Hawkshadow slowly opened her eyes, looking into the eyes of a familiar cat. "Nightwhisker!" she meowed in astonishment, and quickly got back onto her paws. As she looked around her, she noticed that she was in a camp…Only it wasn't Thunderclan's. "Nightwhisker, where am I?" she asked in worry. New cat scents filled her nose, making her confused.
Nightwhisker looked down, flattening his ears. "If only Stormfire didn't find you." he said quietly, and he was suddenly pushed to the side by Owlstar, and fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Owlstar stared at Hawkshadow in happiness. "Well done, Stormfire. You're brave to travel onto our neighboring clan's territory to find two of the clan's cats." he murmured to the white tom with an evil grin on his face.
"Thank you, Owlstar." Stormfire dipped his head in respect, and stepped back one time.
Wait a minute…Owlstar said two cats, Hawkshadow thought. Her eyes widened in anger. "You took Thrushpaw, didn't you?" she hissed, and unsheathed her claws quickly.
Owlstar laughed softly. "You are a feisty she-cat, aren't you? Is this Thrushpaw cat dark grey with yellow eyes?" he asked, moving closer to Hawkshadow's muzzle.
Hawkshadow said nothing. Instead, she just glared into Owlstar' bright yellow eyes. She knew Owlstar kidnapped Thrushpaw. She just needed to find her brother before the Shadowclan leader could do anything to harm him. She looked around the Shadowclan camp, searching for the familiar dark grey tom.
Owlstar hissed as Hawkshadow struggled to get up. He slammed his paws onto her chest, pushing her against the ground.
"Aw! Look at that, my warriors! She's worried about her brother!" Stormfire meowed, and stared into Hawkshadow's eyes evilly.
Hawkshadow tried to look at Owlstar, but her muzzle was digging into the dirt. She struggled to breathe as Owlstar's weight crushed against her body. This is ridiculous! she hissed, trying to knock the Shadowclan leader off of her.
Owlstar leaned in closer to Hawkshadow's ear, and began whispering something to her. "My dear Thunderclan warrior, Shadowclan is watching your every move." he whispered, and flicked his tail at two warriors behind him.
The two warriors nodded at Owlstar, and padded off into the Medicine Cat's Den. They returned back to Owlstar, the silver tabby tom with a dark grey tom in his jaws.
Thrushpaw! Hawkshadow thought in astonishment, and squirmed around, trying to loosen Owlstar's grip. But, Owlstar easily kept her off her paws.
"Bring the little tom to me, Wolftail." Owlstar commanded calmly, flicking his tail at the silver tabby. Wolftail nodded, and carried Thrushpaw to Owlstar's paws. Owlstar leaned over, and picked up Thrushpaw, and stared at Hawkshadow. "Is this Thrushpaw?"
Hawkshadow hissed in anger, and struggled to swipe at Owlstar's muzzle. She was giving all her strength to attack the Shadowclan leader. "What are you going to do with him? Make him into your personal slave? Let him join Shadowclan? Or just murder him…Like the cruel leader you are?" she hissed, glaring into Owlstar's eyes.
Owlstar cackled softly, and dropped Thrushpaw onto the ground. He landed with a soft thud, and Owlstar showed his sharp, jagged teeth to Hawkshadow. But after a few moments of trying to scare the black and white she-cat, he slightly loosened up his grip, and smiled at her. "You sure are smart for a warrior of Thunderclan. Shadowclan needs more cats like you." he said, waving his tail back and forth.
"Are you mouse-brained? No Thunderclan cat would ever join your clan!" Hawkshadow meowed in anger.
Owlstar sighed, his breath pushing against Hawkshadow's fur, and leaped off of the black and white she-cat. Some of his fur on his head began to hide his bright yellow eyes. "If that is what you want, so be it." he turned his head to Thrushpaw, "But would your little mouse here join my clan? After all, who would pass down the power that Shadowclan gives to their warriors?" He padded up to the helpless dark grey tom, and pawed at him, "Wake up, little warrior."
Warrior, Thrushpaw thought in his mind. He slowly opened his eye and stared at the Shadowclan leader, wondering what was going on. He stayed quit, looking to see what he had to say to him.
"Let me guess, your name is Thrushpaw, correct?" Owlstar asked in a friendly way.
Thrushpaw still said nothing.
"I'm not that scary, am I?" Owlstar asked, faking his astonishment to Thrushpaw.
Thrushpaw began to mumble something to himself, glaring at Owlstar as if he was trying to challenge the Shadowclan leader.
"I'm your friend, Thrushpaw. None of us don't mean to hurt you." Owlstar mewed quietly. He sat down and flicked his tail back and forth, smiling at the tom.
"Th-That's not what Flamestone and Oaksong said to me." Thrushpaw finally replied. His voice was a little shaky due to his fear of the leader.
"Those are the elders of your clan, aren't they? Well, elders usually grow a little crazy when they start getting old. Don't listen to them, Thrushpaw. Even our elder, Shadowfur, gets a little mouse-brained when it comes to stories for the kits to listen to." Owlstar explained, nodding one time.
Thrushpaw closed his mouth, not knowing what to say after that.
"Thrushpaw, how is your warrior training going?" Owlstar asked, tilting his head at him.
Thrushpaw closed his eyes in anger. He sighed, and returned his gaze to Owlstar. "I…I don't have any warrior training."
Owlstar's ears pricked up in fake astonishment. "Why is that?"
Thrushpaw didn't hesitate to show his twisted paw to the Shadowclan leader.
Owlstar softly gasped, and leaned over to look at Thrushpaw's injury. "Unbelievable! How did you receive that injury?" he asked, tilting his head once again.
"One of the warriors in my clan let me fall from a cliff." Thrushpaw growled, turning his head away, and looked at the ground. He shifted his paws against the dirt softly.
"Tsk Tsk." Owlstar sighed, shaking his head as he tilted his head to the ground, "You can't trust your clanmates in Thunderclan, Thrushpaw. They are filled with selfish cats that can't even find the time to look after the future of their clan. But, Shadowclan isn't like that, Thrushpaw. Shadowclan looks after their young ones carefully, and none of us treat any cat that has an injury unequally."
"R-Really?" Thrushpaw stuttered in astonishment. His yellow eyes brightened in curiosity.
Owlstar nodded, and smiled. "I know your pain, Thrushpaw. When I was a little kit, I too had received an injury from jumping off a…Tree." he began to explain, "My body hurt so much, that the past leader of Shadowclan thought I wouldn't have the strength to become an apprentice for a few moons! I was so frustrated, and I began hurting the other kits with my claws that were beginning to grow in. But, when the mentor that I would've had for my apprenticeship came to me, he gave me advice that I could never think would come out from any other cat other than a cat from Shadowclan. I became inspired by him, and I trained my body to deal with the pain from my injury. My mentor inspired me so much, that it was like my pain disappeared from inside me, and I was able to become an apprentice!"
"Th-That's amazing!" Thrushpaw mewed, his eyes gleaming.
Owlstar nodded, and smiled at him. "I can help you, Thrushpaw, become a strong warrior someday. All you have to do is promise me that you will help Shadowclan survive. Are you up to the task?" he asked.
Before Thrushpaw could answer to Owlstar's question, Hawkshadow quickly picked up Thrushpaw, and sprinted off out of the Shadowclan camp. She heard Owlstar give out orders to follow her, and she began running faster and faster. She glanced behind her, and saw that Nightwhisker, Wolftail, and Bearclaw were following her. She gasped softly, and tried to run faster to get away from them, but her paws were beginning to weaken. As she glanced back at them, she saw that Nightwhisker tackled Wolftail to the ground. Nightwhisker was clawed in the muzzle by Wolftail, and Bearclaw stopped running to help Wolftail. Thank you, Nightwhisker, Hawkshadow thought, and kept on running.As they entered the borders of Thunderclan, she stopped beside a tree, and placed Thrushpaw down on the ground.
"What is wrong with you?" Thrushpaw hissed as he arched his back.
"What? What's wrong with me? I saved you from that evil Shadowclan leader!" Hawkshadow growled.
"Well, I didn't get to answer his question!" Thrushpaw hissed, and turned his back against Hawkshadow.
"What was going to be your answer, then?" Hawkshadow asked in curiosity and fear.
"I was going to say yes." Thrushpaw answered.