Sorry for such a short chapter. :( I wasn't sure what else to put in it.

Also, I've been drawing a lot on my Deviantart account. I've improved a bunch if anyone wants to go check that out! (if you didn't know, the link to my Deviantart is on my profile)

The Story Of Your Life: :) I love hearing about when other people enjoy my stories. And my teeth are definitely feeling better than they were on Monday when they first came out! All that blood that came out of my gums wasn't necessary either, just like the blood/gore in movies. ;)

The Guardian of the Sky: Ah, annoying brothers I can relate to. -.- On average, I don't really look at the page counts. I just try to get to 1,600 words for each chapter, though since this was a short chapter I only got it to 1,300-ish words. Let's see... this chapter was about 3 pages long. I try to make them long so you people can have more to read in each chapter. :) I think in general reviewers do prefer that.

Nightfeather: I will! :) And no, Hyperion's younger than you think he is. He's not quite an elder yet! ;) I'll have to check out those videos in particular! KidPOV is pretty funny! I agree, Lionheart would be too majestic to be as curious as Lionkit, but I can certainly see Lionkit growing up to be a lot like Lionheart! *gasp* I'm allergic to nuts! Whatever shall I do if the reviews given to me are in nutshells?

ShadowHawk540: Nah, that's fine if you couldn't review last chapter. ;) I hope you had fun at your grandma's anyway! I've always wondered what it would be like to have half-siblings. I'm glad you're so close to yours! :)

ilovewarriorcats: Yeah, one of them had an extra-deep root or something so it hurt coming out. :( And I've always wanted a twin! Apparently having a twin brother is the best kind of sibling you can have-that or a sibling not too close to you in age but still close enough to have sort of the same interests as you. (not sure if that made sense at all or not, oh well) My brother's turning 17. :O He's almost legally an adult!

Sootpaw's POV

I blinked open my eyes beside the Moonpool. Next to me, Goldenwing was stirring also. I gazed into the still-starry water, remembering how StarClan refused to give me my leader name simply because I was still technically an apprentice. A sudden hatred welled up inside me—who were they to deny me my lives? Who were they to possibly doom me to die just because I didn't know they'd ignore my polite request?

"Thanks a lot!" I yowled at the sky as loudly as I could. "Thanks for nothing!"

I suddenly found myself on my paws, which were carrying me to the opposite side of the pool, where several large chunks of rock stuck out into the water. Using my powerful hind legs, I struck at the jagged stones, claws unsheathed, sending them splashing into the pristine water.

"Sootpaw!"

I blinked, forepaws resting on another rock, about to send it into the pool as well. Goldenwing's voice had somehow penetrated the mad fury that had descended upon my mind. It must be that special talent that also made her a great medicine cat. Turning, I saw her glaring reprovingly at me.

"Sootpaw, that's no way to express your anger," she said. "You can talk to me just as easily as you can throw rocks into the Moonpool, except that talking to me doesn't bruise your paws."

She was right, of course. Feeling rather put down, I leaped back around the water. Giving me one last warning glance, Goldenwing led the way out of the hollow and back along the stream to LeopardClan territory.

I padded ahead of Goldenwing into the camp around noon. I'd somehow taken the lead at some point during the journey, but I couldn't remember exactly when. All I could remember was the cloying sense of defeat tagging along after me like extra-sticky cobwebs all the way back.

Dawnpaw raced over to me almost the moment I emerged from the thorn tunnel. "How did it go, Sootpaw?" she asked eagerly. "Or should I say, Sootstar?"

I shook my head, not saying anything.

"Sootpaw? What is it?"

Again, I couldn't speak. It was as though the figurative cat had gotten my tongue.

Dawnpaw looked worried. "Are you just going to tell the Clan about it?"

Finally, I found my voice. "I'm still Sootpaw," I muttered hoarsely. "They wouldn't give me my name."

Dawnpaw bit her lip, then pressed her nose against my cheek. "How about you tell the Clan about it?" she murmured gently. I nodded and she pulled away, leaving the warm imprint of her muzzle on mine. It gave me strength enough to drag myself up the Rockfall to the Highledge.

"Let all –" I coughed to get the rasp out of my voice before starting over. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Out of the corners of the clearing came cats, all of them with such hopeful expressions on my heart missed a beat. How could I disappoint LeopardClan like this? How could I, after sentencing Aspentail and Shadepaw to death, waste every cat's time by going unnecessarily to the Moonpool, losing an entire day in the meantime?

But I had to tell them eventually. They couldn't keep believing me to be Sootstar, the leader as great as Ashthorn.

"Cats of LeopardClan," I began in a wavering sort of voice. I swallowed and continued. "I know all of you expected me to return with nine lives. Unfortunately, I must say that I was unsuccessful in this attempt. StarClan would not give me my nine lives."

My statement was met by looks of confusion, outrage, and, just as I'd feared, accusation. "Why not?" a cat shouted angrily.

"I do not yet have my warrior name," I explained morosely. "StarClan thought it would not be good if I skipped two ranks—warrior and deputy—to become your leader."

"So let's make you a warrior now and you can go back and get your lives!" the same cat called.

"Not so fast!" Goldenwing had gotten to her feet and was staring levelly at the warrior, who I now saw to be Crouchfoot. "Spending one night at the Moonpool is hard enough. Do you see how exhausted Sootpaw is? He'd give up the one life he does have trying to gain eight more."

"So he's just supposed to become a warrior? That's it?"

Goldenwing dipped her head. "That's all he can do right now."

"Well then, who's going to give him his name?" Crouchfoot scoffed. "Himself?"

"No," I said loudly. I didn't want LeopardClan thinking Goldenwing had to fight my battles for me, no matter how tired I was at the moment. "My warrior name will be given to me by a cat who's already performed a ceremony."

"Who, Stormtuft?" Larkwing asked, speaking up from her position near the front of the group.

Of course. Stormtuft, the medicine cat, had given his own apprentice, Goldenwing, her full medicine cat name. He must be who Ashthorn meant by a cat who'd already performed a ceremony.

"Yes," I meowed decisively. "Stormtuft will perform my ceremony. He is the one Ashthorn told me should give it to me."

Stormtuft stepped forward. "Well then, let's get this over with," he meowed irritably. "I was up most of the night with a kit who'd eaten a bad bit of fresh-kill. Get down here, Sootpaw."

He was going to give me my warrior name. He was actually going to give me my warrior name! Suddenly full of energy just like any other apprentice at the prospect of my new name, I bounded down the Rockfall to land in front of the medicine cat.

"Sit down," Stormtuft ordered. I plopped my hindquarters onto the dusty ground. Stormtuft also sat, wrapping his tail around his paws. Lowering his chin majestically, he began the ceremony.

"I, Stormtuft, medicine cat of LeopardClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your warrior code and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." Stormtuft fixed me with a yellow-eyed stare as he continued, "Sootpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

I swallowed, anticipation and eagerness surging through me like blood. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment, you will be known as Sootthorn, in remembrance of your father, Ashthorn. StarClan honors your courage and your determination and we welcome you as a full warrior of LeopardClan."

Stormtuft touched his nose to my forehead and I, in return, licked his shoulder. The ceremony done, the crowd erupted in cheers. I glanced around, swelling with pride at my new name, watching my Clanmates cheering me on. Even Crouchfoot was grinning as he shouted my new name to the sky.

"Sootthorn! Sootthorn! Sootthorn!"

It's almost an act of rebellion, I thought. Now all of StarClan can hear my new name—the one thing they were so insistent on me having before they could possibly give me my nine lives. Maybe next time I go to the Moonpool I'll be able to finally get those stupid lives.

Despite my dark thoughts, I grinned around at the Clan. For this one moment, we were united—united against NightClan, united in a minimal rebellion against StarClan and their crazy policies. It was a good feeling. I felt like I could do anything I wanted with the support of my Clan behind me. We could go wipe out NightClan if we really wanted to. I might even have led the Clan off to battle at that very moment, except that reason kicked in and told me to wait for my littermates to return. I needed all the help they could bring if I was to lead LeopardClan to victory.

I had the idea of naming Sootthorn after Ashthorn, though I wasn't so sure about the double t's together. After the name received so much support from you, though, I figured it would be a good name for him.

AOTD: Yes, I have one brother who's about 1 3/4 years older than me. Generally speaking, we fight a lot about the smallest things, though we used to be a lot worse when we were younger.

QOTD: Erm... my brother is playing on the Wii right now. Do you have some sort of game console like a Wii or Xbox or Playstation or something? If so, what's your favorite game?