Hawkstar's Clan

Chapter 3

"All cats old enough to catch prey join me beneath the Thistle Tree for a Clan meeting."

Hawkpaw was awoken to the sound of his leader calling out to the Clans. His other fellow apprentices raised their heads up. Condorpaw yawned, Berrypaw was up right away and alert while Skunkpaw and Tinypaw rubbed their faces.

"What could it be about now?" Skunkpaw muttered, licking her paw and drawing it over her ear.

"Something important, now come on prickly face!" Berrypaw said.

Hawkpaw gladly stood up, stretching, and followed after her.

"Who are you calling prickly face?" Skunkpaw grumbled as she shoved her way towards the entrance of the den.

Hawkpaw stood beside Berrypaw in the back of the crowd and sat down, watching ahead and all around him. The rest of the Clan began crawling out like ants in a line, some settling in the Clearing while some resided by the den entrances. Whitepatch and Emberpelt settled beside the elder den, Emberpelt sharing tongues with the black she-cat. Brightwater, one of the queens, was present. Duckpad was nowhere to be found. He assumed that she was inside with her and Brightwater's kits. Hawkpaw caught sight of his brother, Twistedwish, bounding between the cats and climbing up after Badgerstar in the Thistle Tree. His heart swelled; he admired his brother so much, he was proud.

"What news does Badgerstar bring?" Hawkpaw heard a warrior, Rookpelt, murmur to the cat next to her. That cat happened to be Birdpounce, Badgerstar's mate and father of Skunkpaw and Condorpaw.

The blue and cream tom shrugged. "I am not entirely sure," he said hushed. "All is well. It might be in regards to the upcoming Gathering later tonight. Some last minute things I would assume."

"Or maybe something happened with WinterClan, as usual." That was Nightfoot.

Rookpelt spat in disgust at the mention of WinterClan. "WinterClan. Those good for nothing cotton balls are snakes; they lure you and before you know it: they strike!"

"They're not all bad you know?" Birdpounce said.

"Try believing that after your mate and kits were killed by them in cold blood!"

Hawkpaw blinked, wondering what she had meant by that.

"Hush now!"

Hawkpaw looked to the cat who hushed the whispering cats. It was Falconclaw, Eaglesight's brother. The blue gray tom flicked his tail in annoyance and gave a death stare that said "Now's not the time to talk. Our leader is speaking now." He admired Falconclaw as much as he admired Eaglesight and Twistedwish. If he was leader, he would assign him as his deputy.

Rookpelt huffed, twitching her tail. "I'm just saying... WinterClan cannot be trusted."

"Thank you ThistleClan for gathering in an orderly fashion for this meeting," Badgerstar began. "This is a last minute warning before the Gathering tonight, but I've gotten word from my deputy Twistedwish--" She nodded her head at the silver tabby, who sat still as a rock. "--that WinterClan is possibly plotting something against us."

What?

Hawkpaw perked up his ears. Warriors around him muttered.

"I KNEW it!" Rookpelt hissed aloud. "They're nothing but snakes! Foxes in sheep wool! You guys don't listen to a word I say."

"Now hold on! How are we certain they are?" Feathersky spoke up.

Badgerstar turned to Twistedwish.

"We came across a WinterClan patrol," Twistedwish spoke. "Hawkpaw and I. Icefog was leading it with Hollywhisper, Drizzlewing and Rimeface. They began threatening Hawkpaw and I."