This Is What We Know ✔️

xiii. admittance

chapter thirteen;
admittance

p l o v e r p a w

The black feline with eyes of gold found their footing when they entered Yarrowstar's den by leaning up against the leader's son, the familiarity of the tom cat easing any panic they felt in the moment. Heronpaw himself looked pale, and they recalled how he had spent the night thrashing in his nest, recalling something horrid.

The moment Kavaleaf slipped inside, followed slowly by Larkpaw and Grousepaw, Yarrowstar spun on the group of cats. "So," he began in a chilling voice, normal sweet tone absent. His eyes were narrowed, accusing, and Ploverpaw remembered the feeling of similar eyes the day they stumbled upon the litter with Sabledusk's body in front of them.

Was he...?

"Is there a reason why I wasn't informed of your meticulous choice to murder my prior mate?" Yarrowstar seemed hollow, no thought of his traceable beyond a very tangible spell of anger. "Was it a little mystery you three left for me, allowing my own apprentice to discover you three and let them hide it from me?"

Larkpaw and Grousepaw looked at each other, not panicked, merely deep in thought. Ploverpaw glanced between them, confused. They seemed to be having a conversation with just their eyes. Kavaleaf had balked, muzzle drawn apart in surprise, while the four apprentices remained quiet and unmoving.

Finally, Heronpaw broke the silence. "It wasn't intentional," he hummed softly, though he sounded like he swallowed a vole tail with how choked he sounded. "I emerged from the forest of stones, and I saw him walking along. He mocked me, father he had... he had proved me to be born a molly before I left and I thought he would do it again," he explained, though his words quickly grew so unsteady that Kavaleaf rushed to his other side to feed him a poppy seed. It seemed she had prepped them especially for him, and Ploverpaw guessed the molly had been informed of the meeting before Yarrowstar held it.

The leader in question softened nearly immediately, shocked and yet unsurprised, as though he knew that Sabledusk was capable of such a thing. Of course, Ploverpaw would've had to go after him if he even dared to not believe his own son. "I see, so you killed him in defense, in reaction to trauma," he restated, turning suddenly to pace his den. "So why didn't you tell me? Any of you? You are my kits, my blood, do you think I would exile you? Tell you he didn't deserve it, especially if you told me what he did?"

Larkpaw, who had only gotten more restless during the conversation, shifted on her paws, looking nervously to Heronpaw. What was up with her?

"I didn't want to risk it," Heronpaw replied, trying to soothe his shuddering breaths. "I escaped the forest of stones and I finally got to see my family again. I didn't want you to choose him over me, I didn't want to go through it all again. Even if he was dead, he would always haunt me."

Something clicked in Ploverpaw's brain, something that made their stomach turn and their eyes flash. They looked between the litter, aghast at the fate that beseeched the three. They would take the truth to their grave, wouldn't they?

Yarrowstar nodded once. "Heronpaw, I will assign you a new mentor at dawn. Your punishment for murder, no matter how justified you may feel it is, will be watching your littermates become warriors tomorrow as well." His dismissal was evident in his words, and the five cats slunk out of the den. Grousepaw followed Larkpaw off to StarClan knows where, while Kavaleaf swept her tongue over Heronpaw's ear affectionately.

"I'm proud of you," she whispered before affixing her eyes to Ploverpaw as well. "And you. May the future for you two be brighter than in this moment. May your path not be lit by StarClan, but by your own light."

Kavaleaf wandered off, probably to get pollen in her pelt and herbs between her teeth, while Heronpaw and Ploverpaw sat on the precipice of a new beginning, breaths slow and even, eyes wide and curious.

"Guess you'll be sleeping alone the apprentice den," Ploverpaw teased, cuffing their counterpart over the ear with a gleam in their golden eyes.

Heronpaw ducked half heartedly away and offered a lopsided grin. "Guess so."