A Rose's Bond

Chapter 3 (Raindust)

Well, time to give this to Lillycrow. Raindust held the yellow-petalled necklace in front of him, thinking. It was morning, and the first thing he thought when he woke up was, "well, it's time." Raindust frowned at the necklace. The pale sunlight spread out on the campgrounds was like a warm blanket, warming up everyone's body. Lillycrow, Raindust knew, was already awake probably hunting for prey, like he heard his brother say yesterday. The original necklace was supposed to be made of rose petals, but that Rosepaw! She ruined everything, and the necklace had to be made out of yellow roses instead. He only forgave her because he didn't want it to look like he would stay mad at a young apprentice. He thought yellow roses didn't look as nice as red ones, but Lillycrow loved all flowers, not judging them by their color. 

To make the garland, he found some roots half-embedded into the ground and washed off the bits of dirt in the river. A lot of the other cats were going on with their business, thinking he was catching prey or something, but some noticed him and were shooting him suspicious glares. Raindust had shot them all glowers back. He was fond of himself for doing that, and continued making the necklace for Lillycrow. Raindust thought of making the garland for Lillycrow because he wanted her to actually notice him. Lillycrow barely glanced at him when he caught really good prey for the fresh-kill pile. He let the roots dry in the sun, and returned to them after training Grasspaw for the day. When he returned to them, he took the yellow petals he safely tucked away under a bush, so no one would cover them with dirt, like Rosepaw! The strung the petals into the roots and it was done. 

Raindust got up and re-arranged his own moss bed. Then, he pushed past the green grass shoots and took a look around. Among the cats who where getting up for the day, there wasn't Lillycrow. Thank Starclan, I don't want her to see me with the necklace. It would look awkward, and he wanted to give her the necklace somewhere private, not near other cats who would stare at them and gossip. Raindust decided to leave the necklace in the warrior den under his bed. He wanted to give Lillycrow the necklace in the warrior den. 

Raindust pushed the green reeds to the side and make his way to the forest that everycat hunted in. He dodged chattering kits and the bushes and ran into the forest. The trees swayed in the breeze and there was a soft humm in the air. 

Since Lillycrow loved flowers, he searched for a patch of flowers and rolled in them to smell like them. Then, he squinted in every direction, keeping an eye out for a dark brown cat that looked like they were hunting. After doing the same procedure for a few minutes, he gave up. Where could she be? Didn't I hear Birchpelt saying that Lillycrow was going hunting in the morning today when I asked him? Instead of continuing to think about that, his mind turned to what Birchfur could've thought about him asking. Is he suspicious of me? To Raindust, Birchfur was a cat who had a mixed personality. He was fierce, but kind, clever, and funny at the same time. With that information, it was hard for him to know whether it was something he'd be suspicious about or not. After a lot of searching in the forest, Raindust decided to look somewhere else. Did Birchfur lie to me? 

Raindust swiveled his head back towards camp, where he saw Lillycrow at the fresh kill pile. He was pretty tired from looking for her, so he unconsciously sat down. Lillycrow was yelling something at the kits, who where sitting near the nursery. The kits slowly turned their heads towards her. Windkit and Beekit started to get up, while the other three kits shook their heads and continued what they were going. Windkit and Beekit clumsily made their way to Lillycrow, who had an amused look on her face as the two kits kept stumbling into each other. Eventually, the two kits plopped down in front of Lillycrow, who turned around, took something in her mouth, and turned back to the kits with what looked like a grey blob. Wait, duh, that is a mouse, Raindust thought. Well, get yourself over there and give her the necklace!!!, said a voice inside his head. He shook his head and scrambled up. The kits had gobbled up the meal and were trotting back to their friends. Raindust jumped over the small bush in front of him and ran to Lillycrow. Lillycrow quickly looked up at him and got to her feet. 

"Raindust! Is something wrong?" She asked. 

"Lillycrow, I wanted to give you something." He turned his head to the kits, who didn't seem to notice the look of suspicion he was giving them. "Privately." 

"Raindust, I don't think I'd be able to. Honeyflight wanted me to meet him at the Blooming Tree after I gave the kits their prey. I noticed that they didn't eat in the morning, and thought they might be hungry," Lillycrow said shifting on her paws. "I should go to him now." Raindust's heart mentally broke, but a wave of anger rippled through his body. Was Honeyflight trying to delay this? Or was he also giving Lillycrow a present? Raindust didn't know, but he needed to reply. Instead of yelling and getting angry, he said "Okay, well, see you later." 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Raindust slowly walked around the dens, not thinking about where he's going, but thinking about where Lillycrow was. He hadn't seen her anywhere, and it was almost sunfall. Where could she be? She couldn't have had to stay there for that long, did she? Did she need to go on a hunting patrol? 

His thoughts were interrupted by Mosscurl, who rushed up to him.

 "Heyy, I found your necklace...." he said, nudging Raindust playfully. 

Raindust gulped, and his face burned with embarrassment. "Who's it for, you big fluffball?" Raindust's face stopped burning, and he turned to him.

"It's for Lillycrow. I..I really like her..." he turned away, his face starting to scorch again. 

"Oooo" Mosscurl said. "Could you make one for me?" He asked. 

"Uhhh...okay..." Raindust replyed, a little confused. But he'd do it anyways, since Mosscurl was his best friend.

"Yay! Thanks!" Mosscurl said. "Can I come with you?" 

"Sure," Raindust replied.

While walking towards the other side of camp, Raindust decided that they should go to the Blooming Tree. There might be flowers still there, even thought it was almost fall. There were orange and yellow leaves hanging from the ginormous trees that passed by then as they followed the path of rocks embedded into the ground as a path, so no cat would get lost trying to get to the Blooming Tree. 

When they reached there, there it was completely dark. Raindust raised his paw and made it let out a spark of light. Looking around, there were bushes surrounding a tree with some yellow and green leaves. Only one of the bushes had flower on it, so Raindust beckoned for Mosscurl to follow him and they were padding their way to the bush. 

It wasn't until he stumbled into something when he noticed what was on the ground. Raindust looked down, and saw a familiar white cat laying on the ground. Raindust felt sick to his stomach, and felt like he was going to throw up. Mosscurl gasped stepping backwards with a look of horror on his face. Raindust felt like he was going to faint. His heart flipped over, filled with extreme anger and aching sorrow. Lillycrow was dead, laying on the dirt with a betrayed look on her face. And he was sure he knew who killed her. 

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