Return- Hawkfrost x Ivypool

Chapter Eleven

Hawkfrost felt the revulsion of the ThunderClan warriors- no, his Clanmates now- as he padded among them to reach his pile of moss. Everywhere he put his paw down, tails would shift to keep out of his way, and not out of respect.

He was glad that Ivystar had at least given him a nest that was close to the center, where senior warriors slept. He knew that his Clanmates weren't so happy about it, though.

Spottedleaf followed him, stepping brazenly on his Clanmates, her paws going straight through them. With every touch, they seemed to become more relaxed and peaceful.

"Uh, where are you supposed to sleep?" Hawkfrost asked her.

"SHHHHHH," hissed at least ten warriors.

"Sorry," Hawkfrost whispered back to them. 

Spottedleaf shook her head and began to float, curling up in midair. "I'll be fine, thank you."

With a shrug, Hawkfrost curled up in his own nest. He could tell that whatever apprentice had gotten the moss did not quite like him. Standing up again, he kicked burrs and thorns out of his nest.

Once they were all gone, he laid down and tucked his tail over his nose. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the snoring.

It didn't work.

Sighing at Spottedleaf, who was already asleep, he glanced outside to see Dawnwhisker sitting solemnly outside, not speaking a word. Was she shivering? Probably.

He couldn't do a thing, though. Trying again to sleep, he closed his eyes. Spottedleaf's tail brushed down on him from her elevated nest. 

Peace and exhaustion rushed through him, and he fell asleep without another thought.

~~~~~

Tigerstar waited by the pool, watching his son drift off to sleep. The trees around him creaked, but he paid them no heed. Even if his new apprentice, Sparrowleap, was already hiding in the trees, there wasn't much she would dare to do to him.

Slowly, a sleeping brown tabby began appearing. Tigerstar waited patiently for Hawkfrost to fully materialize before nudging him with one massive paw.

Hawkfrost's eyes snapped open and took in his surroundings. Then he looked up at his father. Fear flashed in his vision for a second. That was new.

"Hawkfrost," greeted Tigerstar.

His son seemed to relax, if only slightly. "Hello, father."

"I saw you in ThunderClan."

Immediately, Hawkfrost stiffened. Why did he look so scared? He had done nothing wrong.

"How did you trick StarClan into letting you go back?"

Relief seemed to flood Hawkfrost. "It wasn't that hard. A few apologies are so easy to fake."

"Why did we never think of that?" Tigerstar grumbled. "Furthermore, why didn't you tell us where you were going and what your plan was?"

"I-I didn't know that it was happening until Bluestar approached me," Hawkfrost said. "It was sudden, so I just played along. Now they think I'm sorry for everything."

Tigerstar snorted in amusement at the thought of Hawkfrost being sorry.

"Anyway," Hawkfrost continued. "I'm working on getting on Ivystar and the Three's good side. Once they forgive me, I'll be able to manipulate them."

"Have you thought about the plan?" Tigerstar asked.

"Oh, the plan," Hawkfrost said. "Finsplash was a good start, killing Vinestar like that. I hear WindClan's only medicine cat is an apprentice. Why don't you kill her?"

"I like how you think," Tigerstar said, missing the look of regret in Hawkfrost's eyes. "And we should make sure to leave WindClan scent only, so they think that someone in their Clan has done it."

"That's smart," Sparrowleap purred, leaping out of a tree and narrowly missing Hawkfrost. 

Hawkfrost took a quick look at her. "You look like a bobcat," he blurted out.

She frowned. "What in the name of the Dark Forest is a bobcat?"

"I don't know, actually. Maybe one of the ThunderClan idiots mentioned one to me or something."

Sparrowleap shrugged. "Okay, then."

Tigerstar meowed, "Enough of that. After Poppypaw, who do we kill next?"

"Try RiverClan," Sparrowleaf said. "They haven't been hit yet."

"Or ThunderClan," Tigerstar mused. "I could try to kill Ivystar. Do you know how many lives she has left?"

Being the observant cats they were, both of them missed the gleam of panic in Hawkfrost's eyes. "No, no," he said hurriedly. "You should probably attack RiverClan."

"And why is that?" Tigerstar asked, suspicious of his son's answer. "Why shouldn't we attack ThunderClan?"

"Because... because Ravenwhisper, Frostfire and I are already there, and we can probably divide them without them knowing." Hawkfrost told him, hesitating slightly. "And honestly, Ivystar would put up too much of a fight. As far as I know, she has all nine lives left, and she trained in the Dark Forest, remember?"

"Not to mention the Three are protecting her," Sparrowleap added. "And we did kill Rosepool."

Tigerstar thought for a moment, and then dipped his head. "All right," he meowed. "We'll attack RiverClan next. Who, though?"

"We've killed a queen, a leader, and soon a medicine cat," Hawkfrost said. "Why not try-"

"A kit!" Sparrowleap meowed.

"An apprentice!" Tigerstar said.

"-a deputy!" Hawkfrost finished.

The three cats blinked at each other. "Flowerpaw's already just an apprentice," Hawkfrost said. 

"But imagine killing a kit," Sparrowleap meowed. "They'd be heartbroken!"

"But that wouldn't have quite the impact we're looking for," Hawkfrost reminded her. "We should kill Streamtail, the RiverClan deputy, or at least bring him to our side."

"That's fine," Tigerstar rumbled. "Now-"

His son disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~

"-Hawkfrost, wake up!" 

Someone was shaking Hawkfrost with one paw. One white paw, meaning that it belonged to- "Frostfire?" Hawkfrost meowed, confused. What- what did he just say in the Dark Forest? What did he suggest? Which cats' lives were on the line, all because of him?

His thoughts vanished once the deputy glanced around to make sure no one was watching. "I heard you meowing in your sleep. You kept mentioning Tigerstar and 'kill.'"

"Oh," Hawkfrost said. Was there a response he was supposed to immediately come up with?

Once again, Frostfire looked around to make sure there was no cat there to overhear their conversation. "You can't give us all away! I'd be killed! Everyone would be killed! I must protect them!"

He sounds kind of unstable, Hawkfrost thought. "Sorry," he muttered. "I'll try to be more careful."

Then, they both heard the sound of paws. Whipping around, they saw Finsplash. "What are you two do-"

A blue glow burst out of her eyes as Splashclaw took control. "Go back to bed, you two frog-brains. Someone will suspect something."

Grumbling, Hawkfrost returned to his nest and fell asleep again. This time, he did not return to the Dark Forest.