Chapter Text
Mapleshade wandered through the dead woods. If another cat were to look at her from the lighter side of the forest, they would only see complete darkness - only the eyes of a Dark Forest cat were used to having no stars to light their way. And, to them, the light of Starclan was blinding. They usually stayed away from the border for the sake of keeping their eyesight, but Mapleshade had to go there. She couldn't waste a chance to catch the tiniest glimpse of her three kittens, the ones she had fought and died for.
She could only stay for a little while. Another harmful side effect of the light on the other side was that it would shine right through her, burning, and if she stayed for too long it would for sure shorten her lifetime as a pathetic shadow. She had contemplated stepping into the light before. That way, it would all be over. But she couldn't do that to her kits.
Not that they wanted to see her; whenever they caught her looking at them they would sprint away. The poor ones didn't understand why she'd done all that she had, and nobody on their side would explain. She gritted her teeth. Starclan cats. Following their stupid code might have granted them light, but it never served justice. Even now that they had gotten what they wanted, they still blindly followed the code.
She was getting ready for another disappointment as she snuck closer to the light. It'd be very lucky that the kits would be anywhere in sight. However, she then heard the all so familiar mewls of her three children. Her eyes lit up, she was filled with happiness. For a moment she felt the urge to run up to them, but that'd probably scare them away. It was for the best to sneak.
As her eyes got a little accustomed to the blinding light, she realized her kits weren't alone. There was another tortoiseshell there, with her fluffy tail wrapped around the three of them. they seemed to be struggling to escape the grip of the other cat, but she wouldn't let them. Mapleshade was trying to process what was going on in front of her, the tortoiseshell spoke:
"Finally, you're here. It was becoming a struggle to keep these three in place."
Mapleshade froze. The cat was staring straight at her through the bushes she was sheltering in. Reluctantly, she stepped out and faced the brightness as well as the tortoiseshell in it. She had so many questions but didn't know where to start. After a beat she asked:
"Who are you?"
The tortoiseshell laughed. It was a soft, sweet laugh, but something about it made the fur on Mapleshade's neck stand.
"I'm Spottedleaf. And I know who you are, no need to tell me. You are Mapleshade. The others here speak about you in hushed voices, as if speaking about you will kill them, but I always get what I want. It was easy to find out exactly who you are and why you're over there. Even easier to figure out that you always arrive at this exact spot at the border when the sun is highest."
Mapleshade looked at her, dumbfounded. The she-cat was young and beautiful and smelled sweet, and her form was solid - she had only died a little while ago. She looked at her flawless fur but there was no way of telling how exactly she'd died, as Starclan cats, unlike those of Dark Forest, didn't carry the marks of their defeat in the afterlife. Mapleshade self-consciously raised her paw to her fatal wound on her neck. It was sprouting tiny mushrooms and smelled like rotten fresh-kill.
She came to her senses as one of her kits leaped over the tail in an attempt to escape, only to have Spottedleaf roughly slam a paw on his tail and throw her back in with the others. Fear and rage filled Mapleshade's senses. She wasn't going to let this cat treat her offspring like that.
"Let go of my kits!" she screamed and leaped toward the other tortoiseshell, who smiled at her with no reaction. She was going to rip her to shreds. Her children had had enough suffering as it was, and this foxdung of a cat wasn't going to add to that. With her claws a whisker-length away from that pretty face, she suddenly became very aware of how far into the light she was, and her leap fell short as she flinched in pain and fell to the grass. It was unbearable. She was going to die. Maybe that was for the best - at the very least the pain would be over...
Then she caught glimpse of the tortoiseshell, smiling down at her calmly. If she disappeared, her kits would be at the mercy of this... monster. She couldn't let that happen! So, with a great struggle, Mapleshade crawled back into the shadows and the pain vanished. She panted loudly, mostly from frustration. She couldn't attack the other cat.
Spottedleaf let out another soft laugh that made Mapleshade's blood boil.
"What do you want?" she shouted at her. There was a frustrating pause as the other she-cat mockingly tilted her head a little as if she had forgotten why exactly she'd gone through with all this. Then she smiled and spoke, with that sickening, soft voice:
"I need your assistance on something concerning the living cats. I understood you can kill cats who are alive?"
Mapleshade furrowed her brow. The claim wasn't true. She knew some cats thought she'd killed living cats before as a revenge, but she hadn't laid a claw on them. Alike to some Starclan cats, she too could receive prophecies. She too could warn the living cats, but it seemed to unsettle the living cats as if she'd just cursed whomever she'd predicted to die.
"No. I can't do that. And I certainly wouldn't do that just because you have a grudge with a living cat, even if I could!"
Spottedleaf gasped, but it clearly wasn't a real one. Raising her paw to her mouth, she licked it and washed the behind of her right ear before speaking:
"That is such a shame... I came all the way here for nothing..." As she spoke, she grabbed the loose neck fur of one of Mapleshade's kits with her claws and raised her up to her shoulder level. Mapleshade shivered as the she-cat continued:
"You know what else would be a shame? If something happened to your dear children..." she raised a claw to Mapleshade's kit's throat. She watched in horror as the kit mewled pathetically, trying to get free of Spottedleaf's grasp only for her to tighten it. Mapleshade saw a single droplet of blood appear on her fur.
"Let go of her!" she yowled. Spottedleaf, whose gaze had also been following the droplet of blood on the kit's fur, lazily raised her head to look at Mapleshade.
"But, if you cannot help me with my problem..."
"I WILL! I will! I'll figure something out!"
Spottedleaf smiled widely and then dropped the kitten back to her siblings. Mapleshade heaved. She had no clue how a cat could be so cruel, and she also didn't know how she'd ever fulfill her promise. The young tortoiseshell stepped a little closer; Mapleshade could now grab her if she wanted, but not without a high risk of her hurting her kittens. So instead, she stayed still as Spottedleaf raised one of her paws to her chin.
"I know you'll do your best," she purred, tracing a single claw to Mapleshade's chest, where her heart would beat (if it still did.) Mapleshade felt sick.
"I need you to kill a cat called... Sandstorm."