"Warm" welcomes to "cold" hearts (Wildstar)

[hawkstar]

They say that desperate times call for desperate measures, but what in life can be considered desperate? A skirmish among friends? A family feud? Hunger because all of your prey is gone? Dehydration, because your water sources have dried? If not those, what about murder? Mass murder, at that. New cats each day, being found laying dead, their bodies limp, their eyes open, their claws sheathed, as if they had been walking with a dear friend, then suddenly killed. Does that justify desperation?

In that, what can be considered a desperate measure? A lifeless threat? Fleeing the scene altogether, as if you could run from your problems? What about the leader of ShadowClan walking, alone, through the forest of the clan that has been the bitter rival and enemy of his own clan for so many generations, no one can trace it back to a single cat?

Hawkstar snorted his contempt and sighed heavily, although the quiet, frozen forest around him seemed to stifle the nose and force it back into his throat. Long ago, the carpet of pine needles had turned into snow and frozen leaf mold. The familiar ShadowClan scent had turned faint, and then bitter as ThunderClan took it over, the darkness had lightened, and now all was dappled with sunlight, yet the dark brown leader kept marching forward, his head high, steps persistent, and his yellow eyes fixed in front of him. What did he have to fear? He wasn't inciting war, there was no battle patrol at his heels, in fact, his clan wasn't even aware he was going on this little mission. It was his own will, and his own risk. Wildstar, he knew, nor ThunderClan, would not welcome him warmly and enjoy his visit. There would be bristled pelts and unsheathed claws, but for what? His birth into a clan known to be evil and manipulative? Hawkstar, even as naive, hot-headed Hawkstrike, had never been one to cause problems among the clans, and now as a Leader, he had been striving to give his clan a new name among the other clans. They could no longer see darkness in a ShadowClanners heart. He wanted them to see fiercely loyal cats, untainted by their unfortunate birthright.

The scent grew stronger, and he slowed his pace as the thorn tunnel came into view, one that would lead him into the heart of ThunderClan's territory, their camp. He had to steel himself against this, he could show no fear, and had to be ultimately calm if he wanted to avoid stepping on too many cat's nerves by entering the camp. He was still a few tail lengths away when he heard the camp go quiet, then erupt in growls and a few angry yowls. And so, they had scented him.

"ShadowClan! Hide the kits and the elders!"

Typical, but he tried not to take offense to it. These cats knew not of the true evil that tainted their forests, they didn't know of the Decoys, who could very well live among them. It dawned on him then, how many cats would he be facing that were truly decoys within ThunderClan? He flexed his claws. I know not of ThunderClan, but ShadowClan is pure of those feeble monsters! The thorns raked as his pelt as he pushed through, emerging again into the bright clearing, face to face with a line of bristling, hunched warriors, eyes wild and ready to spring. He sat back on his haunches at the entrance, keeping his head high, looking around the group with a calm, speculative glance.

"Worry not, ThunderClan. I am here on Clan matters, to speak to Wildstar if you will. You have no reason to fear, I have come alone, as I have faith that ThunderClan is noble enough to not attack a single cat here, peacefully mind you, who only wishes to speak to your leader."

He scanned the camp, looking for Wildstar's familiar pelt, disgruntled not to see him immediately. Despite his words, many of these cats were either old enough to only remember ShadowClan's dark leaders, or young enough to only know the bitter, resent filled stories that queens whispered into their ears to make them behave. They couldn't have heard stories worse than that of Brokenjaw of WindClan, could they? The "kit eater", although harmless, he knew.

"ShadowClan is full of deceit and lies! Leave you snake-hearted peice of foxdung!"

It was a snarl from a cat in the back, but Hawkstar didn't budge, shaking his head and sighing sadly.

"It's most urgent I speak to Wildstar immediately, warrior. It cannot wait until the gathering, and I'd be much obliged if I could be directed to him," His eyes were warm and humorous despite the welcoming he had received, his whiskers twitching in amusement, "With my pelt intact, if you will."

[wildstar.]

It was just another normal leaf-bare day, particularly warm. The sun was high and up in the bright blue sky, making the air seem even hotter than it actually was. Despite the good weather, a few cats that knew of the danger they were in were troubled, as always. The newest medicine cat, Spottedpelt, who everyone says is like a reincarnation of the lively, very ancient cat herself, Spottedleaf. Whatever be the case, she was very well aware that decoys were in their presense. Besides him and Spottedpelt, Ghostcry also knew of them. Unlike a lot of the Clan deputies, she not only knew about the decoys but used to be a rogue herself when she'd learned about them. Not many cats would call her this out of fear, hatred or anger, but she was unique. If cats could see past her roots and fiery orange eyes, perhaps they would notice the leader she was born to be. Wildstar, still in his nest, shook his head with frustration. His stomach growled in protest, as if the slightest movement had upset it. Although he refused to admit it to the other Clanmates, Wildstar was taking less and less food for him each day. ThunderClan was growing rapidly in the newleaf-like leaf-bare, and the queens, kits, and elders needed food above all. Had Ghostcry noticed him not eating properly? Nowadays she seemed to know what he was thinking, maybe because they were close. At least, I hope we're close, he thought suddenly with a small frown. Then he looked around, yellow eyes taking in the sandy, rocky ground. Where was she? Where was Ghostcry? For a second he thought he should be worried, but he remembered that she wasn't a kit and he wouldn't have to look after her. Maybe she'd decided to sleep in the warrior's den if she couldn't get comfortable last night, when for a midnight walk, or was already out giving the commands for the day.

With a worried yawn, the gray tabby stood up from his nest and shook the moss from his pelt. Only when he heard a commotion going on from the camp a few moments later did he shake from his thoughts. After a heartbeat, the musky scent of ShadowClan floated beneath his nose. He smelled only one cat, and one he knew well. Hawkstar. What did the ShadowClan leader want with ThunderClan? If it was a threat of a battle or maybe some cat had strayed into his territory, it wouldn't have been wise to come into enemy territory alone. Even still, Wildstar wondered briefly what was going on down there in the camp. Without a moment's hesitation, he bounded from his den and leaped down from the Highledge. He ducked under paws, scooted under bellies, and pushed cats out of the way to get to the leader. Although he should have called the cats off, sometimes he didn't think without acting. Sometimes he thought he was still a warrior, just sleeping in a different place; that he was still the foolish Wildpath. "Hello, Hawkstar," he meowed lightly when he got to the edge of the crowd. He held up his tail, signaling for his cats to stand back. They made a small circle around the ShadowClan leader. From the tension in the air, Wildstar realized there had been a brief conversation while he was in his den, but he decided to leave that unmentioned.

"If you will, why are you in ThunderClan lands? You'd better give me a very good reason." Wildstar realized that his words had ended with a snarl, so he paused for a moment, trying to calm himself for Hawkstar's sake. So the ThunderClan cats wouldn't overreact and attack him. As waited for a reply, some she-cat with white fur looked up at him and whispered into his ear that there was something Hawkstar needed to tell him that couldn't wait until the Gathering. After another moment of silence, Wildstar meowed thinly, "What cannot wait until the Gathering, Hawkstar? I hope it's important for your sake." He realized that he was speaking what he actually thought. There was no tone of compassion in his voice, because the 'great' ThunderClan leader didn't feel pity. He felt a growl rumble in his throat as he waited for a response, but he shoved it down angrily, wondering where in the world Ghostcry was.

[hawkstar]

Hawkstar kept his head high, and his stance relaxed as Wildstar padded through the crowd, only to step at the edge and question him brusquely. He made no note of it, simply brushing it off and watching as a white she-cat murmured in his ear, catching him up on what was going on and allowing him to continue from there. Hawkstar waited in silence as he spoke again, simply nodding and motioning to ThunderClan.

"This involves all of us, Wildstar, so I'm afraid it's not just for my sake. However, because there are matters here I'd rather not discuss publicly, may we go somewhere a bit... well, I'd much rather speak to you in private."

His tail swept the ground behind him as he stared onto Wildstar's eyes, his posture never wavering. He had no fear of ThunderClan, they had no reason to attack him, and he was of no threat- he only could, however, hope that the ThunderClan leader would understand the underlying urgency of Hawkstar's message, and allow the dark brown tom to speak to him away from the rest of the Clan. Although he didn't again look at them, he could sense the eyes in the camp boring into his fur with hate and malice of all degrees.

He couldn't speak of the decoys in front of ThunderClan. That would promise hysteria in the clan, and he refused to even mention it to his own Clan. Cats would turn on one another, turn to litter mates and denmates alike, children and parents, and suspicion would be there. Hate. Fear. Cats would kill one another on a whim, on a thought that maybe that was a decoy, and maybe they were plotting on killing them in their sleep. It would be chaos, and the end of a Clan.