Thanks to everyone who reviewed again and to everyone who gave suggestions. Sorry for not updating earlier, but I was way too busy for school. But as a reward for waiting, I'm going to answer your comments!
Hazel Ashwood - Hmm, you'll just have to wait and see.
Anya5544 - You certainly do have good guesses. It's something along the line of that...
Goldskies5 - Yes, it will get worse, VERY worse... Also thanks for pointing out the mistake, I didn't notice that.
Spottedheart - I honesty don't know what she'll look like if she is recarnated, but I'm working on it.
Ocean Petal - Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not sure if I want the plot to go that way. I might incorporate some of those ideas though...
SagethePistachioQueen - I don't want her to jump in there just yet (If she even decides to), I need her to build up some relationships with other cats first.
Let's read!
"Wake up..." A sweet voice cooed. Spottedleaf blinked her eyes open and saw the gleaming eyes of the scarred tortiseshell.
"Mapleshade! Get off me!" She squealed in alarm. The tortoiseshell lifted her paws, took a step backward letting Spottedleaf scramble to her paws.
"I won't hurt you, well, for now. Remember Rippledance's words? I believe she said 'if you hurt another cat the wound will just dissolve back to normal'. After all, I don't want to waste my amazing skills on you." She sneered.
Spottedleaf fumed on the inside. "You already wasted it on me."
Mapleshade laughed. "And you haven't forgotten."
"I told you that yesterday! You have a bad memory."
At this Mapleshade leaped, knocking her back onto the grass. "I remember everything any cat did to me." She hissed. "Never say that again!"
The tortiseshell stalked away, but Spottedleaf could smell very faintly, the smell of fear.
Fear? When had any cat been afraid of her? It should be the opposite, I should be scared of Mapleshade. A smile was coaxed out of Spottedleaf, remembering when Deerkit first saw Mapleshade in StarClan, after accidentally wandering all the way to the Dark Forest border, where Mapleshade was trapped behind a invisible barrier. That very barrier marked the end of StarClan territory and the Star of the Dark Forest. The poor kit squealed in terror after a glimpse of the scars and the yellowed fangs, while scrambling away. Of course, Deerkit did not know that the evil cat was trapped behind the a unseen barrier, nor did she know that Spottedleaf had been secretly following her, worried for the kit's safety. That scene became almost comical, as the kit crashed into Spottedleaf, wailing out loud.
Spottedleaf's smile dropped as another thought appeared in her mind. How much had she given up to save Sandstorm from Mapleshade? Yes, probably every StarClan cat thought she had done that for Firestar, but Spottedleaf wasn't sure she did it for him. She tried to recall the event. The shock when she saw what was happening. The rush of adrenaline pouring into her blood. The impact of the blow after she had knocked Mapleshade off the sand coloured she-cat. The pain that exploded when Mapleshade tore into her which quickly subsided into blurred memories of her life. And then... she got here. She was almost sure she didn't do it for him. It was on a medicine cat's instinct.
"Wake up!" Rippledance yowled. "Let's go hunting!" Without further questions, Spottedleaf followed the she-cat as she took them into a pine forest. Hunting felt almost normal for all the other cats, and the world was silent again as they stalked the prey, if not for the occasional squeak of pain that cut off abruptly.
Unfortunately, hunting was not fit for Spottedleaf, and she often became distracted by a fresh herb or berry, and forgot about her victim. She would reach for the medicine, only to remember that there were no wounds in this place, only emotional sadness. But by then, her target had escaped, and she had to start all over. When Rippledance called them together again, she had only a starling.
"We're going to move our camp each day, provided nothing too bad happens, toward the portal."
A small round of cheers greeted her announcement and Rippledance finished her speech, allowing the cats to intermingle to talk and eat.
Spottedleaf sat down and bent forward to eat her starling.
"Hello. Can we join you?"
Spottedleaf looked up to see Stormheart, the cat that asked the question of recarnating, and a small white she-cat with wide eyes. She smiled and nodded, and they started down beside her with 2 squirrels and a frog. The she-cat kept staring at her, and Spottedleaf, feeling that the gaze was both strangely familiar and uncomfortable tried to avoid eye contact.
"Um, my name is Spottedleaf." She told the white cat. She nodded, but kept staring.
"She knows. By the way this is my mate, Holloweyes." Stormheart replied. "She is, well..."
"Blind." The word popped up into Spottedleaf's brain.
"Yes, blind, but not useless." Like Jayfeather.
"I understand. I was very close to another blind cat."
Holloweyes suddenly laughed. "Everyone in StarClan knows about your connection with Jayfeather."
Spottedleaf blushed. Holloweyes' voice was scratchy, and sounded like Mapleshade's voice, old and rough. Why does everything remind me of her?
Stormheart quickly changed subjects and started babbling on about some story of a heroic deed some cat did, but Spottedleaf couldn't concentrate yet again. Her mind wandered to what Mapleshade did to get into the Dark Forest. See, in StarClan, they never tell new cats what the Dark Forest cats did to get in there, except that they killed cats. What made her kill cats? Night fell swiftly, and soon cats drowsily fell asleep. Spottedleaf rested in the tall grass, a small bush shielding her from the rest of the group, and whispers of dreams came to her, as she was only half asleep. A body thumped onto the grass next to her, and Spottedleaf's head sprang up, alert.
"Holloweyes." She acknowledged.
"You think my voice sounds like Mapleshade's, don't you?" The she-cat replied.
Surprised, Spottedleaf could only nod, before realizing that the blind cat could not see her. "Yes..."
Hollyeyes sighed. "Everyone says that. I... you know, just in defense, I'm not related to her. I'm WindClan."
The two she-cats talked about prey, weather, and other things but none of them mentioned Mapleshade again. The sky turned darker and darker until the wisps of clouds could no longer be seen, and the only light was the faithful stars, still shining, still there.
"Ahhh, we talked too long. I must rest." Holloweyes yawned.
"Yes." Spottedleaf added wearily. "May StarClan light your dreams."
The blind cat started to walk away, then paused and whispered one more sentence that Spottedleaf couldn barely hear. "Mapleshade is ..., but ...ent circumstances."
What!? Spottedleaf asked in her head. How did they go from their favorite kit hood game to Mapleshade? Mapleshade is what? What circumstances? The questions haunted her, until she fell into a restless, uneasy sleep. Voices yelled her name, from her kit name to her final stage, and the callers ranged from her father to Firestar, and the ginger tom's cry was so desperate Spottedleaf tried with all her might to find him, but only plunged in even darker blackness, with more voices screaming her name.
She awoke panting, with a bead of sweat circling her forehead, and shared two fish with Stormheart and Holloweyes, not daring enough to ask the she-cat the question from last night with others listening. Rippledance called them to hunt once again traveling further into the pine forestthat gradually turned into a swamp. Before she knew, it was night again.
"All cats come here now!" The cats swarmed around her, quiet for her message.
"I will teach you how to see into the real world." With only a simple explanation all the eyes trained on her actions. She unsheathed her claws and ripped through the small puddle, and a opening formed. It was a mirror, reflecting what was happening back in the real world.
"You need water." Rippledance explained, and continued to how it worked. all the cats tried it in that small puddle and there was great suprise and joy in them.
"I can see Littlecloud!"
"That traitor Ivypool is still alive..."
"Leafpool is again the medicine cat!"
"Awww, look how cute Owlkit is."
"Bramblestar is organizing patrols with Squirrelflight!"
"What?" Spottedleaf exclaimed. "Firestar died!?"
Sympathetic looks and smirking grins were given to her, and Spottedleaf sighed. He had lived a good life, killed Tigerstar, and is enjoying life in StarClan now. He is...happy. Spottedleaf stared at the ginger tom smiling in StarClan as she looked at the water. She turned quickly, and sat down with her vole beside a large tree, unable to think. Did he forget about her?
"Hello." Holloweyes suddenly appeared.
"Where's Stormheart?"
"Playing with that puddle."Holloweyes laughed. "Did you catch what I said last night?"
Spottedleaf shook her head, then waited.
"I can't see you."
"Oh... Sorry. " Spottedleaf said, feeling guilty. "I only heard Mapleshade is... and then circumstances."
"Ah. Well, I said 'Mapleshade is Bluestar under different circumstances.'"
"What?"
"You're a medicine cat. I told you the "Prophecy" and you have to figure it out."
"Very funny, Holloweyes. Now tell me what that means."
Holloweyes looked straight at her, shook her head, then left.
Mapleshade is Bluestar under different circumstances? What?
Thank you for reading and tell me if you like the plot so far. I'd appreciate some suggestions too, if you have any.