Silent

So here's the second part, Silent. This one contains FireSand, one-sided FireCinder, and now sort of onesided DustCinder. Cheers to ridiculously complicated love... squares! By the way, if you notice any spelling errors, point them out to me. My laptop's keyboard was being messed up when I was typing this. If you skipped the last chapter because it was too dark, what with the self-harm and suchlike, try this one. It's a lot lighter, though it's still kind of sad. Please review!

Disclaimer: I do not and have never owned the series Warriors by Erin Hunter.

"Fireheart, something's wrong."

Cinderpelt looked up with a start from the herbs she had been collecting at the ginger she-cat's voice. She slowly crept closer to hear the conversation between the deputy and his mate.

"With what? I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary in the Clan."

"With Cinderpelt."

The smoky gray she-cat cocked her head at her own name. What did Sandstorm possibly think was wrong with her? She strained her ears, creeping forward more.

"What's wrong with Cinderpelt? She'll make a fine medicine cat for ThunderClan."

"Haven't you noticed how much she's changed, Fireheart?"

"Changed? Since when?"

"Since she was your apprentice, mousebrain."

"How so?"

"She used to always be bubbly and happy. Now she's snippy and sarcastic, and she always seems sad about something. It almost reminds me of Dustpelt."

"That is true... what could have made her change like that?"

"Haven't you noticed that she spends more time with Dustpelt lately?"

"Well yes, but I don't see what's wrong with that."

"Can't you see? He's initiating her into his group to become one of Tigerclaw's followers, or something!"

Cinderpelt bared her teeth at the ginger warrior's assumption. Dustpelt? Initiating her to become one of Tigerclaw's followers? The thought was so completely ridiculous that she almost laughed aloud. She wondered how many other cats Sandstorm had told this to... Almost subconsciously, she glanced down at the scars on her crippled leg.

"Are you sure? That doesn't really sound like him..."

"Of course I'm sure. Who was friends with him since they were a kit, before you even came to the Clan?"

"I suppose you're right... I'll have to tell Bluestar about this."

The blue-eyed she-cat heard the bushes rustling, and saw Fireheart walk away in the direction of camp, presumably to tell Bluestar that Dustpelt was a traitor. She was about to go back to tell Dustpelt, when she heard the ginger she-cat's voice again.

"Ah, Dustpelt... you'll regret spending time with that stupid medicine cat, instead of helping me."

Cinderpelt's eyes narrowed with anger. Whatever Sandstorm had wanted Dustpelt to help her with, it surely wasn't anything important or he would have been willing to do it without question.

"Cinderpelt!" the green-eyed she-cat called out. "I know you're there, come out now."

The smoky gray she-cat debated over whether to obey or not, but eventually decided to come out into the open. She padded forward quietly, through the bushes. "What did you want, Sandstorm?" she asked, acting as if she had been collecting herbs the whole time.

"Don't act so mousebrained," Sandstorm hissed. "If you tell any cat what just happened here, I'll tell Fireheart." Her meow became decidedly taunting. "And if I do, he'll never love you, not even as a friend."

Cinderpelt's eyes widened. She didn't question how the ginger she-cat would find out if she told any cat, only nodded mutely. Fireheart couldn't hate her!

"Good," the warrior meowed sweetly. "Well, I'll see you around, Cinderpelt." With that, she turned and began to pad back to camp.

A while later, Cinderpelt finished gathering the herbs she had originally been sent out for and returned to the medicine den. As she began sorting the herbs, a familiar voice rang through the den.

"Cinderpelt," the tom meowed, "I brought you some fresh-kill."

She turned around to see Dustpelt, and not Fireheart like she had somehow hoped it would be. She smiled gratefully nonetheless, taking the shrew with an appreciative nod. "Did you just get back from a hunting patrol?" she asked. Her eyes shifted to Bluestar, across the camp, who was staring straight at Dustpelt.

The dark tabby nodded. "Yes, I caught this just for you."

Cinderpelt licked herself subconsciously, wondering why the tom was looking at her like that. "Thanks," she meowed cheerfully. "Want to share it with me?"

"Sure," the amber-eyed warrior shrugged, sitting down beside the medicine cat. "Uh, why is Bluestar looking at us like that...?" he asked nervously. The leader was, indeed, glaring at the two cats.

The smoky gray she-cat remembered what Sandstorm had said to her. "I, uh, I don't know," she lied cautiously. She didn't like lying, especially not to Dustpelt, but she had to. If she didn't, Sandstorm would tell Fireheart, and he would hate her. If she couldn't be his mate, at least she wanted to be his friend...

Confusion flashed through the dark brown tom's eyes. "Is there something wrong...?" he meowed, concerned.

"No," Cinderpelt meowed calmly, "Everything's fine."

The broad-shouldered warrior still looked unconvinced. "Okay..." he meowed.

Everything isn't fine! I want to tell you, Dustpelt, but I can't let Fireheart hate me... the medicine cat thought sadly. It hurts, you know, doing this. If I tell you, Fireheart will hate me... if I don't tell you, you might hate me.

Cinderpelt swallowed another bite of the shrew. "Thank you for the fresh-kill, Dustpelt, but I really need to get back to sorting herbs. I'll see you around."

"Okay," he meowed, then turned to pad off to the warriors' den.

As she watched the amber-eyed tom walk away, the medicine cat felt a strange twinge... almost like when she saw Fireheart and Sandstorm together. She chalked it up to having eaten so quickly, as well as being nervous about Sandstorm's threat, and tuned back to the herbs she had been sorting.

I hope you'll forgive me for this, but I can't lose Fireheart...

It hurts the same when nobody knows,
Guess that's just how it goes, and I
I won't say anything at all.