A Warriors one-shot about Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost. A conversation between the brothers about how their lives could have gone differently. Hope you peeps like it~!

Everything was quiet, but then again, when wasn't it? Hawkfrost paced through the dark trees, his blue eyes downcast.

As he walked, he heard a voice call to him. Turning slightly, he saw the cat that he really didn't want to see at this moment, not when he wanted to think. "Father." He murmured.

"Where are you going?" Tigerstar growled, his tail lashing. He was still angry. His plan had failed, as Brambleclaw had turned out to be more loyal to his leader then to his father.

Brambleclaw… Hawkfrost fixed his father's amber eyes with his own blue ones. "For a walk." He meowed, gruffly.

"You can walk later!" Tigerstar hissed, his eyes narrowing. "We have to talk. Now."

"No." Hawkfrost wasn't even sure why he was refusing his father, but right now, nothing mattered except getting a little time to himself. Just a few minutes to think! Was that really so much to ask?!

Tigerstar growled, but Hawkfrost was already out of sight, his dark tabby fur catching slightly on a patch of brambles.

More walking. He wasn't even sure his father knew this path. But even as he tread it, he could feel his fur tingle. What lies at the end...?

0o0o0o0o

Brambleclaw shivered. He was confused. He had thought his connection with this place had been severed when he killed Hawkfrost and defied his father. He hadn't expected to come back here in his dreams so soon.

"Brambleclaw?" The voice startled him, as he had last heard it coming from his brother's dying lips. Brambleclaw turned, looking behind him as Hawkfrost slunk into the clearing, his ears flattened against his head.

"Hawkfrost." Brambleclaw felt like he had a shard of ice in his throat as he gazed at his dead brother, who stood in front of him, eyes narrowed.

"Why are you here?" There was no malice in the blue-eyed tom's voice, only confusion.

"I-I don't know." Brambleclaw meowed, trying not to make eye contact with his half brother, as though he was afraid the blue eyes would burn him like fire.

Hawkfrost didn't say anything, only stood there, thinking. When he spoke, the question surprised Brambleclaw, as he would never have expected it. "Do you think, if you hadn't killed me, I would be leader?"

"There would be a very good chance." Brambleclaw stated, his fur tingling.

Hawkfrost sighed, looking around the clearing. "I've had time to think. If we weren't Tigerstar's kits, we could have been leaders, in a more traditional way."

"Maybe." The green-eyed tom sank to the ground, still watching Hawkfrost. "I think we could even have had kits. And mates."

"True, there was one she-cat, in RiverClan. Swallowtail. She liked me, I think, but I'll never know now, will I?" Hawkfrost sat down as well, looking up at the dark sky. "Sometimes I have these, kind of dreams, where I'm still alive, and I'm leader, surrounded by cats who respect me. There's no war, the prey is running well, and the kits are healthy. I never know whether or not I'm really seeing these things, only that it might have happened." He meowed, still staring up at the sky.

Brambleclaw stared at him for a moment, thinking. Was it possible that, if not for Tigerstar, both his sons would have become leaders? Without resorting to murder and cold-blooded killing? That both of the brothers would have had mates, and even kits?

"What might have happened…" Brambleclaw muttered, tracing a circle into the fine dust. "We can't know, can we?"

"True." Hawkfrost looked back at Brambleclaw, smiling slightly. "But we can still imagine, and dream. We can hope that one day, if StarClan will forgive me, we can both meet again, and live our dreams."

"Without bloodshed." Brambleclaw smiled as well.

"Without killing." Hawkfrost's ear twitched. "Tigerstar is coming. You'd better leave."

Brambleclaw nodded, backing into the bushes, thinking about what he and his half brother had shared…

0o0o0o0o

"That's good, Dawnflower." Mothwing purred, encouraging the queen.

Dawnflower gave a shaky smile as another spasm gripped her body. The second kit came into sight. Mothwing began licking the dark tabby kit, which opened it's mouth in a piteous wail.

"What do you want to call this one?" She asked between licks.

Dawnflower looked at the little scrap of fur before meowing.

"Hawkkit."

Well, I was just thinking about how the brother's lives could have been better. Sorry if it sucks.