I have no idea how this happened, but here's an extra-long chapter the day after I just posted another chapter. I'm not sure how it happened at all. Anyway, let's get on to the review replies.

EradrinSkyleaf: (Ch. 17) Ah, yes, brothers being aggravating. I know exactly how that feels, especially when I'm tired. X| Tiredness causes sarcasm/aggravation apparently. (Ch. 18 Part 1) Here's your update! :) It's fine if you forget to review a chapter or two, but I do love reading what you all think about my writing!

QLKwriter: Those would both be good reasons that they changed their names. ;) If I hadn't already had an idea for why they did, I might just have taken one of your ideas.

Nightfeather: I'm glad I'm one of your favorite FanFiction authors! :) If you had a FanFiction, then I could call you one of my favorite FanFiction authors, but I can still call you one of my favorite reviewers if that counts. :P Creepy idea... something lurking behind them... :-/ Wouldn't your friends get used to your sarcasm if you kept doing it? XD Finding Peace Forest to Meeting the Cats... yeah, I wasn't feeling too creative with titles and stuff today.

walkswithwheels: Yeah, I didn't really think it would be good to try to fit 3-4 thousand words into one chapter. That would just be a little over the top. And yeah, I see what you mean that RiverClan would stick out. I'm definitely going to change some of the Clan names at the end, though I'm not saying which ones. The mothers probably wouldn't do so well, but they were Clan cats beforehand, so it wouldn't take much training to refresh their memories. I've never heard of Song of Ice and Fire; maybe I should see if I like it? I'm not as fond of darker-themed books, but it still sounds pretty interesting.

The Age of Awesomeness: If you read the first few paragraphs, you'll figure out why they changed their names. (or at least I hope you will :P) Thanks for always letting me know that you enjoy my chapters! :)

ShadowHawk540: Yeah, but why change them to Alderpaw and Aspenpaw? Why do those names reflect who they are more than the other ones? Oh, I read Fablehaven a few years ago! I really liked that series. :) It was great.

Willowdream of ForestClan: XD That was the first thing I did when I saw her current artwork! I was just like, "Okay, so is she superhuman-ly gifted or did she just work her way up?" I realized that her drawings at the back were just as bad (maybe worse, I'll have to check again) as mine currently are. So... in a few years, I'll hopefully have improved as drastically as she did. :D And you're already most of the way there. Imagine what you could do if you had an actual drawing tablet?

Rainpaw's POV

Aspenpaw shuffled her paws, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her paws. "I've already told you that our current names reflect ourselves better, but you still don't know why they reflect us better. Well, when Alderpaw and I ran off to explore the world, we had no experience whatsoever with surviving. We could barely hunt, had almost no fighting skills, and couldn't even make ourselves a proper den.

"Eventually we reached the Twolegplace. We ended up getting lost pretty quickly and might even have died. Then, ironically, we were saved by a pack of dogs." The corner of Aspenpaw's mouth quirked up slightly. "They chased us through the Twolegplace. We almost didn't make it, but we finally rounded a corner and saw green ahead. Putting on an extra burst of speed, we dashed out of the Twolegplace.

"Thinking ourselves finally safe, we collapsed in a clump of bushes at the edge of a copse of trees. We lay there, panting, trying to catch our breath, thanking our stars that we were alive, when we heard panting breaths that weren't our own – deeper and rougher than ours. We froze; we'd realized the dogs hadn't, in fact, stopped the chase at the end of the Twolegplace. They'd come looking for us out here.

"It was lucky we were near that copse of trees. I pushed Alderpaw to his paws and we leaped up the nearest trees. Finally, as we dragged ourselves onto branches, we knew we must be safe."

Aspenpaw glanced at her parents, holding their gazes for a moment. "Those trees we climbed? I'd climbed an aspen tree. Alderpaw climbed an alder tree. We knew then that these trees had protected us from the outside world more than you had ever done. So we changed our names to honor our true protectors."

I looked at my paws. I'd never stopped to wonder before what it would be like to have a mother who didn't train her kits to survive. Would Sootpaw, Cinderpaw, and I have made it to the lake, would we even be alive if not for Lightwing?

"Soon after, we re-entered the Twolegplace," Aspenpaw continued. "We wanted to explore it, see. Yes, it had almost claimed our lives, but to two littermates barely out of kithood, that just heightened its mystery. We wanted to learn the secrets of the Twolegplace. So we returned and, again, we got lost. Then we met Hyperion."

Lightwing moved suddenly beside me. I glanced at her, confused, but she merely smiled at me and sat back down to listen to Aspenpaw's story.

"He taught us the ways of the Twolegplace. He said he'd grown up there, and knew the place like the back of his paw. He taught us everything we know today." Again, Aspenpaw met her parents' stares. "He was our mentor and our friend. We didn't want him as a father, because of what we thought a father was." She glared directly at Frozenwhisker. "Someone who lazed around all day and ordered us to catch fresh-kill for him, even though we'd never been taught how."

Frozenwhisker flinched as though she'd swiped a paw at him. "That's a little unfair, don't you think?" he asked, taking a step forward. "I showed you how to do that hunting crouch I learned back at the lake."

"And did you ever correct ours? Did you ever properly teach us how to do that crouch?" Frozenwhisker didn't respond. Aspenpaw nodded as though that had been exactly what she'd been expecting. "No, you didn't. Hyperion was a much better teacher than the two of you combined. That was why we never came back. Well, until now." She glanced at Alderpaw, who stepped forward.

"We figured it was time for us to come back home and confront you," he said firmly. "I'm not the weak kit I once was, relying on Aspenpaw for everything. I've come to tell you that we'll never be your kits again."

Dewcloud seemed to shrink in on herself, pressing closer to Frozenwhisker, who wrapped his tail protectively around her shoulders. "W-What are you talking about?" she stammered. "Emberpaw, my sweet little kit, you don't really mean that!"

"Yes, I do," Alderpaw hissed. I was stunned – Alderpaw, hissing? It was unthinkable. Alderpaw was always so calm and kind, just like me. I would never dream of hissing at any cat who wasn't trying to kill me. "You are not our parents. We have no parents." He turned his back and stalked away. Aspenpaw shot Dewcloud and Frozenwhisker one last, burning glare before bounding after her brother.

Dewcloud and Frozenwhisker finally sank to the ground. Dewcloud had her face pressed into Frozenwhisker's fur, her body shaking with sobs as she grieved for her former kits. I felt bad for them, but after Aspenpaw's story, I knew I couldn't side with them. I had to support my new friends.

I turned to Lightwing. "Do you know Hyperion?" I asked curiously.

Again, though she covered it well, a slight shiver seemed to pass over her face. "I did," she admitted. "He helped us through the Twolegplace. He was very kind to us."

I nodded, looking at the ground. I thought I knew what Lightwing wasn't saying – that she'd liked Hyperion. As in like liked. But I didn't press the matter. I knew she must have loved Ashthorn more, and the news of his death would make her less open to talking about Hyperion. But I couldn't let this topic go without telling her one more thing.

"Hyperion helped us through the Twolegplace, too." I glanced over at Lightwing to see what her reaction was, but her face was carefully blank. "He led Sootpaw, Cinderpaw, and I through."

"He's a very helpful cat, isn't he?" Lightwing meowed lightly. Then, and I couldn't blame her for changing the subject, she continued, "So, do you want to tell the other cats why you're here?"

"What?" I hesitated, momentarily confused.

Lightwing rolled her eyes. I was startled – this was the first time I'd ever seen her roll her eyes at anyone except Cinderpaw. "You came here to get reinforcements for LeopardClan," she reminded me.

"Oh!" I gave my chest fur a lick or two. "Right. Um, so how should I do that?"

Lightwing smiled. "First, how about I introduce you to some of the cats? Maybe tomorrow you can give a speech to tell them exactly why you've come?"

I shriveled a little inside. "Sp-Speech?" I gasped. "What?"

Lightwing pressed her nose to my cheek. "Just remember that Sootpaw and Cinderpaw are counting on you and you'll do fine."

I gulped. I doubted that even if the entire world was counting on me that I'd be able to do an improv speech. But the first part of Lightwing's suggestion was good – meeting the cats here would be a good start to getting them to come back with me. Yes, I'd grown up here, but the only other cats I really knew were Adderkit and Lightwing. All the young cats generally kept to themselves, even though the older cats sometimes shared tongues here by the stream.

"Come on," Lightwing invited. We got up and I followed her into the center of the clearing. As we passed Dewcloud and Frozenwhisker, she brushed her tail along her friends' fur but didn't stop to chat.

We paused first by two cats, quite obviously mates, lying side by side beside the pool, the she-cat's gold and white flecked fur oddly blending in with the tom's brown tabby pelt. They both looked up as we approached. "Hello, Lightwing," the tom smiled. "I see one of your kits has returned." He turned his bright green eyes on me. "Was the outside world a little too difficult?" he asked sympathetically.

I fought to keep my fur lying flat. He was treating me like a kit! He couldn't possibly have known the pain and grief I'd pushed through. I was almost a warrior, anyway!

"No, he only came back to say hello," Lightwing said, glancing quickly at me. "Rainpaw and his littermates are really doing well. Did you know they've fought in a battle back at the lake?"

The tom looked suddenly taken aback. I felt a surge of pleasure; now he might just treat me like an equal. Then my mind caught up with my emotions and I backtracked quickly. What had happened to the kind kit I once was, who put himself in other cats' paws and always tried to understand every perspective on a topic? How could this cat know what I'd been through? I lowered my eyes, feeling suddenly meek.

"Rainpaw, this is Forestwind." Lightwing nodded at the tom. "And this is Blossomstep." She indicated the she-cat lying next to him.

Blossomstep smiled at him. "Still an apprentice, huh? Well, I'm sure you'll earn your warrior name soon enough. You look about old enough." She sighed. "These kits always seem to grow up too fast."

"How are your kits, Blossomstep?" Lightwing asked, glancing around. "Did they come with you?"

"Yes." Blossomstep stretched her neck up, gazing around at the surrounding forest. "I sent them out to practice their hunting. Rowanpaw, Honeypaw, Oakpaw!" she called.

Almost immediately, three apprentices a bit younger than me bounded out of the trees. "Hello!" a golden brown tabby tom meowed, blinking hazel eyes at me. The second tom, a brown tabby, nodded in greeting. The she-cat just hid behind her brothers.

"Honeypaw, come out and say hello," Forestwind chided. The she-cat, her fur gold with white flecks like her mother's, slunk around her brothers into view. "Hello," she muttered, staring at the ground.

Forestwind sighed. "She's extremely shy, I'm afraid," he explained. Then, nodding at the golden brown tabby, he meowed, "This is Rowanpaw."

"I can introduce myself!" Rowanpaw complained. He turned back to me, grinning, and meowed somewhat louder than necessary, "I'm Rowanpaw. This is my brother, Oakpaw, and my sister, Honeypaw."

Oakpaw waved his tail energetically in the air. "Hi!" he exclaimed, grinning at me just like his brother had.

"Hello," I replied, smiling too. The brothers' energy was contagious. I wondered briefly if Honeypaw was so shy because her brothers always stole the spotlight. At least my own siblings had tried to share the attention with me.

"Rainpaw has returned for a few days to catch up with me," Lightwing meowed, "and then he'll return to his siblings at the lake."

"Wow! You live at the lake?" Rowanpaw looked impressed.

"I've always wanted to go see the world," Oakpaw said wistfully. He prodded his sister. "Honeypaw, wouldn't it be great to go see the lake?"

Honeypaw glanced quickly up at Lightwing and me, then away again. "Yeah," she said, her voice barely audible. "It'd be great."

My heartbeat quickened. Maybe these apprentices would want to come back with me. But after one glance at Lightwing, I decided against saying anything right now. Perhaps it was too early to ask them to come back and fight with me.

"Well, I hope you have a nice afternoon," Lightwing meowed. "Come on, Rainpaw, let's go meet some other cats."

She led me away from the family. I glanced over my shoulder, waving my tail in farewell. But we hadn't gone ten paces when we stopped again, this time in front of a small family of four.

A marbled gray tabby sat beside the stream, one paw raised as he gazed intently into the water. Behind him lay an orange tabby and white she-cat, one paw planted firmly on the tail of a light gray kit while a second orange kit wrestled with her tail. She nodded briefly at Lightwing before continuing her dedicated washing of the kit.

"Hello Tansyfoot," Lightwing greeted her. "How are Hopkit and Lionkit today?"

"Full of energy, as usual," Tansyfoot replied. She glanced over at the tom. "Whistlefur's trying to catch us a fish."

"I will catch it!" Whistlefur called over, not taking his eyes off the water. "Frozenwhisker taught me how just yesterday!"

Tansyfoot rolled her eyes, then grabbed at her kit, who had made a desperate attempt to escape his mother's paws. "Hopkit! Stay still!"

"But Tansyfoot!" Hopkit whined, "I wanna go play with Lionkit!"

"Not until you're properly clean," Tansyfoot meowed sternly.

Lionkit sat up. "It's not fun playing without Hopkit!" He complained, pouting. "And he'll just get dirty again playing with me!"

Tansyfoot lifted her paw. "Fine, go play," she sighed. "But tonight you'll be getting an extra-long bath."

Hopkit was gone in, well, a hop, skip, and a jump. He barreled into his brother and the two of them began wrestling, kicking up dust and rolling around, paws flying everywhere. Tansyfoot scooted away from the tussling kits.

"Is this one of your kits?" she asked, turning her gaze on me.

"Yes," Lightwing replied. "This is Rainpaw. He's come back to catch up with me for a few days before he goes back to the lake."

"The lake?" Lionkit and Hopkit sat up, abandoning their play-fight. They turned identical wide, yellow-eyed stares on me. "You live at the lake?"

I smiled. These kits were so cute! They'd be completely useless if I was looking for recruits to fight with, but they were still adorable anyway. "Yes, I live at the lake."

"Wow!" Lionkit leaped into the air. "Do you have to fight off evil cats every single day?"

"Just about."

"Cool!" He lunged at Hopkit, yowling, "Stay out of my territory, evil lake cat!"

Lightwing smiled indulgently at the kits. "Well, we'd better move on. Rainpaw's only got so much time here."

Tansyfoot nodded. "Thanks for stopping by." She turned her pale yellow eyes on me. "You really made Lionkit's and Hopkit's day."

"No problem," I meowed, smiling down at the kits just like Lightwing. Together, we stood and moved on to another small group of cats.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted three all-too-familiar cats. Adderpaw and his mother, Leafheart, and his father, Voletail. As though Lightwing had read my mind, she murmured, "Let's not go say hello to them, shall we?" I nodded and we hurried past.

Instead, we headed for a group of four cats resting in the shade of a giant beech tree. Two of them, a tortoiseshell tom and a black and white she-cat, had gray hairs around their chins; not enough for them to be qualified as elders, but certainly enough to show that if they were in a Clan, they'd be senior warriors. The other two looked young, lithe, and probably only recently made warriors. One, a tortoiseshell she-cat, sat by the edge of the stream. The other, a black tom with a white muzzle and chest, crouched behind her, pressed low to the ground, as though he was about to leap on her from behind. My prediction came true as he pushed off from the ground, letting out a yowl of triumph as his forepaws collided with the she-cat's back. With a shocked screech and a splash, she tumbled into the water.

"Crowtail!" She spat as she climbed back out of the water, shaking off excess water. "Stop doing that!"

Crowtail grinned mischievously. "Stop doing what?"

"Hello, Lightwing!" the black and white she-cat purred, drowning out the tortoiseshell she-cat's irritated reply. "Who's this?"

"This is my son, Rainpaw," Lightwing meowed, beckoning me forward with a flick of her tail. "He's visiting for a few days. Rainpaw," she continued, "this is Breezelark, her mate Tortoiseheart, and their kits, Crowtail and Robinchest."

Breezelark nodded. "Pleasure to meet you."

Tortoiseheart gave me a brief smile before turning to his kits. "Crowtail, you know better than to attack your sister," he scolded. "Honestly, you two act like such kits sometimes!"

Crowtail sat back on his haunches. "It's not my fault!" he grumbled, shooting a nasty look at Robinchest. "There's nothing to do around here!"

"Well then leave," Tortoiseheart meowed. "If you're so bored here, then go explore the world."

Crowtail glanced sideways at Robinchest, shuffling his paws. "I don't want to go off alone," he finally muttered, "and Robinchest won't leave."

Robinchest padded over to her parents, her chin held high and dignified. "That's because the lake is lost. It's been moons – those peace cats must have all been killed by now. What's the point in going back there?"

"It's not lost," I cut in. All eyes turned to me. I felt the beginnings of fear kindle in the pit of my stomach at being the center of attention, but I pushed it aside. "That's where I'm going back to in a few days. My littermates are there and we're still fighting. There's still a chance of saving the lake."

Crowtail shot Robinchest a superior look. "See?" he crowed. "I knew it wasn't gone yet!"

Lightwing smiled at me, and I grinned back. Perhaps some of these cats would come back with me. All I had to do was impress them with my speech tomorrow. And if I practiced that tonight, it would be as easy as catching a fat mouse.

I'm coming back soon, Sootpaw, I thought. Keep holding on back there. I'll bring reinforcements and we can win back the lake. Just hold on for me. Hold on.

Hold on, Sootpaw! Rainpaw's coming back soon!

AdOTD: It's better to add in characters finally understanding what's going on earlier rather than later. It's pretty disappointing for the reader to understand something, then wait for a few pages before the character finally catches up.

QOTD: (random, sorry) What's your favorite season?