"Now?" she asked, impatient as always.

The darkness wreathed around her, caressing her, leaving lingering touches along her cheeks and flank. It was so thick, so humid, so sweet. No, it told her, in that voice that made her weak at the knees. Not yet. For now, we wait. No one must notice that anything is different. We keep the other Clans at bay, we make them think that everything is fine, and then we strike.

It paused and she waited, desperate, for it to finish. But not now, it said.

Willowstar looked up at the stars, her eyes narrowing into slits. They were too bright, too close, too scalding. She could feel them watching and she hated it. One day, there would be no stars. Then the night would truly come. "But soon?"

Soon, it promised, reaching out a tendril of dark smoke to stroke her slim face. Very, very soon.

ALLEGIANCES

.

ThunderClan

Leader: Slatestar – dark grey tabby tom with yellow eyes and a white underbelly

Deputy: Nettleclaw – large ginger and white tom with amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Kitetail – dark brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Grasscloud – slim tortoiseshell she-cat

Beechclaw – lean light brown tabby tom

Larchstripe – long-haired silver tabby she-cat
Apprentice: Galepaw

Thickfur – broad-shouldered grey tabby tom
Apprentice: Dawnpaw

Owlfeather – scrawny pale tom, tinged brown
Apprentice: Mousepaw

Elmheart – handsome golden-brown tom

Apprentices:

Dawnpaw – pale ginger she-cat

Galepaw – long-haired white tom

Mousepaw – small brown and white she-cat

Queens:

Auburnfur – reddish-brown she-cat with green eyes

Cherrytail – ginger and white she-cat, green eyes

Elders:

Larkflight – white she-cat with grey spotting

Foxwhisker – once-handsome ginger tom

Snowfoot – large white tom, blind, former deputy

.

WindClan

Leader: Willowstar – soft grey she-cat

Deputy: Thornfur – handsome ginger tabby tom

Medicine Cat: Stormtail – dark grey tom with a long tail
Apprentice: Stripedpaw

Warriors:

Swiftfang – large black tom with a white underbelly
Apprentice: Mudpaw

Frostpool – beautiful white she-cat

Ashpoppy – long-legged silver tabby she-cat

Gorsetooth – light brown tom
Apprentice: Tansypaw

Rootfur – dark brown tabby tom with white paws

Cloudstorm – slim white tom, yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Tansypaw – small ginger and white she-cat

Mudpaw – large brown tom with black splashes

Stripedpaw – light beige tabby tom

Queens:

Cedarpelt – thick-furred reddish-brown she-cat, green eyes

Mintpool – black and white she-cat

Elders:

Mottledfur – brown tom with darker spots

Icetail – elderly white she-cat

.

RiverClan

Leader: Toadstar – black tom with a brown underbelly and green eyes

Deputy: Reedthroat – handsome pale tabby tom

Medicine Cat: Patchnose – pale tabby tom with a pink and black nose

Warriors:

Whitestream – slender white she-cat
Apprentice: Fogpaw

Troutleap – silver tabby she-cat

Morningstep – bright ginger she-cat with amber eyes

Oaktail – dark brown tabby tom
Apprentice: Rainpaw

Goldenfur – long-furred golden she-cat

Hazelthorn – small brown and white tom

Apprentices:

Rainpaw – black tom with a white underbelly

Fogpaw – large grey tabby she-cat

Queens:

Lilystream – pretty grey she-cat

Tawnyfeather – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Elders:

Swampclaw – broad-shouldered grey-brown tom

Gustheart – long-furred light grey tom

Crowtooth – irritable black she-cat

.

ShadowClan

Leader: Eaglestar – golden-brown tom with a tabby mask

Deputy:Redfur – white she-cat with ginger patches
Apprentice: Tanpaw

Medicine Cat: Birchcloud – light grey tom with darker flecks

Warriors:

Greywing – skinny grey tom
Apprentice: Nightpaw

Milkyfur – white she-cat

Seedfur – tan she-cat with green eyes

Sootclaw – dark grey, almost black, tom
Apprentice: Pigeonpaw

Flowerpelt – tortoiseshell she-cat

Apprentices:

Tanpaw – large tan tom

Pigeonpaw – spiky-furred grey and white tom

Nightpaw – black she-cat with amber eyes

Queens:

Sprucetail – dark brown she-cat

Elders:

Shadefur – old grey tom

Rockfang – black tom with white paws

.

X X X X X X X

A/N: Boom. Allegiances. Here they are. Obviously this isn't a very eventful chapter, but...you may notice a few differences. There's a new crop of apprentices in WindClan, one of whom will be very important. Not to mention Kitetail. Or Toadstar. Sootclaw seems to have found himself an apprentice (Eaglestar's petulant son) and a certain she-cat has made her way into the nursery. All will be explained in due time.

I'm also going to make more of an attempt to include secondary characters, especially elders, who barely played a role in the last story at all. But as you all know me and my work ethic, that will probably fail.

Trying to find a good synonym for moist was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life. Humid is iffy, but it's better than soggy. Or dank. Or slimy. Anyway. The beginning was basically a recap of PotS's epilogue - WindClan will attack blah blah blah. There is a reason they haven't struck already (we've had about four moons of peace) and it will become apparent.

ScourgexScarlet: C'mon, where's your faith in me? :P

The Last Clan: I'm writing as if the stories stopped at Night Whispers. As for Hollyleaf, we'll see ;) Thanks so much for the great review! It's nice to know that you're so excited.

Scribe of the Owls: Thanks for the concrit! Haha, I get rebuked for not having enough "saids", and then for having too many of them. You can't please everyone, but I'll take everything you said into consideration :)

iPinkNinja: Thank you so much for the great review and compliment!

Coqui's Song: Hey, I promise the first chapter will be long enough to make up for it! :P More description is a good point though, I'll work on it!

Juniperleaf of BlazeClan: Haha, well, I'm glad I didn't cause you even more stress by taking longer to update. Anyway, thank you so, so much!

As I said, not an eventful update, but the first chapter will be quite eventful, so stay tuned! It should be up on Thursday :)

Thanks for reading and please review!

- PV :)