Heronkit jerked backwards, her eyes huge and blazing with fury. "You can't do that to me!" she wailed. "Echostar would exile you."
Even though Briartail knew that Heronkit was right about Echostar being furious with her, and she was slightly afraid of what the Clan leader would do to her, she refused to give in to the brown and white kit. "Echostar is going to be grateful when she learns the truth," she sneered. "Because we both know that something has been going on that you can't tell the Clan."
Heronkit's jaw dropped, and her eyebrows scrunched down in anger. "That's not true," she exclaimed. "And there's no way you'll be able to keep me here."
Briartail dipped her head. "You can leave now, if you want, considering you'll tell me exactly what you have been doing here, who you have been meeting, what you have been doing."
"You know I -"
Briartail cut her off. She wasn't going to waste her hearing on the kit's lie after lie. "Suit yourself," she sneered, turning herself around and flicking her silver tail behind her.
"I wasn't done speaking!" the kit yowled after her. "Why can't you just listen to me for once?"
Interest flicking inside of her, Briartail turned around. 'She had better be telling me,'  she thought to herself. "Well?"
Heronkit shrugged, lowering her head to her shoulders. "Listen Briartail," she began. "You know I want to tell you. They just won't let me."
Briartail's jaw dropped as she heard the last of the kit's sentence. "They?" she repeated. "Who's they?"
"Don't you understand?" Heronkit groaned. "That's what I can't tell you."
Briartail leaned forwards, curiosity in her eyes. She turned her head to look around the camp as if looking for cats, as if mimicking a hunter. "I don't see any cat here listening in, do you?"
Heronkit shook her head.
"So how could these cats going to know if you tell me?"
Heronkit heaved out a breath and slammed her eyes shut. "They just know - okay? I don't know how they know! Can I not just show you?"
"Show me?" Briartail echoed, before her voice turned dark and she began yelling aimlessly at the kit. "I've been trying to get you to show me, tell me or give me any information this entire time! Show me right now, or you know the consequences."
Heronkit stared at her, a conflicting emotion within her eyes. "You need to sleep here," she meowed.
"I'm not tired."
"Do you want to see them, or do you not?" Heronkit complained. "You don't know the risk I am taking for you!"
'She's clearly made her choice,' Briartail thought to herself. 'There is no cat who would only meet Heronkit whilst she was asleep. And even if there was, they would have to awaken her to talk.'
Briartail had no clue why Heronkit was trying to waste her time so much. She knew Heronkit needed  to have a good, long and lonely think about how she could effect her Clan - and Briartail knew just how to make that happen.
"Fine," Briartail meowed. "I'll nap here."
Surprisingly, Briartail saw relief in Heronkit's eyes. But she wasn't about to be fooled. Carefully, and trying to look as cautious as she could, checking every pebble before she placed a paw down, she made her way besides Heronkit and curled herself up.
She waited and waited, keeping her eyes bright and open to prevent her body from thinking she really wanted to sleep. She knew there was only one way to get Heronkit to tell the truth, and even if she had to force her, she would get that out of her.
She waited and waited and waited for what felt like moons until she was almost sure Heronkit was fast asleep. The solid rising and falling of her flank and her tiny snores were complete giveaways. Briartail knew that now was the time to make her move.
Quickly, she pushed her paw downward, gently placing the padding on the rock to push herself up without wakening the dozing cat besides her. When she was sitting up straight, she let out a quick yawn. She wasn't in a hurry.
But before she knew how to pull herself together, she felt as if a dark cloud were looming over her, raining down drops of weakness onto her pelt. Only seconds passed before Briartail collapsed into a slumber.