Task 18: Hero thinking
Hawkthorn circled up to the spot that had been their special place, where they could just be themselves, up on the mountain away from any clan responsibilities. Now, it reminded the dark coloured tom of all that he had lost, of the betrayal that he had suffered from.
“Why would she fake her death? What could she have achieved from it? Was I not good enough?” Hawkthorn asked himself, as he paced back and forth from atop the cliff that overlooked the camp, the spot where he had also first spotted Duskstar after her supposed death. He had taken it as a sign, that she was okay and that she was watching over him, but it hadn’t been him she was watching. No, it had been the clan she was watching and specifically Thistlestar; she hadn’t cared for him, not like he had for her.
“If she simply wanted power, why didn’t she stay, she was already the leader.”
‘She wanted more power, leadership wasn’t enough, she still had to follow the ancestors,’ the voice in the tom’s head answered back. ‘Without the ancestors, she could have total control over the clan but to do that, she had to fake her death.’
“I just want to love her, but I can’t, not when she isn’t the cat I fell in love with. She used to be kind to me, never leaving me out of a single decision she made. We were a pair. I helped her with whatever she needed and she’d do the same,” Hawkthorn cried out, before realising he had said it aloud and quickly lowered his head, glancing around to make sure there was no other cat in the solitary spot that he called his safe space.
“There is only one thing to do. I need to take her down. It’s either me or her and I won’t let her hurt my clan ever again; I will prove to them that they can trust me. I will be what they need, even if they don’t want my help. I’m not a traitor. Thornclan is my home, my life is there, my family is there. Just because my mate deserted the clan doesn’t mean that I will.”
“Why would she fake her death? What could she have achieved from it? Was I not good enough?” Hawkthorn asked himself, as he paced back and forth from atop the cliff that overlooked the camp, the spot where he had also first spotted Duskstar after her supposed death. He had taken it as a sign, that she was okay and that she was watching over him, but it hadn’t been him she was watching. No, it had been the clan she was watching and specifically Thistlestar; she hadn’t cared for him, not like he had for her.
“If she simply wanted power, why didn’t she stay, she was already the leader.”
‘She wanted more power, leadership wasn’t enough, she still had to follow the ancestors,’ the voice in the tom’s head answered back. ‘Without the ancestors, she could have total control over the clan but to do that, she had to fake her death.’
“I just want to love her, but I can’t, not when she isn’t the cat I fell in love with. She used to be kind to me, never leaving me out of a single decision she made. We were a pair. I helped her with whatever she needed and she’d do the same,” Hawkthorn cried out, before realising he had said it aloud and quickly lowered his head, glancing around to make sure there was no other cat in the solitary spot that he called his safe space.
“There is only one thing to do. I need to take her down. It’s either me or her and I won’t let her hurt my clan ever again; I will prove to them that they can trust me. I will be what they need, even if they don’t want my help. I’m not a traitor. Thornclan is my home, my life is there, my family is there. Just because my mate deserted the clan doesn’t mean that I will.”