Chapter 7

Ivypool

A half moon passed.

The two-legs destroyed the Fourtrees, and Ivypool was glad Hawkfrost 'convinced' her to visit it.

Nothing really happened. She argued every day with the mousebrained tom, but both cats started to get used to their new lifestyle. It seemed that Hawkfrost was now friendlier, because he didn't growl or roll his eyes whenever she said something (mousebrained). Instead, he added something even more stupid. He could make her laugh. And sometimes, that was really rare, but he was also able to talk with her about ThunderClan without any insulting comment. Or about StarClan, but that only happened once.

Now, they were on a patrol. Hawkfrost thought that even if they wouldn't spend so much time in this territory anymore, she needed to know where the borders are. It was really strange for Ivypool that she was now a RiverClan cat, and ThunderClan was the enemy. She didn't think she could get used to it, but now she doubted that.

"Shh! Stop moving." Hawkfrost suddenly hissed. Ivypool pricked her ears and heard pawsteps. A grey tom emerged, and the brown tabby next to her relaxed.
"Stormfur! Where have you been?" he asked, though his voice was cold.
"Hello Hawkfrost, Ivypool." He grinned at her. "I… I was at the sun-drown place."
"Where?" Ivypool repeated confused.
"I'm going to tell you later."
"And where did you leave Feathertail?" Hawkfrost demanded.
"She… she died." The tom whispered.

Hawkfrost

"Feathertail was his littermate." Hawkfrost explained quietly to Ivypool. Stormfur sighed.
"Can we go to camp?" he asked.
"Sure." The brown tabby replied. He noticed the grey tom took a step towards Ivypool, but he was faster. He went up to her, blocking the way between the two. Just what did he think? He forced himself not to growl.

Ivypool gave him a confused look, obviously surprised by his sudden move.

After Stormfur explained what happened with Feathertail, the clan surrounded him. Some were happy he returned safe, but others glared at him, whispering to each other. They were angry, surely because he was much healthier. Though RiverClan was lucky, because the river was relatively rich with prey.

Hawkfrost almost jumped out of his fur when Leopardstar spoke to him. "Hawkfrost!"
"Yes?" he turned immediately.
"Tell Stormfur I want to talk with him and you." the she-cat mewed.

Ivypool

"What did you talk about?" Ivypool asked when Hawkfrost emerged.
"Nothing important. He wants Leopardstar to come to the Fourtrees, to meet the other leaders. He was talking about a sign." The tom yawned.
"Will you go too?"
"They won't see anything, but I will go. I did that last time too." Hawkfrost meowed. Ivypool hesitated.
"And do you know when Mistyfoot will come back?" she whispered. The tom's whiskers twitched.
"Soon."
"And when is that exactly?"
"I don't remember." Hawkfrost confessed.

For a minute there was silence.
"Wanna go for a walk?" the brown tabby asked. Ivypool shrugged.
"Okay. Better than sitting here and doing nothing."

"Do you know where we are now?" Hawkfrost asked. The she-cat rolled her eyes.
"Stop testing me! I'm sick of it."
"I will stop if you know these things perfectly. So, where are we now, Ivypaw?"
"Close to WindClan's border, Hawkkit." Ivypool replied.
"Correct! You passed your assesment." Hawkfrost rolled his eyes. "Do you have a topic you want to talk about, or should I say something?" he offered in a bored tone.
"You had declared it more than a million times that you're not interested in my stories. So you can speak, if you really want to. I allow it, my dear best friend!" the she-cat mewed friviously.

"Thank you, honey." Hawkfrost replied in his deep voice, but still in a bored tone. "Well, what happened after I… " he swallowed. "...you know, after I 'faded away'?" he asked. Ivypool's eyes widened.
"You mean you want to know who won?"
"Yeah, that comes later. But what happened right after my death? I mean, did anyone else die? And by 'anyone' I mean Bramleclaw."
"Well, right after Bramble… claw settled you, Tigerstar appeared." She explained, almost telling him Brambleclaw's new name.
"What did he say? Did he even care?" Hawkfrost asked. His tone sounded like he already knew the answer, but his eyes told Ivypool he hoped his father did care.
"Well… he attacked Firestar… and was defeated…" she said slowly, not wanting to tell the tom he even praised Brambleclaw for killing him.
"And he didn't say anything about me?"
"No." Ivypool lied.
"He really didn't say anything?" the tom asked.
"No. Nothing." She replied. Hawkfrost muttered an unsatisfied 'Mhm'. But it's still better than letting you know what he really thought about you! Even if you deserved it. Ivypool sighed mentally.

"And what happened then?" he asked.
"We won the battle."
"Nobody else died, nothing happened?" Hawkfrost's whiskers twitched.
"No." The she-cat lied again, not telling him Firestar lost his final life.
"Boring. And what happened after the battle?"
"We sat vigil and buried our dead clanmates." She explained with a frown. Did he think they feasted on their clanmates' corpses, or what?
"OK." the tom murmured. Ivypool felt a little satisfaction. He still didn't say things like 'thank you' or 'please' -except when he was mocking her-, but that 'OK' was still better than nothing.

"Did anything change?" Hawkfrost asked again after a half minute silence.
"How do you mean that?"
"Your life. Did your clanmates fear you, after they found out you trained in the Dark Forest? Do you still think you are your sister's shadow?" he twitched his whiskers again. Ivypool wondered why he was so curious. He didn't act like that before.
"I… think there were some cats who were afraid of me, but nobody really showed it. And I'm definetly not my sister's echo. We are like… best friends." She mewed with a laugther. The tom raised an eyebrow.
"Best friends like us?" he stared at her with a blank expression.
"No, a little bit closer, and you know there is a difference between-"
"I know, I know." Hawkfrost interrupted her. "Then you two are… I mean, you were happy. That's good."

Ivypool nodded, though she was asking herself if this was the truth. Even if it was her who risked her life every night, ThunderClan didn't really care about her. She was still known as Dovewing's sister, and not as Ivypool. Or maybe she was the only one who thought that? Wasn't she able to notice that her former clan had respected her too?

Her sister was expecting Bumblestripe's kits, though she never said out loud they were his. Ivypool thought she could've met Tigerheart, because she noticed Dovewing was yawning all day long sometimes. She hoped she was wrong.

It seemed the whole clan was obsessed with her. Everybody talked about her, and they imagined her kits: great warriors, just like their mother. Ivypool asked herself if she was still jealous. Was that the reason she felt so lonely?

And her sister thought her mate, Bumblestripe was much more important than her. Once when they were sharing a mouse the tom appeared in the entrance, and Dovewing completely forgot about her. Like she never existed.
Ivypool thought about it some more. Didn't that happen when Bumblesrtipe had returned with deep wounds? Oh, mousedung! How could she be so mousebrained?

"Yes, we were really happy." She repeated, though her voice trembled. She hadn't been paying enough attention to her sister, either. And she blamed Dovewing for that, like an apprentice!
"You didn't really convince me." Hawkfrost mewed, getting her attention.
"Well… the clan still thought she was a gift from StarClan." she confessed, pouting a little. She flinched when the tom brushed his tail along her spine and leaned close to her.
"You don't deserve a sister who doesn't appreciate you." he breathed in her ear. Ivypool didn't respond. She felt hot beneath her pelt, though she didn't know if she was embarrassed or horrified. She couldn't decide if she wanted to move away from the tom or not. It was unusual for him to be so caring.

Hawkfrost licked her between the ears and Ivypool had enough of it. She flinched from him.
"Stop it, okay?" she mewed, giving him a cold stare.
"Okay. It was only to comfort you, if you didn't know." the tom mewed, his eyes frostier than ever. "We can go back if you want to." he offered.

The she-cat only turned around, padding back to camp.