Hawkpath was blinking groggily. Her head was pounding and there was dried blood clumped around her ear and side.
She sat up stiffly; she was lying on a rock. She licked the blood from her side and cleaned herself up the best she could before looking around.
She was in the meeting clearing. Grass was ripped up in various places and blood was splattered over the ground. Tufts of fur, ripped off of cats in the battle, still clung to the grass. It was utterly deserted.
Had her clan mates left her? Well of course they had. They wouldn't have stayed and gotten themselves killed.
A tuft of fur brushed against her paws. It smelled faintly of Birchclaw. Hawkpath stretched and a tuft of orange fur caught her eye. Approaching it, she thought it was Tanglefur's but there was a darker fleck in the middle of the tuft. The fur belonged to Rainfire. This was where they'd been fighting before she went to help Birchclaw.
Hawkpath froze she must have been knocked out. That explained why her head hurt so much.
She supposed they had gone back to the DarkClan camp. She would go there then and Leafwhisker would treat her wounds and Shinestar would figure out a way to show Leapstar and Oakstar they weren't stealing prey.
She staggered slightly but continued towards camp.
As she trudged along she wondered: How along have I been out?
It was quite dark. She decided it was past Moon high, the dark time between the middle of the night and morning. That meant she had been unconscious for a few hours at least.
Her pelt prickled and she felt a little embarrassed. Her clan must be really worried about her by now.
She quickened her pace.
Ah, there was the camp: she passed the training cave and trotted to the Highledge. Where were all her clan mates? Were they out looking for her?
Then, Gustpaw trotted out from the apprentice's den and stopped short.
"What are you doing here?" They asked simultaneously.
"Your clan left a long time ago. We chased them off. This is LightClan territory now." Gustpaw meowed.
"LightClan?"
"Yeah. Leapstar and Oakstar said would be mouse-brained to have two clans they'd probably fight all the time about territory and it would be hard to decide who gets whose land. So they formed one clan under joint leadership. LightClan. Light as in the opposite of Dark." Gustpaw had just been made an apprentice and he rattled off the information without worry.
Hawkpath's head was spinning. This was horrible! Her clan had been chased out! Which way did they go? Were they okay?
She had a splitting headache. She took several deep breaths. When she felt she had calmed down sufficiently, she decided to question Gustpaw further.
Before she could open her mouth Thorntail appeared, grumpily swishing his tail.
"Gustpaw, Cinderleaf and I are waiting for you to join the hunting patrol. If you don't come now, we'll go without-" Thorntail stopped midsentence.
"What are you doing here? We chased you out a long time ago!"
His eyes narrowed to wary slits, "I know why you're here, you're going to steal some more prey. Well, I won't let you!"
With that, he leaped at Hawkpath. Gustpaw hesitated, and then joined in the fight, helping Thorntail. Hawkpath fought bravely, but she was struck down.
Leapstar and Oakstar appeared at the entrance of Shinestar's den.
"What's going on out here?" Oakstar demanded.
"I just caught Hawkpath. She was trying to steal our prey!"
"Well done, Thorntail, and you too, Gustpaw." Leapstar mewed.
Thorntail and Gustpaw, scratched and bleeding as they were, swelled up with pride.
"What should we do with her?" Gustpaw asked.
"Hmm… put her in that cave over there. Keep it guarded, make sure she doesn't escape. Don't let her go until she admits to stealing prey and gives you a good reason why. Don't give her too much to eat, but don't let her starve. If she steals again somehow, you can attack." Oakstar decided.
Brightpelt padded into the clearing seeing Hawkpath, she bounded over.
"What happened?" She cried. Thorntail lifted his head proudly.
"I caught her stealing prey." He said. Gustpaw cleared his throat.
"Gustpaw saw her first, though; now she's our prisoner." Thorntail added.
Brightpelt looked shocked; she opened her mouth, but Hawkpath shook her head wearily. She didn't want her friend to get in trouble for her expense.
Thorntail nudged Hawkpath and she trudged wearily into the training cave.
How had things gotten so out of hand? She wondered miserably.
As she watched the sun rise, Hawkpath realized how tired she was, her body ached all over, but she was too exhausted to care. Soon, she fell into a deep sleep.