Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

As Hawkpaw stumbled blindly into the sunlight, she felt as though her eyes were burning. She was keenly aware of the stares that the FalconClan cats were giving her. Her throat was parched, and her belly growled for the food Dawnclaw, or Great Master hadn't sparsely given her for the past three days.

From behind Hawkpaw, she saw Dawnclaw looming above her, in an extremely imposing pose. Hawkpaw was keenly aware of how scrawny, scared and scarred her own body was in comparison to Dawnclaw. The pale ginger tabby held Hawkpaw's leash in one paw, and wore a triumphant smirk. After those three long days of malnourishment and punishment from inside the Medicine Den, Dawnclaw felt that Hawkpaw was sufficiently ready to rejoin FalconClan.

"It can't be!" Hawkpaw raised her head, which felt all too big on her now scrawny frame to see a black and white she-cat staring out with horrified eyes.

"Silence, Fadedpaw," Roseflight murmured softly to the young cat, her eyes still fixed on Hawkpaw.

Dawnclaw strutted forward, Hawkpaw tailing behind her, feeling like a complete and utter fool. The gazes of FalconClan bore into her pelt, and as Hawkpaw stared at them blankly, she realised that she only recognized about half of them. The clearing was teeming with new cats, many of which who had their own vine wrapped around their necks.

As Dawnclaw yanked at the leash in the direction of the High Rock, Hawkpaw recalled what the Great Master had said about status in FalconClan. Apparently, there were several tiers of dominance rankings. Dawnclaw naturally triumphed above all the rankings, with her littermate, Duskfang still acting as second-in-command.

The next highest rank went to the original FalconClan cats. This, as Hawkpaw had rationed out, was so that the FalconClan warriors felt in charge and less threatened by the incoming strangers. Hawkpaw still saw the uneasy stares cats like Roseflight and Silvermist were giving, though. This rank was known as the 'Dominant,' and the cats bore no vines or marks.

The next rank went to cats known as the 'Trusted.' To Hawkpaw's utter horror, several AquaClan warriors, including a young family, had moved to FalconClan, seeing that Dawnclaw was going to obliterate their own clan. The Trusted rank was made up of these AquaClan warriors as well as one or two rogues that had made an impression on Dawnclaw. They all bore a matching sun-like scar, identical to the one Adder had given to the paw of Dawnclaw, on their shoulder, and some had wings.

The final rank was the 'Feral,' rank. This was given to all the rogues. Each one of them was forced to call all other cats Master, have the sun-like scar, had no wings, and wear a vine leash around their neck. Each one of them was assigned to one or more Dominants who told them what to do each day.

"Woah. Hey! I think I remember this one!"

As Dawnclaw ordered Hawkpaw to lay down beside her on the Height Rock, Hawkpaw saw Squawkpaw, the young playful tom who had joined FalconClan just before Hawkpaw was captured by CometClan.

Coalpaw yanked him by his leash, while Featherruffle slashed at his ears with unsheathed claws. Whimpering, Squawkpaw laid down beside Featherruffle.

"And stay," Featherruffle, ever so crantakerous muttered. "Ferals are to lay and bow down before the Dominant."

Coalpaw eyed him sharply. "You'd better contain your feral," he snarled at Featherruffle. "Or else."

Hawkpaw saw a brief flash of fear ripple across Featherruffle's face when Coalpaw spoke to him. She recalled that he was Talonstar's littermate, a dangerous position to be in at the moment. Hawkpaw also winced when she saw the look of complete black fury in Coalpaw's expression. Dawnclaw had twisted his pain to her own wicked needs.