"HAWKPAW!"
Hawkpaw felt himself be yanked by his scruff. He was above water again, and tossed on the shore.
"What are you doing!?" a cat hissed. Everything was blurry. Then he realized that it was Elkstorm and Smokepaw standing in front of him. He blinked a few times as the vision got clearer. The gray cats were looking at him with worry.
"You could have died!" Smokepaw exclaimed, stepping forward. "The rapids are strong and you were almost pulled to the RiverClan territory!"
"I... I know," Hawkpaw murmured. "I wanted to die."
"What!?" Elkstorm meowed loudly. "Why would you want to die?"
"Because I'm useless! I was better off as a kittypet. Now I just want to die," Hawkpaw said.
"Don't say that, Hawkpaw!" exclaimed Smokepaw. "The other apprentices like you!"
"Only Blackpaw," Hawkpaw muttered.
"The others do, too! And you haven't had even a day of training yet, but I saw you drive off those two cats like you were a warrior! They were heading towards the nursery," Elkstorm exclaimed.
"I'm still useless," Hawkpaw insisted, standing up and backing up towards the forest. The brothers both stepped closer. "No, you're not!" Elkpaw insisted. "You're homesick and not used to the ways of the Clans, I understand. I was born a crossbreed between ThunderClan and ShadowClan, and spent most of my time either training or visiting Swiftclaw's kittypet friends. But you can't just walk out, what about Blackpaw, and Furypaw and the others?"
Swiftclaw. Hawkpaw had seen him before; dark orange fur with small specks of yellow. He shook his head. "No!" he exclaimed. Then he turned and bolted into the trees.
Elkstorm glanced at Smokepaw. "Follow him," he instructed. Smokepaw nodded and ran after Hawkpaw. Then the warrior turned and dashed towards ThunderClan; he needed to tell Firestar.
Hawkpaw couldn't tell where he was going. He hoped it was back towards his home, but he was going in the opposite direction. He dashed between the trees and made a good leap over the tan wood fence before him. Then realized that he wasn't in his yard. 3 cats were laying in the grass, resting. Their names were Henryetta, Theodore, and Allie. They looked up. "Hello! Who're you?" asked the white and gray one. That was Theodore.
"M-My name's Haw- Clint, my name's Clint," said Hawkpaw.
"You smell like ThunderClan!" exclaimed the black cat, Allie. "How's Elliot?"
Theodore nudged her. "He doesn't use Elliot in ThunderClan," he meowed.
"Oh, right... Elkstorm, then!"
"He's my mentor..." Hawkpaw said shyly.
The black and white cat behind them stepped up. Henryetta, Allie and Theodore's mother. "I never imagined our little Elliot being a warrior, never mind a mentor," she purred. "He would jump about in the grass without a care in the world other than chasing chipmunks when he was just a kit!"
Hawkpaw laughed a bit. "How do you know so much about ThunderClan if you're kittypets?" he asked.
"Firestar trusts us," said Theodore. "And Benji- I mean, Swiftclaw is a close friend. They even trust two dogs! Reilly and Seamus don't dislike cats and aren't as stupid. They even helped when ThunderClan had been taken over."
"HAWKPAW!"
They all turned and saw Smokepaw jump over the fence. "Why did you leave?"