I wanted to give you guys and early update because I made you wait so long! Whoa! Three people reviewed in the little time between chapters! Thanks so much, guys. You make FFN worthwhile. :)

Review Answers:

spottedfire-star: That's about it, spottedfire. And the chapter after this one will be about Tigerheart and Ivypool. I promise I'll check out your stories as soon as I get the chance!

xXAurora LightsXx: Yes, I'm back up and running, and should be updating for you! I'm that you didn't mind the wait. Yes, Dovewing was being selfish and mean, and I'm actually was afraid that I didn't do character quite right in that part. But I hope I bring out more of her side in this chapter. And here is the more you were excited for!

Sinora Saphire: I feel bad for them both as well. I put a lot of pain (even though the pain isn't well written) on them in this story. I love DovexBumble as well, but we can't blame Dovewing for her lingering feelings for Tigerheart. I hope I updated soon enough for you. And thanks for the compliments!

Dovewing POV

I can't believe her! Dovewing thought angrily as she stomped away from Ivypool. Tigerheart is mine! He would never like her.

She stopped, and sighed. She had acted cruel, and she shouldn't have yelled at her and called her a mouse-brain. After all, Tigerheart couldn't be with either of them. She had gone over with this with herself before. Why has she just exploded like that?

I have to apologize, she thought, and turned in the direction of her sister. A twig snapped suddenly behind Dovewing, and she whipped around to come nose-to-nose with a yellow-eyed gray tabby with black stripes.

"Bumblestripe!" she exclaimed, leaping back in surprise. He hid his face from her.

"You-you like Tigerheart?" he asked quietly, obviously hurt by the fact. He had been listening to their conversation!

"What? N-no! Were you spying on me?" she asked, horror filling her. He had learned Ivypool's and her secret. Bumblestripe looked at her, his eyes oozing anger, shock, and regret.

"I didn't mean to hear! I was going to say sorry for last night, but you were talking to Ivypool. I just heard you say, 'I have a teensy crush on him!' Is that true? Is it really "teensy"?!" he demanded. Dovewing opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out.

"Has it all been a lie, Dovewing? We didn't have anything special between us? I knew that we weren't mates yet, but I thought you liked me. I thought we would be mates! Last night, I wanted to tell you that I loved you," he confessed, making Dovewing's stomach lurch. "I do love you! But now I know that you were just pretending. Mouse-brained me, believing you!"

Dovewing's eyes had started to water. She began, "Bumblestripe, I'm-"

"No!" Bumblestripe cut her off. "Nothing you say can take back the pretending, the acting, the lies."

When he said the word lies, it was barely audible. He emphasized it with such passion that Dovewing want to dig a hole and never come out.

"Bumblestripe, I wasn't pretending! I..." she started again, but Bumblestripe had turned, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

Why is everything going so wrong? she thought sorrowfully, her head hanging limp. She wished for Bumblestripe's comfort, for his tail running along her spine, for his round muzzle pressing into her fur. Maybe not Bumblestripe's, but...

Tigerheart...

Dovewing scowled. "Oh, go away!" she whispered, flicking her tail as if to wipe away the thoughts of the handsome ShadowClan tom.

She decided to head back to camp. Ivypool was probably there now, anyway, so it would be a waste of time to search for her elsewhere. She padded through the forest, on the winding path that lead back the ThunderClan camp. On the way, she had to fight away prodding and poking thoughts of Tigerheart, which made the short journey seem to go on forever.

When she arrived back in the camp, Ivypool lay in the apprentice's den, blue eyes glinting in the shadows. When she caught sight of Dovewing, the blue orbs turned into sapphire slits, and she could faintly see the white and gray tabby shifting in her nest to avoid her sister's gaze.

Thornclaw, Brackenfur, and Millie labored in the warrior's den, weaving new tendrils of brambles into the old to create a bigger space, so that the newest warriors could move in. Dovewing looked forward to sleeping in the same place as the other warriors. It would complete the change that every apprentice went through when they transitioned from trainee to trainer.

Bramblestar mounted on Highledge, and called the clan to a meeting with the traditional words.

"Cats of ThunderClan, Lilykit and Seedkit are now six moons old, and are ready to become apprentices," the dark tabby informed the clan. The two kits, groomed to perfection by Sorreltail, stepped forth proudly to receive their mentors and names.

Ivypool slipped from where she lay, and Dovewing beckoned her. She stared at her for a few seconds, but then sat on the opposite side of the Highledge. Dovewing looked at her paws, wishing Ivypool would talk with her.

Bramblestar's amber eyes washed over the clan, regaining the cats' attention. All sat erect and waiting for their leader to speak.

"Lilykit, step forward. You are six moons of age. Do you promise to train under the chosen mentor, and learn the ways of the warrior?" he asked, eyes centered on the brown tabby and white she-cat.

"I do!" she squeaked enthusiastically. Bramblestar smiled.

"You shall be known as Lilypaw until you receive your warrior name," he declared. Then he stared directly down at Dovewing. "Dovewing, though you are young, I believe it is time for you to have an apprentice. Lionblaze taught you well, and I hope you can pass on the skills he taught you to the new apprentice."

I have an apprentice! Dovewing exclaimed inwardly, closing her eyes to savor the moment. She smiled at Lilypaw warmly.

Suddenly she realized the eyes of every cat were sealed on her. Why-? she thought, before rapidly realizing the reason. She shuffled quickly up to her new apprentice, and touched noses gently with the she-cat.

Bramblestar chuckled, then moved on with the ceremony. "Seedkit, step forward. Do you promise to train under the chosen mentor, and learn the ways of the warrior?"

"I do!" Seedkit crowed happily.

"You shall be known as Seedpaw until you receive your warrior name! Toadstep, it is time you had an apprentice. Cloudtail taught you well, and I hope you can pass on the skills you learned to Seedpaw," he said, concluding the ceremony.

The black and white tom touched his nose to the nose of the smaller pale ginger she-cat.

"Lilypaw! Seedpaw! Lilypaw! Seedpaw!" the clan repeated in unison.

Dovewing was ecstatic. Her own apprentice! She could teach Lilypaw everything there was to know about being a warrior of ThunderClan. Where to start? Dovewing racked her brain for the first thing that Lionblaze and Cinderheart had taught Ivypool and herself.

Oh yeah! They took us on a tour of the territory! she remembered. Lilypaw was staring up at her with bright amber eyes excitedly.

"So, what do we do first? Cherrypaw showed me how to do the crouch; watch!" she meowed proudly. Dovewing purred in amusement as Lilypaw imitated the traditional hunting crouch, haunches uneven, tail swishing.

"First, I'm going to show you the territory, Lilypaw!" Dovewing told her. Lilypaw didn't seem crestfallen at the fact that she didn't get to train yet. She bounded ahead to the camp entrance with an energetic bounce to her step. Dovewing followed her, barely able to keep up.

"Can we see the Great Oak? The old Twoleg den? The lake?" Lilypaw asked curiously. Dovewing didn't know how she could train this boisterous, tireless apprentice that always had an endless list of questions.

"We'll do it all today, if you like," she replied as they made their way through the trees. Lilypaw spotted a squirrel darting through the bushes, and dashed noisily to catch it. She clasped her jaws shut a mouse-length from the squirrel's bushy brown tail.

"That was a nice try," Dovewing praised, trying to counsel the beginning hunter gently. "But you need to creep up on your prey, silently, so they won't know you're there."

Lilypaw watched wide-eyed as Dovewing crouched down and began to move across the leaf-strewn forest floor without a sound. The silver she-cat demonstrated as best she could, imagining she was hunting. It was strange, though, when she couldn't hear like she used to.

"You're an awesome hunter, Dovewing!" Lilypaw said in awe as she watched her mentor. "I bet you could catch a badger if you wanted to!"

Dovewing laughed deeply. She was in a better mood than she had been in all day. Lilypaw's new-apprentice excitement had rubbed off on her. It was only when she recalled with a painful jolt her problems with Ivypool, Bumblestripe, and Tigerheart that she let her smile droop into a frown.

"Are you okay, Dovewing?" Lilypaw asked as she read Dovewing's expression. Dovewing quickly pasted on a false grin to please the young she-cat.

"Oh, I'm fine, Lilypaw," she answered cheerfully. Her mind was once again flooded with gloomy worries, but she chose to ignore them for once for the sake her apprentice.

When the silver she-cat and her tabby and white student returned to the ThunderClan camp, their pelts were already dyed golden and pink by the setting sun. Lilypaw was finally exhausted, practically asleep on her paws.

"Off to bed with you, Lilypaw. More training in the morning," Dovewing commanded. Lilypaw yawned and smiled at her with half-lidded eyes, and trudged tiredly to the apprentice's den.

Dovewing herself opened her mouth in a wide yawn, but opened her eyes just in time to see Ivypool padding in from a last minute hunting patrol.

"Iypool!" she called, rushing over to the silver-striped she-cat. Ivypool glowered at her, but didn't move.

"What do you want?" she asked accusingly. Dovewing ignored the hostility of her greeting.

"I wanted to say sorry for the way I acted. I was being selfish. Will you forgive me?" she pleaded. Ivypool looked taken aback by Dovewing's pride-ridden apology. She didn't look as angry as before, but she also didn't seem to fully forgive Dovewing.

"Well, I guess." she mumbled, then cleared her throat. "Well, I've had a long day, and I'm gonna get some sleep, 'kay?" she mewed quietly. Dovewing nodded, and watched as Ivypool trotted away.

Dovewing had a painful migraine, probably just from tiredness, so she peaked into the medicine cat den before going to her nest. Briarlight was chatting good-naturedly to Jayfeather as he worked with herbs.

"Jayfeather?" she asked.

"Hello, Dovewing," he aswered, without turning to face her. Briarlight twisted her head back to see her, grinning from ear to ear.

"Guess what, Dovewing? Jayfeather can see now!" she exclaimed happily. Jayfeather turned to them, and Dovewing searched for any difference in his appearance. Jayfeather's blue eyes had always looked normal, but she now observed that they had obtained certain clearness that they hadn't had before.

Dovewing guessed that it had to do with losing their powers from the prophecy. When Jayfeather lost his power to see into dreams and thoughts, he must've gained the ordinary sight of a cat.

"You aren't blind anymore?" she asked Jayfeather, wondering how he might reply. Jayfeather nodded solemnly.

"It's very strange, seeing things. I always imagined things in my mind, and I saw in my dreams, but seeing things while I wake is just so unusual," he explained. Then he looked at Dovewing quizzically. "What do you need?"

"I have a head-ache," she said, the pain returning.

"Is it bad?" Jayfeather asked. Dovewing decided that if she said it wasn't too bad, Jayfeather might turn her away, so she decided against it.

"Pretty bad," she answered, and the gray tabby medicine cat silently slipped to the back of the den, and returned with some fresh smelling herbs. Dovewing bent down and lapped them up, ignoring the fowl flavor.

Jayfeather studied her in a way that confused Dovewing, and when she turned to leave, he stopped her.

"Wait, is that all you came for?" he asked. Dovewing nodded slowly, curious to what had provoked the question. Jayfeather cocked his head.

"You haven't thought about it, have you?" he asked in more a statement than a question. Dovewing bit her lip.

"What are you talking about?" she mewed in surprise. Instead of answering her, Jayfeather moved toward her, and began to circle, looking at her up and down. Dovewing's gaze followed him as he wove around her, eyes traveling over her body.

When he finished, he stopped in front of her and said, "Yup, I knew it." Dovewing was bewildered.

"Knew what? What is StarClan are you talking about?!" she demanded. Jayfeather purred and smiled. Jayfeather didn't purr of smile often.

"You're expecting kits, Dovewing!"

Now was that cliffie enough for you? I wanted to add a bit more to distract Dovewing, and I thought that an apprentice would be just the thing. I'm pretty sure that Lilykit and Seedkit wouldn't be six moons old already, but they were the oldest kits. I'll be updating again soon!