Passerine [BATSWARM]

H

WIth the excuse of going off to pick herbs with Batswarm, Harriertalon followed the muted calico through the camps entrance. This, of course, was a lie. But it was needed in order to have even the smallest bit of time to herself. "Batswarm... Before you go off to who-knows-where, I'd like to speak with you." There was a stern look on the medicine cat apprentices face, her talk with Moondancer not too long ago having gone horribly wrong. This was her last chance with these two...

Did she expect anything to come of this? No. But one could only hope.  

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B

The tom paused, wondering if he could just pretend he didn't hear his overbearing sister call out to him; The way she spoke made it sound like he would be free to go after she scolded him. It wouldn't hurt to humor her. "...What is it." His tone gave away how completely uninterested he was. No one else pestered him so insistently like the ebony medicine cat apprentice did. Moondancer was obviously the worst off of the three blood siblings, what with how rude she was to every cat she crossed. She should be watching that one more than him.

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H

This was already irksome but - for the sake of even the tiniest of chances he would sincerely listen - Harriertalon held her sigh, the hardened look in her eyes softening. "Where do you go every sunrise?" It was a simple enough question and straight to the point. There was no way else to bring this up except directly.
The ebony she-cat had made many attempts to follow him as a warrior, but times were tough in the rebuilding of camp, and then things got much more hectic after becoming Burdockroot's apprentice. Now with an impending war, this could be her last chance to talk to him before her time was eaten up entirely.

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B

A huge eyeroll just about unbalanced the tom where he stood. Family or not, this was no business of hers. But the way her tone changed somehow made him feel... Bad? Though there was no reason to. He had been doing nothing wrong. ShadowClan was just too sensitive to handle his thoughts about all this dirty work. This muddy earth that stuck to him every chance it got. It was tough work to maintain his beautifully fluffy calico pelt. "And what if I told you? You would just snitch to mom and dad about it and ruin everything for me." He paused, emerald eyes narrowing.

"Kindly buzz off." Batswarm turned tail to leave, but Harriertalon was quick to block him with her stupidly large form. He wondered if she knew she took up an annoyingly large amount of space. Was there even room for the two she-cats in the medicine den? One of StarClan's many mysteries.

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H

Standing in front of him, her claws anxiously kneaded the earth. She needed to know. He was the only one of Leopardsun's litter that paid no attention to his surroundings, rarely did his duties, yet he still floated around using up resources with nothing in return... She didn't want others to resent the only brother she had left. What could she say to get him to stay? What could possibly get his attention-

"You've gotten fat." She blurted.

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B

Bewilderment crossed every inch of him as his fur began to bristle. "Fat?! This is muscle!" He spat at her. Was she trying to insult the answers out of him? Not that it would work: his appearence was without flaw. No matter his size, he would always be gorgeous.

He shoved by the medicine cat apprentice, shoulder checking her as he did. If all she was going to was pick negatively at his appearance, then he had no time for her.

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H

"I've smelled it on you the last time your returned: kittypet food." She watched as every muscle in his body froze, his head turning to look directly at her.She finally had his attention.

Harriertalon had come to this conclusion not just because of the strange smell that radiated off of him most days, but by Batswarm growing plumper by the day when he never seemed to eat at camp unless it was especially muddy out. There was no way he was getting fat off of frogs; he would never lift a claw to catch one, anyway.

Her green eyes searched his own. "I promise you, whatever it is you want kept a secret, won't leave my tongue. You have my word not only as your sister, but as a medicine cat. Apprentice or not. Not to Leoparsun or Echomist. Not to Badgermask or Moondancer. Not even to Burdockroot. Not a single soul."  

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B

There was only one cat within ShadowClan who really knew that he'd been going to Twoleg Place every chance he got; and that cat was holding it above his head during a time where ShadowClan was ready to stone the next codebreaker. He was finding it difficult to find a reason to not believe that Harriertalon would keep her promise - there was no drama surrounding her. No cat held suspicions of her within ShadowClan, and he'd be very surprised if any other clan would have ill feelings towards her. This was something very serious in terms of clan rules... It wasn't to be taken so lightly.

He sized her up, waiting for her to flinch or shift about nervously. Instead, she held fast in the wide-legged stance she took when he had all but pushed her over. His shoulder still itched from touching another cat.

"Warrior life isn't suited for me. I hate all the nasty things I'm meant to do. Stalking through the shadows so low that my beautiful pelt gets soiled, so I don't even bother. Yet if I don't hide myself, a beast or clanmate will make sure it happens anyway. Not to mention killing my own food?? The blood takes moons to fade out!" His lips curled in disgust. "I tried going on my own to Twoleg Place... But I was too scared. Came back home." He saw Harriertalon's eyes narrow. It was obvious that she didn't enjoy hearing that he had ever left ShadowClan territory. But she had wanted to know, so he would tell the truth even if she didn't like it. "Then I met a cat named Valley. He was hanging around Carrion Place for some reason... Not sure why. That place is filthy. Not even ShadowClan hangs out there-"

H

"Whoa whoa whoa- There was a trespasser? And you told no one?" She was glad she made the wreckless desicion to not tell a single soul; Batswarm would get his fur pulled by Leopardsun had she said anything. These were not times that trespassing could be looked over... But the damage was already done. Her lips were sealed. "Ah. Sorry. Continue, please."

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B

Not appreiciating the interruption, the tom stared at his sister for a bit, waiting to see if she were truly done. "Anyways. He mentioned he frequents Twolegplace a lot, and promised to take me there after six moons had passed. He even gave me advice on how to tell when a Twoleg monsters was coming! If the smooth, black rocks start to vibrate, that's when you don't cross! That stupid tom ran across before me-"

H

"You crossed the Thunderpath?! Batswarm!" She suddenly felt faint. She wasn't old by any means, but she felt as though her heart was at its end. Both her brother and sister knew the right way to stir up her heart in a terrible way, didn't they? She wouldn't say it out loud, but Badgermask was her favourite.

Another nasty look from Batswarm made her dip her head in apology. She should probably keep her reactions in check until the end if she wanted to know every detail.

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B

"If you would let me finish, that'd be fantastic." He warned. Batswarm thought the floor was his, but apparently someone thought otherwise. Better wrap this up before she interrupted him again. "Anyway, I got across and he took me to a place I'd actually been before! The same Twoleg that tried to catch me before... But this time she just handed me some food: super tasty food! Didn't make me do anything for it, either. Although..." He felt his ears grow hot as he debated whether or not to tell Harriertalon that he had accidentally let the Twoleg touch him; or 'pet' him, as Valley had put it. And it had been amazing! Until she touched his belly. That was where the journey ended. He got over it pretty quickly, though.

"Well, nevermind. I enjoyed the pieces of the thin, pink meat she gave us; I've been going there a lot, and I won't be stopping anytime soon. In fact, I don't think I'm long to ShadowClan."

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H

The medicine apprentice let his words sink it for a moment. This was... A lot to take in. But it was hardly surprising, other than the fact he even traveled that far out and made it back without their parents saying anything.

She took a large breath in, slowly letting it out before saying anything further. "I... I see. So that's what you've been up to." It would be a lie if Harriertalon had said it made her less uneasy. It actaully made her feel even worse! Batswarm was definitely no the sharpest stick in camp wall, that was for sure. She had also learned her lesson with Moondancer: any further prodding or advice she could try and give would only aggrivate the situation. It pained her greatly to have failed both her self-serving siblings, and even more so the fact she couldn't even tell anyone about Batswarm's... Adventures. He had made up his mind. There was not much else to say. "As promised, this is between the two of us. In place of being unable to change your mind, please come to me if you need help." Though her smile was weak, it still held warmth.

Batswarm gave a nad before continuing on his merry way, clearly no longer intrested in speaking about it further. Harriertalon sat down, somehow out of breath when she hadn't even been moving.

However stupdily confident and frustrating he was, she hoped that his life would remain peaceful and his heart in a place where he could truly thrive whenever the time came that he would split from ShadowClan entirely.