"Are you okay?" Lionpaw whispered to Hawkpaw as the apprentice followed the patrol stiffly. Although she didn't think it was possible, Hawkpaw felt her limbs stiffen even more, and her ears twitched uncomfortably. Of course she wasn't okay! She would never be okay with ShadowClan, not after all of the memories that had taken place for her with that clan. She sighed; Lionpaw wouldn't know about that. The only ones who really knew anything about what had happened were her mother and Sunpaw. Falconflight had been there for her when everything had crumbled around her. In fact, it had been Falconflight who had officially warned her that things were about to take a turn for the worse. Sunpaw really only knew because she had grown close to him, and he was the one cat that she felt deserved an explanation. Sunpaw understood what she was going through, and Sunpaw was the only cat besides Falconflight who could truly sympathize. Hollystar himself could come down and threaten to condemn her to the Dark Forest, and she wouldn't explain what had happened. It had been too much, and Hawkpaw had worked for far too long to move passed it. She glanced to the side and realized that her friend's mismatched eyes were still watching her curiously, and she realized that she had never answered the question.
"Of course I'm okay. I just was worried about WindClan. I know Hollystar doesn't want to provoke the trespasser, but I feel like ignoring him is just going to tell him that we can do it again." her tail lashed against a frond of bracken, causing her mentor to shoot her a warning glare. She glanced back at her denmate to see sympathy coloring Lionpaw's features.
"I agree. But like you said earlier, Hollystar knows what he's doing. Both with my training and with our clan. We just have to trust him." the golden she-cat spoke like a warrior, and Hawkpaw felt her ears grow hot. This cat was two moons younger than Hawkpaw, and yet she accepted the warrior code with far more grace. If Hawkpaw wanted to be a warrior, and she knew that she should be close now, she needed to trust the code and her leader more, regardless of how uncomfortable it was.
"I suppose you're right. ShadowClan just get a bit prickly, and I'm not in the mood for their attitude." she answered lightly. The past was in the past, and it was time that she recognized that. Lionpaw flicked her tail over one of Hawkpaw's ears.
"When aren't ShadowClan prickly?" she teased, and Hawkpaw had to agree with her. She laughed, drawing a stern look from Bluecloud. Hawkpaw snapped her mouth shut; she hadn't realized that they were so close to the border. She opened her mouth again, not to speak, but to taste the air. Her ears flattened automatically as she inhaled the rank stench of the rival clan.
"If we have to share a border with them, the least they could do is not smell like a fox that's been dead for a moon." Lionpaw complained, echoing Hawkpaw's thoughts and drawing an amused glance from Cinderstripes. She wasn't so old that she'd forgotten what it felt like to be an apprentice.
"I'm sure we smell the same to them." Bluecloud mewed sternly, but Hawkpaw could tell that her mentor's heart wasn't in it. Lionpaw fluffed out her fur at the deputy, prancing around the patrol.
"We'd be much scarier; we probably smell like badgers." Lionpaw corrected proudly, and Rosecloud twitched her whiskers. Hawkpaw purred with amusement at her denmate's antics before a fresh stench had her flattening her ears and lowering her voice to a growl.
"ShadowClan." she hissed at the patrol, who turned to face the border. Her hackles raised as a dark grey she-cat stepped into view, amber eyes glowing from the shadows, closely followed by a light brown she-cat who looked barely old enough to leave the nursery.
"Relax. It's just their patrol." Bluecloud ordered her apprentice, and Hawkpaw lowered the fur, still keeping her claws unsheathed. A dark grey tom, who Hawkpaw recognized from gatherings as Smokefur, stepped into view, and Hawkpaw felt her stomach drop.
"Pretty poor patrol if it consists of two warriors and a kit." Lionpaw's voice carried across the border, and the the small she-cat flattened her ears, blue eyes wide. She looked behind her for someone, and Hawkpaw's sense of dread grew as the final cat on their patrol stepped into view.
The pale ginger apprentice's blue eyes glittered arrogantly as he looked down at the ThunderClan patrol, and Hawkpaw felt the fur along her spine instinctively raise as her claws dug into the earth. Beside her, Lionpaw scoffed.
"Two warriors, a kit, and a scrawny apprentice." she corrected herself, and Hawkpaw resisted the urge to cuff her on the ear, even though internally, she was feeling just as nasty.
"Driftpaw was only made an apprentice three sunrises ago. What's your excuse?" the ginger tom called back, and Hawkpaw let out a low hiss, drawing a warning glance from her mentor.
"Greetings, Longshadow, Smokefur. We are no threat to your borders; we're just the dawn patrol." Bluecloud called briskly over the border. The tiny apprentice named Driftpaw backed slowly away from the border markings, her soft fur fluffed against the stares of the ThunderClan cats, and Hawkpaw suppressed a growl of disgust. Why wasn't this kit still in the nursery?
"We are well aware," Smokefur taunted, glaring across the cats before his gaze settled on Hawkpaw, "we thought it would be an easy lesson to show Driftpaw the border, and Sandpaw needed a break from the duties that actually take energy." The tom examined the ThunderClan patrol patronizingly, as though unconcerned that he was outnumbered. Rage fueled Hawkpaw as she took several steps forward, flanked by Lionpaw.
"Lucky for us, ThunderClan apprentices don't tire out. They're always ready to serve their clanmates." Cinderstripes beat her to it, and Hawkpaw's rage broke for a moment as she looked at the warrior in surprise.
"Yes." Lionpaw hissed her agreement and eyed the undersized apprentice with an undisguised threat in her eyes. Bluecloud shot both cats a warning glance, and Rosecloud brushed her tail over her daughter's fur to smooth it.
"In ShadowClan, we say that if apprentices aren't tired, they aren't working hard enough." Longshadow shot back, drawing a growl of approval from Sandpaw.
"It's how ShadowClan keeps their cats loyal and prepared." the emphasis was not lost on Hawkpaw who felt her blood run cold.
"ThunderClan doesn't need the incentive. Are petty words really what you want to teach your apprentices?" Now, Rosecloud stepped forward, a barely concealed growl in her voice. Smokefur pulled back his lips to reveal his teeth, and Sandpaw unsheathed his claws. Hawkpaw crouched, ready to launch into battle, but Bluecloud simply flicked her tail to stop them.
"ThunderClan also has better things to do than listen to the insecure ramblings of ShadowClan's youngest warriors. We have a border to patrol to complete." without a backwards glance at the grey warriors and their apprentices, Bluecloud swept away to finish the patrol, expecting her clanmates to follow. Smokefur signaled for his patrol as well, and with a squeak, Driftpaw pelted after him, until only Sandpaw was left standing on the border, his eyes glittering with malice. Hawkpaw felt her heart catch in her throat as he turned, looked over his shoulder, and scratched earth at she and Lionpaw, as if he had just finished making dirt. Then, without looking at the pair, he followed his mentor until his pale ginger pelt disappeared from sight.