Replies to reviews:

Featherfall's Lullaby - I seriously was considering making them BFFs no joke

StormTheGreat - Yes! She definitely should've given her a good smacking!

A loyal reader - thank you! haha I looooovee Smokekit, can't wait for everyone to meet him!

Softeye - thank you! And I am considering naming one of her kits Dovekit, but I'm not sure yet haha :-)

Shadowlight and Swiftblaze - I actually love Sandpaw, she kinda reminds me of Hollyleaf because she really cares for her Clan :)

CHAPTER 24 – Days Gone By

"ShadowClan?" Sandpaw hissed, a look of confusion crossing her features.

Cinderpaw whipped around, her eyes wide and spooked. Her gaze flicked settled on Brightpaw almost immediately, "I found you," she breathed, too quiet for the ThunderClan apprentices to hear. She opened her mouth as if to say more, but changed her mind and snapped it shut. Her eyes remained filled with alarm as she stared hard at her sister.

Brightpaw felt the fur along her spine slowly start to rise. What was she to do? They had to chase Cinderpaw off ThunderClan territory, right? But she didn't have the guts to actually attack her sibling.

Thank StarClan it's Cinderpaw, though. If Whitepaw had come instead, Sandpaw might have noticed something, she thought with a quiet relief. The two were practically twins with their white fur and blue eyes, Cinderpaw being the obvious oddball with her gray fur and green eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Brightpaw mewed, her head titled on confusion.

Sandpaw's eyes flashed, "Who cares what she's doing! Why in StarClan's name is she on our territory?"

"It—it was an accident. Something happened," the ShadowClan apprentice stammered. But she wasn't looking at the ginger apprentice—she was still staring at her sister. "Something bad."

Brightpaw felt her eyes narrow. "What happened?" she found herself asking.

"She's ShadowClan, Brightpaw! Get off our territory!" Sandpaw snapped, taking a step forward.

Cinderpaw growled and shook her head, "I'm not here to fight you, mouse-brain!"

Sandpaw tried to lung forward but Brightpaw cut in between them, "Enough!" She turned towards her sister, "Go home," she advised darkly. "Don't come back here."

The gray apprentice watched her with careful eyes, nodding slightly, "I'll remember the border next time. Which way is it? These woods are so confusing."

Brightpaw held back her smile. She and her sister may have been separated for a long time, but they could still read each other. "The tiny stream. You'll see a small ash tree right next to it," she instructed.

Cinderpaw nodded, "Right," she mewed, backing away from them. "Sorry for the trespassing. Please don't get me in trouble, it was an honest mistake and I'm still learning the territory," she apologized, glancing over at Sandpaw. The older apprentice sighed and shook her head.

The ShadowClan apprentice took that as her cue to leave. She turned and hurried away into the underbrush, heading back the way she came.

Brightpaw felt her brow pinch in worry. Something had happened in ShadowClan, and whatever it was, Cinderpaw needed to talk to her. And, just as the ThunderClan apprentice had responded, they would meet at the ash tree by the border. The only problem was when she could get away from camp long enough to do it.

"We need to go report to Lionstar," Sandpaw meowed, breaking her from her thoughts.

The ginger and white apprentice shook her head sharply, "It was just a lost apprentice. I don't think it's worth throwing the Clan into a frenzy."

The other apprentice frowned, "We can't just not tell anyone."

"Look, Dovefeather's death is still weighing some cats down. Pebblefoot will be irrational and Sootwhisker will get spooked and Lionstar will try doing to ShadowClan what happened with WindClan. It's just a bad idea," Brightpaw insisted. The absolute last thing she needed was for extra patrols to be placed on the border. She just needed a little time to figure out what was going on. Life seemed to be moving extremely fast all of a sudden.

Sandpaw shook her head. "Please," Brightpaw whispered. "Believe me, I know you don't like me, but please don't argue with me. Just once," she begged.

The ginger apprentice finally relented, "Alright," she agreed. "But you owe me, Brightpaw. I don't know why you care so much," she mewed suspiciously.

A quiet sigh of relief escaped the she-cat's lips. For now, ShadowClan was safe.

"Where in StarClan's name did you two go?" Tigerpaw asked. The tabby was munching on a water vole, chewing thoughtfully as he stared at the two ginger she-cats walking towards him. They looked ruffled and Sandpaw kept glancing at Brightpaw out of the corner of her eye. Very unusual. Well, expect for Sandpaw's distrustfulness.

"We were by the ShadowClan border where you mouse-brains were supposed to be," Sandpaw muttered. She quickly picked a sparrow for herself and flopped down next to him with a tired sigh.

Brightpaw glanced towards the medicine den. It was oddly quiet. Usually Sparrowfeather would be inside chastising Featherpaw if she accidentally put borage into the pile of parsley leaves or something ridiculous like that, but lately the ThunderClan medicine cat spent more and more time away from camp.

"Your sister?" she asked, glancing at Tigerpaw.

The light in the tom's eyes slowly faded and he shook his head. Brightpaw's stomach felt tight as the guilt gripped her. "Oh," was all she said. Featherpaw hardly ever came out of the medicine den anymore. She was losing weight and her face looked thinner with each passing day. She was constantly tired and depressed. She wasn't Featherpaw.

"Wolfkit wanted to see you though," he murmured, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Leave it to Tigerpaw to remain the cheerful one, even when his sister was falling apart. "He had been waiting by the camp entrance for you to get back."

"Is he with Sootwhisker?"

"Yeah. She made me settle down for a nap, but he should be awake now."

The she-cat felt her eyes roll. Napping was Sootwhisker's way of dealing with the two kits. If they were bored or grumpy or too noisy then she would make them stay inside the nursery and sleep. It was annoying, but there wasn't much Brightpaw could do since the queen was kind enough to watch them all day.

Despite the fact that it was really Pebblefoot's job to take care of his own children.

She nodded a goodbye to her friends—well, Tigerpaw—before heading towards the nursery. She hadn't even made her way inside before Wolfkit peered his head out. His eyes lit up immediately. "Brightpaw!" he cheered.

The dark gray tom bounded forward, tackling the she-cat happily. Brightpaw let herself be pulled down by his weight. She laughed and shook her head, "Hello little one," she purred.

He grinned down at her, "Did you miss me?" he asked, tilting his head. "Fernshade told me stories about RiverClan! Is it true that they can swim?"

She nodded, "Yep, for some reason they enjoy swimming around in the water. It's really weird," she mewed, wrinkling her nose.

Wolfkit frowned, "Why don't we swim? Can you swim? Will you teach me?" he asked excitedly.

Brightpaw smiled, "Sure, but when you're an apprentice, okay? For now, you'll have to stick to the land."

"Okay," the kit mewed, seeming content with her decision. Wolfkit was pretty laidback, but that was a common trait in kits. What was there for them to worry about? He was also slightly inattentive. His overactive mind caused his focus to constantly shift, so most subjects would be dropped after a few seconds.

"Where's Smokekit?"

Wolfkit glanced around the clearing, his eyes narrowing with thoughtfulness. "With Featherpaw? I think. I don't remember. He snapped at Fernshade earlier and then apologized and left."

Brightpaw felt herself deflate. While it was easy for Wolfkit to make friends, Smokekit was the exact opposite. He didn't want friends. And there had been plenty of complains about the tom's rudeness to the warriors. She hoped that when Sootwhisker's kits came along there would be younger cats for him to relate to better.

"Can we stay with you tonight, Brightpaw?" Wolfkit asked, drawing her attention back to the little tom.

She sighed. It was a usual request from the two brothers if they could stay with Brightpaw in the apprentices' den, but unfortunately rules were rules, and she wasn't even their mother. Smokekit had a lot of nightmares and would wake in up the night wailing. It was a big reason why he spent a ton of time in the medicine den. Not by choice, but more as a request from Sparrowfeather.

"Not tonight," she admitted, shooting him an apologetic glance.

The kit's face fell at her words but was quickly replaced by a small smile. He was used to disappointment, even though he shouldn't have to be. Brightpaw's apprentice duties kept her quite busy throughout the day, and he ended up missing her a lot.

"Can you keep a secret?" She mewed, lowering her face to Wolfkit's level.

The tom immediately perked up, "Yes!" he whispered, his paws twitching with excitement. She grinned at him. Wolfkit loved her more than any other cat in ThunderClan. Even his own father.

"I'm sneaking out of camp tonight," she said in a hushed voice.

Okay, maybe she wasn't exactly the best role model.

I know, I know, this was a filler chapter, but hey they're necessary! So yes, Wolfkit kind of has (in human terms) ADHD. Haha I love him already! Thank you guys for reviewing and voting and following and reading and EVERYONE YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!

Teaser: Introducing Smokekit!

qotd ; why do you think Cinderpaw needs to talk to Brightpaw? Lemme know!

-Stormyyy