Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Let all cats gather!"

Hawkpaw slunk out of the apprentice's den, eyeing all the cats Duskfang was gathering together warily. It was the day after the incident with the feathers, and Hawkpaw found she couldn't entirely trust most of the FalconClan warriors.

Glancing at the Medicine Den, Hawkpaw saw no evidence of Smokepaw poking her head out. Dawnclaw and Frostwing were talking in hushed voices outside the den, but no Smokepaw. Dawnclaw had been keeping her very busy.

"Hawkpaw! Get in line!"

Hawkpaw further narrowed her eyes when she saw Duskfang eyeing her in irritation. I'm nobody's pet. Under the intense glare of all the FalconClan warriors, she seated herself beside Snowpaw. A few heartbeats later Frostwing, or 'Master' as he apparently simply adored to be called thumped down next to her.

Duskfang strutted around the clearing. "All right every cat," he meowed briskly. "Time for patrols. We're tightening everything up after the CometClan escalations, so don't expect much free time."

And? Hawkpaw pricked her ears, wondering bitterly what Duskfang had the say about the ruthless deportation of her family.

In fact, it was Talonstar who spoke up next, getting to his paws. The dark grey tom spread her crooked wings for the attention of all the FalconClan cats.

"And," he growled low in his throat, eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm sure you've all heard of our little...incident with the rogues on our border?"

Every cat nodded, a few of them looking uneasily at Hawkpaw. She glowered at them defiantly.

"I know we were planning to deal with them!" Talonstar snapped. "But not yet! Some cat directly disobeyed my orders. Even worse," he snarled. "Some cat managed to pull out one of my feathers and make it like I did it."

Gasps sounded in the clearing as Talonstar lost his temper.

Above them, Frostwing meowed offhandedly. "Surely it was a CometClan fool, Talonstar?" When Talonstar's cold gaze raked him, he shrugged. "They probably keep a collection of the feathers of their enemies, right?" He stiffened. "We should kill them all!"

Above the confused yowls, Talonstar lifted his voice. "We will not be doing anymore violence! If CometClan wants our territory, let them have it." He drooped. "Then maybe our young will survive a bit longer."

"Old fool!"

Hawkpaw couldn't tell who said that low-voiced, but it was clear that no FalconClan warrior was going to defend their leader's decision.

The discussion carried on, when suddenly, Snowpaw prodded her with his paw.

"What?"

Uncertainly, Snowpaw raised his wings to her. She nodded in bewilderment as he pointed at the feathers. Yes, we saw yours? Then, he began drawing the CometClan symbol in the dirt. When Hawkpaw looked up at him, he shook his head, and backed away from it. What?

For several heartbeats, Hawkpaw met Snowpaw's gaze in bewilderment. Slowly, a realisation dawned on her. "You know that CometClan hasn't stolen your feathers!" she exclaimed.

Snowpaw nodded at her, eyes wide with horror as he surveyed the clan warriors around him. You know it was one of them. She thought. It must be even scarier, having lived with them your whole life...

"Thanks," Hawkpaw murmured. "I'll see what I can do with th-"

She would have kept speaking, but a hard paw in her side made Hawkpaw's voice cut off. She looked up in bewilderment to see that Frostwing was the one who had prodded her.