Jet staggered back as Hawkshadow stared into his eyes. "I…"
"Well?" Hawkshadow growled, trying not to disturb the peaceful sleeping warriors back in the Warrior's Den.
"I…" After thinking really hard on it, Jet sighed, "Look, Enigma doesn't deserve to be here in the camp. She deserves to be free." He smiled a little, trying to gain Hawkshadow's trust.
But, it just made her even more suspicious. "Her being free? She can't stay two minutes in the forest without scaring herself to death!" Hawkshadow hissed in suspicion.
"I know that she's afraid of the forest. It-It's a long story." Jet paused, "Perhaps too long to tell in one night." He was obviously trying to find an excuse to not tell the black and white she-cat in front of him.
"I have the time." Hawkshadow growled, glaring at him with her yellow eyes, carefully watching his every move.
Jet quietly cleared his throat, "Well, it was back when we were about seven moons old. Enigma decided to go crazy, and leave the safety of Riverclan's territory. I tried to stop her since we weren't really skilled in fighting like a real warrior. But, she ignored me, and I followed her through Shadowclan's borders. She was so happy to be in a new place that she was oblivious to the scent of Shadowclan cats around us. We weren't attacked by Shadowclan cats at all, actually. We were lifted into the air by something. Enigma thought it was the forest pulling her up, since we haven't really been in forests for a long time. She was terrified, and she tried to let go. The 'thing' let us go suddenly, and we plummeted to the ground. I managed to land safely on the ground, but she got snagged onto a tree branch more than 10 fox-lengths from the ground. It took me forever to get her off the branch, but when she did, she fell to the ground with a thud. I tried to tell her the forest didn't take her, but a hawk did, but she didn't listen. Now, whenever she even looks at a clump of trees, she becomes a frightened little kit."
"Wow," Hawkshadow couldn't help but say, "She really didn't want to listen to you." She chuckled a little, but Jet just frowned at her.
"It's not that funny, Hawkshadow." Jet explained, his ears flattened.
"I'm sorry, Jet. It's just that…Thinking that the forest is taking you? Doesn't it sound odd?" Hawkshadow asked in curiosity.
"Well…Um…Sort of." Jet murmured softly. "Look, I don't like that Enigma and I are being treated badly because we were loners. It's not our fault that we chose the path we walk. We…We didn't have a choice."
Hawkshadow's ears pricked up in astonishment. What did he mean about 'they don't have a choice?' she thought. But then, she decided not to ask that question. Jet could be getting a little emotional, so she didn't ask any further questions. "Well, good night." she said, and she padded into the Warrior's Den to go and sleep.
Jet sighed, and was about to follow her inside, but then he remembered he wasn't wanted in there. He turned around, and began walking to his nest beside a rock. He curled up into the nest, and tucked in his tail. He blinked once, twice, three times, and managed to get a good night's sleep underneath the moon.
The next day, Hawkshadow woke up to Tailstar's familiar voice. She blinked her eyes open, staring outside of the Warrior's Den from her nest.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the highrock for a clan meeting." Tailstar meowed, staring at the clan cats from the rock she was perched on.
Thunderclan quickly grouped together to listen to what Tailstar had to say. Hawkshadow was the last one to join the group, but Swallowpaw saved her a spot next to him. She sat down next to her friend to listen to Tailstar.
"Thrushkit has chosen to take a special place in our clan. From this moment forth, he will be known as Thrushpaw and will be the apprentice of Maplefoot." Tailstar meowed, and the Thunderclan cats began to chant the word "Thrushpaw" over and over again.
Thrushpaw unenthusiastically touched noses with his new mentor, Maplefoot. The Medicine Cat smiled, trying to be friendly to the new Medicine Cat apprentice, but Thrushpaw just frowned at her. Maplefoot's ears flattened a little, but she stared at Tailstar, and nodded to her.
Tailstar nodded back, and as the commotion of the clan died away, Tailstar ended the clan meeting quickly. The warriors stayed in the camp or went into the forest to hunt, and the rest of the cats returned back to their dens. Tailstar leaped off the highrock, and stared at Hawkshadow. She padded to her, and dipped her head, "Are you happy about Thrushpaw?"
"I am happy he is now an apprentice, but I didn't picture his job in Thunderclan to be a Medicine Cat." Hawkshadow mumbled, looking down at her paws.
"Don't worry, Hawkshadow. I'm sure it was for the best. Maybe Starclan wanted it to happen." Tailstar mewed, trying to cheer the warrior up.
"I hope you're right." Hawkshadow murmured, and padded off to the Medicine Cat's Den. As she entered the den, she immediately saw Thrushpaw with Maplefoot. It looked like Maplefoot was already teaching Thrushpaw about herbs.
"Hello, Hawkshadow. Are you here to see Thrushpaw?" Maplefoot asked, looking at the entrance where Hawkshadow was standing.
"Yeah, I was wondering how everything is going." Hawkshadow explained, tilting her head.
"Well, everything is going absolutely awful! Tailstar crushed my dream of becoming a warrior just because I injured my paw!" Thrushpaw growled, showing his left paw to his sister.
Hawkshadow fell silent. She didn't know what to say after that. That mouse-brained Foxheart. I must have a word with him, she thought in anger. It wasn't Tailstar's fault at all! It was Foxheart's fault! She wanted to say that, but something just stopped her from opening her mouth to say it to her brother.
"Thrushpaw, I promise I'll try to be the best mentor you will ever have"- Maplefoot began speaking, but was stopped by Thrushpaw.
"You're the only mentor I will ever have! I wish I would've been killed when I fell from that cliff!" Thrushpaw hissed, and ran off from the Medicine Cat's Den into the forest.
Maplefoot sighed in sadness. She looked down at her paws, closing her eyes gently. "If only I took a better care of him."
"I'm sure Thrushpaw will cool down sooner or later. Just be patient, Maplefoot. He'll accept that he's destined to be a Medicine Cat." Hawkshadow explained, and walked out of the Medicine Cat's Den. She leaped to the entrance of the camp, and sniffed the air, looking for Thrushpaw's scent. She followed the scent trail up the old thunderpath, and to the Moon Pool. As she went off the thunderpath and kept following the scent trail, she found a familiar dark grey tom right at the shore of the Moon Pool. "Thrushpaw?" she asked, revealing herself from behind an oak tree.
Thrushpaw immediately turned her head around to look at Hawkshadow. He glared at her, and then turned away, facing the Moon Pool. "Why are you here? I just want to be alone!" he growled, flexing his claws.
"I'm here to bring you back to the Thunderclan camp." Hawkshadow answered, "And I came to ask you a question. Why are you so harsh on Tailstar?"
"Isn't it obvious? She crushed my dream all because of my injury!" Thrushpaw yowled, and showed his paw to her.
"Thrushpaw, don't be angry at Tailstar." Hawkshadow pleaded, her ears flattened.
"Why should I?" Thrushpaw hissed, showing his teeth at his sister.
"Because Tailstar wasn't the one who crushed your dream of becoming a warrior." Hawkshadow gulped before she said the last sentence, "It was Foxheart."
Thrushpaw gasped quietly as his ears pricked up in astonishment. "Foxheart? I would think he knew better since he was the apprentice to Cedarclaw!" he growled, and unsheathed his claws.
"Don't be mad at Foxheart, Thrushpaw. I know that he could be…mouse-brained at some times, but he doesn't deserve your hatred." Hawkshadow pleaded, crouching down close to the ground.
"I don't care, Hawkshadow! He crushed my dreams, so I will have to crush his dreams!" Thrushpaw yowled in anger, and stared at the Moon Pool.
Hawkshadow tried to see what he was looking at until a familiar scent filled her nose. She looked around in worry, and saw a white tom lurking through the shadows. The fur…The eyes…The scent…Hawkshadow knew who it was: Stormfire. She turned around to face the white tom, and she arched her back. She hissed loudly, and her opponent hissed back.
Thrushpaw wondered what was going on, and he turned around to see Hawkshadow and Stormfire's battle. He gasped, and stepped back once in fear.
"Here we meet again, Hawkshadow. So, what are you doing so close to the Moon Pool?" Stormfire asked, showing his sharp, jagged teeth.
Hawkshadow didn't say anything. She was too busy planning her attack in her mind. She circled Stormfire, searching for a good opening. After a few minutes went by, she finally leaped off the ground using her hind paws, and she tackled Stormfire to the ground. She hissed as they trampled over the grass in a close combat fight. Stormfire leaped away from Hawkshadow, and extended his unusually long claws in front of the black and white she-cat.
"Do you really think I will back off because of your claws?" Hawkshadow asked in anger.
Something pounded against her head, and Hawkshadow plummeted to the ground. Before she could see her attacker, she was knocked out by a blow from Stormfire's powerful paw. Her world turned into darkness as Thrushpaw squealed for help until his scream faded away, and her eyes only saw blackness.