Mapleshade's Second Chance

Maple

After another day had passed, Goosefeather and Featherwhisker finally deemed Maplepaw healthy enough to be allowed to return to her regular apprentice duties. They cautioned her against exerting herself too much for a few days, but the young molly didn't care; she was too excited about finally being able to leave the medicine den. She didn't even mind when Tigerpaw insisted on bringing her food and helping her groom her pelt, although normally she would have snapped at him for treating her like a kit.

"You're in an unusually good mood today," the dark tabby noted.

"It's a nice day," Maplepaw replied cheerfully. She waved her tail at Whitepaw, who was returning to the camp after what looked to be a successful battle session with Patchpelt. The white apprentice nodded back at her before going to pick out a robin from the fresh-kill pile, clearly exhausted.

Unfortunately, her good mood wouldn't last much longer. Once he had finished his meal, Tigerpaw excused himself to go clear out the elders' old bedding. Not even two heartbeats after he left, Thistleclaw saw fit to approach her, his usual look of disdain on his face. Maplepaw groaned inwardly; while Tigerpaw could be annoying at times, she would gladly take him over Thistleclaw any day. She lowered her gaze and chewed her mouse slowly, hoping to discourage him from trying to strike up any sort of conversation with her.

"I see you're out of Goosefeather's den now, kittypet," the gray and white warrior growled.

No such luck.

Letting out a sigh, Maplepaw swallowed her last mouthful and turned her topaz-yellow eyes upwards so that she was looking directly at the older warrior. "And why, might I ask, is that of any concern to you?"

"It isn't," Thistleclaw retorted coolly.

"Well, you obviously had a reason for coming over here and talking to the lowly kittypet apprentice, so you might as well just spit it out," Maplepaw meowed irritably. "And make it quick, if you don't mind. I have better things to do than to sit around listening to anything you have to say to me."

For a moment, she thought the spiky-furred warrior was going to slash her open with his claws. He growled at her and lashed his tail, his teeth bared in a snarl. After a few heartbeats, however, he managed to calm himself down. Maplepaw suspected that having so many other cats around helped him control his temper a little–after all, considering how few cats trusted Thistleclaw these days, it wouldn't do him any good to get in even more trouble.

"I want you to stay away from Tigerpaw," Thistleclaw hissed at her. "A stupid, pathetic kittypet like you doesn't have any right to even speak to my apprentice. He deserves a real warrior, not some soft, overfed waste of fresh-kill."

This time, Maplepaw laughed out loud. "Your apprentice?" the calico molly repeated incredulously. "Pardon me, Thistleclaw, but the last time I checked, Leopardfoot was Tigerpaw's mentor, not you."

"That will be remedied soon enough," the older warrior replied, swiping his tongue around his jaws as though he had just finished eating a juicy piece of prey. "Once Sunstar sees that I'm the best cat to be mentoring Tigerpaw, I'll have my apprentice back in no time. And once that happens, I'll see to it that you never go near him again."

Maplepaw considered telling him that Tigerpaw was the one who approached her all the time but decided it wasn't worth it. "I hate to break it to you, but it's not up to you to decide whether I talk to my denmates or not. You might think that you're the greatest warrior to ever walk the forest, Thistleclaw, but you're really just a vain, arrogant, selfish, conceited, bloodthirsty, heartless excuse for a cat who would probably murder his own family if it meant you could get what you want. I feel sorry for anyone who has to put up with you, and I especially feel sorry for Whitepaw. Imagine having you as a father. I think I'd die of the shame."