You didn't expect me to finish the last chapter so early, did you? Well here it is! We're ending on Firegaze's PoV, and the new story will be up today too! (I've edited the allegiances and finished the prologue. I've been productive.)

Reviews:

OC approached: Yes, your OC may join the Ten Flames.

Whitespirit: 1) Well, Hazel isn't a COMPLETE jerk. You have to remember that Hazel was in both despair and angry with herself for losing Dove, which made it easier for her to lose her temper. I'm by no means excusing her actions, but she wasn't in the right state of mind. Hazel definitely won't be deputy for a long time, but she's going to try to redeem herself. Hazel definitely feels horrible about it, and it's revealed in this chapter just how bad she feels. 2) It would be probable that Wasppaw and Sandpaw have a dead sibling, though. It's very rare for a tortoiseshell tom to have kits.

"Hazel, what in your right mind thought that it was okay to attack a medicine cat apprentice?!" Violetstar hissed from Perched Rock. How could Hazel have done something like that? That's horrible! Hazel was looking down at her paws, probably in shame. She must know that she messed up big time. "First you scare away one of our mediators, trespass onto ThunderClan territory and now attack an apprentice belonging to ThunderClan! And their medicine cat apprentice, no less!" Hazel didn't answer, still looking down at her paws. Her eyes were glazed with regret and despair, as if she was desperate to get this over with. Firegaze noticed Spiritmask padding up to his mate. What is he doing?

"Violetstar, you're acting as if Stargaze and Blaze didn't trespass either. They all broke the code." Spiritmask mewed. Yeah, why hadn't anyone mentioned that? "Although Hazel did attack an apprentice, Stargaze and Blaze should be punished for not stepping in as well." Who cares about my vendetta with Blaze right now? She should've at least tried to convince Hazel not to go trespassing!

Blaze growled at him. "Oh, and how do you expect me to? We're medicine cats, not warriors." Blaze, this still isn't helping your case. Silverfire glared at Blaze, his silver eyes gleaming with anger.

"You could've done something!" He spat, baring his teeth. "If ThunderClan attacks us, I'm blaming you three!" Me too.

"Enough! Stargaze and Blaze, get over here as well." Violetstar yowled from Perched Rock. "All of you three will be punished- Stargaze is not to go to a Gathering for three moons, Blaze is not to go to a Gathering for three moons and her medicine cat ceremony will be held back until then. Hazel, if I'm letting you off easy this time. Six moons of apprentice duties. You will not be the deputy until you learn how to control your anger."

"Violetstar, I don't know why you made me deputy in the first place. I've never had an apprentice, I've had anger issues these past seven moons, so why? You knew this." Hazel whispered. "Why couldn't you've made Ivy or Twyla deputy? They wouldn't've done something like this." Murmurs in agreement spread around camp. Hazel was a pretty good deputy! Well, up until today.

Violetstar sighed. "Because like I'd told you before- Not every cat is suited to be deputy. You were an amazing deputy, but you need to be punished." Her eyes glittered with sorrow. "That's why you're on apprentice duties for so long."

"I understand that, Violetstar. I've been acting rash and stupid these past few days. I had it coming to me, if we're honest." Hazel murmured, a pained laugh in her mew. "But Violetstar, Dove's still out there. She could be dead because of me. Can't you at least look for her?" Hazel's mew was struck with grief and guilt. If she'd done this and asked, none of this would've happened!

"We will. And I shall send a patrol to look for her." Violetstar meowed. She glanced at all of the cats in camp. "The cats that'll go are Ivy and Stone, plus your apprentices. I also want Hazel to go with." Several outcries protested the decision.

"I'm not going on a patrol with a potential murderer!" Ivy hissed, her pelt prickling. Of course Ivy's against it. She's worried about what would happen with Hazel around.

Violetstar growled at her. "The only reason Hazel's going is so she can prove that she's not as bad as she showed today. You will watch her carefully. If she doesn't do anything of the sort, I'll lower the punishment to five moons, maybe four." Ivy hissed at Violetstar, but said nothing. Instead she began ushering Stone and Dylan to the entrance. Just wait, Ivy, I wanna hear this last bit before we leave.

"Thank you, Violetstar. Trust me, I'll do my best to keep my anger under control." Hazel choked out the words, guilt and a small hint of contentment in her meow. At least she's dedicated to fixing her mistake. Before Hazel walked over to the patrol, glanced over to Blaze. "Blaze, I'm-"

"Sorry? I know. But as far as I can tell, you aren't the cat who raised me." Blaze hissed in her face. "So just leave me alone, you heaping pile of fox-dung." Hazel nodded and padded over to Ivy, Stone and Dylan, with her head still hanging low. Firegaze padded over in the same direction as her. Hazel's not going to have a good time of it, especially since Ivy's the patrol leader. Firegaze felt Dylan's fur brush up beside hers. He entwined his tail with hers for a brief second, but they both quickly pulled their tails away. We both know it isn't the time for this.

"Come on, let's go." Ivy ordered at once, already leaving the camp. Stone shot one last glare at Hazel before following, and Dylan shook his head and sighed. So you feel about the same, don't you? Firegaze padded alongside Dylan, her whiskers twitching. Just what is our Clan coming to?

Firegaze's paws felt heavy already, even though they'd been walking for a while now. Ivy was still in the lead, trying to find Dove's scent without making a scene. Stone wasn't saying anything, but Firegaze knew he was resisting the urge to claw Hazel. Dylan padded alongside her, his warm fur brushing against hers. He's been so protective of me recently. Hazel was in the middle of the group, still staring at her paws while walking. She truly regrets it, doesn't she? Currently they were headed for the ThunderClan border so they could wait for a patrol. They won't be happy about seeing Hazel again.

"A ThunderClan patrol should be here soon. Wait." Ivy hotly meowed. Everyone waited behind the invisible barrier. Stone hissed at Hazel.

"Yeah, and keep to our own territory this time!" Stone grumbled loud enough for her to hear. Why's he got to keep tormenting her about it? She feels bad enough as it is!

Ivy growled at Stone. "Keep your fur on, Stone." She added. "Anymore side comments results in no prey for the both of you." Hazel didn't protest. Instead she closed her eyes, not wanting to watch anymore. Stone opened his mouth to reply, but thought better than to actually say something back. Firegaze's ears pricked up to hear the sounds of ThunderClan cats padding towards the border. As the smell grew stronger, Firegaze grew more anxious. What if they attack us? Soon a white tom, sandy gray tom, pale tabby tom and a pale ginger tabby she-cat walked up to the border. Firegaze could only recognize the pale ginger tabby, which was Sandpaw. The she-cat we saved all those moons ago… Sandpaw was glaring at Hazel with narrowed green eyes, anger glinting in them. I don't blame her. Her sister got attacked by her, after all.

"Why're you here?" The white tom asked at once.

The pale tabby hissed at them, baring his teeth. "Can't you go trespass on the other Clan's territories?"

"We are looking for a Clanmate." Ivy mewed evenly, her voice barely giving in to the grief. I could never do that.

Sandpaw glared at Ivy. "Why should we care about what happens to your Clanmates when one of yours attacked our medicine cat?" We're all cats. It's not like we've never done things that we truly regret. So why do you assume Hazel doesn't regret what she did? You don't even know her. The white tom shot her a silencing look, which seemed to keep her quiet.

Ivy sighed. "We're looking for a she-cat named Dove. She's a silver spotted tabby with light green eyes. She ran off today and we're trying to find her as soon as we can. Dove wouldn't last one heartbeat out there by herself."

"She's incompetent, that's basically what Ivy's saying." Stone put in. Ivy hissed at him, which made him look away from her. He's really getting on Ivy's nerves, isn't he? Hazel was still facing the ground, her eyes still closed.

The sandy gray tom looked at the white tom. "What should we do then, Whitestorm?"

"We'll allow you to go across the ThunderClan-ShadowClan border line to search, but that is it." Whitestorm mewed. Oh thank StarClan they didn't send us away. The pale tabby tom's fur bristled.

"What?! They already attacked us, Whitestorm! They're probably planning to attack us as well!" The pale tabby hissed.

Whitestorm glared at him. "Longtail, that was one cat. We don't know what SkyClan is up to, but it's rude to assume they're planning to attack us-"

"But they could be!" Sandpaw growled. She walked up to Ivy and spat in her face. "Are you?"

Ivy seemed to be unfazed. "That is none of your business." She looked over to Whitestorm. "We will be taking our leave. Thank you." Whitestorm nodded and flicked his tail, signaling to the ThunderClan patrol to follow. Thank StarClan that didn't escalate too quickly.

Firegaze padded behind the rest of her patrol, relishing the cold air buffeting her pelt. It was already moonrise and they'd just managed to make it out of Clan territory by running in sheer terror due to the fear of a ShadowClan patrol finding them. Or that was just me and everyone else was trying to catch up with me. Ivy and Stone were creating small nests while Hazel was out catching prey. No one even asked her…she really wants to prove herself, huh? Firegaze was searching for some nearby materials with Dylan to make sleeping less of an issue.

"Hey Dylan, do you think this'll work?" Firegaze called out to the white tabby tom. He looked at the lump of leaves she'd collected. They'd fallen to the ground and were now a reddish brown color.

"Well, they might not be the best option for nests." Dylan mumbled after examining the leaves. "But they're really beautiful, just like you." He purred. Oh StarClan, he's too nice!

Firegaze smiled. "You're always so sweet, Dylan." Firegaze purred. She licked his cheek, making him purr some more. "But why to me?" Dylan gave his chest fur a few licks.

"W-Well, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a while now, Firegaze." Dylan stuttered. His lime green eyes glimmered with nervousness. "I-I…love you…"

"Really?" Firegaze whispered in shock. Dylan nodded. Firegaze playfully tackled him. "I love you too!" She touched her nose with his, love shining in her eyes. Nothing could make me feel happier. I'm finally with Dylan the way I want to be. "But we're just apprentices, Dylan…how could this relationship work out until we're warriors?"

"We keep it secret," Dylan smoothly answered, his eyes gleaming amorously. "No one has to find out until we're warriors." I think everyone will be able to guess our 'secret' easily. Or is that just me? "Until then, we'll just act like this in private." Firegaze nodded, still smiling.

"We should go back to the others." Firegaze mewed, getting off of Dylan. Dylan sighed in a exaggerated fashion and padded beside Firegaze, his tail entwined with hers. Now I see why he kept pulling his tail away from mine all the time. He's liked me for a while, then, huh? Ivy was keeping watch while Stone was already asleep. Hazel had just returned to camp from what Firegaze could tell, and she'd brought back one plump squirrel and a blackbird. That's pretty good for just one cat. And it is leaf-fall.

"Finally back, eh? Good, I was starting to get worried." Ivy flicked her tail towards Hazel's fresh kill. "Hazel caught some prey. Feel free if you're hungry. We've got to search in Twolegplace, from what me and Stone could tell. It'll be a rough journey, but we'll make it and find Dove."

"I hope Dove's okay…" Hazel murmured. That's the first thing she's said since we left! "StarClan, please watch over her…" Firegaze couldn't help but feel a stab of pity. Nothing's been going right for Hazel recently…hopefully we find Dove.

QotD: What were your overall thoughts on Flames of Fury: New Skies? And what do you think will happen in the next book, The Jade Destroyer?

It came out a lot better than expected, because making Blaze adopted was a much better idea than making her parents Tristan and Twyla. THAT'S why she's a brownish gray she-cat, but then I was too lazy to change it. I would share about The Jade Destroyer, BUT that would be spoiling the entire plot for you guys. So see you next time on the next installment of Flames of Fury!