falling petals | warrior cats story

forty five.

forty five.
lilystem.

Driftingsky had leapt from behind Scorchfur and onto Cherrystorm despite his horrid wounds. I could do nothing but watch in horror as Driftingsky landed a few blows and Cherrystorm retaliate.

I had froze. The sight in front of me was nothing I could have predicted. The tomcat I had grown to love, battling my sister's dearest friend.

Suddenly, I was brought back to reality as Cherrystorm had bucked the gray tom into the nearby tree trunk. My eyes were glued to the scene, as his head struck the tree and his agile body sinking towards the ground.

"Driftingsky!" I called out, unsure if he could even hear me. My voice had cracked, the storm raging even more as the cold winds brushed against my mangled fur.

"Cherrystorm you must stop this now." Scorchfur's voice boomed, demanding her attention as I raced to my partner with haste.

Her ears twitched. "You still don't get it! I cannot let any of you get away and tell Antstar about this!" Cherrystorm yelled aloud over the thunder strikes, her body pointed towards the large black tom now. Featherpaw and Coco remained behind the warrior, clearly terrified of the scene unraveling in front of them.

"What are you going to do?" Scorchfur managed to keep his tone cool and firm, "Kill all five of us just to preserve your image? That's ridiculous." His golden gaze narrowed harshly, his words holding the bitter truth.

My cold paws lifted to hold Driftingsky's head up, his sage eyes not being able to stay open. My heart raced, not knowing if he was even conscious. "Please wake up," I whispered sternly to him, pawing and shaking him until I got some kind of response.

"Lilystem," He had breathed out, and his mouth had almost formed a half smile.

"It's me," I cried, not being able to contain it anymore. How many more cats would I let Cherrystorm hurt? "I never should have left, left you," my voice was hardly a whisper, and I didn't even know if he could hear me.

"None of you were supposed to get involved!" Cherrystorm abruptly shouted, "So you can maybe understand the situation I am in right now."

"This can be avoided. Let's head back to camp. I need to take you to Antstar." Scorchfur was doing a wonderful job staying collected in such a hysterical time. I wondered what was going on in his head as he stole a glance at Driftingsky and I.

She hissed, fur on edge. "I can't! He can't know what I did!" The calico buried her head into her paws briefly, showing clear signs of stress and agitation. Her striking gaze met mine once more.

"You know. We're not so different Lilystem." Cherrystorm's voice was cold, and had lowered to a normal speaking level. And it terrified me.

I stepped a paw in front of Driftingsky as he leaned against the tree against his will, "We're nothing alike." I replied, matching her energy.

The shecat took a stride in my direction, "We both lived in the same shadow. The shadow Petalheart cast, making us seem inferior. I know what it's like to not feel good enough." Her tail swayed behind her body, inching closer to me as I stepped away from Driftingsky to lure her away from him.

"You don't have to pretend Lilystem. I know you felt it too," she spoke articulately, trying to charm me. Before I knew it, we were both edging closer to the cliff.

"Of course I felt lost in her shadow. But I would never ever hurt my sister. I loved her," I replied, taking a deep breath.

My paws stopped moving, afraid to be backed up further towards the cliff's edge as rain pelted into my fur.

"So, you understand?"

"No." I spat. "You are insane. Petalheart didn't deserve you." I shook my head, my eyes never tearing from hers.

Before I could blink again, her green gaze lit up in fury, and she ran at me quickly. My instincts kicked in as I turned around and used my hind legs to buck her away and over my body. Her once beautiful pelt was airborne, heading towards the edge of the cliff before her claws latched onto the crumbling ground. She was hanging off the edge.

I scurried to the edge, her claws desperately looking for something to hold onto. The ground was giving away, and you could see the terror in her wide eyes. I extended a paw, my body telling me I had to help her.

But it was too late.