"Me!? No, what are you doing here?"
Skyleap's instant retort was spoken with a forked tongue, the words piercing through the air at such a force she thought it might knock the cat off the cliff backwards. Every second the cat didn't answer, she took a menacing step forward. Neck bristling with anger, there was nothing in the silence except the regular click of her paws against the rock and the heavy breathing of her kits behind her.
"What am I doing here!?" The reply came with more anger than she'd been expecting, and she pulled her head back out of shock. "I can't believe you'd even ask me that when you've brought your kits with you. Wait, what am I even saying? Your kits?! They're our kits! You mousebrained fool, they're only, what, five moons old? How could you bring them out here when there is a possible murderer on the loose?"
As if she wasn't feeling guilty enough for bringing her precious kits along already, their father was now stood there in front of them making her feel even worse. This made the new mother all the more irritated. How dare he criticise her when he wasn't even around to take care of them!
Now only a fox-length away from him, she snarled up at the tom. "A possible murderer, huh? My father was potentially the supposed victim of that 'murder' but they got the wrong cat. Don't you dare say that I need to protect my family when that's exactly what I'm trying to do!"
Marshfoot flicked his tail in rage. "You still brought the kits out here. That was irresponsible, Skyleap. I thought you'd know better than that."
She was about to launch into a torrent of bitterness when she was reminded of the presence of her kits.
"Mama?" A questioning Batkit stepped forward, cocking her small head to one side. "Who's this? He smells like HeatClan." She wrinkled her nose a little.
With a sigh, Skyleap threw an exasperated glance in Marshfoot's direction before rounding back towards her children, nudging them into a small huddle and sitting before them. Each one looked up at her with inquisitive eyes, blinking at her, steady and patient. Once more she felt the guilt dripping into her like raindrops on soil, sinking slowly but surely into the ground. With every small mew of anticipation that they made, the storm brewed all the more fiercely inside, but she bottled the thunder inside of her for the sake of the kits.
"Isn't it time they knew, Skyleap?" Using a more gentle tone, she felt Marshfoot's presence stepping closer to her. Torn between telling them and protecting them from the truth, she could hardly bring herself to make a decision and wished that she'd never gotten into the mess in the first place.
Inhaling deeply, Skyleap stepped out of the way so her kits could see Marshfoot.
"Batkit, Antkit, Mothkit... meet your father. This is Marshfoot." The words dripped off her tongue like oil, tangible as opposed to fluid; they travelled to the ears of her kits and sparked different reactions. Batkit, the stubborn she-cat that she was, flinched like she'd been struck by lightning. Antkit was more curious, tilting his bay-coloured head in his father's direction, but he too was just as confused as his sister. And Mothkit... the she-cat showed no expression. In truth, it was her blank face that worried Skyleap the most. Icepaw sat staring at his siblings, waiting to see what they had to say. He knew more than anyone what it was like to have your father be absent from your life. She couldn't help but think that perhaps this was a bad idea.
Stepping forwards to greet them, Marshfoot offered them each a nod of warmth. Skyleap could see on his face that he was thinking how to react, deciding how to proceed... there were no guidelines for this type of thing! Neither of them knew what they were doing! Wishing it was easy, that somehow they could travel back in time and fix their mistakes... but no. These kits were not mistakes. They were the best thing that had ever happened to Skyleap, and if Marshfoot had missed out on their kithoods, then that was his loss.
A comment from Marshfoot brought her back to reality. "You're all so big! How many moons must you be now? Six, seven? You'll be apprentices in no time. Are you excited?"
"Yeah," Antkit mused out loud, and both Batkit and Antkit shot him a look. "I want to be mentored by Mudstar himself!"
Latching on to the energy that Antkit showed, Marshfoot eagerly nodded. "You've got big dreams then ... uh.."
"That's Antkit. Duh." Mothkit interrupted with a forked tongue, and Skyleap could feel the sting of the venom in her voice. "Look, Skyleap, he doesn't even know our names. Can we go home now? This is pointless."
Silence descended on the 'family', if they could even be called that, and tension lingered in the air like a cloud heavy with rain, waiting to release a torrential downpour at any moment.
"I'm sorry..." Marshfoot began, his pained eyes looking at Skyleap's cerulean ones with desperation.
Somewhat sick of the excuses, Skyleap ushered the kits to her side, pulling them in with her tail.
"Wait! You said you were here for information on the murderer. I have just that. Please, let me at least help you by telling you what I know."
Spinning on her heels, she gazed at him expectantly. If he was wasting more of her time, she'd have to release the anger she was already feeling. It wouldn't be a pretty sight.
"Look, I was one of the first here when Foxstar's body was found. His body..." He paused, glancing at the kits, as if what he was about to say was too delicate for their ears. "His body was badly mauled, but there were two different types of wounds on him. Some were deep and messy, whereas others were slick and clean-cut. It was almost like there had been two different things attacking him as opposed to one."
Icepaw was the first to speak, his brows furrowed together in thought. "You mean there were two killers?"
With a shrug, Marshfoot looked back towards the crag. "I don't know anything for sure, but the evidence points towards it, yes. I guess I'm also worried that it was an inside job. Foxstar was not the greatest leader, and if he angered someone in ColdClan or HeatClan, they could have easily ganged up on him. The rogue could have been a distraction, or even made up by whoever was on that patrol. If you're really investigating this, you should speak to the cats who were out with Foxstar when he received the message meant for Cloudstar. Find out if they're really telling the truth. Or I can do it for you, if you'd like... it would mean meeting up again, of course."
Shaking her head firmly, Skyleap stood rigid, protectively guarding her kits. "I don't think that's a good idea. Thank you for the information. We'll look into it."
Nodding, if a little unhappy with her decision, the HeatClan tom turned to leave. Before he did, however, he flicked his tail in their direction.
"Stay safe -- all of you. If the killer was from ColdClan or HeatClan, they could strike again. I would blame myself if any of you got hurt."
The silver she-cat heard him, but couldn't bring herself to answer him, and stalked back into the thicket of ColdClan's territory. Part of her wanted to look behind, see if he was watching them leave like he'd left them, but she couldn't face him again. The kits walked in silence, as did Skyleap, who was lost in thought all the way back to camp.
Noticing the fluffy shape of Redflight sharing tongues with Tallnose at the base of the leader's rock, she found herself gravitating towards the caring voice of the older tom. Knowing that she could always rely on him if she was ever down, she brushed her maw gently over each of the kits' heads, asking Icepaw to take them to the queens' den.
"Sorry to interrupt, you two." She spoke gently, trying not to let on to her emotions too much. "Redflight, can we talk?"
The two toms shared a glance, before Tallnose gave a warm smile and nodded at her. He got up and trotted away, giving them the space they needed.
Raising his large head, Redflight peered at Skyleap inquisitively. "I know that look. I mentored you long enough." His soft voice was a warm welcome. Nose reaching out to touch her own, the pair shared a moment of connection. "You've done something you thought was a good idea and now you regret it. Tell me what's up, Skyleap?"
Burying her grey head in his flame-coloured pelt, Skyleap allowed herself to cry a few tears. Sniffing as her ex-mentor comforted her, she spoke with a wobbly voice. "I -- I saw Marshfoot. The ki... kits met him."
"Oh, Skyleap," Tongue rasping over her head, Skyleap felt that she could be six moons again, crying because she'd gotten into trouble with Mudstar. That was the thing about Redflight -- he'd always been on her side.
"I don't know how I expected it to go. Batkit and Mothkit didn't want anything to do with him, but poor Antkit didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. I think he wanted to know his father; he wanted to fill him in on his past and his hopes for the future! And who am I to deprive them of that bond, if they want to make it!?" The words tumbled out and she pawed at the dust beneath her, watching as it was dampened by her falling tears. If only Sunstorm was here. Her sister would know what to do.
"Hey, now. It's ok. You don't have to make any decisions right now, and neither do your kits! They're only young still, and I'm sure if in the future they do want to know Marshfoot, they'll make that effort themselves. You don't have to do anything."
"But what if.. what if they like him better than me, in the future?"
Pulling away and nudging her soft chin up, Redflight laid his tail on her back. "Now that's just daft. You're an incredible mother, I'm so proud of who you've become. And those kits know that too! They love you more than anything. You're not going to lose them, Skyleap. You've been there for them since the beginning."
Knowing that the tom was right, Skyleap began to breathe more easily. Irrational thoughts were not in her nature. She didn't have breakdowns like this! Motherhood really was changing her.
"There's something else I need to say." Sitting up straight, she twitched her nose as she thought of how to phrase it. "Marshfoot seems to think that this was two cats. Two rogues, maybe, but I think we need to explore the idea that it could have been two clan cats. I mean, why would rogues kill a clan cat with no reason? It just doesn't make sense."
Shaking his head, Redflight gave a shrug. "This whole thing doesn't make sense. The message from the rogue, the apparent unintended victim, and now maybe even two killers? I sure hope that the cats travelling to the Brightplace have had better luck than us."
Together, the pair mused quietly. Neither wanted to talk any more about the risk of more cats dying, nor did they want to draw attraction to themselves if they were. Spreading fear throughout the clan could cause a mass hysteria, and Skyleap knew that the chaos would be damaging to them. No, morale needed to be kept high.
"Let's investigate this ourselves, Redflight. We'll go to HeatClan, talk to the cats... no need to tell anyone here."
Nodding, Redflight licked her nose in agreement. For he knew that a problem shared was a problem halved.
Perhaps together, they'd be able to find a new lead. Both were left hoping that the trail had not run cold, and that they could find more evidence before the killer strikes again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry this chapter is a bit rubbish! Lots of talking.
I thought I should get it out as I know it's been a while!
Who do you think the murderer is? Was Foxstar the intended victim? Is it one cat, or maybe more? And will they strike again?
Let me know in the comments!
Love you all <3