... Cats have arms... just not arms like we do. It's better than saying "StarClan will welcome him with open legs", that's for sure.
I know this scene seems quick and rushed, but there's a reason for that and it will come up later.
Chapter 13
Maplepaw crept into the undergrowth, hiding beneath a fragrant tansy plant. She hoped that her mottled pelt would be enough to hide herself from her own Clan leader, and she tried using the leafier bits to disguise her white patches.
Crickets and insects began to chirp and buzz as night fell. The air was cool and breezeless, which Maplepaw thanked StarClan for. Her heart was pounding in her ears.
What am I doing? She thought. Not only am I sneaking after my leader, I'm disobeying my elders! Bramblestar was going to shred her for kit bedding if she was caught.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, the dark tabby tom was padding through the trees. His huge paws fit easily into the well-trodden trails that ThunderClan made through the forest. His amber eyes flashed, but they did not focus on her. Maplepaw shrank herself down as much as possible, wishing she could be invisible.
Bramblestar passed on, plodding through the undergrowth as if she weren't there. He was going at a quick pace, his scent lingering strongly in the air. Maplepaw breathed it in, sticking her head out of the tansy. As long as there was a trail for her to follow, she could wait as long as it took to follow him.
She waited until Bramblestar was out of sight before she crept out of her hiding place. The smell of tansy clogged her senses, but as she followed Bramblestar's trail it began to dissipate. Soon enough all she could smell were the scents of the forest and her leader.
The ground began to slope upward as she neared the WindClan border. So far, there were no signs of Bramblestar but his scent, which was leading her up and up and up, until she got to the border between the two Clans.
Maplepaw set her paws along the babbling stream, following Bramblestar's scent as it followed the water upstream. The further she went, the higher she was going – and the less trees there were. Bramblestar's scent cross the stream, using a few well-placed stones, and Maplepaw did her best to copy him.
She mistimed the last jump and her back legs fell ungracefully into the stream. Hissing with frustration, she pulled herself out and shook her coat. Cold air touched the wet skin and fur and Maplepaw shivered.
I have to keep going, she told herself, over and over. For Mapleshine.
Maplepaw had no idea where she was. Moonhigh light streamed down onto the landscape, highlighting rock and bush and ground. There was no defining territorial scent here, no hints as to where she really was. The stream and Bramblestar's scent led her up and up, until the ground stopped rising and Maplepaw was facing the rocky hollow that contained the mystical Moonpool.
Bramblestar was already there, crouching beside the pool. He took a drink, laid down, and closed his eyes.
Maplepaw waited until her legs ached with cold. Bramblestar's breathing was regular and smooth, like any sleeping cats'.
He's in a trance, she realized. Mapelpaw had heard stories of leaders and medicine cats sleeping beside the Moonpool and having special dreams because of it. She never thought she would see it for herself.
Maplepaw dropped into a crouch and did her best to hide herself into a clump of bracken at the top of the hollow. She didn't know what Mapleshine wanted her to do when she got here, but it probably didn't include Bramblestar.
She turned herself about and began grooming her wet fur, casting anxious glances down at the Moonpool. It shone brilliantly in the moonlight, reflecting the starlit sky back at Maplepaw. Occasionally it would ripple, but there was no wind to cause it. Bramblestar's shape was outlined in starlight as he slept, his chin touching the pool.
Maplepaw tried to stay awake, but tiredness dragged at her pelt and eventually, she laid her head down on her paws.
"Congratulations," Mapleshine's voice purred. "You made it."
Maplepaw blinked open her eyes. She stood in the dank, dreary forest, Mapleshine's faded form standing before her. The tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat's eyes glimmered.
"I'm at the Moonpool," Maplepaw told her. "What did you want me to do?"
Mapleshine blinked. "How are your paws?" she asked.
Maplepaw looked down. Why change the subject? She pressed against her paws, unsheathing her claws. "Feeling better, I guess," she replied.
"You'll be able to begin training again soon?" Mapleshine asked.
Maplepaw nodded.
"Good," Mapleshine decided. "I have great plans for you, Maplepaw. You're going to be an amazing warrior."
"Thank you," Maplepaw mewed, gratitude in her voice. "But why me?"
Mapleshine's eyes drifted along Maplepaw, as if the she-cat were taking in the apprentice's details. "You remind me of myself when I was younger," she replied simply. "A young cat with a lot of potential… and a lot of things holding her back."
Maplepaw felt a bit of pride at that. She kneaded her paws into the ground and asked again, "What did you want me to do here?"
Mapleshine blinked again. "You'll see," she answered. "Something important is going to happen here, and you needed to be part of it."
"I don't like lying to my Clan," Maplepaw admitted. "Isn't there an easier way?"
The older warrior shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "If you go around telling your friends that you're getting special training, then they'll want it too. I won't have any time for you! Which would be a shame – you're my favorite student."
Her voice was sweet as honey and it melted into Maplepaw, quelling her doubts. So long as she was training with Mapleshine she would do great things – but there would be a price.
"I don't see what's so great about this, though," Maplepaw admitted. "I just stalked my leader, disobeyed an elder, and I'm going to get caught as soon as Bramblestar wakes up. Is that what my great favor is? Getting yelled at?"
Mapleshine's eyes sparkled. "No," she insisted. "My dear Maplepaw, have faith in me – you won't get into trouble tonight."
Maplepaw sighed. "OK," she meowed. She trusted Mapleshine – she had to. Who else was going to make sure that she didn't become just another face in the crowd of her Clan? Who else would teach her how to make meaningful contributions?
"Wake up dear," Mapleshine said suddenly. "Your time is coming."
"What am I supposed to do?" Maplepaw wondered, her fur bristling as Mapleshine and the dark woods began to fade.
"You'll know," Mapleshine promised, before fading away completely. "You'll know."
Maplepaw blinked open her eyes to find herself back in the bracken. She was cold and shivering in the dark – the moonlight was fading, and sunrise would not be far off.
Below, in the crevice of the Moonpool, Bramblestar was stirring. Maplepaw craned her neck to see what would happen when he woke – would he notice her immediately? Her stomach trembled.
Suddenly a breeze blew through from the uplands. It carried the scents of far-off places towards Maplepaw. When she opened her jaws, she recoiled – those upland scents smelled disgustingly like crow-food.
Gagging, Maplepaw looked down at the Moonpool. Bramblestar was stirring from his dream, but he wasn't fully awake – and behind him a dark shadow was prowling.
It was a cat – a tom – who smelled like crow-food and rabbits. His dark pelt was matted and patchy, ungroomed for moons. His eyes glowed with hunger and hatred. Maplepaw saw the gleam of claws as he approached Bramblestar.
He's going to attack Bramblestar! Maplepaw thought, horrified.
Bramblestar's eyes flickered open as the dark warrior leaped. The tabby tom wasn't exactly ready for the attack, and the black tom overwhelmed the ThunderClan leader easily. Stones scattered as claws and teeth flashed, the howling of fighting cats bouncing off of the walls of the Moonpool's hollow.
"Breezepelt!" snarled Bramblestar. "You traitor!"
Breezepelt! Maplepaw thought.
Bramblestar sent the former warrior away with a slap to the face with one huge forepaw. Breezepelt staggered, but was not stunned.
"How dare you show your face here!" Bramblestar howled, leaping onto Breezepelt.
"I'll do as I please," Breezepelt snapped, slipping beneath Bramblestar's hugeness easily. The black tom scored his claws along the ThunderClan leader's haunches. "I'd like to see you stop me, ThunderClan scum!"
"I'm scum?" Bramblestar growled, whirling about. Long, hooked claws dug into Breezepelt's pelt. "Says the cat who betrayed his Clan and kin for false promises of power!"
"Clan?" Breezepelt scoffed. "Kin?" He dodged Bramblestar's blows with the skill of a cat who was not as starved as he. He lashed his claws against Bramblestar's face, catching on his ear. Bramblestar backed away, scarlet droplets pattering on the ground. "I would have had all of that had that ThunderClan piece of fox-dung not broken every code there was!"
"You're still on about that?" Bramblestar growled, obviously fed up. He shook his head, scattering blood across the hollow. "Don't you think it's time to move on?"
Breezepelt bristled. "Shut up," he snarled.
Maplepaw watched as the two cats wrestled next to the sacred Moonpool. Bramblestar was trying to push Breezepelt out of the area, but Breezepelt's smaller size and quicker attacks kept the ThunderClan leader on the defensive. Slowly but surely, claw-strike by claw-strike, Bramblestar was backed into a corner. He was up to his belly fur in the water of the Moonpool, with only stone walls around him and Breezepelt's furious claws before him. Blood from the leader dripped into the pool.
Finally, Breezepelt let out howl of rage. He seemed to grow to twice his size as he leaped, pinning Bramblestar down into the water with his paws at the leader's throat. Bramblestar's head was forced below the water. Maplepaw watched in horror as the ThunderClan leader struggled to breathe, bubbles and froth foaming from his mouth whenever he managed to pull himself out.
Breezepelt forced him back down each him, his eyes brightening as Bramblestar's struggles grew weaker and weaker.
"That's it Bramblestar – drown! Die, and then die again and again!" he crowed. "I'll be revenged on you all for siding with Crowfeather over me! For rewarding Leafpool when she should have been banished for what she did! For demonizing my mother!"
Maplepaw could take it no longer. Whatever was between Breezepelt and the rest of the world, she could not stand by while he attempted to drown her leader in front of her eyes.
With a cry, she burst from the bracken. She leaped from the edge of the hollow, air beneath her paws for a split second.
It was replaced by matted fur as she landed directly on top of Breezepelt. The black tom was torn from Bramblestar, and his head slammed against the rocky hollow walls with a dull thud.
The two of them fell into the deeper waters of the Moonpool, and Maplepaw, mouth filling with water, struggled to get her bearings. She felt Breezepelt's legs tangle with her own, and she splashed frantically to free herself. Stones met her paws, but she couldn't settle them at the bottom without going under herself.
Teeth met the scruff of her neck as the waters began to swirl and darken. Maplepaw went limp, lungs aching, and allowed Bramblestar to pull her onto the shore, where she coughed and retched up a mouthful of starlit water.
"M… Maplepaw…" he gasped as he put her down. His amber eyes were wide, reflecting the light that was flooding into theworld. "What in StarClan's name are you doing here?"
Maplepaw couldn't reply – her throat was aching from the retching. She looked up at Bramblestar, pleading with her eyes.
The huge leader shook his head, droplets spinning off of his face. "No… I… I'm not questioning this right now. Without you I would be in a lot more trouble. Thank you."
Maplepaw panted. She pushed herself up and, with some help from Bramblestar, stood on her shaking legs. Her paws hurt, unbalanced on the dimpled ground. None of the pawmarks fit her paws.
Horror gripped her as she looked out over the Moonpool. The sun was rising, bathing it in a fiery red-orange glow… which was turned even redder by the blood of Breezepelt. The sodden black tom's body was floating in the pool, still as a stick, his eyes lifeless and his jaws open. Blood leaked from a grievous head wound.
"He's dead," Maplepaw whispered, horrified. "I…"
"It was an accident," Bramblestar rasped. "Wasn't it?"
Maplepaw recalled feeling Breezepelt's body crumple beneath her. Her weight pushed his head against the rocks on the sheer sides of the hollow. That thud must have been his head dashing against the stony hollow walls! Her stomach clenched.
"I… I didn't mean to…" Her throat was tight.
"StarClan warned me of strange happenings," Bramblestar growled. "Of a great darkness coming from within the Clans, attempting to swallow them whole."
Maplepaw looked up at him, terror gripping her limbs. What did any of that mean?
"They showed me little. Too little," Bramblestar went on. "All of it made no sense."
The huge tabby tom glanced at her. "But I saw you," he said.
Me? Maplepaw thought.
Bramblestar's amber eyes flashed. He ventured back into the water, grabbing Breezepelt's body by the scruff of his neck. He dragged the sodden black tom out of the water and laid him down at the shore of the Moonpool.
"He does not deserve a warrior's burial," Bramblestar decided. "We'll take him out of this sacred place and then head home. A patrol must be sent to tell Onestar."
Maplepaw only nodded numbly. Bramblestar picked up Breezepelt's body in his jaws and the two padded out of the hollow.
Hesitating, Maplepaw looked back.
The Moonpool was red as blood.
Horror made Maplepaw blink – when her eyes reopened, the Moonpool was as it had been: still, clear, and blue.