Chapter 31-

                                                              (half a moon later)

Flickerpaw feels the warm new leaf sun bathe him in warm contentedness. The tom hears the buzz of a bee land in the middle of the blue bell next to him. He opens his eyes, just a crack, to see the bee dance over to the next flower. The tom smiles, watching it buzz into the air, making a wide circle in the sky.

Suddenly a large yellowish body leaps towards the bee. It darts higher, spinning to fly away. Sapkit, the almost-white shape, falls to the ground with a loud thump. Cricketkit spins toward her,  crashing into Flickerpaw and crushing a pretty purple flower. 

Flickerpaw's eyes are wide open now. 

"No!" Sapkit spits in frustration, turning to Flickerpaw, "Did you see that? I almost got him!" 

"Sure you did," Cricketkit teases, "The only thing you almost got was a broken neck." 

"And a stung paw," Flickerpaw adds, "Bees can sting you, even if they're peaceful creatures. Just like how wolves don't like it if you get into their territory. They'll bite you." Cricketkit's eyes widen in fear as he scampers back onto his paws. His eyes are locked onto the light blue sky. 

"Territories? Bees have territories?" 

Flickerpaw chuckles. "Yes, and you both are in that one's. You even crushed one of his flowers." Cricketkit hops back, looking guilty. His mouth frowns as he stares at the destroyed flower. 

"I'm sorry, Mr.Bee! I didn't mean to crush your territory!" the kit yowls into the sky, before readjusting his gaze to look sadly at the droopy flower, "H-Here...I'll fix it, don't worry!" Cricketkit vigorously claws at the ground, while Sapkit snags the flower up and shoves it into the over-sized hole. The kits cover the hole. Flickerpaw doesn't have the heart to inform them that the flower is still very much dead. 

"Ta-da!" Sapkit exclaims, grinning at the flower with wrinkled petals, "It's happy now! All fixed!" Cricketkit nods, leaping in the air and spinning. 

"Mr.Bee will be happy now!" Sapkit giggles in excitement. Flickerpaw nods in agreement, surveying the purple flower. The kits spin and giggle, hopping in excitement. 

"Mr.Bee! Come back! We'll leave your flower patch alone now!" Cricketkit yells into the sky. 

Flickerpaw doesn't tell them that most pollinator bees are female. 

                                                            ~~~ 

Sagesong grunts, his muscles feeling like jelly as he twists around, tucking his tail and rearing to meet Lacewing. The tom blinks in confusion for a moment as the silver she-cat darts out of view. Before he can spin around she leaps and pins him on his back. Sagesong thrashes to no avail, so instead he goes limp. Lacewing hadn't taught him this much. 

"Be quicker," the silver she-cat demands as she gets off of Sagesong. The orange and white tom huffs, breath knocked out of him. He can't be quicker; his fatigue is spreading throughout his whole body, paralyzing him. Sagesong finds it impossible to hunt and perform his duties by day and train by night, and keep the whole thing a secret. It feels like it's drowning him. 

Sagesong looks up, trying to force his heavy body up from the slick muddy ground. The lack of birdsong and the darkness of this world had always unnerved the tom, but tonight the place feels disturbingly quiet and still. The dead trees sway in the wind, the wind that doesn't seem to reach Sagesong. The tom is confused, the feeling in his chest heavy and thick. He feels dread.  

Lacewing nudges Sagesong roughly. "Get up." Sagesong forces his aching muscles up, pulling himself into a sitting position. Lacewing glowers in front of him. 

"Feeling weak are we? Too bad. We need to keep training," the she-cat hisses, tail lashing, "Do you think you're better than me, now? Too good for training, eh?" Sagesong lashes his tail, curling his lip into a snarl to meet Lacewing's annoyed expression. 

"No! I mean... I'm tired. I haven't gotten to sleep, to rest, for a week now. I'm exhausted," Sagesong says reluctantly, "Please, I need a break." Lacewing laughs. 

"A break?" she asks with a snicker, "A break? Of course not. You are doing well, Sagesong, but not so well you can quit. You could become a leader soon, and yet you reject your training? Why interrupt something so sacred?" Lacewing looks agitated, tail flicking back and forth, her eyes warning the tom to not interrupt. 

"Did I stutter?" Sagesong snarls, tail lashing to and fro, "I'm tired and nothing has changed! How are you so sure it'll be soon? You're dead. All you do is watch from the sky in this mucky place." Lacewing's tail twitches, eyes narrowing and fur bristling even without the wind. Her lashing tail betrays her otherwise calm and thoughtful expression. The she-cat clenches her jaw. 

"Aloestar is the ruler for now. A queen, if you shall say. A queen on her last life," Lacewing laughs at this. Sagesong feels his chest become heavier, his lips curling into a snarl once more. 

"What do you mean by that-" 

"Oh, nothing dear," Lacewing purrs with a quick laugh, whisking her tail. Her whiskers twitch in pure amusement, like Sagesong was a kit chasing a butterfly. "Just your time is rapidly approaching. You should be prepared, that's all." Sagesong blinks. His heart has not stopped thumping. His head spins and he blinks again. The image of a white she-cat lying in the grass in a pool of red flashes in the tom's mind. Sagesong swallows his worries, feeling his chest close up once more. 

She is lying.