Wow, these longer chapters really do take longer, don't they? Well, at least this one's not out as late as the other one was! ;) And now on to some review replies!

EradrinSkyleaf: Yeeesssss, meeeeaaaattttt foooooorrrrr Raaaiiiinnnpaaaawwww! XD I actually like The Siblings; maybe I'll start calling them that from now on.

ShadowHawk: Yes, they are Clan cats, or at least they're sort of Clan cats. I've never heard of Animals, though. So… here I go to look it up! :P

Anova00: Oh, lucky, you don't have a song stuck in your head! I listen to so much music I usually have some sort of song stuck in my head. Well, unless if there's something more interesting to pay attention to.

Nightfeather: Good luck on your cello concert! Well, it's probably happened by now, so I hope you did well! Also, I love how you always give me longer reviews to read. It's nice to get on my email and read an extra-long review. :)

Willowdream of ForestClan: Huh, what gives you that idea? ;) And you play for your church's band? That's really cool! I used to play an instrument but I didn't like to practice and eventually lost interest. Writing's more my thing, as I'm sure you can tell.

QLKwriter: Ah, of course all the bad ones are stuck in your head! They always do that, don't they? And Cinderpaw's POV is definitely the most fun to write – she's so opinionated and outgoing but still tries to let others see who she wants them to see.

Starfrost515: So far you've been the only one to think that Aspenpaw and Alderpaw will cause trouble. :P Maybe there's a reason most people think they're help, or maybe they're just all going to be surprised later…

Bobbie1776: Oh, I think I sort of purposefully typed "blank space" into the last chapter. Was that what got it stuck in your head? If so, sorry!

Sootpaw's POV

The next day dawned dim and dreary. Clouds had been blown into one huge, overlapping mass, holding up a lake's worth of water. I sat at the top of the Highledge, staring up at the sky, wondering when it would rain and if Cinderpaw and Rainpaw would be safe and sheltered during the length of the storm, as well as Foxtooth. Rustpelt hadn't been able to find his brother the previous afternoon, and we'd all assumed he'd followed Cinderpaw. The poor, lovesick fool.

Dawnpaw padded out of the medicine den below, her pelt fluffed up against a sudden chilly breeze caught on the rim of the hollow and forced downward. She glanced up at me and smiled. My pelt felt warm as I grinned and waved my tail at her. Maybe I was more like Foxtooth than I thought.

But I couldn't think about Dawnpaw right now. The two of us weren't the only ones awake; the warriors and apprentices had all exited their dens and were stretching and yawning, blinking sleepily and glancing up at me to see if I was assigning patrols yet. I probably should get onto that. So, casting one last, worried glance at the sky, I bounded down the slope of fallen rocks and into the clearing.

As I leaped up onto the flattish rock I'd organized the patrols yesterday from, I quickly scanned the cats present. After doing a once-over and glancing quickly at the entrance, I figured out that most of the cats were here, with the exceptions of Crouchfoot, who was guarding the entrance, and the dawn patrol, which consisted of Larkwing, Molewhisker, Streamfrost, and Morningpaw.

"Patrols!" I called out, though the announcement was hardly necessary as most of the Clan was already gathered before me. "For the first hunting patrol of the day, Cherryfall and Scorchblaze can go with their apprentices. Then, for the Sunhigh border patrol, I'd like you to lead, Aspentail. Take… take Sparrowtalon, Snowclaw, and Rustpelt." The cats nodded and stepped off to one side so I could see who was left.

It wasn't promising. Not at all. The only cat left was Mistheart, sitting there and looking calmly up at me. "Erm…" I said uncertainly, "Mistheart, you can replace Crouchfoot on guard duty. As for the other patrols, I'll just have to wait for more cats to return before I-" My words were drowned out by a loud screech emitting from the nursery. Every head turned and every pair of eyes was fixed on the entrance, through which only a patch of dusty floor and a single empty nest were visible.

"Out of the way!" A yowl sounded from the other side of the clearing, the speaker blocked from view by the cats set to patrol the borders at Sunhigh. The Clan parted like darkness before a sunrise to reveal a black figure, who, as soon as his path was clear, raced across the clearing, heading for the nursery. At his heels dashed a slightly smaller yellow-orange she-cat, her jaws full of herbs spilling haphazardly from either side of her mouth. I leaped off the rock and hurried back across the clearing, scooping up the herbs dropped and bounding to the nursery, into which the two medicine cats had already vanished. With one deep breath, I poked my head inside.

Amberwing lay sprawled in the largest nest, her jaws parted in an anguished shriek of pain. At her side crouched Smokefoot and Goldenpaw, both speaking in low voices despite the racket their patient was making.

"There should be a large litter," Goldenpaw was saying, her paw pressed against Amberwing's bloated belly.

Smokefoot nodded. "Yes, I think so. Keep breathing, Amberwing. You're doing fine."

"Um, you dropped these," I meowed, trying to be heard over Amberwing's renewed yowls. "Out in the clearing." I let the herbs drift gently down onto the ground.

At once, Smokefoot was in front of me, glaring at me. I backed away hastily, withdrawing my head from the nursery entrance. "Don't disturb the queen," he hissed. "She can't become anxious or else it will be a hard birth. So quit yelling and keep your nose out of here!"

I backed hurriedly away as Smokefoot's piercing glare was turned away and he returned to Amberwing's side. I did not want to mess with the medicine stuff – I had no clue about any of that.

A warm pelt brushed up against mine; turning, I saw it was Dawnpaw. "He can be nice, you know." She nodded at the nursery.

"Who, Smokefoot? Are you kidding?"

Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I've spent so long in that den, I know that cat through and through. He really does have a soft side."

"I'll take your word for it," I muttered, glancing back at the nursery. "He scares me."

Dawnpaw bumped her shoulder against mine. "I think you just got in the way of him taking care of a patient, is all," she said playfully. "Now if you do that, he'll transform into a snarling badger."

"Yep, I can definitely see that," I said, ramming my head into her shoulder. She tumbled onto her side, laughing, but then she stopped abruptly. I froze in the act of trying to pin her down, looking anxiously down at her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she said, trying to push herself up. However much she tried, though, she couldn't quite manage to get to her paws again and flopped back onto the ground, panting.

"Here," I said, circling around to her back and pushing my nose under her back. "I'll help you." Dawnpaw tried to get up again, and this time, with my help, managed to scramble awkwardly to her feet. She sat down heavily, leaning down to lick her belly wound. "What's wrong?" I asked nervously. If I'd somehow managed to break open Dawnpaw's wound again, Smokefoot would shred me alive and wear my pelt as an extra Leafbare coat.

"I think I shouldn't be playing around yet," she meowed uncertainly, examining her wound minutely. "It doesn't look like it's bleeding, but maybe I should go lie down just in case." Her eyes met mine and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Dawnpaw couldn't stay hurt for longer than she had to. And if that meant letting her sleep and lie around all day instead of having fun and play-fighting with her, then that's what would happen.

Dawnpaw touched noses with me. "Let me know when Amberwing's kits arrive," she said in a soft voice. "I want to see them."

"Okay," I murmured before she turned and padded away, back to the medicine den. I watched her tail vanish between the hanging brambles before I turned back to the nursery. But as my gaze swung around again to fix on the nursery, I was distracted by a sudden commotion occurring at the camp entrance.

It seemed the dawn patrol had returned. Four cats, with Molewhisker in the lead, erupted through the thorn barrier and pounded through the camp. Larkwing, Streamfrost, and Morningpaw slowed to a halt amongst their fellow Clanmates, but Molewhisker continued on, almost running into the nursery wall before he stopped. "Amberwing!" he panted. "Amberwing!"

It was lucky he was so out of breath, because he couldn't yowl like I was sure he wanted to. Instead, his sides heaving, he could do little more than speak normally. Then again, those two words were apparently too much talking anyway, because no sooner had Molewhisker said them than Smokefoot shoved his head through the entrance, glaring at Molewhisker.

"Quiet!" he hissed in an undertone. "Amberwing needs peace and quiet if she's going to kit this side of the moon!"

"But she's my mate!" Molewhisker protested, trying to shove his way into the nursery past Smokefoot.

"But I don't care!" Smokefoot half snarled. "You'll make her anxious and then the kitting will go wrong and it will be all your fault!"

"No it-"

But Smokefoot had apparently gotten fed up with Molewhisker. "I need peace and quiet in here if I'm going to do my job right," he growled in a low voice. "I need someone brave and strong to guard the entrance and make sure no other cats disturb me."

I wasn't exactly sure why Smokefoot was suddenly complimenting Molewhisker, or at least I was until Molewhisker stood up straighter, lifted his chin, and said, "I won't let a single cat pass these walls. You can count on me for that. No cats may disturb Amberwing's kitting."

Goldenpaw's soft meow broke through Molewhisker's speech. "Smokefoot!" she whispered. "I think she's almost ready!"

"Okay, Goldenpaw, I'll be there in a moment," Smokefoot replied. I was stunned by his sudden transformation from ferocious defender of his territory, which at that moment was the nursery, to a gentle and even fatherly sort of demeanor when he spoke to Goldenpaw. I wondered briefly if Smokefoot considered Goldenpaw to be as good as his adopted daughter, as medicine cats weren't allowed to have kits. Did medicine cat apprentices become the "kits" of the medicine cats?

Smokefoot, after one last warning glare in Molewhisker's direction, turned and disappeared back inside the nursery. I wondered what was going on in there – I hadn't heard any yowls from Amberwing in a long time. I wondered if she was all right in there.

Then I realized that the sun had almost reached its highest point. It had been that long since Amberwing started kitting and still the patrols hadn't left. Quickly, I bounded over to the cats and called out, "Hunting Patrol and Sunhigh Border Patrol, you need to get going!"

"Oh, right!" Cherryfall beckoned to Twigpaw and Scorchblaze to Mistpaw and the four cats bounded out of the camp, up through the thorn tunnel. They were followed almost immediately by Aspentail, who padded sedately after the hunting patrol, followed by Sparrowtalon, Snowclaw, and Rustpelt.

After the two patrols left, the camp seemed strangely empty. I glanced around and realized the only cats present were Mistheart, who guarded the camp entrance, only her gray-furred back visible through the entrance; Crouchfoot, who had decided to remain in the clearing rather than head back to the warriors' den and was currently snoozing in a ray of sunlight; Larkwing, who sat by the fresh-kill pile, her eyes roving over the small leftovers from the previous night, trying to decide what to eat; Streamfrost, who crouched in the center of the clearing, teaching Morningpaw some sort of battle move; and Morningpaw, who eagerly copied her mentor but was a little too enthusiastic and kept tumbling head-over-heels. All of us were waiting for Amberwing's kits to arrive.

And arrive they did. Not even fifteen minutes later, Goldenpaw slipped out of the nursery and hurried over to stand on the flattish rock I always used to organize patrols. Clambering up onto its sun-warmed surface, she took a deep breath and called out, "Amberwing's kits are here!"

The Clan seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief at her words. Molewhisker seemed almost about to pass out at the news. He sank onto his rear end as Goldenpaw continued. "She has given birth to four healthy kits: three toms and one she-kit."

I smiled to myself. Four healthy kits. Four new additions to the Clan. I just hoped they would survive the next quarter moon.

Smokefoot had also exited the nursery. With a nod of congratulations to Molewhisker, he joined his apprentice on the flat rock. "I have an announcement to make," he meowed in a loud voice to be heard over the joyful murmurings that had broken out across the camp. The cats went quiet once more, gazing up at him and Goldenpaw. Apparently Goldenpaw hadn't been expecting this, because she was also staring curiously at her mentor.

"Goldenpaw has learned enough to be made a full medicine cat."

Goldenpaw's jaw dropped. She stared incredulously at Smokefoot, as though hardly believing her ears.

"It is time she received her new name and full responsibilities. She is a more than capable medicine cat." He dipped his head to Goldenpaw and I was surprised to see he was smiling. Now that had to happen only every once in a blue moon! "Tonight we will go to the Moonpool and Goldenpaw will be welcomed by StarClan as a full medicine cat!"

The Clan cheered, although they made sure to keep their meows quiet. Apparently Smokefoot had drilled the quiet voices around his patients so often that to LeopardClan it was second-nature to use medicine-den voices around him.

"Do I hear cheering?" I turned to see Dawnpaw yawning widely behind me, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She must have been woken up by the Clan's voices.

"Yep," I grinned. "Amberwing's kits are here. Do you want to see them?"

That seemed to wake Dawnpaw up. "Do I ever!" she purred.

Together we bounded toward the nursery. Molewhisker wasn't sitting outside anymore – I supposed he'd joined his mate inside the den.

I was right. As Dawnpaw and I pushed our way into the den, we spotted, curled together in the dim light, Molewhisker and Amberwing. At Amberwing's belly lay four tiny bundles of fur. Three were pale orange like her, but one was brown and cream like its father.

"Hello, Amberwing," I meowed softly, padding cautiously over to her. "How are you doing?"

Amberwing smiled up at me, though her eyelids drooped with sleepiness. "I'm fine," she murmured. "Tired, but fine. And, of course," she added, dropping her gaze back down to her litter, "I've got these four now."

"Have you figured out names for them yet?" Dawnpaw asked, crouching down to sniff at one of the orange kits. It squirmed and squealed under her nose and she pulled back.

Amberwing and Molewhisker both purred in amusement. Untwining her tail from Molewhisker's, Amberwing flicked her tail around to touch the squirming kit. "This one is Lionkit. He was the last to be born, but he really does have a loud roar, doesn't he?"

Dawnpaw purred. "Yes, he does."

Amberwing moved on to the next kit. "And this one is Sunkit. He's the third oldest."

I smiled at the name. "Sunkit. A very optimistic name, don't you think?"

Amberwing dipped her head in acknowledgement of my words. "Yes, indeed," she said before touching her tail to the third kit, also a pale orange color. "This one is little Birchkit. He was the first to be born."

Birchkit wriggled under his mother's touch, turning to swat her tail aside as though it were tickling him. All four of us erupted into purrs of amusement.

"And this last one," Amberwing continued after her purrs died away, "is Maplekit. She's the second oldest and the only one to have inherited Molewhisker's fur."

"They're all so cute!" Dawnpaw squealed. "I just can't believe how small they all are!"

"Well, they'll grow, for sure," Molewhisker broke in. His eyes glimmered with pride as he looked down at his kits. "And they'll become the best warriors this Clan's ever seen."

"Of course they will," Amberwing purred, leaning back to touch noses with her mate, her tail twining again with his.

"Come on, let's leave them in peace," Dawnpaw whispered in my ear.

I nodded and together we headed for the nursery entrance. Just before I left the den, however, I turned back for one last glance at the happy family. I couldn't help but wonder if they would be this happy after a moon or so, when NightClan was sure to attack once more.

Dun dun duuuuuun!

AOTD: For weeks now it's been Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked. Anyone know that song?

QOTD: Another random question! ;) Are you going anywhere for Winter Break?