𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑨 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄

Chapter 11

Maplepaw snapped her eyes open and when she came to her senses, the dark trees of the Starless Forest came into view before her. She inhaled the stale scent of death that continuously lingered over the ground, evaporating into the air to form a rolling wave of mist that hovered above their heads, whipped her head around, trying to see if she could find her mother.

"Scorchflame?" Maplepaw called.

An elegant flash of black, ginger and white flickered in front of her eyes and Scorchflame appeared before her eyes in mere seconds.

"Welcome, my dear," her mother meowed smoothly, "We're glad to have you join us again."

"We?" Maplepaw asked, querulous. She sniffed the air and sure enough, the bitter, foreign scents of many other cats could be smelt under the dead, decaying odour of rotting leaves.

Almost as though on cue, several cats slid out from among the branches, between the boughs of trees and through the tall, dead, blackened grass, all sharing something in common; malice and hatred practically radiating off them.

"We've been waiting for you for a long, long time now, Maplepaw. We're your new family," Scorchflame purred, gently nuzzling Maplepaw.

Maplepaw felt her mother pull away and looked at her as she straightened up. 

"However, I have some cat that I'd like you to meet tonight, my darling," Scorchflame said, Maplepaw watched as her mother tilted her head upwards and yowled to no one in particular.

In a second, a hulking mass of fur and leaves slammed onto the ground and Maplepaw came face to face with a large, bulky tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, a scar across her muzzle and several more littered across her pelt, which was ragged and patched. The fur around her neck was thicker than that on the rest of body, almost as though it seemed like a mane. She stood nearly twice the height of Maplepaw. Her amber eyes choked with grief, anger and resentment.

"So this is your kit?" the she-cat drawled, voice was full of stones and came out icy, cold and bitter. 

"Yes," Scorchflame purred.

The bulky amber-eyed she-cat examined Maplepaw and narrowed her eyes before looking directly into Maplepaw's green ones.

"Do you know who I am?" she meowed, her voice guttural, her thick, bushy tail flicking from side to side.

"I should perhaps introduce you to the queen of the Starless Forest, the one who has pioneered dark deeds and led us all, Mapleshade," Scorchflame mewed, stepping in, as she dipped her head submissively and perhaps also due to awe.

"Mapleshade, indeed, that's who I am," the tortoishell-and-white she-cat smirked, the livid scar on her mouth twitching slightly.

Maplepaw, for the first time in her life was speechless.

"You named her after me?" Mapleshade meowed with a sincerity that could almost pass as genuine...almost.

"Well...my mate did. Not me. I have the honour of training her in our ways, in your ways, though," Scorchflame replied.

"I see," Mapleshade narrowed her eyes at Maplepaw and meowed,

"I shall be overseeing your training, kit. I hope you don't disappoint."

Before Maplepaw could blink, Mapleshade slipped away into the dark undergrowth, leaving her with her mother and the rest of the Starless Forest cats.

"Should we begin training?" her mother glanced back at her.

Maplepaw nodded and took a step forward, finally able to stretch her limbs and walked behind her mother.

"Ah, Lionpaw, haven't seen you in quite some time," Scorchflame purred at a stocky golden-furred tom, her eyelids half-closed, flicking her tail-tip under his chin and weaving slowly around him.