HeronFlight's Mistake

Aren't You Proud?

The next  three moons were not Heronkit's finest. Apart from his close group of friends, he was utterly alone. He had come to understand that his mum wasn't coming back to camp and he had made peace with it but still he visited her grave daily. 

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under highrock!" Hailstar's clear call cut through the dawn of greenleaf's first days. The snow had begun melting away and blades of grass popped up through the thinner of the snow drifts but clan couldn't have been more excited. The first to arrive to the greater clearing of the camp was Darkpelt and just beyond him Blossomkit. It was hard to believe Blossomkit was nearly up to her father's shoulder now, Her build looking that of an apprentice while happiness swarmed her eyes. Next tumbled in Cherrypaw and Cloudpaw, the two returning from an outing with Echowhisker and Bladewhisker. The rest of the cats made their way hastily to the clearing. All but one that is. 

"Heronkit COME ON don't keep Hail waiting!" Mousekit squeaked, eagerly bounding along with the perimeter of the nursery but the russet brute was uninterested in leaving his post in the den. Hailstar had come by the night before to say Heron had special permission to attend the next mornings meeting and Heron was nervous. Heron had never had special permission to anything and feared the worst. He was being exiled because someone had found out about the shadow cat who would play with him during the day and tell him stories at night. He hadn't seen any problem with it but clearly Hailstar must.

"Im not going Mousekit. Hail's just gonna get mad at me," He grumbled sourly, fixating his gaze on that of his tail as he leaned further into his nest. He could hear Hailstar's booming voice talking about the change in weather but the excitement in his  voice was contagious and Heron found himself moving out of the den to use his special permission rather then mope around his den. He found himself at the back of a sea of cats, their attention locked on Hailstar as he sat on the lip of his den and Darkpelt who was seated on a ledge just below him. To his surprise, Blossomkit was seated closer to the front beside Cherrypaw who ducked his head to whisper something in her ear.

"Bout time you showed up. Hail's been talking about the weather for ages and if he said one more thing about cloud formations I may have clawed off my ears," The sharp voice belonged to Frecklekit who was seated a few tail lengths away with Moonsong. Even from this distance, his chestnut fur vivid and well groomed and his leafy green eyes were locked on his in a glare. The russet tom hurried over uncomfortably and sat down next to him and ducked his head to stare at the ground. What a mistake coming to this had been but there was no point in running back to the den. Mousekit and Mothkit would claw off his ears. 

"Well enough of that. You'll all see it soon enough on patrols. Without further hesitation I'd like to call Blossomkit forward," The specked leader went on with a smile causing Heronkit's apex to shoot up. The greyish feline stood up happily and moved forward, her apex tipped back to look at her leader. Beyond her Dark sat smugly as she watched his daughter, his pride and joy, move toward the leader confidently. She was sure of her moments unlike her younger brother who watched in confusion.    

 "Blossomkit, from this moment on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Blossompaw. OliveFrost, you are ready to mentor an apprentice, you shall be Blossompaw's mentor." Hailstar spoke, his voice calm and smooth until it was drowned out by the calls of welcome put forth by the clan but as expected the deputy yowled the new name loudest of them all. The familiar hickory fur of Olivefrost moved froward to greet her apprentice happily before the two took a seat. The russet male looked at his paws, nearly forgetting were he was until the clan burst into yells once more as Frecklepaw was welcomed. The russet male felt somewhat jealous of the two felines but snapped out of it swiftly. He had nothing to be jealous of or at least that's what the shadow cat said. 

"Heronkit come forward," The speckled leader invited with a slightly less sharp expression. It was the closet thing to a smile the tom kit had seen directed anyone who wasn't family. The brute began to panic as he surged through the crowd who parted for him with heads turned in his direction. This couldn't go well. 

"Heronkit, from this moment on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Heronpaw. I shall personally oversee your training until you become a warrior," The specked hessian called and the clan erupted into cheer. The leader jumped down from his post on the hard-packed earth opposite the russet male and pressed his muzzle firmly against the smaller male's forehead. Heronpaw jerked his head forward swiftly, attempting to return the gesture. The clan's cheers raged on as the leader called the meeting to a close. Darkpelt jumped off first and stalked toward Hailstar, his orbs glittering angrily causing fear to crop up in the russet apprentice's stomach. Heron had only once seen Darkpelt so angry and that was when he'd overheard Heron asking Rainpaw questions about Snowpelt. He had harshly told the male kit off before stalking off to find Blossomkit as he always did. Thankfully his blazing gaze was set on Hailstar rather then him. He'd felt ready to crawl under a rock when the black hued warrior had approached him.

"Why does HE get a better mentor then Blossompaw? Hail I purposely requested Blossompaw to be YOUR apprentice not HIM," Dark growled, inflicted as  much venom into the word he as possible without even glancing in Heron's diffraction. Embarrassment blazed through the russet apprentice but Hailstar, who was the target of the harsh words, seemed unaffected.

"You requested I mentor ONE of your kits Darkpelt. You never specified which one so I made my choice," Hailstar explained calmly, looking relaxed rather then flustered. Darkpelt huffed and turned away.

"Aren't you proud Darkpelt?" The russet apprentice spoke up. This was the first time he had addressed the dark pelted male but the question had burnt brightly inside him to the point were his mouth flown open. The male stiffened noticeably before turning back to the apprentice.

"No, I am not proud of you Heronpaw. You are a murderer and you will never be the son Snowpelt had thought you were," The male's words slammed into Heronpaw but he blinked it away. Now he knew at least. A murderer? He never got to ask Dark to  elaborate  because he swept toward the entrance by Hailstar and was directed away from Darkpelt and away from all those who had witnessed it.