Lilypetal's POV

My whole body seemed to be in flames as I stormed out of the ThunderClan camp. And I'm sure my ruffled fur well-represented the anger and scatter-brained-ness that I was feeling on the inside, too.

I was so infuriated that once I was out of camp, I didn't even notice Mousewhisker and Goldenshine standing by the camp entrance, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Lilypetal, what's wrong?" Goldenshine asked me, her voice clearly filled with worry.

I barred my teeth as I shot my gaze at her. Just as I was about to bark out a spitting retort, I took a deep breath and tried to contain my anger as best as I could. I'm not going to take any of this out on another cat, let alone one of my daughters! "Don't worry about it, Goldenshine," I muttered to my daughter, not meeting her gaze. I hated being so cold to her, but I knew that if I talked to any cat for too long, I would only upset them. "I just need some time alone right now, please."

Goldenshine nodded, her eyes wide with concern before turning back to Mousewhisker. I quickly ran into the forest after that, needing to blow off steam more than I ever had in my entire life.

I mean, the whole of me wanted to run back to camp, to Thornclaw, and shred him to bits! But, there was a tiny piece of me that thought better of it. So, I continued to walk away deeper into the forest, trying my best to not dwell on what had just happened.

Around sunhigh, I had been lying in the main ThunderClan camp clearing sharing a mouse with Leafpool. I had just been on a water patrol, and then a hunting patrol, so I was taking a quick rest and grabbing a meal before I had to go on another one.

After I had finished my meal and said my goodbyes to Leafpool, I decided that I was going to go to the warriors den to take a quick nap. I had passed Thornclaw as I was walking. For a moment, I tried to ignore his burning gaze, but it hadn't worked. I had glared at my former mate and rolled my eyes, not being able to hold back my bitter words. And to be honest, my tolerance for him was lowering with each passing day.

"Please, Thornclaw, I understand that you are angry," I meowed to him desperately, "but do you have to glare at me every time I am as far as four fox-lengths from you? I'm sorry, but that's not fair."

He stood up from where he was sitting, his gaze still burning into me. "What do you expect?" He hissed. "How could I be the smallest bit kind to you when I know that you don't even trust me?"

I barred my teeth and tried to hold back a growl. "I didn't even say that I don't trust you," I breathed frustratedly, closing my eyes and shaking my head slowly.

"You said that you weren't proud of me," Thornclaw muttered back, his eyes narrowed. For a moment I wondered if the crack of hurt in his voice had just been in my imagination.

I shook it off immediately. "Sure, out of my anger, I maybe said that," I admitted, rolling my eyes again. "But I meant that I wasn't proud of the decision. I just don't believe that training with the Dark Forest is a good idea, or safe, and you were infuriated when I tried to tell you that."

I then took a deep breath and stepped closer to Thornclaw, realizing that now might be the chance for us to smooth things over and explain our sides of the story. "Thornclaw, you know how much I care about you," I meowed softly, trying to meet his gaze. "All I want is the best for you, and I'm sorry if the way that I showed it seemed harsh, but I was just being honest with you."

I actually felt a slight twinge of hope as Thornclaw's eyes seemed to sparkle for just a moment. But to my dismay, after another heartbeat, his gaze darkened once again, and he simply blinked and then turned around to walk away.

Oh, no he did not!

I growled, bubbling up with anger all over again as I intercepted him. "Are you kidding me? You are not going to walk away from me again!" I hissed. "You can't just walk away whenever I try to talk to you now! Is that how far down the rabbit hole we've gotten?"

The infuriation inside of me rose the more that I spoke, and when Thornclaw just continued to stand there, glaring at me, I couldn't take it anymore. Brambleclaw had tried to talk to him, and just now, I had laid it all out myself, but neither of the attempts had worked.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to simmer down, but it was almost as if my bristled fur was stuck as it was. "I see how it is," I nearly whispered back to Thornclaw, my voice hoarse with pain. I then forced myself to turn around and pad towards the camp entrance, my head practically pounding and my ears hot with anger. "May StarClan banish all the fleas from your nest."

To my surprise, I thought I could hear the pawsteps of my former mate moving quickly behind me. I slightly turned my head back to see that the golden tabby tom had turned back around to face me. To my disappointment, his eyes were still dark and unreadable.

I paused and stared at him with narrowed eyes, watching as he then began to open his mouth, but no words were coming out. Maybe he had been about to apologize for everything, or maybe he was trying to come up with another reason to patronize me. Whatever it was, I certainly wasn't at a mindset where I could listen at the moment. "Don't even bother, Thornclaw. Save it," I growled to him before whipping myself around again. "Just save it!"

And then is when I had run out of camp and into the forest, needing desperately to get some air and to be by myself for a little while. What has gotten into him? I wondered to myself as I traveled. I had always known Thornclaw to be such a magnificent warrior. It was one of the many reasons that I had fallen in love with him; he was loyal, determined, brave, and so patient.

Though he could have a quick temper at moments, I would have never imagined him as a cat that would completely turn on someone else in anger, especially me, who he was typically more tender to than most. That sure had changed. Thornclaw would need to have a pretty amazing explanation to get me to understand why he's been acting like he is...

I sighed as I emerged through some bushes and walked up to face the lake. I sat down and looked at all of my surroundings, trying to focus on something rather than the embarrassing squabble I had just been through.

"Lilypetal?"

I turned around at the soft and kind voice I heard behind me. It was my own mother, Mistpelt, emerging from the bushes that I had just traveled through.

"How are you?" she asked worriedly. By the wary and concerned look in her eyes, I could tell that she had witnessed what had just happened, or at least had heard about it.

I turned back to face the lake. "I've been better, I'll admit," I muttered.

Mistpelt padded up to sit beside me. "Listen, Lilypetal. It may not seem like it right now, but everything is going to be okay," she told me, putting the tip of her tail on my shoulder.

"How do you know?" I replied, not being able to suppress the whimper in my voice.

Mistpelt flashed me a sympathetic look before turning her head to face the lake. "I suppose now is a better time than any to tell you this story," she murmured.

I turned back to look at my mother, my ears flicking with sudden intrigue. "What story?" I asked.

"The story of why I left Scourge."

I couldn't help but cringe at hearing my father's name, and to be honest, I probably would for seasons to come. But, I was luckily beginning to settle with the fact that he was my father, and Mistpelt seemed truly sorry that she had hidden it all from me. So, luckily, Mistpelt and I were definitely on better terms now.

I took a deep breath as my mother's words settled in. "Oh, yeah?" I breathed, tilting my head.

Mistpelt nodded to me, her eyes looking deep with so many emotions as she continued to stare out at the lake. "As hard as it may be to believe, Scourge and I were once deeply in love. Or... so I thought," she meowed softly. "I admired him so much. He seemed to handle his great authority so well, and so many cats looked up to him. I thought that he was so... so, just... great."

I simply nodded at Mistpelt, waiting for her to go on and trying not to let images of my mother and the fox-hearted creep fill up in my head. The thought of my mother being in love with such an evil cat still disgusted me, and probably always would. But she didn't see that part of him at first, I tried to tell myself.

"It was actually the day that you came into the world that I left Scourge," Mistpelt went on. "The day started off normally. I was in the Twolegplace, and your father was gone-"

I screwed my eyes shut. "You can just call him by his name," I muttered, not being able to help cutting off Mistpelt.

Mistpelt finally looked over to meet my gaze as she nodded. "Understood," she murmured before looking back at the lake. "Anyway, Scourge had been gone for most of the day, longer than usual. So I followed his scent trail all the way out into the forest."

I put the tip of my tail on Mistpelt's shoulder as she went on, shaking her head slowly. A shiver then ran down Mistpelt's spine. "That was when I had found him, ripping all nine of Tigerstar's lives away..."

My mouth dropped. "No way..." I breathed. "I had no idea that you had gotten to witness that!"

Mistpelt simply nodded to me slowly, her eyes wide. "It was then that I discovered who Scourge really was. He was a heartless, selfish, and savage cat. I didn't care that we shared a kit anymore," she explained. "I told that flea-pelt that I was sorry that I ever met him, and I never returned to the Twolegplace again."

"And that's when you joined ThunderClan, right?" I asked, tilting my head.

Mistpelt nodded. "Yes, it was," she answered. "And I was happier there than I ever was at the Twolegplace with your fath-, I mean, Scourge."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?" I questioned, beginning to shift my paws back and forth as I wondered why Mistpelt had decided to tell me this story now. "So... you said that this was a better time than any to tell me this story. So, why now?" Is she saying that I should give up on Thornclaw forever, just like she gave up on Scourge? For some reason, my heart almost felt physically pained as that occurred to me. "Are you trying to tell me that Thornclaw is a savage murderer as well?"

Mistpelt purred with amusement as she shook her head. "Great StarClan, not at all!" Mistpelt exclaimed, wrapping her tail around my shoulders. "I simply wanted to say that even despite that heartbreak and losing the cat I loved, I was able to be strong again and find happiness somewhere else." I then watched as Mistpelt sighed. "But I have to admit, your situation is a little different. I've known Thornclaw longer than you have. And I also know toms."

"Oh, yeah?" I murmured, tilting my head to the side again. "What do you mean?"

Mistpelt rolled her eyes. "Toms might as well be kits by the way that they handle situations like this," she explained, purring. "But, I do have to say, Thornclaw is a very mature and sensible tom, and I'm sure just a bit ago you would agree with me on that. I'm surprised that he would act like he is."

"Really?"

"Yes," Mistpelt answered me before nudging me with her shoulder. "But I think I know why he is."

I gasped, for some reason very eager to hear what Mistpelt's opinions were on this. "Why? How?" I asked, trying to keep my tail from twitching anxiously.

Mistpelt narrowed her eyes as a smirk emerged on her face. "Lilypetal, have you ever heard of the saying, 'love makes you crazy'?"

I snorted as I nodded. "Unfortunately, yes I have," I murmured. But I'm not going to tell you why, otherwise I'd be telling another cat that Goldenshine's kit is really Breezepelt's.

And luckily, Mistpelt didn't question me. "Whatever you two fought about, Thornclaw is obviously very hurt at the fact that you disagreed with him on something," Mistpelt meowed. "Believe it or not, but he wants to come back to you more than anything."

I snorted again. "Heh, that's funny," I muttered.

"But I'm not joking!" Mistpelt insisted, flicking her ears. "Lilypetal, I saw how Thornclaw was with you before you fought the first time. He truly loves and respects you more than any other cat. Every time you talk to him, every time you gave him advice, he looked at you like you were a warrior of LionClan speaking to him." We both purred with amusement for a heartbeat before Mistpelt went on. "He values what you have to say. So, when he was told by you that you didn't respect his decision, he was probably immensely hurt. He was crushed by the fact that the cat he loved and cared about most was disappointed in him. So, his initial reaction was to lash out."

"But that doesn't explain why he then insisted that we can't be mates anymore," I muttered bitterly.

Mistpelt sniffed. "Oh, yes it does, my love," she purred. "It may have seemed like Thornclaw wanted nothing to do with you anymore, but in his mind, he really thought that he was doing you a favor."

I shrugged as I tried to comprehend Mistpelt's words. "I don't see how," I admitted. He seemed nothing but angry with me the entire time we quarreled.

"Well, I do," Mistpelt meowed. "Basically, Thornclaw seeing you disapprove of his actions, the cat that he loves with his whole heart, made him question if he even deserved you. So, he let you go. He wants to be angry with you, so that's all you see, but-"

"-But he's separating himself because he feels like I deserve better?" I concluded by Mistpelt's words. "Wow... you do read toms well, don't you?"

Mistpelt purred and shrugged. "I suppose that I do," she meowed, licking my cheek.

A purr rumbled in my throat as my mother's sweet scent flooded through my nose. "Thanks, Mistpelt," I meowed, licking her cheek back in gratitude. "So, with all of that in mind, what do you suggest that I do?"

Mistpelt thought for a moment before answering, "You both need a little time to gather your thoughts," she concluded. "Clearly you both were not in a good headspace when you had this most recent fight. Just take some more time for yourself, and then see what happens. Things like this can't be forced."

I couldn't help but let out a huff. Mistpelt's advice had uplifted me more than I could have ever thought possible. I was so tempted to pelt back to camp, find Thornclaw and twin my tail with his as I pressed my muzzle on his right now. But, I knew that my mother's latest words were right. And, I was still quite angry with Thornclaw's behavior, even if there was some reasoning behind it. And Mistpelt's words are so true - things can't be forced. I'm still angry with him, and I'm sure he's still angry with me. So, just seeing what happens is probably the best thing...

"I couldn't agree more," I purred, nodding as I took a stretch. I then rose and touched my nose to Mistpelt's. "Thank you, really."

"Of course," Mistpelt purred, licking my head. Then, I suddenly felt my mother flinch beside me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling away from her, worried. But almost immediately after, I let out a mrrow of laughter as Mistpelt licked a drop of rain from her nose. Then, the rumble of thunder sounded from just above, and several rain drops began to pelt down on us.

Mistpelt and I let out squeals as our fur began to quickly become soaked by the precipitation. Mistpelt ran past me, seemingly heading in the direction of camp. "Run for your life!" She purred as she practically leaped through some bushes and into the forest.

I let out a mrrow of laughter as I began to follow, blinking my eyes open and closed against the rain. "Right behind you!" I yowled we then ran, heading to camp to take shelter.