Book 2: City of Ice and Fire (a warriors cats and shadowhunters crossover)

Chapter 20: Vultureclaw is acting Suspicious and he's not the Only One

****Goldenclaw's POV****

Goldenclaw's day has been going well, up until the point he had to go on patrol with Starkpelt. Don't get him wrong, taking Violetpaw out to patrol the  FangClan border was always enjoyable, but he would rather not have the skittish tag a long that came with it.

"Wow! That must be the ThunderPath!" Violetpaw exclaims excitedly, her multicolored tail whirling through the air.

The tortoiseshell she-cat bounds out of the bushes to approach the wide stretch of black cement road before them. Goldenclaw's eyes sting at the burning rubber air and the gritty asphalt prickling his toes, trying to get in between the creases of his pads like intruding worms.

Worms would be better than this though....but I guess this is better than ducks. He's not sure how a duck would even get into his paws in the first place, but considering what bloodthirsty little beasts they are he wouldn't be surprised if they found a way. He hadn't the slightest clue as to why Arrowheart didn't agree with him.

Before his parabatai had left for his mission (a half moon ago...wow time flies) the black furred tom had brought one home to camp for dinner. The clan was delighted by the succulent prey, but Goldenclaw had just watched them in horror as they ate the nasty thing.

"Be careful Violetpaw. You mustn't get to close." Starkpelt murmurs.

The older warrior was several tail lengths away from the road, shrinking away from the asphalt with barely concealed terror. A part of Goldenclaw wanted to drag the warrior onto the path just to see him squeal. He was unsure as to why Blossomstar had allowed the warrior to remain in HunterClan after handing over the Mortal Moss to Frostfang. We can't trust him. For all we know, he'll just betray HunterClan again at the next chance he gets.

"I'll be telling MY apprentice what to do thank you very much." Goldenclaw practically snapped. Violetpaw looked back at her mentor when the flinty tone was uttered, her violet eyes widened with surprise. "Violetpaw, come back here this instant. The ThunderPath is not something for you to prance around on."

He gestures pointedly to two of her paws that were already set on the hard black surface. The tortoiseshell gives him a sheepish nod before scuttling off the path, the slight gust of a recently passed monster ruffling her fur.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see what it felt like." Violetpaw told him earnestly.

Goldenclaw forced himself to relax. After all, it wasn't Violetpaw's fault he was in such a bad mood this morning. As if having to deal with Vultureclaw and Starkpelt wasn't bad enough, Nightrose had been acting very odd this morning.

She seemed giddy...and tired too. If he did not know better, the golden tabby would go as far as to say the black she-cat had been up all night long off on some special escapade. But that just couldn't be right? Could it?

"It's alright Vi. I was just worried about you. My uncle-Er Arrowheart and Nightrose's uncle died on this very ThunderPath because he wasn't careful." He gives her a sad smile, both from his mistake of including himself as on of Silvermoon and Badgerstripe's biological kits, and the fact that Silvermoon's brother had died so tragically.

"Oh. Mom told me about that too. I promise I'll be more careful." Violetpaw gives him a sympathetic smile, her expression becoming somber.

The two cats don't talk much after that during the patrol, though that doesn't prevent them from getting quality work done. Within an hour, all the borders for the dawn patrol are successfully covered. He leads his group back with his head held high, alert for anything that may approach them.