The sun had fallen, and darkness was beginning to invade the sky. Besides the pile of prey that centred the camp, Briartail was seated besides Aspenclaw, gnawing into a fat vole lying at her feet. She tried hard to carry on the conversation with her brother, but she couldn't help her mind from wandering off during the conversation.
"Is something bothering you?" Aspenclaw had asked. "You've usually got many stories to tell, but you're being quiet tonight."
Snapped out of her thought once again, Briartail shook her head. "No, I'm fine."
Aspenclaw narrowed his eyes as if he wasn't satisfied with her answer, but instead of pleading her he tucked into his shrew. "Tell me if you need anything," he added after swallowing his first mouthful. Briartail nodded politely, her focus taken away yet again as she saw Ryepelt heading from the nursery and down the clearing. She and Aspenclaw seemed to watch as Ryepelt made his way towards them, an uncertain look plastered on his face.
"You don't look hungry," Aspenclaw commented as the snowy white tom sat down opposite them and took a mouse from the pile.
"That's rather scrawny."
Ryepelt shook his head. "I've got to eat either way."
"What's gotten under your fur?" Briartail questioned.
"Nothing has," Ryepelt meowed. "I've just been on Heronkit's watch since sunhigh, and she's getting exhausted."
Briartail narrowed her eyes, a thought flowing into her head. She leaned up from her vole, locking Ryepelt's eyes with hers. "If she's tiring you, I don't mind taking watch of her for the night."
Ryepelt looked surprised, but he didn't argue. "I'd appreciate that Briartail, are you sure?"
Briartail nodded, but Ryepelt spoke before she could say anything more. "She can certainly be a pawful."
"I'm sure," Briartail guessed.
"Well hey," Aspenclaw interrupted. "You need experience for when you have kits of your own."
Briartail swung herself around, batting Aspenclaw hard on the ear with her paw. "Watch yourself," she scolded, trying to hide her amusement. "There's no way I'll be having kits any time soon. Besides, tell me one suitable tom."
Aspenclaw opened his mouth to prove her wrong, but no words came out of him. He lowered his head. "I suppose."
"Whether Briartail gets pregnant is none of my concern," Ryepelt murmured with a beam. "But every warrior needs experience with kits. Being a mentor won't be much different."
"Do you think I could be a mentor?" Briartail questioned, her eyes brightening with excitement.
"You'd have to ask Echostar," Ryepelt continued. "I'm not the one who makes the decisions around here."
"I'd love to be a mentor," Aspenclaw commented. "Plus, I think I already have the patience."
"You'll think that until you have an apprentice," Ryepelt meowed. "Although my own wasn't a problem."
Briartail lifted her head. "Who do you think are going to be the mentors for Dustkit and Heronkit?"
"At this rate only one warrior is going to be a mentor," Ryepelt meowed. "Even Cometcloud has admitted he doesn't think Echostar is going to let her begin her apprenticeship alongside her brother."
"But that's not fair!" Briartail argued. "Sure Heronkit behaves in a way that could be improved, but there must have been worse kits."
"I think she has every right to be concerned after what happened with Stonekit," Ryepelt meowed. "And Heronkit should know better."
"But wouldn't warrior training teach her how to act more maturely?"
Ryepelt shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I'm not Heronkit. But if she doesn't sneak out again, Echostar might change her mind."
"I don't think she'll be going anywhere when I'm around. Is she alone now?"
Ryepelt nodded. "I gave myself time to eat when I told her I was going to count for a game of Find the Kit."
"Clever move," Aspenclaw murmured. But Briartail wasn't convinced. "I wouldn't leave her alone for too long. I'll go and take watch for her."
"If you insist Briartail," Ryepelt meowed. "Just tell me if you need me to take over. I'm sure a break can give me the patience I need."
Briartail dipped her head before turning herself around, kicking her shrew to Ryepelt to finish and began bounding up the clearing towards the nursery. When she reached the entrance, she kicked back the lichen and made her way inside. "Heronkit," she called calmly. "Your game of Find the Kit has finished and I'm taking over your watch, so make your way out of your hiding space and we can start again."
Not even a word. Quickly, she paced around the nursery. Not even Dustkit was there to tell her where his sister had wandered off to, but she trusted the kit to be exploring with Echostar.
"Seriously Heronkit," Briartail called again. "We can start a new round."
Still, she didn't hear a single sound inside the nursery. Lowering her eyebrows with anger, she raced around the nursery like a bolt of lightning. She looked behind every nest and every corner, but she still couldn't find the kit anywhere. Fury engulfing her, she realised she didn't need to examine every spot in the nursery again. Between the materials that made up the small den, she noticed a tiny hole that gave way to the darkness. As fast as she could, she then bolted out of the nursery. Without alerting Aspenclaw or Ryepelt, who were heavily conversing over her meal, she began to burst toward the leafy tunnel, kicking back dust with every paw print. She could feel the hairs on her pelt pricking up with outrage as she left the camp, quickly sprinting around the corner where the area behind the nursery would be. She was sure that even if she wasn't able to find the kit around there, she knew where she would be, so finding her wouldn't be a problem. Nevertheless, she continued her stride until she paced around yet another corner where she could see the nursery poking out from behind the thorn bush barrier. Not to much of her surprise, there was no kitten in sight. She heaved out a heavy breath of rage as she picked herself up again, sprinting forwards the path that would give way to the rockpile where Heronkit had disappeared to before.
At first her pace was steady, but soon she was heaving the air in and out of her lungs as she pushed through the ferns below her. Who knew what Echostar was going to do when she found our that Heronkit had gone on Briartail's watch? She was already sure that Heronkit was going to miss her apprentice ceremony - and she knew that the kit herself was aware of this. Her eyes narrowed into sharp slits. No cat seemed to be as concerned as she was about this kit's behaviour. Surely, with the two kits being five months old, Heronkit would care about being apprenticed. She would surely be filled with guilt when she was still being considered a kitten, sleeping in the nursery whilst her brother was receiving warrior training. Nothing seemed to add up. She knew Heronkit's personality - how annoyingly eager she was for every little thing. Briartail knew that this kit wouldn't be misbehaving unless something was stopping her - and sleeping inside a rockpile wouldn't be the reason.
Suddenly, she heard a crack a few fox-lengths ahead of her. She hurled herself to a stop, throwing dirt all over her silver pelt as she attempted to stop herself from bowling over. She knocked into a log, and when she was still enough to hear the tiny paw prints, she slowly heaved herself up. She knew this had to be Heronkit.
But instead of chasing after the kit, she stood her ground, carefully peering over the wood and scanning the clearing until she could make out the small brown fur moving quietly along the grass. Briartail assumed she had trodden on a twig or snail to cause the noise.
Briartail stayed in her position, staying as silent as a vole until the kit was out of her line of sight. When she could no longer see the kit and was convinced she would not be able to see her, she made her way out of her position and jumped over the log, landing steadily on her front paws until stalking after the she-cat like she was a piece of prey. She managed to move forward very quickly and very quietly, managing to keep a close eye on the small cat and managing to stay out of her sight every time she turned around to check that she wasn't being followed. Briartail knew that if she sprung at her now, she would have every corner to run to. But if she was going to nap in the rockpile...
She continued to track down the kit's every footstep until she could finally see the rockpile only a few fox-lengths away. She pulled herself to the ground, carefully concealing herself behind a bush until she was certain that the she-cat had made her way through the narrow gap. Once a few minutes had passed, she peered her head over and glanced across the clearing once again. Satisfied that she had seen no movement nor a kit, she slid out from her hideaway and ran towards the rockpile. The huge grey stones towered above her, looking down on her as if she was being hunted down. Refusing to let herself be intimidated, she looked back down and slid herself through the gap. "Heronkit!"
Briartail was stunned when she realised that she didn't hear the kit's voice, nor did she see her with her tail curled around her muzzle, dozing off besides the shadowy rock. She let herself take a few steps inside, feeling a shiver down her pelt as she glanced around the corners. Feeling her legs wobble only slightly, she made her way around the rock, glancing each way and staring into every corner. The rockpile was empty.
The silver furred cat was amazed. Perhaps Heronkit had finally realised! But instead of personally celebrating for a minute longer, she immediately felt dazed. She shook her head. If Heronkit isn't here, then she must have snuck off to do something else.
Knowing nobody was inside, Briartail allowed herself to let a loud growl sizzle out of her as she thundered towards the exit. She breathed in quickly and pushed herself through the exit, managing to stay silent as she came out the other side. Carefully, she began to stalk her way around the rockpile, treading on the grass very cautiously and staring into every gap of trees to think of where Heronkit would have went, until she saw flattened grass in front of her very eyes.
No. She knew Heronkit would not let her tracks be seen so easily. She felt the hairs on her pelt stick up with fury. The kit must have thought she was an absolute mouse brain if she was convinced Briartail would fool for such a thing. Her ears flattening with fury, she continued to make her way around the rockpile, until she realised that as if presented to her like a gift, Heronkit was sitting silently around the back of the rockpile. She hadn't even noticed Briartail coming around from behind her, and she couldn't help but take a moment to pride herself in her stalking ability. She had a feeling in her, nearly a rage building up telling her to pounce on the kit and give her a scolding she wouldn't forget, but Briartail fought back. She let her voice strike out as she called the kit's name in the harshest tone she could ever remember speaking in. Heronkit nearly made Briartail jump with how quickly she whipped around, and Briartail felt a pang of regret when she saw the panic in Briartail's huge eyes. "What are you doing here?"
The kit said nothing. As if she was furious as Briartail for making her jump, she stood up and narrowed her eyes at her. Briartail was outraged at the kit's courage, and even though she was being brave, she would not let herself be defeat by a cat which hadn't even become an apprentice yet. She knew she was the warrior, she she was the one in charge. She yelled at the kit not to walk away from her, but every time she shouted the kit seemed to move faster and faster. Briartail picked up her pace, anger filling her as she managed to catch up to the kit. She was ready to snatch the kit with her jaws and pull her lightly back to her to stop her from escaping, but the moment she stretched her face, the kit zipped through the narrow entrance to the rockpile. Furious, Briartail pushed her front through the gap. She was boiling with the fact that the kit thought she had managed to outrun her - that she wouldn't be able to see her slip into the cave. But Briartail was ready to let her know she was wrong. She quickly fit her rear through the gap, letting out a fierce hiss as she tensed up her body in front of the exit, narrowing her eyes as the light difference hit her.
"B-Briartail!" she heard the kit squeak. "How did you know I ran into here?"
But Briartail was having none of her panic. "I want to know what's going on, Heronkit."
She let her eyes adjust to the darkness, and although not everything had been clear to her yet, she could make out Heronkit's face scrunching up wildly. "Nothing is going on," she blabbed. "I think you aught to stay in your warrior business, instead of everyone elses."
Briartail was ready to lunge from her position towards the kit to teach her a lesson about disrespecting the warriors of her Clan - or more specifically disrespecting her, but she barely managed to hold herself to the ground, knowing that if she did, Heronkit would easily be able to escape. This was the only exit, and as long as the exit was blocked, there was no chance of Heronkit going anywhere.
Briartail hissed at her, her claws unsheating with hatred. For a second Heronkit's eyes widened, as if she realised suddenly just how serious Briartail was. But still she seemed to control herself.
But Briartail spoke again, whether the kit was going to say anything or not.
"I am finding out the truth," Briartail hissed roughly, bending herself to the floor in a hunter's position. "And until I do, you are never going to leave this rockpile."