Mapleshades regret

Prologue

Mapleshade lay on the floor. All she could see was the looming death hovering above her. Blood soaked the ground around her, straining the normally bright hay a haunting red. She should have felt pain, but she was numb all over.

Her calico fur was engulfed by the crimson liquid, some her own, and some others. It flowed from her neck in waves, covering the black, white, and reds of her pelt with its sticky grip.

Mapleshade screwed her eyes shut. None of them had cared. I was a fool for believing their lies. They don't care that my kits died. None of them care. A silent tear slid down her cheek, dripping down onto the wooden floor below.

She had nothing left to live for. Her kits were dead, and she could never return to her clan. She had even got her so-called revenge and silenced her kit's cries.

"I thought I could find peace after I avenged my kits.." Coughing up blood, she let out a hollow laugh.

"I was wrong." her tortured eyes glittered with regret.

All around her, the barn seemed to dim around her. The blackness clouded her vision, swallowing the hay and wood.

In the dimming light, Mapleshade knew with sudden clear certainty she was going to die. She was too far gone, had lost too much blood. She accepted it, and peace flooded her from her nose to tail tip. She had lived a tragic life, but maybe in the afterlife could she atone for her mistakes. Maybe- maybe she could even see her brave little warriors one last time.

As if called by her unspoken words, a flash of light appeared by the pile of hay near her. There, her beloved kits stood, stars glimmering from their clear fur. Looking closer, she realized the small cat's pelts were unmarked, displaying no signs of the ordeal they had gone through before death.

Though she had thought otherwise, their faces betrayed no fear or anger for the things she had done. Mapleshade felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest. My kits don't hate me.

"Larchkit.. Petalkit.. Patchkit.." she mewed. Love and warmth filled her voice.

Her kits approached her, padding over the smooth planks. Tears glimmered in their eyes, and their tiny faces were washed with grief. Patchkit bent down.

"Goodbye mama.." he quietly mewed as they touched noses.

Staring at the kits, Mapleshade felt unmatchable love swell in her. Sweeping them against her, she groomed her kits for the last time. She stopped, and eyes glistening with love locked eyes with them.

"Your lives were ruined because of my mistakes. You should have grown up to be strong warriors." In her last moments, the darkness swallowed her, and she was only dimly aware of her kits calling her name.

Fate is cruel. Not everyone gets a happy ending. You can try your whole life, be good and loyal, but one mistake for even a good thing like love and you're suddenly the enemy, the villain. You never deserved to die in the river, you weren't even six moons old. I'm sorry, little ones. I'm so sorry. I wish I could've given you the life you deserved.