Red Maple

chapter 2: no remorse

THE NEXT MOON, Mapleshade hadn't seen that tom again. She hadn't even patrolled the Twolegplace border since that day, either, trying to avoid it at all costs. Instead, Beetail sent her to patrol the ShadowClan and RiverClan borders. But now, the deputy decided to make her patrol Twolegplace today with Frecklewish and Bloomheart.

She waited at the entrance of the camp until the spotted golden she-cat and the grey tabby tom had exited the warrior's den and approached her.

"Morning, Mapleshade," Frecklewish purred. Mapleshade nodded lightly to the daughter of Oakstar and turned to her former mentor, Bloomheart. "Ready?"

The tom nodded and led the way out of camp towards the pine forest where the Twolegplace would be just outside of. It had been peaceful. The patch of blood from the kittypet must have disappeared in the rain and there was no scent or sign of Redriver anywhere. She assumed he must have moved on as most rogues do. But StarClan was she wrong...

The peace was cut in half when they heard a wail of pain up ahead around the corner near Sunningrocks. Bloomheart glanced at Frecklewish before racing ahead, the golden she-cat on his paws. Mapleshade hesitated, her heart sinking in her chest as Bloomheart and Frecklewish most likely raced to their doom.

Mapleshade leaped after them and when she turned the corner, she gasped in horror. Bloomheart and Frecklewish stood not far away from her, also staring at the gory sight.

Redriver was there, his sides heaving as he stood above three bodies of ragged, feral looking cats that smelt like crow-food and human waste. His claws and jaws were covered in thick, dripping blood and there was a painful-looking deep gash in his side. Bloomheart's fur bristled and Frecklewish stood on her hackles and hissed quietly.

Redriver snapped his gaze toward the patrol and snarled at them, making Mapleshade flinched back. She knew what this tom was capable of, and she felt intense fear for her Clanmate's safety. Redriver studied the crowd and stopped at the sight of Mapleshade, and he let out a low growl which sent shivers down her spine to the tip of her tail.

Full of courage, Frecklewish leaped with a snarl, but before she could get her claws in his fur, Redriver moved to the side and dodged her attack. With her dazed on the ground, he swiftly slashed her shoulder, blood splattering on the fence beside them. Frecklewish let out a screech of pain and rolled back, blood pouring down her shoulder and making a small pool on the grass.

Bloomheart attempts to race toward Frecklewish but was stopped and Redriver leapt and pinned him down by the throat with his front paws. Mapleshade opened her mouth to stop the tiger-furred tom but it was too late. With a mighty swipe, blood gushed out of Bloomheart's throat like waves and soaked his grey fur and Redriver's black paws.

Mapleshade, horrified, looks at Frecklewish, who was staring with pain and fear in her amber gaze. The golden spotted she-cat gets up and leaps away silently back into the forest before Redriver could turn around and stop her. Mapleshade stood there, her paws frozen to the ground.

The tom's orange eyes looked up, and he stared into Mapleshade's soft amber ones. "You shouldn't have come here," he muttered, standing straight and padding away from Bloomheart's cold corpse. He stopped beside her, their neck-fur brushing and his hot breath on her shoulder, making her shiver.

Sensing her fear, he purred. "You should know by now to stay away from me," he huskily meowed. Mapleshade closed her eyes, preparing for a killing bite or a swipe of his dangerous claws, but was puzzled to feel nothing. When she opened her eyes, Redriver was gone and only a blood trail that leads over the fence told her he left that way.

Snapping her head toward the body of her former mentor, she whimpered and crawled over to him, burying her nose into his cold grey fur.

Whimpering, she closed her eyes tightly and cried into his fur, breathing in his forest and wind scent. There were rushed pawsteps and Mapleshade scented more ThunderClan cats.

A cat leaned down beside her, and when she looked up she saw Seedpelt, a light-brown and white tom with green eyes, comfortingly licking her shoulder. She looked around and noticed that the medicine cat, Ravenwing was there, shaking his head solemnly.

"He's dead," he black tom said. "But he wasn't in pain. A wound like this would have been a quick death, not even a second of pain."

Oakstar hung his head and both Beetail and Deerdapple sniffled in sadness.

"We need to take him back to camp," Mapleshade croaked. "We need to prepare for the vigil and share tongues with him one last time."

Oakstar looked at the other three bodies and wrinkled his nose. "Who are these cats?"

Mapleshade shrugged, "I don't know. When we found the tom, he was standing over their bodies. They must have been rogues that attacked him since he had a wound."

"Where is he now?" Beetail asked, anger in his tone. His eyes shone with hate for Bloomheart's murderer.

Mapleshade shook her head, "He left over the fence. He would be long gone by now."

Satisfied with her answer, Beetail – with the help of Oakstar and Deerdapple – lifted Bloomheart's body and padded away into the forest. Mapleshade turned back toward the fence, expecting to see Redriver sitting atop it like last time, but saw nothing.

Mapleshade turned tail and followed her Clanmates back to camp.