Lillyheart's Secret

Chapter Twenty-nine

"Siltpatch!"

The word was such a broken one, so full of pain and fear that for a moment, the speaker was unrecognizable to Lillyheart, tears streaming down his face.

Her paws buckled, sending her down the snow down to where Siltpatch lay, snow stained a dull crimson, his green eyes dull, reflections of the clouded sky.

Murkfall was pressed against his brother, his broken sobs tearing through Lillyheart's heart as she watched.

Just pawsteps away, a black she-cat stood, eyes wide and shocked, blood staining the snow around her paws. Something in Lillyheart snapped at the sight, and she hurtled at the she-cat, claws unsheathed, hot tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

"What did you to do him?" She hissed, tackling the black she-cat in one fluid motion, her own body trembling.

The black she-cat still stared at Siltpatch, eyes growing almost glassy. "I couldn't stop him," she whispered, her voice carrying the same broken feeling as Murkfall's did. "He attacked and I couldn't stop him and I tried and he killed him. He killed him!" Her jaws parted in a wail, pain rushing through Lillyheart at the sound.

The Riverclan warrior pushed herself off the mystery she-cat, for the first time recognizing the scent that was hidden under blood. Shadowclan! She must have been the Shadowclan she-cat that Cloudnose had been talking about!

Lillyheart stepped away, closer to Murkfall, tears filling her eyes at the sight of him curled into his brother, nose pressed into his fur. "My love?" She whispered, feeling as if her words violated the solemnity of the scene.

"He's gone." Murkfall's voice cracked, his body visibly shaking as he nuzzled Siltpatch. "He's gone." The words drifted into a muffled sob, and Lillyheart dropped next to her mate, attempting to soothe him with gentle licks.

When Murkfall's cries finally silenced themselves, Lillyheart looked up to see the Shadowclan she-cat crouched in front of Siltpatch, her nose pressed against his, silent tears matting her cheeks.

A growl rose up from Murkfall, and he got up, eyes narrowing. "Who are you?" His voice seemed so coarse, so unlike just a moment ago, his tail lashing.

"I couldn't stop him," the she-cat whispered. "And he'll come for me and I'll die and I'll be with him again." She closed her eyes, pressed a small lick to Siltpatch's cheek, then curled into herself, beginning to shake. "I'm going to die and he'll get me and he'll kill me and I'll see him in Starclan and he'll get to meet our kits an-" her voice cracked, and she looked at Lillyheart and Murkfall, face full of sorrow and realization. "He'll never meet out kits," she whispered.

Lillyheart junped up and pressed her muzzle to Murkfall's ear, voice quick and hushed. "She didn't kill him." She felt Murkfall start to pull away, so she rushed to finish. "I think she's carrying his kits."

Murkfall froze, then turned his head to face Lillyheart, eyes wide. "What?"

Lillyheart motioned with her tail. "I think she is carrying Siltpatch's kits. And I think they were attacked." Her blue gaze slipped over the she-cat, who now sat there, staring blankly up at the sky, muttering words as she lay there. "We need to take her back to camp."

Murkfall crinkled his nose in disgust. "No. No. I don't believe it. Siltpatch would never break the code. He would never betray his clan like that." His voice seemed firm, but the small quiver that hid in his words revealed just how rattled Murkfall was.

Lillyheart shoved down a hiss of irritation. "Fine. Believe what you want. But right now, we have a possibly pregnant she-cat on our paws, and I'm not sure if she's the most stable." She touched her tail to Murkfall's shoulders. "Someone needs to go back to camp and get help. Do you need to stay here with him?"

Murkfall nodded, his eyes darker now, sending of shiver of fear down Lillyheart's spine, but she pushed it away. "I'll stay," he murmured. "I'll stay."
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They buried Siltpatch that evening.

It was hard to scrape out a place to bury him when the ground was frozen, but they did it, Murkfall and Swiftleap standing just pawsteps away, pressed against each other in solemn silence.

Lillyheart stood next to the she-cat, speaking to her in hushed tones, trying to figure out what had happened. "You said you couldn't stop him. Who is him?"

The she-cat never took her eyes off of Siltpatch. "He wanted me to be his mate," she whispered. "But I didn't love him."

Lillyheart's gaze flicked from the she-cat to Siltpatch, then back again. "You didn't love Siltpatch?"

"No!" The she-cat whipped her head around, eyes full of anger. "I loved him more than anything." Her voice hushed once more. "It was Copperstar." She shuddered, and leaned slightly against Lillyheart. "He kept following me around. Said that I deserved the best in a mate."

Lillyheart tensed at the she-cat's closeness, then hesitantly licked the top of her head, trying to calm her. "What happened?"

"He tried to-" she shuddered, curling into herself. "And Siltpatch found us a tried to stop him. But he was no match for Copperstar. And now he's dead." Her voice was hollow, as if the cat outside had died with Siltpatch. She looked up at Lillyheart. "What's your name?"

Lillyheart gave her a soft smile. "Lillyheart. What's yours?"

The she-cat turned to watch as they lowered Siltpatch into the hole, tears once more clouding her eyes. "Poppytail," she whispered, amber eyes closing.

Lillyheart nodded, but her own focus was on Murkfall, his green eyes dark as the dirt staining his paws.

Fear and worry filled her heart, but Lillyheart shoved it aside. She had no reason to fear her mate, but in that moment, he was unrecognizable.

When he turned to look at her, she could have sworn his eyes were red.

I told you I would be killing characters off.

Don't worry, Siltpatch won't be the last :}

I'm actually really surprised with myself because I just whipped out over 860 words in one day. I guess it's just really easy for me to write death scenes?

Anyway, this chapter is done, and hopefully another one will come out relatively soon! First I gotta work on Chapter 4 of When Ashes Arise.

Bye guys! Make sure to love on all of your favorite characters, they might be next!