Hey! Im back in business, after three days of sleeping in a car… but we won third place ribs and third place pulled pork, winning Reserve Champions! There were lots of potential Troutclaws there, but I was so BUSY I could only watch and dream

YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! As a reward, I shall now list all of your names from comments on the latest chapter:

Flamepelt100, Featherwish of Windclan, XxGingershadexX, Candybunnies, Guest, Smokeblade27, BrightSun03, Woot, Silver wolf rain, Blazing Ice Dragon, Abby, ApocalypseAmerican, StormxRaven… you guys are the people who make this story continue and be possible, *along with all of you other readers and commenters*

Okay, here we go!

N'Joy!

Emberwing was sore when she awoke. Silverdust and a reluctant Black trained with her until she felt the familiar twist in her stomach that warned her that her body was waking. She uncurled from her ball now, wincing at the horrible taste her earlier vomiting had caused, and she padded towards the entrance to see if she could find any honey to soothe her scratchy throat and the taste of bile coating her mouth.

"Emberwing, Emberwing! Can we go into the territory with you, please?" Flamekit called, followed by Lightkit, Mistkit, and Greykit.

Emberwing remembered what it was like as a kit herself, her, Stripekit, Redkit, and Nightkit trying to trail Heroncall or some other warrior out of the camp to explore the territory. She was just about to crush their hopes when Reedstar padded over and saved her from the sure complaints to come.

"You kits are still young; in five moons you will become apprentices and then it'll be your mentor's responsibly to show you the territory. Now, go run along."

"I hope Emberwing will be my mentor," Flamekit announced to his siblings as they padded away.

Lightkit was about to comment when Reedstar cleared his throat to get her attention.

"I would like you to go to the gathering tonight, along with Troutclaw and Beetleeyes, if you're feeling better from earlier. Stormwater told me you ate a bad fish?"

"More like a minnow," Emberwing lied, "and I will be more than ready for the gathering later."

Seeming satisfied, Reedstar nodded and padded off. Emberwing squinted at the sun, which was almost completely set, from her sleeping through the whole day because of the poppy.

Emberwing didn't find any honey, but she did find a patch of honey suckles that she greedily lapped at while the sky got dark. She padded back right as the patrol was about to leave, so she fell in step with Troutclaw and Beetleeyes, and joked the whole way. Right as they met the familiar taste of the other three clans, questions popped up in Emberwing's head. "Would Stripepaw be there? What about Nightpaw, and Morningbird? Thinking back and counting the gatherings she'd been to, none of the three cats had been present, and if her moon-count was right, both her brother and Nightpaw would be warriors now.

Troutclaw was beckoned away by Thunderpelt to meet a couple of Shadowclan cats, and Beetleeyes had disappeared among the throng of cats and mixed scents to find herself a spot for when the leaders spoke, so Emberwing was left alone to search the crowd for any familiar Thunderclan pelt.

Her eyes fell upon Nightpaw's sleek black coat.

His eyes met hers, and she noticed he looked tired, and his ribs were visible beneath his fur. She was worried, but dismissed it as lack of prey in the freezing air; Emberwing herself was quite skinny, usually eating the smaller fish so the rest of the clan could be full.

Nightpaw beckoned to her with his tail, and she made her way over.

"Hello, Nightpaw." Emberwing greeted him when she pushed past the last of the cats. They were on the very edge of the clearing, partially shrouded in shadows and undergrowth.

"I'm Nightmask, now." Is all he said.

"Congratulations, I've also become a warrior… I'm Emberwing now.

Nightmask said nothing, no utter of congratulations or comment on her new name, and Emberwing grew slightly irritated.

"Look, it's obvious you don't want to talk, so why did you call me over?"

Nightmask looked unfazed. "So Stripefang could speak with you," he spoke, like it was obvious.

A shadow separated its self from the rest, and her brother padded forwards with a glint in his eyes. He was slightly larger than her, and his pelt, completely unlike Nightmask's, was shining even in the dim light and he looked well-fed.

"Hello, sister."

"H-hello," Emberwing stuttered, surprised by his formalities.

"Are you well?" he inquired, his voice sounding normal as he asked the question, but his eyes made her think that he wouldn't care even if she had white-cough.

"Fine, you?"

"I am well; I have just finished grieving, actually."

Grieving? Emberwing wondered which elder had passed away, and she was about to ask when Stripefang spoke again.

His voice was soft, but cold. "Why didn't you come to grieve our mother, sister?"

Their mother… Splashfur? No, she had seen her earlier that day… then who was he—

Morningbird.

Morningbird was dead.

Dead.

"How did she…" Emberwing whispered brokenly.

"She was attacked by a fox."

A fox? Emberwing knew Morningbird was strong enough to survive a fox attack… Stripefang was lying.

"How did she really die?" Emberwing snapped, scowling at her brother, her gaze only wavering as she glanced at Nightmask, who had just been… sitting there. His eyes were blank.

"…I… She… Morningbird really killed by—

"May all cats be blessed by Starclan, until next full moon." The gathering was over, and it was so cold the clans were already leaving. Emberwing had just been glaring at Stripefang, not even noticing how the leaders had all spoken, how she had missed her warrior name being announced to the clans.

"Well, until next time, sister," Stripefang called, turning to pad away, Nightmask copying his every move.

"Wait! You didn't finish who killed mother!"

"What are you talking about, Emberwing? I said mother died of Green-cough."

WOAH.,.

What do you guys think of that?!

QUESTION IF THE DAY: when your warrior character was a kit, did he/she ever try to sneak out? xD Wildkit, (my personification of my warrior) did, but she always got caught…

I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter; sorry if is was sort of shortxD

Till next time,

Emberfall