I'm back with another chapter, yay! Wow, seventeenth chapter if I'm counting correctly. I never thought I'd get this far- thanks so much for your kind words, I couldn't have kept going without your lovely reviews!

By the way, thank you to Hazel Ashwood for thinking of Finchpaw's lovely new name. Flamekit and Redkit still need names (I decided on one for Lilykit and I got a lovely name suggestion for Cinderkit, so only two more left!)

It's about six moons after the events of last chapter, and Willowfeather is now two and a half years of age, or about 26 years old in human years. I hope you like this new chapter…

Willowfeather looked around her clan proudly. It had come so far in six moons, though admittedly, the lovely warm weather probably had something to do with her good mood. Finchpaw had been named Finchcry a few days ago, and Flamekit and Lilykit were going to become apprentices soon. Redpaw had been apprenticed to Graydust, and Cinderpaw to Snowcloud, both good warriors. Despite the fact that Graydust was strong and loyal, Willowfeather still thought that Redpaw would probably become some evil monster because of Graydust's mentoring, and that Sweetbreeze deserved an apprentice more than Graydust did. And all of that was mixed in with Willowfeather's jealousy- she wanted a new apprentice. Sweetbreeze would probably receive one of the kits, but who would the other kit be mentored by? If Willowfeather was chosen, she hoped she wouldn't get Flamekit. He still gave her odd looks sometimes, and she felt more and more spooked every time.

Insert nothingness here.

"Would all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here?" Shadestar asked feebly. Kestrelwing and Spottedpaw, now Spottedbird, said that it was a miracle that she had survived so long with her sickness. Everyone expected her to die anytime soon, but Ambereye insisted that their leader was fine and that she wasn't ready to lead anyway.

"Lilykit and Flamekit, step forward," Shadestar said, after a hacking fit. She let out one more cough. "From this day forward, this apprentice will be named Lilypaw," She broke off to cough again, and she leaned toward Lilypaw. "Your mentor will be Sweetbreeze. Sweetbreeze, Willowfeather taught you many skills that have left you talented and kind, and I trust you will pass these skills onto Lilypaw." Lilypaw's bright eyes shone with happiness as she touched noses with her new mentor. My apprentice has an apprentice, Willowfeather thought joyfully, too distracted to realize that Flamekit's ceremony had begun.

"Your mentor will be Willowfeather," Shadestar wheezed, before limping back to her den. Flamepaw walked to Willowfeather steadily, but his eyes shone strangely. Willowfeather felt faint. Barely a warrior for four seasons, but already with two apprentices, she thought grudgingly. Even if one of the apprentices was unwanted. She touched noses with her new apprentice, trying to smile and succeeding, though she was a little stiff.

"I can't wait for training to begin," Flamepaw said lightly, and Willowfeather finally understood the meaning of his stare. It wasn't anger, it wasn't kindness, it wasn't sympathy, it was ambition.

Does he think I stand in his way? Willowfeather worried, before pushing the thought away. StarClan had told her that the young cat was destined for greatness- and if he was ThunderClan's last hope, she would do anything to save her clan, even if it meant giving up her life. That was what being a warrior was about, after all.

"I'll teach you everything I know," Willowfeather said, her voice wobbling slightly. "Everything."

"Why do you keep giving me weird looks?" Flamepaw asked wearily on the fourth day of training. "We'll be training together for many moons. I want you to like me."

"It's you giving me weird looks," Willowfeather countered. "And if you want me to like you, you better explain."

Flamepaw looked surprised that she had caught on. "Well," He said evenly, his eyes calm. "I'll only tell you if you tell me afterward."

"Sure," Willowfeather, settling down to eat a pigeon. They had just finished their first battle training session and she was hungry.

"Well," Flamepaw looked at her, eyes glinting. "Snowcloud, and Goldberry when she was alive, always described to me the glorious life of a warrior. How we patrol our borders and protect our territory, strengthen our belief in StarClan through prophecies, dreams and stories. But I don't want that life. But I have no connection to StarClan and the life of a medicine cat doesn't appeal to me. Then I realized… I want to have a life that is bigger. Not a life dedicated to warriorship, but a life dedicated to improvement, and the big ideas I have always had. When I was a kit, I had nothing but a pedigree and big dreams. But now, I still have my dreams, but I also have a mentor to teach me from experience what it is like to be deputy, and a better idea of how the clan works." His eyes were faraway in dreamland, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "But Goldberry hated the life of a deputy. Everybody in the clan looking up to you, all clans judging your skill, waking up everyday without a chance to have a new life. She didn't want that for me or Lilypaw."

He looked down, looking upset.

"Now, every time I have dreams about deputyship and even being leader, I feel like I'm letting Goldberry down. That I betrayed my mother."

"Don't be silly," Willowfeather said, but she agreed with Goldberry's view of deputyship. "I didn't like being a deputy either. But I believe that I was a good deputy, and so was Goldberry. Not all cats are cut out for deputyship. I will certainly teach you and if being a deputy truly is your destiny, your mother will understand."

Willowfeather looked up at the stars and hoped that she was right.

More nothingness… and then a few hours later

Graydust was clearly creeping out of camp, and Willowfeather had no intention of letting him go alone. She went through the dirtplace and tracked his scent, eventually finding him and concealing herself in a bush. He was talking to a cat on the border of the territory. Willowfeather could not see the cat from her angle, but the voice was easily recognisable.

"I am so glad that you came, dear," Breezefur purred. "I'm so sorry we have to live like this. I promise, when I take over the clan, we can be true about our love."

Love? Graydust loves Breezefur? Willowfeather thought in panic. She had long passed her weird thoughts about toms, but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned about her clan-mate.

"For the last time, Breezefur, I don't love you," Graydust snapped. "You trapped me into this. You'll kill all of my clan-mates if I don't do this. If this is real love, I don't know what fake love is. You'll kill Ambereye and Shadestar anyway, but I will save the others."

"Well, well, such loyalty," Breezefur snapped back. "You can't leave me, now that I am expecting your kits."

Graydust visibly flinched, but he didn't seem shocked.

"Don't talk about it," He muttered. "You're having them in one moon, aren't you? I'll meet you then. But my clan is busy. I can't meet you any sooner. Besides, I love another cat."

Breezefur hissed loudly. "Not Plant Cat? Or Brown Eyes?"

"Ambereye has amber eyes, that's the whole point," Graydust snapped, and he hesitated for a moment. "And not Willowfeather."

But his hesitation told the real story.

They're back at the camp!

"What are you meeting Breezefur for?" Willowfeather hissed to Graydust as he made his way to the Warriors Den, his gaze clouded with shame. He stopped and looked back at her.

"She threatened my clan," He said emptily. "And now, she will kill me if I leave. She has trapped me into this with kits. Innocent kits."

"At least you won't have to meet her until next moon," Willowfeather said sympathetically, not telling him what she knew.

He nodded sadly.

"Look, I'm really sorry," Graydust said softly. "Can you forgive me, or at least enough not to tell the clan?"

Willowfeather nodded slowly.

"For now," She replied. "But I don't know how long I can keep that promise for."

The next day (Wow there are a lot of time skips in this chapter…)

The next day, it seemed as if the line between Willowfeather's side and Sunheart's supporters seemed darker, more outlined. More dangerous.

In fact, when Sweetbreeze returned from a hunting patrol with Wildwind and Dustfoot, they both looked very smug, while Sweetbreeze was in furious tears. She refused to speak of what had happened, but she had a long scratch down her side. Poor Lilypaw's ears had both been scratched and while Ambereye seemed strong and calm as usual, when she walked, Willowfeather noticed faint scars criss-crossing her legs.

"We are a clan," Shadestar proclaimed. "We do not hurt each other. We trust. Love. Forgive. But we do not attack."

Graydust, Dustfoot and Wildwind looked at their paws nervously, but Sunheart just looked on, oblivious to the fight. It seemed as though he had no feelings. Willowfeather didn't know how he felt about Darkshadow's death.

Shadestar's announcement, though, had nothing to stop the Sunheart supporters. They took all the food while everyone else had not eaten, and in the end, some of the cats looked ready to break the warrior code.

"Honestly, as loyal I am to the Warrior Code," Snowcloud whimpered, "I might eat some food on patrols."

Willowfeather finally had her own taste when Dustfoot gifted her a mouse- a mouse laced with poppy seeds.

"Trying to put a clan-mate to sleep!" Willowfeather sobbed angrily as she patrolled with Flamepaw, Lilypaw, and Sweetbreeze. "That's more against the code than anything!"

Suddenly, there was a happy screech from Lilypaw and she whirled around to see the apprentice happily tucking into a large beetle.
"I figured nobody else would want to eat it, so it isn't against the warrior code," The apprentice shrugged.

From then on, the supporters of Willowfeather and Willowfeather herself used Lilypaw's strategy. They hungrily gnawed on bones left by foxes, chewed on edible leaves, and ate beetles when they could. While Spottedbird and Kestrelwing desperately tried to find out why they were growing so skinny, for they did not know about the war with Sunheart's group. Shadestar was generally confined to her den and with the deputy being part of Willowfeather's group, everything quickly descended to chaos. Sunheart's troupe broke the warrior code left and right. They started trouble at gatherings and blamed it on Sweetbreeze, or they 'accidentally' scared away the finch that Snowcloud was stalking. They would steal feathers out of Ambereye's nest and drip water all over Willowfeather's. They had no trouble accidentally unsheathing their claws on Lilypaw and Flamepaw. Flamepaw always put up a good fight but Lilypaw, with half of her tail missing, never had balance that was quite right. It was pretty obvious who was the better fighter, but Lilypaw had so much more common sense, it was hard to guess who would be the better warrior. Dawnflower seemed to never be fed either, though she wasn't on anyone's side, and though Redpaw and Cinderpaw were treated well enough, it was clear their mentors' petty arguments was getting in the way of their training. Though Redpaw and Cinderpaw had been training for longer, Flamepaw could beat Redpaw in any battle and Lilykit's tracking skills were put to better use than Cinderpaw's. Even Finchcry was taking part in the 'war'. The arguments had lasted so long- it was starting to get tiring.

Another bit of nothing.

"I am the best hunter in the clan," Willowfeather heard Finchcry boast to Sweetbreeze. "Better than Willowfeather, at any rate," he added.

That's not going to win you Sweetbreeze's heart, Willowfeather thought. Besides, your side of the argument will get mad if you're even seen being friendly with a cat from our group.

Sure enough, she saw Wildwind glare at Finchcry as she went past.

"That's lovely," Sweetbreeze said politely. "But if you excuse me, I would like to have something to eat."

Finchcry looked furtively around, to check that nobody else was around. Wildwind was already heading out of the hollow. Finchcry darted to the fresh-kill pile, grabbed a fat squirrel, and gave it to Sweetbreeze.

"Please, eat it in the Warriors Den and share if it you must, but bury the remains. I don't want to get in trouble, but I don't want to see you starve," Finchcry pleaded, before going back to his loud, boastful self. "You know, I caught that squirrel myself. Climbed up onto a branch and bam, the squirrel didn't know what hit it."

"Thank you," Sweetbreeze nodded politely, but her eyes told Willowfeather that her former apprentice wanted to bash Finchcry's head against a rock. "You must be a great hunter," She added awkwardly, before hurrying into the Warriors Den.

"I got food," She said breathlessly. Willowfeather nodded, and Snowcloud got up to fetch the apprentices, while Ambereye looked at it hungrily.

"Wait, Dawnflower," Ambereye said suddenly. "It is against the warrior code to leave a nursery queen hungry."

Willowfeather thought for a while as she waited for the others to return. While Snowcloud insisted that he and Ambereye were the oldest in the clan, Willowfeather realised Dawnflower was older. Already, the limping but beautiful she-cat had flecks of grey around her creamy muzzle. Willowfeather knew that the lack of food wasn't helping her.

As Dawnflower limped in, the apprentices following, everyone looked wide-eyed at the squirrel.

"We need to eat before somebody comes along," Sweetbreeze said breathlessly, and began distributing the food. She gave the biggest, juiciest chunk to Dawnflower, but the ageing queen refused.

"I'll take a leg," She protested. "This is too much for an old biddy like me. The fresh new blood of today needs the best food." She tore up the chunk of meat into two and let Lilypaw and Flamepaw take the pieces. Redpaw and Cinderpaw were handed a leg to share, while Dawnflower received the other leg and Ambereye, as she was deputy, was handed a juicy strip of meat. Sweetbreeze received the last piece of good meat, as it was her meal, while Willowfeather and Snowcloud gnawed on the fat clinging to the skin. They saved the bones in Willowfeather's nest, knowing that they would need some food later on, even if the food was basically carrion stuck on a few bones.

A few days later…

"Please, would you meet me soon?" Graydust asked tentatively, looking into Willowfeather's eyes. They were on a patrol together, and Flamepaw had decided to stay behind. "You know, just to work out the rest of the deal, you know, about you keeping my secret and everything. I need to sort out all of my affairs before I meet Breezefur."

"Yes, yes," Willowfeather said. She was distracted once again by the way Graydust's ears were perked up attentively, but his smooth, sleek pelt and his muscled legs were now added to her mix. He really was a well built cat…

"Just for the deal," She blurted out, more to herself than Graydust.

"Of course," Graydust replied, but he looked just a bit disappointed.

Honestly, this chapter was a string of nonsense. This is what happens when I try more than one chapter a day, but oh well, let's hope it works.

Anyway, I thought I would add a list of who is on who's side.

SUNHEART

Sunheart

Finchcry

Wildwind

Dustfoot

Graydust

WILLOWFEATHER

Willowfeather

Snowcloud

Ambereye

Sweetbreeze

Cinderpaw

Redpaw

Lilypaw

Flamepaw

The sides are kind of even, because Sunheart's side has more talent. Most of Willowfeather's side is apprentices, though Ambereye and Snowcloud are on Willowfeather's side as well (and Sweetbreeze of course).

Anyway, I'm not that good at writing romantic-ish kind of stuff so sorry I messed up there, hopefully I improve. Thanks for reading this far!