What if Mapleshade's kits lived

Chapter 8

Small munching noises came centre of the clearing as Larchkit struggled to remove the last of the scrawny meat from the mouse's tiny bones. Mapleshade made sure to keep an ear pricked as she lay on her side in the shade brambles, just to make sure he didn't choke. He'd only been eating about a moon, so properly chewing and swallowing was still somewhat of a challenge. But then, others noises peaked her interest, coming from the far distance, the muffled words of the excited kit and a slimy sliding noise as a large item was being dragged across the ground. The odour of Riverclan drifted into the clearing.

Rolling to her paws, she sleepily staggered out of the den, as the brown and calico pelts of her son and mate appeared from the thick shrubs that bordered their home. Petalkit somewhere behind them. She wandered over to greet them while Larchkit ignored the return of his kin, too focused on his current meal. Appledusk had his back to her as he dragged a large speckled grey trout. It was good to know, they'd been eating well tonight. She had to admit, though she preferred squirrels or mice, she was starting to understand why Riverclan had such a fondness for things that came from the water. They were a little salty she admitted. but they had an easy-to-swallow sleek texture.

After Appledusk dumped the fish onto the sandy floor, Mapleshade rubbed her head against his in greeting, "Had a successful hunting trip I see.", she mewed while purring. Though, Appledusk just gave a nod in thanks, giving off a half-hearted smile. Something was on his mind. As Mapleshade sat in front of Appledusk, waiting for him to say something, Patchkit leapt into her line of sight. He began talking with a ridiculous speed, "Hey Mum, when me and Da-". However, Patchkit's open mouth was sealed closed by his father's long tail, blocking out the words from escaping. What was he doing?




Swiping the mouse scraps to the side, Larchkit heading over the three cats, "Hey guys.", the young tom muttered. While the brown kit came close, Appledusk nose flickered as he smelt the swallowed air. "Having you been a training Larchkit again?", he asked with a scowl, eyeing the small trickles of deep red against Larchkit's dark brown pelt. Turning back to her, "I really need to talk to you, Mapleshade. About a lot of things.", he muttered.

However, she ignored him for a moment, quickly glancing to the brown shrubs Appledusk and Patchkit had clambered out of. Another heartbeat. Nothing. And no new cat scent apart from the cats already gathered in the clearing. "Where's Petalkit?", she demanded, "She was supposed to go on a hunting trip you.". Instantly Appledusk froze on the spot, staring at her blankly.

Patchkit's neck fur spiked to the sharpness of hedgehog's quills, "She wasn't with us.", he confirmed. Mapleshade angrily waited for Appledusk's exploration, "I thought she with you and Larchkit.", he admitted. 

She stared back at him with a dumbfounded expression, "No, you mousebrain!". In anger, she struck a paw over his muzzle. Just as she was beginning to think he wasn't useless. She got to her paws, beginning to furiously pace around the small area, mumbling meaningless noises to herself.

Larchkit hurried after his mother as she took another sharp turn, worry caused the kit's voice to crack slightly, "What is going on? Is Petalkit missing? Mother!". However, Mapleshade was too much in a state herself to give off a proper answer.

Suddenly there was a shared state of panic among the two kits like the sky was about to start crashing down with them. In his confusion and irritation, Larchkit began nipping and tugging at his weaker brother's ears, causing Patchkit to squeal. While Mapleshade runs her long craving claws against crusted soil, making a faint scraping noise. What was this family coming to? "Stop that.", Appledusk snapped in a calm yet firm tone, dragging the flailing Larchkit away from his bewildered littermate.


As Appledusk kept Larchkit pinned with a large single paw, trying to keep the kit from causing any more trouble, he turned to Mapleshade, "She couldn't have gone far. I sure I can pick up her scent easily if I retrace my steps-". However, the tortoiseshell rouge intruded him

mid-sentence with the flick of the tail for silence. "No, I'll go. You stay here with Larchkit and Patchkit.", she intruded, strolling away to the undergrowth, preparing to start her search. "But I'm the better trucker.", he insisted.

"I know you are.", she mewed, stopping in her tracks for a moment, "But I know Petalkit better than you do. I know where she might be and if she's not there- I'll allow you to lead the search.". Wasting no more precious time, she straining her legs muscles, she launched into a full script as the vines and brambles whipped against her faces as she left the small clearing in the dust.




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Keeping to a hunting crouch, she quietly slipped under another wiry fence, feeling it sharps silver edges skimming the tips of her bushy ginger fur. As she was able to stand up in open space again, the long fields of two-leg stretching out before her, with the occasional lone standing two-leg structure. What they were used for or why Two-legs built them, Mapleshade couldn't care less. They were nonsensical brainless creatures and that's all she needed to know.

The fields almost radiating with an unnatural bright glow of greens and yellows like a ghostly flat version of Windclan's long moors. The air was so thick and dense here, she could almost feel it on the tip of her snout. Even having a texture to it, like trying to walk through a thick fog of powdery flower spores. Stepping over another dead weed, she began to wander in the direction of the red building, several fields across.



Mapleshade made sure to stick to the border fences of the farm fields, avoiding the centre at all costs. Trying to navigate through the endless golden grass, would be like trying to find her way through a snowstorm. Then she paused when she noticed a thick burrow of black smoke drifting into the air and a strange Thunder-like bellowing. The fur around her neck stiffened up into clumps like patches of brambles. Was there a fire? But there was no overpowering scent of burning, nor the glow of dancing flames or hissing as the fire crackled. Yet there was an acidic odour clenching to her nostrils, akin to the disgusting stretch of the Thunderpath. What was that?

Small specks of the earth began leaping like crickets as the ground itself began to rumble. Her tail bushed up and ears flattened hard against her skull. The blood began ringing in her ear tips as if a furious wind swirled inside of them.



Then suddenly, she yowled in terror and bolted out the way of a massive crimson Monster, darker than blood. In her panic, she drove into a nearby tangle of thorns, too scared to notice the thorns tearing at her fur, threatening to dig into the skin. What was it doing off the Thunderpath? Yet again, she'd never seen a monster quite like this before. Huge rotating silver claws ripped through and violently swallowing up the grains of seeds, it snatched up from the grass blades. Constantly letting out a deafening roar as it worked to turn the entire field to scraps. Mapleshade could already see the trail of devastation it had left, the grass being completely flattened to the ground. Through rumbling tubes, the grass seeds were being puked out at an impossible speed, being dumped into a large hollow shell on the Monster's back.

If it bothered to devour all those seeds, why wasn't it bothering to digest it? Unless that was it's the stomach. A two-leg sat in the Monster's narrow clear head, wearing dull groggy pelts and muddy smudges streaked across its the creamy hairless face. It fiddled with shining sticks, that ended with bright coloured balls, from inside the Monster, somehow controlling the rampaging beast.




Thick smoke streamed out of its strange horns as it breathed that same foul odour, she'd scented earlier. She needed to get out of here. Fast! Despite the pain of the thorns now setting in, she clambered out of the spiky bush, her pelt mattered, now in ruin. All while fighting her own lungs to gain control of her stressed breathing. Somehow the male two-leg seemed to spot Mapleshade though the groggy sheet of ice in the Monster's head. It twisted a small silver object and with a grunt, the Monster slowly went from trembling and coughing smoke to dormant.

Too engulfed in the curse of fear, she reminded frozen as the Two-leg clambered down from the huge red Monster. It slowly approached; hands against its broad chest while doing a strange motion with it's lips, sucking them into its head to make a circle, causing a high-pitched insect-like noise. Pity glittered in its large round eyes. What would this thing feel pity for her? It was like a cat feeling sorry for a piece of fresh-kill.



Her spine arched and her lips drew back to show off a row of thorn-like teeth, gleaming in the pale sunlight. However, despite her threatening gestures, the Twoleg foolishly continued to approach her, in some vain attempt to tame her into some kittypet. Get away from me! Just as the twoleg's hand was reaching out to touch her, Mapleshade let off a blood-curdling scream of anger, making her lungs feel like they could burst. Out of shock, the two-leg immediately and violently flinched away, grasping its hand defensive. It stared at her with widened eyes.

Not sticking around to see the Twoleg's further reaction, she spun on her heel and ran, far, far away. Not even daring to glance over her shoulder. She half-effected to feel the heavy footsteps of the Two-leg as it gave chase but it didn't. It just stood there and watched the terror-filled cat ran far into the distance. Didn't it think she was worthy prey? However, instead of letting herself be insulted by it, she just blinded herself with the lie she was too good for it.


Not caring anymore, Mapleshade continued to sprint at full speed. Once she found Petalkit, she would never be returning to this cursed wasteland.





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Mapleshade stormed over to the bright red Barn crisscrossed with white, a rain cloud of misery and irritation forming over to her drooping head. She had to go through a living nightmare just to fetch her daughter after she'd wandered off. She halted just a fox-length in front of the Barn's far wall. "Petalkit, I know you're here!", she angrily yelled out, "It's me. So Come out. We're going home!". Reminding standing, serval heartbeats slowly drifted by before calling out again, this time edged with a hiss, "Petalkit!".


Eventually, Petalkit's dusty brown pelt appeared as she crawled out from under the swallow dip in the earth, that served as the only cat-sized entrance to inside the Barn. She knew she'd be here. Not that Mapleshade, would ever want to go back inside that stuffy room with daunting mountains of brown hay. As Petalkit wearily and slowly approached Mapleshade, her long tail flopped against the ground with shame and her glare stayed fixed to the gravel floor. The she-cat once sleek fur was now scruffy and ruffled, pale yet deep pink scars covered Petalkit's whole neck and lower back. A permanent reminder of the dangers that crept in every shadow, waiting to tear half-Clans cats like her kits, to scraps.



It was only when the kit came directly in front of her mother, was she forced to meet Mapleshade's burning amber glare. This caused the kit to withdraw into herself like terrified prey with nowhere to hide, facing near death. They stared at each other with a stiff silence hanging over them. Petalkit tried to give her an innocent smirk but this just made Mapleshade scowl instead. "H-hi Mum.", Petalkit muttered so quietly, it was no more than a whisper.

"You got a lot to answer for when we get back.", she scoffed, "Let's go.", wrapping her thick tail around Petalkit and beginning to make the long journey home. "But, can't I say goodbye to Myler?", she asked hurriedly. Before Mapleshade could answer, that very cat with a familiar black and white round bubbly face came rushing out to see what the fuss was. "Petalkit? Who's out there?", he called out. But then immediately halted, "Oh.", he bowed his head in greetings, "Nice to see you again, Mapleshade.".

As he took another step forward, Mapleshade thrust forward, baring her long fangs right in the kittypet's face, causing him to stagger back. "Why did you bring my kit here?", she snapped. Myler blinked with ignorance as if he was unknowing of the whole situation.


Though he managed to somehow keep a sickly polite and calm manner as he shook his head, "I assure you, Petalkit came on her own. She only wanted a little break from all the hunting and training you do.". Mapleshade growled at him. Was he suggesting her kits would rather isolate themselves in a barn than learn the proper ways of becoming a great warrior? While Mapleshade's attention was focused on Marley, Petalkit managed to duck under her mother's tail, freeing herself.


"He's right, Mother. I came here by myself.", the young she-cat insisted.



Mapleshade narrowed her eyes, unconvinced, "You're are nothing but a kit. You're too young to understand how those things work, Petalkit. Kittypets like Myler lack any sense of purpose or honour. Trust me, you don't want that life.". Petalkit just groaned in response. Then Myler swallowed before managing to slip in a useless comment, "Actually, Mapleshade. I'm a loner. Not a kittypet. I still catch my own prey.", he mumbled, not talking properly because of nerves. Like there was a difference.

"Then why do you still wear that collar?", she pointed out, her amber eyes flicking over the brown thick collar tightly wrapped around his neck, like a fangless adder having no way to inject it's deadly venom, so it strangled its prey instead.



The skinny tom's fur ruffed with a wave of shame, "I don't wear this because I choose to, Mapleshade. The twolegs did something to me- made me fall asleep and when I woke up again, this ugly thing was around my neck. I've tried many, many times to get it off but nothing works. It's stuck there for good.". The tips of Mapleshade's whiskers twitched slightly, feeling a small amount of sympathy for Myler forming. Just having a terrifying encounter with a twoleg herself. Yet, buried those feelings quickly, forcing them down into the outer rims of her thoughts. This was a waste of time. She'd come to get Petalkit back, nothing more.

Feeling the strain on her throat, Mapleshade let off a swallow sigh, addressing Myler once again, now getting to business, "I know Tulipfur trusted you and you saved my family. And I am grateful for that. But doesn't give you the excuse to indoctrinated my kits into your kittypet ways.".



Petalkit argued back on Myler's behalf, "He's not indoctrinating us in anything. All he is kind and wants to help others. Promise!", she mewed, leaping to her paws and puffing up her chest. "Hush.", Mapleshade scolded. Luckily, it seemed to do the job, the single word like a claw, sealing Petalkit's jaw shut.

Myler however, stared blankly at two other cats, his green eyes becoming a dull musty lime colour as they clouded with sorrow. The Queen rounded up a sorrow-filled Petalkit with her tail again and began marching her away from the Barn.



The cracks in that calm manner were showing as he let the streams of emotion start to seep through, "Mapleshade please. I may not know what fully happened, but I can tell your family has suffered a great injustice thanks to the other Clan cats.", he begged, "And from what I've already seen, they're not to stop until one of you is dead. I may not be what you imagined but if anything happens, if there's an emergency, know you can also come to me for help.".


With another sigh, Mapleshade made sure the message loud and clear, "Stay away from my family.".


Slowly, tagging at Petalkit to keep pace, they began making a distance between the Barn, leaving Myler sitting there, shrilling up like a rotting berry. Petalkit's head and tail drooping as she walked. Small crunching sounds could be heard as their harden paw pads stepped over the loose pebbles that formed the gravel path. Just then, before Mapleshade and Petalkit make it down the muddy slope leading away from the Barn, Myler suddenly call after them, "Mapleshade, wait!".

Reluctantly, she halted, straining her leg muscles not to make her wander off. "What?", she rudely spat. Myler came careening down the slippery hillside, grinding his claws hard into the ruff earth, stopping himself from crashing into Mapleshade. She waited as he caught his breath.

"I need to give a warning. About, that Thunderclan cat who tried to kill Petalkit- Bloomheart, I think he's called.".



In that heartbeat, it felt as if Mapleshade had just swallowed a boulder, her throat closing up at the mention of that name, becoming dry and hollow. Petalkit also reacted violently, staggering back and stuttering, fear causing her to fail to form any words, only meaningless babble. The kit's legs become like slushy snow, barely being able to hold themselves together as they viciously shook like weak trees swinging in a rushing storm. "What. about. Him?", she slowly muttered.

The black and white loner paused, forced by habit to shift gravel under his paw pad with his short white claws. "It's just that there have been some rumours going around, that some rogue Thunderclan cat has been terrorizing the local kittypet population. Apparently, some are already dead.", he explained as if there was a stone stuck in the back of his throat. "So just be careful out there.", he warned.


Mapleshade gave him a hard glare. The fur on the back of her neck rippling like waves crashing against the rocky shore, in an explosion of white foam. Protectively, wrapping her tail around a speechless Petalkit once again, beginning to march away, "We can look after selves.", She commented, "If he dares to show his face again, he'll quickly regret it.".