Chapter 1

I

A warm breeze drifted through the dense forest outside of where ThunderClan lived, shaking the thick pine trees so patches of sun dappled the pine needled ground. It carried the mouth watering scent of prey past a

hunting warrior named Hawkfrost. He had been without luck all afternoon, searching under every log, in every thicketbush, but he couldn't find a single mouse so he was now hunting in ShadowClan territory, but

unaware of his mistake. The scent was thankfully familiar, Rabbit kept spinning in his mind. He was determined to catch something for the new mothers of his clan, Fallflower and Silverstream. The scent was hard to

follow, being mixed with the strong smell of pine, but Hawkfrost managed to follow it. His nose brought him to an old rabbit's den. Ratspatter! I should have known... the breeze then carried the scent of the rival clan

past his nose, he then realized where he was. " I past the border!" he whispered in a panic. He heard someone approaching, he turned to see Flamestar his leader.

" What are you doing here?" the red tom cocked his head as he stood before the young warrior.

" I...I didn't realize..." Hawkfrost began to admit, looking at his paws.

" Your lucky I was following you. " his leader warned, Hawkfrost widened his eyes.

" Yes. I followed you to see if you knew the boundaries." Flamestar explained.

Oh no, now I'm won't be allowed to hunt!

" Don't look like you just committed a murder!" the red tom meowed.

Hawkfrost shuddered at a painful memory.

" Are you alright?" Flamestar meowed, surprised at how ashamed this cat was. " It's not that big of a deal. Your new here, and I'll acknowledge that."

Hawkfrost ridded the retention.

" Luckily were not far in, but we do need to get back to camp, Blacktail and Redwing needed to speak with me." with that the red tabby and warrior padded back into the sprouting under-growth, then crossed the

border. " I'll send Cedarheart out to renew the scent markers so you'll know where to stop next time." Flamestar meowed.

Hawkfrost appreciated his kindness, especially since he was a new member of ThunderClan. His leader had bowed in agreement when the warrior asked if he could have another try at hunting, so he headed off back

toward ThunderClan camp and when Hawkfrost tried hunting again, he eventually caught two mice.

II

" Ouch!" Hawkfrost yowled as he was crossing the shallow river to get to his camp, dropping his mice. He had to walk through water part of the way, and as he did, a crayfish grabbed on to his front paw. He flung it

several times until he lost his balance and splashed into the cold river, but the crustacean still would not let go! The warrior then noticed a lithe shadow slipping through the under-growth and over the rocks that dotted

the hillside on the other side. Hawkfrost raised his hackles, then Spottedleaf, the Medicinecat appeared. " Looks like you could use some help." the tortoiseshell stifled a mrrrow of laughter.

Hawkfrost glared at her through watery eyes and drenched fur.

" To bad you lost your mice." Spottedleaf flawlessly bounded from rock to rock on dainty paws, then reached the miserable tom, glancing at the morsels that floated away. " Let me see." she pricked her ears toward his

paw.

He raised it and moaned. " It's squeezing harder!" afraid she would mess things up, every time the she-cat tried to pull it off, Hawkfrost would jerk away. Finally, tired of his stubbornness, Spottedleaf gave him a swat

on the nose " If you want it off, let me at least get a hold of it!" the tabby patched tom irritantly held his swollen paw up, then Spottedleaf leaned over and chomped on it's tail. It immediately let go and splashed into the

water. " There!" She puffed.

Hawkfrost began licking his paw continuously.

" Just put it in the cold water." Spottedleaf mewed " It will numb the pain." Hawkfrost shot a greatful look as she turned back toward the hill, she flicked her tail, then bounded away.

The patched warrior couldn't help feeling bad for Spottedleaf. She never has the time to just hang out with her friends. As she disappeared among the rocks, he felt a wave of something he'd never felt. Oh great

Hawkfrost, your falling for a Medicinecat.

III

As Hawkfrost entered the camp, his deputy Redwing, and Blacktail were leaving, their faces grave. Hawkfrost padded over to Flamestar. " What's the matter?"

The leader shook his head as he spoke, " One of Fallflower's kits was born sickly, Spottedleaf couldn't save him."

Hawkfrost was flooded with sorrow for the new queen. He slowly approached the den, the calico's mournful cry pierced his heart as he peeked in the nursery to see her lying next to her dead and remaining kit, grief

clouding her eyes. Next to her was her mate Cedarheart, he was trying to comfort her. She stood on shaky legs and took the lost kit away to be buried while Silverstream watched the other kit.

" Will she be alright?" the patched tom asked Silverstream as he entered the nursery.

" I hope." she replied, staring at the entrance " I knew I sensed something when Windkit was born, she did too but she wouldn't admit to it."

Hawkfrost glanced at Cedarheart, who chose not bury his kit with Fallflower. It seemed that this noble warrior had lost all of his pride, but Hawkfrost said nothing to cheer him up. He knew Windkit was being taken

care of by StarClan. A soft mew from behind interrupted his thoughts, it was Spottedleaf. Without a word she motioned to him to follow. He was about to say something but chose not to, knowing she probably felt

horrible. They padded out of the den, across the clearing, and into Flamestar's hollow-tree den. The red tom was sitting in his nest, histail covering his paws. The two cats bowed as he approached, he nodded politely in

return. " Hawkfrost, I've been needing to speak with you."

The patched warrior felt a wave of dread rush through him. it's going to be about my hunting, I know!

" Hawkfrost, for the past two moons I've felt you were too... inexperienced and haven't let you go on many patrols, and luck has it that I need a pawful of warriors to patrol some new dirt paths in the forest made by the

two-legs."

All of the young warrior's dread was overcome with excitement.

" I've chosen you, Ravenclaw, Suncloud, and Cedarheart to explore the new paths and see where the two-legs have ended them. Hopefully they havn't veered too far into ShadowClan turf or ShadowClan will be

wanting some of ours!"

Hawkfrost barely stifled a yowl of praise as he bowed to Flamestar, Yes! He looked at Spottedleaf, a distinct look of worry hinted in her soft green eyes as she glanced at the red cat, then softly padded out into the

camp.

" Is she alright?" Hawkfrost asked as he watched the Medicinecat leave, turning to the ThunderClan leader to see his emerald eyes clouding with the same uneasiness.

" Just be careful." Flamestar gazed down sideways, " You'll be heading out as soon as the others are ready." he then turned and padded back into the darkness of the hollow. Hawkfrost sensed something more, but

decided to leave the thought alone and went to join the orange and white she-cat, Suncloud, who lay across the camp. He approached the fresh-kill pile, picking out a thrush and walked up to the warrior. " May I join

you?" he meowed to Suncloud as he stood above her.

She nodded. The tom began to pluck the feathers from his meal, he wasn't going to say anything to her in case Flamestar was going to tell them later, then the she-cat mewed " Are you lonely?"

Hawkfrost didn't quite know what she meant. " What do you mean?"

" Well since your knew and all, I was wondering if you've made any friends yet."

Suncloud always had a way with words.

" S-sure, I have friends." he stammered.

The tabby raised her brow " Who?"

The tom thought hard " Um... Spottedleaf is a good... friend."

Suncloud let out a snort " She doesn't count because she's a Medicinecat."

" Doesn't count?"

" Medicinecat's are bound to StarClan, remember?"

Hawkfrost had no idea where she was going.

" So the kind of friend I'm talking about is... a she-cat friend. And Medicinecat's like Spottedleaf can't be that, mouse-brain!"

A rush of embarrassment flowed through the tom.Having lost his appetite, he pushed the remains of the bird toward the tabby and white warrior. " I... I'll see ya later." he turned and trotted off, leaving Suncloud who

cocked her head at his reaction.

IV

Later on that day as the blazing sun began to sink down to touch the mountain tops, Flamestar had called his warriors together. They were eager to find out what the two-legs had done, but some were kneading their

paws on the ground, afraid of what could happen. Hawkfrost sat patiently while Flamestar instructed the patrol leader,Cedarheart, where to go exactly. Most of the clan was talking with Ravenclaw and Suncloud,

asking questions like " What if you run into a bear?" or " Don't the paths lead into ShadowClan?" which were very encouraging for Hawkfrost. He heard pawsteps approaching from behind, he turned his gaze from

the commotion to see the tabby warrior, Oakfoot. The tom bowed to Hawkfrost before sitting down next to him. He was a very kind warrior, and very noble to his clan although Cedarheart, being much bigger than

him, didn't think much of Oakfoot. " How are you?" the brown tabby asked politely. Hawkfrost returned the bow and said he was fine. " Although I am a bit worried." he added

Oakfoot seemed to understand. " Yes, I would be a little worried but it's for the clan right?" as he finished, Hawkfrost noticed the patrol bowing their good-bye to Flamestar, then bounded off to join them. He placed

himself in the group next to Ravenclaw, who kept her hazel gaze on the ground ahead of her as the patrol left the camp. They climbed through the thick bracken surrounding the camp, then Cedarheart motioned to

head toward the thunder-path." But isn't that kinda dangerous?" Ravenclaw called to the front. Cedarheart ignored her. Four seasons before, Ravenclaw had been hunting with her father, Blackbelly when a slow

moving monster hit Ravenclaw, breaking her left hind leg. Ever since she has kept her fear of the thunderpath.

" Mabe we should cross the river." Hawkfrost tried to help, but the redish tom shot him a warning glance. " Or... Ravenclaw and I could take the river and you guys

could..."

" I'm in charge!" Cedarheart spun around to face Hawkfrost " You will listen to me or go back and play with Silverpaw!"

That was it. Hawkfrost flung himself at the unexpecting Cedarheart. He racked his claws down his dark belly, then the tom kicked Hawkfrost to the ground, stunned. Hawkfrost shut his eyes tight, waiting for

Cedarheart's weight to crush him. He heard a screech and opened his eyes to see Ravenclaw leap at the air-born tom, throwing him to the ground and pinning him there with her jaws around his neck. Cedarheart

immediately stopped wriggling, knowing with one bite she could kill him. " You wouldn't hurt me. I'm your clan-mate!"

" Your a cat with no respect for any one but yourself. You didn't even bury your own kit!" seeing that her words affected him, she went on. " You didn't care about Windkit did you? You didn't want any cat to see the

mighty Cedarheart cry!"

Hawkfrost saw the grief in his yellow eyes. He didn't realize Ravenclaw had it in her. Glancing up at the top of the hill, the tom spotted Flamestar, who stood watching.

" There will be no patrol tonight!" he yowled.

Cedarheart's eyes clouded with fear.

" Yeah, he saw you." the black she-cat meowed as she let him up. He got to his paws, shooting her a loathing glare.

The patched warrior watched as Suncloud escorted him back up the hill, but Ravenclaw stayed behind to speak with Hawkfrost. " Thanks for sticking up for me."

" Don't mention it." Ravenclaw quickly swiped her tongue over his ear, then raced up the hill to join her leader.