falling petals | warrior cats story

thirty three.

thirty three.
lilystem.

This whole time, I believed that Antstar was just being a good leader when it came to Petalheart's death. Staying with the body after her burial, showing concern for me, becoming visibly dirturbed after finding out she died with kits — his kits.

But this whole time, it was something more.

I sprinted through the woods, the chilly nighttime air surrounding my body. Water flung from the grass as I ran, still wet from the rain that had fallen earlier.

"He's the father," I would say aloud as a small grin crept upon my face, reassuring myself that this was a fact. Antstar was a good tom, and I could see why Petalheart fancied him so much. I couldn't wait to tell my findings to Driftingsky.

As I neared camp, a tinge of uncomfort hit me. My instincts told me to stop running. So I did.

I scanned the area, noticing the edge of the cliff to my far right. Something felt off, but I didn't know what.

I jumped as some nearby branches snapped, my attention being pulled to the direction. Surprisingly, I found Cherrystorm standing there.

"Cherrystorm?" I blinked, "Wha-What are you doing here?" I stammered, genuinely taken aback by her presence.

Her bright pelt wasn't hard to miss in the dark. "Oh, well, In all honesty I didn't think you'd be out here." She replied softly, fidgeting with her paws.

I narrowed my gaze, feeling very suspicious of what was occurring. "Yeah, well, I'm just heading back to camp now." I informed her calmly, knowing that she probably wasn't aware that I went out to the twoleg nests earlier.

I began to trot past her but was interrupted once I noticed that she placed one of her paws in my path. My emerald gaze was brought to hers as she glanced at me, "I noticed that you've been digging around recently." Her tone was dangerously neutral compared to her usual bubbly self.

I took a safe step back, saying nothing to make sure I wasn't getting the wrong idea.

Her tail flicked in the air, feet sweeping the ground. "Is it true that Petalheart was murdered?" Cherrystorm dragged a claw through the dewy earth, "I would hate for false rumors to be spread around camp. We all know that it was just a simple accident."

"What are you doing?" I questioned, my tone having a bit of a snap to it. After everything I had just learned, this was the last thing I was expecting.

Suddenly, her posture drooped. "Listen Lilystem, it was an accident." She repeated, this time with guilt laced into her voice.

From what I could understand, she seemed to know more than she let on — or, she was trying to be seen that way. Was she possibly covering for Dustedpath, Driftingsky and I's main suspect?

"Say what you are going to say, Cherrystorm." I said with no hesitation.

The bright stars of the night glimmered in her eyes as they glossed over, "You were bound to find out sooner or later," she started, beginning to pace in quick lines. "You and that tom Driftingsky were getting dangerously close to the truth, and I can't let them figure out what I did," she said softly.

I gulped, "What did you do?"

Her muzzle trembled, eyes ablaze, "I killed Petalheart."