“Sorry,” Darktail muttered, casting his eyes downward and clearly making an effort to set his paws down more lightly.
Waspwhisker gave the white tom a cold look from narrowed eyes, but said no more until Darktail sneezed.
“Good job, Darktail,” Waspwhisker snapped. “You might as well just call out to all the prey, ‘Watch out for cats!’”
Darktail’s head swung up, and for a moment Hawkwing thought that he would snap back at Waspwhisker. Then he simply nodded, and mewed that he really would try to be quiet.
Bellapaw exchanged a glance with Hawkwing. “What’s wrong with Waspwhisker?” she murmured. “He’s being way too hard on Darktail.”
Hawkwing shrugged. “I don’t know. M aybe he doesn’t want
Darktail here anymore.”
For his own part, Hawkwing was impressed that Darktail was managing to keep his temper. I don’t think I could, if Waspwhisker spoke to me like that.
His feelings of sympathy brought him back to the problem he had been struggling with ever since he had seen Darktail carrying food from the Twolegplace the day before. Should I report him or not?
So far he had said nothing, partly because he couldn’t be sure that Darktail was up to no good, and partly because Leafstar and Sharpclaw had too much on their minds after the raccoon attack to worry about something that might be completely unimportant.
For now, I’ll just keep a close eye on Darktail, Hawkwing decided, and see what he does next.
So far, the rogue tom had done nothing else suspicious, and he was doing his best on this patrol, in spite of Waspwhisker’s hostility.
Along with his uneasiness about Darktail, Hawkwing’s mind was full of memories of his brother. Seeing the evidence of the fire wiped away from the Twoleg greenplace had brought all his grief flooding back. In a way, it was like wiping Duskpaw away too.
Is it true, what Sharpclaw said about Darktail? Hawkwing wondered. That I’m trying to make him into my replacement brother? His first instinct was to deny it, but then he asked himself whether it would be such a bad thing if it was true.
Duskpaw is gone, and isn’t ever coming back, he told himself, claws of pain gripping his heart again as he put the thought into words. But cats need other cats in the wild. Surely it’s good that I’ve made new bonds with other cats like Darktail, and… and Pebblepaw.
Fresh confusion surged into Hawkwing’s mind as he thought about the young she-cat. He felt as though he was trying to find a path through fog. I hated her not long ago… so why am I thinking about her so much now? I blamed her for Duskpaw’s death. Why do I hope she missed me when I was away on the second quest?
“Stop!” Waspwhisker’s urgent hiss broke into Hawkwing’s thoughts. “Lie flat!”
Instantly obeying, Hawkwing flopped to the ground, his Clanmates doing the same around him, and peered out through the long grass. Every hair on his pelt began to bristle as he braced himself for trouble.
Are the raccoons back?
But when Hawkwing tasted the air, the only scent that he could pick up came from cats. Unfamiliar cats. Just ahead he spotted a bank of ferns, their fronds waving as unseen animals pushed their way through.
A heartbeat later the fern fronds parted and a powerful silver-gray tom strode into the opening. A long-furred black she-cat followed him, and behind her was a ginger tom, and two tabby she-cats. Their pelts were ragged, but muscles rippled beneath their ungroomed fur; apprehension fluttered in Hawkwing’s belly as he saw how dangerous they looked.
What are they doing on our territory? he asked himself.
All Hawkwing’s instincts told him to leap out of hiding and challenge the approaching rogues. Instead, he glanced at Waspwhisker. “We should fight them off!” he whispered.
“Wait,” Waspwhisker ordered curtly. Turning to Darktail, he added, “Are these more friends of yours?”
Darktail shook his head, looking mystified. “I’ve never seen any of them before.”
By this time the leading silver-gray tom had drawn level with the clump of long grass where the SkyClan cats were hiding. He halted to sniff the air, and Hawkwing realized he had picked up the Clan cats’ scent.
Before the tom could react, Waspwhisker rose to his paws and faced him. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” he demanded.
The silver-gray tom looked Waspwhisker over with insolent green eyes. “Who wants to know?” he asked.
“We do.” Hawkwing rose to stand beside Waspwhisker, while
Bellapaw, Darktail, and Sparrowpelt took up positions just behind them.
“And who are you, mange-pelt?” the silver-gray tom sneered, as the rest of the rogues spread out threateningly on either side of him.
“We are cats of SkyClan,” Waspwhisker replied, “and you’re on our territory. It’s time for you to leave. Now.”
“Oh, we’re on their territory!” the black she-cat exclaimed, stretching her eyes wide. “I’m so scared!”
“Are you going to leave or not?” Waspwhisker’s shoulder fur bristled up aggressively.
The silver-gray tom slid out his claws and raised one forepaw to examine them. “I guess… not,” he mewed.
“So get out of our way,” one of the tabby she-cats ordered.
Anger flashed in Waspwhisker’s eyes, and he let out a ferocious yowl. “Attack!”
Hawkwing hurled himself at the ginger tom, who was closest to him. His paws splayed out, he landed on the tom’s shoulders and dug his claws in hard. Screeching in fury, the ginger tom let himself drop to the ground and rolled over, crushing Hawkwing beneath him. For a few heartbeats Hawkwing’s nose and mouth were muffled in his enemy’s pelt, so he could hardly breathe. Bringing up his hind legs, he thrust at the ginger tom and managed to throw him off.
“Ugh!” he gasped, spitting out fur. “I’ve got a mouthful of your fleas!”
The ginger tom crouched in front of him, green eyes glaring, his hindquarters waggling, while his tail lashed from side to side.
Hawkwing was bracing himself to meet his pounce when he spotted Sparrowpelt behind the ginger tom, struggling with the long-furred black she-cat. The she-cat had Sparrowpelt pinned down, her teeth aiming for his throat.
Bunching his muscles, Hawkwing sprang right over the ginger tom and barreled into the black she-cat, thrusting her away from Sparrowpelt.
The older warrior staggered to his paws. “Thanks!” he panted, and flung himself back into combat, driving the black she-cat backward, paw step by paw step.
Hawkwing glanced around, and spotted Bellapaw chasing one of the tabby she-cats back into the bank of ferns. Waspwhisker and the other tabby she-cat were rolling around on the ground in a snarling tangle of tails and paws.
Then Hawkwing’s eyes widened in amazement as he saw
Darktail whirling around the silver-gray tom, darting in to slash at him and immediately leaping back out of range. The tom kept trying to face him and attack, but Darktail was moving so fast that by the time the gray tom managed to strike at him, he had moved on. The tom’s claws barely touched him.
“Flea-pelt! Trespasser!” Darktail yowled. “Get out of here!”
A hard blow caught Hawkwing on the side of the head, driving him off his paws. As he hit the ground a surging darkness covered his vision, and as it cleared he glimpsed green eyes close to his own. A paw clamped down on his neck.
To Hawkwing’s horror he realized that, distracted by Darktail’s skillful battle technique, he had forgotten about the ginger tom. He writhed furiously, desperate to throw off the weight that was holding him down. Twisting his neck, he tried to sink his teeth into the ginger tom’s leg.