Return- Hawkfrost x Ivypool

Chapter Sixteen

Hawkfrost landed on the dust with a grunt, huffing. Oaksong stared patiently at him. "Come on, Hawkfrost, get up," she said in a tone that was probably meant to be encouraging. "Try again- you're almost there!"

"Almost there, sure," Hawkfrost groaned, mustering the strength to stand up.

Oaksong glanced at the trees around them for a second. "Look, I understand you're no Darksky, but with some practice, you'll be doing ThunderClan moves just as well as her." Darkpaw, Birdpaw and Specklepaw had been made warriors right before the half-moon.

"Why don't you use your tail to your advantage in ThunderClan?" Hawkfrost grumbled.

"We do," Oaksong meowed. "It's what helps us keep our balance and not fall on the ground every time we try to make a move." Her tone was so innocent that Hawkfrost knew that she didn't even mean to make the comment sound like it had.

(Ravenwhisper was snickering from the shadows, though)

He shook as he tried to keep standing, his muscles aching. "We've been training since dawn, and it's past sunhigh. Can I please at least take a break?"

"Now that you mention it, I think that this is enough for one day," Oaksong said. "If I may ask..."

"What?"

"Why aren't you... eh, I just thought that after training so many ThunderClan cats and practicing with your father, you'd be able to pick this up quickly."

Hawkfrost sighed, flicking the earth with his tail. "Back in the Dark Forest, I could really do my own thing because I didn't have a Clan anymore. So I mostly fought like a Dark Forest and RiverClan cat."

"I see," Oaksong nodded thoughtfully. Hawkfrost braced himself for the question he could tell she wanted to ask, but no more words came from Oaksong as she turned and padded away. Maybe he would take a nap in his nest... A wave of exhaustion came rushing over him, and he decided that that was what he was going to do.

His paws felt like rocks, but he managed to make it to the ThunderClan camp and fall asleep in his nest.

~~~~~~~~

"Hawkfrost? HAWKFROST?"

No. Hawkfrost was too tired to deal with whatever mouse-brain was trying to wake him up, and they should know it. He had half a find to give them an earful if they didn't stop trying to pummel him into the earth with their paws.

"HAWKFROST!"

Oops, was all Hawkfrost was able to think as he looked up at the frustrated eyes of his father.

"The apprentices are coming soon," Tigerstar growled. "They can't see you sleeping. Get up!"

 Refraining from calling his father a few insulting names, Hawkfrost scrambled to his paws as if he actually cared about what was about to happen. "Right. Sorry."

Tigerstar turned away with a scoff, padding off towards the tree where Brokenstar and Mapleshade were leaping into its branches.

Sighing, Hawkfrost followed the massive tabby tom, climbing up into the tree. Only a heartbeat later, the first outline of a cat appeared.

Slowly but surely, more cats began to fade into the clearing. Hawkfrost wanted to yowl at them, to tell them that the cats standing before them could bring nothing but death, that they were all being tricked, but he couldn't. All he could do was sit on his branch and dig his claws into the wood for a chance to save all four clans.

Only a few moons ago, I would have looked upon myself now with contempt, Hawkfrost thought as he surveyed the cats appearing. It looked like there were more than last time.

Sparrowleap and Splashclaw came padding out of the darkness, looking coldly at all the Clan cats that were now fully formed in the clearing. Splashclaw mewed something in Sparrowleap's ear, and they nodded together.

Before Hawkfrost could wonder what Splashclaw had said, Tigerstar began to speak. "Cats of all Clans, you have once again returned to the Dark Forest, as you very well may know. Those of you training with me, please come forward."

Four or five cats came shuffling toward the tree, prompting Tigerstar to leap down and tilt his head up to look through the branches. "Hawkfrost," he meowed. "Come down here."

Sighing, Hawkfrost leapt down to stand next to his father. He winced when his paws hit the ground awkwardly. Not my best landing.

"You!" Tigerstar called at his group of cats. "Watch this." Without warning, Tigerstar lunged for Hawkfrost, his claws outstretched. Hawkfrost hastily darted out of the way, his eyes becoming panicked and wild as Tigerstar landed and immediately launched back into the air.

Tigerstar caught him on the third leap, sending Hawkfrost sprawling with a shallow gash down his side. "Can you do that?" He asked the cats watching, his amber gaze disdainful. "Because if not, we have a long way to-"

~~~~~~~~~~~

"What in the name of StarClan?" Oaksong was shaking him. "Hawkfrost! How did you get that?" She gestured with her paw in the direction of his bloodied side. "Is there a thorn in your nest?"

"Uh... yeah, that must be it."

"Should I get Jayfeather?" Oaksong asked. 

Pushing himself up to his paws, he stepped forward without a single tremble in his step. "No, I can get there," he replied, walking carefully over the half-awake warriors. "Thanks."

Oaksong watched him leave the den to make sure before she slipped back into her nest and tucked her nose under her tail, laying by the other warriors. Hawkfrost looked back to see that the ThunderClan cats were stirring.

He made it to the medicine den, where Leafpool was already awake and sorting through her herbs. "Hawkfrost!" She looked up. "What- oh." Leafpool grabbed a pile of what Hawkfrost recognized as marigold. "How did you get that?"

"Tigerstar," Hawkfrost meowed quietly.

Leafpool's eyes widened as she began to chew the marigold up. Hawkfrost shuffled his paws awkwardly until she finally spit the pulp out and slathered it on his cut. A few heartbeats later, she had finished putting cobwebs on it. 

Before Hawkfrost could thank her, he heard pawsteps. Oaksong ran into the den. "I looked through your nest, and there's nothing there but moss!"

"How did you get hurt?" Added another cat from outside. "It looked more like a claw wound."

Hawkfrost glanced back at Leafpool before slipping outside. The cats of the clan, now awake, gathered to see it. "But how?" One cat kept saying.

Ivystar pushed through the cats to see. "Was it the Dark Fo-" She cut off when she saw the Clan staring at her. "Oops."

"The Dark Forest?" Pinewhisker asked suspiciously. "Is that what you were going to say?"

Ivystar glanced around, looking for an excuse. Finding none, she admitted, "Yes." Her mew was small and quiet.

The Clan burst into chaos and yowls.

I'M NOT DEAD! *hides under rock* I JUST HAD ISSUES. MAYBE THE UPDATING SCHEDULE WILL RETURN, I DON'T REALLY KNOW. SORRY! DON'T KILL ME!