[center][h1][color=F5A821][i][b]Hawk[/b][/i][/color][/h1][/center]

[center]Interacting with: [@sassy1085] and [@skitts][/center]

Today he felt like fish. 

One of the (albeit very few) benefits of being exiled from a Clan was that he could roam the territories as he pleased, pursuing whatever type of prey he was in the mood for. (Well, as long as he didn't get caught.)

And Hawk was very good at not getting caught. The large orange tom jogged along the edge of BirchClan's territory, heading towards the wetlands of MistClan territory to see if he could catch a big, juicy, plump, fish. He'd been loitering on the edge of ThornClan and BirchClan territory for awhile, hoping to catch sight of his sister, thinking maybe enough time had passed that some of their other Clanmates would have stepped in on his behalf, but alas....nothing. 

So he wandered. 

He liked to tell himself that this fun and commitment-free life was what he wanted, that he enjoyed living outside of responsibility and away from obligation. 

But none of that was true. 

He missed having someone to share tongues with after a long day of hunting or patrol. He missed playing pranks on susceptible Apprentices, he missed gently playing with little kits as they learned how to walk and jump and play-fight. 

He missed Whitewind. 

The thought of his friend pierced deeply within Hawk, and the large tom slowed his jog, letting the grief wash over him. He spotted a lizard darting in front of him and lashed out with his claws, but it was a half-hearted attempt and the hapless lizard scrambled away. Whitewind would have called him a lizard-brain for wasting prey like that. Hawk chuckled at the inadvertent joke he had made to himself. When you've lived alone for as long as Hawk has, you had to learn to entertain yourself. 

Suddenly, up ahead, Hawk heard some kind of altercation between some cats. It seemed that a BirchClan border patrol had perhaps encountered some MistClan cats. But then...what was that? 

He slowed down to a stalk, maneuvering the tall reeds and exposed roots around him, doing his best to blend in to the territory around him. His amber eyes were closed to slits as he approached, wary of what he was seeing. Had those MistClan cats attacked that poor BirchClan cat? But those wounds...that didn't look like anything a Warrior would even be capable of doing...it looked....[b]barbaric.[/b]

Hawk was having a hard time seeing from his vantage point, awkwardly tucked behind a large rock, but he dare not try to move closer. Were the BirchClan cats still there? He hoped not. [color=F5A821]Just what I need. [i]Two[/i] Clan Border Patrols angry at a trespasser, [i]and[/i] a cat-killing-monster. Great. Why didn't I want vole today!? I could have stayed far away from this whole mess, but noooo....[/color] He sighed. Since when had he ever been good at staying [i]away[/i] from the trouble?

The two MistClan Warriors seemed to also still be there, and he couldn't tell if there was an altercation between BirchClan or MistClan, but he was ready to fight if he needed to. He wasn't sure on whose side yet though. Probably MistClan's, he found BirchClan cats to be pretentious and irritating....but that's neither here nor there. One of the MistClan Warriors had definitely run off, [color=F5A821][b]"presumably to report to their Deputy, I'd bet"[/b][/color] Hawk muttered to himself, anxiously kneading the ground. 

Well, he didn't want to get roped into a confrontation with these Warriors, particularly as he hadn't done anything wrong and he was up to his whiskers with being accused of crimes he didn't commit, but curiosity did have him staying there and watching to see what unfolded, pressing his large frame against a rock and staying as low to the ground as he possibly could to stay out of sight.