Hexagon

by Azrakatz

When Cinderheart transferred to the prestigious Hexagon Academy, she expected- not this. Behind the appearance of an elistist school is violence, betrayal, and a corpse around every corner, dictated by the underground fight ring called the Dark Forest. With a target on her back and all those she cares about, she and the rest of Thunder realize that nothing is ever as it seems. HSAU

37. Tension Builds

Hexagon

Chapter 37: Tension Builds

::steps back in awe:: Holy fuck, 37 chapters already? I'm going to take a moment to be impressed with myself. Excuse me.

*2 Hours Later…*

Oh. Right. I have a chapter to write. Thank you so much to all the fabulous people who reviewed! Your comments are greatly appreciated.

-Snowcrystal of ThunderClan

-Jayfeather's Friend

-Abby6666

-Lulurocks01

-Shiiisu

-Mad Hat Dragon

-Crazycat10987

-ZGTGt

-DappledleafTheBootiful

-Star Speckled Sky

On with the fic!

Hazeltail's POV:

"FOXLEAP. Don't you fucking DARE."

The employee had literally just finished fastening my harness and attaching it to the zipline when Foxleap snuck up behind me. He placed his hands on my shoulders, grinning.

"Foxleap, NO." His smile became even wider.

"Foxleap, YES."

"For the love of Starcl-AAHHHHHHHHH!" My feet left the platform, and before I knew what was happening, I was zooming along on the zipline, the trees swishing by underneath me, the wind whipping at my face. Around me, my fellow riders and classmates were whooping and screaming. I faintly heard Foxleap hollering, "Have a nice flight!", over the rush of the wind.

"FUCK YOU FOXLEAAAAAPP!", I howled back.

"LANGUAGE, young lady!", I turned and saw Firestar whizzing past, his bright red hair flying up around his face. The zipline ride went by faster than I expected, and seconds later, my feet were thudding into a bed of packed sand. The instant I landed, a teenage boy with shaggy brown hair rushed to my side, and started removing my harness. His eyes kept darting to the ground shyly. I noticed he was...blushing?

In that moment, Foxleap landed next to me, still flashing his self-satisfied grin. Suddenly, a mischievous idea for revenge popped into my mind. Making sure the redhead was watching, I smiled flirtatiously at the brown haired boy. Batting my eyelashes, I cooed, "Thanks so much for helping me out of my harness."

The brown haired by turned an even deeper shade of red. Foxleap beside me was turning red too, but not with embarrassment. He was red with rage. He tore out of his harness, and started shooting the other boy a glare with the withering force of a thousand suns.

Said other boy turned rapidly from scarlet to pasty white, and scurried off as fast as his legs would carry him. Foxleap huffed. I swatted him over the head. "Awwww, was somebody jealous~?", I sing-songed teasingly. "No!", Foxleap snapped defensively. "Why would I be?" I started laughing, and Foxleap puffed up his cheeks, annoyed. Since this made him look like a pouty gopher, my hysterical laughter only increased.

…

After several hours of ziplining, Firestar called all the Thunder students back together. The other sectors were each doing their own activity, which I was glad for. A thousand five hundred students all going on the ziplines at once? No thanks. The Thunder students, looking wind beaten with their flyaway hair and clothes all out of place, gathered around eagerly.

"We're going to head back to the hotel. Make sure to dress comfortably, since we're going hiking with the Wind sector. You might want to bring bathing suits, too, seeing as there'll be a lake. We'll be able to swim if the weather warms up a bit."

Someone raised their hand. "We can really swim?! And in the lake?!" Firestar sighed, looking genuinely apologetic. "I wouldn't count on it. The weather isn't being very cooperative this year. But I would bring a bathing suit, just in case."

The walk back to the hotel was relatively short. I was walking between Hollyleaf and Icecloud and the rest of them. The guys stuck together too, talking about who knows what. Knowing them, probably soccer. When we got to the hotel, the other sectors weren't back yet. If I remember correctly, Shadow was taking a course on edible plants and River was canoeing. Where Wind was, I had no idea. They were supposed to be back at the hotel as well.

Although the Wind sector's absence was weird, it wasn't unheard of. Onestar had a reputation of being late. He would show up sooner or later. Undoing my ponytail, the rest of the girls and I headed up to our room to prepare. I decided on a dark gray pair of pants, comfortable shoes and a warm yellow jacket, knowing full well how prone the weather was to sudden changes. My bathing suit was on under all the hiking gear, although I didn't really think we would need it.

Surprisingly, it didn't take the other girls very long to get ready. Before we knew it, the Thunder sector stood assembled in the lobby, carrying bulky backpacks and dressed in hiking gear. The Wind sector, on the other hand, was taking its time. When the Wind students finally came stepping out of the elevators, I almost choked on my own saliva.

The majority of the Wind sector was dressed in perfectly normal hiking clothes, but that was beside the point. Heathertail and her little gang, on the other hand….not so much. Heathertail herself was dressed in a white crop top, a ruffled white tennis skirt, and a pair of pure white ankle boots. She was wearing a rhinestone studded mini backpack, which, while looking super cute, probably didn't fit any more than bag of trail mix.

The rest of her group was dressed in similar fashions, which lead to Firestar coughing out, "Uh, ladies? Didn't we say comfortable clothes? Did you even bring jackets?" Nightcloud leaned down to adjust the strap on her platform heels. "They're perfectly comfortable, thank you for asking", she said haughtily. Heathertail spoke up too. "And of course we brought jackets. We're not stupid. Can we leave now, please?"

Icecloud shot a disdainful glare over in Heathertail's direction. "She does realize", the blond groused out. "That the only reason we haven't left yet is because they took so long?" Toadstep placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ignore it", he muttered. "She wants a reaction. Just don't let her see she got to you."

In that moment, Ivypool, who had been silently walking behind them, spoke up for the first time that trip. "She's actually unbearable." The rest of us spun. Ivypool glared icily. "What?", she muttered. "Can't say it's not true."

Bumblestripe shook himself out of his daze first. "No, you're right", he said hastily. "It's just...you haven't said much over the trip." Ivypool shrugged, pulled up her jacket zipper, and strode outside. "Wow", Lionblaze muttered to Berrynose. "Her attitude puts the temperatures out there to shame."

Berrynose elbowed him. "It's not even that cold. And she does have a point." Lionblaze snorted. "Hey!", he grumbled in response. "I'm from fucking California. These are sub-Arctic temperatures by my standards."

…

Hollyleaf's POV:

"Sub-arctic temperatures, my ass!"

"You're RUSSIAN, of course this weather doesn't bother you!"

"For the love of fucking StarClan, would you two SHUT UP?! You're scaring away the wildlife!" The two boys, who had been engaged in yet another pointless argument about the weather, turned to face…. "Ivypool?"

It seemed that the platinum blond girl had enough of her silent act, because she was being plenty vocal now. After about ten minutes of furious scolding from Ivypool, peace fell at last, with Berrynose and Lionblaze pointedly avoiding each other.

With the bickering having ceased, I diverted my entire attention on the forest. It was really very beautiful, with countless trees reaching up into the clouded sky. The first flowers were starting to shoot out of the ground after the Winter. Despite it being technically Spring, the weather was still rather chilly, and a biting wind was starting to whistle through the trees.

Cinderheart drew her azure blue windbreaker closer to her. "I guess we can forget about that swim", the silverette said, sounding disappointed. I nudged her. "I'm not sure a swim is worth getting pneumonia", I teased. The second I said the word 'pneumonia', something went off in my mind. Heathertail! I turned and peered down the path. We were climbing uphill, and from my position in the middle of the group, I could see the line of students behind us. In the distance, I saw Onestar bringing up the rear. When I looked up, I caught a glimpse of Firestar's telltale red hair at front, leading the group.

I let my gaze roam over the people behind us, and saw students chatting with each other, admiring the wildlife and complaining about the cold. It took a moment before I saw her. Heathertail and her friends were stumbling along miserably in their high heels, but I had the most pity for Heathertail herself. The others had at least had the sense to dress somewhat warmly. Heathertail would catch her death out here. I looked around again. Firestar and Onestar were at opposite ends of the line, and didn't know what was going on.

I grabbed Fallen Leaves' arm. "Can you come with me?", I muttered to him. He nodded, bewildered. I quickly told my brothers and Cinderheart where we were going, and then started hurrying downhill. Fallen Leaves struggled to keep up with my pace, and almost tripped over a protruding rock on the way down. He barely caught himself on a tree. "Hollyleaf!", he said sharply. "Where are we going?" I didn't look back. "To help Heathertail. She'll catch her death if she keeps running around in that mini skirt, and in this weather to boot. I'm just glad I brought a spare coat."

"But she brought a jacket!", Fallen Leaves panted. "She said it to Firestar herself!"

"Have you met Heathertail? She lied to Firestar. Fashion is more important than anything to her. She'll sacrifice a jacket if it means she can look hot for my brother."

In that moment, I stopped. Heathertail and her friends stood right in front of us. The blond's teeth were chattering. "What do you want, bitch?", she snapped at me. I glared. "You're hella lucky I have a conscience, or I would leave you to freeze", I snarled. I pulled the spare coat out of my bulging backpack and held it out to her. Her eyes widened.

Heathertail took a step back. "And what makes you think I want it?", she sneered. "I don't know where that rags' been. Knowing you, you probably shoved it up your ass before giving it to me." I rolled my eyes. "Oh for the love of StarClan...Heathertail, just swallow your damn pride and take it already!" I shoved the coat at her. The blond took a step back….and right into a large puddle of mud. She shrieked in horror as her pure white ankle boots sank into the dirty puddle.

The damage was instant. The suede seemed to almost soak up the mud, staining from fresh-snow white to swamp brown. Heathertail stare disbelievingly at her newly recolored shoes, then pointed a trembling finger at me. "YOU!", she wailed. "You stupid hoe, how could you? Those were brand new!"

It didn't take long for me to get fired up at this. "ME?", I yelled. "I'm not the one who was stupid enough to wear 800 Univ shoes on a fucking HIKE!"

End Chapter 37

And tensions heat upppppp! Hollyleaf is really too nice. And the way Heathertail behaved toward her…::shudders::

Reviews, please? :3

Azra out!