A/N: UGGGHHH.

Sorry this has been taking a long time coming up, its just that for the past two weeks I have been swamped with work.

With the release of The Last Hope, the entire Bouquet has spend days and nights reworking allegiances. We have eliminated: cats who we known to have died in the book, cats from other Clans that we have presumed to be dead after the aftermath of the battle. Since the passage of time between The Last Hope and this book is great, we have also eliminated cats because things like diseases could have occurred; we also made cats apprentices, and others warriors. (Also, some of the descriptions of our cats have changed as well).

We also are in the middle of editing all of the chapters that we have posted, and others that have been prewritten.

Please go back and review the allegiances if you need to. Thanks for your patience.

Tigerkit

"Minnowtail, can Nightkit and I go outside and explore?" I asked.

"You are still very young, Tigerkit," she answered. "Maybe in a few days."

"Okay," I said. Oh well, I thought. I guess Nightkit and I aren't going outside today. Again.

While it was just fine with me to sit in the nursery, it was another thing for Nightkit. I was calm and patient; she was energetic and couldn't wait for anything.

Nightkit, annoyed, started pacing the length of the nursery. After a while, I knew that either Minnowtail was either going to snap at her, or Nightkit was going to get upset. I stuck my tail straight up in the air and sharply flicked it downwards. She complied, sitting down, but shot Minnowtail a look of annoyance when she wasn't looking.

Mistystar poked her head through the opening to the nursery. "Would you mind if I came in?" she asked.

"Not at all!" said the queens.

"Hello everyone!" said Mistystar. "I have just come to check up on you guys."

I bounded up to her, amazed that the leader was visiting with us! "We're great!" I squeaked.

Mistystar purred. "Well, that's fantastic." She nodded to Duskfur. "Everything all right with you?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Duskfur. "I know they'll be coming soon- they are getting a bit feisty in there!" She poked at her swollen belly with a forepaw.

"Good. It's always nice to have lots of kits in the Clan."

"Mistystar!" a muted voice called from outside.

"Coming!" the leader replied. Just as she was about to leave, the gray-blue she-cat spoke up again. "Minnowtail, I also wanted to congratulate you on what a wonderful job you did with Mossyfoot's training."

"Oh, thank you Mistystar!" said my mother, dipping her head respectfully. I felt very proud of my mom- she must have been very good.

When Mistystar left, Duskfur started whispering. "Don't you think it is a little odd how Reedwhisker is Mistystar's son, and she appointed him as deputy?"

All of the queens nodded, and Mosspelt piped up, saying, "I think it is a little unfair. And what happens if he dies in battle? It hurts enough to lose a deputy, but a son as well?" She shuddered at he thought.

"You know what I noticed?" said Graymist "Mothwing has completely stopped going to the Moonpool!"

"Yes," said Minnowtail, "but at least Willowshine still is."

I didn't know how much more of this "Queen's gossip" I could take, let alone Nightkit. She was jumping around the den, looking for any holes in the wall we could escape out of. I was sitting down, trying to be patient, but I couldn't take it any longer. I lept up and started following my sister. As we searched, I picked up on snippets of conversation.

"Mintfur… time… new apprentice… Nettlepaw… maybe one of yours."

"Rushtail… good job…."

"Grasspelt... should… any of you?"

"No."

"Icewing… work… strong… ceremony… tree?"

The warriors did a good job sealing up the walls of the nursery. Maybe too good of a job. Suddenly, I got an idea to bust us out! I told it to my sister, and her eyes lit up in delight.

"Wait for my signal," I whispered.

My sister nodded in response. "Hey Minnowtail!" said Nightkit. "There is a hole over here!" she ducked down, pretending she was sticking her head through the wall of the nursery.

"What?" Minnowtail exclaimed. All of the queens rushed over to where we were standing.

I wiggled my ears twice, and then Nightkit and I ducked and weaved around them, our height giving us an advantage. We burst through the no longer guarded-by-queen entrance, and daylight flooded my vision. It took me a bit to adjust to the brightness, but when my eyes finally amended to the light, I saw Nightkit splashing around in a puddle. I joined her, and we both got soaking wet. Minnowtail poked her head out of the nursery. She mrowred in anger, annoyance, and in laughter. I saw an apprentice; Heronpaw is his name, I think. He rolled his eyes. A tortoiseshell and white tom padded over to Minnowtail and licked her cheek.

"They remind me of you," he said.

"Well, they definitely are true RiverClan cats!" she responded. "Tigerkit! Nightkit! Come meet your father!"

We bounded back over to Minnowtail. "This is Robinwing," she said.

For the first time ever, Nightkit seemed shy. She stood behind me, ducking down and trying to look small.

"Hi!" I said. "I'm Tigerkit, and this is my scardy-kit sister, Nightkit."

"I am not!" she objected, indignant. She bowled me over, and we tussled until we hit Robinwing's front paws. We meekly backed up, but he just purred.

"Do you know when we can become apprentices?" I asked, hopeful.

"Not for a while," he answered, "but when you do, I bet you will scare the pelts off every cat in ShadowClan."

"Oh, I can't wait!" I said.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, there was a loud, bone- chilling howl. It lasted a few moments, but when I looked at my sister, I saw that her fur was on end, and the whites of her eyes were showing. I wouldn't be surprised if I looked the same

"QUICKLY!" screeched Minnowtail. "GET INTO THE NURSERY!"

Nightkit and I bounded into nursery as fast as our little legs would carry us. "What was that?" I squeaked.

"I have no idea," replied Robinwing. "I haven't ever heard anything like it before."

"What are we going to do?" wailed Minnowtail. "What if what made it was dangerous? We don't know how to deal with unknown things! I don't want my kits to get hurt! What are we going to do?"

Robinwing looked down. "I don't know, Minnowtail. I just don't know…"