Eyesore: The Weight Of Souls

Chapter Four

“Jaypaw? Harestar wants to see you.”

The silver tabby took in a deep breath. Great. His meeting with Harestar. He stood, trying to make sense of his feelings. On one whisker, he could finally convince Harestar to change his apprenticeship. But on the other whisker, he didn’t want his Clan leader to he angry at him.

He pulled himself from his den with a sigh. The grass clung to him as if it were trying to drag him back to his nest, a desperate attempt to stop him from leaving.

“Come on Jaypaw,” Kestrelflight meowed. Sympathy hung over his tongue. He crushed his concern into a fine powder that he spat with each word, spraying into Jaypaw’s fur.

Jaypaw flicked his ear in acknowledgment and walked alongside the medicine cat.

“Harestar is fair. He’ll hear you out,” the bitter-scented tom spoke again. His words did nothing more than deepen Jaypaw’s mood. He didn’t want to have a big talking to about his attitude.
And what if Harestar told Nightcloud? She’d demand to mentor him herself and decide that everything was Cranberrystripe’s fault. And if he told Crowfeather...his father already believed he shouldn’t be a warrior. Hearing that his son was yelling at warriors would make Crowfeather never talk to him again! But of course, he rarely did.

They strode over to a large boulder; the medicine den. That same collection of bitter smells Jaypaw scented on Kestrelflight hung around the nursery. Jaypaw wrinkled his nose at the plant‘s scent drifting from within the crevice in the rock.

“Thank you for fetching Jaypaw for me, Kestrelflight. If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk with Cranberrystripe and Jaypaw alone first, and I’ll ask you or Emberfoot for advice if it’s necessary. Is that alright with you?” Harestar sounded usually serious; it was rare for the leader to act that way. Jaypaw was used to hearing his sunny tone and lighthearted words. 

“Of course, Harestar!” Kestrelflight said with a purr.

“Kestrelflight?” Cranberrystripe’s voice was low and questioning. It sounded strained and upset. Jaypaw couldn’t bring himself to be happy about that.

He said nothing but Jaypaw felt movement as Kestrelflight reached out to her. Whatever he did, Jaypaw didn’t know. It must’ve been reassuring because she let out a gusty sigh.

“Hello, Jaypaw.” Harestar’s voice carried a surprising warmth. Jaypaw expected to hear at the very least some suppressed anger but there wasn‘t any. Jaypaw wasn‘t able to see his body language, so for all he knew, the tom’s face might be contorted with rage.

“Can we discuss this away from camp? We shouldn't waste the day and I don’t want anyone to listen into this conversation or gossiping about it,” his mentor asked.

“I’d like to see how the tunnelling projects are going on,” Harestar agreed.

Jaypaw stood and followed the two out of camp. The last thing he wanted to do was give Harestar a walk-through of all the tunnelling projects!

Ahead of him, Harestar spoke again.
“We have an issue to sort out. I thought everything was running smoothly in WindClan when suddenly my medicine cat approaches me with a warrior I know dearly, telling me she’s having an issue with her apprentice that she wants to talk to me about.”

Harestar paused, breath moving in time with his light pawsteps.
“Now I tell her, ‘Cranberrystripe, surely you can sort this on your own? After all, you’re a grown warrior, older than I. What’s going on?’ My surprise deepens when she tells me this is a matter out of her paws. She tells me her apprentice is unhappy. He doesn’t like being a tunneler, he doesn’t like training, and he doesn’t like her. She tries to correct his attitude but he just finds himself even more miserable. She tells me she’s in despair, she thinks she’s doing something wrong and that I should transfer him to a more experienced mentor.” He took a breath, and to allow the other two to listen to what he was saying.