Chapter 3: Once Sisters

Something Splitpelt told me didn't sit right. It was like he was hinting at something. I can't erase the mud he said but does that mean I could do something to the mud like push it or change its consistency. Then there was the no life thing. That couldn't be entirely true since I created moss. Maybe I'm restricted from making something that thinks and breathes. I had some more experiments in mind.

I returned to my boulder to attempt some changes. I pushed a large swath of the mud back with my belief, but believing while seeing was more difficult than doing it with my eyes closed. Regardless, I needed to get used to this strange ability of the forest. If I could not believe while seeing, I'd be at risk from more experienced Darkforest cats. I was able to move more with more concentration, but it would eat into my stamina more. Another oddity of the forest. I don't need to eat or sleep, but I must remain motionless for a time to regain energy. I wouldn't really say it is resting. Its more that something about the forest will rejuvenate me. I had yet to feel the hunger pains Splitpelt warned me of. I was starting to feel thirsty though. Curse this mud for promising water without a way to retrieve it.

I suddenly had an epiphany. The mud is wet. That cannot be denied, but can I take away its wetness? I first molded a stone dry pond on the now exposed barrier from my previous experiment. Even if my experiment failed, it would be a nice place to store things out of the mud. The next part was too difficult to imagine with my eyes open, so I stepped into the middle of my empty pond and willed forth a wave of heat. The heat would pull the moisture out of the mud into a dry blackish earth. Then a storm would be pulled into existence localized entirely in the pond area. I probably was there creating my heatwave and storm for days. It is difficult to tell time here. I eventually felt a drop of rain on my muzzle and giggled like a kit. I looked up into my storm and it rained a glorious rain. The water tasted so good after so long. I never realized I missed it. I stepped out of my pond to watch it fill and observe my work. Within a two tail length radius of my new creation, there was no mud, only black earth cracked from its dryness.

I was as excited as a kit. I made a miracle and wanted desperately to share it. I tried to will Splitpelt here, but he was apparently avoiding me at that moment. I pranced, pounced, and played in my little pond. Memories of my own kithood made themselves known. I remembered Frecklewish and I playing in the puddles of the camp after a heavy rainfall. We'd splash each other and tackle one another into the biggest puddle we could find. Our mothers told us off afterwards, but we didn't regret it. We used to be so inseparable.

I made a promise to myself. I will find Frecklewish someday and we will make up. My promise filled with my belief in myself caused a change I wasn't prepared for. Frecklewish emerged from the edge of my camp looking lost and confused. My eyes immediately snapped to her and realized something was off. This was Frecklewish, but in the same way that echo was Ravenwing. She wasn't an outline, but she was slightly transparent. It was only part of Frecklewish, what was sent here by her will or the will of another.

"Frecklewish? Is that you?" I tested half expecting to not receive a response.

Her eyes locked on me, and she looked… happy? Why did she look happy to see me? I killed her.

"Mapleshade! I'm glad I found you! I don't know where we are. This place just is wrong. It doesn't make any sense."

"Slow down. What is the last thing you remember?"

"I remember you were going to have kits. I am so excited to meet them. We'll have such a good time raising them together."

Then she saw me closer.

"Oh Mapleshade. Did you miscarry? You don't have your plumpness anymore, and who scarred your eye?"

Frecklewish the original had tossed all of her past involving the sisterhood she enjoyed with Mapleshade.

"I have some questions before I clear things up for you. Who is your brother? Do you remember any cat besides me?"

"Of course, I remember my brother. His name was… It was… What? Why can't I remember? My mother! I remember her, right? Her name… My leader… The medicine cat… Why can I only remember you?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but you aren't Frecklewish. At least not entirely. Part of you resides in Starclan and part of you is here. You are here because for some reason Starclan or the original Frecklewish decided that your memories of our good times belong in the Darkforest."

I put the Frecklewish fragment into a state of shock. She didn't want to accept that she was in the Darkforest.

"What did I do wrong?! I don't think I did anything to deserve this!"

"I'm sorry. This is my fault."

"Your fault? How? You're one of the most loyal cats in the clan and a fearsome one at that."

"I made a mistake. I fell in love with a tom from another clan. His name was Appledusk. Those kits I was carrying were his. I couldn't tell the clan, so I let you all assume they were your brother's without correcting you. I wanted to protect them, but I was also a fool. I wanted my kits to bring peace between Riverclan and Thunderclan by being raised in both. Ravenwing discovered us and outed my kits as half-clan. My kits and I were exiled because my mate accidentally killed your brother and his apprentice in a border skirmish. I tried to go to Riverclan to raise my kits, but there was a storm. I wasn't in the right of mind and tried to cross the steppingstones. A wave hit us and took my kits' lives. Riverclan turned me away on the spot for killing my kits, and I found out my mate had another in his own clan. He disowned me and called my kits mistakes. I left in rage. Then I saw them. My kits were still with me. They asked me for three souls so they could move on. I killed Ravenwing for outing my kits and inadvertently causing their deaths. I killed Appledusk for disowning my kits and me… I also killed you. You watched my kits drown without lifting a paw. I killed you in a way to ensure you got to Starclan. I believed if I gave you your punishments in life, you wouldn't be punished in the afterlife."

Frecklewish was frozen, contemplating what I said. I wouldn't blame her for hating me again, but I didn't want her wandering the Darkforest alone again. I constructed a cave for her. It wasn't very deep, but it would keep her dry and let her have some privacy. When she began moving again, I could feel she wanted to avoid me. Despite that, she drank greedily from my pond. The eternal thirst that Splitpelt told me about must be affecting her. I let her rest in her cave after fashioning her a nest from the moss on my boulder, and laid down as well. We both were emotionally taxed and needed rest.