Warriors: The star lake fanfiction

Chapter 30

Smokestorm left Waspkit with Ravenshine. The star lake shone bright in the dark sky. Smokestorm and a few other warriors, including Proudstep and Blackpool, ran over to the cries.
They finally arrived at the place where she'd found Waspkit only a few moments ago. Hoverstar laid on the ground with a slash on his throat and Tawnyshade had claw marks all over her back, but the attackers were gone.
Hoverstar wheezed on the ground, trying to breathe.
Blackpool ran to his aid and grabbed some leaves to cover up the wound on his neck.
He was losing blood fast.
"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe slowly." Blackpool tried to calm him.
Proudstep looked at Flowerdust and Flamesnout.
"You two, take Tawnyshade back to Darkpaw." He commanded.

"I don't want to die..." Hoverstar winced.
His breaths were getting shallow, until they just stopped.
That was it. The end of his last life.
Nobody bothered trying to wake him up, they all knew he was dead. All the cats turned their heads to Proudstep.
He hesitated, his mind frozen for a second.
"...We will ask Tawnyshade what happened at dawn, for now we should rest. Quailwhisker, Snakeshade, Frostbite, I want you three to patrol around the WindClan side of our territory tonight. You all can sleep in the morning and take a break from hunting and patrolling that day. I have a strong feeling that WindClan is responsible for this, so I want patrols around here all the time from now on. I will talk with Smokestorm and Whitefur about this kit Sparrowpaw spoke of."
Everyone walked back to camp except for Quailwhisker, Snakeshade and Frostbite. Proudstep followed Smokestorm and Whitefur into the nursery, where Ravenshine and Waspkit were.

Smokestorm almost asked Proudstep would do now that he was technically leader, but she knew he already knew that and it was a stupid question to ask right after Hoverstar's death.
"So, tell me about the kit." Proudstep sat in front of the kit.
"We found him right where Hoverstar was killed. We don't know why he was left there, but we took him back and Hoverstar and Tawnyshade stayed behind in case of an ambush. I suspect that maybe the kit was a distraction so that we'd focus on his scent and miss the scents of the other WindClan cats attacking, but we can confirm WindClan's involvement with Tawnyshade. I'm guessing that only a small group was sent to kill Hoverstar, and maybe to strike fear into our hearts. I think this is their way of telling us to stay off their land. They're trying to prevent anarchy." She said, remembering MoonClan's attack.
"Hmm. What do you think would be best for this kit?" He asked Smokestorm.
She knew he was asking because she was also from another clan. He wanted to get the opinion of someone who was going through the same experience. He wanted to know what she would have wanted.
"I think we should keep him. He'll be grateful that we took him in when his clan didn't want him when the time comes to tell him where he's from." She stated.
Proudstep nodded.
"Get some sleep."

...

The next morning, Proudstep told all the warriors and apprentices to meet at the highrock.
"I have spoken with Tawnyshade. I can confirm that WindClan cats have killed Hoverstar, and I am leader now. Of course, I need to appoint a deputy and travel to the moonstone with Blackpool."
Proudstep looked at Fawnheart.
"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ThunderClan is Fawnheart."
Fawnheart dipped her head to Proudstep.
"I will be gone for a short while to the moonstone, Fawnheart will be in charge during that time. I may be gone longer than usual, since I will try to travel around WindClan instead of through it to get there."
ThunderClan nodded in understanding and Proudstep left shortly after with Blackpool to the moonstone.

Smokestorm remembered the dream she'd had the night before. It was all black but she could hear voices warning her about something.
"Can we hunt today?" Sparrowpaw asked from beside her.
"Sure." She said, trying to cheer up.
Smokestorm struggled to find the scent of an animal, since most of them were going into hibernation. Then she smelt a rabbit.
"Sparrowpaw, what do you smell?" She tested him.
He tasted the air.
"I smell something, but I don't know what it is." He said.
"That's the smell of a rabbit. I'll show you how to hunt it."
She approached the rabbit silently, remembering the techniques that Fox taught her. She crept closer and closer, then launched at the rabbit. Killing it with a swift bite to its side.
"Wow!" Sparrowpaw exclaimed.

The rest of the day, Smokestorm tried to focus on training Sparrowpaw. When his training for the day was complete, they took their prey back to the fresh-kill pile.
Smokestorm felt the urge to check on Hollowfang. She asked Spiderclaw if he'd seen him, but he claimed that he hadn't.
Smokestorm began to worry.
Did he go back to meet up with the RiverClan cat? Hoverstar hadn't actually fixed that problem yet.
Smokestorm quickly ate a thrush, then went to ask Spottedpaw if she'd seen her mentor. Spottedpaw said that Hollowfang took her hunting, but he'd left to patrol and sent her back by herself.
Smokestorm knew this wasn't good.
She told Spottedpaw to tell Fawnheart that she'd gone to look for some extra prey for the clan, it was leaf-bare now, it would be a believable excuse.

Smokestorm headed for the RiverClan side of ThunderClan's territory, knowing she'd find him there.
She tried to pick up his scent, but he was careful about not getting caught.
She headed to the snakerocks, remembering when they almost drowned there.
She hoped she'd see him there. And she did.
She saw Hollowfang sitting by the frozen river with an unfamiliar cat. Their tails were intertwined and they were cuddled up next to each other.
They looked sad, like they knew this should be their last meeting. The unfamiliar cat had a blue-ish gray pelt.

"Hollowfang." Smokestorm said calmly, but loud enough that he could hear her over the wind.
He jumped around and the other cat hissed at her. Now that Smokestorm got a good look, she could tell that this was Heatherpelt. She'd seen this she-cat at gatherings before, luckily she wasn't one of the cats that had tried to kill her. She looked a little rounder than Smokestorm remembered her.
"Wait wait! She's a friend of mine." Hollowfang said to Heatherpelt, who still looked on edge but stopped hissing.
"You're not supposed to be seeing her anymore, you could put our clans in jeopardy." Smokestorm stated.
"I know, I know. We just wanted to meet one last time before going back to normal. Please don't tell anyone." He begged.
"Of course I won't, just come back now. ThunderClan might get suspicious."
Hollowfang and Heatherpelt rubbed heads for a long moment.
"I love you." Heatherpelt said.
This seemed to surprise Hollowfang, like they hadn't gotten to that stage yet.
"I love you too." He said back.
Heatherpelt whispered something in Hollowfang's ear, which made him sputter and look and her as if he wanted to know if she was serious. She nodded. Heatherpelt glared at Smokestorm one last time, before disappearing back onto her side of the river.

They walked back to camp in silence.
"So why a RiverClan cat? What about her is so amazing that you would betray your clan for her?" Smokestorm asked. It was a genuine question, but Hollowfang looked wounded.
"I met her at my first gathering. She was so genuinely kind and we saw each other by the river one time, and we met up every quarter-moon after that. I know it's wrong."
They rolled around in the snow, allowing the cold and wetness of it get the RiverClan scent off of them. Smokestorm also quickly caught a hare, just to keep her word about hunting.
They finally arrived at camp and Hollowfang headed straight for the warriors' den without eating. Fawnheart walked up to Smokestorm.
"Where was he?" She asked.
"He was patrolling WindClan's side of our territory, he was just a little paranoid." She replied casually.