Briartail couldn't even turn to Heronkit. She couldn't even imagine the hurt look on her face, and she thought if she saw, her heart would break for her. Instead, as the kit was beside her, she turned away and curled her tail around the kit. She felt her back hunch in despair, and for once, she actually felt sorry for the bratty kit.
"Dustkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and now is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dustpaw. Your mentor will be Ryepelt. I hope he will pass down all he knows on to you."
Briartail couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned to look at Heronkit, but the brown and white she-cat turned away, covering her face from Briartail's view.
"Ryepelt, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Cometcloud, and you have shown yourself to be quick-witted and adroit. You shall be the mentor of Dustpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."
Briartail turned her gaze respectfully to the white tom-cat, almost trying to distract herself from Heronkit's emotion by counting the brown flecks on the tom's back. "Yes, Echostar."
She watched as Ryepelt approached Dustpaw, suddenly seeming just as anxious as he was. He flicked his nose to Stonepaw's, and beamed as the grey kit whispered a few words to him, in which he replied inaudibly with a look of pride on his face.
"Then we are finished," Echostar meowed, a proud look at her son flicking from her face as she jumped off the tree, her legs hitting the floor gracefully.
'No!' Briartail wanted to wail. 'You can't be finished!'
Briartail reluctantly assumed that the other cats had been thinking the same as her, confused glances flickering between them. However, no cat stayed put, and each feline departed until only Briartail and the little kit remained.
Briartail felt as if a lump she couldn't swallow was forming in the back of her throat as she turned towards Heronkit. Her back was hunched over, and her small brown tail was wrapped around her rear.
"I did warn you," Briartail spoke quickly.
"So what, you warned me?" Heronkit retorted. "You are the one who wanted to see StarClan. If you hadn't, I would have been in camp. I would have received my apprentice ceremony."
Briartail bit back her tongue, enraged by the apprentice. "You had ran off too many times for Echostar to possibly consider making you an apprentice with your brother," she meowed.
"I don't give a scrap of mouse dung," Heronkit snapped. But Briartail turned her back on the kitten, swishing her tail coldly.
"Echostar would be very upset if she heard the way you were speaking to a warrior."
Heronkit suddenly leaped into view, pushing her face towards Briartail, narrowing her eyes with fury. "That's okay, because you're not going to tell her."
Briartail scoffed, clenching her teeth together before she spoke again. "And an oversized kit is going to make me?"
Heronkit threw her lips back, scowling menacingly at Briartail for a solid few seconds until she seemed to give up, turning her back and lashing her tail as she made her way to the nursery. Briartail didn't know whether she should have felt bad for the apprentice or angered that she was letting herself become guilt-tripped by her.
She felt a rush of relief as she recognised Aspenclaw's striped pelt approaching her. He flicked his ear nervously, as if he wasn't sure what to say as he made her way up to her.
"Everything okay?" he questioned. "Heronkit must feel so awful."
Briartail suddenly yet again felt a pang of sympathy for the she-cat. Yet she refused to swallow her pride, simply sitting down and nodding.
"She has gotten what she needs to learn," she responded. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm alright," he meowed. "I'm pleased Ryepelt has become a mentor."
Briartail couldn't resist a simper. "Can you remember our apprentice ceremony? Ryepelt always knew he didn't have the patience for mentoring."
Aspenclaw beamed. "He's had so much time to adjust to being in a Clan. He's sure to prove to Echostar that he's fit fine for mentoring."
Briartail tried to let out a beam, but her eyes dragged to the floor and her tail drooped behind her.
"Hey," Aspenclaw meowed, his eyes narrowing. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Briartail felt desperate to drop everything and tell Aspenclaw how she felt about Heronkit's actions. However she didn't feel like telling Aspenclaw alone was enough. Something was missing.
"I can't stop thinking about Spiderpaw," she meowed. "I wonder how he is."
Aspenclaw kicked her lightly. "If he had been ambushed, we would know."
"Stop fooling with me," Briartail teased. But her light atmosphere faded as her mind wandered to her brother. "I don't trust Rocktail, not after what he did."
"Time changes every cat," Aspenclaw argued. "Although hate seems to be a trait that can never fade."
"He wanted to hurt Echostar," Briartail began. "He killed her son so he could have revenge on what happened to Redshade."
"Echostar didn't kill Redshade. We all know the story of how she let herself fall off the cliff."
"I know," Briartail interrupted. "But Rocktail doesn't."
"Cometcloud told me that every cat tried to convince him, but he couldn't adjust to the fact that Redshade was so ready to let go of her life. I don't understand. From what I hear, she had everything going for her. She had a new Clan, two new kits..."
Aspenclaw nodded. "She still has no excuse for what she did to us - what she tried to do to our leader."
Briartail shook the conversation away. "You mentioned Cometcloud," she began, trying to signal to get Aspenclaw to look into her eyes so she could rid the vibe of the depressing conversation. Although when he did, she couldn't resist looking away again. "Did Honeyflower tell you how he got his scars?"
Cometcloud shook his head. "All she knew was the scars weren't from the shiny two-leg object he cut his fur on, and that the fur wouldn't be growing back."
"I wonder why he's so reluctant to tell us where he got them," she meowed.
"No cat has really asked him," Aspenclaw explained. "He was a rogue before he joined forces with Echostar. Something must have happened that only she knows about. Cometcloud is most likely going to tell us when he's ready."
Briartail looked down. 'So many secrets,' she couldn't resist thinking to herself. 'Heronkit with StarClan, Cometcloud's scars, what else could be hidden?'