Blinded Memories
"C'mon Maggotkit!"
"Hurry up!"
"Wait, please!"
"Come on, catch us!"
"No-"
"Why, too slow?"
"No, you're-"
SNAP!
"Dead…."
Maggotpaw slowly opened her amber eyes to see her two litter-mates; Fallenpaw & Petalpaw. Both of them sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened.
But something did happen.
The nightmares were real, they were getting more realistic each day. Maggotpaw hated it; being blind, having no father, being the runt, and unloved.
She looked outside the Apprentices' Den to see Riseclan untouched and peaceful. Riseclan, the one word that kept her hopes up, she was a rising star!
Careful not to wake the others up, she quietly padded out the den and headed for the Pool of Light. Maybe she could find some comfort there away from her living troubles…
Although blind, Maggotpaw could find her way around the forest easily as if she could see it. But she knew that would never happen.
"Pool of Light."
She padded carefully down the pathway to the small crystal-navy blue pond, no-one was here, which was good. As she sat down, she took a deep breath and dipped her nose in.
I hate this part!
Her head was spinning but she could feel solid earth under her paws. Where and why was she here?
"Flowered Maggot! Come back, please!"
Who was that and why did they sound so scared?
Flowered Maggot sprang out of the ferns and dashed towards her kit, Elk's Cry. "My son, are you alright?"
The long-legged dark brown tom looked wide eyed at his mother but nodded in response. "Maggot, get out now!"
The Rock Cave rumbled and groaned, and suddenly, it collapsed on top of them.
Falling bits of mud and rock drowned the two screeching felines.
"Ouch!"
Hiding Fennel turned round to see, her mother…?
"What…?"
Her brother, Quail's Feather, gasped in amazement.
"But-but… We just watched you die!"
Maggotpaw looked up at two confused and shocked cats looking in surprise at her. "What?"
"What? What! That's all you have to say!?"
Maggotpaw stared at the she-cat in surprise, who were these cats?
"It's not her, Fennel, she's too young and white…"
"Then why does she look so much like Flowered Maggot?"
"I don't know…"
"Who?"
"Our mother… Do you know her? What's your name?"
Realising what she just witnessed, Maggotpaw suddenly felt guilty. Why her?
"I'm sorry… No, but I wish that I had. My name is Maggotpaw."
"Maggotpaw? What kind of a name is that? Last time I checked, maggots didn't have paws…!"
Maggotpaw flinched, maybe these cats were different…?
A dark orange tabby tom shot past her and ran to the mouth of the wreckage. "No!"
"Burntstripe?"
"Who said that?"
The tom spun around to glare at her, who was that why were they so much like her friend?
"Me…"
"The name is Burning Flames, not Burntstripe!"
"Sorry…"
"That's alright, you okay? You look dizzy…"
"I'm fine."
Maggotpaw's head was spinning as she swayed, then everything went black.
"Hello?"
The creamy-white cat gasped and flew open her eyes to stare at the feline before her. Amethyst Pool took a few steps back to look fully at this unknown she-cat. "Maggotpaw?"
The white cat looked at her and simply nodded confused, the Healer quickly padded out of the den and went to find her leader.
Left alone, Maggotpaw took in the Healer's den when she noticed that she could actually see it! She wasn't blind anymore!
"Maggotpaw, I am Leader of the Stars, you can call me Star Leader for short if you wish. Welcome to the Tribe of Shining Moonlight."
Turned around to see a muscular grey and white speckled tom with gentle yellow eyes, Maggotpaw suddenly felt shy for meeting such an honour. 'Uh…. Thanks?'
Star Leader looked confused at her, Maggotpaw asked why when she realized that no sound came out! 'Why?'
Star Leader shook his head; "I don't know but I will send some Sharp Claws to send you home."
With that said and done, the great tom padded out of the den leaving Maggotpaw by herself.
Sharp Claws? What were those? Hopefully they weren't as bad as they sounded…
After some time, two felines trotted into the den and stared awkwardly at the white she-cat looking up at them. "She must only be a Soft Paw!"
A pale gold and grey she-cat said, her beautiful amber eyes staring at her companion in wonder.
"Maybe, I wonder if her clan is around here…?"
A light brown and russet tom with frosty blue eyes questioned, were all they're warriors like this?
"What are you two doing in here!?"
A large black tom with stunning yellow eyes bellowed as he barged into the den. "Not so loud, Wild Stallion, she could have hearing problems!"
The healer padded back into her den to check over Maggotpaw one more time. Wild Stallion snorted in disagreement, what kind of kit has hearing problems?
"Steep Cliff, get Quiet Cloud and Leaping Dolphins, please."
The light brown-russet tom's eyes lit up as he dashed out of the den to find his mate and apprentice.
"Wild, go get Star Leader and Bright Basil, please."
When the black powerful-shouldered tom opened his mouth to reject, Amethyst Pool growled; "Now."
"Fine."
The word had to be literally dragged out of his mouth and through gritted teeth, then, he finally left.
"I'm sorry about him, he's just concerned, we all are."
The medicine cat sighed, she looked so broken, why?
The pale she-cat brushed her pelt along the Healer's in comfort. "This is Shaded Rose, she was a close friend of Flowered Maggot. She's had kits of her own: Lighter Dawn, Pale Fallow, Steep Cliff, Bleeding Blossoms, Dusky Night, Stepping Stones & Shy Sunrise. Her mate is Bright Basil, he acts a bit like a deputy to Star Leader."
'Wow, 7 kits.'
Maggotpaw, merely mouthed, she wondered where and why was she here?
"Don't be alarmed, they all came in different litters!" Shaded Rose exclaimed at the young she-cat, where did such a lovely cat come from?
"Yes, Amethyst? What is wrong?"
Suddenly a dark grey tom with bright green eyes burst into the healing den to look at the Healer, to his mate, and finally to young cat looking at him in surprise and awe.
"This is Bright Basil, my mate, and one of the most respectful cats I know. He'll help you get home."
The tom flicked his ears and Maggotpaw could see that one of them was a lighter grey than the other. "Maggotpaw? Who would give you such a name?"
Maggotpaw shrugged, she would like to live here with the weird clan but it wouldn't be the same.
"Right, I'll send three cats to the hill side."
Hill side? He did mean border, right? 'Okay.'
Bright Basil nodded, he quickly called two names and dashed out of the den to look for someone.
"Jay's Song, Broken Shadows, Steep Cliff. I need you to escort a cat to the border, near Hill-side, please."
Maggotpaw padded outside the den to be greeted by the brown-russet tom again. "Hi, mind if I come along?"
He didn't sound demanding or mean but he did sound concerned, was he concerned about her?
'No, you can come.'
Nodding her head to tell him it was okay, he jumped up and down excitedly. "Yay, I'll show you everything I know!"
A pretty tabby blue she-cat came up to her, she looked the same age as Maggotpaw. "Oh, this is my other friend, Jay's Song."
The tabby she-cat rolled her eyes and smiled at Steep Cliff. "Cliff, I think the entire Tribe is your friend!"
Tribe? This wasn't a Clan?
Steep Cliff shook his head and looked over at Wild Stallion with a few other cats while he whispered: "Not the entire Tribe, Jay, not everyone wants to be nice."
Jay's Song being smart not to tell, nodded her head in agreement, some cats were just too serious.
"Well, come on! I'm not waiting here all day."
Looking across the camp, Maggotpaw and the others had been approached by grey and black tabby she-cat with dark green eyes. "Sorry, Shad, I had to make a run for it…"
Broken Shadows looked at her friend and smirked;
"Run from what? And don't call me Shad! You know the name, you've said it more than once."
Jay giggled at the sight of her embarrassed friend, Cliff was in for trouble alright. "Sorry, I like shortening names, it's easier… And I didn't want to help dig up Elk and Flower, so I came to escort her."
Flicking his reddish-golden tail at Maggotpaw, he silently went to go and wait by the entrance to the camp. "I've heard about you, where did you come from, sweet?"
"Uhh, don't know… Is anyone else going to be joining us?"
Shrugging Maggotpaw looked around for more warriors approaching, Jay's Song translated for her.
"No, just me, you, her, and….Cliff, see? Fun!"
'Right…'
Maggotpaw wondered what once happened between those two cats, why was Broken Shadows so frustrated about Steep Cliff when he wasn't harming anyone? He sounded a lot like Maggotpaw's brother, Fallenpaw.
"Alright, let's go, the hills aren't far."
After sometime, the four cats were padding at a good enough pace and Steep Cliff had at least shown everything to Maggotpaw, even weird, it was strangely like home. "And these are the Hills, they're actually Mountains but we call them Hill-Side because there is so many mountains-"
"We know, now stop scaring her! She's going to have nightmares!"
'I already do…'
Maggotpaw wondered why Shadows had interrupted Cliff, was there something else?
"Hey, look, the sun is setting!"
"Sunset, beautiful time of day."
Jay's Song and Broken Shadows went out to hunt before settling down for the night. Meanwhile Steep Cliff and Maggotpaw were making a make-shift den for them to sleep in. "There we go, easy work."
Steep Cliff told few stories about the Hills before the other two she-cats came back. "And some say that the furious cat still lives today."
"You mean Mountain Lions?"
When the sun had set, Maggotpaw had finally gotten her voice back.
"No, bigger, bitter, stronger. These cats were called Pumas. Their leader, Sharptooth, was the powerful one."
"Wow, I wouldn't want to run into one of them!"
Maggotpaw was going to miss Steep Cliff but she could visit him in her dreams right?
"Yeah, me neither, I hate those things, they freak me out."
"Well, good Silverpelt and see you all tomorrow dawn."
Broken Shadows took the first watch, then Steep Cliff, and finally Jay's Song.
"Jay, can I talk to you?"
The now silver tabby she-cat turned to look concern at her friend. "Sure, what is it?"
"I'm not so sure if I should go back home…"
Sitting down next to the Soft Paw, Maggotpaw looked out to see dozen of stars. "Maggotpaw, you must go back home. No other cat can fill your place. It's like being a part of Silverpelt; 'Every warrior has the right to be a shining star. Just like every cat that has a right to run free.'"
Where did she hear that before? Jay couldn't have come up with that. "Thanks, I owe you one. And Jay?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think I'll see you again?"
Turning around, Jay's Song smiled warmly at her;
"All roads lead home, every rainbow leads to an adventure. We'll see each other soon, Maggotpaw."
And in a bright flash, everything disappeared…
"Maggotpaw, wake up! It's our warrior ceremony!"
Maggotpaw was shaken awake by her brother, what? "I'm back."
"Back from where?"
"Doesn't matter, we have to go now!"
"We're going to be warriors!"
"Not unless Maggotpaw wakes up!"
Flameshade, Fallenpaw, Petalpaw and Bouncefoot were all they making sure that Maggotpaw was awake.
"Alright, I'm up!"
Maybe meeting that Tribe of Shining Moonlight was only a dream? No, Jay said that they would meet again!
"Good, hurry up! Otherwise you're going to be apprentices forever!"
Rushing outside to meet Nightwind, Shadowcatcher, Moonstar and the rest of the clan awaiting them. Fallenpaw and Petalpaw ran to their mentors side while Bouncefoot and Maggotpaw slowly padded towards their leader.
"I'm glad you're up."
"About time!"
Nightwind and Shadowcatcher joked at the three young warriors.
Moonstar stepped forward to Maggotpaw first.
"I, Moonstar, leader of Riseclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Maggotpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Surprised and excited, Maggotpaw swore: "I do." Moonstar smiled warmly at her.
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Maggotpaw, from this moment you will be known as Maggotshine. StarClan honours your loyalty and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Riseclan."
Maggotshine wailed in her head, she wasn't going to be called Maggotflower, after her ancestor?
She stooped down to thank her leader, she felt like crying, there and then. But as Moonstar moved onto Fallenfire and Petaldusk, as the clan chanted their names, Maggotshine swore she heard a familiar voice.
Scanning the crowd for a certain cat, she saw a light brown-russet tom with frosty blue eyes smiling back at her, next to him was a pretty jay-blue tabby she-cat and on the other side of the tom was a grey and black tabby she-cat with dark vivid green eyes. All three cats chanted her name and smiled warmly at the new warrior.
"Maggotshine, Fallenfire, Petaldusk. Maggotshine, Fallenfire, Petaldusk."
The blue tabby she-cat ghostly bounded up to her and smiled. "I told you we would meet again."
Smiling, Maggotshine looked over her clan, whatever Starclan had in store for her. "Bring it!"
Here it is, I'd like to say that doodle2thebluemoon asked/requested for me to do this, and thanks to all the people that helped with this and what it's based off. Jayfeather and the Tribe is where I got this idea from, I don't known warriors. Shout-out to everyone that helped with Vengeance of The Stars, the original story, it is going to be up soon. Go to my link up top to view other details.
Flowered Maggot and Elk's Cry died in the tunnel that crashed down upon Hollyleaf. Wiki did help with information but Riseclan and the Tribe of Shining Moonlight are my own clans, they're not real...Most of these cats aren't mine and I would love to give the owners a huge thanks and shout-out! Anyway, review and tell me how it was, thanks for reading!..!