Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 4

"Get away!" She snarled, low and menacing.

The black she-cat gasped. "They speak!" She eyed Hawk with newfound wonder. "I thought they just growled and snarled."

Right. Like I'm the weird one here. Even amidst the horror that was shrilling though Hawk at meeting her enemies, she found there was irritation too.

"Enough blabbering, Smokepaw. Let's get this cat back to camp." Snowblaze flexed his claws in and out. "She would make a fine bargaining chip. One cat for the land that will save us from those AquaClan and CometClan brats."

Smokepaw nodded, and Hawk let out a growl as Snowblaze faced her with undisguised hostility. Kill or be killed. She remembered Blaze's last words to her, and whirled around to face Smokepaw. The she-cat was about her age, and wouldn't expect an attack from Hawk, still...

Hawk knew she couldn't do it. Not after listening to Blaze's agonised screeches. Not even before that, when she knew these cats were her enemies. Hawk let out an ear splitting screech, hoping desperately that some cat from her colony would hear it and come to her aid.

Then, Snowblaze made his first move on her. Hawk saw the glint of unsheathed claws just mouselengths away from her throat as she jumped away. Panic made her legs spring into action, and she tried to flee, when she realised that the young black cat had pinned her down.

She tried to kick, but the weight of the other cat pulled her to the ground. Then, Snowblaze was above her. In a flash, Hawk thought it was over.

Then, she heard the screech of another cat. Looking up, Hawk saw her mother and Swipe bolting toward the cats.

Adder slashed at the air where Snowblaze had previously been with a blow that made Hawk internally shudder. Swipe growled low in her throat as she eyed the cats.

"Let's get out of here!" Smokepaw yelped, bolting away. She threw up her wings, and began flapping upwards.

Snowblaze nodded, and the wings on his back pumping him up and up. "This won't be the last of us you see, Adder," he growled as he disappeared from sight.

Hawk stared down at the ground as Adder turned to face her. She bowed her head low, wondering uneasily how furious her mother would be.

To her surprise, Adder's voice was oddly calm. "I saw you there," she mewed to Hawk. "For just a heartbeat, you seemed like a real formidable fighter. Perhaps we'll have use for you after all." Then her voice hardened. "I think it's time we changed our strategy. These cats are out for blood." She licked her paw. "So we will be out for theirs."

Hawk glanced at her mother. "It's time for war?" She meowed.

Adder nodded serenely. "That's right, kit."

Hawk imagined leaping at the winged cats, digging her claws into their pelts. It sounded cruel, but they were a threat to vanquish, perhaps even deadlier than the stouts. They were enemy aliens. They were evil.

Hawk nodded uneasily to her mother and Swipe as the two cats bolted away once more. They expected her to care for herself; there was no need to check if she was okay. Hawk was always confused by whether Adder hated her or loved her.

As she made her way back towards the place where she had deposited her prey, a sudden wind picked up. Hawk instinctively pressed herself close to the white earths as bits of snow swirled menacingly all around her.

As she got used to the barrage of attacks from the icy pellets, Hawk felt confidence fall into her once more. I can do this! Adder would be so proud that she could withstand even the worst of hailstorms, and yet, Hawk remembered her mother saying something about avalanches occurring in this weather.