The world seemed to spin before her, the ground swaying beneath her paws as Lilyspark tried to steady herself. All the while, she continued to fight the urge to vomit until she nearly collapsed from the strain of it all. Fortunately, Bluefur managed to catch her just as her legs buckled underneath her, holding the younger molly steadily against her shoulder.
"Easy there, Lily," her sister meowed gently.
Lilyspark didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to rage at Thistleclaw and shred him until there was absolutely nothing left of him. It would be the least he deserved, after all. But the other part of her was too stunned to do anything except stare blankly at the spot where her nest should have been. She had suspected for a while that rejecting him wouldn't be enough to get him to stop his advancements, but even she hadn't expected him to be willing to take things this far.
Clearly, however, he was. And that made her wonder just how much further he was willing to go. Of course, Lilyspark knew she could easily move her nest back to where it used to be, but she still had no idea what Thistleclaw's next move would be. Would moving her nest back finally be enough to get the message across, or would he continue escalating his advancements until she gave in? And if he went with the latter option, what other tricks did he have planned? Images of herself waking up to find Thistleclaw in her nest filled her mind, and Lilyspark had to fight hard not to vomit again.
"Come on," Bluefur urged her. "We need to go talk to Sunstar."
Sunstar...yes, Sunstar, she thought dully, some small fragment of clarity settling in the back of her mind. Her father would know what to do. He was the Clan leader. He would know how to help her.
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself, pushing away the horror of her discovery–or at least as much as she could manage at such short notice. Before her resolve could fail her, Lilyspark turned around and walked out of the warriors' den with her sister by her side. As soon as she stepped outside, Thistleclaw came forward to try to speak to her, a glint in his yellow eyes that sent a chill down her spine.
"Lilyspark, I–" he began, but Bluefur wasn't having any of it.
"Back off!" she snarled, pushing her way in front of Lilyspark and glaring at Thistleclaw with so much venom that the spiky-furred warrior actually flinched. "She doesn't want to talk to you, Thistleclaw, so leave her alone."
"What's going on?" Tawnyspots demanded, pushing his way forward to the front of the group. "Bluefur, Lilyspark? Will one of you tell me what's happening?"
"We can't, Tawnyspots," Lilyspark spoke up, finally managing to find her voice. "I'm sorry. It's...complicated, but I just need to talk to Sunstar for now."
It was a poor explanation and even she knew it. Fortunately for her, however, the ThunderClan deputy seemed to realize that whatever was bothering her was important and nodded. Lilyspark felt a flood of relief wash over her; she wasn't sure what she would have done if she had to explain what Thistleclaw had tried to do in front of all her Clanmates.
"Tawnyspots," Bluefur meowed, the tone of her voice leaving no room for argument. "While we're gone, make sure Thistleclaw does not move from that spot."
Whether it was due to her tone or the surprise of being ordered around by a fairly young warrior, Tawnyspots only nodded mutely. Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Bluefur gently tapped Lilyspark's shoulder with her tail, pointing her in the direction of Sunstar's den. With one last nervous glance at the blue-gray molly, Lilyspark steeled herself for a second time and walked over to the Highrock.
Pausing outside her father's den, she called out softly, "Sunstar? May I come in?"
"Come in," Sunstar's voice replied.
When Lilyspark entered the den with Bluefur, she found her parents curled up in Sunstar's nest together. Some of her inner turmoil must have shown on her face, for their faces immediately creased with worry when they saw her. After several moments of silence, Moonflower was the first to speak up.
"Lilyspark, dear? Bluefur? Is everything okay?" she asked softly.
"We're fine. Well, mostly. It's just...Lilyspark has something she needs to tell you," Bluefur answered.
That was her cue to speak, she knew. But as soon as Lilyspark opened her mouth, her mind was flooded with doubts. Despite his arrogance and fondness for starting fights, Thistleclaw was a well-respected warrior within the Clan. What if Sunstar didn't believe her? What if Moonflower didn't believe her? After all, Thistleclaw had been Snowfur's mate. Maybe her parents would think he wouldn't hurt her because he hadn't hurt Snowfur.
Perhaps it would be best if she didn't say anything after all. She could handle Thistleclaw on her own. There was no need to drag her parents into her troubles yet, right? Technically speaking, he hadn't really done anything to hurt her. Physically, at least, she was fine and that was all that really mattered in the end, wasn't it?
But all it took was one look at Moonflower to know that she couldn't lie. She couldn't keep pretending that nothing was wrong. Not anymore. And certainly not to her mother.
"It's...it's about Thistleclaw," she managed to meow after another few heartbeats of silence, and once she started, she found that she couldn't stop.
"After Snowfur died, he started acting...strange, shall I say, around me. Instead of insulting me or ignoring me, he seemed like he was trying to be nice. He started talking to me as if I were any other Clanmate...but sometimes, he would invite me to hunt with him or share a piece of fresh-kill. Eventually, our Clanmates noticed what was going on, and, well, you know what happened after that," she meowed, thinking back to the rumors that had enraged her so much. Right now, she would gladly take her Clanmates' gossip over Thistleclaw's constant pursuits.
"Well, luckily for me, the rumors stopped eventually. But...Thistleclaw wouldn't leave me alone. He kept trying to talk to me, kept trying to convince me to join him on a hunting patrol or to share a meal. Eventually, I confronted him and asked what he thought he was doing. And he...well, he confessed to–to having feelings for me. I rejected him, but I wasn't sure if that would be enough to dissuade him. It...it wasn't, but Bluefur agreed to help keep him away from me. So did Lionheart and Rosetail, even if they didn't necessarily know why. And at first, it worked. He never bothered me as long as I was with one of them."
"But then today...I came back from a patrol, and, well, I could see that something was wrong. There were a bunch of cats crowding around outside the warriors' den, and as I got closer, Goldenflower came over and told me there was something I needed to see. I saw Bluefur and Thistleclaw having an argument...about me. I asked them what was going on, and Bluefur told me that I should talk to you about Thistleclaw...er, pestering me. She said that he had gone too far and that it was time for me to say something. Of course, I wanted to know what had happened. She tried to discourage me, but I insisted, and...and I found out that Thistleclaw had moved my nest next to his while I was gone."
Silence filled the den after she finished her story, and for a moment, Lilyspark was afraid that her parents hadn't believed her. But when Sunstar spoke up, his voice held no accusation or disbelief, just deep sorrow.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" he asked.
"I...I didn't want to burden you," Lilyspark admitted, unable to hide the relief in her voice. They believed her. They knew she was telling the truth. "I know you're busy, and I figured...well, he hadn't really done anything except for being annoying, so it wasn't exactly worth reporting him."
"Lilyspark, no. It's always okay for you to come to us if you're having a problem," Moonflower interrupted, resting her tail gently on her daughter's shoulder. "Even though you're a warrior now, we're still your parents and it's our job to watch out for you. That's never going to change."
"And that applies to everyone in this Clan," Sunstar added. "Everyone is welcome to come to me with a problem, no matter how big or small it might be. Otherwise, I wouldn't make much of a leader."
Lilyspark nodded. "I understand," she meowed quietly.
Bluefur draped her tail protectively around her sister's shoulders and asked, "What will happen to Thistleclaw now?"
"The only suitable punishment for a cat that has committed his crimes," the bright ginger tom answered. "He's going to be sent into exile."
At that, Lilyspark's head snapped up as her chest tightened with horror. "No! You can't, you can't exile him!"
"Why not?" Sunstar asked, looking bewildered. "Do you want him in the Clan?"
"It's not that," she answered, struggling to find a way to explain herself. "It's just that...if you exile him, you'll have to tell the Clan why he's being exiled. I...I know they probably already know what he did to my nest, but I don't think they know the full extent of what was going on. And I just...I don't want all of that shared with every single cat in ThunderClan. I want him out of the Clan, but I can't have that, Sunstar, I can't. I can't let them think that I'm..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but it was clear from everyone's expressions that they had already guessed what she was going to say. Lilyspark stared at her parents and sister, silently pleading with them to understand where she was coming from.
Finally, to her relief, her father nodded. "Alright, Lilyspark," he meowed gently. "I won't make a public announcement, then. But I will personally see to it that he never catches another mouse for this Clan again, Lilyspark, I promise you I'll see to it."