[beso bo, my people, beso bo] hawk&OPEN

[glowlynose]

Hawkheart's day had been going absolutely perfectly up until now. He'd woken up, gone for a nice leisurely hunt, and even played in the snow a little bit before returning to his camp. The sky only had a few clouds in it, and it was warmer than it had been in a quarter-moon. So what had ruined his day? A little golden tabby apprentice had been playing with his friend. They were tackling each other in the drifts of snow, completely oblivious as to the way their innocent game was affecting him. How could they know? How could they have any idea where Hawkheart had come from?

The light brown tabby closed his eyes and turned away from the sight of the two young cats, shaking his head as if to dissipate some horrible memory. It didn't work. His kithood and life before the clans was flying back to him, a completely unwanted inconvenience. He didn't want to remember his father's death. Hawkheart didn't want to remember how he'd... how he'd killed the leader of his birth-clan, the very tom who'd been there throughout his entire life.

His old territory was coming back now. It was a journey of many moons from MeadowClan, over the mountains and across a stretch of arid land. He could see himself as a kit, playing with his sister and watched by his father. There was darkness, and then Hawk-kit was stuck in a gorge. It was flooding, and soon he'd be swept away by the torrent, never to be seen again. Then he was grasped by strong jaws and tossed up to the top. His father disappeared beneath the raging waters and was carried away instead of Hawk-kit, bashed against rocks and plunged underneath the water. It was easy to see where his father was, for he left a trail of red in the water. Hawk-kit couldn't face his family after he'd killed his father, so he ran away. He learned to survive on his own miles and miles away from his mother and sister. Then he'd found MeadowClan, and he'd made himself a new life. There were no worries here.

Thus, it was entirely stupid for him to be remembering this at the moment. He'd managed to ignore his past for moons upon moons. So why was he feeling guilty again? He was a successful warrior. He'd found a good home with no reminders of his father's death. In fact, he'd deliberately chosen MeadowClan for its lack of resemblance to his old home. He blinked a few times and sighed. What could he do about it now? His father was long gone, and he'd never see his family again. What had happened to them anyway? Had they managed to survive? Or were they all dead?

He'd told himself that he'd return after everyone would have forgotten about the tragedy. Well, he hadn't, and he didn't want to go back anymore. It was too far gone for him to face the grief again. It would turn him into a kit again. Warriors weren't supposed to be kits. He muttered a sharp reprimand to the two apprentices and skulked off to a patch of shade. Nobody would bother him there, would they? Nobody really cared about him here, not with his past kept a secret. They couldn't possibly, could they? The shame was too much.

[/center]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Palepaw was bored. Two other apprentices were playing nearby, but unusually she didn't feel like joining them. For some strange reason, she wanted to talk to someone older, someone mature and intelligent...somewhat unlike herself, unfortunately. Still, technically she was the most mature cat in the apprentices' den - or at least the oldest one, at 11 moons.

Well, Sparrowpaw's only a moon younger than me and Rabbitpaw and Speckledpaw and Swanpaw are only two moons younger than me, she argued to herself. What's the difference? A lot, the smug side of her answered. You're closer to your ceremony, you know more battle moves, you - ugh, just shut up, the sensible bit of her groaned. I hardly need to hear how wonderful I am. Stupid brain.

Hey...wasn't that Hawkheart over there?

Maybe she could go talk to him, just to stop the smug voice in her head. Why not?

So the spotted, light gray she-cat padded over to the brown tabby, with a pleasant expression on her face. She sat about a tail-length from him, and said "Hey. Sure is snowy, isn't it?" With a big grin on her face. Gah, it was probably lame. Oh well. Hopefully he was in a good mood.

[May]

A flash of orange appeared in the snowy whiteness; Lionstorm was back in camp and, lo and behold, in a good mood. Her blue eyes bright and her long fur fluffed up against the cold, she carried a large squirrel in her mouth. This was part of the reason for her unheard of happiness-the other half was the snow. Unlike most cats, the burly she-cat loved the white stuff. It created a silent, beautiful forest and allowed her to avoid talking to anyone, plus her downy fur meant she wouldn't freeze. However, now she actually wanted a little conversation.

As she spotted Palepaw and Hawkheart, Lionstorm padded over to them, getting through the snow more easily than most because of her long legs. Although she knew neither of the two cats by anything more than sight-hell, she didn’t really know anyone in her clan as more than a face with a name-she hoped the squirrel she carried would work well enough as a peace offering.

/Well, here goes./

She dropped the fresh kill in front of the apprentice and other warrior, putting on a smile.

“Great weather we’ve been having, am I right?”

/Wow, do I sound like a world-class freak./

Lionstorm realized too late that, no, most cats didn’t actually like the snow as much as she did. The orange tabby silently cursed at her stupidity. Well, there was no turning back now.

[glowlynose]

Hawkheart blinked slowly, giving Palepaw and Lionstorm blank looks. The reason that he'd come over to the shade in the first place was to mope. That generally meant not associating with anybody. He did not want to talk to either of the she-cats; Palepaw was too... too young and innocent, and Lionstorm was too peppy at the moment. How any one cat could be so happy about snow, of all the ridiculous things, totally escaped him. Great weather? The weather was better on his old territory by a significant margin. The blankness in his gaze was replaced with a carefully weighted cynicism.

"Great weather? I wish. I can't stand all this snow! It's too wet; we never had anything like this in my old territory. It was pretty dry, and mostly warm."

[/color] Hawkheart flicked his ear absentmindedly. Now they would both undoubtedly try to engage him in small talk. He couldn't be rude and ignore them, so he'd be forced to endure their mindless chatter. If either of them said a single thing of consequence he would be utterly shocked. She-cats could be so materialistic and simple-minded.

"How's your training going, Palepaw? Are you enjoying it much in all this snow?"[/color] he asked in an attempt to be amiable. After all, if he was going to be forced to deal with their company he might as well make something of it.

A harsh wind rattled the branches of the snow-laden tree that Hawkheart was resting under. This dislodged some snow, which then crashed unceremoniously down upon his head. For quite some time, not even a muscle twitched. Then seemingly out of the blue, the pale brown tabby blinked his fiery golden eyes, tilted his head to one side, and shuddered. It was a surprisingly effective attempt to tamp his anger. The stupid wind, coming and blowing snow all over the place! Stupid snow! It was too cold and too clean and absolutely disgusting in every way, shape, and form. Hawkheart much preferred the dirty, earthy, living tones that came with Green-Leaf. Most of all, he prized the warmth of the summer months.

"And THAT," he explained with a pointed glare at the sky, "Is why I don't like the snow."[/color]
[/center][/size]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Oh, dang. It was Lionstorm. Palepaw had hear some not-so-pretty rumors about her. The most chilling was probably that if you made Lionstorm mad enough, she would take your ears off no questions asked.

Wonderful.

Well, she'd put off having to talk to Lionstorm while she replied to Hawkheart, and she couldn't help laughing as the snow fell on him.

"Hawkheart, I'm sorry I laughed 'cause I'm sure it's not fun having snow dumped on you..." The spotted apprentice had to giggle before she resumed speaking. "..but that was just classic. And my training, uh....it's going well, I guess. Crowclaw's great-" She squirmed a little at the lie. Well, not exactly a lie. He was good at teaching her. But she so often petrified with fear it was hard to train. "-but I have a hard time paying attention, 'cause I fail like that. But I've managed to learn some stuff in five moons, at least." She added.

"What was your old territory like, besides being dry and warm?" The brownish gray MeadowClanner put in as an afterthought.

She couldn't put it off anymore. Trying to suppress a look of fear, she looked at Lionstorm with big yellow eyes."H-hi, Lionstorm. The weather's just... hilarious, no?" Palepaw managed a grin.