LOL GUYS LIEK I'M SO SRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN FOREVERZ! I LIKE COULDNT I HAD VACATION TROLOLOLOL!1!11!1eleventythirteenbagillion

Okay, no. I am sorry for not updating in so long, but really there was nothing getting in my way but being fourteen, fandoms, coming out of the closet ._., my art etc...so yep, sorry. It was only your guys' reviews and messages of ff where are you bitch that got me to write the next chappiee...but here it issss.

This chapter is six months after the previous one and Faithpaw is still in the cave. The point is he's aged some, so I guess you could think of him as being about..fifteen, sixteen? Give or take...

I keep forgetting im not on deviantart...

Btw, human swears in this one. I know it's not right in the Warriors world and I really don't care. I need them to be as effective as I want. If you're bothered by swearwords then you really shouldn't be reading a PG-13 rated fiction. This is a mature fiction with mature themes. Deal with it.

TEN

Thirst. Horrible dreams. And hunger, but not for food.

Those became Faithpaw's best friends. The sat on the nest next to him and whispered in his ear.

Sometimes he wondered if he was going crazy. It had been a long, long time since he'd last seen sunlight.

After the first moon of being trapped in the cave blocked by the boulder Midnightstar stopped coming to talk to him, stopped sending in other cats. Nobody visited anymore. He wondered if they had forgotten him, at first, when he went for five straight days of nothing. And then someone cracked the boulder aside and threw two mice and some wet moss in.

The wet moss was heaven. But it wasn't enough. He lay sideways on his nest, stretched out, eyes open in the pitch blackness and panted. Panted and listened to the sound of the air rushing in and out of his throat. It was made of sand.

Left with nothing but his thoughts.

All he thought about was her. Every

time his mind strayed off it flew back moments later. Everything else seemed to connect to her.

There was the horrible, frustrated impatience, the desperation to break out and find her, to take her away and make sure she was safe, to protect her...to know where she was, what was going on. That was awful. Sometimes it became so hard to bear just being stuck here, unable to do anything, not knowing that he cried out in agony and kicked against the boulder. Why wouldn't it move.

And then there was the longing. That was probably worst of all. Longing and wishing he was anywhere but here. That he was there, with her. That she was here, with him. As long as they were together.

The horrible dreams. In all of them he saw the faces of Lightpaw, Sunpaw, Mousepaw. Windstorm. Broken faces that were cut open, gouged apart but wouldn't bleed. Siftpaw was never in those dreams. Only the others. In the hours he was awake he would torture himself by forcing himself to remember in clear detail what had happened, how he'd killed them. For his sins, he knew he had to pay.

He felt older, somehow. Six moons passed trapped in the darkness, underground. That does something to a cat. The cold, stale air creeps into the skin and gets inside the bones maybe. The darkness, the emptyness. It leaves a mark.

Maybe it was he just didn't feel so small and...young. The hunger? That was all for her. Hunger for every part of her. He was rarely hungry for food. He didn't want to eat when he wasn't moving.

He finally got another visitor six, seven moons later. It could have been more. He'd lost track of time. He felt so old.

The visitor was a she-cat. He didn't recognize her. Not be sight. Her scent smelled faintly of WindClan, but he wasn't sure if that meant anything. She wasn't from his Clan at least.

They pushed the boulder open and let her in. He didn't know who they were, just that they were there everytime it was open. Faithpaw lapped at the light, closed his eyes, bathed in it. Let it push warmth and life back into his fur. After moments it was creased shut again. This time there was someone else in the cave with him. She reeked of life. Her breath was loud, her lungs still so lively. They hadn't been breathing dead air for six moons.

"Hi," she said. Her voice sounded very very young but he couldn't be very much younger than he. It wasn't like new kits were being born. "I'm Raintail. You probably don't know me, I'm from WindClan..." she trailed away, allowing him a place to respond he didn't fill. "They wanted me to come talk to you...I'm like an errand cat, heh heh..."

He didn't speak. Wasn't sure if he could, actually, but more than that he just didn't want to.

"They said they're going to be sending you a she-cat...Echopaw. She's of my Clan too, only I'm already a warrior, heh...They said.." she paused, as if trying to remember the exact words. "...'you know what to do with her.' I don't know but there you go."

A long pause. She waited, he could hear her fidgeting. Could hear her breathing, could hear her mind thinking, processing his silence. Then she turned and scratched at the boulder. It was opened and she left.

Faithpaw coughed, tested his voice. A rasp. A dry rasp. Coughed again. Managed to get a bit of a tone. Eh. That would work.

Several hours later the boulder was opened again. This time he lay without moving, didn't turn toward the light. Felt its warmth on his body but didn't blink, didn't even look over as the new cat entered. His lack of caring was so immense he could feel it.

He heard the cat sit down. Heard her breathing. Not as loud as Raintail's. Just a quiet in out, in out. After a bit she scuffed one paw.

"Hey there."

"...hey." His voice was a dead cat.

"Um...well you probably know what I'm here for..."

Didn't answer.

"I'm not sure how to go about this, uh..."

He coughed hard. Had to get these words out right. "ShadowClan. How is ShadowClan."

"Fine?"

" me."

"We're...at war with them." Echopaw, that was what Raintail had said her name was, said vaugely.

"Why?"

"Don't you know?"

Didn't reply.

He could feel Echopaw looking at him. "Well, Midnightstar has shown us to the light. She showed us the right way and that we don't need StarClan as long as we trust in her."

He blinked. ...what?

Echopaw went on. "But some dirty minded cats don't agree with her and they still fight her. Those cats will not be saved. They will not be shown enlightenment." He could see the disgust in her voice.

"Why are we at war with them?"

"Midnightstar says the Clans will be healthier if they unite. WindClan, my clan already said okay, we teamed up. We are smart, we understand that one big Clan means no more war. But ShadowClan refused. Midnightstar says we will show them that is not okay; We have already invaded deep into their lines and claimed some of their territory." Echopaw said, "RiverClan rebelled too. But we recruited some of them after only a few attacks because they're weak. Several still rebel, I think they teamed up with ShadowClan."

"Have you seen a tabby she-cat? Gray and brown with white splotches. Big dark brown eyes...beautiful eyes. A ShadowClan cat."

"I don't know," Echopaw said. He could almost hear her shrug. "I haven't been fighting. But I can say any cat who doesn't' see the light, any cat who doesn't see how wise Midnightstar is is blind and dispicable."

He let his muscles relax, set his head back down. Stared at a far point of the cave wall.

"...about what we have to do."

"No," he mumbled, "No. Only Siftpaw."

"Who..?"

Silence fell for a bit.

"Um they're going to check if I have..." Echopaw sounded incredibly young, incredibly unsure and frightened. "Please just..."

"No," He said, with a little more force. He could hear tears behind his voice. Tears and a lot of pain. The wails of a little, broken kit.

"Um..."

A voice shouted from outside. "Hurry up!"

"Listen, please-!"

"Go," Faithpaw growled, "Get out."

"They'll kill me!"

"Get out!"

She scrambled backward. Her fear filled the cave and thickened the air. "Please!" She gasped, "Please, Please!" The boulder opened, she was yanked out. He heard her wail escalate into a scream. "Please, please, I'm sorry, he wouldn't-No! NO! NO!"

He closed his eyes. Listened but tried not to hear it. Distracted himself with the information Echopaw had given him. Most of ShadowClan was now part of ThunderClan then? And maybe WindClan too...So that meant Siftpaw could be out there, could be just out there. Nearby.

He had to get out. He had to get out.

A week later the boulder was ripped away. Not cracked open, not rolled aside, but moved far far away. He raised his head, blinded by all the light. By the trees, rich with leaves in the sunlight. Grass bushes and mainly, faces. Faces peering in at him. The ones in the front were cold, unforgiving. The ones farther away were more curious.

"Get him, get him," he heard them ordering each other and before he knew it he was being yanked forward, paws and claws tugging at his flanks, his shoulders, his neck. He didn't struggle, just let his muscles relax as he was manhandled out into a grassy stretch leading away from his prison.

"Get his lips."

Someone slashed across his muzzle. Blood bubbled into his mouth. He winced, doubled up in pain. Tried to bring a paw to his mouth but some cats held it down. A moment later the same claws got his eyes, both of them. He whimpered, the kind of whimper that's a cry that gets stuck in your throat. His mouth hurt too much to open and now he couldn't see.

Teeth in his scruff and on the loose skin around his spine. He was being tugged forward, dragged across the damp grass and the moss below him. He cracked open an eye, saw the heads of the cats pulling him, saw the heads of other cats, bystanders, staring at him. Saw trees creating a canopy in the sky.

"There she is. Stop. Stop!"

The tugging stopped. The cats all stood back, in a rough line. Stood up tall and stared straight forward. He almost felt like he should do it too.

A cat walked into view. Walked slowly, confidently, but with tense muscles locked in place. Flanked by two other cats that followed closely behind her. Midnightstar, his leader.

"Is this him?" She asked the cats behind her. They nodded.

Midnightstar looked down at him. Looked at him like a cat inspecting some prey for maggots. Looked into his squinting, blood clouded eyes. "Sit him up."

The cats around him yanked him up, yanked him up roughly and forced him to sit up. He let his head sag.

"I want you putting him with the soldiers," she said. Her voice had no care. Like she was reciting off a mental list covered in lines for her to say. "He's already been through basic apprentice training so he should know how to fight, but he'll need the new updated soldier training, okay?"

"But isn't he the only male-" stammered a brown and gray she-cat with a trembling mottled tail, shaking under Midnightstar's gaze.

"Just because he's the only male doesn't give him any more rights than the rest of us, shitface!"

She turned now and looked at Faithpaw. He could feel her eyes staring at the top of his white head. She lifted his face up with a paw.

"You disobedient prick," she snarled. She seemed extra big, unusually large. That huge face, that giant snarl. The extreme mass of her muscles. "I send girls in there for you and you don't give me what I want." She stabbed her claws into his skin and jerked him hard, back than forward, forcing his face to look up into hers. He swallowed on his on tongue, his own blood running into his throat. "Don't you dare give me shit. Don't you dare!"

Shook him again. He could feel his brain shaking around his head. Blood started to ooze again out of the cuts from the other cats.

"I'm going to teach you what happens to shits who make the wrong decisions." his face was too close to hers, she was spitting, spitting into his eyes. He could feel his breath struggling in and out of his nose, hissing. "You disobey me, you get payback. Got it?"

He tried hard to nod, knowing if he didn't she'd shake him again. It must not have been enough because she did anyway, kicking him also in the stomach so he curled over, but she held him up by his head. His neck strained. "Do you get it?"

"Yes," he said around his own mouth.

"Your going to war," she snarled, "You're going out there and you're going to fight and you're going to do what we tell you as long as we well you."

He nodded hard. Her other paw was digging into the back of his neck. It sent pain all the way down his spine.

"You're going to go get briefed now. My cats will show you the way. There'll be other soldiers there, rookies like you. You don't speak to anyone unless you are spoken too. Okay?"

He nodded again.

She leaned in closer now, and added, "If you ever, ever say anything about that sick little shit we found you with after you killed your own damn Clanmates, I'm going to make you eat your own shit. Got it?"

He stared at her yellow teeth, the flecks of saliva flying from them. Stared and felt hatred roiling inside him, felt it consume him, felt it control him and make him go mad. He tried to pull back against her hateful grip, but she wouldn't release him. Tried harder and harder. Giving her a look at the tips of his fangs. Strained against her claws.

Suddenly, he was moving backward and he thought for a moment that he'd broken free from her, but then he realized it was really just her shoving him back into the dirt. His back had only just made shattering contact with the hard ground before she landed on top of him and she started to bang her unsheathed claws rhythmically into his nose. Smash, smash, smash, smash.

He tried to raise a paw up to stop her but she held it down. It was over a second after it started and he almost couldn't remember it happening. She stood off him and he slowly rolled over, curling onto his side and caressing his face, holding his bleeding nose. His throat was closed, he couldn't breathe.

At least that meant he couldn't find air to cry.

"Make sure you teach this shit the way things are now," Midnightstar muttered in a growl to her followers, and then she turned and walked off, flanked by her flankers.

Faithpaw's nose bones were broken, he could feel at least one of them shattered inside. He realized dimly he was lucky Midnightstar didn't manage to hit them up into his brain, killing him.

…he almost wouldn't have minded.

Many of the other cats left then. He just lay, eyes closed, caressing his face and feeling so utterly and completely unhappy.

Once again, it was just the thought of Siftpaw, the possibility she was alive out there somewhere that kept him moving, that got him to drag himself to his feet when the other cats tried to raise him up. Then they lead him and he had to walk all on his own out of the camp, which was just full of cats, more cats than ever, and out into the forest. It wasn't long they traveled before he was dropped off at a clearing that had once been the training hollow and left alone.

There were five other cats in there, females. Four of them looked unsure and healthy, clean paws, neat pelts. Faithpaw recognized them. Raintail, one of the cat's who'd visited him in his cave, and Swiftpaw, from his Clan. He wasn't sure if she was still apprentice. Then there was a cat that smelled of WindClan that he didn't know. The other was Echopaw. She had a paw wrapped in a messy cast of twigs and cobwebs and herbs. He was surprised she was here. She looked away when he looked at her.

The fifth cat was older, bigger. From his Clan. Hawkfeather, a she-cat who had always seemed tough seemed even tougher now. Scars and matted gray and brown fur. Ragged claws. She paced in front of the cats, but stopped and looked up as he arrived.

"Sit down. Clean up your face." she ordered.

He did so, gingerly trying to wipe the blood off his nose.

"Why are you here?" Echopaw whispered to him. When she turned to him he realized her far eye was squeezed shut and swollen. Injured with claw marks.

He shrugged, looked away.

"I'm here because I didn't mate with you," she replied to his silence, "They said this was my punishment. As well as my wounds."

No need to reply, he thought. Didn't much care.

Hawkfeather started pacing again. "You five wussies are here for a reason," she ground out, "Even if Midnightstar doesn't say it, cats like you are the most important right now. You're the fighters, the whole reason our Clan is getting bigger and prospering so much."

She turned to look at the five of them gathered there. "But there's rules here. You gotta do whatever I say, or whatever a higher up warrior says when they say it. If someone tells you to lay down your life so your Clanmates can succeed, you will do it. If someone tells you to kill, you will kill. We are not playing kit-games anymore. This is different. We fight to kill. You get an enemy in your claws, you will kill her. Or she will kill you. You choose one or the other. You will not address your enemy. You will not speak to her as if she is another cat. Because she is not. She is despicable shit and she deserves death for not seeing the nirvana Midnightstar clearly provides. Am I understood?"

Everyone nodded frantically. Even Faithpaw. It took him a moment to realize that he'd done it.

"I don't really care who you are, and I don't care about your problems," Hawkfeather told them, "I don't care about what it is you care about and I don't care about what it is you don't want to do. I just want you to do what I tell you and prove yourselves out there. If you want to make me like you, that's all I need."

More nodding.

"Here's how it works. We've got several units with four to six warriors stationed in various places throughout ShadowClan and RiverClan territory. We are doing what it takes to take over their damn territory they don't even deserve. We've already claimed quite a bit of it, but the enemies still fight us because they're stupid enough to think they can get it back. We're sending you guys into RiverClan, you're going to be fighting with several other squads to get farther and farther into the territory, and we'll stay there overnight to hold it. Is it clear?"

Nodding and yeses.

"First though, you need some training. Sure, you've all done that soft kittypet play we used to consider 'warrior training' but that aint anything like real war." she flexed her shoulders, showing off some deep, old scars embedded there. "I gotta teach you how it really works."

–

Then there was the training.

Faithpaw failed it miserably.

He knew he would, and he did. Hawkfeather planned for them to train for three moons before sending them out into combat. She trained them hard. She fought them, she made them fight each other. Claws out. She simulated real situations and made them go through it.

Faithpaw always seemed to be the one pinned down.

Hawkfeather yelled at him, told him he needed to work harder, he needed to show some effort. He needed to get anger behind his strike.

He tried hard. He tried even harder. He tried his hardest.

He still failed.

Even Echopaw, the injured, littlest one, got him down every time.

Sometimes he thought of how he'd managed to kill Lightpaw and Mousepaw and Sunpaw that one awful awful day. He tried to remember what he had done, but there was nothing but a lot of red and fury.

But he managed to make it through the three months of training.

Then it was time for war.

Hawkfeather briefed them again before hand.

"Here's how it works. You guys show us a good two years of fighting, you show us that you're worthy, we let you off and let you be part of the Clan and you never have to fight again."

She had everyone's attention.

She stopped pacing for once and held up a paw. "Two years. We need two years."

She stood up, shook out her muscles. "It's war time. Come on, you pansies.

–

There wasn't even fighting right away.

Hawkfeather lead them into RiverClan territory, past the border Faithpaw used to remember and recognize. So much had changed. The trees, the grass seemed grayer and gloomier. The sky was covered in clouds but it was still bright. The forest was quiet, quieter than it should be anyway. No birds singing. No bugs in the grass. The dead leaves and twigs that broke under their paws were extra noisy.

In the distance you could hear war.

Cats began to come into view after they'd been in RiverClan territory for a good while. Cat's from Faithpaw's Clan and cat's from WindClan as well. One of them bounded up to Hawkfeather. Behind her, past her, Faithpaw could see cat's fighting. He didn't look long or hard enough to determine how it was going out there.

The new cat, Faithpaw didn't know her name because she was clearly from WindClan stopped in front of Hawkfeather and the four behind her. She stood up straight and dipped her head swiftly before addressing her.

"It's good you brought those four. We're totally swamped out here. Several fresh forces from ShadowClan have arrived."

"Balls," Hawkfeather growled, squinting her eyes at the war. One cat, from WindClan, ran howling over toward them, rump bleeding profusely. She screamed, a high scream like a rabbit when you bite it's neck as a RiverClan warrior bolted after her and pinned her down, bowling her roughly over and violently ripping out her throat.

Hawkfeather grunted in distaste as some of their forces went after the killer, surrounding her in a ring of snarls she disappeared within. Hawkfeather turned and looked at the four warriors following after her. "Okay, you four. Time to prove your worthy. Get out there and push these bastards back. Faithpaw and...Echopaw? You two, take the left side, see if you can flank them. Raintail and Swiftpaw, you keep an eye on them but I want you taking the center. Find some other cats to fight behind, because I'm sure you wussies won't be able to take anyone on your own yet. Got it?"

Yeses and nodding all around.

"Get out there and show them what we've got!" Hawkfeather yelled.

Echopaw started to run. Faithpaw jerked foreward, stumbling after her. He kept an eye on her black and white tail as she moved through the trees, heading around the left side of where the warring cats were.

"Echopaw-" Faithpaw said desperately, his frantic, cowardly heart fluttering in his chest, "Let's bail. Let's get out of here. Run back to camp."

"No, we have to fight," she said without looking back at him or slowing, "It's our duty."

"We're going to die," he whined, "I don't want to die yet."

"We aren't going to die if we protect ourselves."

"Do you WANT to fight or something?"

Echopaw stopped and looked at him. Her blue eyes were round shaped. "No, I don't," she said softer, a lot of the cold tone gone from her voice. "But I'd rather fight where I Have a chance then go home and get beat apart again for failing."

Faithpaw looked at her, fidgeting with nerves. Oh god, he was so scared. His mind replayed the brutal murder of the fleeing WindClan cat he'd seen just earlier. Oh StarClan, oh StarClan, pelase, please watch over me, he prayed. He knew they weren't listening.

Echopaw's gaze softened a lot. "Come on," she said gently, nosing him into a standing position. "Let's get out there and do some fighting."

He followed her the rest of the way through the trees.

They reached the edge of where most of the cats were fighting. The woods here were quieter. The sound of war was muted.

The sound of birds and animals was too.

"Here," Echopaw whispered, "Get down and we'll try to slink up and see if we can take out some cats from the side."

She was really made for this.

They got on their bellies. They slithered through the grass, they slithered through the bushes. The came closer and closer to the fighting. It got louder and louder. As every second passed Faithpaw got more and more scared. His heart was a trapped bird again. It didn't have wings though, so it couldn't fly out to a more promising cat.

He wanted to bail so bad.

He wanted to turn around and run and run and leave this fucked forest behind forever.

But Siftpaw was still there somewhere.

And as long as he knew she might be alive, he was going to do everything he could to get back to her.

Some cats came into view. A party of three RiverClan cats, trotting closer to the fighting. Tails and ears pricked. Alert, but unaware. Off to war.

"On my mark," Echopaw whispered into his trembling air. His eye twitched in response.

"...now."

Echopaw stood up fast and bounded like a panther out of the bushes, crouched and leaped hard, bowling over one of the cats over. The two of them went spinning and spinnign and then they were one unit, one flying unit of screaming and fur.

Faithpaw followed. His legs did, anyway. He was just moving, and then he was leaping, and he was attacking. Blindly he slashed at the gray fur he saw before him, blindly he clawed. It was okay at first, he was doing fine. Until the cat's claws sliced over his cheek and the pain took him over, distracted him and he fell back onto his back. The cat leaped upon him. He didn't even get time to realize he almost had died before Echopaw cut the cat down with one mighty slash of her bloodied claws.

Then it was quiet. The RiverClan patrol lay slain. Echopaw was breathing hard. "Sharpen your senses, Faithpaw. Wake up," she hissed at him. "I'm not going to be able to save your ass next time."

"Yeah," he said, nodding and cradling his cheek. She paused to peer at his injury. "That's isn't that bad. You'll get worse. Let's go."

She started off again, slinking with quick precision through the grass. Faithpaw followed and glanced once back at the killed patrol. He felt sick inside seeing their dead, helpless bodies. He didn't linger on it, he looked away and pushed it out of his head. He had to endure two more years of this.

"There," Echopaw said, pointing ahead. Here they had reached the edge of the main fighting. "We're going to go there and take over and keep moving deeper. See that ginger on the left? You take her, I'll take the black one."

"Yeah," Faithpaw said with a shaking nod.

"Good luck, wuss," she hissed as she flitted forward, still unseen. This time he didn't wait to follow her, just started to move again. Fell into a steady bound and then he went right for the ginger, who had just broken away from the ThunderClan warrior she'd been fighting. He just flew right at her and slammed into her hard. Squeezed his eyes shut and clawed at her. Suddenly she was down and his fear took control. It ripped out her head and threw her body aside.

And then there was a cat right after her. He fought her down too. Then another. He fought. He fought hard. He was all claws, all moving claws and a snarl that hurt his mouth. He was behind his paws flying around him and his mind wasn't even involved, it was just his claws and the desperate desire to kill them before they killed him.

It loosened several hours later when more ThunderClan and WindClan warriors arrived to fight with the him and Echopaw. They managed to move deeper into RiverClan's territory and leave markers.

And then it was quiet there. Finally the remaining enemies flew back into their own territory and they settled down for the night.

Faithpaw lay by Echopaw at the base of a young oak tree. He licked his wounds. There was a medicine cat on scene but she was busy, treating a long line of wounded warriors, warriors wounded way worse than he. Cats with the flesh hanging off their shoulders and things, cats with limps twisted the wrong ways. Cats missing ears, cat's missing eyes. His scratches didn't seem to bad.

"You did good today," Echopaw said, turning to look at him and giving him a smile. She had one eye closed, a scratch riding over it. "You found some strength."

Faithpaw shrugged. "I think...it's just fear that keeps me fighting."

"That's how it is for most of us," Echopaw told him, "But I'm glad. I hope we get to keep fighting together in the future."

He nodded and turn back to his wounded paw.

"You don't say much, do you?" Echopaw asked after a short pause.

He shrugged.

"You know...I've been watching you during training and stuff...so what's your story?"

"My story?"

"Yeah. You seem like you've seen a lot of the world, more than most your age."

"...not really." He shrugged.

"More than me anyway," Echopaw said to him,

He laughed, short, nervous. Titled to his head and inspected his paw. Then he managed to get out, "I'm...kind of looking for someone."

"Hmm?"

"A ShadowClan apprentice that I met about nine moons ago."

"What's so special about her?"

He shrugged. "She's just special. I want to find her."

"ShadowClan are our enemies."

"I know...but the only reason I'm still around is because I think maybe I can find her by fighting this war."

"Wow."

"I just want to get back to her. So we can be together."

Echopaw blinked at him in interest. "She's a lucky cat."

"No she isn't."

Echopaw turned away and kept nursing her wounds. "Eh. We should probably get some rest. See you in the morning." she rolled over and placed her head on her paws and was silent.

Faithpaw turned the other direction and squeezed his eyes shut. He saw Siftpaw's face tattooed on the inside of his eyes. She made him sick. So sick with longing.

This wasn't edited very well, sorry. And sorry again for the really slow update. But hey you get a long chapter! /brick'd But I've got my heart and inspiration back into this story and plot and I'm excited to write more. Part one of the story is finished and this chapter kind of begins part 2. Which is, unfortunately, as dark and depressing or even more so than part 1. Faithpaw is a grown cat now, basically. Sorry for all the long time shifts in this chapter, but I need to start speeding up his growth.

My apologies for the late update. More coming soon.