Book 2: City of Ice and Fire (a warriors cats and shadowhunters crossover)

Chapter 7: A Tunnel with a Surprising Destination (Malec)

The three HunterClan cats watch them silently as the MagicClan patrol tries to catch the rabbit. The hunting patrol ends up falling short of the catch, unable to keep up with the rabbit as it dives into one of the nearby burrows. Twistbelly lets out a yowl of anger as he crashes into the burrow that's too small for him to go into, his paw that had stretched into the tunnel coming back out with nothing but dirt dusted all over it.

Patchfur notes with worry that all three cats seem to be on the thinner side, Twistbelly being the worst. The normally stoic black and white tom's pelt was unkempt; his green eyes dull with hunger. If he squints, Patchfur can see the outline of each of the MagicClan cats' ribs.

I knew the river was staring to freeze early, but I didn't realize just how little the warlocks have been eating. He hadn't noticed it at the Gathering either, nor did Berrypool hint at some food shortage going on. He supposed it isn't his place now to know about the inner workings of MagicClan, but after being deputy for all those seasons it's hard for him to push away the concern clawing its way up his belly to form a lump in his throat.

"Fox dung!" Twistbelly snarls, "I almost had it." his tail lashes with frustration.

The two new warriors he brought with him were watching him idly. Patchfur guesses this isn't the first bout of anger the two have witnessed from the senior warrior. He knew that the old tom could have a temper even at the best of times, which definitely applied now at the worse side of things.

"You'll get it next next time I'm sure." Thrushfeather murmurs quietly.

Twistbelly turns to face the brown tom, his pelt ruffled. "I would've had it if you two had been helping me more." He growls.

Ferntail's gray eyes flash. "It was you who wouldn't let us lead the chase in the first place. Both of us knew there was no way you could catch up to it. Not when you're as slow as a three legged badger." She snaps back.

"I am not!" Twistbelly shouts, his face darkening with even more rage. Patchfur inwardly groans at the two cats squabbling. It was clear that their anger came from hunger and not the miss steps of the hunt. Not that there wasn't a few.

There was also the question as to why the three cats were on WolfClan territory hunting. Had things really gotten that bad that Wishstar was sending warriors to hunt on another clan's territory. The leaders had all but agreed the other day to leave the territory available for WolfClan to return to should they come back.

They're not going to like it if they find out another clan is pillaging off their territory. Thieving wasn't something to be taken lightly amongst the clans, and it could escalate to full blown war. Patchfur couldn't remember the last time MagicClan and WolfClan had been at war with each other, though he understood it hadn't ended well.

"Can you both please just stop arguing. We need to get back to hunting." Thrushfeather said.

Twistbelly and Ferntail both shot him glares, but didn't argue with the brown tom. Patchfur was glad the pair hadn't come to blows. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time though... It was Arrowheart's voice that he heard next. The black tom was closest to the heather, so his voice was slightly muffled by the scratchy stems.

"We need to get them off this land. WolfClan won't be appreciative of finding MagicClan scent on their border when they return home. It's bad enough we're already here." He mewed.

"What do you suggest then?" Sparkpaw asked, voicing Patchfur's question.

"I have an idea, so stick close to me." With that Arrowheart pulls away from the heather, making a wide arc around it so he becomes visible to the MagicClan cats. Patchfur and Sparkpaw scramble to follow the tom. Twistbelly and the rest of his patrol were surprised to see Arrowheart, their hackles raising in hostility.