Warriors: Curse of the Clans: The New Threat

Chapter Three

She followed her mentor Mouse-ear, bringing up the rear of the group. Hawkpaw sighed and whispered something to Tigerpaw, but Blazepaw couldn't hear what it was.

Tigerpaw gave Hawkpaw a friendly nudge. "Don't be so bummed out, you shrub."

Hawkpaw narrowed his eyes. "Who are you calling a shrub, shrub?"

Mouseear's ears pricked with interest, and Blazepaw only seemed to get a little aggravated at the two toms. Well, as long as they don't continue that, everything should be---

"I'm not the shrub here," Tigerpaw said taking a step away from Hawkpaw, ruining Blazepaw's thoughts. "You're the one who's acting all gloomy."

"I'm not a shrub!" Hawkpaw growled.

Mischief glinted in Tigerpaw's eyes. "Hawkpaw is a shrub! Hawkpaw is a shrub!" teased the WindClan apprentice.

Blazepaw's claws dug into the earth. "Will you two cut it out? You're not kits!" she snapped.

Hawkpaw glared at her. "Look who's a shrub now, Tigerpaw. The ThunderClan apprentice who thinks she can tell me what to do!"

Mouse-ear's tail raised in the air, a sign that he wanted to silence them. "You three had better cut that out now, or else I'll make sure your leader gets you in to serious trouble, Hawkpaw and Tigerpaw." Then, he turned to Blazepaw. "And wait till' I tell Treestar to put you on boring apprentice duties for a quarter-moon!"

Blazepaw wanted to protest that she wasn't trying to tell them what to do, that she only wanted some peace. But she knew that it was best just to keep her mouth shut. Hawkpaw seemed to realize that too, and kept to himself, looking grumpily down to his paws. Tigerpaw, having a laid-back personality, didn't seem to really want to say anything himself.

Blazepaw kept on walking through the moor, uncomfortably raising her paws over the grass as if she were prancing like a deer. Tigerpaw and Hawkpaw seemed to smoothly be able to cross it with no trouble, and it made her wonder how they can stand such openness. She looked over to Mouseear, who looked just as uncomfortable as her.

After a little bit of time, Blazepaw was surprised that they hadn't run into a patrol. She could see up ahead in the distance a tall rock surrounded by clumps of heather. The camp didn't seem well-guarded, but as she approached, she could see how WindClan cats easily had the advantage in living in such an open space. Cats could have their eyes and ears everywhere without having to worry if there's something lurking in trees or the undergrowth. Their camp was very easy to defend.

Upon getting there, the camp entrance guard, who was a white tom with long legs, snarled. "Hawkpaw, Tigerpaw, what is the meaning of this?" demanded the white tom.

"We caught them in the stream, Swiftleaf," Mouse-ear informed. His tone of voice was not as hostile, but it was still defiant. "I just decided to escort these two trouble-makers home."

Hawkpaw snorted. "Not like we needed to be escorted, anyways!"

"And we weren't planning on crossing into their territory," Tigerpaw added. "We fell in after a race."

A heartbeat later, a pretty golden she-cat emerged from the camp entrance, easily shouldering her way through Swiftleaf with her slender shoulders. "Tigerpaw, where have you been?" demanded the she-cat warrior. "I was going to take you on a second hunting patrol but you were gone by the time I went to find you!"

Blazepaw found herself speak up, wanting to be a part of the conversation."We found him on ThunderClan territory."

"For the last time, we weren't on ThunderClan territory!" Hawkpaw snapped. "Ivystorm told Tigerpaw and I to take our games outside the camp, and we did. We just ended up falling into the stream."