★ ★ ★ This whole situation had been a bit... overwhelming, to say the least. He hadn't been the most keen on joining Shadowclan and leaving behind everything they'd ever known. But really, what else did they have now? If nothing else, he was grateful for this new, big family he'd gotten out of it. Having Snipe and Pipit was more than enough for the scarred ebony tom, but this... having so many more shoulders to lean on now, it was something else entirely. It was... nice. And he wanted to keep it. He didn't want to mess this up.
He sat quietly beside his brothers and his newly found aunt, fluffy tail curled casually around his paws while the rest of them talked. Pipit passed him the bird carcass that Lilacfur had given him while asking her questions, but in truth, Hawk wasn't very hungry. This conversation, while important, made his stomach churn a bit. He still hadn't allowed himself to really feel the grief of his mother's death, and talking about her was making it difficult to keep pushing those feelings back down. He offered a soft smile to his chimera sibling but pushed the morsel to Snipe with a paw, returning his gaze to Lilacfur while Pipit answered her questions in his usual energetic manner.
Hawk nodded along in agreement with his brother's description of their mother, his soft smile lightening somewhat at the memories of her. Porcupine had been a present and loving mother to them, and he missed her.
"It really was a little bit of both," he murmured in reply to her first question, waiting until Pip was done with his own answer before speaking up.
"We were protective over her, of course, but she was pretty fierce in her own right." She had to be, in order to raise three boisterous young tom cats all on her own in the loner lands. She didn't have a clan around to help her. Would things have been different if they'd been raised here..?
He chuckled softly as Basilpaw bounded towards them, practically radiating youthful energy. Hawk listened attentively as the apprentice detailed his own close relationship with his brother, an amused grin twitching the corner of his mouth upwards.
"Oh, I believe you. I bet you and Lividpaw are as close as brothers can be; just like us." He cast the young grey feline a sly wink.
"When he becomes leader, we'll cheer for him too."
His ears perked up a bit when Pipit asked about Lilac's relationship with their father, and he found himself leaning in a bit. He wanted to know more about their family dynamics, and what he had to look forward to here. Were they close? Did they rely on each other like the three brothers always had? Could they rely on each other now? He was going to tack on to the question but in his usual style, Pipit kept talking. Hawk winced slightly at the mention of Starlingheart and her supposed 'lover'; they hadn't been here long, but even
he had picked up on the fact that something terrible had happened there.
He thought to interrupt and steer the conversation to something less grim, but before he had a chance, Basilpaw was practically buzzing with enthusiasm as he relayed to them, in very blunt terms, exactly what had happened with Starlingheart's former mate. A sigh pushed past his lips and he forced a strained smile to his face, nudging the young apprentice with his paw good-naturedly.
"I'm sure you could protect all of us, if you ever needed to. Luckily, I don't think the need will arise any time soon." The black and white tomcat cleared his throat awkwardly, turning back to Lilacfur in a hopefully successful attempt to change the subject.
"Ah, well, Pipit said we have cousins. What can you tell us about them?" 
