Greetings, little penguins! Welcome back to LotR Hawkstar. I will respond to your reviews here!

Sunripple: XD you have no idea what Hawkkit plans to be... *laughs maliciously* More blood, my friend? *offers cup of blood* Enjoy the second chapter!

I endured this for a few moons before I realized that the taunting would never stop, the jeers would never stop, the hatred would never stop. That was when I planned an escape. The first few nights, I was too frightened to leave the safety of ThunderClan's camp. But one leaf-bare night, I gathered up enough courage to venture out of the camp. I wasn't sure where I would go, but I knew I would go somewhere safe from the kits' jeers.

I kept awake long after Sorrelpetal and my brothers had fallen asleep and when I was sure every cat, even the guard was asleep. I softly stepped out of my nest and crept all the way to the nursery entrance. I froze when Tigerkit snorted and stretched out one paw over the edge of his nest. I continued walking silently across the moon washed clearing. There it was, the dirtplace tunnel, where I would escape. I slipped through the ferns and, weaving in and out of the pits where the cats made their dirt, I burst out into the woods.

My eyes stretched wide; the trees were much bigger than I had imagined and so was... Everything. Stumbling on through the trees and one time tripping over a branch and slamming my head on the wood, I tasted ThunderClan scent on everything until suddenly, I crossed the border and a new scent exploded around me. It wasn't very pleasant, but... I liked it. It had a woodsy smell that I hadn't smelled on ThunderClan territory. As I traveled along, oak switched to taller, darker trees with fewer branches and before I knew it, the new scent was all around me.

I burst out onto a well-worn path and began to follow it, alert but awed at the same time. Then, all at once, three cats swooped down from out of nowhere. They stood, flank to flank and glared at me with glowing eyes. "What are you doing on ShadowClan territory?" Their leader, an orange-and-white she-cat with golden eyes, not waiting for answer, began to inspect me . "You smell like ThunderClan, but you look to be only three moons old." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

I began to speak, but a small long-furred pale grey warrior pushed her way forward. "Stop interrogating him, Leafpelt. He's only a kit." The bigger she-cat huffed. "You would say that, Softshine," she retorted. "Being no more than a kit yourself." The only other warrior, an ebony colored she-cat with warm dark brown eyes just watched me with nothing more than curiosity. "What should we do with him, Fernstar?" Softshine looked expectantly up into the she-cat's eyes. She just smiled and beckoned toward me. I stumbled forward and whispered, "Hello?" I was as tentative as a mouse then, afraid to anger this powerful leader. "Hello, little kit," Fernstar replied. "What might your name be?" I looked up fearfully, expecting to see disgust in such a small kit, but all I saw was kindness. I immediately liked her.

"Little Hawk," I mewed shyly, deciding to use the name that my mother called me. Fernstar smiled softly and held my chin up. "Well, little Hawk," she meowed gently. "Welcome to ShadowClan." She directed her gaze to Softshine and Leafpelt. "Get Hawk sheltered in the nursery and make sure he is put into welcoming paws. I have great plans for this kit." She grinned at me, causing warmth to spread from the tips of my paws to the tips of my ears.

Softshine picked me up by the scruff of my neck and carried me along the path, her rocking movement lulling me to sleep.

I woke up to bright sunshine and the warmth of somebody against me. For a moment, I thought I was back in the ThunderClan nursery but when I opened my eyes, there was no familiar tortoiseshell pelt of Sorrelpetal. Instead, there was a deep ashy grey short-furred body beside me. I jumped up immediately and began to look around frantically.

Then, memory crashed back to my mind and I relaxed. I was in the ShadowClan nursery with a queen who had agreed to take care of me. Three other kits that looked about my age were curled up beside me. A black she-kit stirred and her eyes opened. They were an ash grey almost like the she-cat's pelt.

"Who are you?" She began to sniff at me curiously. The grey she-cat stirred and rolled over on her side, revealing a smiling face with green eyes. "His name is Hawk," she meowed. "He's come to stay in our Clan for a while." She seemed to hesitate before saying, "for a while".

"Oh," the black kit squeaked, turning to examine me. "I'm Ebonykit and these are my lazy brothers, Foxkit and Sleetkit." She poked the two toms with a paw and yelled, "Wake up, you dormice! RiverClan is attacking!" Immediately, the disturbed kits hopped up, their eyes wide with surprise. "What? Who? Where?"

One was a ginger yellow tabby tom with green eyes like his mother's and the other was a grey dappled tom with green eyes. They both looked around wildly and noticed me standing there. The ginger tom slunk forward and glared at me through furious eyes. "So, you've come to attack my Clan, have you, RiverClan scum?" he hissed. He tensed his muscles. "I'll show you how powerful ShadowClan can be!" But before he could inflict any of his so-called power on me, Ebonykit planted a paw on his chest making him stop.

"Foxkit," she mewed as sternly as a kit could sound stern. "This isn't a warrior from RiverClan. This is Hawk, our visitor." Foxkit's expression was blank for a moment then realization washed over his face. "Oh," he said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "I was just trying to defend my Clan." The mother laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yes, I bet you were," she meowed happily, flicking her tail on her son's cheek lovingly. "How about you show Hawk around the camp?"

"Oh, yeah," Ebonykit said, suddenly excited. "We're about to become apprentices and we'll need you to know all about the camp so you know where to look for us!" I looked at them and realized that they were much bigger than me, so they would definitely be accepted to become apprentices. Not me, though, I thought bitterly. I'm too small to be an apprentice.

As if he was reading my mind, Sleetkit's eyes grew concerned. "Of course, you could become an apprentice with us, right, Ashfern?" he asked, looking up at his mother. She gave a sympathy-tinged smile at me that I knew meant she thought the odds were unlikely. "Of course," she said slowly, nodding. Then she mewed quickly, "Go along. It'll be moonhigh by the time you wondering kits will get to explore!" Ebonykit jumped up, excited. "Right!" she squealed. "Come on, let's go!"

The three kits and I jumped along. But I could see the tension in Ashfern's hindquarters. She was ready to turn around and gossip. A twinge of regret flickered in my heart. Will I really be accepted here?

"And I hereby accept young Hawk into ShadowClan," Fernstar's strong voice rang out across the clearing. "He will be taken into our care and named Hawkkit. I expect for all of you, even the youngest and most senior warriors to treat him just like you would treat a kit born into ShadowClan." I sighed in relief as her announcement was declared for all to hear. I beamed and looked up at Ashfern. But her expression was troubled, like she didn't believe I was being allowed to stay with her kits. My smile vanished.

I knew that not all cats were ready to celebrate my arrival because of my origins in ThunderClan, but I knew one thing about Ashfern; she didn't want me at all, no matter how soothing she had been to me.