All right, I'm back from London! Here's your next chapter for your New Years Gift! :)

Also, I know this chapter is shorter than the other ones. I'm sorry about this, I know you enjoy longer chapters, but those take so long to type up! It's just amazing how much more motivation I need to do a 2000 word chapter rather than a 1000 chapter. So here's my compromise. I'll aim for 1500 words for every chapter, which basically means each chapter will be 1600 words-ish. Is that okay?

I was going to also post a chapter but I was so busy packing and everything, I never really got around to chapter writing. Meh.

ShadowHawk: I think your review got cut off a bit, but them getting trapped would be pretty cool. Alderpaw would probably cower and Aspenpaw would probably be hissing at whatever was trapping them. XD

Willowdream of ForestClan: If you don't use a tablet, then how do you draw such amazing artwork to post on Deviantart? ;)

EradrinSkyleaf: Yes, he did indeed! :) And we actually didn't get to watch The Hobbit in London! D: It was actually The Imitation Game, which was also pretty good, but I'm guessing can't compare with The Hobbit. :P

Nightfeather: Since you put your name at the bottom of your reviews, I could tell it was you. Don't worry about that. ;) And I did mean "growling", not "growing". XD

QLKwriter: I definitely try to give each of my characters a distinct personality. I hope you like the drawing! :)

XxLight-of-Flaming-OakxX: Is this you, MistClan505/Starfrost515? XD I'm guessing it is. I don't mind your changing your username again; it's good to change it constantly and then stick with one name for a long time rather than changing it every month or so. I must say, I like this username the best of all three. Thanks for checking out my drawing of Sootpaw! :)

Sootpaw's POV

The morning was cold with the first chilly breezes of Leaffall. I fluffed up my fur, trying to stay warm as I bounded down the slope of rocks not yet warmed by the sun, finally landing on the dusty ground of the stone hollow.

Cats were milling around as they waited for me to wake. I did a quick scan of the clearing and saw, as I'd expected, that the only cats missing were those on the dawn patrol and Mistheart, who guarded the entrance. I could just make out her gray tail flicking through the thorn barrier.

A pale gray figure I recognized instantly as Dawnpaw burst through the medicine den's entrance. I stared at her; what was she doing racing around the clearing? Shouldn't she be in her nest, sleeping, trying to recover from her wounds? Why was Stormtuft letting her run amok in the clearing this early?

My questions were answered almost immediately. Dawnpaw, spotting me, bounded to my side and pushed her muzzle into my shoulder. Surprised, but thankful for this show of affection, I returned the gesture.

"Sootpaw, guess what?" Dawnpaw asked, her voice bursting with excitement.

"What?" I replied, grinning at her contagious happiness.

"Stormtuft released me! He said I was healthy enough to resume my apprentice duties!" Her voice lifted into what sounded most like a squeal.

"Oh, wow! That's great!" Sootpaw exclaimed, his eyes widening with his excitement for her; her emotions really were contagious.

"I know!" she said fervently. "I love having this much freedom again!"

I gave myself a split second to think. "Um, how about you and I go out with Snowclaw this morning for some battle training?" he asked. "I know your mentor must want to spend some time with you after your time in the medicine den."

"Yeah," Dawnpaw said, her face falling slightly. "I've been in the medicine den a lot lately, haven't I? First it was when I was… recovering… from that… attack." She looked at the ground.

Knowing where this was going, I nosed her cheek. "And the second time was when you were recovering from that other attack. Hopefully you won't have to go back there for a while."

"Yeah," Dawnpaw said. She took a deep breath and looked up again. "Sorry about that," she said softly. "It's just… well, every time her name comes up, it's just like my heart's ripped open again. I'm not sure that'll ever heal, no matter how long I spend in the medicine den."

"Hey, that's okay," I said, gazing at her. "I think I understand that. If one of my littermates… if they didn't come back from their journey…"

"Yeah," Dawnpaw meowed again. "I get it. It'd hurt like nothing else would."

I nodded. We stood in silence, each consumed with thoughts of their respective siblings, until finally a voice broke the spell.

"Sootpaw!"

It was Rustpelt. He bounded over, his expression one of anticipation. "You coming?" he asked. "The Clan's getting a little hungry. You probably should send out a hunting patrol soon." He glanced around at Dawnpaw. "Oh, hi Dawnpaw," he added. "How are you?"

Dawnpaw didn't reply. Rustpelt glanced from her to me in a bemused sort of way until understanding suddenly blossomed across his face. "Oh, was I interrupting something?" He began to back awkwardly away. "Um, sorry."

I shook my head. "No, you're fine," I told Rustpelt. Then, after rasping my tongue over Dawnpaw's ear, I meowed in a softer voice, "I'd better get going. After I send out some patrols, we can go practice our battle moves, okay?"

Dawnpaw nodded, smiling at me. "Okay."

I nodded to Rustpelt and padded with him across the clearing to where the rest of the Clan stood waiting. Leaping up onto the flat rock, I cleared my throat and began. "Rustpelt, I want you to lead a hunting patrol. Take Streamfrost, Morningpaw, and Sparrowtalon and leave immediately. The Clan needs to be fed.

"Larkwing, I want you to take Molewhisker and Crouchfoot on the Sunhigh border patrol. I believe Aspentail, Cherryfall, and Twigpaw are out patrolling the NightClan border, so you should probably start with the old ThunderClan-WindClan border."

I glanced around, mentally crossing off cats I already had assignments for. The resulting number of cats who remained was pitiful: Scorchblaze and Shadepaw. "Okay, so Scorchblaze, go relieve Mistheart of guarding the camp. Shadepaw, you can join the border patrol." Both cats nodded. Scorchblaze bounded over to the entrance on the tails of Rustpelt's hunting patrol and slipped through. After a moment, Mistheart slid back into the camp and headed straight for the warriors' den.

Dawnpaw and Snowclaw padded over. Snowclaw looked slightly confused. "What am I supposed to do, Sootpaw?" he called before he'd gotten halfway to me.

"You, Dawnpaw, and I are all going to go practice our battle moves today," I explained. "I figured you'd want to spend some one-on-one time with your apprentice and we should probably practice our battle moves anyway."

Snowclaw nodded, understanding lighting his amber eyes. "Okay, sounds great!" He grinned at his apprentice and she grinned right back. "Good to see you on your paws again, Dawnpaw. I hope you won't go back to the medicine den for a long time!"

"Me too!" she responded adamantly.

"So should we get going?" I asked, leaping down from the rock. After making sure both cats nodded, I led the way out of the clearing.

It was strange how I was the one leading the warrior—the apprentice before the mentor. Perhaps Cinderpaw, Rainpaw, and I should promote ourselves to warriors once they returned. I snorted inwardly at how stupid that sounded—us promoting ourselves. Who ever heard of that?

I caught a glimpse of the mossy clearing through the trees. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Snowclaw's white pelt flash past me, darting into the clearing. I didn't think too much of it until Dawnpaw and I entered to the sound of his battle cry.

Dawnpaw yelped and I spun around, darting to the side as Snowclaw leaped on Dawnpaw's back, forcing her to the ground and rolling her into a pin nearly impossible to free oneself from. "Lesson one of battle training," he meowed loudly for both Dawnpaw and me to hear. "Always know where the enemy is and always be prepared in case of an attack." He glanced approvingly at me. "You had the right instincts, Sootpaw, trying to get out of the way of my leap. But I'm sorry to say you were much too slow to get out from under me if I'd actually been aiming at you."

I nodded and Snowclaw released Dawnpaw, who scrambled to her paws looking distinctly ruffled. She backed into the middle of the clearing, staring hard at Snowclaw, marking his every move.

"Good, Dawnpaw," Snowclaw meowed. "But be careful of staring too hard. Sometimes, if you're battling a more experienced warrior, they'll wait for you to blink before attacking. If you stare for long enough, they'll be preparing to leap as soon as they see your eyelids flicker."

Dawnpaw quickly blinked her eyes halfway closed, not exactly blinking but enough like it to confuse an enemy. She then rolled to the side and came up with claws flashing right where she'd been moments before.

"Very good!" Snowclaw congratulated her. "You really can think on your feet, can't you, Dawnpaw?" Dawnpaw glowed under the praise. "Now show me the most advanced move you've learned so far."

But as Dawnpaw lined up her paws for balance, pushing herself into the air for a backflip over an opponent's back, Snowclaw leaped sideways, right at me. Remembering what Dawnpaw had done moments before, I quickly rolled to the side and, right after I found my paws, swiped sideways with sheathed claws where I'd been standing before. It worked—well, it mostly worked. Yes, I managed to avoid getting pinned from the leap, but I overbalanced as I swiped and ended up lying on the ground anyway.

"That was a good try, Sootpaw," Snowclaw meowed, sounding impressed. "But I think Dawnpaw's a little more flexible than you. You're more muscular and broad-shouldered. Maybe you should try waiting for your opponent to land on you, then roll with their momentum, crushing them beneath you."

"So a little like the drop-and-roll?" I asked.

Snowclaw nodded. "Yes, a lot like the drop-and-roll, actually. The only difference is that you purposefully let your opponent land on your back when you could also roll out of the way."

I nodded in understanding. "Okay, that makes sense."

"Good." Snowclaw flashed Dawnpaw and me a smile. "Now, how about the two of you try fighting each other? You're both quite advanced, and I think you should be a good match for each other."

My fur suddenly felt warm. Did Snowclaw realize that what he'd just said could also be taken to mean something very different?

"And… fight!"

The three of us headed back to camp around Sunhigh. This was partially because the other patrols needed organizing and partially because Snowclaw got fed up with me always letting Dawnpaw beat me.

"Hey, Sootpaw?" It was Dawnpaw, hurrying up to walk alongside me instead of her mentor.

"Yeah?"

"Can I be put on a hunting patrol this afternoon?"

I nodded. "Sure, I could probably arrange that. If not, I can make sure you and Snowclaw are free to practice hunting on your own."

"Thanks," Dawnpaw said, giving me a smile that made my heart feel like it was made of clouds and my legs like they were full of nothing but leaves and cobwebs. She dropped back beside her mentor, leaving me feeling like I was on the top of the world. I couldn't wait to spend more time with Dawnpaw. That she-cat sure was something special.

Okay, so I actually have an AdOTD this time! :D Here it is:

AdOTD: "It's" and "its." This is a distinction I only learned a little while ago on some personal research stuff. "It's" is purely used for shortening to "It is." "Its" is for everything else. The apostrophe shows possession for other words, but if "it's" showed possession, then it would be used all the time.

AOTD: I drew them both! :) I hope you like them if you haven't already seen it.

QOTD: Um... sorry, no inspiration for a QOTD. :P How about: What were your favorite presents you got this year if you celebrate Christmas? If not then... sorry, I don't have a QOTD for you. :(