All will fall - A Mapleshade AU [WIP] [hiatus]

Part 4

Some author's notes: Hey, it's been a while since I updated this fic, but here is part 4, finally.

This part will be from Appledusk's perspective. I do not care rather or not he cheated on Mapleshade, he does in this fanfic, I will ignore any comments made on this.

Enjoy!

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Appledusk pushed his way through the reeds that surrounded the small island where RiverClan had made its camp, he was aware of Mapleshade following closely behind him. They hadn't talked much since he asked her to keep their secret a bit longer.

He just hoped she was sensible enough to listen to him. "I'll do the talking", he whispered back at her. His clan might be more likely to listen to him, then to a cat from an enemy clan. RiverClan and ThunderClan weren't exactly... on friendly terms right now.

As they finally entered the camp, he noticed it was oddly silent. He guessed most cats would've headed to their den by now.

An all too familiar smell wafted through the air. No! not now.

"Did someone fall in the river?" An orange cat gasped, as she came running towards him from one of the dens. Reedshine. "Appledusk, are you okay?" She touched noses with him, Appledusk's heart skipped a beat, after which guilt flooded through him. He glanced back at Mapleshade, her pelt still clung to her body, making her look frail.

"I'm fine, I need to speak to Darkstar." He said, keeping his voice steady. Reedshine stayed where she was. Her gaze locking on Mapleshade.

"Why is she here? What's going on, Appeldusk?" Appledusk opened his mouth to respond, quickly thinking of what he was going to tell her. When he noticed a stir of movement at the far end of the clearing, and Darkstar stepped out of the reeds. All cats fell silent.

"This... ThunderClan cat fell into the river." He ended up saying. Hoping his nervousness wouldn't come through his voice. He felt Mapleshade stir behind him. Darkstar stepped quietly forward. By now, more RiverClan cats had gathered in the clearing.

"Isn't that Mapleshade, one of ThunderClan's queens?" his leader asked. Appledusk silently nodded. She looked at the ThunderClan she-cat suspiciously.

"Where are your kits?" she asked. Appledusk was about to answer, but Mapleshade was faster.

"They're still in ThunderClan's camp." She seemed surprisingly calm in the face of an enemy leader, especially after being spotted drowning in their river. Appledusk quickly waved with his tail, hoping she'd get the notion to keep shut.

"Now, what's a ThunderClan cat doing so far away from her kits. No less on RiverClan's territory?" She spat the words "ThunderClan cat" in utter disgust. Appledusk swallowed a bit.

"As I said, she fell into the river. We saved her, and thought it was best to bring her to our camp." If he wanted Darkstar to listen to him, he'd have to explain it slowly he decided.

"We?" Darkstar looked at him. Appledusk gathered himself for a moment. "Me and the rest of my patrol. We noticed her trying to cross the Steppingstones, after which she fell into the river. We helped her out of the water, Eeltail and Splashfoot are still out patrolling, making sure no other ThunderClan cats are nearby. I brought her here on my own." He hoped he wouldn't get in too much trouble with his clan over this.

He hadn't planned on having them know about him and Mapleshade. And he knew that it would be a lot harder to keep this secret now. But he needed to keep it. He didn't know how his clanmates would react to the news. How Reedshine would react to the news. Another pang of guilt rippled through him.