Roseclaw nimbly jumped onto the wooden fence of Horseplace, mouth hanging open to catch a whiff of a familier scent. It's been so many moons since Rabbitfoot died, my kits are growing into fine young warriors, especially Rainpaw. The sandy she-cat thought, I know I'll never be complete without my mate, but when coming here, I do feel a little better. She smiled as Hawk's wild, but still kittypet, scent went over her sense. Because's he's here. Roseclaw jumped down and sped through the open barn door, dodging the grazing horses with long practice.

Smokepaw was doing what she did best; sneaking out. purring to herself at another successful escape, roaming around Windclan's territory, making sure to not be caught by another cat. As she reached Horseplace, where she sometimes went to stare at the huge beasts, she saw Roseclaw enter. Curious and confused, she sneakily crept towards the fence, watching Roseclaw enter the barn as if she had done so before. What...?
She didn't dare follow, for fear of being trampled to death by the horses, although she stayed low to the ground, watching the Barn.

"Hawk?" The sandy ginger queen called as she entered the dimly lit barn, only to find that she couldn't see the fire furred tom anywhere. Where is that birdbrained kittypet? Roseclaw thought, mouth hanging to try and scent him. Kittypet.. no, he's more then a kittypet.

___

Hawk, the battlescarred tom who lived in Horseplace and caught mice for the twolegs, or nofurs as he called them, was walking lightly on a support beam up near the cieling of the barn. Carefully, he leaned over the edge of little to peer down at the wild cat who had just entered. Grinning inwardly to himself, the dark ginger tom jumped off the beam, twisting in midair to land safely on his feet right infront of the she-cat.

"Gyah!" Roseclaw yowled, startled by his sudden appearance, "Don't do that you birdbrain!" She hissed.

Hawk simply gave a soft mrrow of laughter, prancing casually around her to exit back out the barn.

Roseclaw quickly followed him.

Smokepaw peered into the barn as best as she could, only catching glimpses of the she-cat and her companion. She was, however able to see that they were turning to leave, so she quickly sprinted up a nearby tree and then tried to hide as well as she could. To Smokepaw's mischievous young mind, this was a game; spy on Roseclaw without getting caught! hopefully, she wouldn't get caught.

"So how are your kits doing?" Hawk purred, looking behind him to the lighter ginger cat balancing on the wooden fence as they walked around the perimeter of the ranch.

"They are growing." Roseclaw responded slowly, "They will make fine warriors one day."

"Just like their parents."

The sandy she-cat's ears drooped slightly at the tom's choice of words.

"Eh, I'm sorry Rosey, didn't mean to bring him up." Hawk quickly amended.

"It's alright, Hawk." The Clan Cat purred, "They are a bit like him, especially Duskpaw." She paused a moment to give a small sigh. "I just miss him, Rabbitfoot was... Rabbitfoot, my mate, he was a part of my life, and I feel like something is missing without him here."

Hawk couldn't help but pull his muzzle into a sad, feline smile. "I'm sure he feels the same way, where ever he is."

"He's in StarClan."

The dark ginger tom chuckled, "Right, in StarClan." He purred. "Hey Rosey, I don't suppose you brought a friend when you came here?" Hawk asked, looking straight up into a tree above them that smelled very strongly like a WindClan cat, a different scent than Roseclaw.

"Noo...." Roseclaw said slowly, looking up into the tree as well.

Oh dear, it looks like she got caught. Hiding on top of a large bundle of leaves and branches, Smokepaw tried her best to be as small and unnoticeable as possible. She was curious about what the two were doing, and she couldn't be stopped now! Maybe they would just shrug it off and keep walking... Then she could keep watching!

Roseclaw let her jaw hang, scenting the air. The slight breeze rustled the leaves of the tree above them into their direction, bringing a familier scent to the sandy queen's senses. "Smokepaw!" She cried out, making the darker tom beside her jump a little, and glared up at the high branches of the tree where she guessed the little sneaky apprentice was hiding.

Darn! Caught! what do I do now..? Smokepaw thought to herself. She looked around. Even if she wanted to get down, it would take a while. Next time she hid, she would pick a more escapable spot. For now, alibi. "Uh, hi Roseclaw! I was just, uh, chasing a rabbit! Yeah, this really good looking hare jumped up into this tree! So I uh, chased it! Yeah, that!"

The dark ginger tom chuckled at the young apprentice's excuse, shaking his head. While the slimmer, sandy she-cat continued to glare up at Smokepaw, though her glare softened a bit at her Clanmate's words, showing she found it funny as well.

"Rabbits don't climb trees, much less get this close to the horses. You might want to prepare an excuse before you get caught, just in case. Can you get down?" Hawk purred, a clearly amused tone in his voice.

"I would love to get down, but I appear to have climbed very high. I can get down, but it might take some time.. Is that okay?" Smokepaw replied, honestly wishing that she knew how to remove herself from the tree.

"It's fine Smokepaw, just come down." Roseclaw sighed, shaking her head. Why was she following me? She thought to herself. "And Hawk, why would give her advice on spying on others?"

The battlescarred kittypet known as Hawk simply lifted his shoulders a bit in a shrug for a reply, a feline smile forming on his muzzle.

Nodding, Smokepaw began the slow descent down the tree, which, for the record, she would never be climbing again because it obviously afforded her absolutely no sanctuary. Once she got close enough to the ground, she jumped off and landed a bit shakily, and timidly looked towards the two older cats. "Uh... Hi."

Roseclaw didn't seem amused anymore, "Hello Smokepaw, now mind telling me why your here?" The sandy WindClanner said to her younger Clanmate.

"Hi." Hawk replied with a smile, quite obviously not in any kind of hurry to get answers, unlike the she-cat beside him. "Names' Hawk, nice to meet you."

She stared at both cats in quick succession. She could go the sad way and explain her sneaky cat-ninjaness to Roseclaw, or she could go the happy way and talk to the obviously super cool Hawk! She chose the cool way, obviously.
"Hi Hawk! My name's, uh, Smokepaw. But I guess you knew that, since Roseclaw just said it and all." She said, minding to not catch Roseclaw's gaze, for fear of a deathly stare that would make her confess everything.

The sandy queen sighed, shaking her furry head. "I'm not going to claw or bite, Smokepaw, I would just like to know why you decided to spy on me." Roseclaw mewed.

"That ones' a bit obvious Rosey." Hawk purred, still clearly amused by the whole situation. "A proud wild cat like yourself visiting a strange battlescarred kittypet who lives on the edge of your territory, if I was Smokey here I would have done some spying too." He paused for a moment, "Granted, I think I'd have managed to stay hidden a bit longer, you need more practice, kit."

This was not the case. Nevertheless, she wanted to leave as quickly as possible(Or hang out with Hawk for as long as possible) so she quickly nodded and said, "Okay, I wil-... Wait, what?"

Roseclaw just looked at the darker furred kittypet and her younger Clanmate, staring.

"It's either that, or she did it just for fun." Hawk mewed, smiling again. "Either of you two hungry? There's some nice plump mice back in the barn."

"Hawk, that is against the Warrior Code and would be unfair to the Clan." The sandy she-cat meowed.

"You weren't on a hunting patrol, Rosey." Hawk pointed out, "And you can bring some back to your Clanmates, there's plenty of mice."

"Yeah, that!" Smokepaw mewed, grinning. "And... I am kinda hungry.." She continued. She hadn't eaten since the day before, mostly because she'd been out doing mischievous and questionable tree climbing and running and spying all day, but that's also beside the point.

"Haha, sounds like the kit is hungry," Hawk chuckled, turning around to head back to the barn. "C'mon Rosey, Smoke, you can bring as many as you can carry back to your Clan, I know the nofurs won't complain."

Roseclaw just shook her head and sighed, again, and started following the dark ginger tom. Fox... She thought solemnly, What am I going to do with you?

Happy, Smokepaw bounced along behind the two cats, oblivious to Roseclaw's.. Distress? Anyways, she couldn't wait to eat some delicious, yummy mouses!

As they entered the barn, Hawk spotted a mouse scurrying across the hay and dirt covered ground, in an instant the dark ginger tom rushed forward. As he ran, Hawk dipped his head, catching the mouse's neck in his jaws before it could react to nearly being trampled. The spine snapped from the force of his grab and the grinding of the cat's sharp teeth, causing the mouse to fall limp as Hawk trotted back to his guests. "Want this, or would you rather hunt for yourselves?" The kittypet purred after dropping the fresh-kill.