"No, Hawk! You're a bad cat!" The little voice rang throughout the still air. The owner of the voice, a small black kit, was perched on his tip toes, nose to nose with a much larger, far more intimidating brown tabby cat.
The breeze rustled the grass under their paws as silence overtook them. Under the black kit's paws, the grass was lush and soft, bright with life and teeming with starlight. However, under the tabby's, the grass was wilted. It crunched under foot and seemed to echo the longing for sustenance the dwellers of the land shared.
The border between them was unmarked besides the grass, but yet it was known not to be crossed. The air on the back of the kit was fresh, warm. There was no stirring breeze behind the tabby tom.
Finally, Hawkfrost bared his teeth. "Tadpole! You don't understand!" He snarled. He butted his nose into his brother's, but the touch sent a painful charge through him, so he jerked back. "I was trying to help him! Our own brother killed me!" He hissed, his tail lashing behind him.
Tadpole remained firm, his ears back. Despite being only a kit, a warm wisdom was in his eyes. His small tail shot out behind him defiantly.
"You weren't helping anyone! You were going to kill an innocent cat! You did!" The kit took a moment to glance behind him, remembering the sight of the ginger-furred tom cat, his image still faint, trotting through the undergrowth. He turned back quickly. "And when Bramble.. claw.. when he refused, you were going to kill him!" His voice turned into a slight wail.
How could his brother do this?
Hawkfrost's chest puffed and he flattened his ears.
"Hawk… please come with me!" The small tom pleaded, his façade dropping along with his haunches as he sat. "This place is so nice. It's warm, and there's lots of food. And the water doesn't fall from the sky! And there are lots of nice cats who-"
"Hawkfrost doesn't belong on that side of the border." A murky tabby tom approached, his cold amber stare burrowing into Tadpole. The kit hesitated, tail flicking nervously.
"Tigerstar.." Hawkfrost had been listening to Tadpole before shifting uneasily, welcoming his father with a small bob of his head.
"You're my papa." Tadpole murmured, almost shyly. Tigerstar's gaze seemed to soften for an instant, before he lowered his head and looked at his small son.
"Hawkfrost made his decision. Now he has to live with it." He rose to full height began to walk away. He paused to glance at Tadpole again, a wondering gleam in his eye, before continuing on, flicking his tail to signal Hawkfrost to follow.
"Hawk! Please.." Tadpole pleaded, stepping forward. Hawkfrost struck his paw out and stopped the kit from crossing the border, despite the shock it sent through him.
"My name is Hawkfrost." He muttered, his lip curling. "You can't come with me." His voice hitched for a moment. "And I can't come with you." His tail lashed once more before he got up and began to walk away.
"Hawk! Hawk.. frost! Please!" Tadpole wailed. "Please come back brother! You're not a bad cat! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" He cried out in desperation.
Hawkfrost didn't look back, squeezing his eyes shut before rushing into the dark, dripping ferns, under that watchful amber gaze.
"Please! I-" Tadpole stopped his cries when a golden she cat padded up to him, sweeping her long tail around him.
"Hush, little one. You'll wake up all of StarClan at this rate." She murmured good naturedly. Tadpole choked on his last cry, burying his face into the molly's soft fur. "Come now." She guided him away from the border, her tail resting on his shoulders.
"B-But Goldenflower! Why couldn't he come with us? He's my brother! Why couldn't Papa come with us?" He wailed to her. The golden molly looked down on the kit, the kit who had been taken from the world far too soon. Maybe things would be different if he hadn't. She sighed softly, nuzzling his cheek.
"I'm sorry Tadpole." She glanced back, a lump in her throat as she watched Tigerstar guide his other son back to the dark, decaying forest. The tabby tom, his throat and stomach still torn from his death, met her gaze steadily. "No cat can help him now." She murmured, squeezing her eyes shut with grief. "Come now.. Leopardfoot told me she had more stories for you…"