"What do you mean? Why are you here? If you are here to jeer at me, don't. It's your fault I'm here!" Mapleshade hissed savagely. However, the starry cats seemed unfazed and simply began to circle her. There were cats of all shapes and sizes, colours and expressions, but they all had the same starry twinkle to their eyes and pelt. Some of them were like her; nearly completely see-through.
"All will be revealed soon Mapleshade. But for now all you need to know is that you were not meant to be banished from Thunderclan. You were meant to become its' leader. You fell from the stars when you did nothing wrong." The cat who spoke could not be seen. Yet he was in front of her. She could be heard all around her, yet only she could her him. He was male, yet female. Many cat's voices heard at once, but only one cat was speaking. It was in the distance, yet breath tickled her ear fur. The cats around her were watching her, all of them. The circles they made were getting tighter, and Mapleshade began to panic.
Still circling her, they began to chant. At first it was barely audible, just whispers on the wind. But slowly, the whispers began to grow louder, until Mapleshade could clearly make out the words. Smoke began to rise from the boggy ground at her paws, and no matter which way she turned, there was no way out.
When the Sun's Beams begins to glow, the drought will start. The only Shade will be that of the Maple Tree…
The words entered her head and she could not shake them out. Stumbling back, Mapleshade suddenly felt as though the ground beneath her paws was swiped away and replaced by cold, clammy water. Struggling, twisting, turning, there was no surface to the black depths. As she sank, the last thing Mapleshade saw was those eyes. The eyes that haunted her every time she tried to sleep. The eyes that belonged to a certain someone of her past. A certain someone named Appledusk.
A rough leaf-shaped thing was rubbing her head, and the smell of milk and warmth hit her as soon as Mapleshade began to gain feelings once more. Where am I? She wondered. All of her senses were screaming at her that it was a nursery, but surely Starclan cats had just killed her? Had she not just drowned in the muddy bog of the Dark Forest while Starclan cats chanted some strange prophecy in her ears? Oh well, she thought, only one way to find out… Cringing slightly, Mapleshade forced her eyes open. What she saw amazed her beyond belief. All around her, there were queens with kits mewling pitifully and just next to her was a huge queen with sparkling blue eyes, pretty white fur covering a slim, sleek body. She felt a sudden urge to get close to her, but she stopped in her tracks when she realized just how tall this queen was. Why was she so tall? Or maybe, she should be asking herself, why was she so small?
She looked down at herself, gaping as she first noticed her kit-like features. Although she still had the same tortoiseshell fur markings, her fur was fluffy and sticking out in all directions. But the most amazing thing was that she was no longer see-through, she looked like a living, breathing kitten.
So that's why all these cats are so big. I'm a kit! She thought excitedly. Maybe I am even… Am I alive? Do I have a new life? Looking up at the white she-cat, she allowed herself to be picked up by the scruff and placed next to two other kittens. The larger of the two was a tabby tom with long claws. The other was a pretty dapple-grey she-kit with delicate features. She felt herself begin to grow tired, and as her eye lids started to droop, she sighed happily. Maybe Starclan weren't so bad after all. Only maybe.
The next day, Mapleshade (or was she now Maplekit?) was awoken by her mother tenderly licking her head. She opened her eyes to look up at her mother's pretty face. But today there was a new cat with her. He was a big, grey tom that was far taller than her mum.
"Ashfur, look! Maplekit has opened her eyes!" Cried the she-cat, turning to her mate.
"She is beautiful Dovefeather. What about Thornkit and Dapplekit?" The huge tom asked.
"Not yet. Thornkit has started trying to open his eyes, but Dapplekit is still sleeping."
Thornkit? Dapplekit? Who are they? They must be my siblings! Maplekit thought.
Struggling to her paws, Maplekit took a few wobbly steps forward towards her parents. She snuggled up to her mother's stomach before suckling and then nodding off to sleep once more.
The days went on like that. Wake up, eat, sleep, wake up, eat, sleep. Until Maplekit was about two weeks old, she did not move from her place beside her mother, unless she was being taken to dirt place or cooed at by clan members.
Now that Maplekit had enough energy, she hobbled over to her siblings and tried to wake them. It was more difficult than you might think. Firstly, whenever she went near her brother he would let out a HUGE snore which would scare her away. And when she tried to wake her little sister, she felt as though she was going to crush her with her rather large paws.
Taking a deep breath, Maplekit padded courageously up to her brother and prodded him defiantly in the ribs. To her shock, he immediately let out a wail, causing her to jump back. He too took off but instead of leaping to his paws he stumbled forwards into the briar bushes of the nursery wall. With a shriek of terror (which must have woken up the rest of the clan) he disappeared beneath the foliage, only to appear again crying out in horror. Stumbling forwards, Maplekit and her mother reached him at the same moment, and they supported him back over to the nest.
"Thornkit, what happened?!" Dovefeather asked gently once he had calmed down. Most of the clan had appeared and gathered around in a tight circle to see what had happened. Maplekit just sat there in quiet amazement, hoping that she would not be embarrassed publically by her brother. She knew he would not be saying it on purpose to get her in trouble, in fact she doubted he knew what trouble she would be in by saying she frightened him into the bushes.
That's not exactly what happened… She thought guiltily to herself. He just sort of leaped for joy when he was in my presence… Yes, that's it. He just had a shock of seeing such… Regal beauty? He he he….
But Maplekit knew that she would be in trouble if she was caught. She wasn't even doing anything wrong! Oh well… she thought. At least no one got hurt…
Well! There we go! First (official) chapter of Under the Maple Tree! I hope you are all enjoying it. (Did I end on a CLIFF HANGER?!) Ok, time to clear up the mysteries of Silverstream, Foxclaw ect. Ok, so basically I thought, why not bring the rest of them back while I am here?! So I brought back Ashfur to be with Dovefeather who is a rogue alongside Sky. Sky is Foxclaw and I will be calling her Sky from now on, not because I thought, Oh, let's just change stuff, but because that was her original name in my mind that I decided to return to. So any way, they come just before Ashfur threatens Squirrelflight, and they have with them Toad, who becomes Toadleap. When they come, Ashfur grows closer to Dove and so does not attack Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight decides it is time Brambleclaw new about her kits not actually belonging to her, but when she told him he was angry and their relationship collapsed… (Sorry SquirrelxBramble fans!) So Bramble star grows loser to Sky, Toad grows closer to Squirrelflight and while all of that is happening, Windclan find out about the kits and kick Crowfeather out. He goes to Thunderclan and is accepted while Leafpool becomes a warrior so that they can be together openly. Silverstream is not a re-incarnation; let's just say she survived kitting! Of course, her kits are not in the clan because they went on the journey, and you know the rest. Millie is not there because she did not stay with Greystripe when she learnt that he was mates with Silverstream! And there you have it! I hope you followed that, and I hope I added every one of the new characters. I really hope you enjoy this story, but before I leave, REVIEWS!
Birdflame: Thanks! I hope I will improve, as I am a new writer and I obviously will not be as amazing as others. Yet.
Riverfall: Yes, Mapleshade's life was hard!
Two reviews! I bet lots of writers think I am strange to say this, but I am so pleased with that. As a new writer, I am not very good at the moment. Although I am amongst the top in my English classes, that does not make me a good FanFiction writer. I hope I will improve along with this story, so NO ONE LOOSE HOPE! Thank you for reading and remember to review! It will only take a minute, but please don't be rude on there. If you don't like what you read, either stop reading this story and don't comment, OR give me some constructive criticism! I will work with it and try and become better. Ok, this A.N is becoming too long, so thanks again for reading! REVIEWS ARE WELCOME!
May Mapleshade be Loved Again~