Millie's Death

Chapter 2

"Ow!" Millie jumped back, surprised by the sudden hit in her side. She looked up to see Ambermoon and Fernsong play fighting. The warriors had kicked a sharp stone and if had hit Millie. The pale ginger she-cat and yellow tabby tom were getting very close lately, there might be some new kits in the Clan soon.

They were both related to Cloudtail, but Fernsong was only distantly, having his grandfather, Firestar's nephew being Fernsong's father.

Oh well, Millie thought. They were just playing.

She suddenly realized that she was bleeding from the sharp stone that had hit her. I'd better go see Leafpool or Jayfeather.

Millie padded back into camp, to the medicine den.

"Back again, Millie?" Leafpool asked from the back of the den.

"Yes," Millie sighed. "I was hit by a sharp stone when I was padding out of the thorn barrier. It's bleeding."

"How did you get hit?" Briarlight asked from her nest.

"It was just some warriors play-fighting. It was an accident."

Leafpool pressed some cobwebs into Millies cut. The blood soaked into it, then stopped. Leafpool removed the cobweb. Millie could hardly see the cut; the bleeding had stopped.
"Jayfeather, can I have some marigold?" Leafpool asked her son.

"Sure," Jayfeather muttered, grabbing some. He chewed up the leaves and slopped them onto her cut.

"Careful!" Millie hissed. "It stings!"

"There," Jayfeather mewed, taking no notice of her yowling.

"Thank you, Jayfeather." Millie meowed as she turned to leave. "And you, Leafpool."

Just as Millie left camp again, she remembered how an idea hit her. She needed to tell Graystripe something important. Maybe she could play a game with Graystripe, when he told her a secret and she told him one.

Yes! A perfect idea!

She went back to the elders den. Purdy was in there, fast asleep. Even though he wouldn't hear what she had to say, she wanted to be alone with Graystripe.

"Do you want to go out on a walk to the lake with me, Graystripe?" Millie asked.

"Sure, Millie." Graystripe purred. "It would be nice, just you and me. We can go to the lake."

When they got to the lake, Millie stopped and faced Graystripe. "If you tell me a secret, I'll tell you one."

"A secret? Well, okay!" Graystripe thought for a second. "Oh, I got it! My favorite kind of prey is vole. Mice are too small, shrews too stringy, birds too feathery-"

"No, I mean a real secret." Millie was started to get mad. "Something you never told anyone else."

"Hmm, alright." Graystripe mewed. "Do you really want to do this?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. When I first saw you, Millie, I thought you were a ghost of Silverstream, coming to save me from the Twoleg den I was trapped in. Because, you look a lot like her, you know?"

Millie was boiling with rage. Graystripe thought she looked a lot like his former mate, Silverstream? Why didn't he just say she was the spitting image of her, why don't ya, Graystripe? Millie forced herself to calm down. What I'm about to tell him is far worse.

"Oh," she forced herself to say. "That's great. Okay, my secret is..is..."

"It's okay, Millie," Graystripe meowed gently. "Just tell me."

Millie sighed. "Millie is just short for....for....Millwood."

Graystripe's mouth dropped open, as if he had just let go of a piece of fresh-kill to go on the pile. "Wh-what? Your...name is....Millwood?"

Millwood nodded. "I just wanted to tell you, because..earlier when you said how you loved my name it was so simple yet fascinating, and not something like Millkin, or Millsun."

"Oh, Millie- No, Millwood. You have such a terrible name. I can't believe I ever loved you!" Graystripe roared.

"Graystripe!" Millwood gasped. "How could you...be so rude to me? It's just a name. In fact, it kind of sounds like a forest name. Millkit, Millpaw, now Millwood. Hey, I would be Millstar if I became leader."

"I hate you! I'll never love you again. I should have told you that I love Silverstream better than you, because that's a secret that I never told you!" Graystripe raced away.

Millwood sighed. She suddenly saw a flash of tortoiseshell pelt. It was Blosssomfall, her daughter. She was hiding behind a clump of ferns. Next to her was Bumblestripe, Millwood's son.

"We heard the whole thing!" Blossomfall screeched. "How could you lie to us? I'll never love you again!"

Millwood was too frozen in horror to say anything.

"You're as bad as Squirrelflight! Worse, even!" Bumblestripe growled.

"It's, it's just a name." Millwood mewed sadly. "Millie is short for it, that's what my Twolegs used to call me, Millie. When I first met you father, I told him my name was Millie because that's what everyone calls me. I didn't lie. You shouldn't treat me any differently because of this. I am your mother."

"You're no mother to us," Blossomfall hissed. "Come on, Bumblestripe. Let's go tell Briarlight!" The two warriors stalked away, vanishing into the undergrowth.

Millwoods heart broke.

She turned to the lake. "Oh, StarClan." She whispered. "Please let them forgive me. Please don't be mad at me too. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

There was no answer. Just the gentle lapping of waves on the shore. Paws heavy, Millwood slowly stood up and dragged herself back to camp, feeling as lifeless as Briarlight when she dragged herself to the fresh-kill pile and back, like a piece of half-dead prey.