Warriors: Across Time

Episode 25

[For those of you that don't know, Mapleshade murdered Ravenwing, the ThunderClan medicine cat, because he revealed that Mapleshade mothered three half-RiverClan kits at the Gathering]

A small black tom with sky-blue eyes appears in the invisible dome.

Ravenwing: Where am I? *looks around and down at his paws* I'm not incredibly faded any more!

A guttural "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHIAUSHDFILUQBASKDJBFLKASDBFK" screech rains down upon the hapless tom's ears as a second cat drops down beside him.

Mapleshade: *stands, and, noticing Ravenwing, sneers at him* What are you doing here? I never saw you in the Dark Forest. Enjoying the sunshine with the StarClan softies, were you?

Ravenwing: *shocked* W-why are you here? *hisses* You deserved to die. Even a place like the Dark Forest cannot contain a truly evil cat like you—I suppose that's why Sandstorm ended you ultimately.

Mapleshade: I can only wonder why the StarClan mange-pelts decided to let you join them. Sandstorm had everything I had ever wanted in my life. How come she got all that, and I didn't? It wasn't fair! You ruined my life, and my kits'. They never did anything bad. They were simply born at the wrong place in the wrong time! *eyes gleaming as she takes a step forwards* You're as rotten as us.

Ravenwing: *steps back hastily and bumps into the invisible wall* Us? You and Tigerstar? Brokentail? Thistleclaw? You are the twisted ones. Threatening young cats to join you in your scheming, swaying them with empty promises—I hear you visited Crookedstar's dreams and made him promise something he never would fulfil in the first place. 

Mapleshade: *voice spitting venom* I was helping him realise what true loyalty meant. I was leading him in a better direction, you foolish—

Ravenwing: A better direction? You never should have interfered in other cats' lives, Mapleshade. The Dark Forest was your punishment, but you still didn't realise your mistakes.

Mapleshade: Mistakes? I made none!

Ravenwing: *sneers* Is that what you've been telling yourself all along? That what you were doing was right? Is right?

I pity you sometimes, you and your kits—did you know that they frequently asked about their mother in StarClan, but no cat told them who she was? 

Did you know that they were looked after by a formerly WindClan elder in StarClan? Where was their mother when they needed her, Mapleshade? Where was she?

Mapleshade's pelt bristles, her long tail lashing. Something even more intense than rage flashed in her amber eyes as she spits in his face.

Mapleshade: *lips curled in a vicious snarl* You continue to be a dishonourable old piece of fox-dung even after you death. You have no right to speak to me like that. Do you know what it feels like to be me? You are the one that deserved to die!

The tortoiseshell and white she-cat pounces, claws extended towards the tom's throat.

By Saph! 🍩✨ I know this book is meant to put together cats from different timelines, but after their respective deaths they each lived in separate places for a long time, so it's just interesting to see them back together. I tried to make this realistic, though Ravenwing should have been at least a little nicer, I think.

I love the ending.