Whee, another pointless oneshot! Yeah, the couple's Squirrelflight/Hawkfrost. (deep voice) I have been seduced by the dark side. (normal voice; laughs) Haha, just kidding. I'm a loyal Bramble x Squirrel shipper like most of you. But seriously, here's the concept: You no likey the pairing, you no read the fic. I don't see why that has to be so hard for some of you. Therefore, only Squirrel x Hawk shippers and people open-minded about pairings should read on.

This little drabble-ish thingy is really more of an experiment and is probably the crappiest thing I've ever written, and some of the lines aren't exactly correct, but bear with me here. I tend not to write well with couples I don't ship, and my asshole father confiscated all my Warriors books. Said some crap about me needing to read books more appropriate for my age. Hmph. Pretentious little-

(composes herself) Sorry about that. Excuse my temper, and onward with the oneshot!

The sun is barely rising, its golden beams slicing through the distant treetops and casting a glow onto the already-glittering lake. Ripples in the surface disturb the perfection of the sky's countenance ever so slightly, and as the fiery entity creeps up its palette, my dark brown fur ruffles up against a gust of early morning wind; my topaz-colored eyes narrow against the blinding glow reflecting off the lake.

Insomnia's put me up to this, as it so often has. The mental encounter with my father and brother is still whirling through my mind as I push myself to my paws and, with a quick glance around the warriors' den, pad out of the small hollow.

As always, the sound of the stream greets me, bubbling and rushing softly over its banks, almost as though it's greeting me. But I head right past it, choosing to ignore it, and right out of camp.

Tigerstar's told us not to wait to get what we want. Strange, I think to myself now, because until last night I thought to avoid the mistakes he made, I had to be patient. He said we don't expect the prey to leap right into our paws when we hunt, why should this be any different? My claws unsheathe and flex at thinking about it, leaving small marks in the dirt, as I walk right up to the half bridge outside our camp and peer over it. The image I see is the same as always – powerful shoulders, fierce blue eyes, thick unmarked dark coat. The same, yet somehow slightly different. For a brief moment my reflection seems to change – only the slightest flicker – but a water bug skitters across the surface and makes my image quiver, so I can't be too sure.

Staring back out at the lake again, narrowing my eyes against the bright glimmer on its surface, I can just see the blurry outlines of the trees on the other side, and for some reason I suddenly have a ferocious, unexplainable urge to swim over to the ThunderClan side of the lake and claw the trees to pieces for harboring the cat who padded through so many of my thoughts.

Not Brambleclaw. The cat I wanted here right now had nothing – and yet everything in the world – to do with him.

Tigerstar's words come back to me once again, and for some reason their echo makes me cringe. When you hunt, do you expect the prey to leap into your paws? No. You scent your prey, you stalk it, and then you pounce.

Yes, I almost whisper aloud, but in reference to what?

And maybe it's just my imagination, but even the wind drops and the lake holds perfectly still – rigid, not even daring to move for fear of rousing my temper.

And for a moment I want to just kill her for torturing me like this, even though she couldn't even know how much she was.

StarClan, what was the matter with me? Why couldn't I just execute my "perfect" plan and get it over with?

Some part of me knows why, though. I just don't want to admit it, even to myself.

What's the shame in admitting it? That irritating inner voice pushes forward.

My eyes narrow and I nearly tell my mind to shut up right here and now.

But what would be so bad about it? I can't help but wonder. To let myself acknowledge that every time I see her flaming ginger pelt, look into her fierce green eyes, it's as though a demon has abruptly wormed its way into my chest and is pounding hard against the inside of my ribcage?

It can never be, though. My stomach wrenches at the very thought of it.

No! No! Don't make yourself give in to your feelings, Hawkfrost. Remember what Tigerstar said. Don't let yourself give in.

Repeating it over and over in my mind, a helpless mantra echoing about in my mind, until the knot in my stomach finally dissolves ever so slightly.

And as though to distract myself even more, my lips unconsciously move as my father's words ring through my head: Courage in battle is important. Remember that when you are leaders. Although the words were addressed to both me and Brambleclaw, I can't help but feel Tigerstar was speaking to me directly.

I stare out at the lake again and know what I shall do.

Take over the Clans with Brambleclaw at my side…

And then, when the time is right…

Rip out his throat.

The wind, the very breeze seems to sigh with satisfaction, and my claws, about to sink into the ground, relax.

Yes, that is what I must do. And perhaps then, perhaps then…

Squirrelflight might come to me on her own.

My claws flex against the ground, and despite the complete absurdity of my wish, for an all-too-brief moment it's as though a huge weight's been lifted from my shoulders.

"Hawkfrost?"

I turn to see a lithe golden-furred shape slip up to me and nod in acknowledgment, at the same time hoping my eyes don't give anything away. "Mothwing."

"You should get back to camp. The Clan's starting to wake up."

"Oh, yes. Right."

As Mothwing nods and turns without a backward glance to go back to camp, I can't help but sneak a last look back at the other side of the lake. I think I catch a glimpse of a dark cinnamon pelt, but it's gone so quickly I can't be sure.

When you hunt, do you expect the prey to leap into your paws? No. You scent your prey, you stalk it, and then you pounce.

I will follow what Tigerstar said. But first, the Clans.

Then my love.

So whadja think? Remember that I will not take kindly to flames. (has Material Blade out and at the ready just in case) XD

Also! Before I forget, I've started doing Warriors fanart. Some of it is better than others, sometimes humorous, sometimes romance, but the links to the pics are on my profile. PM me if you like 'em. Also, keep in mind that my scanner sucks, and therefore some of the coloring might look a little off. So just try and ignore that, kay?