Nothing much to say, other than only two more chapters until this fic has 60 chapters! Remember when I thought I wouldn't make it to 50 chapters? I write more than I think I do.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I started Ignite. Time flies huh? The next time Ignite updates will be on my birthday too.

Reviews are super appreciated!

Firestar was bored. So incredibly bored. He didn't think such a thing was possible. When he was a young warrior, there was always something to do. Hunting, patrolling, training one of his apprentices, uncovering murders and mysteries. Then he was deputy, then leader, and he seldom found the time to just sit down and relax.

Now he had ample time on his claws. So much free time that he didn't know what to do with it all. His days consisted of taking flight back to the mountains to hunt, come back, scare some cats with his arrival, then sit still for the rest of the day so he didn't continue scaring cats.

He couldn't exactly patrol, especially since the other clans were sticking to their side of the border for once in their lives. Hunting was out of the question too. He couldn't exactly hunt small prey anymore, and if he kept bringing back one of those black and white creatures that he liked to eat everyday, the clan would never have to hunt again. They'd be just as bored as he was now.

He could also add feeling drowsy these days too. With it being in the middle of leaf-bare, and the cold seeping into his scales, he just really wanted to sleep until new-leaf.

A sentiment shared by the stone it seemed, if the sudden pulse of warmth at the thought was any indication.

Wouldn't that be great? To find a nice, warm spot and just sleep until the cold went away. His eyelids drooped slowly until they were closed, his body drifting off into sleep...

"Firestar!"

Until Cloudtail bounded up the hollow that is. His eyes snapped open and he jerked abruptly, trying to fight off the feelings of drowsiness and fatigue that came with some cold wind blowing into his face. His eyes trailed downwards to gaze upon his fluffy white nephew, surprisingly accompanied by three small kits. The three looked curious enough as kits were at that age, but they were also pressed cautiously against their father's pelt, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"What is it Cloudtail?" he rumbled, his eyes more on the kits than anything. He would need to make sure not to make any more sudden movements so he didn't scare them.

The tom grinned nervously. "Well, the kits are getting older and getting into everyone's fur, so I thought that maybe it was time to introduce them to their great-uncle?"

"Why are you making this out to seem like a punishment?"

Cloudtail shook his head rapidly. "It's not a punishment! They're active and young, so it's the best time for them to get used to you!"

Firestar blinked, tilting his head a little.

"What better way than getting the clan used to you if not through the youngest generation first? They'll accept you early on and soon enough the whole clan will follow," Cloudtail explained.

"I...suppose so? Did Brightheart agree to this?"

Some fear scent leaked out of the senior warrior.

"I suppose not then," Firestar sighed. He shifted his gaze back on the kits. "I'm not going to eat you whole little ones. Your father has more of a chance of finally taming his pelt than I am of eating a cat," he tried joking. Cloudtail nudged his kits forward, and one of them, the she-kit, puffed up her fur to make herself look bigger, hesitantly inching forward, dabbing a paw onto him and skidding back every so often.

He had to keep himself from laughing from how adorable they were being.

The other two finally mustered up some courage and slowly padded forward, sniffing him. All the while Firestar didn't even so much as twitch. Not even when the kits got confident enough to climb onto his claws to pounce on their siblings from above.

"Okay, we should get you three back to the nursery before your mother kills me," Cloudtail said nervously, watching his kits use his uncle as a playground.

"Awww..." they chorused.

"He felt so warm though!" Firestar heard one kit squeak out as they left. The she-kit, who he learned was named Amberkit, glanced over her shoulder for a moment before turning her head away. But in that moment he saw her smiling at him.

It made him feel like a normal cat again.

"Well the kits didn't run screaming from you, so that's a good start," a voice wheezed nearby.

He turned his head around. "How are you feeling, Foxleap?"

The tom looked tired, his posture in a slight slouch, a rasp rattling out of his mouth with every breath that he took. Firestar hadn't just been eating during his trips to the mountains. He had carefully brought back many kinds of plants in hopes that they were herbs that Jayfeather could recognize. He didn't really understand what he had brought back, but whatever they were, it was enough for Foxleap to pull through. The usually cheery tom had recovered enough to be cleared for a short walk around the hollow every so often. Jayfeather hadn't cleared him to hunt or to mentor Cherrypaw, and with some cats beginning to show signs of whitecough, it was clear that the medicine cat was also afraid that any sickness that Foxleap could catch might actually kill him. So the tom was being monitored for now, and wasn't allowed outside of camp.

At least not without supervision.

"Jayfeather says he getting better with every day that passes!" Cherrypaw chirped cheerfully.

A puff of smoke escaped Firestar's maw as he sighed. "Well, that's good to hear. I'd hate for you to have journeyed so far to bring me back only to get killed almost immediately," he said, guilt dripping in his voice.

"I'm a warrior. It's the greatest honor I can bare, dying in service for my clan," Foxleap rasped.

"Yes, to your clan. Not to me. If anyone should have died then, it should have been me," Firestar sighed, guilt and sadness and anger rising as thoughts of his hatchling came back to assault his head. He dug his claws into the earth, wishing he could crush Tigerstar under them one hundred more times. Or maybe crush just about anything at this point.

"But you are the clan," Foxleap argued. "You're the heart of Thunderclan. And without you, more cats would have died in the battle. My life is a small price to pay as long you were safely returned to save the rest of them."

But he hadn't been the leader during that time. Bramblestar had been the real leader of Thunderclan during the battle, leading the charge and making sure to prevent as many deaths as he could.

And Firestar?

Firestar had been taking his sweet time traveling back to Thunderclan, only joining in on the battle long after the Dark Forest had battered all four clans. He should have been here. He should of at the least stuck around the Thunderclan border inside of moving on.

"I think your wings are super pretty!"

But if he had stuck around, Hanako and Hisako would have been...

"Hey, is that Jayfeather calling? I think Jayfeather needs to check on you again Foxleap. You should get back to the medicine den right now!" Cherrypaw suddenly meowed.

Foxleap whirled around, confused. "I don't hear Jayfeather calling me," he said slowly.

"Well I do! You've been on this short walk for a while now anyway. It's time for you to get back."

"Since when did you become the mentor?" Foxleap muttered. "Alright, alright, I'm going," he said when Cherrypaw gave him a nudge. He dipped his head to Firestar before carefully and slowly making his way back down to camp.

Cherrypaw didn't go with him.

"You know, I'm glad that we went on that journey to find you. It saved Foxleap from getting even more injured and I just- I know that I would have lost my mentor if he had stayed behind. Well, you finding those herbs helped, but still," she meowed lowly.

"You like Foxleap a lot don't you?"

She smiled brightly. "Well, yeah! He's the best mentor a cat could ask for! I wouldn't want anyone else!" With that, she trotted away, following her mentor to make sure he didn't hurt himself along the way to the medicine den.

Firestar laid his head down on his claws. He enjoyed moments like those; moments that broke up the boredom during the day. He enjoyed his clanmates giving him company.

He enjoyed his treasures visiting him more though.

'Wish I had more space to stretch though.' A prickle of warmth from the stone stung from his chest, agreeing with him. Sure, his clanmates were getting used to him now, but he hardly had any space to himself. He could feel the spikes on his back touch the trees behind him.

Maybe escaping to the cave he found before for the rest of leaf-bare wasn't such a bad idea?

"Tired?" Sandstorm asked, butting her head against his scales in greeting.

"Am I so obvious?" he asked her, before his jaws involuntarily opened up in a yawn. She pressed up against him, frowning.

"You're still warm, but you don't feel as warm as usual. It's almost like your body is cooling down," she said worriedly.

He wished he could care to wonder why that was. He carefully curled around his mate, trapping her.

"Nap with me?" he asked sleepily.

"Firestar, I'm supposed to be on the next hunting patrol."

"Mmm. Don't care." He bent his head around and nuzzled his mate. She sighed in exasperation.

"You're not going to let me go are you?" she asked him, half-heartedly struggling to get out of his hold. Guess she was going to have to yell down to Rosepetal that she wouldn't be making it to patrol. Firestar's sudden continued drowsiness was a bit worrying.

"Alright, I'll stay," Sandstorm sighed, pressing herself against him harder, trying to warm herself from the warmth he was emitting.

The odd purr coming from his throat was somewhat lulling in her opinion.

So apparently some dragons actually do go through hibernation, or rather brumation cause they're reptiles. I've contemplated having Firestar go into brumation and wake up once new-leaf hits as a time skip, but I'll just say that he's only just newly transformed so maybe true brumation won't hit until his next leaf-bare.

(Imagine if he goes into brumation and one of his treasures dies before he wakes up? That would be really bad ;-;)

But anyway, leaf-bare is a time of low activity, low body temperature, and outright lethargy for Firestar. He won't feel like moving around too much until new-leaf comes around.

For the record, I haven't forgotten about the other events in Dovewing's Silence. I just don't want to write them all out. Of course Firestar is very proud of Bramblestar for being a leader during these times and a bit mad that some of his clanmates almost became fox-food, but he's a bit too tired to care right now.

Also Foxleap lives! Because I've gone too far in this fic to suddenly kill him off. There's a reason Bumblestripe is dead instead of this guy.

Tell me how I did.