I Fell In Love With My Apprentice 2: Mocking Jay
Chapter 5: We know, He knows
Jaystorm stared at Moonfeather as he held the berry up with a claw. The juices were running down his paw, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Want to lick it off?" Moonfeather sneered, flicking the berry to the side.
"Do you want to back off?" Jaystorm hissed. His fear was replaced with a hideous anger within the course of half a second. "Who the fuck do you think you are, Moonfeather? Who the hell threatens to kill someone's entire family?"
"Maybe she shouldn't have screwed with me," Moonfeather snarled, fur bristling.
"Well, maybe you should just get over it," Jaystorm snapped. "You don't go on a killing spree when the she cat you like doesn't like you back. Like holy crap. You're a freaking psychopath."
Moonfeathers eyes turned even darker, and he spat on the ground. It was clear that he hadn't expected the conversation to go this way.
"Eat the damn berries!" He screamed at Jayfeather.
"Oh, sure okay!" Jaystorm said as sarcastically as possible. He picked up a berry and squirted it in Moonfeathers eye. "Go to hell!"
Moonfeather screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. Jayfeather couldn't resist taking another berry and rubbing it on top of Moonfeathers head. "Rub that through your hair with the honey sap, you freak!" he growled.
"I hate you!" Moonfeather screamed. "Why the hell would you squirt it in my eye?"
"That's what you get when you act like a little bitch," Jaystorm snapped. "Screw you, Moonfeather."
"Hey Lilypool, have you seen Moonfeather anywhere?" Jinglefur asked, looking confused. "Mintpaws waiting for him to take her out hunting… but no one's seen him since this morning."
"Oh," Lilypool mumbled, feeling slightly weird that she didn't care at all where Moonfeather was. "Um… no. I haven't seen him. He left somewhere as soon as he woke up."
"And he didn't tell you where he was going?" Jinglefur sighed. Lilypool shrugged awkwardly.
"Well, I'm wondering if he went out on a patrol with Jaystorm," Jinglefur continued. "I haven't seen him in a while either."
A jolt of alarm shot through Lilypool. I'd be very concerned if those two went out together… everyone knows they hate each other.
"I don't think so," Lilypool said at last.
"Okay, well," Jinglefur continued. "Mintpaws really upset that the other apprentices got to go out with their mentors without her... do you think you could take her out for a bit-"
Lilypool wasn't listening. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jaystorm burst through the camp entrance, looking really freaked out.
"Are you even listening?" Jinglefur demanded. She looked over to where Lilypool was looking, and sighed dramatically. "Well of course."
"Huh?" Lilypool muttered, not really caring anymore. I wonder why he looks so weird. He's still really cute though… oh I wish he would come talk to me.
"Lilypool!" Jaystorm called across the clearing, waving his tail to get her attention. "I need to talk to you right now."
"O-oh," Lilypool stammered. "Okay." I can barely breathe right now. Oh my god! She walked towards him at once, not caring that she was being rude to Jinglefur. Whatever. She never liked me anyway.
"Where's Talonstrike?" Jaystorm demanded the second Lilypool was in earshot. Lilypool shrugged, feeling really confused. "What's going on-?"
"I'll explain when we find him," Jaystorm cut her off. He charged away, diving into the warriors den. He came back out within seconds, and ran towards Leafstars den. By now cats had begun to whisper, staring at Lilypool. Lilypools face felt hot, and she avoided all eye contact. It's no secret I don't talk to Talonstrike and Jaystorm anymore… they're all probably wondering what's up.
Jaystorm suddenly reappeared out of the leaders den, Talonstrike behind him. Talonstrike looked just as confused as Lilypool felt, and she realized that no one knew what was going on except Jaystorm.
And where is Moonfeather? Lilypool thought, wondering just what the heck he had been doing all day. Oh wait… oh god… Lilypool gulped. I have a bad feeling that his disappearance and Jaystorms freak out are linked.
"Follow me," Jaystorm said as he walked past Lilypool. Lilypool had to nearly run to keep up. She shot a glance out of old habits at Talonstrike.
"What's going on?" Talonstrike mouthed the words. Lilypool shrugged. "I don't know!" she mouthed back.
"Lilypool, where are you going?" Wolfkit suddenly cried out. Lilypool turned around to see her kit standing there, looking excited. "Are you going for a walk in the forest? Can I come?"
"I'll play with you and your brother later," Lilypool called out. "This is big cat business."
By now everyone was staring at them.
"Oh look, they're all back together," Lilypool heard Gingertail mutter to Amberpelt. Despite all the stress coming from Jaystorm, Lilypool couldn't help smiling.
Hell yeah we are!
It almost felt like the old days, and Lilypool found herself missing Darkclaw. Darkclaw, I wish you were here with us! Lilypool sent a silent message up to the sky. The fearsome four isn't the same.
"Alright, we have a big problem," Jaystorm said suddenly, stopping in his tracks. Lilypool almost crashed into him, and she slipped slightly on the wet leaves. Talonstrike was also unbalanced, and he had to regain himself as well.
"For Starclans sake, Jaystorm," Talonstrike growled. "What the heck is going on? What's with all the secrecy?"
"Moonfeather is a deranged freak," Jaystorm growled. Lilypool felt her heart leap in her chest. I knew he had something to do with it.
"What happened?" Talonstrike demanded.
"So he tells me some fish and mouse story about finding berries for Rainsong, right?" Jaystorm started. "So we go out there, then he hands me some death berries- no, torture berries as he so nicely put it- and then tells me to fucking eat them."
"What?" Lilypool yelped. What the hell?!
"Are you kidding?" Talonstrike asked. Jaystorm sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm kidding. I dragged you both out here in frenzy for a big joke. Ha-ha, so funny!"
"Okay, but… why?" Talonstrike said. "Why would he do that?"
Lilypool watched as Jaystorm gave him a weird look. Talonstrike looked confused for a moment, then his eyes got all big and his jaw dropped. "No!" he gasped.
"Yeah," Jaystorm nodded, making a weird face. "That's what I thought."
"What?" Lilypool put in, completely lost. "What are you talking about? And what was that look for?"
Jaystorm and Talonstrike shared another look, and Lilypool stamped her paw on the leaves. "Tell me!" she cried.
"Okay, Lilypool, but don't freak out," Jaystorm said quickly.
"Why would I freak out," Lilypool asked slowly. "What's there to freak out about-"
"I know about, you know..." Talonstrike put in, raising his eyebrows up and down.
"Not helpful," Lilypool snapped.
"The kits, Lilypool," Jaystorm exploded. "He knows that I'm the dad."
"What?" Lilypool could hardly believe what she was hearing. She glared at Jaystorm. "I thought we swore never to tell!"
"Well," Jaystorm started, breaking off to sigh loudly. "Like, come on Lilypool… you should know better than anyone that I can't keep a secret from Talonstrike."
"It's true," Talonstrike nodded.
"Well," Lilypool was at a complete loss. "Okay then." Wait, what did that have to do with anything? It hit her all at once.
"Moonfeather knows," Lilypool pieced it all together before either of the toms could say anything. "Oh, god…"
"Apparently he's known the entire time," Jaystorm put in. Lilypool felt very bad inside, and she struggled to think straight. "So he tried to… kill you," she said at last.
"He said I could eat the berries, or he'd poison you and the kits instead," Jaystorm mumbled. Talonstrike let out a cry of alarm.
"He wouldn't dare," Lilypool whispered. Anger boiled beneath her, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I think he's serious," Jaystorm said. "And I have some more bad news."
Lilypool, who didn't really know how much more bad news she could take, waited impatiently.
"What?" Talonstrike said. Jaystorm picked his claws awkwardly, looking down at the ground.
"Um, remember when we couldn't figure out why Darkclaw wasn't getting better?" Jaystorm said so quietly Lilypool could barely hear him. She didn't understand why Jaystorm was bringing it up, and neither did Talonstrike, who sat there with a confused look on his face.
And then Lilypool knew.
A dull ring started to sound in Lilypools ears, growing so loudly it hurt. She slumped to the ground, unable to stand any longer. She was dimly aware of Talonstrikes yelling in the background. But it didn't matter.
He killed Darkclaw
"Lilypool," Jaystorm shook her. "Lilypool, I know you're upset. But I really need you to focus right now, okay?"
Lilypool forced herself to her paws, feeling so dizzy she thought she'd pass out. "I can't believe it," she mumbled.
"None of us can," Jaystorm said softly.
"I'm gonna tear his throat out," Talonstrike hissed, ripping up grass with his claws.
"Where is he?" Lilypool asked Jaystorm.
"I squirted some of the juices at him, he's probably blind and stumbling around," Jaystorm replied. "He's over by the Great Oak."
"What are we going to do with him?" Lilypool asked, feeling scared for her kits. "We can't let him come back to camp. He'll kill me!"
"Well," Talonstrike gave Jaystorm a look. "We could bring him… somewhere."
Jaystorm caught on at once, giving him a knowing look back. "We could bring him to that... place."
Lilypool had had enough. "Stop it!" she hissed. "Just tell me what's going on! Quit keeping me in the dark!"
"We don't want to bring you into this," Talonstrike explained. Lilypool sighed loudly.
"Well, to be fair," Jaystorm started. "She already knows where we're talking about."
"Well, I don't want to bring her back there," Talonstrike mumbled.
"Oh," realization dawned over Lilypool. A flashback ran through her mind, from seasons and seasons ago.
Darkclaw sighed, and took a deep breath. "There's tunnels," he mumbled. "Leading to a secret place underground."
Talonstrike glared at him. "We aren't supposed to talk about it!" he hissed.
"Well he's gonna figure it out by the end of the night!" Darkclaw growled back. Then he turned back to Jaystorm, who was waiting impatiently.
"There's a secret tunnel in the middle of Greenclan territory," Darkclaw continued, ignoring the hisses from Talonstrike. "Talonstrike, Amberpelt, Gingertail and I found it one day. It leads far underground, for as long as you can imagine. We'll take Rowenheart in there, hide him, and no one will ever know."
"And why couldn't you talk to anyone about this?" Jaystorm demanded. "What's so terrible about secret tunnels?"
Darkclaw exchanged an uneasy glance with Talonstrike. "They are not what they seem," he whispered. "There's bad things in there."
"Like what?"
"There's just something strange in the tunnels, alright?" Darkclaw snapped. "End of conversation."
She could remember it like it was yesterday. She stared at Talonstrike, then at Jaystorm.
"The tunnels," she whispered.
"Told you she'd catch on right away," Talonstrike mumbled in Jaystorms ear. Jaystorm gave her an uncomfortable glance. "So, do you think it would work?" he asked. "No one would ever find Moonfeather down there. No one knows except for us."
"And Amberpelt and Gingertail," Talonstrike put in.
Lilypool thought of her kits, and how dangerous Moonfeather had become. He's a threat to me and my family, she thought to herself.
I will not stand by and let him kill another cat I love.
"Let's go find him," Lilypool said quietly. "We have a lot of work to do."