Heron felt like she was gonna puke. Paws trembling as she stared at the cats in front of them.

should they tell them? The other cats tied to kill them for wanting to find swiftclaw! what if these cats were just putting up a kind front and would turn against them in the end?

the little show of comfort from her brother made her jump at first, though she soon pressed against him until he stepped back, grateful for the help in her fit of panic.

she nodded at his response, dark tail wrapping around her paws as she sat next to him, vacant expression turned towards the three clan cats, fur bristling as they stayed silent for a while.

why weren't they talking? should they not have said anything? god, they should just run! why weren't they running?!

"a medic? we have one of those."

What?

Herons gaze turned towards the cat that spoke-the tom. He was staring at the two with interest that made Heron's skin crawl all over. She wanted to run. They shouldn't be here. They almost got killed once today, she wasn't gonna have it happen twice.

"We do, but we shouldn't help some rouges... it's not good for our clan" The big fluffy she-cat smiled sympathetically, "I hope your mother is alright, though"

Heron stared down Froststar with squinted eyes. She was actually being very kind....and not turning on them. Why were they being so kind to a couple of outsiders? "Not your medic, a medic."

She watched the three cats expression turn to confusion. Of course, they'd be confused. But she'd eat maggots before she told them swiftclaw was who they were looking for.

"What?"

"Nothing...come on Crow, let's go" She muttered, nudging him a bit before flinching away as the little shy apprentice piped up with a "What do you mean by a medic? are you looking for someone?"

Herons nose scrunched up as if she was disgusted, ears flat against her head. "None of your business, little cat." She hissed, dark tail lashing around. No way was she going to tell this cat who they were looking for. Swiftclaw was not liked, that much they knew now. But they needed him. They promised Raven.

"I'm not little! Who are you looking for? We can help!"

"Shut up, we don't need your help"

"Then why'd you ask for a medic?"

Heron stayed silent, and by this time she was facing the little tabby with a grimace. They did need the cats to help. And by the looks on their faces, she could tell the other two didn't like her picking a fight with their friend.

"Well?" Froststar asked, a little annoyed look telling that they weren't backing down.

Heron couldn't run again. But she sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight. "swiftclaw." she stated simply, tensed and ready to fight if these cats were going to attack. she didn't have much practice. mainly tussling with crow when he felt up to it and the little tricks she picked up on while practising on leaves and trees.

The cats all looked very surprised at that, except the small ginger apprentice who just stared back with a confused look. "Whos that?"

"Swiftclaw was a warrior once upon a time" The tom muttered, "He was....bad." He said dumbly, and Heron scoffed at his lack of vocabulary.

"You two are looking for Swiftclaw specifically....because?"

"He's our dad."

Heron almost backed down from her defensive stance as a look of pity flashed through all of the cat's eyes. She didn't want pity. She just wanted to find Swiftclaw and get their mother better so they could continue on with their boring, pathetic lives.

"Well? do you know where to find him or not?" She spat.

"Ah, yeah...he lives near the twolegplace. in a barn. its big and red, you can't miss it."

Heron wanted to cry of relief. They knew where to go looking now, at least. They didn't have a dumb guess. And these cats weren't going to attack them. or even chase them away. they actually helped a couple of loners.

"Thanks..." The slender molly muttered, before slipping past crow and beginning towards the twolegplace. "come on... let's get out of here as fast as we can..." she almost whispered, head low as she looked over her shoulder to see the three begin to retreat. 

heron felt like her paws were gonna fall off. and she was not being dramatic even a bit.

they were throbbing and probably bleeding. how long had they even been walking? it could have been a few hours. but also a few days. she lost track.

shed also lost track of where they were going. multiple times. theyd gotten lost like twice. and now the forest was getting less dense and she was ready to admit defeat.

really, were they even sure that swiftclaw could help their mother? he may know a lot about herbs but hes no healer.

should they have just accepted the clans help? did she make a big, fatal mistake in refusing? her heart dropped at that thought.

was she about to kill their mother by being so stubborn?

just as she was about to admit she was wrong and they should turn back, a big, red building came into view.

a barn.

"crow" she breathed, looking to her brother "we're here" finally

she began to walk faster, going into the barn and standing in the doorway.

she could smell a few cats, but none of them really stuck out to her. and she didnt see any of them. maybe they were hiding?

just then a big brown tomcat jumped down from the loft and hissed at the siblings.

herons first reaction was to yelp and rear back, claws extended.

"who are you? what do you want?" he roared, sending chills down herons spine.

"not you i hope" she grumbled "we're looking for swiftclaw.


the tom paused, and walked away. he was gone for a few minutes. or long enough for heron to step inside and sit, getting comfy and grooming crows fur to pick out all of the nasty burrs that made their way into his wild mess of black fluff.

that had become a sort of coping skill, when her anxiety was through the roof.

soon, though, a cat walked out from up in the loft and heron felt her heart drop.

she really did look like him.

did she always have a menacing stare like that, too? or did he just recognize them and want them gone?

Heron stared at their father, eyes narrowed at his menacing aura. What was he thinking? Was he going to attack? Yell at them? Or was that just his face. Ravencloud had told her many times that she looked exactly like him, so maybe that was a part of it. Maybe they both just had a resting bitch face and it just confused others. Or maybe he wasn't happy to see them in the slightest. She couldnt imagine that their relationship had ended well.

She watched as Crow bounded up to him excitedly, and the white Oriental felt her heart stop for a moment. They didn't know him! Why was Crow so excited to see a cat they had never met before? She held back a yell, and just stayed put, waiting for Swiftclaws reaction. Hoping it would be a good one. That would make things a lot easier.

Her prayer to the stars was not heard.

Swiftclaw reared back with a hiss, fur bristling and thin tail puffed out in anger. Heron surged forward and grabbed Crows scruff, easily pulling him backwards before something bad happened.

"Leave!" He snapped, eyes blazing and tail lashing. Herons heart dropped. Their mother was going to die of this sickness if they couldn't convince him to help.

"Ravencloud is sick." She said simply, backing up a bit. "Shes going to die. We need your help so she doesn't. Please help us." She spoke loudly, shaking her head. "We know you have herb knowledge. Something that will help her, at least." She mewed, though the furious expression on Swiftclaws face did not change. If anything, it got worse.

"I don't care, I said leave" He yelled, lashing at Heron. Luckily she dodged and hissed at him, swiping at the air in front of his nose before turning around. "Come on crow, we dont need this bastards help anyways. We can find another way to help Raven."

As Heron padded out of the barn, she let out a little growl. "Should've known..." she grumbled under her breath, beginning to slowly make the way back home. what was she going to tell Raven? She could already hear their mothers reply when they told her they had failed....she would say of course heron failed, that she was no good and never would be worth anything.

heron felt her expression turn hard. she hated raven. why was she even doing this? she didnt want to help the black molly. she hated raven. she was a terrible mother.

and then as her brother spoke, she remembered why. for crow. everything was for crow. the only cat she knew that was kind to her. they were blood. they had to stick together. she would find a way to help raven by herself, for crow.

she stared at the little fluffy tom for a moment with sad eyes. she knew this meant a lot to crow, and she felt like her heart had been crushed. "I dont know..." she said honestly. "But well figure something out...come on, lets just go home for now..." she muttered, and instead of a deadpan expression like usual, herface was pulled into a disappointed frown. she wanted this to work. was raven going to die, and it was going to be her fault? crow would be sad because of her?

she shook the thoughts from her head and continued to make the long walk home,  head lowered and silent.