A Warrior's Truth Fan Novella

Squirrelflight's lie - Chapter six

[THIS CHAPTER TAKES PLACE AFTER THE FIRE SCENE]

Sorry for all the time skips you guys! It's just, this is really rushed since I'm super excited to do Silverstream's love, so I think I'm going to stop this one at chapter seven, which will basically just be the aftermath of the whole thing.

Squirrelflight faltered. Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf all gave her the look that said everything, their eyes lit by the warm, orange glow.

"What do you mean you're not our mother?" Lionblaze asked.

She flinched. 

"I knew this day would come. I'm so sorry for keeping this a secret from you for so long. Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionbla-"

Brambleclaw burst through the trees. "What in StarClan's name is going on here? Squirrelflight!" 

_

Brambleclaw crouched underneath the bush. "Squirrelflight, you told them?" He asked urgently

"Yes."

"Did you tell them they were Leafpool's?"

"No."

"Are they angry?"

"Yes."

"Will we tell them they're Leafpool's?"

"No."

"Why not? Because you're scared of Leafpool being angry at you?"

"Yes."

"Why? She won't care! Right?"

"No."

"HUH?? But I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Squirrelflight cut in calmly. "Leafpool has a short temper. She's nice, but she looses it easily. If Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf started giving her the cold shoulder, she will be so angry."

Brambleclaw nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right..." he paused. "Hey, wait, what if we just told them that you said that to Ashfur so he wouldn't kill you guys!"

Squirrelflight tensed. That might work. 

-

"Hollyleaf, I swear! I'm your mother! Leafpool can do a test on us! To see whether we're kin or not!" She panicked.

Hollyleaf's ears pricked. "Really? We can?" 

"Yes, Hollyleaf. We'll do the same with Jayfeather and Lionblaze!" Squirrelflight continued quickly. 

Hollyleaf's face brightened a little bit-not that she was smiling, just more like she was less angry-and so Squirrelflight took that as a good sign and turned around so that they could walk back to camp.

The rain clung to Squirrelflight's fur annoyingly, so she was glad when they got there and the branches covered the rain from hitting her... a little bit. 

She smiled at Hollyleaf, but she just turned her head away, looking embarrassed. 

Squirrelflight sighed, then bounded into the medicine den. "Leafpool, I need you to fake kin-test me and Hollyleaf," she said quickly. "And fast! Do something! Have us spit in a leaf and... uh... I'll chew on some leaves and tell Hollyleaf that if it turns green then we're kin!"

Leafpool nodded curtly as Hollyleaf halted at the base of the entrance. 

"Let's see if 'mother' was lying to me."

Squirrelflight brushed a leaf off of the herb store quickly with her tail before chewing on it profusely, and swallowing none of the juice. Though it tasted foul, this was her last chance. This had to work. 

Her heart stopped as she spit into the leaf, synced with Hollyleaf almost exactly. Leafpool surely explained. Squirrelflight just wasn't listening.

To her own relief, her saliva was green. Hollyleaf turned to Squirrelflight, beaming. 

"You were right! Oh, Squirrelflight, I don't know what I'd do if you were telling the truth to Ashfur! I would have loved you either way, though. Or, at least, looking at it now, you're my mother, and I actually don't know if I would actually love you still... BUT RIGHT NOW I WOULD!" She mewed, embracing Squirrelflight tightly. 

Oh, StarClan. Now they can never know. 

_

Life carried on as usual. Thought Squirrelflight was utterly disturbed at the way she abruptly stopped the three from figuring out, thanks to Brambleclaw's idea. Ashfur died a few days after the fire. 

Leafpool told Squirrelflight about the fur caught in Ashfur's claws. It was Hollyleaf who had killed him. Of course it was her. She was the most upset about the fire-and Squirrelflight's confession. 

It was sad to know that Hollyleaf was a killer. She finally seemed happy, and Squirrelflight thought that her life's path finally lit up after it had been darkened by her insecurities and medicine duties. 

But that part of Hollyleaf's life was over now. Squirrelflight was relieved for her daughter. She thought about this before going to sleep. 

Where Hollyleaf would end up.

Firestar killed Scourge, yet her father was an excellent cat and was most obviously going to StarClan.

But that was probably half because his path was always lit by the stars from the very beginning. He knew what to do for his whole entire life.

Hollyleaf didn't know what to do. 

Squirrelflight always thought that directly in her heart Hollyleaf would always be the kit pouting because she wanted Leafpool's milk, not Daisy's milk. Bless her heart. 

She felt bad for lying to her kits. 

But it was the only way. 

Her only choice. 

They would hate her. 

Hate her... hate her... hate her....