Sharptalon's Vengeance/Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sharptalon slid out of the warriors tree and glared at Hawkstar from the entrance, remembering his grudge against the tom for indirectly causing his sister to be mauled by the dogs. But these days, he often forgot about it, determined to serve his Clan well, so that when Phoenixfire became leader, he could be chosen as deputy. That was his priority, his ambition that he nurtured every day. He proved it in every piece of fresh-kill, every border patrolled, every enemy driven out.

Enemy driven out. Ever since Aspenheart lost her life, Sharptalon had becoming increasingly aggressive and hungry for battle. He always told himself, it was because he didn't want the same thing that happened to his sister to happen to his Clanmates. Or so he always thought. He hoped it wasn't for evil intentions.

Sharptalon leaped down gracefully from the tree and landed lightly, padding over to Phoenixfire who was organizing patrols. "What's in store for me today?" he asked, slightly amused at the deputy's panicked face.

"I didn't expect you up so early." Phoenixfire meowed rapidly. "You can lead a rabbit-hunting patrol to the Rabbit Fields."

"Sure, who's going with me?" Sharptalon said. It was exactly these kinds of opportunities where he could prove himself so he could become deputy once Phoenixfire was leader.

"Take Rabbitchaser, Screechrush, Petalfall, Galeflight and Snaketail with you." Phoenixfire ordered briskly, falling back into pace. Sharptalon nodded and rounded up the cats on his patrol, and they swept out of camp, taking flight soon after.

It was good hunting. Sharptalon and his patrol brought back five rabbits, and his jaws ached with the effort of carrying the heavy, limp body of a huge buck*. His patrol landed gracefully in the middle of the camp and he deposited his load in the fresh-kill pile.

"Good hunting today?" Featherfall, an Arctic Tern-winged warrior and mate of Hawkstar, mewed as she padded up to the log where the fresh-kill pile was in.

"Of course, the dogs aren't here to bother us." Sharptalon commented, wondering if Featherfall, dull as she was to like Hawkstar, would notice the barbed comment.

Unexpectedly, Featherfall's silver-and-white fur began to bristle defensively and she curled her lip. "Are you still mulling over what happened that day? You know it isn't Hawkstar's fault, he was just trying to keep us safe-"

Sharptalon cut her off by slapping his tail over her mouth. "Of course Hawkstar was trying to keep us safe," he meowed smoothly. "I was just commenting on how lucky we are, to not have the common threats that plague the other Clans."

"You better be saying that," Featherfall said grudgingly before picking a mouse and flying off to the leader's den. Sharptalon guessed she was bringing it to Hawkstar. Spitting in disgust, Sharptalon took a juicy vole for himself and settled in the dust, biting down on the vole, letting the forest flavors sing on his tongue.

In a few famished bites, Sharptalon had wolfed down the vole, and swiped his tongue around his jaws for the last of the juices. Sharptalon was just making his way back to the warriors' den for a quick nap to recharge his energy when he froze. A cold chill had just swept over him, but the clearing was warm and sunny, bathed in the unrelenting rays of the sun. It was almost like a stone-cold cat just walked through him... Sharptalon whirled around, snarling, and he swore he saw the glimmer of cold amber eyes glinting like flints, before it faded away.

"What's got you so on edge today?" Phoenixfire asked, popping up in front of him. The deputy looked slightly ruffled at Sharptalon's sudden aggressive outburst.

Sharptalon licked his own chest fur in embarrassment. ''I should've made sure no one was in the clearing before I turned to check. Now I embarrass myself in front of my best friend. ''"I must be seeing things. I swear I just saw a pair of eyes glaring at me, but I think it's just me not getting enough sleep," he mewed quickly. "See you around." Leaving behind a confused Phoenixfire, Sharptalon flew to the warriors' den, slightly unsettled by what he saw. Nevertheless, he found it easy to slip into sleep.

Sharptalon's dreams were haunted with dark shadows, and constantly being watched by the amber eyes he saw earlier in the day definitely unsettled him. He wondered if he was losing his mind.

Sharptalon woke up to the darkness of the night, and the cold glittering of the stars. He glared up at them, wondering how something so beautiful could be so useless. The stars certainly didn't help him from dreaming strange things. Or seeing eyes in broad daylight.

"The moon is full tonight," Phoenixfire remarked as he leaped up to where Sharptalon was perching, and their pelts brushed. Sharptalon felt slightly uncomfortable at how close the deputy was beside him, but he oddly enjoyed it as well. "Who do you think Hawkstar is choosing to go to the Gathering?"

Sharptalon was lost in Phoenixfire's brilliant amber eyes. He blinked and thought, ''Great StarClan, what's wrong with me today? ''"Well, he'll definitely bring you," he remarked sourly, sliding back into his old self. "Sprucefur and Cloudrunner, perhaps. He's always been good friends with them."

Phoenixfire flicked his ear as if flicking off a fly. "You think?" he meowed. "How about you? Why don't you come to the Gathering?"

Sharptalon let out a harsh purr of laughter. "After all that's happened, you think Hawkstar will bring me? I've insulted him, lashed out at him, I've done everything to undermine him."

"But he can't forget the useful parts of you," Phoenixfire suggested quietly. "You're ambitious and very willing to defend what's ours. You're just like me, his trusted deputy. He can't miss out on you, can he? I think he thinks very highly of you."

Sharptalon briefly pushed his muzzle into his old friend's fur and then drew away. "Thank you for that, it means a lot." he meowed, and he meant it. If Phoenixfire believed in him, it just proved that he was a good warrior and a good deputy. His ambitions were correct. Phoenixfire merely murmured, "You're welcome," before he briefly rested his tail on Sharptalon's shoulder and took flight into the night.