Mapleshade's Second Chance

Maple

Maplepaw was sitting outside the nursery, watching Whitekit playing with Brindlekit and Frostkit. A few paces away, Redkit was batting at a butterfly with his paws as Willowkit and Spottedkit inspected a small yellow flower. At one point, Brindlekit tumbled in front of the calico apprentice, who moved her paws out of the way so they wouldn't get run over.

It had been nearly half a moon since the former kittypet had joined ThunderClan. Since then, most of the Clan seemed to have gotten used to her presence. The only exceptions were Thistleclaw and Tigerpaw, but Maplepaw couldn't care less about what either of them had to say. As long as they didn't go out of their way to bother her, she was perfectly content to pretend they didn't exist. Fortunately, neither of them was interested in interacting with her, so she didn't have anything to worry about on that front.

"Enjoying yourself there, Maplepaw?"

Maplepaw turned her head to see Rosetail padding over to her. "I'm doing okay," she replied. "The kits are entertaining, at least."

"Where's Bluefur? I thought she was going to take you out hunting today," Rosetail meowed, looking puzzled.

"Sunstar asked her to check Sunningrocks for any RiverClan warriors. I guess the patrols have been scenting them there a lot recently," Maplepaw answered, remembering the apologetic look on her mentor's face when she told her that their hunting trip would have to be put on hold. "I asked Bluefur if I could come, but she didn't want me there in case we ran into any trouble. She says I'm not ready to take on a real battle yet."

"That's probably wise," the older molly admitted with a nod. "We don't want our apprentices getting killed before they can become warriors."

"But I thought the warrior code said that we're not supposed to kill in battle unless we have to," Maplepaw meowed, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Rosetail nodded. "It does, but that part of the warrior code tends to be forgotten at times," she answered. "And we've had so many skirmishes with RiverClan over those rocks, it wouldn't surprise me if one of them let the heat of battle get the best of them one of these days."

"Best of luck to Tigerpaw, then," the calico molly snorted. Her denmate had tagged along with Bluefur, as well as Leopardfoot, Thrushpelt, and Stormtail. Maplepaw could just imagine how his head would inflate if he got the chance to battle against RiverClan.

"What's wrong with Tigerpaw?" Rosetail asked curiously.

"What isn't wrong with Tigerpaw?" Maplepaw retorted. "Every single time he talks to me–which, luckily for me, doesn't happen too often–he's either mocking me about being a kittypet or talking about how he's going to be the best warrior in the Clan one day. He's so full of himself, I'm honestly amazed he can even walk with that fat head on his shoulders. That alone is an accomplishment worthy of becoming a warrior already. I'll be looking forward to when Whitekit finally becomes an apprentice. At least then, I'll finally have a denmate worth talking to."

She knew that she was being mean, but she couldn't bring herself to care. If Tigerpaw wasn't going to make an effort to be at least cordial towards her, then she saw no reason to do the same for him. It was only fair, after all. Besides, he obviously didn't like her, so it wasn't as though she was hurting his feelings.

Maplepaw turned her attention back to the kits, feeling a slight pang in her heart as she watched them play. Although they weren't nearly as close, she couldn't help being reminded of her own siblings, Reed, and Apple, back in Twolegplace, and she wondered how her family was faring. She hadn't even said goodbye to them before she left; were they worried when she didn't come home? What must her mother have been thinking? Her life in ThunderClan had been wonderful for the most part, but Maplepaw couldn't deny that she missed the comfort of having her kin nearby that her Clanmates took for granted.

A small rustling sound jerked Maplepaw out of her thoughts. Turning her head, she saw that Bluefur's patrol had finally returned from patrolling Sunningrocks. None of them appeared to be sporting any fresh wounds, so she assumed that meant they hadn't run into any trouble. Maplepaw jumped to her paws and bounded over to greet the patrol.

"Did you find anyone there?" she asked eagerly. She had a feeling she knew the answer already, but she wanted to make sure.

"Just a RiverClan warrior named Oakheart, but we chased him off without a fight," Leopardfoot answered. "RiverClan might be full of mouse-brains, but even they know better than to take on a full patrol with just one warrior."

"Just one warrior?" Maplepaw asked, bewildered. Oakheart was either extremely brave or extremely foolish if he was willing to trespass on ThunderClan territory without backup. "What was he doing?"

Bluefur snorted. "He was sleeping," the blue-gray molly scoffed. Although her voice was contemptuous, there was an odd undertone to it that Maplepaw couldn't place. She wondered at it for a few moments but decided it wasn't worth her time to investigate.

Then she realized what her mentor had said. "He was sleeping?" she repeated in disbelief. Well, I guess that answers the question of whether he's brave or an idiot. "What was he doing that for? Couldn't he take a nap on his own territory?"

"For once in my life, I agree with you," Tigerpaw remarked, but Maplepaw just ignored him as usual.

"Who knows why RiverClan warriors do anything?" Bluefur asked with a sigh. She shook her head. "Anyway, I believe we were supposed to go out hunting today? That is if you're still up for it."

"Of course!" Maplepaw agreed eagerly, feeling a rush of excitement.

"Alright," Bluefur meowed, chuckling as she flicked her apprentice's ear gently with her tail. "Just give me a moment while I–"

But Maplepaw had no intention of sitting around in the camp any longer while Bluefur took care of whatever business she had to attend to. After being stuck at home all day, she was looking forward to getting to stretch her legs a little. Before Bluefur could finish her sentence, Maplepaw took off through the gorse tunnel, nearly knocking Tigerpaw off his paws in the process. As she sped through the forest, she could hear her mentor chasing after her, panting as she tried to keep up with the calico m1olly.

"Maplepaw, I said wait! I still need to report to Sunstar! And there are foxes and badgers around here, you know! For the love of StarClan, how does a cat with such small legs move so quickly?"
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Frecklewish snorted, "Still impatient even now."

Laughter echoed around the cave. Darkstar stayed quiet. Her eyes trained on the young calico she-cat. 'She wouldn't have to be given a second chance of I wasn't cruel.' Darkstar stood up and left the cave.

"Darkstar?" Called Reedshine.

"I need some fresh air. Don't worry Reedshine," she shoot a small smile to her warrior.