Chapter 2
It had been a full day since Berry had been taken in by Blazepool for treatment, and by now most of the Clan had gotten over the fact that they were living with a rouge. Hazelflight was glad that the tension was lost. It had divided the Clan, which was something Hazelflight hoped she would never see.
"Are you coming or not?" Ravenheart mewed, looking back towards her. Hazelflight, Lionfang, Ravenheart and his apprentice Icepaw were on a patrol, going around the borders of the Clan and checking for any signs of intrusion. So far they had found nothing.
"Hazelflight? Can I ask you something?" Icepaw questioned as they trotted through the dead leaves.
"Mm-hm." Hazelflight murmured.
"If you're so good at climbing trees, then why is your tail short? Isn't you tail used for balance?"
"You know, I never really thought about that." Hazelflight mewed. "I guess it's just a talent."
"Just like swimming?" Lionfang laughed. Ravenheart also started to giggle.
"Ugh, don't remind me." Hazelflight sighed, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"What? What happened! I want to know!" Icepaw gasped, his brown eyes wide with excitement.
"Nothing," Hazelflight said, quick to end the conversation. The five trotted through the sun-dappled woods in silence, letting the birds fill in the silent void.
"So, Icepaw, have you ever seen Hazelflight swim?" Ravenheart started after a while.
"No."
"Do you know why?" Ravenheart questioned.
Icepaw shook his head.
"Well," Lionfang interrupted."One time, when we were apprentices, Blazepool, Hazelflight and I were all swimming in one of the bigger pools. We were all having a good time, splashing around and such. Then, Blazepool came up with a challenge. Whichever cat could swim the farthest into the deep area would win. We all took the challenge, even though we were all pretty bad swimmers, Hazelflight being the worst."
"Hey!"
"So we started to swim out into the deeper part. Surprisingly, Hazelflight was going pretty fast, and she got there far before the rest of us. She was so happy, she didn't realize that the dirt above the pool was becoming loose, and eventually it fell. By pure coincidence, a snake happened to be crawling over that patch of dirt at that exact moment and fell into the pool with the dirt. The snake, however, took a different path, AND FELL RIGHT ONTO HAZELFLIGHT!"
"Seriously?!" Icepaw started to laugh.
"Before either of us could blink, she had bolted out of that pool, yowling, with her tail between her legs. She ran all the way back to camp like that." Lionfang finished, purring. Hazelflight had flattened her ears against her head in embarrassment. Without warning, she took a playful swipe at Lionfang's shoulder. Though Hazelflight knew the story was true, she still hated when Lionfang or Blazepool told anycat about it. Icepaw, now enlightened about Hazelflight's harrowing experience, was on the ground, laughing.
"Alright," Ravenheart sighed, nudging his apprentice to his feet. "Let's get going. I want to show you the river!"
"There's a river?" Icepaw mewed.
"Yup. It's not too far from here."
"Are you sure we should go there?" Hazelflight mewed nervously. The river was the border in between DawnClan and ShadeClans territory. Recently, a DawnClan patrol had come across a ShadeClan patrol in DawnClan territory, and things had gotten bloody. Hazelflight and Lionfang weren't there, but from the wounds of their Clanmates, they could tell the battle was more than just a few hisses and scratches.
"It wouldn't hurt," Lionfang said. Hazelflight could tell that she was also quite nervous. With a nod from Ravenheart, the four started heading toward the sound of rushing water.
As they neared the river, a strange scent hit the cats noses. Though it was hard to see over the clustered reeds and ferns, the warriors could tell something was amiss. Creeping toward one of the many pine trees, Hazelflight suddenly caught a whiff of…
Prey?
As she dug around the base of the trunk, her paws scraped against warm fur. Brushing aside some dead leaves, she found two mice and one sparrow, all fresh caught.
"Fresh kill?" Icepaw gave a quizzical look towards the prey. "I thought Snowstar didn't send out any hunting patrols this morning!"
"He might of after we left…" Ravenheart said.
"But I don't smell any DawnClan scent around here at all!" Hazelflight gasped. Did ShadeClan start hunting in their territory again?
"I don't think it's ShadeClan." Lionfang mewed. "It smells more like SunClan."
"No." Icepaw retorted. He had started sniffing a few fox-lengths away from the tree. "I smell ShadeClan."
"Both then?" Hazelflight sighed. They weren't getting anywhere with this. Out of nowhere, a yowl pierced through the tension, followed by a crashing sound, heading straight for the patrol.
"What is that?!" Icepaw hissed.
"Icepaw! Get behind us!" Hazelflight hissed. The three cats, claws unsheathed, faced toward the crashing sound. It got closer and closer until the bushes broke apart. A flash of white and black burst from the opening, followed by three familiar faces.
"That's right! Run!" Willowwind hissed. Behind her stood Rabbitstep and Doveclaw. As her eyes swept over the patrol, a quizzical look passed over her face. "What are you four doing here?"
"We were out on a border patrol." Hazelfight retorted, staring the deputy straight her amber eyes. "And you?"
"Hunting patrol. Well, we were, until Doveclaw caught a whiff of some ShadeClan warriors, which we found and chased out of our territory." Willowwind huffed, puffing out her chest.
"Are you sure they were ShadeClan?" Lionfang mewed, approaching the calico she-cat.
"Doveclaw?"
"Yes. They were ShadeClan." Doveclaw sighed as if she bored with the conversation. "Let's go. We've barely caught any prey." Without another word, Willowwind, Rabbitstep, and Doveclaw slipped back into the forest.
"Well, at least they're gone." Ravenheart mewed. Nudging Icepaw, he turned back towards the camp. "We should go."
"But I wanted to see the river!" Icepaw said sadly, and Hazelflight felt a twinge of sadness for the apprentice.
"You know what! Let's go. It'll be a short trip." Hazelflight smiled as she saw Icepaw face light up.
"Are you sure? If those ShadeClan cats are still around…" Lionfang shot a worried look at Hazelflight. "Are you sure you're not just being impulsive-"
"No. Lionfang, I'm not." Hazelflight hissed. She hated it when Lionfang brought up her impulsiveness-it was the one trait she hated the most.
"Alright, I suppose if it's quick." Ravenheart sighed, bowing his black head.
"Don't act so disappointed. It'll be fun!" Icepaw said as he bolted ahead.
"He's right." Hazelflight mewed. "I mean, what could go wrong?"
