Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to write. I've still been sick and busy with school-work and preplanning how I want this arc to go moving forward now that I know how Star ends. Any-who enjoy!
~Leafbranch
Crouching at the edge of the warriors' den, her paws tucked under her, Maplefall stares across the camp. Gorse is sunning himself a few tail-lengths away, and farther off, beside the fresh-kill pile, her father is sharing prey with Toadfoot and a couple of other cats from the group who had met with the Riverclan warriors. Maplefall almost feels that the force of her gaze should burn Rowanclaw's pelt, but her father seems quite unaware that he is being watched.
Maplefall hadn't spoken to her father all day, because he has no idea what words would come out of his mouth. But after what she and Gorse had overheard the night before, she knows she would have to talk to him soon. Even so, the thought of having such a conversation with her father makes her feel chilled from her ears to the tips of her claws.
Gorse's presence in the camp, and her previous quarrel with Rowanclaw over his hostility to outsiders, had already strained their relationship to the breaking point.
Taking a deep breath, Maplefall decides that she would ask Rowanclaw to walk with her, so that they could talk well away from any listening ears. But then, she asks herself, wouldn't every cat in the camp know that something was going on?
Maybe I should think of an excuse to tell them before I head off. For a few heartbeats Maplefall wonders what excuse would work best, before giving her pelt a shake and an irritated twitch to the tip of her tail.
Frog-brain! she scolds herself. You're perfectly entitled to talk to your father, and tell any cat who asks to mind their own business.
Full of new resolve, Maplefall rises to her paws and takes a few paces toward Rowanclaw.
But as soon as she moves, Gorse springs to his paws and bounds up to intercept her. Maplefall notices that the golden tabby and white tom looks more nervous and uncertain than he had the night before.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"I'm just wondering . . ." Gorse stares at his paws, then raises his head to meet Maplefall's gaze.
"Is what we saw worth causing trouble in Shadowclan?" he asks. "We might be being too hasty. Or maybe we . . . misunderstood."
"I'm not going to cause trouble," Maplefall assures him. "I'm going to talk to Rowanclaw about what we heard at the secret meeting last night, that's all. I need my mother to put my mind at ease."
"At ease?" Gorse keeps his voice low, but Maplefall guesses that he would have liked to yowl the words across the whole camp. "Those cats were plotting a way to fake a new Medicine cat for Riverclan, just to get Rushstar out of their fur. Whatever any cat thinks about what Rushstar is doing over there, that doesn't change the fact that he's the leader of Shadowclan. To go against his orders is against the Warrior Code."
"Hey—a heartbeat ago you were wondering if we misunderstood," Maplefall mews. "Make your mind up!"
"That's the problem," Gorse confesses. "I don't know what to think!"
"I know, I know." Maplefall soothes him with a touch of her tail on his shoulder. "I have doubts about what Rushstar is doing as well, but I would never discuss them with another clan."
Gorse gives a swift, furtive glance around the camp.
"Rowanclaw might say that of course I would accuse him of being up to something," he mutters, "because he's in charge of the tasks."
"You could be right," Maplefall admits.
Rowanclaw is so hostile to the idea of taking in cats from other clans; he might try anything to prevent it.
"But I promise I'll keep you out of it."
Gorse sighs, and when he speaks, his voice is heavy with resignation: "I know I can't stop you," he mews. "In fact, I agree with you. I think you should talk to your father. But I want you to be sure of what you're doing before you do it."
At his words, Maplefall clenches her jaws on a growl that wants to escape her muzzle. She had been sure before Gorse came over. Now she feels herself wavering, which wasn't what she had intended at all.
"Go and hunt or something," she tells Gorse. "Behave as if this has nothing to do with you."
Then she heads over to where Rowanclaw is just finishing up his prey beside the fresh-kill pile.
"Can we take a walk?" she asks.
Her father twitches his whiskers in surprise before meowing, "Sure."
Maplefall leads the way out of camp and along the same path that Rowanclaw and the others had followed the night before, toward the twoleg half-bridge. Their stale scent still hangs around it; Maplefall tries her best not to show she noticed it, so as not to make Rowanclaw suspicious.
Finally, when the bridge is in sight, she sits in the shelter of a clump of bracken and wraps her tail around her paws. Rowanclaw sits beside her, a curious glint in his eyes.
"This feels very serious," he mews.
"It is serious," Maplefall responds.
She pauses long enough to take a deep breath, trying to ease the tightness in her chest, then continues, "I followed you and the others last night. I heard what you said to Icefade and the other Riverclan cats."
Rowanclaw's ears flick up and he narrows his eyes as he gazes at Maplefall.
"Did you indeed?" he murmurs
"I did." Now that Maplefall has confessed, she feels her courage returning.
"How could you plot against Rushstar?" she demands. "Does Icefade intend to force some cat to pretend to be the next Medicine cat for Riverclan? Rowanclaw, what are you doing?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Rowanclaw snaps, his anger clear in his slowly rising shoulder fur. "What do you think you were doing, spying on me? Do you mistrust me so much?"
Maplefall has to choke back a mrrow of amusement.
"It seems I was right to!" she retorts.
Rowanclaw glares at her for a moment longer, then cautiously surveys the forest all around them, his ears pricked for the sound of movement and his jaws parted to taste the air.
"I'm not plotting to depose Rushstar," he meows when he has made sure that no other cat is in earshot. "Nothing like that. What you overheard was just a meeting of like-minded cats who think it's best for every clan if Riverclan is left alone to deal with its own problems. If we keep our noses in their clan's business much longer, it will only cause conflict. All I'm trying to do is keep Shadowclan safe."
"But Icefade implied that he could create a new Medicine cat for Riverclan," Maplefall protests. "What does that mean? Is he going to make some cat fake visions from Starclan?"
Rowanclaw interrupts with a dismissive wave of his tail.
"Riverclan's Medicine cat is Riverclan's business," he declares. "Which they can sort out for themselves once they're out from under Rushstar's control. That's where we agree with Icefade, and that's all I'm fighting for."
Maplefall sags with relief to hear that that is all her father intended. What Rowanclaw had said sounded almost exactly like her own thoughts. But the comfort lasts for only a few heartbeats before her worries creep up on her again like ants crawling through her pelt.
"Rushstar says he isn't looking for a conflict," she points out. "So why do you think you need to conspire with Riverclan to avoid one?"
Rowanclaw tilts his head, gazing at Maplefall with a mixture of love and pity in his eyes.
"Sometimes I forget that you're still a young cat," he meows. "Rushstar might not be looking for conflict, but that doesn't mean that conflict won't come, whether he wants it or not. Think about the way the Riverclan cats have been talking and acting."
Reluctantly, Maplefall has to nod agreement. She had seen enough of Riverclan's hostility when she and Butterflydapple had been on duty in their camp.
"And then there's Duststar, don't forget," Rowanclaw continues. "He was making a point of displaying his claws in front of the other clan leaders."
That's true, Maplefall admits to herself. At the emergency Gathering, the Thunderclan leader hadn't tried to hide his anger at what Rushstar is doing.
"But he couldn't get Onestar to support him," Maplefall meows. "And Thunderclan won't attack alone. So what do you mean?"
Rowanclaw is silent for a moment, while his expression hardens, the love and pity in his eyes giving way to irritation.
"Don't be so naïve," he scolds Maplefall. "Remember what Duststar said? That they would reassess the situation at the next Gathering. Without a little prod from me and my group, do you think Rushstar will have withdrawn from Riverclan by then?"
Maplefall can't find words to answer. She knows that Rushstar isn't even close to stepping back from Riverclan, that he is as committed as ever to keeping a Shadowclan presence within their territory. And he isn't wrong; when she had been on duty in Riverclan with Butterflydapple, she had found it impossible to ignore how disorganized the clan is.
"Besides," Rowanclaw goes on, "leaders change their minds all the time. How do we know what's being discussed in Windclan? All it would take is for Onestar to have a change of heart and decide he agrees with Duststar."
"Surely he wouldn't . . . ," Maplefall protests, though she sounds feeble even to herself.
"No cat knows what might happen," Rowanclaw declares. "I remember what it was like before the clans realized that the Dark Forest was manipulating their own clanmates. Thunderclan and Shadowclan fought each other in a terrible battle that was instigated by them and two innocent cats died. And this could be much worse, because the conflict isn't about one cat. Do you understand how important it is to avoid more bloodshed?"
His voice grows softer, more persuasive. "It's even more important now that you love a Thunderclan cat. Do you want to see Brokenheart's loyalty tested?"
Maplefall stares down at her paws, not wanting to answer. She finds it hard to admit, even to herself, that Rowanclaw might be right.
Rowanclaw waits for a few heartbeats, then continues when Maplefall doesn't speak. "Don't you think some of his clanmates sounded willing for Windclan to join Thunderclan at the Gathering? One of them was Onestar's daughter, Heathertail; if any cat can change his mind and get him to agree, it would be her. And if she agrees, what then? Would that convince the rest of Windclan and Onestar to go along?"
He lets out a snort, half amused, half-contemptuous. "It probably would, because Windclan is true to its name, and always waits to see which way the wind is blowing. And then what would Shadowclan be facing?"
He doesn't wait for Maplefall to find an answer. "We'd be facing the combined strength of two clans . . . fighting for our lives, and for what? All for the sake of Riverclan— cats who aren't even our clanmates. Do you really think that's a sensible thing for Shadowclan to do?"
"No—no, of course not, but . . ." Maplefall stammers. "What about the other Medicine cats? Surely Starclan must have something to say about all this trouble in Riverclan?"
Rowanclaw shakes his head.
"I heard Littlecloud reporting to Rushstar after the last half-moon meeting," he mews. "None of the Medicine cats were able to get any information. They all reached their own clanmates in Starclan territory, but none of the warrior spirits would tell them anything about Riverclan."
His mouth twists wryly, and he lets out a snort of amusement. "Except they were all upset that Rushstar has taken over Riverclan's territory. So think about that, Maplefall—my group and I are doing the will of Starclan!"
Maplefall isn't at all sure that she agreed. Yes, Shadowclan should leave Riverclan, she reflects. But openly—honorably—not because of plotting with other cats by night.
"What did Rushstar say about that?" she asks. "He must care that Starclan doesn't support his plan."
Rowanclaw sighs. "Rushstar is hardheaded, as you know. When Littlecloud told him this news, he quickly dismissed it. He says he's only caring for Riverclan until they can take care of themselves—it isn't a takeover."
Maplefall shakes her head. But it is, she thinks, or it certainly feels like one to Riverclan. Still, if Starclan can't get through to Rushstar, she doesn't like her own odds.
"Maybe Starclan is angry with Riverclan," Rowanclaw suggests.
Maplefall shakes her head. If they ever got angry, it would more likely be with us.
"I remember stories of how Sol tried to convince Shadowclan that Starclan wasn't communicating with us because they didn't have our best interests at heart," she muses, half to herself. "But Sol was lying. When Blackstar and Littlecloud received a message from Starclan, they were told that Starclan would always look out for us because they are our kin, and would never cut off the living world out of anger or spite."
"So Starclan must want Riverclan to contact them directly," Rowanclaw responds. "That's why it's so important for Riverclan to find their own way to reach Starclan. Each clan should be in control of their own destiny. After all, their clanmates still bear the scars— in their bodies and their hearts—from when they fought alongside us during the Battle of Stars."
Maplefall had been born after the battle, but Mistycreek had told her that it had played a huge part in her parents' lives, especially since Rowanclaw had once been a Dark Forest trainee before siding with the clans the night of the battle.
"Many cats died during the battle," Rowanclaw goes on, a shudder of horror passing through him, "Some being clanmates of mine. The Dark Forest tried to destroy the clans with their ideals and I fell for it. I regret that I couldn't save some of my other trainee's from the Dark Forest's control and that they died as traitors. And I regret that I couldn't save some of my clanmates who fought honorably and for their clan throughout it. It's why I vowed to protect Shadowclan with my dying breath. I've seen the damage mingling with the other clans can do and I will not let that happen again!"
"I understand why you and the others feel the way you do," Maplefall admits. "I can't imagine what it must have been like to lose so much. But there's no Dark Forest to threaten us now. And I still don't think going behind Rushstar's back is the right thing to do."
"So you want to tell him?" Rowanclaw's voice is harsh. "Maplefall, ever since you were a kit, you've been obsessed with following the rules, but you're old enough now to understand that life isn't always neat and orderly. Sometimes you have to accept that things are messy."
"But there's no need to make them messy," Maplefall mutters, digging her claws into the ground.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Rowanclaw stretches his neck forward so that he is nose to nose with Maplefall. "No! Sometimes an honorable warrior has to step up and do what's right, step up and protect their clan. That's all that I and the others are trying to do. Are you really going to stand in our way?"
"I never meant…." Maplefall begins to protest, but Rowanclaw ignores her.
"How will you feel, Maplefall, if a moon from now Shadowclan is tangled in a fight with two other clans? Maybe three if Riverclan decides they want to get revenge on us for meddling in their own affairs!"
Maplefall doesn't know how to answer. She knows that she doesn't want to go running to Rushstar to tell him what she had discovered. That went so badly last time.
"Fine, I won't tell," she meows at last. "As long as you and your group are just talking to each other, and not raising claws against your clanmates."
"Of course we're just talking," Rowanclaw snaps. "We would never do anything more—and you should know that."
Maplefall bows her head in acceptance, but at the same time she senses prickles of dread and frustration in her chest. She feels as if she isn't being strong enough. An ominous apprehension hangs over her head like a storm cloud about to unleash its fury. She tries to comfort herself by remembering Rowanclaw's promise that he is trying to prevent a battle, so that no cat would get hurt.
But Maplefall can't convince herself. She wonders whether her father is wrong, and whether what her group is doing would cause some terrible disaster, instead of preventing it. Have I just given up my chance to do something to stop it?
Then Maplefall tells herself she is being lizard-brained. She doesn't need to say something right away, because Rowanclaw and his supporters couldn't force change overnight. Rushstar would always be clan leader, and she could always tell him if anything changed and she thought Rowanclaw had gone too far.
When she and Rowanclaw return to camp, Maplefall notices Butterflydapple looking at her curiously, a question in her gaze. Quickly Maplefall looks away; she is certain she could never talk to her friend about what she and Gorse had overheard. Butterflydapple is Rushstar's daughter, and she would want to tell her father at once.
Then Maplefall spots Gorse crossing the camp with prey in his jaws. When he has dropped it on the fresh-kill pile, he returns to the patch of sunlight where he had been dozing earlier. Of course—I can always talk to Gorse!
The burden of her stress and her confused feelings seems to grow lighter as she pads across to the golden tabby and white tom. Whatever might happen next, it is a relief to have a cat she can relate to in her own clan.