Return- Hawkfrost x Ivypool

Chapter Fourteen

In the morning, Ivystar sat up in her den, wondering how she was going to train the Clan to fight. How could she make sure none of them suspected anything?

She thought about Hawkfrost's lack of experience. "What if I told them I wanted to practice our fighting skills, because the other Clans will be angry when they hear that he has returned?"

"That could get them worried, though.... but I suppose it's my best option."

Sighing, Ivystar glanced out. It was early, but not too early for a Clan meeting, in her opinion. She knew some cats (particularly Jayfeather) might disagree. Still, she started padding out of her den and up to the Highledge.

"Wait, they're all sleeping," Ivystar muttered as she walked to the warriors' den. "So much for that Clan meeting."

"Ivystar?"

Her friend Oaksong approached her, having seemingly come back from the dirtplace. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I was thinking about making an announcement for training," Ivystar said, shuffling her paws.

"Go back to sleep. No one's really awake yet. There's no point in battle trainin-" As Oaksong replied, five small heads shot out of the apprentices' den.

"Did someone say battle?" Acornpaw meowed. "I've never been in a battle before! Who are we fighting?"

"I've never been in a battle before," Brightpaw mewed, looking anxious.

Poolpaw rolled her eyes at her two littermates. "There's no way we're going to be in a battle. We're hardly apprentices!" They looked at her as if realizing their mistake.

"Oh yeah," Acornpaw muttered, disappointed.

Then Darkpaw and Specklepaw glanced at them. "We can be in a battle," the black she-cat boasted.

"I'm so EXCITED!" Specklepaw screeched.

The apprentices were talking so fast that Ivystar couldn't even tell them that there was, in fact, no battle as ThunderClan warriors came padding out of their dens. 

"Are you trying to summon us all for a dawn patrol, Specklepaw?" One warrior mewed, biting annoyance in every syllable. "Or were you just being yourself?"

The spotted she-cat looked ashamed for only a heartbeat. "But Oaksong said that there was a battle!"

This immediately gained the younger warriors' interest. Murmurs rippled among them.

"Something tells me that half of your warriors are still apprentices at heart, Ivystar," Hawkfrost whispered to Ivystar, padding away before she could reply. He wasn't wrong.

A hush fell over the camp, and eyes fell on Ivystar, waiting for her to speak. Sighing, she jumped onto the Highledge. There was no real reason to summon them if they were practically all there, right?

"There's no battle happening," she started, listening to the younger warriors' disappointed moans, "but there may be, once the Clans hear of him." She flicked her tail towards where Hawkfrost was sitting, away from the crowd of cats.

Gazes darkened into glares directed at Hawkfrost, who tried his best to ignore him. Despite his efforts, Ivystar noticed his fur bristling slightly.

"Therefore, I want a Clan-wide training session."

Thistlefur and Sorrelfern, Rosepool's siblings, were the only cats that didn't react to her news. The senior warriors nodded and the apprentices, especially Specklepaw, bounced in excitement.

"Where are we training?" One cat yowled.

Ivystar thought for a second before replying, "well...."

~~~~~~

Hawkfrost flopped onto his stomach. Why in the name of StarClan couldn't he train in water? In a river, it would be so simple to do this stupid half-turn belly rake. But how was he supposed to do it on land without getting a bunch of dust in his fur? He was probably more hurt than Oaksong from the rocks that he kept diving on.

"Stupid ThunderClan and striking fast!" Hawkfrost grumbled. Oaksong, who was still patiently waiting, shook her head at him.

"Maybe one day you can help the Clan fight like RiverClan and then they'll be the ones complaining. But until then, get on your paws and try again!"

Hawkfrost struggled to his paws. "You're not the best cat for this, you know," he meowed. Oaksong was a smaller-sized cat, so Hawkfrost wasn't having a good time trying to dive under her belly to scratch it.

"The apprentices of ShadowClan won't care about that," Oaksong said.

"The apprentices of ShadowClan are easy enough to beat," Hawkfrost scoffed. "Without this half-turn nonsense."

Oaksong sighed. "Ivystar told me to do this, so I will. Try again, Hawkfrost."

Groaning, Hawkfrost dove, twisting to try to rake her belly. This time, his paw collided with fur.

Oaksong smacked his paw away with hers. "Decent. But you forgot to get up afterward."

Hawkfrost stood, walked back to a good distance, and tried again. This time, his paws performed perfectly and he didn't get a single speck of dust on his pelt. When he stood, Oaksong's eyes had an approving gleam. "Better. Moving on."

He failed to notice Ravenwhisper in the shadows, a look of concentration covering her face as she guided his paws. Spottedleaf stared at her, confusion clear in her eyes. 

As Hawkfrost tried time and time again to perform the move without Oaksong easily dodging, Spottedleaf looked more intensely at the small black she-cat whose powers rivaled her own. How was this cat here?

Hawkfrost looked up from his place where Oaksong had just batted him to see Spottedleaf looking puzzled. Ravenwhisper was nowhere to be seen.

"Nice job," Oaksong meowed. "I think Ivystar's bringing everyone else back to the hollow, so you should go too. We'll practice more another day."

She padded off without another word, so Hawkfrost approached Spottedleaf. "What's that face for?"

Spottedleaf took a few moments to think. "That she-cat - Ravenwhisper- was so strange. She doesn't care about her Clanmates as much as you'd think, and her thoughts are full of Twolegs. Ravenwhisper had this... power... flowing from her, and I think it was helping your paws along."

He nodded. That did seem strange to him. How was Ravenwhisper, a normal (evil) cat, thinking about Twolegs?

In a grave whisper, Spottedleaf continued. "And when I moved, I passed straight through her, like I do with other cats. She's not a god, even, yet she could control so many things. What shocked me the most is that when she turned, I'm sure she saw me."