Foxpaw padded up to the two cats. He looked at them in confusion, wondering what hurt Hawkpaw so badly. He growled softly too, watching as Hawkpaw was comforted by Swallowpaw. He walked up to her, pretending as if Swallowpaw wasn't even there. "What happened, Hawkpaw?" he asked, nudging his nose into her fur.
Hawkpaw slowly raised her head out of Swallowpaw's fur, and looked at Foxpaw. "If Thrushkit doesn't get better- which Maplefoot believes -he won't be able to start his warrior training for moons!" her voice was broken, and her eyes gleamed in pure sadness.
"I'm so sorry, Hawkpaw." Foxpaw murmured into Hawkpaw's flattened ears. He licked her shoulder, and let her rest her head on his shoulder instead of Swallowpaw's.
"Cheer up, Hawkpaw. Starclan will do all they can to keep your brother living with us. Each living thing deserves to live in peace." Swallowpaw explained, rubbing his head against Hawkpaw's fluffy cheek.
"Thank you, Swallowpaw." Hawkpaw whispered under her breath. She smiled delicately, but she felt like falling down onto the ground. She wished Starclan would watch over Thrushkit and help him live. Please Starclan, she thought, watch my brother carefully. Thunderclan can't afford to lose such a precious cat in the paws of disease.
Soon, the dawn patrol returned, huffing and puffing after a long trek through the entire forest. Whitekit and Violetkit met Cedarclaw, their father, to see if he brought them back something.
"Sorry, my little warriors. Next time, I'll bring you back a mouse." Cedarclaw purred, playfully pawing at each kit. The kits mewed in happiness, and they quickly returned back to the Nursery when Petalheart called them to go back to her side. Cedarclaw returned to Tailstar's side, whispering something to her with Mudtalon replying to the Deputy. Tailstar just stood there, listening carefully to her most trusted warriors in Thunderclan.
"What do you think they are talking about?" Foxpaw asked, glancing at the three cats next to the Leader's Den.
"Is it bad to eavesdrop?" Swallowpaw asked, straining his ears so he can hear their conversation.
Hawkpaw thought for a moment, and then opened her mouth to speak, "It shouldn't hurt to try." She looked at her two friends, and then strained her ears to listen. Foxpaw did as well.
"There was a white cat- I think a tom –watching me on the other side of the twoleg path. You couldn't really tell unless you really looked closely on Shadowclan's side of the path." Cedarclaw explained to the senior warrior and the leader.
"I didn't see a white tom where I was patrolling, but I saw a black tom walking around the Greenleaf Twolegplace. The tom also had a pale tom with him as well. I think they were hunting, but why would they hunt there? Firestar gave Shadowclan that piece of territory because it had little prey, after all. I'm surprised Shadowclan hasn't figured it out yet." Mudtalon growled, shifting his paws through the dirt.
"I don't think Shadowclan is that dumb not to figure it out. What I'm thinking is that they were spying on the dawn patrol." Tailstar explained, her pretty blue eyes darkening.
"Honestly, Tailstar, Shadowclan isn't backing down." Mudtalon growled, flicking his tail in anger.
"What we need is patience." Tailstar simply replied, dipping her head at the two warriors, "I think it's time for everyone to hunt for the clan. We don't want anyone to go hungry just because of our patrols."
Mudtalon and Cedarclaw nodded, and they padded off to the entrance of the Thunderclan camp. "Foxpaw, would you like to come and hunt with me?" Cedarclaw asked, looking over his shoulder towards the ginger tom.
"No problem, Cedarclaw." Foxpaw meowed, and looked at Hawkpaw. "Everything will be fine." he mewed, and sprinted off to meet his mentor so they could hunt. They disappeared into the forest, keeping their guard up for any Shadowclan trespassers.
Nutbeam called out from the camp entrance as well, looking straight at Swallowpaw. "Let's go hunt, Swallowpaw."
Swallowpaw smiled at Hawkpaw, and padded towards Nutbeam who was waiting for her apprentice to bound up to the entrance, her tail impatiently flicking back and forth.
Now, Hawkpaw was alone. She looked around to see if Tailstar was looking at her so they could go and hunt. But, when she turned her head to look at the leader, she noticed that Tailstar had already left the camp to hunt by herself. Hawkpaw's ears drooped and her tail fell in between her legs. She slowly left the camp, looking for an easy catch. She had lost her strength to hunt something since the Gathering several days ago. At least, she thought, Nightpaw hasn't traveled onto Thunderclan territory for a while.
She suddenly spotted a fat rabbit chewing on some grass a few fox-lengths away. Hawkpaw crouched into a hunting position, and silently crept towards the rabbit. As she neared the rabbit, almost just one fox-length away, she darted after the rabbit, claws unsheathed. Unfortunately, the rabbit saw her coming towards it, and it bolted away in lightning speed. Hawkpaw skidded to a halt and watched her target hop away towards Windclan territory. She turned around and searched the other way for more prey. Lost in thought of Thrushkit, she padded all the way to the halfbridge where she had met Nightpaw for the first time. On her accidental walk to the halfbridge, she didn't try to chase after a squirrel that actually hopped right in her path and a mouse that was loudly squeaking and sniffing the air. As Hawkpaw neared the halfbridge, she noticed, just as what Cedarclaw reported, was a white tom staring at her from the other side of the twoleg path. In curiosity, she crept forward, wondering who the tom was. The tom hissed through the shadows and padded out of the darkness of the fir trees.
"Did Tailstar order for more patrols to check out this area?" the tom asked, bearing his teeth in anger.
Hawkpaw said nothing as she stared at the tom's eyes, observing his every move.
"You don't say much, do you?" the tom asked, flicking his tail without any caution whatsoever.
Again, Hawkpaw didn't say anything. She stood her ground, waiting for a right time to strike.
"You don't know me, do you?" Stormpaw asked, staring at her with his glowing yellow eyes that pierced the shadows of the trees that fell on top of them.
Hawkpaw managed to answer his question, "No."
"But I know you. You are Hawkpaw, Tailstar's apprentice." Stormpaw replied, twitching his nose and grinning evilly.
Hawkpaw was astonished. She had no idea how a Shadowclan cat knew her name, and more importantly, who she's training with. "How-"
"Save your breath, mouse-brain!" the tom meowed, placing one paw forward, "I just know, ok? Anyway, it's rude for a gentleman to not introduce his name first to a she-cat, so to make up for it, my name is Stormpaw."
"Stormpaw! You were the one who accused Nightpaw!" Hawkpaw hissed, unsheathing her claws. She didn't even think of the thought that Nightpaw did trespass on Thunderclan territory. She just wanted to stop hearing that one of her friends was being treated like an enemy.
"Now, now, there is no need to unsheathe your claws at me. I am still on Shadowclan territory, after all." Stormpaw explained, padding back and forth across the twoleg path. He flicked his tail back and forth, as if he wanted to make Hawkpaw fall in love with him.
However, it just made Hawkpaw even more frustrated. She crouched down and growled loudly, her fur fluffing out to make her look twice her size. "If you want to fight, let's fight. I don't care if I get wounded. I just want to see you out of my sight!" she hissed, arching her back.
Stormpaw rolled his eyes, and unsheathed his own claws. "It's so hard not to battle a she-cat as beautiful as you." It was obvious he was trying to get her off-guard.
Hawkpaw released her grip off the ground a little, but then she firmly placed her paws back onto the ground, not letting some Shadowclan cat make her fall to the paws of emotion. She leaped into the air and landed a fox-length closer to Stormpaw. She waited for her opponent to make a move.
"If that's what you want." Stormpaw meowed, and leaped into the air. He finally left Shadowclan territory, and landed onto Thunderclan territory. His claws were abnormally long, and on his landing, he nearly raked Hawkpaw's nose. He padded back two times, and crouched down, his golden yellow eyes never leaving Hawkpaw.
Hawkpaw studied him as well. She learned well from Tailstar about battling, and she easily remembered everything Tailstar had taught her. She sprinted off in a zigzag line towards Stormpaw, claws sheathed.
Stormpaw bolted towards Hawkpaw, his long claws spreading dirt around him. He rose onto his hind legs and flailed his paws, his long claws slicing through the warm, intense air.
Hawkpaw dodged one of his paws, and stopped sprinting at Stormpaw's side for a split second. She then raised her sheathed paw, and turned her paw about 90 degrees. She then pounded the top of Stormpaw's head with a massive blow with her paw.
Stormpaw hissed, his head spinning after the frontal paw blow. He shook his head, continuing to see stars. He blinked his eyes, and managed to see where he was, but everything around him was still continuing to be a blur. Hawkpaw noticed her open chance, and she leaped into the air and once one of her paws touched the ground, she pushed herself towards Stormpaw's side and she tackled him to the ground. Stormpaw laid there, his eyes closed and his chest going up and down slowly. Hawkpaw cautiously walked up towards the body and she sniffed it. She strained her ears to his chest, listening for a heartbeat. Suddenly, Hawkpaw was tackled to the ground by massive white paws. Stormpaw was faking his death! Stormpaw rose onto his hind legs, and let his weight crush Hawkpaw as his paws fell onto Hawkpaw's chest. She squealed in pain, her world dimming.
Stormpaw suddenly turned his head to another direction. A black tom tackled Stormpaw to the ground, and clawed at Stormpaw's face. The two cats battled for minutes as Hawkpaw lay there, struggling to regain her strength to stand up. She managed to raise her head up, and noticed the black tom was Nightpaw! She tried to meow to Nightpaw, but pain robbed her words from her mouth. Her head suddenly fell to the ground as her muscles became too tired.
A few minutes later, Stormpaw squealed and sprinted towards the safety of Shadowclan territory. "Wait until I tell Owlstar about you hurting one of your clanmates!" he growled in frustration, and he disappeared into the shadows of the fir trees.
Nightpaw sighed, and crept up to Hawkpaw's side. He bent down to lick Hawkpaw's cheek, and he rested his muzzle on her carefully. "Don't worry. You'll be ok. I'm sure of it." he mewed softly.
Pawsteps roared across the forest, and Tailstar, Foxpaw, and Cedarclaw appeared from out of nowhere.
"Hawkpaw!" Foxpaw meowed in astonishment.
"The trespasser: Nightpaw!" Tailstar hissed, and she bolted towards Nightpaw in lightning speed.
In fear of angering Thunderclan even more, he sprinted off towards the safety of the Shadowclan camp.
Foxpaw sprinted to Hawkpaw's side, and licked Hawkpaw's muzzle. "Nightpaw won't injure you anymore, not when I'm here." he mewed softly.
Nightpaw, Hawkpaw thought until she drifted off into a deep sleep next to Foxpaw's paws.
