Mapleshade's Vengeance Rewrite

Chapter One

"Steady on, Mapleshade! You just trod on my tail!" The WindClan warrior jerked away with a hiss.

"Sorry, Swiftflight," Mapleshade apologized over her shoulder as she plunged deeper into the throng of cats. The light of the full moon turned all their pelts to silver, and fur tickled Mapleshade's nose. Above her, Oakstar's voice echoed around the trunks of the four gigantic oak trees.

"My warriors tracked the adders to their nest at Snakerocks and blocked the hole with stones," the ThunderClan leader reported. "Thanks to their courage, no adders have since been seen in our territory."

"They were lucky not to get bitten," grunted a ShadowClan elder near Mapleshade's ear.

"Too right," agreed her Clanmate. "Remember when Marshpaw trod on an adder on his first patrol? That was a bad way to die."

The first cat shrugged. "I've seen worse."

Mapleshade rolled her eyes. Trust ShadowClan cats to get competitive about deaths they've seen. She dodged around a rock and emerged among a cluster of RiverClan cats. Instantly pelts bristled and she felt eyes burn into her, and she froze momentarily.

"There may be a truce," snarled the black warrior Rainfall. "But don't push your luck, ThunderClan mouse dung."

Mapleshade ducked her head. "I mean no harm," she mewed. "I'm not staying."

"Good," growled a cat she couldn't see.

Mapleshade forced her hair to lie flat as she wove among the hostile warriors. She couldn't blame RiverClan for being angry. ThunderClan had triumphed in the last clash over Sunningrocks; defeat was the bitterest wound of all. I know my wounds sting worse when I gained them for nothing.

"Remember what happened to Birchface and Flowerpaw," Rainfall murmured in her ear, so close that Mapleshade could feel the heat of his fish-breath. "Those rocks belong to us, and we'll kill as many of your Clanmates as we need to until you give them up."

Mapleshade winced as a memory seared through her brain: Appledusk, a light brown RiverClan warrior with piercing green eyes, striking Birchface so hard that the ThunderClan cat lost his footing and slipped from the very top of Sunningrocks. He landed with a splash in the swollen river. His apprentice, Flowerpaw, had leaped in after him and struggled to keep Birchface's head out of the water. But the current was too strong and they were swept downstream into the half-submerged crossing rocks. For one terrible moment, dark tabby and dappled gray heads rose above the surface, screeching in fear, then both vanished into the tumbling foam. Their bodies were found just beyond the stones, washed up on the ThunderClan shore as if they were making a last desperate effort to go home.

Mapleshade swallowed a burst of rage and grief. Why did RiverClan insist on fighting over a bunch of rocks that were clearly on ThunderClan's territory? The deaths of their warriors put an even heavier strain between the two Clans.

She lowered her head and pushed her way through the knot of hostile cats. She made it to the edge of the hollow where the shadows clustered more densely, dark enough to hide among. Suddenly, a pale brown shape loomed in front of her, and Mapleshade's nostrils flared at the familiar scent of fish. She looked up, her heart pounding. Oh, I've missed that scent. It's been too long...

"What are you doing here?" hissed Appledusk. His long front claws caught the moonlight as he sank them into the grass.

Mapleshade's words seemed to be stuck in her throat. She stared into the RiverClan warrior's holly-colored eyes and tried to breathe normally. She wondered dimly if any of her Clanmates were watching.