Lilystream's kits were now two moons old and it was hard for her to wake up. Every morning she had to tell Hailkit who he was, who she was, and everything else. It was basically like he was stuck at seven sunrises old. Mistkit was becoming more adventurous and with Hailkit worshipping everything she did, Lilystream was getting worried. She hadn't seen her kit since she had woken up at dawn, and it was sunhigh now. She padded out into the clearing and saw Spottedkit and Reedkit rolling around.
"Where are Hailkit and Mistkit?" Lilystream asked worriedly.
"I don't know. They left camp a while ago." Reedkit shrugged carelessly.
"They're only kits! Why didn't you stop them?" Lilystream moaned. She caught a whiff of her kits and started following hteir scent. She padded on and on, but they were nowhere in sight. She got close to the river and heard a wail and then a splash. She burst through a group of tall grasses and saw Mistkit shivering, with a look of confusion in her eyes. They heard a gurgle and Lilystream gasped when she saw Hailkit floating down the river. She leaped into the icy water and swam as fast as she could to her son. He began sinking, but Lilystream grabbed him by his scruff and swam back to shore. She set him down gently and waited for him to breathe, but he never did.
"What did you do to him?" She hissed angrily at Mistkit. The small kit blinked in fear, but hen her gaze darkened. "I pushed him." She growled. "I hate him. He always gets all the attention and I'm sick of it!" The anger began to fade from her eyes and Lilystream felt a cold shiver go down her spine. "You could have just told me and I would have spent more time with you. You just killed your brother."
Mistkit sat with sorrow pooling in her eyes. "I'm sorry mommy."
"There's no getting around it." Lilystream meowed furiously. "You killed him."
Mistkit shuffled her paws uncomfortably. "When we take him back to camp do we have to say that I pushed him?"
Lilystream shook her head. "As much as I can't believe that you are more worried about getting in trouble than the fact that you killed your brother, no, we will tell them that he fell."
Mistkit nodded happily and Lilystream rolled her eyes angrily. She picked up the dead kit and carried him back to camp. She told everybody that he had fallen into the river and it seemed like a dark cloud had been lifted. Lilystream was the only cat who sat vigil for her son that night. When the sun rose, Daisypelt and Leopardtail buried the tiny bundle of fur.
"Get some rest." Oakstar meowed softly. Lilystream nodded sorrowfully and padded slowly to the nursery where Ashclaw sat with her two kits and Mistkit. The light gray and white she-cat saw her mother's face and buried her nose in Ashclaw's fur. Lilystream curled into a ball and fell asleep. A sweet breeze made her open her eyes and sit up in surprise. She was in a lush meadow with the moon shining brightly overhead.
"Hello." A cat whispered. Lilystream whipped her head around to see Luna, Bird, and Streamstar. She blinked in amazement. "Am I in Starclan? Am I dead?"
Streamstar shook her head. "No. We need you to speak with someone."
Lilystream squinted and saw a small shape forming.
"Hailkit?" She squeaked. His amber eyes were clear and he looked like a normal, healthy kit.
"Hi Lilystream." He mewed shyly.
"You should not have covered for your daughter." Luna meowed shrewdly. Lilystream felt a cold shiver race through her body. "I'm sorry Hailkit. I was in shock." She wailed. "The prophecy said Hailkit would have been the one that suffered."
Hailkit slowly shook his head. "The prophecy would have come true no matter what. Mistkit will suffer because all she wants is for you to love her, and even though you do she thinks you don't and nothing will change that. I was meant to die, but she wasn't supposed to kill me. All she had to do was wait a couple moons."
Lilystream was having a hard time understanding all of the information being thrown at her, but she nodded understandingly.
"That's all." Streamstar whispered and everything went black.