Wow. I have nothing to say. I'm at a total loss. I had sort of given up hope that I would ever have time to finish this. But yesterday I received notification that I had a new review to my story. It's amazing they even managed to find this. But as long as there are people who care about this, I shall write. Thank you.

Ivypool sat down and selected a squirrel from the fresh-kill pile. She barely tasted it as she chewed, though. Her mind was on many other things. She looked at the sky, a handful of clouds moving lazily across a vast blue backdrop. Once again she remembered how she had fought Clawface, the fierce flames that had consumed him painfully. She shuddered a bit, and then felt something that was still a little foreign to her. A tiny kick in her abdomen. It had been difficult to come to grips with the idea that she was expecting kits. And with Bumblestripe of all cats, to boot. The tabby had harbored a crush on her sister for moons, and for a moment they were involved, but for whatever reason Dovewing had broken it off. The poor tom had been heartbroken, and Ivypool felt like she could relate to his sadness. If someone had told her when she was an apprentice that they would be mates, she would have written them off as mouse-brained. Yet there they were.

Did she love him? Well, sure. He was a nice guy, and he was fairly attractive. He certainly seemed to care a lot for her. But there were times when Ivypool wondered if there was really a connection. "Hey!" A voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see Dovewing padding up to her. Ivypool dipped her head in greeting as her sister sat down next to her. The she-cat's eyes darted to her sister's extended belly. "Your kits are really starting to come along," she noted. Ivypool nodded. "Bumblestripe will be happy." Dovewing looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of the tom, but shook it off. "Are you feeling all right?" she asked her sister, who didn't look at her and said, "Yeah. Everything's fine." Dovewing rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid? Tell me what's wrong." Ivypool sighed. "I'm worried about how my pregnancy will affect my training in the Dark Forest," she said in a low voice. Dovewing's eyes shone with sympathy. Before she could answer, though, a yowl came from the camp entrance as the dawn patrol returned.

Birchfall, Poppyfrost, and Thornclaw entered, flanking a fourth cat, dark gray. A WindClan scent seemed to come from him. The stranger seemed to be struggling, but not attempting to fight. "You don't understand! This is urgent! I have to speak to Firestar right away!" Birchfall snorted. "Yeah, yeah, why wouldn't the leader or deputy come if there were a problem?" The gray cat broke free of them. "The leader is the problem!" Before any further arguing occurred, Squirrelflight stepped in between the cats. "Crowfeather?" she asked. The cat looked at her and said, "Finally, a cat with some sense!" He paused. "You have no idea how ironic it felt to say that about you." Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. "You want to talk to Firestar?" Crowfeather nodded. "I am right here." Everyone turned around to see the leader had stepped up behind them all. "Speak, Crowfeather."

The WindClan warrior nodded again. "It's Onestar. He's gone mad. He seems to be planning some kind of assault on ThunderClan. This goes beyond an attack. He wants all of you dead, you included," he added, looking at Firestar. The orange cat closed his eyes and sighed. "How do you know we can trust you?" Crowfeather's eyes clouded with grief. "He only told a few people of this plan. One of them was my mother, the deputy Ashfoot. She told him his plan was insane and that she wouldn't stand for this massacre. He almost killed her, then had her exiled, but not before she told me of it. I agree with her; his plan is crazy!" Firestar looked shocked. "If Ashfoot was exiled, who is deputy now?" The warrior bowed his head. "My son, Breezepelt." A collective gasp arose among those who were gathered there. The ThunderClan leader spoke softly. "When is he planning this?" he asked. Crowfeather looked up, fear and confusion burning in his eyes. "A week from now, right before the Gathering."

Murmurs from every cat mingled in the crowd. Suddenly a sharp voice rose above the rest. "How can we trust him?" Ivypool scanned the large group to find the voice came from her father, Birchfall. "How do we know he's not part of this conspiracy?" the tom said venomously. Vague sounds of agreement cropped up around him. Crowfeather bristled. "He tried to kill my mother! Why would I work for him?" he said furiously, and the crowd fell silent. "Besides, all of you know very well that there are cats in ThunderClan I would not like killed." No one bothered to ask who he was referring to. Firestar dipped his head in thanks to the young WindClan cat and leapt onto the Great Rock.

"Cats of ThunderClan! We have been friendly with WindClan in the past. They were once our closest allies. We helped each other in times of need. But that has changed." He looked at all of his warriors. "Onestar was a close personal friend of mine. But if he is willing to go through with this lunacy, we must put an end to it!" Amid the cheers, he turned to Crowfeather and said, "Roll in fox dung before you return and pretend you were hunting." The dark gray tom nodded and bounded out of the camp. Addressing the throng once more, he said, "We must prepare a counterstrike. We have five days. Then we must be ready."