Lillyheart's Secret

Chapter Thirty-four

Lillyheart leaned against Wavecloud as they waited for the rest of the clan to gather in the camp clearing, Creekstar sitting atop the the stone cresting above them all, her eyes not betraying what all had happened in such a short amount of time.

Snakepaw was fidgeting next to his mentor, Softpelt, who tapped his paws with her tail, effectively stilling him. Leopardpaw sat on his other side, a worried look creased onto her face as her gaze darted around the camp.

Murkfall was missing again. It wasn't the first time, and Lillyheart knew it wouldn't be the last. Ever since she had gotten terribly sick and lost the kits, Murkfall had become more and more distant to the clan. Of course, when he was there, you would have never suspected the darkness that he dealt with, not with his dedication to his apprentice, and the loving way he treated his mate.

But he had a tendency to wander off just as the sun started to set, and Lillyheart had often found him hiding next to the willows, staring blankly into the sky as the first stars crept across the horizon.

He tried to hide it all from Lillyheart, but she knew him too well. And he was gone again, which was not a good thing on this night.

Wavecloud pressed gently against Lillyheart. "I suppose he's down by the water again?"

Lillyheart nodded sadly. "I just wish he would let me in. He was such a help when I came back from Thunderclan, and I honestly don't know how I would have survived without him. I wish I could help him the way he's always been helping me." She turned to look deeply at Wavecloud. "Is he always going to push me away when thing go wrong?"

Wavecloud curled her tail around her adopted daughter. "Lillyheart, he is grieving. You and I both know how excited he was to be a father to your beautiful kits, and maybe he's just scared he'll lose you next. Besides, he is with you practically any moment, and you can't so much as sneeze anymore with him fretting over you."

Lillyheart pinned her ears back. "I don't want him to fret over me. I want him to be able to depend on me too. And-" her voice hitched, and she closed her eyes. "It's been three moons already. I'm worried for him, Wavecloud. I'm worried that I'll never be able to get him out of this darkness that he's in."

"Well," Wavecloud whispered. "You better go speak with him then, because guess who's here."

Lillyheart turned to see Murkfall, the same tired look on his face as the one he had been wearing for the past three moons. She quickly hopped up and winded through the gathered cats to glide in step with him as he went to go sit with his apprentice.

"You're late," she murmured, rubbing her cheek against his.

He only sighed in response, sitting heavily next to Leopardpaw, who gave him a pouty look.

"You're late," she hissed, irritation on her face. "I'm supposed to become a warrior tonight and you're late." Her ears tilted back, and she bumped her head against he chest. "Don't do it again."

He snorted lightly and used one paw to ruffle the fur between her ears. "Just because you're all grown up now doesn't mean you get to order me around," he replied, making a face at her. "I'm always going to be your mentor."

Lillyheart chuckled out of purr, watching the two of them. And, just for a moment, instead of Leopardpaw sitting there laughing with Murkfall, she saw a grey apprentice, with blue eyes like the sky.
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Snakeslip was sitting next to Softpelt, the two of them sharing a bird as they waiting for the warrior of the day to come out from the Leader's Den and give instructions for patrols.

Since Lizardtuft had fallen ill in the middle of leafbare, the older warriors took turns going in and getting instructions from him before getting to share with the rest of the clan. Although he had been slowly getting better, the medicine cats were still confining him to the den, which meant that Creekstar also spent quite of lot of time in there with her mate.

Creekstar slipped out of the den, and all the murmured words in the camp snapped into silence at the look on her face. Leopardcry stood next to her, her tail draped over her mother's back.

The cats in the camp rustled in anticipation, breaths held tight as they waited for Creekstar to speak, to confirm the worries that had plagued them for the past several moons.

"It's gotten worse." Creekstar's words were firm and in control, but the tremble in her voice betrayed her. "Reedfoot had a dream last night of a strange herb that might be able to help Lizardtuft. We need a group of cats to go and find this herb."

She took a deep breath, eyes searching the gathered cats. "Any volunteers?"

In a heartbeat, cats were surging forward, lifting their voices in offering themselves, until there was not a single cat who had not promised to help in any way they could.

Creekstar stared at them all, warriors still calling out, and she smiled, a soft and sad action. "Thank you, all of you. If I call your name, please go to the medicine den to speak with Reedfoot and receive further instructions."

"Twigfoot."

The tom got up from his mate and padded towards the den, closely followed by the second name Creekstar called, Honeypatch.

"Wavecloud."

The silver warrior got up from beside her brother, and tapped Lillyheart's shoulder with her tail as she passed by. Lillyheart chirped at her in response, before turning her attention back to Creekstar.

"And Murkfall."

Murkfall sucked in a quick breath, holding it as he looked into his mate's eyes, his own green ones catching on hers.

"Stay safe," Lillyheart whispered to him.

"Always," He replied, still holding her gaze. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

And then he walked away, into the medicine den, his promise of "always" hanging in the air.

OK SO.
Technically it is no longer the weekend but I wasn't able to work on this much because we had a family reunion this weekend

I spent all day entertaining kiddos and staging treasure hunts and I'm tired

Anywho have some Lillyheart. This feels really different from the style I normally write, but the vibes were hitting at 1 in the morning as I was writing this, so this is what you get.

What do you think will happen next?