#He is amused at Leaftail's pettiness towards him. When he even notices it

[bonefall]

Are you keeping Hallowflight's and Ivypool's odd friendship they had going on in the DF as apprentices? I know the Erin's forgot about it after the great battle, but honestly thought it was kinda sweet how they became friends in literal cat hell and how Hallow tried to comfort Ivy after she perma-killed Ant. I just thought it was neat and something unique.

I see Hallowflight, after the BOTTE, as really wanting to distance himself from the friends he made there.

With his new Honor Title and this almost immediately legendary story, he went from an outcast loser to suddenly being a hero. His bully Mossyfoot died, and his other bully Troutstream changed her tune. Cats wanted to know him, calling him brave and commending his turnaround.

But that's not the case in the other Clans. ShadowClan outright exiled Redwillow, with the other two being killed in the fight. WindClan is furious at their trainees, and ThunderClan has the guy that almost snapped his son's neck.

Hallowflight's life got better because of his time there, but everyone else is worse off, and associating with them hurts his own shiny new reputation.

And like... that isn't something he's proud of. He knows better than anyone that ALL of them got pulled into the DF because they were angry, lonely, looking for meaning. Almost everyone who was a hard ideologue (Thornclaw, Whiskernose, Ratscar) DIED fighting for those ideas.

And yet, still, he is willing to stay quiet about Dodderheart, Shredbloom, and everyone else, only exchanging an awkward nod at Gatherings, not offering himself as a counterexample in their defense.

If they want to think he's a coward... so be it.

But of all the DF trainees, he's definitely closest to Ivypool, and I think he's willing to throw an endorsement of Harespring once he's out of his Dishonor Title and acting as deputy. He simply won't endanger his own reputation; Hallowflight has a family to consider.

(And then he loses two of his kids to the Impostor anyway, on both sides of the conflict, and Harelight's view of him is forever damaged... so, see how well neutrality worked out in the end.)

#Hallow is interesting because he strikes me as so... adult now #As much as I adore the other BB!DF Trainees most of them are still driven by petty drama at times #Or even MOST of the time #But Hallow really isn't #He is amused at Leaftail's pettiness towards him. When he even notices it #And I think Ivy. The uncontested QUEEN of petty... kinda looks immature to him now #Though he's proud of her and happy to see her come so far #It's like Hallow really grew up and is now able to see the specific kind of angst that used to drive him #The terrified kid who was bolting across the Lake trembling with fear is a different person from the powerful senior warrior he is now #Dgmw though he never stops being a friendly and sweet dude #It's more that he chooses his associations more carefully now