Ohmigosh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm such a terrible updater, just like with ITWD! I can't believe I didn't update in so long, so before I annoy you further, I shall show you the next chapter:

Spottedkit sat and compared Tigerclaw and Thistleclaw every day since the warrior ceremony. Neither were soft toms, and Spottedkit liked that. But who had more ambition? Spottedkit wanted to be apprenticed to a cat that would one day be leader. Every morning, she woke up early to see each cat. Tigerclaw was beginning to show the ambition in the same way as Tigerclaw. He carried himself differently now that he was a warrior, proud and powerful. But of either of the cats, Spottedkit still wanted to be apprenticed to Thistleclaw.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

There comes a time in every kit's life when they're tempted to do something they're not allowed to do. Today was Spottedkit's turn. She stared out at the gorse entrance to the camp wistfully, willing to leave and explore the territory. She had less than a moon until she was old enough to be an apprentice, and could walk out of the ThunderClan camp. But would it hurt to be prepared?

"Spottedkit?" murmured Willowpaw, Spottedkit's only real friend, and her older sister. "What're you doing?"

"I want to go to the borders of our territory, so I can see who I'm up against when I become a real apprentice," Spottedkit replied in a whisper, like she was reciting a prophecy.

"You can't. No kit can leave camp," Willowpaw mewed worriedly.

"So? I won't get caught!" Spottedkit replied firmly.
"But- you can't go!" Willowpaw ordered, motherly and stern.

"Are you going to try and stop me?" Spottedkit hissed, baring her teeth menacingly.

"N-no. Of course not. I'm coming with you, though."

"You can if you want to."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Where to go now?" Spottedkit asked, her eyes the size of moons at the sight of the ThunderClan trees. "These are huge."

"Of course," Willowpaw replied, taking the role of tour guide. "To your right, you will see trees, and to your left, you will see more trees."

Willowpaw giggled at her own joke, but what was a giggle for Willowpaw had Spottedkit rolling on the ground, purring with amusement. This was the Spottedkit that the Clan didn't see: an innocent kit that had to purr at a joke, whether it was funny or not. The laughter was so contagious; Willowpaw couldn't help but continue to purr at her own joke. Suddenly, a loud hiss broke the silence.

"Not if it costs my life, Crookedjaw!" a tom hissed, and Spottedkit instantly recognized it as the voice of the ambitious tom whom she wanted to be apprenticed to.

"That's Thistleclaw!" Spottedkit mewed to Willowpaw. "We have to help him!"

"Let's go!" Willowpaw ordered, and raced off in the direction of Thistleclaw's voice: Sunningrocks. Spottedkit followed close behind, her small kit-sized legs finding it hard to keep up with Willowpaw's longer ones. They raced past tall trees they would have stopped to admire in less dire situations, everything going by in a blur.

The sounds of fighting cats grew closer sooner and sooner. Spottedkit knew the aggressive tom well, and knew that he would rather die than lose to RiverClan. Spottedkit had to be sure that he didn't lose. Then, maybe, Thistleclaw would want her as an apprentice.

The scene she came upon was terrible. Thistleclaw's three-cat patrol had been ambushed by what looked like half of RiverClan's fighting force. Red blood splattered the normally light gray rocks. Ragged clumps of cat fur littered the ground, clawed-off, and all Spottedkit could hear were shrieks of pain. For a moment, Spottedkit almost wanted to help all the cats, even the RiverClan cats, but then she caught herself. Instantly, Spottedkit and Willowpaw leapt into battle. While Willowpaw stayed on the edges of the battle, Spottedkit leapt into the heart of it, where she knew Thistleclaw would be.

"Spottedkit! What are you doing here?" Thistleclaw hissed. Spottedkit was shocked to see that the tom looked angry, rather than pleased or relieved.

"You needed help!" Spottedkit pointed out. She jumped at one tom from RiverClan. The RiverClan tom, initially surprised to be attacked by one so small, jumped back, barely missing Spottedkit's blow. Then his training kicked in. The tom tackled Spottedkit, raking his claws across her back. An intense pain exploded inside Spottedkit. She only had time to see that Willowpaw was also faring badly in the battle before the world went white.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The first scent that hit the roof of Spottedkit's mouth was that of burdock rook. There was no burdock root at Sunningrocks, so that mean that Spottedkit was in the medicine den. And then a flash of movement caught Spottedkit's eye, but it was gone in a moment.

"I see you've awoken," murmured a white, feathery-looking cat. Spottedkit recognized him as Featherwhisker, the Clan medicine cat.

"Why am I here?" Spottedkit asked curiously.

"You lost a lot of blood in the battle," Featherwhisker informed her.

"What about Thistleclaw and Willowpaw?" Spottedkit asked, looking around frantically.

"Willowpaw escaped. She was released from here yesterday."

"And Thistleclaw?"

"Thistleclaw didn't survive the battle."