Hawkears padded through the shadowy sundown forest, glancing from side to side. The brown tabby gazed upwards at the leaves rustling on the trees, casting dappled patches of deep orange sunlight on the grassy ground. She flexed her claws, feeling the soft tufts of grass under her pads. There was quite rustling from the roots of a nearby tree. Hawkears grinned and dropped into a hunting crouch, silently creeping forward until the scent of mouse flooded over her. She slunk forward a little more. One more step and she would be able to pounce...
"Hawkears"
The mouse was startled by the strange cat's mew, and darted away.
"Mouse dung!" Hawkears cursed under her breath, standing up to take a look at the cat who had made her lose her prey. The sight of the muscular white tom with black paw and tail tip made her fur bristle.
"Shadefang!" she spat "You made me lose that mouse!"
"Oh, did I? Sorry!" he mewed spitefully, smirking. Hawkears glared.
"Go and play on the thunderpath, Shadefang" she spat, swishing her tail angrily. The white tom shrugged, and strolled away like he owned the whole forest. His loyal 'deputy', tortoiseshell and white Sharpclaw, dashed out from under a holly bush and into the grassy clearing with a mouse in his jaws. He dropped it in front of Hawkears and mouthed 'sorry!' He then scampered obediently after his master like a frightened vole. Hawkears picked up the mouse, letting that newly-killed-prey scent flow over her. Sharpclaw's faint scent still clung to the mouse's fur, proving that Hawkears hadn't caught it, but by the time she got it back to camp, the other warriors would be none the wiser. The FireClan camp was drawing near, in the middle of the woodland. The brown tabby she-cat crawled through the gorse tunnel and into the camp, a dusty clearing surrounded by pines. The dens were mainly gorse bushes and spiky tendrils of bramble. Hawkears placed the mouse in the fresh-kill hollow under the roots of the fallen tree, and strode over to the warriors den. Inside lay her friend Rockpelt, the FireClan deputy, injured from a fight. Hawkears' street-cat BoneClan roots trembled within her, clawing to be free at the sight of her friend injured. She flexed her claws uncomfortably and padded over to Rockpelt.
"Who did this to you?" Hawkears demanded.
"Rogues" Rockpelt said "Lots of them. It was only me and Flowpaw against them. Flowpaw is dead"
Hawkears went rigid. Flowpaw was Amberstar's own kit, and a good friend of hers. She could see images of the laughing face of the ginger dappled apprentice flickering through her head. Flowpaw as a kit, Flowpaw becoming an apprentice, Flowpaw on her first hunting trip, Flowpaw play-fighting her mentor, Flowpaw being slashed through the throat by dark-pelted rogues...
"Where?" Hawkears said through clenched teeth. 'BoneClan cats don't control their anger' she thought 'But I am no longer BoneClan'
"On the border between LightClan and the twolegplace" Rockpelt answered "But don't try and-"
The brown and black mottled she-cat was cut off, as Hawkears was no longer listening. She was already out of the den and heading through the gorse tunnel, her muscles tensed and her claws unsheathed. She had every intention of finding those rogues and shredding their fur on the spot. Hawkears reached the edge of FireClan's territory, fur brisling. She could smell the gritty stench of rogue cats and twolegs from the twolegplace.
A sudden sound made Hawkears' head turn sharply. The sound of a twig snapping underpaw.
"Show yourself!" she snarled. A white tom with bright yellow eyes padded out from behind a shrub on LightClan's side of the border. She pounced forward and pinned the cat down.
"Where are the rogues!" she spat, digging her claws into white fur. The cat thrust her off and sent her skidding into the undergrowth. He leaped on her, his strong paws holding her down. She twisted and wriggled but couldn't break free. He was stronger than her.
"You're FireClan" he said. Hawkears breathed in his scent.
"You're LightClan" she concluded. So he wasn't a rogue. But maybe he knew something.
"We heard about the rogues" he said, letting her stand up "We heard fighting. Is FireClan alright?"
"None of your business" Hawkears snapped "FireClan can handle a bunch of rogues without LightClan fussing over them"
"Of course" the tom said "My name's Whitefur. What's yours?"
"Why do you need to know?" Hawkears said sourly, turning her back on the white cat. Why should she care what his name was?
"Because I like you" Whitefur said, smiling, trying to get her to look at him "In a strange kind of way"
"I'm Hawkears" she said. She turned to look Whitefur in the face, and recognised him from her days in LightClan "I knew you as Whitepaw, remember?"
"And I knew you as Hawkpaw" Whitefur said "I'll see you around... Hawkears"
He pronounced her name delicately, as if it were special in some way. Hawkears scoffed. She flicked her tail and bounded off to report to Amberstar. But all she could think about on her way back were those luminous yellow eyes...