Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hawk narrowed her eyes against the blustery wind. Ice pellets barraged her fur like a swarm of attacking enemies. Her paws almost felt numb against the chill, yet she trooped on, gathering up as much strength as she could.

I have to find enough prey. It wasn't a game now. Adder expected Hawk to carry her own weight in the group now that she was nearly fully grown. Hawk had expected hunting to be fun and enjoyable, but every day she slogged back home through the heavy snow, with only a few meager scraps of food to show for it.

One thing Adder didn't realise, though, was just how long Hawk spent hunting each day. She left the den before the sun rose, and returned just as it was setting. This ritual had been going on for the past quarter moon.

She was determined to show her mother that she was an asset to the colony. The more she worked, the less she had to think. The less she had to think about what Adder had done to her face, and who she was becoming.

Most importantly, though, she was determined to help out, and prove that Adder had been wrong to send Blaze away.

I wonder where he is now. Hawk wasn't going to lie. Part of her spent all day roaming the territory just in case she ran into Blaze. She hadn't returned to where he was attacked, though, knowing that Adder would claw her fur off if he learned she had risked her pelt yet again to find him.

"Come on, come on."

Hawk saw the sun begin to set itself in the sky. Still, there was no trace of Blaze, and she had travelled far into the colony's hunting grounds. She wondered if Blaze had left them all together. He was probably furious with all of them.

A sudden chill blasted right into Hawk. Snow suddenly slammed into her chest, and the breath was knocked out of her. Bewildered, Hawk wondered if she'd fallen course to one of the terrible avalanches her mother had always gone on about.

Then, Hawk looked up. She let out a gasp as she saw the two cats that looked above her. The first was an old pale grey tom, who glowered at her with undisguised contempt. The second was a younger she-cat with bright amber eyes and black fur. Hawk narrowed her eyes as she further examined the cats, she thought she saw it, and yet it seemed impossible.

These cats had wings.

Long elegant feathered wings which blossomed out of the back of both cats. They matched the respective eye colour of both cats, although the wings were darker.

"Get out of there."

Hawk jumped as she heard the brisk mew of the pale grey cat. He gestured with his tail, and Hawk realised that she'd been laying in a snow drift, uneasily, she got to her paws.

Almost as soon as she was on her feet, the pale grey cat began circling her from narrowed eyes. His movements along with his wings made him seem alarmingly similar to that of a falcon or eagle circling prey.

"Small, scarred, quiet," the cat began muttering calculations as he eyed Hawk.

How do you know if I'm quiet? Hawk thought indignantly. Maybe you should try asking me!

"Are these the savages that are stopping us from taking more land, Snowblaze?" The black she-cat asked curiously. "They don't seem so big and strong." She unsheathed her claws. "You saw me fight the eagle! I could totally take this one on too!"

Hawk let out a hiss as Snowblaze prodded her tail. She reared around to face him, claws unsheathed. Panic was beginning to spread throughout her. These cats wanted to attack them. What would they do to her, now that she was outnumbered?