~Around 8 moons later...~
"Hawkstar, Hawkstar! Come quick!" 4 cats shrieked as they charged and shoved into camp.
Hawkstar hustled to the patrol.
Several of the cats tried meowing at the same time, "Hawkstar! Emergency! Listen!"
"One at a time, please!" Hawkstar almost snapped as the patrol fell silent. "Now Ghosteye, what happened?" Hawkstar inquired as she glanced at the black and white dappled shecat.
Ghosteye caught her breath from panting, "A l-leader from Iceclan is on our territory, and he's claiming it as h-his."
"What?!" Hawkstar meowed, enraged. Then she turned to face her beloved clan. "Mistclan FOLLOW!" Then she turned to Ghosteye and ordered with a serious expression on her face, "Lead the way."
There was a stampede of cats as Mistclan charged in aggressively into the swampy area of their territory. Paws churned in the water as they reached a group of about 3 cats strolling on their territory. Hawkstar emerged in front of her patrol of 10 cats.
A cat that looked like Hawkstar except for different scars and a pure white underbelly strutted up to her.
"Greetings, I am the leader of Iceclan, Froststar," he meowed, "And I, along with my clan, want this as our territory."
The monumental, battle-scarred Mistclan leader lifted her head as her long, fluffy tail lashed. "This is Mistclan's territory, and we'll fight for it if we have too."
"Fine," the Iceclan leader sneered,"But we'll win."
"Not with my clan full of warriors and well-trained apprentices!" Hawkstar scoffed and hissed with her characteristic defiance when it came to battling and, well, everything almost. Then she yowled an earsplitting battle cry,"Mistclan, ATTACK!" Yowling filled the air as the sleek, robust Mistclan cats rushed into battle. Hawkstar lunged, rotating 360 degrees in midair and unsheathing her claws as she barreled the Iceclan leader over. Her claws hooked into the pelt occupying his shoulder, ruthlessly mangling his pelt as blood oozed. Froststar yowled, dragging his hindpaws while having his claws unsheathed over the vulnerable, thin pelt on Hawkstar's stomach. Hawkstar screeched in agony, then the wind escaped from her as Froststar kicked her powerfully off. She was left sprawling on her side as Froststar lunged, clawing her side repeatedly and sending blood and fur flying. Hawkstar hissed in pure fury as she rammed her broad head into his chest, flinging him off. Then she lunged, pinning him and slamming his head over and over again onto a stone.
Froststar shrieked to a white, yet blood-streaked shecat,"Get more of Frostclan!"
Hawkstar smirked slightly,"Is Mistclan too hard for you to defeat?"
"Never!" The dark brown tabby tom hissed as he slashed his claws across her face and muzzle. "And once my warrior gets more cats, you'll be nothing more than crowfood!"
Hawkstar snarled threateningly,"Well we'll see about that!" The Mistclan leader's claws gouged into his neck and incises his stomach as Froststar repeatedly raked her ears and side viciously.
Suddenly she heard shrill yowls in the distance as she briefly glanced up. She gazed, dumbfounded as 4 robust cats bounded in, their muscles rippling beneath their smooth pelts. There was one massive tom that towered over all of the cats.
Then, out of nowhere, Hawkstar heard a squeal that challenged the immense tom.
It can't be... Hawkstar thought in dismay as she began to recognize the shrill mewl.
"Hawkstar, Hawkstar! I'm gonna fight the big fat tom!"
I guess it can be.... Hawkstar frowned as she gazed at Firepaw squealing as she hissed at the tom. He gave an evil grin as he easily shoved the apprentice effortlessly into the churning river. "Firepaw, he's too strong for you alone!" Hawkstar yowled as she gazed when Firepaw persistently strutted out of the water, frowning. Then Hawkstar charged, barreling the tom over with all her strength and pinning him. The tom yowled in surprise, lashing claws over Hawkstar's ears. Hawkstar hissed and gorged her teeth into his neck, tugging his fur viciously. A cream and faint brown speckled shecat rushed towards Hawkstar to help her clanmate, incising her claws across Hawkstar's neck severely, and making the Mistclan leader gag. Hawkstar staggered, then rapidly, Ghosteye and Shadestorm rushed to her side, fighting along with Hawkstar and Firepaw vehemently. Ghosteye clamped her jaws onto the cream shecat's paw and yanked maliciously. Shadestorm snapped his teeth onto the massive tom's tail and wrenched, making him yowl. The 2 cats hissed in aggravation and sprinted off into clumps of foliage beyond.
The cats battled and insulted each other on and on and Firepaw helped Hawkstar fight with all her strength. Eventually, the skilled Mistclan cats ingeniously overpowered Iceclan as Froststar grimaced at the victorious felines.
Froststar called to his clan,"Iceclan, retreat!" The Iceclan cats grumbled as they stomped and darted away into the distance. Afterwards, all of the Mistclan cats let out a victorious caterwaul.
"Mistclan to camp!" Hawkstar yowled,"We won!" The Mistclan cats accompanied their leader as they left the blood-splattered clearing. When the went to camp, Jaywing tended deftly to their wounds. Hawkstar was determined to be the last one healed to put her clan's needs first. Stealthily the dark brown tabby prowled in her den, unseen. Suddenly, as she entered her den, Hawkstar felt horrendously dizzy.
"Whats happening..."
"I can't loose a life again..."
Hawkstar collasped, and all she could see is darkness.
~A few moments later...~
"What is this place...?
"Hawkstar glanced around in confusion as she saw a beautiful forest. A peaceful babbling brook parted an area of the land, as light reflected off of it. Birds chirped and sang joyfully in the trees and rodents scuttled across the flowing fresh grass.
"Hello...?"
A starry, beautiful brown and tawny dappled shecat strutted over to her. Hawkstar thought that she reconized the feline. "Slystar, is that you?" Hawkstar warily mewed.
"Greetings, Hawkstar." The cat purred warmly,"And, yes, it is me, the one and only!"
"Oh, Slystar, I missed you so much!" The young dark tabby meowed.
"I know you have, but thats not the reason I came. I wanted to inform you that you lost a life. And..." Slystar's expression turned grave. "Also I need to tell you something else."
"Why didn't you come last time when I lost my first life?" Hawkstar inquired,"And why do you look so anxious? And will Mistclan be okay for the future? And, and, and..." Hawkstar was so overwhelmed with questions that she kept chattering.
"Hush, young one." Slystar coaxed Hawkstar almost like a kit, "Everything will be clear in time." The old Mistclan leader started fading slowly away.
"Wait! What do you mean!"
"Be patient!" Slystar's voice grew quieter as she faded."You shall know in time!"
"Slystar! Come back I need to know! Wait!" It was too late. Slystar had already faded away.
Suddenly Hawkstar's eyes flickered open and she realized she was dreaming. Several cats loomed above her as she glanced up with her deep amber eyes.
"She's awake, she's awake!" Firepaw squealed and everyone else gazed at Hawkstar.
"Finally!" Ashcloud breathlessly purred as she gazed at her leader."We were all so worried."
"Hmmph." Jaywing scoffed,"I knew she'd be fine, but you guys were all as worried as a captured mouse!"
Dustpelt chuckled,"Just like you Jaywing." "You were panicking, and panicking, on and on!"
Hawkstar rasped, interjecting,"Wait what happened. Did I loose a life?!"
"Unfortunately you did, Hawkstar. But you should be better now." Jaywing informed her leader.
"Alright, thanks for your help."
~Two days later~
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather down beneath the Highrock!" All of the cats gathered beneath the Highrock, murmuring and gazing upward at their robust leader.
Hawkstar announced that Firepaw was becoming a warrior and Firepaw stepped forward. After the leader preformed the part of the traditional warrior ceremony for a Firepaw she meowed,"After fighting in the battle with Iceclan, Firepaw, Swiftpaw, and Stormpaw shall be warriors for their defiance and eagerness to protect her clan. Firepaw shall now be known as Firefur, Stormpaw Stormpelt, and Swiftpaw Swiftstep.
There were was dead silence when the clan was supposed to cheer for Firefur, except for the cheering for Stormpelt and Swiftstep. Hawkstar frowned and gave all of her clan ''the death glare''. The clan was still silent.
Suddenly Shadestorm meowed,"I can't help it, she's scary!" Then he cheered,"Firefur,Firefur!"
After glancing up at Hawkstar, the rest of Mistclan joined in,"Firefur, Firefur, Firefur!"
When Hawkstar glanced at Firefur she noticed a gleam of anger in her eyes after the clan finally, but only halfheartedly and grumpily started cheering.
That's something more than anger. Hawkstar thought.
That looks like pure...
Hatred...
XD I love leaving books on cliffhangers. Sorry for all of the suspense :P. Anyway, I hope everyone liked the book and everything. I'm probably gonna have 3-4 more chapters, I guess. Sorry if there's typos, please let me know if there's more. I tried to check over it. Anyway, thank you everyone for reading! ~HawkstarTheHero