Mapleshade stormed out of the gorse tunnel, her pelt bristling with anger.
How dare ThunderClan do this to me, after everything I've done for them! Once I'm settled in RiverClan, they'll pay dearly for casting me away!
She led the kits into the serene forest, towards the faraway stepping stones, where the RiverClan camp was and away from the ThunderClan camp.
As they strode through the forest, careful to avoid any foxes or badgers, Mapleshade came to a stop at the river. "We must cross the river, darlings," she said gently.
"The river? B-but we're not supposed to go there!" Petalkit exclaimed with a squeak of alarm. "Isn't that what that RiverClan warrior told us?"
Mapleshade heaved a sigh. "Everything's changed now, Petalkit. Now, we must cross the river to get to RiverClan," Mapleshade said, clenching her teeth.
"But Mama, it's cold!" Patchkit stuttered, shivering. "I want to go back to the nursery, where it's warm."
Mapleshade closed her eyes, and wrapped her kits around her tail, trying to give them some warmth. "I'm sorry. We can't go back there now."
They deserve to live more than I do. I'll die trying to get them to RiverClan if that's what it takes.
"Come on, kits," she murmured, guiding them away from the forest and to the stones.
"The river is so big! How are we going to cross it?" Larchkit exclaimed.
"Are we going to swim to the other side?" Patchkit gasped, worry in his eyes as he glanced up at his mother.
"No," Mapleshade purred. "You don't have to swim. There are stepping stones to cross the river, my little ones. All we have to do is get over them, and on the other side is RiverClan territory, then their camp. Stay very close to me as we cross the river."
"But are we going to fall?" Petalkit asked, staring at the river nervously. "What if one of us does?"
"None of you will fall as long as you do exactly as I say. Besides, I'll carry you. Now, come on." Mapleshade stepped carefully onto the rocks, glancing behind her to see that her kits were beside her. She continued along the wet rocks until one of her kits started to cry out.
"It's slippery!" Patchit squealed.
"Yes." Half expecting this, Mapleshade told the kits what she had memorized to herself. "Dig into the moss with your claws so you don't trip. Petalkit, Larchkit, stay here and don't move." Mapleshade grasped Patchkit with her mouth and bunched her muscles together, then leapt onto the next rock, her claws scrabbling to get a grip. She gently put Parchkit down on the rock, then told him sternly, "Stay here and don't move at all. I'm going to get your littermates." Mapleshade leapt back onto the rock where Petalkit and Larchkit were, then carried Petalkit, then Larchkit. She did this over and over again, until her muscles were drooping with exhaustion.
I have to do triple the work, plus carrying kits! But it's worth it, Mapleshade thought firmly. Only two more rocks to go...
As Mapleshade was on the last rock, and was carrying Petalkit to the bank, where she was safe, a curious whimper sounded behind her. Alarmed, she whipped her head around just in time to see Larchkit dip a paw gently into the river, before slipping off the small rock his mother placed him on, and grasping onto the moss.
"Mama!" he whined. His claws released him off the moss, and he was swept away by the river.
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What if Mapleshade wasn't evil?
FanfictionWhat if Mapleshade wasn't evil, but Appledusk was? Mapleshade wasn't always an evil cat. When she made the mistake of taking on the mate Appledusk, a RiverClan warrior, and bearing his kits, she was banished from ThunderClan. On her way to RiverClan...
