Hi guys!

Anonymous(ch 15)- those are good names! I'll use them for later characters, or if she ever—by some miracle—has more kits! ;P

Wanderstar- Huh, you're right. Dark furred tom, grey she-cat... Whoopsie! That was totally not supposed to happen! :P Silly meeeeee!

Anonymous(ch 25)- OMSC! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! IT MAKES ME SOOOOOO HAPPY THAT YOU LIKE MY STORIES! And don't worry, I'm writing more!

Raeda2001: I'me pretty sure that most would get on with their lives. Though, I doubt some would... As for Pinestar, he will debue soon enough! I just have to enact my master plan. *rubs hands together and laughs evilly*

Guest: THANK YOU! I'm so glad you think so! And also, don't worry, I've got a plan. ;)

Chapter 24: Goldenfur

"What do you mean she's going to die!" he yowled, growling, his blue eyes flaming with fury.

Rosepaw cowered, her pelt fluffed up. Her amber eyes sparked with fear.

"Goldenfur," Sunstar exclaimed, brown eyes wide, "Hold your tongue!"

"No! The younger tom snarled, "She's lying! LYING!" He lunged forward, claws unsheathed and teeth bared, to crash into the apprentice.

She yowled, a sound almost like the scream of a twoleg, as the warrior pummeled her to the floor, scratching and biting at her small form.

"Goldenfur! Stop!" Sunstar yowled, knocking his son off of the little ginger she-cat.

The tabby tom thumped to the floor, already weak form his previous ordeal, but this did not stop him. He regained his footing and leaped at Rosepaw once again, teeth bared menacingly.

In his mind, it was her fault. And even though a small part of him cried out to stop, his stress and anger bubbled over at the mere mention that Greyleaf was to die.

At the last second, just as the warrior's claws pricked her fur once again, Sunstar, with a cry of anger, knocked Goldenfur away with a shattering blow, sending his son skidding painfully across the ground abroad from the medicine cat apprentice.

Goldenfur's vision went hazy, and the world turned into a murky film full of vague shapes and running colors. Terrible pain coursed through his side, emanating from his rib cage and up into his spine. He howled in agony, his older wounds opening, and his anger ebbed away to be replaced by pain—horrible, horrible pain.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was the blurry image of his father's face.

One moon later...

Chapter 24: Blackfur

The dark-furred tom lifted his head, looking out of the medicine den to try and get a glimpse of the cats outside. Featherheart had diagnosed that he had a broken leg, and it was yet to fully heal. Thanks to that foxheart, Goldenfur, his leg, speed, and flexibility may never be the same again.

Blackfur looked over at his den-mate with a sneer. The tabby tom had it worse off than he did, having recieved a blow so strong, it had cracked a few of his ribs.

Thankfully, the golden warrior was asleep, for the moment. Blackfur would be able to watch without interruption.

"Nightkit," Blackfur heard Sunstar call, and the tom dragged himself over to be able to see the gathering better. The grey-brown tabby kit stepped forward, surrounded by his clanmates, amber eyes hard and inscrutable. "You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed," The golden furred leader meowed from the High-Ledge, "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Nightpaw. Your mentor will be Mouseflight. I hope he will pass down all he knows to you."

The Thunderclan leader then turned to look at the dark brown tom. "Mouseflight, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Sparrowclaw, and you have shown yourself to be courageous in battle and loyal to Thunderclan. You will be the mentor of Nightpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."

"Nightpaw! Nightpaw! Nightpaw!" The clan yowled in approval as the amber-eyed warrior padded up to touch noses with his new apprentice.

Nightpaw, though he tried to hide it, was nervous and excited. Blackfur could tell because one of the big—for his age—tom's claws was twitching, a cute little habit that he had formed.

Sunstar smiled as the two sat back in the crowd next to one another for the rest of the ceremony.

"Goldenkit, You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Goldenpaw. Your mentor will be Bramblepelt. I hope he will pass down all he knows to you," Sunstar announced before continuing, "Bramblepelt,you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Runningleap, and you have shown yourself to be a stealthy hunter and a powerful fighter. You will be the mentor of Goldenpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

The newly named apprentice eagerly stepped forward to touch noses with her mentor, her lake-colored eyes glowing with happiness. After the clan called out, "Goldenpaw! Goldenpaw! Goldenpaw!" they too sat back in the crowd as their golden leader called out the last proclamation.

"Sparrowkit," He said, brown eyes warm, "Starclan has chosen you for a very special position." He addressed the rest of the clan with a steely gaze, as if daring them to object to his statement. "Although it is uncommon, Sparrowpaw will become a medicine cat, giving us two medicine cat apprentices. Yes," he relented when a few cats started to opened their mouths, "I know that it is practically unheard of, but think of how much of an advantage this would place us at. A clan with three medicine cats will be a clan with thrice the healing capability. If Greencough strikes us in Leaf-Bare, we will be ready!" At that, yowls of approval rang across the clan, and Sunstar proceeded as usual. "Sparrowkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your medicine cat name you will be known as Sparrowpaw. Your mentor will be Featherheart. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you."

The grey she-cat stepped forward, blue eyes focused upward as her leader said, "Featherheart, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You have received excellent training from Brightstream,—may she bound happily in Starclan—and you have shown yourself to be a proficient healer and a steadfast friend." A little tear came to the medicine cat's eye as he said that. "You will be the mentor of Sparrowpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."

"Sparrowpaw! Sparrowpaw! Sparrowpaw!" The clan cheered when the two grey she-cats touched noses.

"Nightpaw! Goldenpaw! Sparrowpaw!" The cats yowled again, and this time, Blackfur joined in, his dismal annoyance giving way to pride for his kits.

Three moons later...

Chapter 25: Goldenfur

After three moons of laying around, doing nothing, and sharing a den with—uuggh, he shuttered in disgust at the thought—Blackfur, Goldenfur was finally cleared to leave and return to his warrior duties. Sure, talking to Sparrowpaw, who—being the kind, compassionate she-cat she was—had forgiven him, was fun, but the tom was Starclan bound on getting outside. He was starting to feel claustrophobic from being tucked up in the stuffy den for so long.

Unfortunately, Blackfur had also been given permission to return to his duties, and the black tom was quick to rub it in the older warrior's face.

"Looks like you didn't get what you wanted," he sneered, green eyes narrowed, "I can move just fine. Better than you, anyways," he ended with a huff, kicking up dirt into Goldenfur's face.

The blue eyed tom snorted and rubbed at his eyes with a paw. Growling, he opened his mouth to spit a retort, but the other cat had already gone.

Grumbling, made his way over to the nursery to visit Greyleaf—if she was still alive. Everyone had kept the information from him in fear that he would have another outburst. Personally, Goldenfur didn't blame them. He knew that since Greyleaf slipped into her coma, he'd become a loose cannon.

He lumbered into the dark den—practically vacant because of Featherstorm's kits having been apprenticed and with Molecloud, Dustshade, and Brackenclaw being warriors now—to collapse beside Greyleaf stiffly. It seems that they had kept her alive all this time, instead of letting her die to be buried by the elders.

Though he was glad that she was still with the clans, he knew—with some bitter feelings—why she was in here instead of the medicine cat den. She was in here to protect her from him. Thunderclan probably thought of him as that maddened tom that almost killed Rosepaw, Nightpaw, and Blackfur. He felt bad about the first two, but for the latter, he felt no shame, only frustration at how he hadn't done a better job.

"Don't worry, Greyleaf," he mewed, laying his head over her rumpled shoulder, "You won't die in vain."

Hey peeples! Sorry for the wait! I was just really not feeling it the past week. Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Though, it was quite a bit jumpy, but I just absolutely needed to speed things up, I was ending up in a plot rut where I just couldn't move forward without an awkward filler.

Anyways...

Question Of The Chapter: What do you think Goldenfur means by, "You won't die in vain." ?