Dreams of Grandeur [Hawk]

[Willow]

Shadow slept. The world was dark around her and alive with life but still she slept. Sleep clutched her and dragged her into a world of dreams. She had never slept deeper in her life and more than once her dream self wondered if she had died. There seemed to be no way to wake up from such a deep slumber. Around her the wind howled, frogs croaked and owls called. But she heard none of this. The black she-cat slept on, impervious to the real world. A fog rolled around her, chilling her to the bone. But she, in her dream state, felt nothing.

But she saw much.

In front of her dream eyes, somehow open, a world of grandeur and light spread. Stars twinkled all around. She stood on a large rock in the center of a great clearing. Around this clearing stood four great oak trees towering far into the heavens. Fourtrees, her dream-self whispered naming the famous clearing at the center of the cat’s lands.

Many cats swam out of the sky, materializing from the stars and landed around her. Their twinkling eyes focused on the powerful black cat. Shadow stared back to as many as she could manage. Even for a dream, this was quite unnerving. What do you want? she finally managed in words that were all too real for a dream.

One cat stepped forward, his coat glistening with starlight and his eyes twin moons. Shadow, he began and she found herself unsurprised that this starry cat knew her name. The forest is changing as the sky has changed. A new future is coming, a future of cooperation, of battle, of strength. A future where you will be led by us. By StarClan.

StarClan? she scoffed.

We are your ancestors, Shadow, and the ancestors of all forest cats. We have come together slowly to form the magnificent force known as StarClan. It is nearly time for the forest cats to emulate our ways. Loners, and house-cats too, must became comrades. They must learn to work together or all shall perish.

Shadow was incredulous. House cats? You expect me to cooperate with soft, overfed cats like them?

They are not all soft. Some are not much different from you, Shadow.

She scoffed again and gave no answer. Maybe she had accidentally eaten some strange mushroom with her last meal. That would explain such a strange dream.

Yet… something about it seemed so real. Lifelike. Not a dream.

Think on what I said, Shadow. For when this future comes you will be a great leader, a great force. But you will not be the only one.

One word stuck in Shadow’s mind as the starry cats dissipated. ‘Leader.’ But she shook her head. The dream was nothing but a hallucination. It was simply what she had wanted to hear.

Slowly, the vestiges of sleep lifted from her mind and she awoke as if from a trance. Darkness greeted her green eyes. The large cat stood slowly, her limbs stiff. She stretched and looked around as her eyes grew used to the enveloping darkness again. Her swamp. She was no longer in the clearing of the four trees. She let out a relieved sigh and sat in the marsh grass, washing one paw pensively.

[Solo]

HAWK
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Among the darkness of the swampland, a deeper shadow moved, silent and cautious. The feline’s ears were pricked, sharp orange eyes cutting through the night. His paws sank sometimes into the peaty soil, his furry tail dirtied with mud as it trailed behind him. The swamps at night were more eerie and unfamiliar than his woodland territory. When a frog croaked nearby, he nearly jumped. With a snort, the tomcat continued prowling through the swamp.

It had been seasons since he’d been here. Upon separating from his family, he had wandered for close to a moon to find a home of his own. Once he had reached the forest and become in tune with it, Hawk had known he’d found where he would carry out the rest of his life. He would have been content with never leaving the woods. However, rumors of a powerful she-cat had reached his ears, and the description was all too familiar.

How long has it been since I’ve seen Shadow? Hawk wondered, thinking of his sister. They had never seen eye to eye on many things, other than their love for the darkness. That had been a big part of their competition growing up. However, Hawk had refused to think badly of his sibling, and he was curious to see what she had become. It was for this reason he had decided to seek her out. While not many forest cats were very social, there was always a small bond between family members in spite of the moons of separation, and it was probably why he had cared to make the journey.

As it was, the large black tomcat was lucky. He hadn’t wandered far through the moist grass before a familiar smell reached him. He opened his mouth and inhaled; the image of a tough she-cat came to mind, and underneath that unique marker was the mixed odor of his parents. It had to be her.

Shaking mud from a paw, cursing the recent rains that had churned up the earth, Hawk quickened his pace though he didn’t drop his guard. There was no telling if his sister would recognize him. He frowned and came to a halt near a clump of vegetation. While the swampland hosted its own collection of plants, it wasn’t as tightly clumped as the forest, and he was grateful to find something to hide behind. Here, the smell was stronger even in the humid atmosphere.

He saw a large she-cat sitting in the grass, grooming and at ease. He knew it would not be long before she picked up his scent, and what she would do then was anyone’s guess.

“Shadow,” Hawk hissed quietly. He pushed past the leaves and blinked at her in greeting. It was the first time he’d seen her fully grown, rather than as another young adult just ready to trudge out on her own. The definition of her muscles even rivaled his. Scars parted her fur, and he could tell that she’d become a fighter in the moons since he’d last seen her. He grew slightly more tense and nervous.

“It’s Hawk,” he meowed, in case she hadn’t figured that out. He swallowed and took a step back, his expression polite and interested if not incredibly warm. Even if she did recognize him, what would he tell her if she was hostile?

---

ooc; Sorryyyy. This post is terrible and all over the place. >< I had no idea what to write.

[Willow]

As she sat washing her paw, a black shape manifested out of the shadows, slowly becoming a black cat that looked remarkably like herself. She raised her hackles and hissed as the cat spoke her name in a hiss. Then, she caught his smell and before he uttered his name her hostility turned, at least slightly, to confusion and incredulity.

What the hell else is going to happen to me today? she asked herself with exasperation.

"What are you doing back here? You left forever ago. I thought you didn't want to dirty your paws in the swamp again?" her strong voice still held a hint of hostility. Just because this was her brother did not mean he was allowed to trespass without any punishment. And furthermore, he probably knew this was her territory.

"Finally decide leaping after squirrels isn't really that fun?" she scoffed.

She had no love of Hawk and had nearly forgotten he even existed after they parted ways. Shadow would have to make this point perfectly clear. Especially if he was still touting the forest's "appeal."

[Solo]

HAWK
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Why had he expected her to be friendly?

Shadow understandably hissed at him when he first approached, but after getting over her initial shock at seeing him again, she began to taunt him. He flattened his ears and took a step back, his tail pushing against the vegetation behind him. Other than that, though, he kept his emotions in check. His gaze wasn’t hurt or frustrated but instead calm as he listened to her. He knew that, if he didn’t play his cards right, this might end up in a fight or at least a territorial scuffle. But did she really think he’d have the stupidity to march onto this strong she-cat’s land and hunt there?

“I had the urge to wander,” Hawk replied to her first question. She was right in that he didn’t like the swamp, but every cat needed a place suited to them. With her dark, muscular body and cold green eyes, she seemed to blend into the territory around her. “And catching squirrels is no less fun, though I must say I prefer mouse. Not as much meat, but much less hair.”

He focused on relaxing his stiff hackles and sounding polite if not especially friendly. Deep in his mind he felt that he was being the better cat by treating his sibling kindly, while she hissed and accused him. However, there was still the issue that she wasn’t going to welcome him any time soon, and he was at a loss of what to say.

“How’s the prey running?” the muscular tom managed. His voice was interested rather than sarcastic. “Though I suppose you’re getting along fine. I didn’t expect anything less from you.”