Warriors: Heronpaw's Secret (Complete)

Chapter 1

 Hiron sat outside his den and looked around. Bushes were all around him, because the entrance to his den was right in the middle of a lot of bushes. He flicked his ears and looked around, scared.

 ''I'll find you!'' A voice hissed, and he heard paw steps getting closer and closer to him. Hiron closed his eyes, being as quiet as possible.

 ''Found you!'' A small, tortoiseshell-and-white she-kit jumped out of the bushes and pinned him down. 

 Hiron let out a screech.

 ''Stop being such a scaredy-cat!'' The she-kit meowed and got off him.

 ''No fair! You took me by surprise!'' Hiron wailed and got up, shaking his fur.

 ''But that's the meaning of hide-and-seek.'' The she-kit shrugged. ''You should be the seeker if you get scared this easily.''

 ''But I hate being the seeker!'' Hiron protested.

 ''See? This is why it's no fun to play with you.'' The she-kit rolled her eyes.

 ''Meadow! Be nice to your brother!'' Nectar, Hiron and Meadow's mother, hissed and sat close to Hiron. ''Just because he's jumpy and gets scared fast, doesn't mean you can be rude to him. He's your brother!''

 ''Sorry, mother.'' Meadow looked at her paws. ''But I want him to be braver.''

 ''Then teach him to be brave.'' Rattlesnake purred and padded out of the den, dropping a bird. ''Here, I thought you two would be hungry.''

 Hiron looked at the bird, wide-eyed. ''It's so big and fat! Did you catch it?'' He asked and immediately took a bite out of it.

 ''Yes.'' Rattlesnake nodded, purring. 

 Meadow looked at her father, her eyes sparkling. ''Can we hunt, too? Please!''

 ''Maybe when you'll be older.'' Nectar meowed. ''But for now, eat the bird.''

 ''Aww!'' Meadow huffed, but then crouched and ate the bird. 

 Hiron raised his head and looked at his father. ''Dad? Can we go see the forest?''

 Rattlesnake's gaze immediately darkened. ''No.''

 ''Why?'' Hiron tilted his head.

 ''Because it's dangerous.'' Rattlesnake growled and sat down, looking directly at his kits, which startled Hiron. ''Clan cats live there.''

 ''Clan cats?'' Meadow asked and stopped eating the bird, looking at her father.

 ''Yes. Clan cats are cats who live in groups. They aren't friendly to us, loners. I heard some loners got killed by Clan cats because they wanted to explore the forest.'' He hissed.

 Hiron let out an alarmed meow and closed his eyes. ''I don't want to get killed!''

 ''Don't worry, if you won't go in the forest, then you won't get killed.'' Nectar meowed and licked her son's head. ''You're safe here.''

 Meadow huffed. ''But I won't be killed! I'll fight any cat that tries to attack me!''

 Hiron opened his eyes and looked at his sister, wide-eyed. ''No, don't! I don't want you to die!''

 Meadow let out an amused purr. ''Oh, brother, I won't. No cat will dare set a paw on me! Just look at me!'' She crouched and jumped as high as she could, clawing the air with her tiny sharp claws.

 The black-and-white kit looked at his sister, amazed. ''Wow! How do you jump that high?''

 ''Easy.'' Meadow meowed as she landed on her four paws. ''I want to see you try!''

 ''All right.'' Hiron meowed and got up, flicking his tail. He then jumped as high as he could, but his legs scrambled everywhere. With a loud hiss, he fell on the ground on his belly.

 Meadow started laughing and fell on her back. ''Wow! That jump was so high, I bet you could catch every bird!'' She meowed sarcastically.

 Hiron looked at his white paws, ashamed, while his sister continued laughing.

 ''Meadow!'' Nectar hissed and looked at her daughter. ''I told you, be nice to your brother! If you want him to succeed, teach him!''

 ''All right, all right.'' Meadow shrugged and got up, trying to stop laughing. She looked at Hiron. ''All right, so, when you jump, put all your strength in your back legs. Try to keep them as still as possible. And also, your tail- er, how about you try lower it?''

 ''I'll give it a try.'' Hiron mumbled. He lowered his tail and put all the strength he had in his back legs. With a snarl, he jumped right up in the air and tried to keep his legs straight. He then fell down on his four legs. He looked at his sister, surprised. ''I did it!''

 ''He did it!'' Meadow meowed and looked at her parents, as if she couldn't believe it. ''He did it! Good job, brother!''

 Hiron purred as his sister nuzzled him. ''Thanks!''

 ''Good job, Hiron.'' Nectar purred and licked Hiron's ears.

 ''Hey! What about me? I taught him how to do that! Don't forget about me!'' Meadow protested.

 Nectar sighed and licked Meadow's ears. ''Of course, I didn't forget about you.''

 ''Anyway, I'll go patrol our territory, just to make sure nobody dared to trespass.'' Rattlesnake meowed and got up, padding away.

 ''Mom, can we go, too?'' Meadow asked, looking at her mother hopefully, but Nectar shook her head. 

 ''No.''

 ''Then can we go to the gorge?'' Hiron asked hesitantly. ''You and dad talk so much about it!''

 Nectar shook her head again. ''No. The gorge is beautiful, but kits can fall in the gorge easily.''

 ''We'll be careful!'' Meadow protested.

 ''My answer is still no.'' Nectar hissed. ''The ground near the gorge is wet and muddy. You kits can fall easily. Especially that you play a lot.''

 ''But we won't play! We'll be careful! Please!'' Meadow promised.

 ''I said no.'' Nectar meowed, then sighed. ''I don't want anything to happen to you two. Promise me you'll never go there until you're over six moons old, all right?''

 ''Promise.'' Meadow rolled her eyes.

 ''All right, promise.'' Hiron whispered.

 ''Good.'' Nectar purred. ''Anyway, I'll go rest a little bit. You two can play around, all right?''

 ''Okay, mother!'' Meadow meowed, but as soon as Nectar padded in the den, she turned around. ''Hey, Hiron, do you want to go to the gorge?''

 Hiron blinked. ''What? But mother said-''

 ''It doesn't matter what mother said. I want to see the gorge, and we'll be careful!'' Meadow meowed. ''Or are you a scaredy-cat?''

 ''I'm not! I just listen to my mother.'' Hiron meowed.

 ''Scaredy-cat! Scaredy-cat!'' Meadow teased, padding around her brother.

 Hiron let out a hiss. ''Fine! I'll come. I'm not a scaredy-cat.''

 ''Finally!'' Meadow meowed. ''Now come on, follow me!''

 As Hiron followed his sister toward the Thunderpath, he looked at his paws. I hope nothing bad will happen to us.. but we'll be careful, and we'll be safe.