C h a p t e r 28

Moonpaw ran up to her as soon as she entered the dream; she greeted the black apprentice with a quiet purr.

"Hey, Moonpaw. How are you?" she asked, only to blink when she saw the anxiety on the black apprentice's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Chillpaw needs to see you, and quickly," Moonpaw meowed. "Something's happened, and now it's time for you to make your decision. He can't wait any longer."

Sootpaw blinked, but nodded quickly. "Okay. Take me to him."

Moonpaw turned, plunging into the swirling mist; Sootpaw hastened to catch up, having to run just to keep the black apprentice in sight. Gradually, the mist began to clear, and she could make out Chillpaw's ghostly form.

"Chillpaw!" she exclaimed, dashing towards him, passing Moonpaw; the black apprentice had stopped, simply watching. "What happened? What's wrong?"

He said nothing until they touched noses, sending the familiar icy tingle running through her body.

"We were attacked," he meowed. Her eyes widened, and the other Dark Forest cats rose in her mind; her breath caught as she realized that if even one of them died, the ceremony would be that much harder to complete. Chillpaw had said that it would already be more difficult with only seven cats instead of nine; what would they do if they were down to six, or five? Could they even attempt it?

"Oh, it's sweet if you to look so worried," a smooth voice purred. Blight padded forward out of the shadows, his single eye gleaming. "We're all still alive and well. There's no need to fret, pet."

She looked to Chillpaw for confirmation, and he nodded.

"We are all still alive, at the very least," he meowed, and flicked his tail, motioning for her to follow. Blight turned with a slight smirk, padding alongside the white tom.

It was darker than before, she noted; there was still the single star gleaming in the sky, but it seemed smaller now, weaker. The scenery looked more gray than anything, with the shadows hovering underneath every branch.

The two toms led her deeper into the forest; she could barely make out the shapes of the other cats. Most of them sat up when they saw her, but one remained lying down; the thick-furred tom, Swiftshade.

"Is he injured?" she whispered to Chillpaw.

"Sort of," the white tom replied. "He was injured defending Nettlefrost in battle, but the injury healed almost immediately. We don't bleed like living cats; we bleed lifeforce, and it heals our injuries as it seeps out..."

"That's what keeps you here, right? The lifeforce stuff?" she asked. "And when you run out of it, you fade?"

"Exactly," Blight meowed. "Lifeforce is the only thing that keeps us tethered here...and a few of us will be running rather low soon." Sootpaw followed his eyes towards the other cats, and blinked as Brightstar's odd-eyed gaze met her own.

But why was Swiftshade defending Nettlefrost? Sootpaw wondered. She was the deputy of ThunderClan, right? Shouldn't she have been strong enough to take care of herself?

"I see," was all she said, before asking, "Who was it that attacked you?"

Chillpaw shrugged. "Just a small group. We outnumbered them fairly easily, and they weren't all that intelligent. We dispatched them."

Sootpaw looked around, but couldn't see any bodies. Did Dark Forest cats fade away when they died, leaving no trace of their existence behind? Somehow, she found this to be impossibly sad.

Why did they attack the group if they were outnumbered? She wondered, but didn't have time to ask; Chillpaw was fixing her with his icy eyes, and it was obvious that he was wanting to ask her a question. It wasn't difficult to guess what it was about.

"I've made my decision," she said quietly.

"That much is obvious. You're going to help us; you wouldn't have followed us thus far if you weren't," Chillpaw meowed. Blight let out an amused purr at the expression on her face.

"You're too soft to follow us here and see the faces of the cats you were leaving behind, pet, that's how we know you're going to help," he explained. "Although, judging from your expression, there are conditions attached."

Her ears flattened, and she nodded. "I hope you don't mind, but...although I will help you, I don't want to know your crimes...at least not right away." Chillpaw's ears pricked but he said nothing, waiting for her to continue, and she plunged forward, "I know that eventually you all will have to tell me what you did...but I'd like to put that off as long as possible. The problem of me hearing your crimes and nothing else is that as soon as I know what you've done...I won't be able to think of anything but that. I won't be able to really think of you as anything but murderers or thieves or...whatever you were." Her voice faltered as Chillpaw stared at her. "But if I could get to know you all before then...if I could understand not just how but why you all did what you did, I think it would be better..." She trailed off uncertainly.

Blight turned towards the others, who had been listening intently. He smiled, his single eye gleaming. "What did I tell you?"

"It wasn't that hard to predict," Brightstar growled. "I told you both that she was too young and too soft to be helpful. Us sharing our lives with her is a waste of time. She made a promise and she should keep it without any cobwebs attached."

"I think it's a good idea," Shrew said timidly, only to shrink back as Dapplefern snarled at him.

"You aren't allowed to speak," she spat. "Not with what you've done."

"It's because of what he's done that he prefers Sootpaw getting to know him before he tells her," Nettlefrost remarked with cold amusement.

Shrew flattened his belly to the ground, ears flat against his head as Dapplefern towered over him, still hissing.

"I don't think Sootpaw getting to know him will help, since he's such a disgusting coward," Brightstar sneered. "My Clan would never have tolerated such weakness...he would have been chased out before he knew what had happened. But ShadowClan has always been forced to pander to the helpless...all of their warriors are weak. It's why they nearly perished in my time—"

"Like WindClan was much better!" Dapplefern scoffed, turning towards the old leader. "From what Nettlefrost has said, WindClan nearly perished under your reign, too! Didn't StarClan send a fire to wipe you out?"

Brightstar let out a furious hiss. "StarClan would have never dared to raise a paw to me and my Clan! Nettlefrost is a liar!"

Nettlefrost met Brightstar's unsheathed claws with chilly indifference. "All I can say is that ThunderClan was doing much better than WindClan under your reign, Brightstar, and far better than ShadowClan. Make of that what you will."

Sootpaw's eyes shot to Swiftshade, half-expecting him to interject something about the power of his own Clan, RiverClan, but the blue-and-white tom was strangely silent, watching the she-cats fight with emotionless yellow eyes.

"Don't you dare speak to me in such a tone, insolent whelp!" Brightstar spat. "You weren't even alive during my reign. What does a pathetic kit like you know of the struggles of WindClan?"

"I know that even fat RiverClan nearly took WindClan over in my time," Nettlefrost smirked, throwing an arrogant glance in Swiftshade's direction. "WindClan is utterly pathetic."

"Not as pathetic as a she-cat who dares throw away-" Brightstar's screech was cut off by Blight snarling,

"All of you! Be quiet!"

The three she-cats turned towards him, eyes sparking with anger.

"And you," Brightstar seethed. "You and that stupid apprentice, always thinking that you are better than us. I am the oldest here, and the only leader! I was the first to come to the Dark Forest! If it wasn't for me and my connections, you would have never even heard of the Pool of Eternal Night-"

"Your 'connections?' Is that what you call them?" Dapplefern snorted. "When I came here, you were all alone! Your companions all left because they were tired of listening to you talk and talk about your great leadership! If your leadership was so great, why did your own medicine cat-"

"Enough!"

Chillpaw's voice was sharper than a dagger, and it seemed to cut into the entire group at once; they all flinched in unison, turning their eyes to him. Sootpaw marveled at his power; how had such a small, thin, young cat been able to silence them all so quickly?

"None of you are doing yourselves any favor at all by acting this way in front of Sootpaw," Chillpaw hissed. "You will drive her away and have no one but yourselves to blame...although I'm sure you'll each spend moons trying to figure out how to blame one another. Sootpaw just said that she has no desire to hear of your crimes, and yet you insist upon throwing them in each others' faces! I have told you before and I will tell you again that I will not stand for this kind of behavior. It makes no difference to me whether or not you manage to claw your ways back into life. Blight, Sootpaw, and I will gladly leave you here; you can all grovel before StarClan, scraping your bellies against the dirt to earn their approval." He swept his gaze over them, and even though his blue eyes were not directed towards her, Sootpaw couldn't help but tremble.

He waited a moment, before hissing more quietly, "Sootpaw has laid out her terms for us. I say we accept them. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes," the others murmured, all save Blight, who looked towards Chillpaw with great interest gleaming in his eye.

"Good," Chillpaw meowed, the terrifying note in his voice now absent. "We've wasted enough time here; we need to keep moving if we're going to get to the Pool at a reasonable time."

Sootpaw blinked with surprise. "I'm going to be walking with you?"

He blinked at her. "Yes. We've waited long enough for you to make your decision. We can't waste any more time. From now on, in all likelihood whenever you dream of us we will be on the move. You will still be able to find us; Blight and myself will anchor you to this place. You will not become lost, so long as we are here waiting for you."

She nodded, indicating her understanding. Chillpaw flicked his tail, and after a brief pause, Swiftshade slowly rose to his paws and Shrew stopped cowering against the ground. Chillpaw said nothing more, simply padding forward, moving between the tall, dark trees; slowly, the other Dark Forest cats trailed after him. Blight broke into a trot to catch up to the white tom, falling into his stride as he reached him.

Sootpaw's ears flattened, and her eyes darted from each cat uncertainly; she wasn't sure if she was supposed to walk with Chillpaw, or fall behind with the others.

Swiftshade paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder at her; Shrew copied him, giving Sootpaw a timid smile and flicking his tail, inviting her to join them.

She loped towards them, panting slightly. "Um, hello."

Swiftshade gave Shrew a look. "I think I will be the first to speak with her."

Shrew's ears flattened, but he nodded. "Er, that's fine. I guess I'll just...walk a bit faster." He hurried forward, his tail dipping down low with anxiety.

Sootpaw watched him go; she found herself wondering what any cat could have done that would be terrible enough for even Dark Forest cats to look down upon him. Perhaps he ran away during battle? Sootpaw guessed. Or...sided with the enemy so he didn't get hurt?

"Chillpaw has suggested that you and I speak first," Swiftshade rumbled, "because I will be the first to share my story with you."

She blinked at him curiously. "Why is that?"

He shrugged. "You have displayed characteristics that I lack; my fatal flaw led to my downfall, and my coming here. You do not share it." She blinked at him quizzically, but he merely shrugged again. "It is part of the ceremony."

"Okay," she mewed, feeling slightly unnerved. Blight and Chillpaw both said that they will be some of last ones for me to speak to...so is this planned from the very beginning? Or do I have to 'display certain characteristics' before I can hear their story? I suppose it's good that Chillpaw is at the end...I want to get to know him the most. He's the one that doesn't fit. He's the youngest, the smallest – well, Shrew might be a little smaller – the coldest, the leader...the only one whose crimes I've seen first paw. He's the one I'm most curious about...

She realized that Swiftshade was watching her, and she blinked. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Swiftshade nodded slowly. "Sometimes a few moments of reflection – or even a few hours – are useful to clear the mind," he said. "Take as much time as you like."

She shook her head. "No, no, I'm finished now. I know I should be spending all of my time trying to help you guys...so, um, what do you want to talk about?"

"What do you want to know?"

Swiftshade spent the next few minutes answering her questions with short, easy answers: she learned that his father had died when he was very young; he had a sister, who had been smaller than him but much smarter; his mother had always been somewhat distant, but he remembered her fondly as being pretty and kind. Sootpaw learned that his favorite prey was vole, which most RiverClan cats thought was odd; his favorite activity was sunning himself and watching the clouds pass; he had never been especially close to any of his Clanmates; he had once had one friend, but she had passed away during his apprenticeship, and he wouldn't speak any more of her.

He answered almost every question she threw at him, but she still somehow felt that she didn't know him at all; she was only scratching the surface, only learning useless, trivial information. She wanted to find him, the real Swiftshade that was buried under his easygoing demeanor. She wanted to learn of his ambitions, what he prized above all else, how he thought, not superficial things like his favorite prey. And yet, she couldn't think of any way to find out without delving into his crimes, an area that she was not yet confident enough to broach.

"Anything else?" he asked, but she simply sighed, feeling tired and frustrated. His ears pricked, and he blinked slowly. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Her voice was quiet, a note of helplessness embedded in it. "I just don't know what I'm doing."

"You're helping us."

"Yes, but...why? All I know is that most cats would consider you all to be evil...and from what I've seen, several of you have terrible tempers and have done terrible things and yet I'm still trying to save you...and I don't know whether it's right or wrong, all I know is that I promised and can't go back on my world, but I'm just getting pulled deeper and deeper into a world that I don't understand. I'm not strong enough for this, not for any of it, and eventually I'm just going to drown in all this darkness because I can't seem to find my footing..." She trailed off, realizing that she was growing short of breath from babbling for so long. She glanced towards him, shame burning underneath of his fur, but he only watched her carefully.

"Everyone bites off more than they can handle, one way or another," he meowed. "Or...almost everyone." He looked away, his eyes drifting up towards the inky black sky. "Some of us just give everything to someone else, someone stronger, and hope that everything works out for the best...and sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn't..."

She stared at him, wondering at the almost melancholy note in his voice. "Is that what brought you here?"

His eyes dropped from the sky abruptly, and bored into her. "Perhaps. But I don't think you want to hear about that yet."

She felt a prickle of curiosity, but resisted the urge to act upon it; Swiftshade was right. She wasn't yet ready to handle the knowledge of his crimes, not until she understood the reasons behind them.

"But, what I don't understand is that if you're the type who would rather give the responsibilities to someone else...then why did you protect Nettlefrost in battle?"

"Who told you I did?"

"Chillpaw, and I can't see him really lying to me."

Amusement flitted over Swiftshade's strong features, but only for a second. "He wasn't lying. I did protect her."

"But why? You're not a coward like Shrew is, but...you don't seem all that brave, either."

"I can't really say that I'm brave, no. But I'm not a coward, either. These conflicts in the group...they don't concern me. I don't want to get involved. It's not any of my business. And in battle, I'm not likely to stand up for another...again, it doesn't concern me."

"So why Nettlefrost? She seems strong enough to protect herself. She was the deputy, right?" Sootpaw asked. Swiftshade nodded.

"She was the deputy of her Clan, but only for a short time, I believe. As for why...well, she was being attacked, and I was nearby. I had to help."

She frowned with confusion. "You just said you prefer to stay out of conflicts. So why did you have to help?"

Swiftshade's eyes darkened. "I don't know. Perhaps because she reminded me of my sister. She's cold, and smart, just like my sister was."

Sootpaw's eyes gleamed with understanding. "It was your sister that you followed, wasn't it? She was the one that you handed the responsibilities to. And somehow, it led to you getting here. And you can't help but move towards she-cats that remind you of your sister, because that's all you knew; your father and your mother were both absent, and you didn't have any friends...your sister was all you had."

Swiftshade simply stared at her for a moment, as if lost for words; then, slowly, he smiled. "Chillpaw wasn't kidding. You're smarter than you look."

She couldn't help but laugh; there was something about the thick-furred tom that she instinctively liked. He reminded her almost of Birchpool, in his relaxed, laid-back nature. Then, she sobered as she forced herself to remember who Swiftshade really was; he wasn't some airy, spacey she-cat who enjoyed gazing at clouds and sharing tongues with her son. Swiftshade was quite possibly a killer, perhaps even of multiple cats.

"So, you followed her sister. What did she want you to do?"

Once more, his eyes were unable to hold hers. They slid away, floating up towards the sky. He sighed quietly. "I miss the clouds. This darkness is nothing to look at." He looked to her again. "Do you know what I really miss the most?"

"The stars?" she guessed, trying to hold her curiosity at bay. He snorted.

"No. Have you ever really looked at the stars? They're distant, always hiding behind the clouds...they only come out at night, when the sky is cold and dark. The stars are supposed to guide our paths, but they're a world away, untouchable...no. What I really miss is the color blue. The sky's never blue here...the only blue I ever get to see is in the eyes of Brightstar and Chillpaw, and I never want to look too long at them." He wrinkled his nose.

"Did your sister have blue eyes?"

His silence was answer enough. She hesitated, then touched his fluffy flank with her tail.

"I have a brother," she told him. "His eyes are green, and they're really bright because his fur is so dark. My mother's the same way. I know if something happened to them...I'd really miss seeing them too."

The older tom still said nothing, so she continued, "In some ways, I'm really no better than you. I follow Spiderpaw around all the time too; when we were kits, I did exactly what he said...even if it was really stupid. We sneaked out of camp together once, and nearly died...although I guess that was my fault." She laughed quietly.

"You nearly drowned because you left your brother. You chose a different path, struck out on your own," Swiftshade rumbled. "And now you've made your own choice again, here on this journey. There's a chance you might die now too...wouldn't you say it would have been safer if you had simply stayed home? Wouldn't you say that following your brother would have led you down the more secure path?"

"More secure, maybe...but not the right one," she replied. "Joining this journey's what is right for me. It's something I have to do. I have to prove myself. I...I guess you never did that."

"No...I suppose I never did." His amber-yellow eyes were misty, distant. "I allowed my sister to do all the proving. She always knew what she wanted from life. She was never confused. She had a set path and she stuck to it, no matter who had to die..."

Her ears pricked. "So, you really did it? You killed someone for her?"

"More than just someone. Several someones, one of which was our deputy. My sister wanted power, and she got it..."

Sootpaw's ears flattened, but she continued, "Your sister never got it, though, did she? The rest of the Clan saw through her, saw her ambitions and intentions."

Swiftshade laughed. "No. My sister was a master of manipulation. She could always twist others' words around so that she was in the right and they were wrong. Most of the Clan loved her. She became leader with almost no opposition, once ours...mysteriously died. Very few had anything against her, and I took care of them too."

"She twisted you so you'd do what she said, didn't she?"

He nodded. "I was her plaything. She knew I had no ambition, no real desires other than to be left alone...to be normal. She poked and prodded and pushed and wheedled and twisted until I would do whatever she said...I had no choice. So I killed the deputy, and I killed the cat that would have been chosen deputy before her, and I killed the leader and I killed the two cats who dared oppose her. And after all that, she threw me away."

"Threw you away?" Sootpaw echoed. Swiftshade laughed, an awful, bitter sound.

"That's exactly what I mean. Once she had reached the pinnacle of her power, once she had become secure, she became paranoid. I was the only one who knew about her rise to power. I had to be eliminated, to make sure that I could never speak against her."

"You said she was small though, right? She couldn't have been strong enough to kill you...and making someone else do it would just be adding another cat that knew about her dark side, right?"

Swiftshade laughed again. "You're exactly right. She couldn't have me killed. But she could frame me for the death of another...the Clan chased me out without a twinge of guilt. I had never really been one of them." He looked to her again. "You said you wanted to wait to get to know us before hearing our crimes...but you dragged it out of me anyway."

"Once I figured out your motivation...everything else kind of became clear," she admitted. "I guess...I guess I know you're all capable of terrible things. What I really want to know is why. Like, why did you come here? I thought StarClan forgave those who feel remorse for what they've done."

"They do."

Her ears flattened. "But how can you not feel bad? You were used and thrown away, just like you said. You killed innocent cats and were betrayed. How can you not feel bad?"

"Because if I hadn't, she would have simply had me exiled sooner," Swiftshade answered. "I didn't live very long on my own; I didn't have the motivation, the stamina for it. When you're dying, every moment seems impossibly sweet...by doing what she asked, I managed to draw out my life for several years. If I hadn't gone along with her plans, my life would have been moons shorter."

"So you're fine with innocents having to die just so you can live a few more years yourself?" She couldn't cloak her surprise and disgust.

"I'm not proud of it. But you have to own up to who you are, and in this case that is exactly who I am." He met her eyes firmly this time. "These are the kinds of cats you're dealing with. At our core, we might not all be bad...but we're remorseless. We're selfish. We grab onto life with both claws and never look back, never think of who had to suffer for us to live."

She stopped walking, and he stopped too, watching her carefully.

"So, I really am helping a bunch of remorseless killers come back to life," she whispered.

"You're giving us a second chance," he growled. "A fresh start. Who knows? In my new life, I might not have a sister. I might have two parents to watch over me. I might be close to my Clanmates. Everything could be different. That's why were going on this journey, Sootpaw. I don't want to spend an eternity as an outsider in StarClan – there are rumors that we can be allowed in if we past tests and show remorse. But how do you think cats like me would be looked upon there? We'd be little more than common prey, or even dirt. That's not what I want. I want a chance to be something more than...what I became." His ears flattened, and as much as she wanted to fight it, she couldn't help but feel the faintest stirring of pity.

She stared down at her paws, not trusting herself to speak; she wasn't sure whether she would condemn Swiftshade, or offer him hope. She closed her eyes, trying to picture Swiftshade's victims, but could not; he had mentioned them so offhandedly, so carelessly, as if killing them hadn't mattered to him at all. It had just been part of his duties to his sister.

Then, her ears pricked as something occurred to her, and she looked up at him. He blinked back at her uncertainly, his tail lowered slightly.

"Your sister...she must be dead by now too, right?" Sootpaw asked. "Did she come here?"

"No." Swiftshade's ears flattened. "She went to StarClan. Brightstar helped me look into the past – she's been here the longest, so she knows the most – and in my sister's final moons she regretted what she had done. Maybe it was just out of fear, or she was truly coming to her senses...either way, she showed remorse and StarClan allowed her to join them."

"But if she had come here...what would you have done? Would you have tried to hurt her, to take revenge for what she did to you?"

He looked startled, but his answer was immediate. "No. I would never have done anything to hurt her."

"Even with all she did?"

"She was my sister." He said it as if that simple fact explained everything. "You would never hurt your brother. I could never hurt my sister."

She gave him a small, sad smile, and then touched her nose to his shoulder. "Then perhaps there's still hope. Maybe you can do better the second time around."

Swiftshade's eyes glinted, and he dipped his head to her. "I will. I swear it."

Sootpaw nodded, then turned towards the rest of the group to see how far ahead they had gotten since she and Swiftshade had stopped, only to find that the others had stopped as well and were watching the two of them. Sootpaw flushed underneath her fur.

"Sorry," she mewed, and she and the blue-and-white tom padded towards them quickly. "We were just talking."

Chillpaw flicked his tail, beckoning her, and with a last look at Swiftshade, she hurried to catch up to him, walking alongside him. Chillpaw gave Blight a silent look, and the gray tabby dipped his head before falling back.

"I trust it went well?"

She gave him a small shrug. "I think so...I mean, I learned more than I expected...and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about all of this...but I do feel kind of hopeful. I think if Swiftshade has a better family and Clan the next time around...he could be a really good cat."

"So he told you everything."

"Yes. I kind of dragged it out of him, I guess. I didn't really plan on it at first, but it just sort of happened."

Chillpaw smiled. "Good. That is how it should be. Don't let your misgivings cloud your mind; go along with what your heart tells you while you're here. Yours is more trustworthy than ours."

She laughed quietly. "Is that a compliment?"

"I don't give compliments unless they're well deserved," he answered. Sootpaw peered at him curiously, unable to tell if he was joking or not.

"Well, I guess I'll just take that as one," she mewed, giving him a small nudge with her shoulder. He didn't smile, or nudge her back as another apprentice would have done; he simply watched her, and her ears flattened.

"Sorry," she mumbled, pulling away. "Sometimes it's just easy to forget that you're not a Clanmate."

"How could it be? The only time you knew me as a Clanmate was in your dreams," he said. She gave a feeble shrug.

"I don't know. It's just...easy to forget, like I said. Yesterday I was messing around with Brackenpaw like I had known him all my life, you know? If we were in our normal setting we probably wouldn't even talk with each other, but when we're all stuck together like this, you kind of have to be friendly with one another."

Chillpaw's ear twitched. "The others here do not see it in that light."

She flinched, remembering the fight between the three she-cats. "Yeah, I know. But maybe we can change that on this journey too, don't you think? We can make everything better."

Chillpaw was staring at her again; she tried not to ruffle her fur under his unnerving stare. Then, something in his gaze shifted.

"Perhaps..."

Her ears pricked. "Perhaps what?"

His eyes drifted away from hers. "Perhaps if they had all known someone like you...things could have been different."

"But even if you and I had known each other, things would be the same for you?"

He smiled, but it was a smile devoid of joy or amusement. "I believe I was doomed the moment my mother died."

"Well...maybe the next time around will be different," she offered. "After all, you won't remember anything about your past. You'll have a clean start."

"We can only hope."

She walked alongside him, uncertain whether or not to say anything more; Chillpaw's moods – if that was even how she could describe them – were completely alien to her. He wasn't like anyone she had ever known; he seemed cold and indifferent to everything, but if that was true, why bother trying to come back to life at all? If there was nothing that offered pleasure to him, why struggle so against the darkness to reclaim a beating heart?

If I can treat a stranger like a Clanmate, I mustn't treat a Clanmate like a stranger, she thought, and, despite her misgivings, pressed her pelt against his. He flinched and almost seemed that he was going to move away, but as she blinked up at him he stopped.

"Your next life will be better, I promise. You just have to try, okay?" She cocked her head to the side. "Promise that you'll try to remember this in your next life. Promise you'll try to remember that things will be better, you just have to try."

He studied her for a moment, then nodded. "I promise." He smiled, and this time she thought she might have saw something other than ice in his eyes. Then, he touched his nose to her forehead, and said softly, "It's time for you to wake up."

The dream peeled away like a twisted cobweb.

AN: I think this is the first chapter I've ever written that was entirely a dream. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Information on what Sootpaw did during the day of Birchpool's death (since she and Spider are on a linear timeline): On the blog.

Information about Swiftshade and his Sin (because, as Shimmertail guessed, the DF cats are based on the seven deadly sins: On the blog.

Updated Allegiances (adding the journeying cats, at least those we know): On the blog.

My heartfelt farewell as NaNo approaches: Right here.

Seriously, this is almost certainly the last update for Chilled until at least December 1st, since NaNo is going to totally consume my life for November. Depending on how it goes, I should be able to plunge right back into Chilled in December (but please review; it definitely helps with motivation after coming back from such a long break).

Until December, please keep an eye on my fictionpress account if you want to read my NaNo as I go along, since it'll be posted there (my username there is also Prin Pardus).

See you there! (If I could make a heart here I would. :D)