Warriors: Hawkheart's Calling (Super Edition)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

                Hawkkit opened his eyes inside the nursery. A brown she-cat’s slender body was curled around his own tiny body, and two other small kits’ bodies. His belly ached from hunger, and he gave a loud, pitiful mew. The brown she-cat opened her eyes. “I’m sorry, my dear Hawkkit,” she murmured. “I don’t have any milk. You’ll have to wait until a hunting patrol returns with fresh-kill.”

                Hawkkit started wailing loudly. His belly rumbled and he was starting to grow tired. His loud cries faded into quiet whimpers. “Hush, Hawkkit,” the brown she-cat muttered, turning her head to look at him.

                Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock and she gasped in surprise. “Your eyes are already open?” she stammered.

                Then, after recovering from her shock, she said, “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when the hunting patrol has come back with fresh-kill.”

                Hawkkit was so tired that he couldn’t keep his eyes open, but he couldn’t fall asleep due to the sharp pangs of hunger in his belly. He opened his mouth and uttered his first words, “Want…food.”

                By now, the other kits were awake. They were mewling pitifully too now. “It’s leaf-bare,” the she-cat told her kits. “There’s not enough prey for any cat.”

                But the other kits eyes weren’t open yet. Hawkkit felt proud that his eyes were already open even though his siblings’ were not. But his thoughts were clouded by drowsiness.

                Suddenly, a cat with an awkward gait that was almost as big as his mother entered the den and dropped a scrawny shrew onto the ground. “That’s all the prey you could find, Deadpaw?” she asked.

                Deadpaw nodded. “All the prey is hiding in their burrows,” he said.

                Hawkkit’s mother looked worried. “Hopefully the prey returns soon,” she murmured as Deadpaw left the nursery.

                Soon, Hawkkit was nestled against his mother’s belly. He was still slightly hungry, but the small amount of milk had taken the edge off of his hunger. Closing his eyes, he sank into the world of sleep.

***

                Hawkkit woke up after a short amount of sleep to a cat darting into the den. His mother opened her eyes sleepily. “What is it, Reedfeather?” she asked.

                Reedfeather looked worried. “It’s Strongfoot. We haven’t seen him since sunrise, and some cat has to appoint the night patrols if the deputy isn’t here,” he meowed. “Do you know where Strongfoot is, Amberfur?”

                Hawkkit’s mother shook her head. “I haven’t seen him since he visited the kits last night,” Amberfur replied.

                “We’ll send out a search patrol right now,” Reedfeather meowed.

***

                Hawkkit was sleeping again when a loud, grief-stricken yowl came from Amberfur. She darted outside and Hawkkit followed her. The ground was covered with a white, powdery substance that rose up to Hawkkit’s shoulders. An orange ball of flame rose into the sky, and the horizon was tinted pink. Pale sunlight shed light on the camp and the unmoving body of a massive black tom. Long, wide clawmarks ran down his throat and his head hung at an awkward angle.

                “Strongfoot!” Amberfur wailed.

                Heatherstar, the Clan leader, walked up to Amberfur with her head bowed with grief. “He was a good deputy, and he served me well,” she murmured quietly to Amberfur.

                Amberfur said nothing, but merely dipped her head to her leader and trotted back into the nursery.

***

                It was sundown when a loud yowl came from the TallRock. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the TallRock for a Clan meeting!” Heatherstar yowled.

                Hawkkit’s littermates didn’t stir. Amberfur lifted her head, but didn’t leave the nursery. Hawkkit trotted outside. My mother may not want to hear what Heatherstar has to say, but I do! Hawkkit thought.

                Heatherstar’s gaze swept across the camp until she focused in on one cat. “I say these words before StarClan, and the spirit of Strongfoot, that they may hear and approve of my choice,” Heatherstar meowed. “Reedfeather will be the new deputy.”

                As the Clan began to chant Reedfeather’s name, Hawkkit felt a burst of excitement. One day, that will be me who is deputy!