MapleGorge's Destruction

Chapter 2

"Wake up darling, it's time to get up and go outside."Morningsky whispered to me. I burrowed deep in her fur, not wanting to leave her warmth. Sandkit, Dustkit, and Harekit were stirring beside Morningsky's flank. Duckfeather was nudging her kits awake. "Wake up little ones."The she-cat whispered to her kits, Marigoldkit, Clearkit, and Featherkit. Dustkit stretched and looked up at Morningsky. "Morning Mama."The pale cat said in her quiet voice. She turned her head around to see her true littermates."She looked back up at Morningsky. "Where's Beachkit?"The young kit asked. "He has gone to join StarClan. He went missing last night and he was found dead."Morningsky said, not hiding anything from the kit. She looked down at me. Grief was in the she-cat's eyes.
"Will I ever see him again?"The shocked kit asked. I saw tears in the pale kit's beautiful eyes. Morningsky shook her head. "I'm afraid not for awhile. You'll see him again when you join our ancestors. In your own time."She whispered to her daughter. Dustkit nodded in acceptance. She seemed so mature for her young age and I could see she was trying not to remember her brother and stay strong for her siblings who had woken up and were sniffling and letting a few tears slip down their fluffy faces. Sandkit had turned her gaze to me. "Who's that?"The she-kit said in disgust. "This is...."Morningsky started but drifted off. Nobody knew my name. I was just know as The Kit. Maybe I could choose my own name. I remember my mother. I had heard other lone cats call her Maple before she disappeared and left me with these cats. "Maple."I told MorningSky. As far as I knew, my mother was gone. She was never coming back for me. Sandkit snorted and nudged the other kits in the nest to their paws. "Come on you lazy bones, let's go outside and play. Without her."SandKit snapped at them and she glared at me. Harekit rose to his paws and stumbled toward the entrance. Dustkit stayed put. "Why can't Maple come with us?"The sandy she-cat asked. Morningsky had dozed off during the conversation. I could tell that she was tired of countless hours without sleep due to her son's death and she needed her rest. Sandkit glared at her sister. "Because she is a no good filthy rouge and she would be better off with her murderous mother."Sandkit snapped. Across the den, Duckfeather was pushing her kits out of the den. She glared at me as she left the den and whispered something to her kits. "At least she'd be better than you!"Dustkit snapped at her littermate. Sandkit snorted and annoyance. "Fine! We don't have to play with you! If your so attached to that rouge than you go play with it!"Sandkit snarled, leaving the den. I was in complete shock. 'Why is she defending me? She barley even knows me for Stars sake!'I thought. DustKit turned towards me. "Come on Maple. Don't worry about Sandkit, she's always like this. We'll jut have to live with it."She said to me. She gently nudged me to my paws. "Let's go have fun without the others."Dustkit was guiding me to the entrance of the den. At that moment, I never thought anything could be so bright.

The sun stung my eyes as I stepped out of the den and into a nice,warm clearing. The other kits were in the clearing, playing with a ball of moss. Dustkit lead me away from the other kits and to a shady, den on the other side of the clearing. As we passed the other kits, they stopped playing their game and glared at me. I glared right back at them. Two could play at this game....well more like two against five. Inside the shady den were two cats. A pale she-cat with gleaming, amber eyes and a spotted tom with bright, green eyes. "Good Morning Cherrytail, Spottedfur."Dustkit said to the two, older cats. "Morning Dustkit."The tom, Spottedfur, said to Dustkit. The she-cat, Cherrytail, looked at me with interest. "Who's this little sweetheart?"Cherrytail asked in a calm, sweet voice. "Why this pretty little she-cat can't be the kit we found. They said she was a rouge. This little darling can't be her."Spottedfur said. I felt my ears grow hot. "This is Maple."Dustkit told them. "Hi..."I whispered shyly. Spottedfur smiled warmly at her and Cherrytail purrs in amusement at her shyness. "Is this your first time out of the Nursery?"Cherrytail asked. I nodded. "Maple! Dustkit!"I heard Morningsky yowl from the clearing. "I was nice talking to you two."Cherrytail said. Spottedfur nodded in agreement. "Come visit us again. We'd love to have you two listen to some of our stories."The dappled tom said as we left the den. Maybe not everyone here was mean.

"There you two are. I was starting to get worried."Morningsky said to us as we left the den. "We were just talking to Spottedfur and Cherrytail."Dustkit said, slightly annoyed with her. "They were about to tell us a story."Morningsky shook her head."Why aren't you two playing with the others?"She asked us."Sandkit wouldn't play with Maple, so me and Maple went to see the elders."Dustkit replied,glaring at her sister, who had tossed the moss they were playing with over Harekit's head. Morningsky nodded and looked in SandKit's direction. "I'll speak with her later. She's always been stubborn and she'll just have to accept you dear. She's blind if she can't see past your backstory and to who you really are."Morningsky said to me before padding over to the other kits. "Come on Maple, let me show you around camp."Dustkit said, nudging me toward a massive rock toward the end of the clearing. "This is the HighRock. Our Leader, Fernstar, makes her announcements from here. The den we were just in was the Elders Den and the den you were in this morning was the Nursery."Dustkit explained, pointing to each place with her tail. She then lead me over to a small clearing that was surrounded by ferns. Another rock lay at one end of the small clearing. "This is the medicine den. Stripeleaf and Shrewpaw store herbs in that rock and they treat cats that are sick or injured."Dustkit said. A silver tom with black stripes pushed his way through a large crack in the rock. "Morning Stripeleaf."Dustkit said politely. The tom looked down at us. "Morning Dustkit."He said, looking at my pale furred denmate. He turned his gaze to me. "Who's this?"He asked Dustkit. "This is Maple."My denmate replied with a smile. Stripeleaf nodded gruffly before pushing past us and walking into the main clearing. After the encounter with the Medicine Cat, she wanted to get as far away from the small clearing as possible. He'didnt seem to like her very much. "Come on Maple!"Dustkit called from across the clearing. My pale denmate had already crossed the clearing and was waiting patiently outside a small hazel bush. I hurried across the clearing and skidded to a halt beside her. "This is the apprentice den. Cats that are 6-12 moons old sleep in this den. These cats are the apprentices and they train to become Warriors for the clan."Dustkit explained. I was starting to understand my new home a little more. Next to the hazel bush was a larger bush that smelled like a lot of cats. "That right there is the Warriors Den. These are the cats who currently take care of the clan by hunting, patrolling, fighting, and training the apprentices."Dustkit explained. Morningsky was padding toward a large rock at one end of the clearing, a large, pale tom beside her. The tom called through the entrance at the bottom of the rock and they padded inside. " I wonder what Mama and Dad are doing with Fernstar?"Dustkit said. "Let's find out."I said, walking toward the rock.

Fernstar noticed me before MorningSky and the pale tom, most likely Dustkit, Harekit,and SandKit's father, did. "So you must be Maple. I'm Fernstar, your new leader."The brown she-cat said, giving me a friendly smile. The pale tom nodded toward me. "I'm Westfeather. The clan deputy."He said. "Why don't I talk to you alone Maple? Let's go to my den."FernStar said, resting her tail on my shoulders and leading me into her den. She settled down on a soft looking nest and the corner and rested her brilliant green gaze on me. "Welcome to Leafclan Maple. Here you will be raised in our ways and will be welcomed among us an equal. To be apart of my clan you will need to take on a clan name. Is that okay with you?"FernStar said. I hesitated for a moment. So far only six cats treated me fairly. The others treated me like dirt but, I couldn't leave DustKit and Morningsky and Westfeather and the elders by themselves. They seemed so happy to see me and they were so kind. "I accept."I said in my quiet voice. "I will hold a clan meeting to announce your arrival."Fernstar said, standing up and walking out of the den. I followed her out and watched as she climbed the rock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the HighRock for a clan meeting!"She yowled when she reached the top. Cats poked their heads out of the different dens. The kits stopped playing their game and gazed up at Fernstar. Cherrytail and Spottedfur limped out of the Elders Den and sat outside the cozy den. More cats appeared from the dens and gathered around the HighRock. Morningsky nudged me into the middle of the circle that the other cats had made around the rock. "Last night, one of our patrols found a kit inside our borders alone. She has been accepted into the clan. Maple, do you accept the role as one of our clanmates?"FernStar said, looking down at me. "Yes."I said. Some of the older cats have me dirty looks but I ignored them. "Then from this day forward, until you earn your apprentice name, you shall be known as Maplekit. Welcome to Leafclan, young one."Fernstar said, gazing down at me warmly. "MAPLEKIT! MAPLEKIT!"Some of the cats chanted. I was no longer Maple the rouge but Maplekit, a member of the clan I would soon betray.