Chapter thirty
Hawkstar smiled and waved his tail in goodbye to his sister, Petaldust, as he padded out of camp. It was time to meet with his friends again.
Running the clan had gotten much easier, and whilst the large grey tom was definitely not a natural-born leader, it had become like a second nature to look after everyone. He was glad that he'd gotten better, and the Clan was more easily accepting him as leader, now.
Hawkstar started running towards the center of the Clans' territories, where he and his friends met up. He arrived quickly; although he was much larger than the average WindClan cat, he was still fast like the rest.
The grey tabby tom was the last one there, and he yelped in shock as a small brown blur tackled him. "Shadewhisker!"
Shadewhisker looked up at him grinning. "Hey big brother. Ugh, emphasis on big." her tail had gotten stuck underneath him, and Hawkstar laughed as she pulled it out and stood up. "We have a guest today, Hawkstar," she informed him, her voice stiff.
Hawkstar looked around to see Lilyheart, Sharpfrost, Leopardstep, and... the bright white tom that Leopardstep had introduced to them at the gathering. Icefur, he remembered. Hawkstar cocked his head to the side. "N-Not to be rude or anything- but why are you here?" Hawkstar didn't get annoyed easily, but this was supposed to be the fives' time with each other, not anyone else.
Leopardstep flattened her ears and stared at the ground, but Icefur's gaze stayed fixed on Sharpfrost, who was looking anywhere but the white tom. "He asked to come and... I didn't see that it was a big deal, sorry." Leopardstep muttered, her tail drooping.
Icefur finally looked at the black-and-white she-cat. "Don't be silly, you didn't do anything wrong." Hawkstar immediately didn't like the tom; he had an air of arrogance, and a sly glint in his eyes.
A tense silence followed his words until Shadewhisker suddenly mumbled to herself. "You remind me of someone... That's it! You remind me of Brackenwing!" Lilyheart bursted out laughing and Sharpfrost was trying to hold in a chuckle. Hawkstar shifted uneasily, trying in vain to not give an amused expression.
Icefur simply nodded stiffly. "We should probably go back to camp now Leopardstep. You have deputy things to do." Leopardstep glanced back at Sharpfrost before letting Icefur lead her back to camp. Sharpfrost didn't return her gaze.
Hawkstar sighed. "I'm confused."
Lilyheart giggled. "When are you not?" The large tom glared at her playfully but she rolled her eyes. "Just forget it."
"Yeah, I'm sure he won't be here next time," Sharpfrost said quietly, almost to himself. He had an expression that Hawkstar couldn't decipher, and his tail twitched repeatedly.
"So anyways! Shadewhisker!" Lilyheart pulled the brown she-cat closer to her and muttered something, grinning widely. It must have something weird, as Shadewhisker's expression got more and more disgusted as Lilyheart continued.
They kept their hushed conversation going and Hawkstar glanced at Sharpfrost who had come to sit next to them. Hawkstar looked at the reddish-brown tom. "She-cats," Sharpfrost shook his head. "They're so odd."
Hawkstar snorted, nodding. "They are." He agreed. He looked up at the sun and sighed. "I should probably start heading back now. I'll see you guys next quarter-moon!" The four said goodbye to each other and Hawkstar began walking back to the WindClan camp happily.
He sighed contently as the cool breeze washed over him. It hadn't been a bad leaf-bare, he noted. It had only snowed a few times, and even then it melted quickly. Hawkstar hated the cold, so that was fine with him. He was pure WindClan, and he loved it.
He arrived back at camp and spotted his littermate staring at her paws, deep in thought. "Hey," He purred and Petaldust looked up at him sharply.
"Oh, hello, Hawkstar." She nodded to him and he sat down next to her. Her gaze was faraway, and he noted that she was once again thinking.
Hawnstar smiled at her, "anything happen when I was gone?" Pettaldust shook her head, not speaking, and he internally groaned. Why is she so hard to talk to? She had slowly gotten more and more quiet ever sense they were kits.
"So what has been going on with your friends?"The reddish tabby asked him casually. Hawkstar didn't show his delight at her speaking to him.
He laughed quietly, "Lilyheart got herself a mate, now."
"Who?"
"Graystorm. Sharpfrost, Leopardstep and Lilyheart are all deputies now. Leopardstep's brothers have been causing trouble. Sharpfrost has been weirdly interested in them." And there he went, spilling all of his secrets out to his sister. They talked for a little bit before Icefoot and Dovepaw walked up to them.
"Hawkstar," Icefoot dipped his head respectfully, and Hawkstar returned the gesture to his deputy. "We were on the sunhigh hunting patrol and Dovepaw came with us to look for herbs. We're scenting more and more foxes and badgers everyday."
Icefoot lashed his tail in anger, "we haven't run into one for some time now, but the scents are becoming more and more frequent. What do we do?"
Hawkstar stood up. "Um... In the border or out?" He was truly worried about this- what was going on?
"Both." Dovepaw answered gravely. The apprentice looked much older than she was, and he admired her bravery.
"Send out an extra patrol everyday to make sure the scents aren't getting to close to camp. I guess we can't do anything else yet." Hawkstar said quietly. "Petaldust and I can go on a quick patrol right now to double check they aren't getting closer." Icefoot and Dovepaw nodded and both went their own ways.
Petaldust stood up and smirked playfully at him. "Try and keep up," she raced out of camp and Hawkstar suddenly noticed that his littermate had grown faster and stronger and he hadn't even noticed.
The grey tabby tom shook his head and ran after her, laughing. They got to the scents quickly and Petaldust skidded to a halt. Hawkstar stopped as well, taking a few deep breaths. "We're here." He said in a grave voice.
Hawkstar dipped his head down and tasted the air, trying not to gag on the smell. The musty scent of badgers and the stronger, fiercer smell of foxes was overwhelming. "Strange. Normally foxes and badgers keep away from each other." Petaldust said quietly, almost to herself. "This is far over the border. What should we do, brother?" She turned to him.
He sighed. "There's not much we can do right now. Let's mark around where we can smell them and we should ask if the other clans are having the same problem, especially ThunderClan. I'll ask Leopardstep about it next quarter-moon."
Petaldust nodded. "Okay." The two slowly made their way back to camp, and Hawkstar padded away to find Icefoot. He glanced back at his sister to see she had gone back to the corner and was deep in thought again; she always was these days.
Hawkstar blinked and turned away. I need to talk to the others about the foxes and badgers, I hope the next quarter-moon comes quickly. This was worrying, even more so than just leading his Clan.
