Swiftfire's Promise

Chapter 6

Hawk

The sky was gray and dull, and rain fell softly on ThunderClan. Swiftfire had decided to go hunting. He had not forgotten his discussion between Sorrelheart and Lionstar, and had became very conscious of the cats around him.

Suddenly, a twig cracked behind him, Swiftfire whipped around to see another ginger coat looking the other way.

Foxear! What's he doing out here, he should be with Dewtail! Thought Swiftfire, his eyes narrowing at his father.

Swiftfire leaped up a tree, silently hoping that Foxear wouldn't hear him. The ginger and white tabby tom knew he shouldn't be spying on his father, but Swiftfire would do everything in his power to catch his brothers murderer.

As Swiftfire closely leaped across branches following Foxear, he realized something, they where near the RiverClan border!

Voices came from nearby, Swiftfire froze.

"Foxear! You're late," said a nearby voice, "where's Grayfang?"

Foxear didn't reply, he only stretched his claws out and bared his fangs, "you killed my son!" He seethed.

"I had to! Or else he would have found out." A deep voice meowed. Swiftfire saw a big brown tabby tom with glowing blue eyes.

Foxear leaped at the tom, the tabby was barreled over but he immediately threw Foxear off. The ginger tom was flung into the dirt and another cat came over and put his paw on Foxear's throat.

"Your son was that tabby?" The brown tabby said, walking over to Foxear. The dark grey tom that was pinning him by his throat snickered.

"Shut it Stone! Or else do you want to end up with the same fate Foxear's poor baby boy!" The brown tabby spat.

Foxear's eyes bulged out and the tabby told the cat called Stone to release him.

Swiftfire watched in horror, anger filling up in him. What was happening? Foxear was with his brothers murderers?

Foxear scrambled to his feet, spitting up saliva and blood and taking deep breaths.

"Foxear," the large tabby purred teasingly, "you agree that what we're doing is.... Correct. Right?"

Foxear just quivered in fear, "yes. But I didn't think that killing would be involved," he managed to choke out, his meow rasp from his incident with the large dumb gray tom, "Hawk, this isn't what was promised."

"I'm sorry that everything doesn't turn out your way," the tom, apparently called Hawk, said, "you agree with what we are trying to build, correct?" Hawk seethed.

Foxear hesitated before nodding slightly.

"Good," said Hawk, "you're already dragged into this, there's no backing out of this. And if you try to go back, then you're going to end up with a fate much worse than your sons."

Swiftfire blinked from where he was, a voice in the back of his head was telling Swiftfire that there was something very large happening here. Something where once you get started, there's no turning back, and that wasn't Foxear's fault. But the rest of his head was filled with anger.

Why? Why would Foxear betray his clan? What about his family? The more questions Swiftfire asked himself the angrier he got.

"Go," said Hawk, "and tell Grayfang that he'd better come to the next one too." With that, Foxear left, scrambling to leave.

Swiftfire leapt among the branches, and got to the camp before Foxear. Questions swarmed his mind like gnats and part of Swiftfire wanted to break down and sob.

He wanted to forget the whole thing happened and keep on living like his father wasn't a traitor. But, that wasn't reality and Swiftfire knew it.

He looked up at the gray, rainy sky, the rain partially soaking Swiftfire's ginger and white fur.

Dear StarClan, what am I going to do?