Chapter 35

Heronpaw yawned sleepily. Blinking sleep from his eyes he stretched and glanced around the den. Bigpaw was snoring loudly from where he was curled up in his nest. Furledpaw's nest was empty. His scent was still fresh and lingered in the den. Dawn patrol, Heronpaw thought. Slowly he walked outside.

Early new-leaf sun shone into camp. He smiled as the warm rays touched his fur. Looking around he saw Silvertear and Foamfur sunning themselves outside the nursery. Foamfur's kits were wrestling in the middle of the clearing.

"Take that Orcakit," Songkit cried. She swatted her sister in the head with a velvet paw. Orcakit ducked and barreled into her.

Heronpaw watched in amusement as they rolled around on the dusty ground. Then a shadow passed over them. Heronpaw glanced up into the sky. A large heron was circling over the camp. It's beady eyes were focused on the kits.

"Look out," Heronpaw cried as it tucked its wings into a dive. He rushed towards the kits as fast as he could but the heron was faster.

Quick as lightening it snatched them up in its talons. Heronpaw reached them just as they were being lifted into the air. With a massive jump his claws caught the talons around Orcakit. Orcakit let out a fearsome wail and bit down on its foot. The bird cawed loudly. Heronpaw sunk his claws in deeper.

Finally the bird dropped her. Orcakit plummeted to the ground. Foamfur raced forward and caught her daughter in midair. "Songkit," she screamed as the bird lifted into the air again. Heronpaw clawed at the bird but it refused to let go.

Sweeping its head down, it knocked him from its foot. Heronpaw yowled as he fell to the ground. Leaping back to his paws he prepared to jump again but the heron was too high for him to reach.

Songkit cried in fear as the great bird flew farther and farther into the air, away from the ground, away from camp, and away from her family. Foamfur yelled into the sky but Songkit was too far away to hear her words.

"Songkit," Orcakit cried. Tears poured from her deep blue eyes. Foamfur wrapped her tail around her and began to sob for her daughter. Silvertear laid her tail over her sobbing shoulders. Then she turned to Heronpaw.

"Well done," she mewed. Heronpaw stared at her numbly. Songkit was gone.

"What happened?" Bigpaw asked. The dark grey tom was walking out of the apprentice den with a confused look on his face. He glanced at Foamfur and Orcakit then looked around the camp. "Where's Songkit?" he asked.

"A heron took her," Heronpaw replied numbly.

"What?" a new voice gasped. Heronpaw glanced towards the camp entrance. Stormstep was racing inside with Tundrafoot, Furledpaw, and Snowyowl. "What heron?" he demanded. Heronpaw quickly told him the story.

"I'm so sorry Foamfur," Snowyowl apologized to the golden queen. She didn't respond. Just then another patrol returned. It was lead by Maplestar. She looked at them in confusion. Tundrafoot raced to her side and explained the story. Her eyes clouded.

Rather stiffly she walked to the White Tree. Jumping into the branches she looked down at them. They all turned to face her. "Today one of our apprentices saved Orcakit. We are eternally grateful to him and I think he deserves his warrior name," Maplestar called. The clan cheered in agreement. Heronpaw shakily walked to the White Tree.

"I, Maplestar, leader of Frostclan call my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I condemn him a warrior in his turn. Do you, Heronpaw, promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan even at the cost of your life?" she asked.

"I do," Heronpaw mewed. His voice had grown deeper in the past moons and echoed through the camp. Lichenheart was watching him proudly as Maplestar jumped from the tree to stand next to him.

"Then from now on you shall be known as Herontalon. Starclan honors your strength and courage and we welcome you as a full member of Frostclan," she finished. Resting her muzzle in between his ears she waited for him to lick her shoulder. Shakily Herontalon licked her.

"Herontalon, Herontalon," Lichenheart erupted into cheers. The clan followed her lead. "Herontalon, Herontalon."

He beamed with pride as they rushed forward to congratulate him. "Your father would be so proud," Lichenheart purred. Herontalon smiled.

"I know," he mewed.

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Silvertear watched the clan through silted eyes. Herontalon was sitting in the middle of camp, getting ready for his vigil. Stormstep and Whitefox were sharing tongues by the warriors den. Furledpaw and Bigpaw were talking about what their warriors names would be outside the apprentice den while Tundrafoot and Maplestar were talking quietly next to her den. Twigshade joined them as she watched.

Duskfeather was watching them from across the camp. Silvertear glanced at her sister. She had changed so much since she got her name. She didn't talk to anyone or sit with anyone. All she did was sort herbs and gather herbs. She was barely in camp to be honest. She spent most of her time outside.

"And to think we used to be so close," she sighed.

"What was that?" Snowyowl asked from where he was laying next to her. She glanced at him.

"Nothing. I was just talking to myself," she mewed. Snowyowl twitched his ears, a sign that he didn't believe her. To her relief he didn't press the matter. Silvertear smiled. She licked his cheek. "Thanks," she purred. Snowyowl blinked.

"For what?" he asked.

"For everything," she smiled. Snowyowl smiled back. Settling down she closed her eyes as he groomed her fur.

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Herontalon sat alone in the camp clearing. Everyone had gone to bed by now. He sat perfectly still, like a cat carved from ice. The only thing that moved were his eyes. They scanned the camp perimeter for any sign of an enemy.

The gleam of eyes, the flash of fur under a bush, anything. His ears were pricked too. Listening for anything other than his snoring clanmates. Fur brushing against the bushes, hushed whispers on the wind, or gentle paw steps approaching camp.

The night was just as still as he was. Nothing moved and nothing made a sound. He smiled to himself. It would be an easy vigil. Then his eyes caught something.

The gleam of eyes in the trees. Herontalon stiffened. Before he could sound the alarm they were gone. He scented the air. Nothing. Odd, he thought. Getting to his paws he trotted towards the place where he saw the eyes.

Once again he scented the air but once again he smelled nothing. Looking around he saw nothing. Sighing he turned to leave when he did see something.

Paw prints. Fresh paw prints in the ground by the bush. He investigated them. They were very small, obviously from a runner. The scent around them was cold and full of air. It reminded him of open spaces. Shrugging he turned back around and walked back into camp.

He would ask Snowyowl about them tomorrow. Sitting back down in his spot he returned to watching the camp.

A/N:

Don't think I'm lazy cuz I got another chapter up so soon. Truth is I wrote the other one yesterday so I haven't been sitting writing two chapters today. Well anyways please review people. And Spottedclaw21 sorry but I already have Silvertear's kits planned. One of them is name Moonkit though. Anyways I have plans for a sequel but I'm not sure if I should do one. Do you want me to write a sequel? Oh and what do you think of Herontalon's name?