Gaining Height - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Hawkpaw pressed herself deeper into the shadows as the cats funnelled quietly into the dark cave. She had not yet adjusted to the darkness, so all she saw were the brightly flashing eyes of the rebellionists. Her chest clenched and her heart skipped a beat as the last of them slipped in.

Soon they would all settle down, and she would have to address them, along with sharing the plan she and her friends had come up with during their meetings over the past few days. She knew that this plan was taking a massive risk, and if the cats backed out...it would be the end of the rest of them.

Looking around the cave, Hawkpaw's eyes became more intune with her surroundings. She began to see more distinct outlines of the cats as they sat, motionless. She could see their vine leashes, wrapped around their necks. She suppressed a shiver at the risk she and the rest of the cats were taking to all gather for this one meeting alone.

The first battle was two nights from tonight. Nightstar and her CometClan warriors were well aware of the impending war from some sort of intel leak, and Hawkpaw had the feeling that the CometClan leader relishing the idea alone of the violence and gore. She didn't realise how many cats Dawnclaw had recruited and forced to battle for her horrific cause. AquaClan also knew of the battle, for Nightstar had been very vocal about it at their borders.

For each day since, Hawkpaw began to feel her chest tighten, and felt less like she could breathe. There hadn't been any skirmishes, any mean-talk, or even any noise from outside FalconClan's borders. Every cat was simply preparing, sharpening their claws, and of course, scheming from the shadows.

"Hello everyone," Hawkpaw meowed, her voice tight. She felt as though her voice didn't come from her own jaws, but instead from somewhere very far away.

No cat spoke. They all simply stared at her. Hawkpaw could only hope that some of them would decide to fight, but she could understand if they didn't.

"First, I'd like to thank you for coming." Hawkpaw didn't feel as though it was her voice that spoke. It sounded like the voice of a confident, older leader, not a scrappy little rogue.

"This meeting was only made possible by two Dominant and two Trusted who risked their lives to give us safe passage. Moonflight, Roseflight, Silvermist and Snowlight are all out there, feeding poppy seeds to the Dominant to make them sleep, and pretending as though we are all tucked away as well."

Adderpaw's eyes glowed with pride at the mention of her newly found father's name. Hawkpaw widened her eyes when she saw the bright amber wings swooping out of the apprentice's back. She hadn't been paying attention; the apprentice's wings had fully grown in.

In stark contrast, Icicle had lost every last one of her feathers over the past few days. Her wings had been injured so much in the battle that had permanently-scarred her that they were gone. It only seemed to make Icicle feel more confident and proud, though.

"And of course," Hawkpaw meowed. "Thank you all for coming."

"So what's the plan, little winged cat?"

"Uh, just a moment," Hawkpaw felt her throat clench up, and it took all her effort to say those few words. Her burst of adrenaline was wearing off, and reality was kicking in. She put on a monotone stare, in stark contrast to the 'brain-dead killer' stare Dawnclaw had been trying to teach her over the past few days.

Dawnclaw.

That only made Hawkpaw's chest feel even tighter. She hadn't attended any of Dawnclaw's meetings, but the FalconClan leader had been spending almost every single moment with Hawkpaw. Dawnclaw kept feeding into her own insecurities, making her angry at everything, but afraid of 'Great Master'. Hawkpaw had even been used as an example to teach the other Dominants how to treat their Ferals.