[dangerous dreaming]

[Brackentail]

Hawktalon

---

He felt warm. Heat lapped at Hawktalon's brown tabby fur as he wandered around the wide moor in search of food. His luck had been very scarce this afternoon and all he had caught so far was a stringy squirrel. He was very displeased with himself, and he was determined to do extra with how few warriors they had these days.

By the time he had passed at least a dozen of GustClan's famous puddles, Hawktalon was starting to get mad at himself. "Mouse-brained prey," growled Hawktalon, "Why are they so good at hiding? I'll never catch one if all they do is sit in their holes all day waiting for me to go hom---" Hawktalon cut off his own sentence as a sudden change in weather occurred, turning his words into a loud hiss.

"Rain? It has to rain now? Guess it's a squirrel or nothing, then," meowed Hawktalon, growing twice as mad as he was before, picking up his squirrel and heading back to camp. He never did reach camp, though, for a bolt of lightning struck across the sky and he dropped the squirrel he had in his jaws in utter surprise as he jumped in fear.

Next moment, Hawktalon found himself opening his amber eyes to see the Hot Springs in front of him. 'Huh...I fell asleep? Stupid rainstormed dreams,' thought Hawktalon, sitting up and stretching. He glanced around his surroundings, suddenly aware that he was in a section popular to loners and rogues. Thankfully no one seemed to be nearby, and he lay back down.

The sun was half-way sunk, leading Hawktalon to think it wasn't quite sun-down yet. 'Thank StarClan,' he thought, 'If I'd been caught out here asleep, things could've become dangerous for me.' He continued to spy around the Springs, waiting for a sign of prey to capture before returning to camp.

[Hopey]

firewing

"It's just perfect," his sarcastic drawl cut through late afternoon air, and though poisonous, was low. Golden eyes snapped in irritation as the flame coloured tom weaved his way around the ponds. His fur was sticking out in odd directions, and he looked decidedly frazzled. Now, for anyone who knew Firewing, this was very unusual. It wasn't like he was a vain tom - in fact, his rugged appearance stated otherwise. But he did take care of himself, and liked to look at least neat. And, anyone in his Clan could tell you, he absolutely, positively hated getting wet. Because it took way too long for him to comb his fur back into place with his tongue, and he was too shy to let others help, so it took him forever. But what had he gone and done this wonderful summer evening?

Fallen into one of the deeper Hot Springs, that's what.

Now, it must be said that he hadn't meant to fall in. Nope, not this tom. Because most of the time, he was the epitome of grace and talent. Okay, maybe that was a bit far, but he knew his way around his territory. And, yet, somehow, he managed to fall in. It was all that rabbits fault, he thought angrily as he stalked his way through the warm area. Firewing had been chasing a rather plump rabbit - which was rare for him, since he wasn't exactly the fastest cat in the forest - when the rabbit all of a sudden turned and SPLASH poor Firewing ended up face first into the water. It wasn't all that hot, so it didn't hurt him, though he most definitely didn't enjoy it, that's for sure. In fact, he absolutely, positively, HATED getting wet. HATED it.

So, already in a foul mood, Firewing was less that happy to stumble across another cat - especially one of his own Clan, who knew him, and knew exactly how much he abhorred water. When the ginger tom saw Hawktalon he growled. "Oh, great. This day cannot possibly get worse."

[Brackentail]

Hawktalon

---

Hawktalon's dark brown ears twitched at the slightest sound from somewhere off in the distance that he could not pin point. He turned his head to look toward the direction of the noise, which sounded like it might have been a splash followed by a cat's meow. Hawktalon couldn't determine whether or not it had been a fellow Clan cat's voice or a loner; the space was vast here. He almost never could tell what came from where, and he never was good at it, no matter how many times his old mentor had tried to teach him.

"Come on, Hawkpaw, that was a mouse's sound!" Iceclaw would growl at Hawktalon in their training sessions. "You'll never be a true warrior if you can't tell what the sounds are from that far away. It's one of GustClan's best talents to learn!" This would always infuriate Hawktalon.
"Never be a true warrior my tail," Hawkpaw would respond, "I knew that was a mouse! I just didn't...recognize it right away." His tail would start to fluff up slightly in frustration.
"Quit acting like a know-it-all," Iceclaw told him, "And start learning those sounds."
Hawktalon's tail would be a poof of fur at this point, and his ears would flatten to his head as he tried to focus more.

Hawktalon shook his head at the thought. 'Old memories,' he thought, 'No use thinking about them right now.' His ears twitched once more as the sound of approaching pawsteps came to earshot, and Hawktalon turned his head around lazily as he continued to lie down. He saw a cat coming toward him who had ginger fur and once Hawktalon saw the white paws, he recognized him as Firewing. Hawktalon sat up and turned around to face him.

As Hawktalon faced him, however, his eyes entered a half irritated, half amused expression at the sight of Firewing up close. For Firewing's fur had turned frazzled, and it appeared as though it may have been dampened. Hawktalon was starting to stifle an awkward laugh, but soon began stifling some rage instead at Firewing's harsh tone.
"What's that supposed to mean, not happy to see your own Clanmate?" Hawktalon growled in response.

[Hopey]

firewing

It wasn't enough that he was a failure of a hunter. He had always had issues with it when he was training, his mentor constantly harping, "Be lighter, Firepaw, lighter! A mouse will hear you before it sees you, and in your case, you sound like a Monster!" It was humiliating. He had been trying so hard, and yet his mentor constantly shot him down. It was depressing. Firewing simply wasn't meant to be an excellent hunter. He was big. He was bulky. He was heavy. None of this fast, light, razzle-dazzle business. He was meant to be a fighter. It was what he was good at. Sure, Firewing didn't exactly like to actually fight, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

But no. It wasn't only that, but Firewing had to go and spoil his day by falling into water. It had been going all right before this, too, despite his hunting failure. He had woken up early, bossed some apprentices around, took food to the elders, puttered about on patrol, the made the ill-fated decision to go out hunting. The Clan did need it, but not enough for him to fall into water. He HATED water. It wasn't like he couldn't swim, because that wasn't the case at all. Despite his bulky size, he was actually a fairly awesome swimmer. Mostly because his mentor had repeatedly shoved him into the water to get his stubborn apprentice into it. But it didn't mean he liked it at all. The water seeped through his fur and took forever to dry, and it was just ridiculous. Firewing was not appreciative of it at all.

It was all of this that coupled into his sharp words to his Clanmate. Normally he wasn't so rude to his own Clan (to other Clans, maybe). But today was steadily getting worse. "Oh, don't get your fur fluffed up, Hawktalon," the frazzled cat snapped. "You're being overly sensitive." And, in Firewing's opinion, he was. Though most cats wouldn't come out and say it... but then again, Firewing wasn't like most cats.

[Brackentail]

Hawktalon

---

It was clear to Hawktalon at this point that Firewing was irritated by his frazzled, damp fur. To Hawktalon, this was a highlight of his day. It wasn't every day you saw Firewing, of all cats, come up to you after falling into water and getting himself soaked like some bug that couldn't protect itself. Or at least, that's how Hawktalon looked at it. He didn't know how it happened, but he knew Firewing wasn't stupid. The fact that Firewing wasn't an idiot made it all the more amusing to Hawktalon that he had gotten so wet.

At the sound of Firewing's snap, however, Hawktalon's amusement fell once more. If anyone knew how to make Hawktalon angry, it was Firewing when he was pissed off. Hawktalon's ears flattened slightly to his head.

"Overly sensi---" Hawktalon twitched, slightly stung by what he took as an insult. "There's no way I'm being overly sensitive! You were the first to snap at me, making me sound like a drag by saying the day couldn't get any worse when you saw me!" The fur on Hawktalon's tail began to fluff up, manifesting one of his many habits he would do whenever he became angry.