but I s'pose we'll just have to see. Leopardpaw was in camp with everyone else--I guess I just forgot about her, derp. I'm making her suspicious on accident now, ha. She just didn't have much to add to the discussion; she's close to precious few cats, and none of them were on that patrol. Good of you to notice that, though. :3

@Ravenshade: Spider's such a furball, I'm beginning to lose hope for him. Not even the presence of multiple beeyewtiful laydays and a hardened rogue can force him to shape up, it would appear. Why they even bother, I dunno. Now, if Northy was the one training Spider, you bet things would be different...no one comes away from his sessions unscarred (isn't that right, Silverstar-darling? Of course it is, it's Northstar!). I'm also interested in your shipping views; why is SpiderxLeopard better than SpiderxBlack in your opinion, out of curiosity? As for the pleasing/breaking, I take delight in performing both of those at once; it's all part of my evil plan, to craft a lovely tale and then crush everyone by killing off all the kitties at the end. It's true, don't doubt it. :O

Northy would have to survive though, I s'pose, since I honestly shudder to think what would happen if he died. I'd be eaten alive by rabid fan(atics). @.@

@The Last Clan: I promise I know my its vs. it's! Sometimes I just get so caught up in the rush that I miss/add stuff that I shouldn't. Sorry for the jumpiness, too; this story seems a lot jumpier than some of my others, for some reason. I think it's the stress of keeping a linear timeline; I have to squeeze so much into every chapter to make sure that it's not too long, while still getting in all the key events...it's hard. I'll try harderer, though, promise. D:

@Nightkill: Babies make everything better. 8D

@Sara Darkotter: Sorry to hear about your computer, mine does the same alla time. So annoying. D: You bring up a good point, though, something I've been meaning to mention; I'll slip it into the next chapter's AN, I think, to make sure everyone sees it.

@Sunspirit: Long review, wow. Lovely. You might have mentioned that theory before, I'm not sure, but it's interesting. Considering that the SkyClan-journey is in 'ancient' times, it could work out, but I s'pose we'll have to see if that's what happens (and where the fourth Clan would go, since there was only MarshClan/BirchClan/ShellClan before FrozenClan was created). As for Tubs, that would be incredibly awesome, I agree. Tubs is technically a wild cat right now, although I'm assuming you're asking if he used to live in the forest. He might have at one point (honestly I'm not entirely sure, he's sort of a mystery). Maybe we'll find out? Also, I'm confused about your Bullet/Jaggedclaw question? Jaggedclaw and Bullet obviously had some sort of connection in the past, but they aren't the same cat, if that's what you're asking...? As for Soot's name, yes, it was intentionally linked with AshClan; that's partially how Eaglestrike thought of it; he was messing with the soot/ash left over from the fire that razed the forest, and compared them to her dapples and came up with her name. I'm not sure whether to be proud or concerned that you're starting to act like Spider; it's almost flattering, but then again he's a terrible role model. xD

@Nightkill: I used all of my adorability on that chapter. :D

@MansonNoob: Killing her would almost be merciful at this point (although I'm not really known for that, mm). And fanart always pleases me (I'll address this in the next AN, like I told Sara). :D

@Hermytail: Your views on the charries are definitely interesting. Points 1 and 3 are definitely valid, I can't really argue against those, but let's see if I can address the others:

2. I'm confused as to how training herself would help Sooty at all. Training herself to hunt would be good because that is a skill that can be learned through trial-and-error; teaching herself to fight on her own is impossible. As Jaggy says, an apprentice attacking a stump or tree or branch will do them no good; they have to face a living, breathing opponent in order to learn how to properly fight. She could attempt to teach herself some moves, but they'd be clumsy and unwieldy because she wouldn't know how to use them against an opponent that could dodge her attacks. Making Sootpaw a proficient fighter by training alone would be extremely unrealistic.

4. Actually, Spiderpaw shouted at Robinpaw, and kind of mocked her for being a cripple, which caused her to race out of camp. She got over it, but was still slightly rankled that Spiderpaw never apologized; Jaypaw is extremely protective of his sister, and in his mind Spiderpaw committed a terrible transgression by mocking Robinpaw and making her feel insecure about her disability.

5. Normally I'd say that a cat who doesn't really stand for either side is probably a coward, but in this case I think not. Now, if either side was clearly wrong, I'd agree, but the problem is that in this conflict both sides are wrong. Spider and Fire are both arrogant, cocky furballs. Neither of them are in the right; neither of them are blameless. Blizzardpaw can't really support either of them, because he knows they're both wrong. The only cat he truly allies with is Robinpaw. At the same time, he doesn't want to make anyone angry, so he simply tries to be friendly to both sides. In some ways, he's better than both sides; he tempers Fireblaze's anger (such as when he suggested they steal the moss, rather than put a thorn in it; a thorn could hurt Spiderpaw very badly, whereas stealing is rather harmless) and helps calm Spiderpaw too (as we see when Blizz, Robin, and Spider all hunt together; Spider feels calmer and apologizes to Jaggedclaw for his behavior).

That being said, if someone that Blizzardpaw was really close to (i.e. Robinpaw) was honestly threatened beyond mere insults, Blizzardpaw would have absolutely no problem smacking them down. He just usually tries peaceful means rather than violence to solve his problems.

6. Leopardpaw proved herself when she first met the Clan, by saving Sootpaw and Spiderpaw back when they were kits; saving helpless kits that weren't her own or related to her suggests some measure of compassion. Forcing her out of the Clan afterwards would be rather heartless of Eaglestrike, especially since they're his kits. Also, keep in mind that the Clan is suffering from sickness; they need every able-bodied cat they can get, and despite her chilly demeanor, Leopardpaw's an excellent hunter; she'll be extremely valuable during the cold leaf-bare months.

@Sharkfin: Another LeopardxFire shipper, I see? Interesting. I'm glad you like the story. :D

@Hermytail (again :p): Rabbitleap is definitely a favorite of mine; Bluepaw is kinda almost like her clone, although they do differ in some ways. I think the weird thing in this story is that the only available love-interest with an 'F' is Fireblaze, and he doesn't have green eyes...hmm, maybe FirexSpider....:p

<...3

Another early update. Things were just sort of flowing, I guess. It was a fairly heavy chapter...kind of depressing to write. But the good kind of depressing; the cathartic kind. I don't know, I've been feeling kind of down for a while now, and writing some bonding scenes really helps me feel better.

Anyway. I suppose the question-answering will be brief for this chapter.

I think it's interesting how the opinions are divided about Tubs; some like him, some hate him, and some just think he's odd; all three of those are sort of how I feel about him. He's kind of an odd dude, like some fat, lazy bum/Santa Claus figure. It's weird, in a weird way. I guess he's just one of those characters that not even the writer can get a handle on.

@Ravenshade: TremorxMinnow kind of surprised me too; I knew when I was writing the first chapter that Minnow and Rumble would hit it off pretty well, but I didn't think that she and Tremor would get along quite as nicely. They did, though, which I guess is good, because they're better parents than Nightshade or Blight could ever be. Hopefully the Bullet-finding will be as interesting as you think it will; I'm looking forward to it too.

@Silverblossom: It seems that all the Twolegplace cats are rather secretive, especially since not all of them (especially Natasha and Mitch) approve of the new regime. We'll have to see what Carmelo & Flicka's exact partnership is, but I'm fairly certain it won't be good for the Clanners. Sorry it's agonizing. I could throw spoilers at you if you want, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as much fun at the end for either of us.

@PurplePanda: I see what you mean. semicolons have sort of become the new comma for me (I used to, throw in commas, where they didn't exactly belong, sometimes where it really, made no sense for me, to do so, which is probably why, my teacher, called me comma-happy xD), meaning that I overuse them and they just sort of pop out and explode everywhere. Plus I've been writing very flowish-ly, and it all comes out so fast that it's hard to ponder whether or not a semicolon belongs there or not. It's definitely a problem spot. However I do have a question: In one example you put the phrase as "She tried to resist for a moment, before simply relaxing; allowing the force to pull her further into the pine forest." I don't think a semicolon would actually work there, since "allowing the force to pull her further into the pine forest" can't stand alone by itself (I think it's a dependent clause) and I don't think semicolons are allowed to link a dependent clause to something else. Maybe I'm wrong, though; it's hard when I look at my own work. If it's not mine, I can pick the mistakes apart really easily (I got a 36 and 35 on the two English parts of the ACT, last time I took it, and those are pretty much all about grammar) but if it's mine I get all confused and foggy and messy.

@Priceless: We were talking about sumos as an occupation in my AP Gov class today, actually. Interesting. And it's not a problem, I understand that you're busy. I'm just happy you reviewed. :)

I suppose that's all.

Chapter~

Another chappy a few days early for you guys. I actually finished this one on the fifth, but I decided to wait before posting it. Anyway~

@Sara Darkotter: Heh, maybe. Blackie's question was more friendship-based, but I'm not allowed to talk about pairings. *zips lips*

@Sunspirit: Glad you're enjoying them. ^^ Spider does indeed seem to attract the ladies, with Robin, Blacky, Blue, and sort-of Leopard tagging along behind him. He's just /such/ a charming fellow. xD Shimmer and Leopard meeting is like Spider's worst nightmare, since he's kind of scared of them both. Forest would indeed be a good mentor for Soot; then again, he'd be a good mentor for a lot of cats, since he's just a well-rounded, nice dude. And you're right about the sibling bit; it crossed my mind, but I was writing really quickly and by the time I stopped to fix my mistakes, I'd already forgotten about it. Derp. xD

@PurplePanda: It's practically a law for sneaky rogues to be evil, ta? We need a catchy title for it. Whether she's working with anyone shady or not actually has no reflection on whether or not she is evil; Minnow from Shattered (which you haven't read, so I'll cut you some slack there) hung out with a rather nasty crowd, first in Twolegplace and then in the forest, but she's a sweet lil darling. As for your lil spiel on my style, I understand that feeling; there are a lot of fics that just need a little tweaking/polishing to really become spiffy. I'm wondering if you could give me some examples of the stuff in my writing that you don't like? I think that would be very helpful. ^^

Also! I think in a past review you mentioned Nightshade and Northy's names, and I kind of forgot to answer. For Nightshade, I understand where you're coming from, but Nightshade is not a warrior name. She was named for the actual plant, deadly nightshade, by Blight after he corrupted her (which, again, you haven't read Shattered so it's okay that you didn't know). Blight really hates the warrior system, so he would never give his loyalist lil minion a warrior-style name. As for Northy...well. He is my guilty pleasure. You're right about his name being a real thingy; that's actually where I got the idea for his character like...four years ago, I guess. Almost exactly four years, actually. Anyway, I really liked the combination and built his character around that and then he became one of my most favoritest characters in the whooole world...I actually considered changing it for Shattered (there's an old blog post here somewhere, maybe back in May, where I compared some of the new names and the old names) but changing his name just felt wrong on a personal level, since it would kind of change who he was...or something. I don't know. If I saw his name in someone else's fic, I would prolly be skeptical or critical, but he's sort of...special to me. Crappy explanation, yay~

@Silverblossom: Yep. It was originally supposed to be very smooth and lovely, but Spider kinda got outa hand; he's one of those characters that you can't really force to do anything, and when you do he rebels and bites your hands off. It's rather unpleasant, but interesting. I hope to see more of Leopard too (definitely Leoaprd) and hopefully Shimmers if we have some time. They're both tricky little minxes, preferring to stay hidden, but I'll force them out of their hidey-holes if it's the last thing I do. And I hope you read it on FictionPress, that would be super amazing. 8D

@Midnight Thorn: Thanks! Jaggy is one of my favorites (I say that about everyone, though, so make of it what you will xD) and I enjoy having him pop in now and again. I always seem to love those hard-on-the-outside-soft(ish kinda sorta)-on-the-inside types...they just have so much potential. :D

@Crystal Sakura: Even with all his lady fans, Spider does seem to take issue with shipping (at least in the flushed quadrants...Homestuck reference FTW). As for Leopard, I will refer to the rule above, about sneaky rogues and the like. xD I sometimes have trouble with original works too (mostly because I'm so out of practice, with all these fics in my face) but hopefully this NaNo will go smoothly.

@Nightkill: Oh noes, don't yell at Jaggy . *shields* He's had a hard time, poor guy...what with his first mate dying and being crippled and pushing Reedy away and all. And all the delicious backstory nonsense that we don't know yet. :3 Glad you liked Blackie's question, and I'll agree that Spider's personality is a major issue. xD

NaNo 2011!

Yessir, this is what I mentioned in my latest AN! I am going to be joining this year's NaNo, just like I did last year, for those who don't remember. For those who don't know, NaNo's full title is NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel-Writing Month. Basically, you join the site (nanowrimo.org) and take their challenge, to write a 50,000 word novel during the month in November. You keep track of how much you write each day and stuff, and its really fun!

This will be my fourth year (and hopefully my fourth time winning, although for some reason the site says I didn't win last year; I think I forgot to submit my final score, or something). Last year I posted my NaNo on fictionpress as I finished each chapter, and I will be doing the same this year, so I really hope you guys check it out! My username on FictionPress is the same as it is here (www.fictionpress.com/~prinpardus) and there you can read my NaNo as I post each chapter. Fun stuff!

Now, this does mean that I won't be working on my fics, at least not for November! NaNoing is serious bizznizz, and takes up a lot of my time (especially since my personal goal for this year is 75k rather than 50k). So Chilled and the One-Shots and my PMD fic (which I promise I'm working on, it's just slow goin' xD) will all be put on the backburner to make room for my NaNo. I did the same thing last year, and it worked out great, so don't be scared that I'll completely forget about Chilled once December rolls around.

However (and I really hate to mention this, but I remember having trouble with this issue last year) don't think that just because I'm leaving Chilled for a month means that I don't need reviews. If you've ever stopped a project and then come back a long time later to finish it, you know that sometimes it's hard to get back into the swing of things. And that's when reviews really, really count; just knowing that you guys have stayed dedicated to the fic and reviewed even without expecting an update really, really makes me feel good, and when I feel good I can write like the wind (my fingers might even catch on fire, guys, seriously :O).

But since it's only October, I guess it's a little early to be talking about that. ANYWAY.

The real thing I wanted to ask was if you guys will help me out. I'm going to need some background characters for my NaNo, and I find it really hard to just poof up characters without creating intricate backstories and junk for the lot of them, even when it's not necessary. So I need you guys to make the background characters for me, so I don't feel those weird compulsions to make each and every character super important.

Obviously you can't make characters without knowing the basics of the story, so here you go:

It's about dogs. Yes, dogs. As you might have guessed from all my Warriors-related fics, I can write animals very well and very easily...but people are harder for me, mostly because I hate having to fuss about dumb stuff like what the character is wearing and what social group they fit into and all that. People are boring to write about. But after writing so much stuff about cats, I figured some change would be good, and I adore doglets. Plus, I already had a teeny tiny thing worked up that I did a couple years ago for a Creative Writing class. And thus this grand plot was born.

Our main character is a loyal doggy named Pancho. He was adopted as a wee puppy by the Sanchez family, and he loves them all dearly, but there is one person that he loves the most out of everyone in the whole world, and that is his 'Girl,' Bunny. When he joined the family, Bunny was like twelve or so, but now she's sixteen. And as such she's going through some scary changes and rearranging her life and thinking about - dear God - COLLEGE.

A few years back (like one. Or maybe two.) the neighbors son, Tim, moved away to college, leaving his dog, Jake, absolutely distraught. One of the 'warning signs' that Jake mentioned to Pancho at this time was Tim no longer riding the 'big-yellow-full-of-children-thing' (school bus) to wherever People went during the day, but rather his own car. So when Bunny turns sixteen and leaves one morning in her car rather than the bus, Pancho becomes a bit...distressed. He's terrified that Bunny will leave him too, and so he concocts a brilliant plan: he will follow her to wherever it is that she goes, and make sure she never ever disappears like Tim.

Unfortunately, Pancho is a dog. The dogs in this story will be anthropomorphized to some extent, but not nearly as much as the cats in the Warriors series, so unfortunately his thought process is a little...limited. Long story short, once Pancho actually manages to escape from his cozy home, he becomes incredibly, hopelessly, lost.

And then he is carried away into a wonderful (yet also terrifying) land of pack rivalries and bloodshed (much like Warriors, yay, everyone wins).

SO. There are three main packs in the series, the 'SS' pack (those are just the initials, the name is kinda long), the GG pack, and the RR pack. The SS pack is the main one, and the one that recruits Pancho (i.e. tries to help him get home but ultimately fails miserably because understanding  People is HARD). They are allied with the GG pack. The RR pack is the 'evil' pack, and rather mysteriously so; not a whole lot is known about them.

I've got the SS pack full of amazing doggies, but I need more background-y characters for the GG & RR packs. They won't have a whole lot of lines or be of grave importance, but having them there to make the packs seem bigger would be really really helpful.

So. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to create some GG and RR characters for me. It's a very simple process. Simply fill out this form below, and PM it to my FFN account. I repeat, don't stick it in a review or anything, just PM it to me. If you don't have an FFN account, then you can leave it in a comment here, I guess. Or just make an FFN account, since it's really easy. xD

A few things:

* Submissions are ONLY for the GG and RR packs.
*Submit as many charries as you like for either pack, but keep in mind there's no guarantee I'll use all of 'em.
*Packs accept all breeds, sizes, etc. of dogs.
*No pure-breds allowed, since it's very unlikely that they would appear on the streets. Half-breeds and pure mutts are fine.
* Packs are usually led by a First and a Second (alpha and beta). Sometimes there will be two Firsts (the alpha pair), however in this story there will not be. Coyle is the First of the GG pack, and Djoser is the Second. The positions for the RR pack are unknown, but I assure you they are already taken. So please don't submit any First/Seconds to either pack.
*The positions in the pack are a bit weird. There are three main 'duties' in the pack; there are Soliders (usually large and powerful dogs, these are the ones that fight for the pack in battle), Scouts (usually thinner, more agile dogs, these conduct patrols around the territory and deliver messages to other packs), and Sentries (usually very small, very loud dogs, these sleep all day but stay up all night to keep guard. They bark very loudly/annoyingly if they smell intruders; it is their job to alert everyone to danger). So, choose a position that best fits your character when you submit him/her. Keep in mind that female Soldiers are a little rare, since female dogs are usually weaker than males.
*The GG pack are generally seen as being good. They're a little haughty and vain, but they openly oppose the RR pack. Their leader, Coyle, is kind of a shady dude, but their Second, Djoser, is a very warm, kind dog. GG dogs are usually a bit disdainful of others, but still very loyal.
*The RR pack is another matter entirely. No one knows for sure who leads it; the only thing that is known is that they are very violent and brutal, and have been known to wipe out entire packs to gain territory and power. They are almost universally reviled. Many of the RR pack are mentally/emotionally unstable, and most of them are also badly scarred because of almost constant battle (including quite a bit of infighting).

Now, for the form:

Name:
Gender:
Pack: (Just put GG or RR)
Duty: (Sentry/Soldier/Scout)
Appearance: (You can just list their breed here, like Husky mix, or you can go into detail, either is fine)
Personality: (Be as detailed as you like)
Other: (Misc. stuff, like kin or relationships or whatever)

That was all probably really scary and complex, and if so I'm sorry! Explaining stuff is hard. Still, I hope you got the gist of it, and I really look forward to your submissions, and I reaaally hope you read & review my NaNo during November.

Love you guys. <33

Crazy she-cats all over the place :O

Yay, update! This one was less chipper than I'd intended. Originally Blackpaw and Spiderpaw were going to bond and be all adorable (I was listening to some really relaxing music at the time) but it didn't quite work out (mostly because my brother came in and Dragon Ball Z'd up the whole place and it was awful and I was cranky and Spider kind of took matters into his own paws there). Oh well, got to see some Leopard/Shimmer acktionz, which is always nice.

Anyway! I'm in a really good mood now, so hopefully I can work a lot on the next chapter today and everything will be super-fantastico~!

@Silence: Aww, thank you! And we will most definitely see Chillpaw's reasons for choosing Sootpaw. It will be amazingly dramatic and everyone will gasp and I'll cackle a bit, and it'll be great! :D More seriously, Chilly has a couple different reasons, all of which are very carefully thought out (cuz he's a ponderer, that one).

@Sara Darkotter: Oh man, I know! I don't always mean for them to do so but they just love to hear themselves talk. If I ever do revisions of Chilled, I'll probably snip quite a bit of the inner chitchat right out. But for now, it all gets to stay. :

@Tangleflame: Aww, thank you! As for pairings, my lips are sealed. Usually. ^^

@Anonymous: Thanks to you, I can spell Anonymous without having to use spell-check! It is quite an accomplishment, I think. And I will definitely agree in that comparison; the only different is that Birchy's is the result of severe trauma, which is (hopefully) not what caused Luna's. xD As for your theory, care to share? I love reading fan theories. :3

@Lynxeye: Moonpaw loves giving everyone a chance, but it's true that she helps out the DF kitties quite a bit. I really hope I can deliver the awesomeness for the DF kitties' stories, but we'll have to see. As for pairings....*whistles* And I am sorry you're confused, but hopefully everything will become clear eventually. :3

@Insane: Thank you! I do have a thing for parallels. I'm kind of symmetry freak, I guess.

@Silverblossom: Ah, interesting you pointed out the ocean thing. Most of the cats that use the word (Northstar and Silverstar have prolly done so on occasion) call it that because that's what their Clans called it; it only seems natural that after living near it for so many years they would come up with a word for it (especially since the sun doesn't always go down in the ocean; it depends on which coast the cats are near. For all we know, the sun could rise on this coast.) that is slightly more sophisticated. Sootpaw would have gotten the word from hearing her mother describe it in the stories that Ravenwing told her when she was a kit. Basically, to the cats that live by the ocean, it's not such a big deal; the ocean should be little more than a giant lake to them, so they would come up with a simple word, like 'ocean,' to describe it. Also, it seems like a lot of people are calling SootxSage, which I find to be very interesting (it is because I mentioned that love-interests-have-green-eyes-thing, I wonder?). Blight knows he has kits, but he's not interested in them (mostly because they were raised by Minnow, who was too strong for him to break, and were always taught that Blight was all evil and stuffs; Sage and Swift don't feel too kindly towards him).

@The Last Clan: I've been trying to update as regularly as I can, glad you appreciate it. That would be an interesting outcome for the whole Moonpaw thingy, I agree. We'll have to see. ^^

@TheVioletGleek: Such long delicious reviews...lovely~ As I mentioned last time, Shimmer's lover isn't someone we've met yet (although all bets are off for the future, if she moves on to someone else....). And I'm glad you like Spiderpaw! I'm fond of him too, even if he is just a cranky furball. It's not so much that I enjoy killing main characters, but I just really really love writing death scenes, for some reason (delicious delicious tragedy!) and it just so happens that some of the very best death scenes to write star main characters (although minor charries are good too...like Cricketsong's death, for example. I really liked his). As for Ravenwing, it's interesting that you're thinking of her, because she hasn't done much so far. Right now, she's just hoping (very very) anxiously that Sootpaw will come home with Northy and that everything will be great. We know that's not the case, and it'll be interesting to see how she reacts when she finds Jay instead of Soot, but for now she's trying to be hopeful. And I would totally love to read your one-shot! Fan theories are the best theories. :3

@TheVioletGleekx2: Remember, Chilly is a very impartial judge; he tells it like it is, and most of the time emotions don't get in his way. If he says Shimmer is violent, then she definitely is; we've seen it a few times in the past, although she generally cloaks her behavior. Before Chilly's behavior, she really did enjoy her job and everything, but in more recent times she's starting to walk a darker path....

@Midnight Thorn: Thank you! And Chilly definitely has. It's kind of hard for me to remember sometimes that he's technically a full-grown cat, even though I still picture him as being kind of small and apprentice-y. xD

@Nightkill: I believe you're leaving out the most important pairing: SagexChill. Kidding aside, believe me when I tell you that the pairings will probably get worse from here. But we'll just have to wait and see.

@Dawnshine: Thank you!

@Your Worst Nightmare: I guess I love you too. :D

@Priceless: It's okay, I understand! Real life gets in the way of everything. As for writing a book, I am planning on writing my NaNo this November!

Speaking of which....

I WASN'T LATE, YAY! HUGS FOR EVERYONE~

I actually managed to update in a timely manner! *pats self on back*

So much uproar over Shimmer's shenanigans, gasp (hehehe I knew there would be 8D). Let's get down to business~!

@Ravenshade: It's true, unfortunately Spider seems keen on making as many enemies/getting himself into as much trouble as possible. He'll prolly have broken all of my previous love interest/enemy records, he's got so much going on. Poor kitty, I could definitely never handle so much myself. xD

@Rowanshade: You are not completely shocked by Shimmer's reckless antics? What if I told you the tom...is her FATHER? *gasp*

He's dead of course, and happily married (mated?) but it could happen. xD

@Shimmertail: Quit making me laugh at your reviews. I smile too much as it is (xD). I'll admit, I'm fond of Leopardpaw. I've always wanted a Leopard-something to call my own (comes with the username, I'm afraid) but I've never actually made a Leopard-whatever in my four or five years of role-play...so now that I've got one, she had better be awesome, darnnit. I like Birchy too. She's sort of background-y (as she was in role-play) but she's nice and sweet and adorably spacey, which sometimes my stories need because they have a tendency to get a lil heavy. :p

@Tangleflame: Glad you do! I wouldn't worry too much about his identity, though. ^^

@Moving To Mars: I am minding so hard right now. You had better review every since chapter forever or I will kill Sootpaw off and tell everyone it's your fault. :O Seriously though, I'm glad I've inspired you and helped you out! I'm the same way, I tend to make quite a few mistakes when I'm jotting stuff down, but I'm really good at picking them out otherwise. Good luck with your own stories, and if you need help, don't hesitate to ask~

@Silverblossom: Glad you like Birchy and Leopard! As I said above, I really like them too (although I'm fond of pretty much all my characters, sigh...even Dapplefern, a tiny bit. That doesn't mean I won't hesitate to kill 'em off, though!). Listen to your detective senses, since you all usually have very good guesses! I'm always impressed by my reviewers' insights. ^^

@Lynxeye: It's always good to be suspicious of the POV, but in this case I don't think it could be mistaken for anything else. And I'm glad you like the bios! If there are any others you'd like to see, please suggest them. As for Brightstar, yes, in TR a kitty named Brightstar led ThunderClan; she and Brightstar actually looked a like (same ginger/white pelt and they both shared blue eyes, although new!Brightstar only has one blue eye and the other is gold). Originally I was gonna make Chilled!Brightstar in ThunderClan too, but I realized it would prolly be really confusing so I traded her for Nettlefrost in WindClan. xD

@Sunspirit: Shimmer is a pretty odd gal, but she's pretty, so that makes up for her flaws (in some toms' minds, anyway xD) and she's very, ah, passionate when she wants to be (whether she actually feels anything for her lover remains to be seen). Also, your Blackpaw scene is awesome. I demand you write a fic depicting it (just kidding, but that would be cool if you did xD). And you're welcome, I'm glad you liked the bios! 

Bios

Okay, bios are up now. That took a really really long time, so sorry about that. Anyway, they're up and beautiful so go look at them.

If there are more cats you guys want to see, just holla~