Warriors: the forgotten hearts: trail of pain (book 1)

Chapter twenty

The patrol ran through the wooded area. Hawk's feet hurt from hitting sticks and scrapping brambles. The cats came to a sudden stop.

"They're here." Sky meowed. "I can smell them."

Not a heartbeat later, a Tom Hawk knew as Lionfur threw himself on Talon. Talon grunted from the weight, and attempted to fling him off. Other cats swarmed around them. Hawk's heart raced as his eyes landed on Skyrain, the one warrior he actually missed from Shadowclan. He didn't want to harm her! Why did she have to be here?
A flash of a painfully familiar tortoiseshell pelt caught his eye. Claws raked down his side.

"Should have thrown you in the river!" Poppytail snarled at him. Her green eyes were slits.

"Yeah You should have, because now I'll take my revenge!" Hawk unsheathed his claws. He flung himself at her, but she dodged.

"You were always the weakest!"

"So that's why you gave me up? You believed I wouldn't make it long?"

"Only one of the reasons." She flexed her claws, and curled her tail. "You looked too much like your real father."

Hawk felt the world around him stop. "Real father? What do you mean? Do you mean Thornrunner?"

"Oh you poor, blind, helpless kit." Poppytail narrowed her eyes. "He wasn't your real father. Your actual father was from Thunderclan. You resembled him perfectly, especially your eyes. Some cats were starting to catch on. Thornrunner found out, so I had to get rid of him. Others began to catch on about who your father was, and I couldn't just wipe out half of the clan. So I had to get rid of you." She snarled.

Hawk felt rage and shock flowing through him. His mother wasn't only heartless, but a heartless lying murderer!

"How could you?! How could you bare to murder your own mate because you couldn't own up to your mistake?" Hawk yowled, flinging himself at her.

He felt his claws dig into her skin, along with his teeth. Hawk could feel her withering underneath him, but he only saw red as he clawed at Poppytail.

"Hawk!"

He could feel the warm blood on his paws.

"Hawk! Stop!"

His claws were ripping and shredding whatever they could get to.
Teeth suddenly sunk into his scruff, and he was flung back.

"She's dead Hawk! Stop!" Bee stood in front of him. Hawk was panting, barely able to catch his breath. His eyes scanned the area around him. The others stood horrified at him.

What had he done?

"Great Starclan.. what did you raise?!" Brindlefur shrieked.

"What do mean us? You were the ones who made him this way!" Bee snapped, making his way quickly to where the she-cat stood.
Rose rushed over to Hawk, licking him clean. Hawk was too horrified to move.

Glowstar glared at Sky. "It's what they do, Brindlefur. They betray and murder."

You're one to talk!

But he couldn't make his voice work properly, and it came out as a rasping cough.
"Don't speak!" Rose hissed, licking the space between his ears and spitting out the blood.

"We're done here." Talon declared. He flicked his tail as a signal for the others to follow, but his feet were suddenly knocked out from underneath him.

"Talon!" Bee screeched. Alderclaw clamped his teeth around his throat. Talon was wriggling in fear and shock. Bee threw himself at the toms, ripping off Alderclaw. As he dragged the Shadowclan warrior off, Alderclaw's claws ripped Talon's throat.
Rose covered Hawk's eyes with her tail. She clearly still had a mother's instinct.

Sky's eyes flashed with rage. "How dare you!" She spat at Shadowclan's leader.

"Take your rouges and leave." Glowstar meowed, whipping around to return to their territory. "And get Poppytail." She ordered to her clan-mates.

As they passed, Skyrain glanced solemnly at Hawk. He returned it with a glare. He had thought he could still trust her, but she had simply sat by and watched his friend get attacked. Not to mention she had gone on the patrol to begin with!

"Bee, help me carry Talon. Rose, try and get Hawk to move." Rose nodded at Sky, moving more in front of the tom's vision.

"Hawk, they're leaving. We have to go with them." She mewed softly while nudging his cheek.

Hawk tried to move his limbs, but they were as useful as fresh-kill. They wouldn't move for some reason.

Rose looked at him with sympathy. "I heard what happened, Hawk. I know it must be hard. I never met my true family, I was raised here by Neon and Ash, a she-cat who we lost a while ago." Rose meowed to him. He glanced up at her. She met his gaze steadily. "But Hawk.. you can't let your past define you. You're a great fighter, and I know you care deeply about the cats around you." Rose pressed her nose to his cheek.

He locked his eyes with her. "Thank you."

Rose nodded, standing up. "Of course. You aren't going through anything alone."