Hawkwing’s Journey

Chapter 8

Sunhigh had just passed when the warriors approached the top of the gorge above the SkyClan camp. It was the third day since they had left the split tree where Billystorm was buried. The sun was shining and the air was warm, but even now that they were so close to home, their hearts were dark and cold. Once again they had traveled in almost total silence, and Hawkwing knew that every cat’s grief for Billystorm was growing sharper as they drew nearer to the moment when they would have to tell the story to their Clanmates.

I’d almost rather face the badgers again!

Hawkwing felt especially sorry for Pebblepaw, who stumbled along in a daze, as if she was overwhelmed by mourning and her sense of guilt. Blossomheart padded alongside her, silently offering her sympathy and support.

Hawkwing’s belly clenched at the thought that Leafstar was to be plunged into the same well of bottomless grief, and didn’t even know it yet. He remembered Cherrytail telling him how Leafstar had changed SkyClan’s warrior code that said a she-cat leader couldn’t have a mate or kits, so that she could be with Billystorm.

She loves him so much… Their kits, Stormheart, Harrybrook, and Firefern, would all be devastated, too.

Billystorm was such an important part of SkyClan. I can’t imagine how I’m going to find the words.

He couldn’t stop thinking, too, about whether Darktail might have meant to lead them into danger. He had felt so hopeful when he had encountered Darktail at the site of the fire, believing that he was part of the prophecy. Now he saw how wrong he was, how he had unleashed an evil cat upon his Clan.

I hope he’s still living with the Clan. I want to talk to him face-to-face—and I’ll find the words for him, all right!

The patrol had just crossed the SkyClan border scent markers when Hawkwing heard paw steps ahead of them, and Rabbitleap, Plumwillow, and Nettlesplash emerged into the open, letting out loud caterwauls and hurling themselves at Waspwhisker.

“Calm down, calm down,” Waspwhisker gasped, staggering under the force of his kits’ welcome. “You’re going to lick me to death!”

It’s a good thing Billystorm’s kits aren’t patrolling, Hawkwing thought. What would we say when they asked where their father is?

All the questing cats had agreed that Leafstar had to be the first to know that her mate was dead.

“It’s great that you’re safe!” Plumwillow exclaimed, her eyes shining. “Did you find the other Clans?”

Waspwhisker shook his head. “No, we didn’t.”

“And where’s Billystorm?” Nettlesplash added.

To Hawkwing’s relief, Waspwhisker avoided the question. “We need to talk to Leafstar right away.”

“Yes, you should do that,” Rabbitleap meowed.

Hawkwing noticed that once their first delight on seeing their father had ebbed away, all the cats in the patrol seemed somber, and were exchanging uneasy glances with each other.

What’s the matter with them? he wondered. Are they still sad about Duskpaw? Are they worried because Billystorm isn’t with us?

Or has something else bad happened?

Apprehension gathered inside Hawkwing like a heavy fog as he wondered whether his last question might be close to the truth.

The border patrol continued, and Waspwhisker led the way to the edge of the cliff and down into the camp.

As he descended the trail behind his Clanmates, Hawkwing realized that there were far fewer cats out and about in the camp than he was used to.

“Where is every cat?” Blossomheart asked, echoing his thought.

No cat answered her, and Hawkwing’s apprehension deepened.

Waspwhisker headed first to Leafstar’s den, but the Clan leader wasn’t there, so he and the other questing cats continued down the trail. As they reached the bottom of the gorge, Hawkwing caught a whiff of a scent that was strange and familiar at the same time.

I don’t know what animal left that, he thought, pausing to drink in the air and try to identify the scent. But I’ve smelled it somewhere before.

Then Hawkwing remembered. It was the same scent that he and Ebonyclaw had picked up on the border, on the day that Duskpaw died. Did something happen here? Was that animal somehow involved?

Dismay swept over Hawkwing as he realized that he had never reported the strange scent to Leafstar. Right after he and Ebonyclaw had noticed it, they had smelled the fire, and then Duskpaw’s death had driven everything else out of his mind. Did Ebonyclaw report it? Hawkwing guessed not.

With an effort Hawkwing brought himself back to the present, and spotted Patchfoot crouching beside the stream, leaning over to lap the swirling water. Waspwhisker led the way toward him.

“Hi, Patchfoot,” the gray-and-white tom meowed. “Have you seen Leafstar?”

Patchfoot looked up, shaking water droplets from his whiskers.

“Yes, she’s in Echosong’s den. It’s good to see you back,” he added, though Hawkwing felt that he too seemed in a somber mood, not at all like his usual cheerful self.

Something is seriously wrong here.

As he and the rest of the patrol headed toward the medicine cats’ den, Hawkwing felt his paw land on something strange.

Glancing down, he saw a thing like a leaf wrap, but made of something thin and shiny, in garish colors. He bent his head to sniff it, and picked up the scent of Twoleg food.

For a moment Hawkwing was overwhelmed with memories of Duskpaw. He loved Twoleg food so much! But then he began to ask himself questions. What’s a Twoleg food wrap doing here?

Have Twolegs been in the camp? Or did it blow over here? Maybe the fire dislodged some old Twoleg food scraps… But Hawkwing couldn’t find any answers to his questions. There was no good reason for the Twoleg food wrap to be in their camp.

Waspwhisker and the others had continued on, and Hawkwing ran to catch up to them as they reached Echosong’s den. On entering, he was shocked to see that Echosong was lying in her nest, injured; there was a fresh notch on one of her ears and cobweb was wrapped around one of her forelegs. Her apprentice, Frecklewish, was giving her a drink from a bundle of wet moss, while Leafstar bent over her, talking quietly.

“Echosong!” Blossomheart exclaimed. “What happened to you?”

Echosong paused in lapping the moss and feebly lifted her head. “I’ll be fine, really.”

“Echosong was wounded,” Leafstar added, “but she’s healing well, and Frecklewish is taking good care of her.”

The Clan leader’s voice was deeply serious, and Hawkwing wondered if she already knew the terrible news they had to tell.

M aybe because she and Billystorm were so close, she could sense that something had happened to him. But no, that’s not possible… is it?

Hawkwing’s heart began to thump harder and harder as he braced himself to tell Leafstar that her mate was dead. It felt even more difficult now that he had to look her in the face. But before he could find words, his Clan leader spoke again.

“Come outside with me,” she mewed with a wave of her tail.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Hawkwing and the rest of the patrol followed Leafstar into the open and clustered around her to listen. Hawkwing could see from the others’ uneasy glances that they shared his apprehension about what had happened in their absence.

“While you were on your quest,” Leafstar began, “the camp was attacked by a group of animals.”

“Badgers?” Blossomheart asked.

Leafstar shook her head. “Not badgers. None of us had ever seen anything like these creatures.”

“What were they like?” Hawkwing asked.

“They were black, white, and gray, with black around their eyes and white around their muzzles,” Leafstar replied. “They walk on four legs like we do, but they can stand on their hind paws like a Twoleg. And they can grip things like a Twoleg, with their front and back paws. Their ears are like ours, but they have short, pointed muzzles like a fox.” She ended with a shudder. “They’re very vicious.”

“Is that how Echosong was hurt?” Waspwhisker asked.

“Yes. Harveymoon was injured as well.”

Hawkwing felt even worse. “This is awful,” he stammered. “It must have been their scent that Ebonyclaw and I smelled on the day of the fire. And I forgot to report it! I’m so sorry.”

Leafstar touched her tail to his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t dwell on it,” she murmured. “Every cat knows why you didn’t remember. Besides, Ebonyclaw did report it, and it didn’t make any difference. There was no way we could have prevented this attack.”

“So where’s Harveymoon?” Pebblepaw asked. “Why isn’t he in the medicine cat den? Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine,” Leafstar replied. “But he’s with his Twolegs now, and we haven’t seen him since. In fact, most of our daylight warriors’ Twolegs have been keeping them inside their dens since the strange animals moved into the territory.”

Just like Betsy said, with the badgers, Hawkwing thought. And that means we’ll have to do without our daylight warriors.

“And that’s not all,” Leafstar went on, her voice beginning to shake. “During the attack, Honeytail was killed.”

“No!” Blossomheart choked out.

Hawkwing felt a sudden chill, cold creeping over him right down to his pads. Honeytail, the gentle ginger she-cat who loved caring for kits, and lived in the nursery to help with them and the nursing queens. I can’t believe this! First Duskpaw, then Billystorm, and now Honeytail!

“We held a vigil for her while you were away on your quest,” Leafstar continued. “We’ll show you where she’s buried, so you can pay your last respects.” She paused, clearly giving them all a little time to process their grief for Honeytail. “I’ll ask you about your quest later,” she went on at last, “and then I’ll hear all the details. But for now, just tell me this: Did you find the cats you were looking for?”

Hawkwing expected Waspwhisker to speak, as the senior warrior, but the gray-and-white tom was silent, staring down at the ground. When the silence had dragged out for a few heartbeats, Hawkwing took a breath. “There’s something we need to tell you,” he began, each word forced slowly out of him as his heart began to break for his leader.

Leafstar gazed into his eyes. Then her expression suddenly took on a terrible alertness, as if she was really seeing them for the first time since they arrived. “Where is Billystorm?” she asked, her voice hollow.

The questing cats were all silent except for Pebblepaw, who let out a tiny strangled cry. And Hawkwing could see from Leafstar’s eyes, which suddenly became deep and dark with grief, that she already understood. “I’m so sorry, Leafstar,” he meowed. “Badgers killed him. He died the death of a brave warrior.”

For a moment Leafstar stood still, frozen with shock. Then she drew in a deep, shuddering breath and turned away. “No,” she whispered, her voice quiet, sounding almost like a kit. A shiver passed through her, and Hawkwing knew that her heart must be breaking. She loved Billystorm so much.

“Why are all these terrible things happening to us all at once?” she demanded. Her voice was raw, and she didn’t look at any of her Clanmates, as if she was challenging StarClan for answers. “The strange animals who attacked… the failed quest… the fire. Is it because we haven’t found ‘the spark that remains’?”

Leafstar fell silent, then after no more than a couple of heartbeats she turned back. Hawkwing could see that she was pushing everything down, and summoning every scrap of her self-control. He knew that what was most important to her was to be a strong leader for her Clan, in this dark time when death seemed to be all around them.

“We must call a Clan meeting,” she mewed, her voice level. “We must decide what to do now. We must work out how to ‘dispel the darkness.’ It’s our only hope.”