Lillyheart's Secret

Chapter Twenty-two

One moon.

That's how long Lillyheart had been home. One moon was how long she had been sitting in silence, it was how long the other cats had stared at her as she drifted by, like a forlorn ghost.

One moon had never felt so long.

Today she was sitting at the entrance of camp, fur fluffed up against the chill of leafbare. Cats had been making their way in and out of camp all morning, but now that the sun was highest, and lending just a few rays of light and warmth, most cats were curled up in tight groups, soaking in the sun.

Lillyheart did not have a group of her own.

There was a soft cough behind her, and she turned to see Leopardkit trying to sneak past. The calico kit stared up at her with wide eyes, mouth already open to come up with an excuse.

Lillyheart, however, did not give Leopardkit a chance to speak, and took her by the scruff and started to drag her to the nursery. The kit meowed out her disapproval, wriggling and trying to escape Lillyheart's grasp. "Oh come on! Why can't I leave the camp! I'm gonna be an apprentice soon, you know. Mom says it cant be much longer, just a day or two more!"

Lillyheart dropped her in front of the nursery, giving her a slight glare. If it's only a day or two more, then I'm sure you can wait till then.

Obviously, the kit did not understand her glare, and tried to dart away from the side, and raced through camp, past the sleeping warriors, and out of camp.

Lillyheart sighed, and started to pad after the misbehaving kit. She could only get so far before she got lost, and hopefully Lillyheart would have caught up by then.

As she padded through the entrance to camp, a small flake of snow landed on her nose, and she shook her head, ears pinning back.

As she trotted after the scent of Leopardkit, she couldn't help it when her mind trailed back. Back to emerald eyes, to the gentle touch of a tail, the soft way he had guided her...

What had she seen? What had made her fall so quickly, even amidst all her fear? Even as he dragged her from her home, what had called to her? Had anything really called to her, or was she just desperate... for anything?

The siamese warrior stopped in her tracks, and for the first time since leaving the camp, she noticed how heavily it was snowing.

Panic made her stomach churn as she desperately looked around. How was she going to find a mostly white kit, in all of this! Ducking her head against the growing wind, her fur becoming matted with snow, she started onwards again.

But for all the chaotic silence of wind and snow, her mind was louder, screaming at her, scolding her for not laying more attention, for not catching Leopardkit sooner, for letting Creekstar down.

A guest of wind crashed around her, and she stumbled, the chill of the snow numbing her body to any pain.

She had to find Leopardkit.

There was a soft, plaintive mew, so faint you could barely hear it, and Lillyheart jolted up, eyes wide. Yes! Two scared amber eyes stared back at her from all of the snow, and Lillyheart darted forward, paws digging at the chilling whiteness.

She had found Leopardkit! With a hurried thought, she thanked Starclan for guiding her paws, and scooped away another pawful of snow.

Leopardkit tilted forward, then stumbled a bit, obviously freezing. Lillyheart pulled her closer, wrapping her flufffy tail around the calico kit, staring worriedly into the snow.

The wind tugged at her, even as she stood still, and snow started to pile on her head and shoulders, numbing them.

She had to get the two of them out of there, to somewhere with a least a little shelter...

But with everything so white, hoe would she know where she was going? With all of the chaos and wind, how could she trust her own paws to take her the right way?

She had failed herself before, but now its wasn't just her life that would be effected by her choices. Leopardkit was depending on her. She looked down at the kit, and Leopardkit stared back with wide amber eyes. "C-cold," the kit mewed. "So c-cold."

Lillyheart gave her head a tender lick. She wanted to comfort the kit so badly, yet her voice still seemed to be tangled inside of her. Gathering up her determination, Lillyheart stood, ushering Leopardkit to stand underneath her. She had to move fast, before she changed her mind.

As the two stumbled through the snow, Lillyheart found the wind was blowing with them, pushing them onward, even when Lillyheart wanted to drop down from exhaustion.

Giving a silent thanks to Starclan, for helping them in some small way, Lillyheart pressed on.

She felt Leopardkit underneath her stumbled into her legs, and Lillyheart stopped, leaning down to pull the kit free. She had to keep walking, but it was just too much for the kit, and yet she was too big for Lillyheart to carry.

She was just so, so tired...

Lillyheart dropped into the snow, curling Leopardkit closer to her, trying to keep the kit as warm as possible. I'm sorry, she wanted to say, as tears welled in her eyes, starting to freeze on her creamy fur. I'm sorry I couldn't find you fast enough. I'm sorry I didn't stop you before. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to keep going.

I'm sorry that I'm the reason why we're both going to die.

Lillyheart took one last look at Leopardkit, trying to make her eyes show everything she felt, all her apologies and fear. The calico kit stared back at her, then buried her face in Lillyheart's fur, quivering.

Lillyheart whisked her tail around the two of them, and looked out into the falling snow. It wasn't too bad, for a last view.

And as she laid down her head, letting the cold sink over her, she heard someone calling...

Ok so WHAT
Two chapters in two days??? I know, it's nonsense, it cant be real, right???

I have no clue how I finished this so fast, but I'm glad I did!!! Now i get to see your guy's reactions!

Speaking of reactions, I would love it if you comment and vote! I love reading what you guys think about the story, and your feelings about the characters, and even on things I can fix up when I edit.

A few of my fave people who comment are...

Y-Studios: they wont take any of Lillyheart's crap, and their comments are insanely entertaining

Acatin_The_Cat, they tend to comment on the cute stuff I slip into each chapter, and i like that!!

And Ginbellneko, because they've let me know about some stuff that is sorely lacking (like descriptions for cattos) and other thing that need to be fixed when I finally get around to editing this!

Sorry for this long note, so I'ma head out now, and (hopefully) work on chapter 23!!!! BYEEEEEEE