Chapter Twenty-Two
Beads of water dripped from the branches above as the snow began to melt, signifying the end of leafbare. It was a welcomed sight, but that didn't mean the forest was completely free from the chill that crept through the trees in the morning.
Mapleshade bowed her head at the river's edge taking a long drink of the fresh, cold water. She'd been lapping frost from the grass every morning for so long she'd forgotten what a drink from the river was like.
Motion from the opposite bank caught her attention. Her eyes darted up as she took another sip. There, Appledusk appeared, causing her heart to leap. She hadn't caught sight of him since the two of them returned from their trip into the Twoleg's Place to rescue Nettlekit. That had been three, almost four, moons ago.
"Appledusk!" Mapleshade called.
Appledusk's eyes widened in surprise. Slipping into the river, he swam to the opposite bank, coming to stand a few tail-lengths away. "Mapleshade. How are you doing? And how's Nettlekit?"
"He's doing really good. It won't be long before he's apprenticed. Can you believe that? Just two more moons." Mapleshade's eyes gleamed with pride at the thought.
"Wow, already? Time flies, I guess."
Mapleshade looked him over. He was skinnier than the last time they talked, but that was to be expected during leafbare. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you at any of the Gatherings. Don't tell me you're still being punished?"
"I wasn't exaggerating when I told you Darkstar was going to make me clean out the elder's den for the rest of my life," Appledusk purred. Despite his playful tone, Mapleshade didn't miss the sadness and exhaustion in his eyes.
"I'm sorry I got you in that situation," she apologized.
Appledusk rolled his eyes. "You didn't do anything. Don't apologize, please. I knew exactly what I was doing. And I don't regret it, even if it's caused me to get a few more dirty looks than I was used to."
"Are they still giving you a hard time?"
Appledusk flicked an ear. "Not anymore, no. They've mostly moved on by this point."
"But you're still not allowed to attend the Gathering?"
"Oh, that." Appledusk ducked his head in embarrassment. "I could've gone to the last one, but I got caught in a net — some weird Twoleg object they use to catch fish. Twisted my paw really bad. It was embarrassing. But it's all healed up now. See?" He held out his paw to show her.
"Ouch." Mapleshade recoiled. "I hope you didn't lose any of your claws."
"No, but that did happen to Fenneltail once. Now that's something you never want to see." He shuddered dramatically.
"How are the rest of your Clanmates, paw injuries aside?" Mapleshade wondered.
Appledusk looked around. "Oh, same as always. Darkstar's suspicious of her own shadow. Cloudberry's still working her tail off as medicine cat. She said Echostorm's thinking of retiring soon, so she's nervous about that. But I know she can handle it on her own. She's a smart cat."
"And what about Reedshine?" Mapleshade couldn't help but ask about the ginger she-cat.
To her surprise, Appledusk meowed, "She's fine. She's one of the few cats who didn't treat me like complete fish-guts when I came back."
An unknown feeling rose inside Mapleshade. She dug her claws into the ground, steeling herself. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. I was a bit surprised, to be honest. Reedshine can be quite intense, so I wasn't sure what she'd think when I came back. But to my surprise, she's been tolerable. Still, she's nothing compared to your company."
Mapleshade's eyes shot open. "My company?" she echoed, unsure she'd heard him correctly.
Appledusk tilted his head to the side, his eyes gleaming with the familiar lightheartedness she was so used to. "I missed you, Mapleshade. Not a day goes by when I don't think about our trip together. We make a good team."
She swallowed, not sure how to reply. In all actuality, she felt the same. She wasn't ready to admit that out loud though, a sense of guilt still weighing on her conscious about the whole ordeal. "Is that so?"
"It is." He arched his back, stretching his limbs. "You know, I was surprised when you called out to me just now, but I'm glad you did. We should hang out more often."
"We can't," Mapleshade blurted out.
Appledusk sat up, blinking in confusion. "And why is that?"
"Because it's against the warrior code!" Mapleshade said, exasperated. "I shouldn't have even called you over here."
"Then why did you?"
Mapleshade glared at him. "Because I was surprised to see you. That's all."
"Mapleshade, nothing's going to happen if we spend time together. You know I'm not going to steal any prey from you, and hedgehogs will fly before you ever try to step paw into the river to steal from me. Those rules only exist to keep the bad cats in line, but we can trust one another. You know you can trust me." Appledusk leaned forward. "Think about it. Just once. If you don't like it, we'll forget it ever happened."
Mapleshade fell silent. She looked down at her paws, shuffling them on the wet grass underpaw. She knew it was wrong, but there was a part of her that wanted to spend time with him.
"Where do you want to meet?" she finally asked, looking him in the eye.
"What about Sunningrocks?" he suggested.
"Fine. We'll meet at Sunningrocks. When?"
"Three days from now, at moonhigh. That way you have plenty of time to think things over and change your mind if you want. No hard feelings if you do. I just… hope I'll see you there," Appledusk meowed.
"Right." Mapleshade sighed. She stood to her paws. "I have to go. It was nice seeing you again, Appledusk. And I'll see you at Sunningrocks."
"Remember, three days from now!" he called as she disappeared into the forest.
Heart pounding, Mapleshade slunk down the ridge to where Sunningrocks sat. The forest was drenched in darkness. Creeping onto the rocks, she opened her mouth to scent the air. To her disappointment, the air was stale.
Tucking her paws underneath her body, Mapleshade waited for Appledusk to arrive. She couldn't believe she'd come to meet him like this.
With every passing moment, a sense of dread began to creep over her. Had he stood her up? Was this all an elaborate ruse to get her to lower her guard? Just as she was about to leave—
"Sorry, I'm late. I had a hard time sneaking out of camp," Appledusk apologized, clambering onto the shore. He shook his pelt out scattering water droplets everywhere.
Mapleshade backed away, glaring. "How do you put up with that?"
"I'm used to it," Appledusk meowed.
She wrinkled her nose. "You'll never convince me that getting your fur soaked is natural. Isn't it cold?"
"It can be, but it's like I said— I'm used to it."
"I find it hard to believe any cat could get used to that."
"You've never even tried it!" Appledusk bounded towards the river's edge. He poked the surface with a paw, watching Mapleshade as he did so. "Come here."
Mapleshade's eyes shot wide. "No! I'm not getting wet. Have you grown moss in your brain?"
"Please? I promise you it isn't as bad as you think. Just get your paws wet and you'll see," Appledusk begged. He waded a little deeper into the water. "I'll be right here with you. You'll be safe with me."
Mapleshade shook her head, backing up. "No. Absolutely not. Besides, what would my Clanmates think if I came home sopping wet in the middle of the night?"
"You could always lie and say you were sleepwalking."
Mapleshade walked to the water's edge, splashing him in the face. Appledusk pulled back, eyes wide. Relaxing, letting out a loud purr of amusement.
"That doesn't work on me. I told you I'm used to it," he said, clambering out of the water. It streamed from his fur leaving a puddle beneath their paws.
"Don't shake your fur out and get me wet." Mapleshade gave him a stern look.
"I wasn't going to. But come on— just dip one paw into the water."
Mapleshade turned her snout upwards, ears back as she let out a disgruntled huff. He was mad to suggest such a thing. But there was a slight hint of curiosity towards the back of her mind. "Fine. One paw."
She trudged towards the river, eyeing the water as it washed against the sandy shoreline. She shot Appledusk an apprehensive look, lifting out one paw, inching it closer and closer. Closing her eyes, Mapleshade dunked her paw beneath the surface, wincing as her leg sunk deeper into the water than intended. It was colder than expected, but she held her leg in the water.
"See? It's not that bad, right?" Appledusk walked into the water a few badger-lengths away so as to not splash her.
"It's freezing," Mapleshade hissed.
Suddenly, something slimy brushed against the back of her leg causing Mapleshade to jump into the air. Scrambling for the shore, she looked back at the water with eyes as round as the moon as if expecting a monster to crawl from its depths.
"It was just a piece of a plant," Appledusk chuckled, following her.
"I don't care what it was. It was slimy and gross. And I told you the water is freezing!" Mapleshade licked at her wet leg, stopping occasionally to lift her gaze and shoot him a glare.
Appledusk settled in next to her. He began washing his pelt, purring as he did so. "Don't tell me a plant is enough to take you down," he mrrowed.
Mapleshade rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I'm just used to keeping all four paws on dry ground, like a normal cat. You should try it sometime." She lapped at her soaking leg, trying to dry herself off.
"Contrary to popular belief, us RiverClan cats do actually spend time on dry land. We aren't completely waterlogged. Well, not all of us anyway. I've got a couple of Clanmates who look like they're part fish."
She rolled her eyes again. "You're hilarious."
They continued to talk well into the night. It wasn't until faint, pink light began to rise in the direction of Highstones that Mapleshade realized how late she'd stayed out.
Panic surged through her body as she leaped to her paws. "I have to go. I didn't mean to stay out so late," she told him.
Appledusk's ears and tail drooped. "Already?"
"It's almost dawn." Mapleshade let out a breath as the realization of what she'd done washed over her. She couldn't believe she'd allowed herself to get comfortable breaking the warrior code like this. Appledusk was a RiverClan warrior. It didn't matter if he'd helped her in the past, her loyalty was to ThunderClan.
"We can't see each other like this anymore," Mapleshade meowed. She swallowed, her throat suddenly going dry as she forced out the next words, "And I think it's better if we stay away from one another in the future."
Appledusk gave her a dejected look. "What? Why?"
Mapleshade lashed her tail. "This is against the warrior code, Appledusk. We'll get in trouble if either of our Clan finds out about this. I know you don't care about the warrior code, but I do." Memories of their past conversation flashed through her mind, but she pushed it away. She wouldn't let him talk her into doing the wrong thing any longer.
Appledusk narrowed his eyes at her.
"Cats get hurt when they do what we're doing. That's why these rules exist," Mapleshade continued.
"Are you hurt?" Appledusk asked.
Mapleshade stared at him. "No. But—"
"We've spent a lot of time together, and nothing bad has ever come from it. I've never asked you to choose me over your loyalty to your Clan. I've never expected you to fight on my side in battle. All I'm asking for is your friendship," Appledusk interrupted. "There's an entire world outside of the limits of the warrior code. Don't let a bunch of dead cats control how you get to experience that."
Mapleshade didn't know how to respond to that. She just dipped her head and walked into the treeline. She could feel his gaze burning into her pelt as she walked, but she didn't bother to look back.
Shame pricked her pelt as she stopped to hunt on her way home. All she managed to catch was a meager squirrel, causing her embarrassment to grow. Thankfully, no one was awake when she slipped into camp through the dirt-place.
Not wanting to face any of her Clanmates, Mapleshade curled up beneath a bush at the edge of the camp, Appledusk's words repeating in her mind over and over again as she fell into a dreamless sleep.