I'm sorry about the chapter titles being not so creative. It's late and I'm feeling low muse. Sorry if the review replies are also a bit shorter than normal.

QLKwriter: Or maybe Sootthorn's both following Ashthorn AND doing his own thing? 0.o

ShadowHawk540 (I think): Hyperwing! That sounds like a name that could be given to a cat in a trollfic. XD Hyperkit, Hyperpaw, and Hyperwing, the cat who's always bouncing off the figurative walls.

Willowdream of ForestClan: I figured it was about time one of the ships was made canon. ;) Though more could soon follow...

ilovewarriorcats: You make some really good points. My opinion's more like Blossomfall inherited Millie's personality and the two clashed constantly with that. Bumblestripe's a lot more easygoing like Graystripe. I still think it's at least partially Millie's fault that Blossomfall went to the Dark Forest and Briarlight was completely annoyed throughout the last few books in The Fourth Apprentice at Millie for her constant fussing. If Millie hadn't been so micromanaging, I think everyone would have been better off.

walkswithwheels: It's amazing how much time you put into your reviews. XD Some people only give me a couple lines and then there's you typing out an essay for me. I'm not criticizing your long reviews, though. I enjoy learning from your experience. And your last review just completely put all my muddled ideas into clear words about last chapter, so thank you for that. :) I just kept thinking throughout reading your review, "Yes, this is exactly what I was trying to say. Yes, that too. This is so well-worded! Why didn't I think my thoughts like that?" And yeah, I was just thinking off the top of my head disabled cats, which ended up being only three. You're right that there are actually a lot more like 50 of them.

Sweetflower0409: I don't mind multiple reviews at once! It was interesting to see your thoughts throughout the story. And this chapter will probably make you fangirl or something. Just warning you. :P

The Story Of Your Life: Thank you! :D And I actually never realized that Stormfur was their half brother before. 0.o That WOULD be weird..

Nightfeather: Thank you! :D You were actually the only one who was slightly iffy about the whole Sootthorn and Dawnshine becoming mates. Everyone else supported it. That chapter was really fun to write. :)

Cinderstrike's POV

The day started out well, with both healthy and recovering cats deemed strong enough to travel by Ripplefur. During his examination of the entire Clan, I pranced about behind him, figuratively nipping at his heels, trying to get him to hurry up, for StarClan's sake! After the excruciatingly long wait, however, we set off at a good pace.

The sun was about halfway to Sunhigh as I led RiverClan into the woods again. A few cats looked slightly nervous about being underneath the trees—I figured they'd probably gotten used to being out in the open back in the marsh. Well, they'd just have to figure out how to deal with it because if they didn't, they'd have a long trip back to the lake.

Badger, surprisingly, offered to accompany us back to the lake. "Well, I just saw this Clan survive an epidemic," she reasoned. "Of course I want to see if you make it back okay!" I thought her tone of voice was actually believable for once, though I still didn't quite trust her due to the covetous looks she threw at Foxtooth throughout her mini-speech.

The air was crisp and cold as I padded between my russet-furred Clanmate and Rushstar, leading RiverClan through the woods, always following the river. I realized as we walked along the path that we were on the opposite side of the river from the bank Foxtooth and I had originally traveled on.

"Foxtooth, we're on the wrong side of the river."

Foxtooth glanced sideways, a slightly bemused expression on. "Yes, I suppose you're right. But you know what that means?" He gave me a superior sort of look that would have looked so much better on me before explaining, "We won't have to cross the river back at the lake. Remember when we started off we crossed the river?"

I nodded. "Oh." It made sense. I felt a surge of massive relief at the prospect of keeping my paws firmly planted on solid ground throughout the duration of the journey.

We traveled on through the day, finally settling down in a small clearing surrounded by relatively sturdy bushes that were nonetheless rather far apart.

"Cinderstrike?" I turned to see Foxtooth standing beside me, nervously shifting from one paw to the other.

Instinctively my guard went up. Why was he nervous? What was he going to tell me? Had something happened? "What?" I snapped, my voice tight due to my sudden alertness.

Foxtooth shied away, glancing at the ground. "Um, nothing," he muttered, so quietly I could barely hear him. He padded off across the clearing before I had time to realize what I'd done. When it finally dawned on me, I growled at myself. Why did I have to be so uptight all the time?

Why couldn't I relax? I'd never noticed it before, but when I was away from my siblings, I grew more stressed, more solemn. Could I really only relax around my littermates?

Maybe it was time to change that. But the only cat here I'd be willing to open myself up to was Foxtooth, and I'd just scared him away. So, rolling my eyes at the darkening sky, I took off after him.

Foxtooth's scent wound through the trees, on and on. I was surprised he could have made it so far in such a short amount of time. He must have taken off running the moment he was out of sight. Finally, though, I came across him sitting by the river, his shoulders hunched as he stared into the water.

"Are you missing Rustpelt?" I asked softly as I came up behind him.

Foxtooth jumped, spinning around at my words, his hazel eyes wide. "C-Cinderstrike?" he stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I need someone to talk to," I muttered, sitting beside the river as Foxtooth had done, wrapping my tail around my paws. As much as I hated admitting it, it was true.

"Oh." Foxtooth hesitated for a moment before sitting beside me. I stared at the river, unwilling to meet his eyes. Even though I'd come specifically to talk about myself, I found it suddenly hard to start. Finally, he continued, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Just… stuff," I said vaguely. Then, like a clearly defined fish had jumped out of the murky waters of my muddled mind, I said abruptly, "What was life like before?"

"What do you mean?" I glanced up at Foxtooth to see his eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Before NightClan," I clarified. "Before the fighting started."

Foxtooth blinked, now looking surprised. "Um, it was peaceful." He looked out over the river, too, leaving me free to gaze freely in his general direction. "Rustpelt and I played in the nursery with Dawnpaw, Featherpaw, and Goldenpaw while our mothers, Squirrelflight, Dovewing, and Cinderheart, chatted in the background. I remember one time in particular when Rustkit threw a mossball so hard at Goldenkit that she yelped in pain." He purred. "Cinderheart rushed her off to the nursery, of course. I think that might have been when Goldenkit figured out that she wanted to be a medicine cat.

"I never got to go to a Gathering. I was about four moons old when Bramblestar was killed. He was never really that involved in my life, so my kit self didn't mourn him too much. But when Squirrelflight died it was like my life had suddenly spun out of control."

Foxtooth squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. After a couple deep breaths, he meowed in a semi-apologetic voice, "Sorry. It's still hard to believe she's gone sometimes."

"No, I understand," I said quickly. "If Lightwing died…" For a moment, I envisioned the scenario. I'd grieve, obviously, but it somehow wouldn't be as big of a loss as losing Sootpaw or Rainpaw would be. Then my thoughts turned to the father I never actually knew. "I never really did mourn Ashthorn. He seemed to hate me, but he'd just never seen my strengths. He thought I had to fulfil requirements to be eligible to be his daughter."

My voice turned bitter somewhere in my description, until I spat the last word, my claws outstretched and digging into the soft sand. I saw flecks of my saliva create tiny ripples on the river's surface.

"Yeah," Foxtooth murmured quietly. "It's tough not having a father you can look up to."

"I don't need Ashthorn," I muttered, turning away. "I have Sootpaw and Rainpaw."

"Yeah," Foxtooth said again. "And I have Rustpelt. And I have you."

I didn't turn around. I knew Foxtooth was trying to communicate something much, much deeper than what was on the surface. I wasn't sure I was okay with that at this particular moment. If I turned around, this moment would spiral out of control and I'd either be forced to accept him as my lover or be forced to outright reject him.

But which did I really want?

"Cinderstrike?"

I took a deep, silent breath. "So what happened after your parents died?" I asked. Best let him think I didn't understand him.

Foxtooth blew out a sigh. I turned just in time to see the disbelieving look in his eyes before he glanced out at the river again. I'd only seen it for a moment, but I knew what his unspoken message was.

You knew exactly what I meant.

"I began training at five and a half moons. I guess Lionstar wanted new blood in the apprentices sooner rather than later.

"It took me a while to get the hang of the fighting moves. I just wasn't coordinated enough as a five-moon-old kit." I snorted with laughter at the mental image of a ball of orange tabby kit-fluff rolling around ThunderClan's training clearing. "Ever since then I've been training and fighting and hunting for LeopardClan," Foxtooth finished simply. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What about you?"

This was exactly the opportunity I was waiting for. Immediately, I embarked on a dramatic tale of how I tussled with Sootkit, teased Rainkit, battled ferociously with Adderkit, and let my pride constantly win out over everything. When I paused for breath, Foxtooth looked impressed.

"You sure know how to tell a good story," he remarked. "You'll make a good elder someday."

I pushed him in the river.

Spluttering and gasping, Foxtooth dragged himself back onto the bank. "What was that for?" he asked indignantly, but he laughed all the same. "It's cold in there!"

"It's instinctive," I purred, laughing at him as he shook off the water, droplets shooting in every direction. I didn't even notice as a few speckled my fur.

"So if someone tells you you'd make a good elder, it's instinctive to immediately push them in a river?" Foxtooth shook his head in what I figured must be admiration. It couldn't possibly be exasperation. No one could ever be exasperated with me. "You never cease to surprise me, Cinderstrike."

I reached a paw into the river and flicked icy water on his newly fluffed-out fur. "That was for repeating what you said about the elders. And now you look like you never lost your kit-fluff."

Foxtooth purred, swiping a paw at me. Immediately, I countered it with a leap, twisting in midair to land on his back. The combination of surprise and my weight was enough to force him to the ground. I leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Do you really want to challenge me in battle?"

Foxtooth could barely shake his head, I was holding him down so tightly. I rolled off of him and glanced up at the sky, now speckled with stars. "Good thing, too. It's too late to be getting into a skirmish." I began padding back toward the clearing, flicking my tail at him to follow. Just as I was about to slip between the thick bushes, though, a figure moved in front of me.

I stopped dead to avoid running into the cat. She turned, and in the moonlight, I made out her face. It was Troutstream.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she meowed. "I didn't realize I was cutting you off there."

"No, that's okay," I assured her, dipping my head. "Go ahead."

But Troutstream wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes had wandered past me to where Foxtooth and I had sat beside the river. She smiled with a little more knowingness in her expression than I liked. "It's so refreshing to see a pair of young cats in love," she purred.

"We're not in love," I replied, making a face.

Troutstream just laughed. "Does he know that? Because I don't think he got the message."

I glanced over my shoulder. Foxtooth quickly glanced upward, as though he was studying the sky to check for rainclouds. Had he been watching me leave? My stomach twisted slightly at the thought. Quit that, I told it in irritation. I don't like him in that way. Get with the rest of the picture.

And with that, I padded into the temporary camp.

Cinderstrike's body is now betraying her! What will come next? *dramatic gasp*

AOTD: I got almost unanimous YESes for Soot x Dawn becoming mates. So that basically destroys my plans to murder one of them viciously at the end of this book. XD Kidding.

QOTD: It's May 2nd currently and I'm listening to ABBA. In front of me sits a bunch of clean laundry. I really should have spent today doing Chem homework or studying for my AP exam, but oh well. Now my cat's joined me and is rubbing her face on my laptop. I'm really not surrounded by good QOTD stimulation. So can we just go with something simple like what's your favorite season? Because it's now May and April Showers bring May Flowers? (ahh, I'm so tired. I need to sleep :P)