Welcome one, welcome all! If you've made it this far, I applaud you. Unmasked was not easy to write and I know it probably wasn't easy to read either – on account of poor phrasing in some counts or simply because of the mature, at times heart-wrenching themes otherwise. As a reward for making it all the way through, I decided to put together a list of fun facts about the fanfiction and its characters! Here we go:

1) The winner of the deputy race in chapter 3 was Rabbitnose (who is also Nightchaser's paternal grandfather!). He died 10 moons later and Redclaw got another shot at the deputy race, this time winning the position.

2) To answer Wrenkit's question in chapter 4, the truth-teller at the time of Acornstar's reign was Ochrethroat, named for her skill in oration and charismatic approach to teaching the lessons of DarkClan.

3) Cedarheart is Minkfur's uncle, but their blood relation had very little to do with his opposition to her pairing. He was, simply put, just trying to fulfill his duty as a healer and, had he been part of a Clan in the Old Life, I think he would have made a very fine medicine cat.

4) Interestingly enough, Sleetfur and Sprucetail are actually related – he is her father. Ironically, he cared very little for her health when it came to birthing kits and his reasoning against her pairing was only because he would lose the Clan's best hunter for a period of time.

5) Mothpaw's appointment as healer's apprentice came about as a result of pulling names from a hat. From the litter of four (Bramblepaw, Mothpaw, Shadepaw, and Wrenpaw) I just happened to pick her name.

6) 'The prisoner', and the other rogues, were not supposed to play a big role in Unmasked at all. I decided to include him as a more central character and Roxanne and the rest of the band as a driving force because of all the positive comments I got about him after his first appearance.

7) In chapter 10, after Hailwatcher brings Nightpaw to Deathwaters, Nightpaw accidentally mentions that he's been dreaming, something that is linked closely to StarClan and feared in DarkClan. To throw Hailwatcher off his back, Nightpaw tells him that he dreamt he was attacked by a fox while hunting; this dream comes true in chapter 28.

8) Dawnstar leaps in to save Spiderthorn during the deputy race because of her own agenda – and the fact that she is not yet pregnant with his kits, which would make her look bad in front of the Clan.

9) Nightchaser's family tree isn't ever truly discussed, though certain hints are dropped, so here are some of the stats:
- Rabbitnose (grandfather to the trio) is the father of Spiderthorn, Flintmask, Shadowpelt, and Cedarheart; this makes Flintmask and Cedarheart Nightchaser's uncles, and Shadowpelt his aunt.
- Pigeonfang and Blackstrike are the half-siblings of Nightchaser, as are Lightkit, Stormkit, Yewkit, and Beetlekit.
- Nightchaser's first cousins include Minkfur, Snailwhisker, Maplefeather, Jaystrike and, interestingly enough, Swallowstorm and Smoketalon (yes, Smoketalon and Cinderblossom have kits, which goes to show how not following DarkClan's rules results in faulty genetics or, alternately, how keeping a cat's heritage from them can result in terrible side effects; as is probably obvious, DarkClan has a rather shallow gene pool either way).
- Now, here's the shocker: Nightchaser's maternal grandfather is none other than Hailwatcher.

10) Sleetfur's killing by fox is exactly that. Though many readers suspected Swallowstorm of murdering him, the she-cat was actually innocent. The fox returns later on to attack a hunting patrol and Pebblefur and Lionmask are killed.

11) The Firestar featured in Poplarheart's story (chapter 20 of Unmasked) is not the same Firestar we all know and love. Firestar (Firemask as a warrior) was a tortoiseshell tom who slowly lost the following of the entire Clan after he was unable to father kits with any of the she-cats.

12) Cinderblossom's full name was originally supposed to be Cindercloud, but I decided it didn't quite match her motherly nature and wanted to change it. I think Cinderblossom is much more accurate, and prettier too!

13) Heatherfur was not supposed to reappear in the story initially. The entire battle between the Dark Forest and StarClan in this novel took place because of how I neglected Sootstar's appearance in Nightpaw's dreams, inadvertently creating a plot hole. After realizing StarClan hadn't given Nightpaw guidance in quite a while, I decided I needed a more concrete reason for it than "oh, they've just been busy dying", so I included something a little more believable. (Getting out of plot holes 101 right there).

14) In Hailwatcher's vague goodbye to Nightchaser, he tells him that he is going where all the others have gone. By this, he means that he is leaving the Clan to wander like all other truth-tellers before him. No one knows where they go, only that they never return.

15) Hailwatcher chooses to give Nightpaw the suffix -chaser as a result of his insatiable curiosity and his penchant for watching the stars at night.

16) Of all the rebels, Mothpaw and Cedarheart are the most likely to believe in StarClan because of their status as healers. Not only are they the DarkClan equivalent of medicine cats, but they also have the least keeping them alive – having ancestors to place their faith in keeps them going.

17) In chapter 15, following the announcement of the pairings, Goosepelt is worried about Swallowstorm's pairing with Sleetfur. In chapter 25, we find out that he is actually Swallowstorm's father and that her safety was the reason for his worry.

18) As revealed in chapter 26, Sandfeather is Morningfire's mother, and the grandmother of Nightchaser and his littermates. Hailwatcher is the father, though no one in the Clan ever knows this except Dawnstar – as of right now, not even Nightchaser knows.

19) Lightkit has a strange effect on Nightchaser because of how alike she is to both Dawnstar and Morningfire. The kit is a cream and blue tortoiseshell, like both of the older she-cats, but instead of amber eyes like Dawnstar she has hazel eyes like Morningfire. The colour stirs memories in Nightchaser's subconscious.

20) In case you missed it, Dawnstar was raised alongside Sandfeather, as they were the same age. Her hatred of weakness made her hate her foster-littermate and carried on to that she-cats only surviving daughter, Morningfire.

21) Dawnstar's warrior name was Dawnfire. Her hatred of Morningfire grew further when the younger she-cat was given the same suffix as she.

22) Nightchaser's bond with Webkit, built during the moons when her mother and littermate are sick with greencough, makes him realize how badly he wants kits of his own one day.

23) As you've probably already guessed, Smoketalon is the father of Cinderblossom's kits.

24) Lionmask's sacrifice is significant not only because he knowingly saves three rebels (he is good at hiding this knowledge) but because he is also fulfilling the fate he knows was meant for him. As a younger warrior, Lionmask watched his brother, Redclaw, the deputy at the time, killed by a fox while defending him and his apprentice, Magpiepaw.

25) Lionmask also mentored Morningfire and, so, had a soft spot for Nightchaser.

26) It is, indeed, Flamestrike who betrays Nightchaser. After the night where he joins him atop the truth-teller's den, Flamestrike remains extra watchful and realizes that some of DarkClan's members are traitors, turning in to Dawnstar the seven who are thrown into the prisoner cave.

27) Wrenflight's death was planned from the start. I sincerely apologize for any broken hearts out there, including Nightchaser's.

28) The document in which I typed Unmasked is 201 pages long – that's 83405 words, including the allegiances!

And the FINAL fact is...

THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL TO UNMASKED!

(And also an official guide to the series).

In fact, the first page of the guide is already up. Check out The Official Guide to the Unmasked Series on my profile page!

The sequel will have its premiere on July 3rd. I know that's a little while to wait but I promise it will totally be worth it. You can look forward to more of Nightchaser, Cinderblossom, Mothpelt, and the other rebels, as well as some new, interesting characters amongst the alley cats. The only question is... Whose perspective should it be written from? Well, that's where you come in! I will take all of your comments into consideration.

And, finally, I would like to send out one more big THANK YOU to everyone who has been here from the start, to everyone who has joined us along the way, and to everyone who is reading this weeks (maybe even years) after its completion. Regardless of when you joined Nightchaser on his journey to unmask the truth, you made it to the end and for that I thank you. The votes, comments, and reads really help me keep going. I won't be specifying everyone, as I would feel terrible if I missed someone, but know that I appreciate each and every one of you and hope that you will continue to follow the sequel.

Until then, may StarClan light your path!