Post by vectoring34 on Dec 17, 2021 13:53:16 GMT -5
So this is the self-indulgent ALITM AU I said I'd write with Bristlefrost surviving the dark water as ruler of the Dark Forest. It's meant to be a one-shot but I might do more with this AU idea later. Anyway, enjoy.
Mapleshade’s breath spilled out of her mouth like blood from a wound, ragged and painful as she used every last bit of guile she could muster to flee from the yowls behind her. She doubled back, tripled back, even quadrupled back, but every single time, her pursuers found her trail again. A curse almost spat out of her mouth, but she needed air more than she needed to vent her hatred at the mob chasing her.
Fording a small stream and clearing a fallen log, Mapleshade’s gaze swept from side to side, desperate to find a refuge while her trail was broken. The corpse of a giant tree felled by the flood of black water was not her ideal place to hide, but it would have to do. Mapleshade ran down the length of the trunk to where the boughs lay impaling the side of a small ditch, and wormed her way in among the cracks in the earth and wood. She still did not dare to breathe until the yowls that had been pursuing her faded out somewhat, drifting into the fog. Finally, she let out a ragged, weary gasp.
“Who’s there?!” a voice snarled from just behind her. Mapleshade whirled around, heedless of the tree branches snagging her fur as she prepared to face the possible threat.
“Oh, it’s just you, Thistleclaw…” Mapleshade rasped, nearly flopping down on top of a branch in relief. Thistleclaw looked no better, just leaning on the side of their impromptu hiding place so he could keep a beady eye facing outwards. “Of all the cats to be stuck with, I can’t believe I have to be stuck with the likes of you.”
“Go ahead and leave then! See how far you can get” Thistleclaw snapped back ill-temperedly. In another time and another place, Mapleshade would have clawed his ears for that. But not now, not when he was her partner in being scapegoated for the Ashfur debacle.
“Silverhawk should have kept his mouth shut” Mapleshade seethed, frustratedly licking at the patches of her coat where the branches had scratched her.
“I never liked him” Thistleclaw agreed. “He was a coward then and a coward now. We should have known he’d easily be convinced into turning against us. Why did you let him be taken prisoner?”. Thistleclaw’s sneer carried such contempt that Mapleshade didn’t even have to look at him to feel the disdain.
“I didn’t LET anything happen. I told you already, Firestar somehow appeared there through Rootspring’s body. Nothing could have stopped him!” Mapleshade hissed, working her claws through the soil.
“Excuses! You had him outnumbered!” Thistleclaw snapped back.
“I didn’t see you daring to fight him at the end either. You were too busy running from Maggottail!”
“That’s a lie! But even if it was true…well we’re both running from him now, aren’t we?” Thistleclaw mewed bitterly. Mapleshade curled her lips, but had no response to that. It was true enough that the Dark Forest now had roving groups of cats now who prowled about, grabbing any who had willingly aided Ashfur and then taking them away. With Mapleshade and Thistleclaw obviously not being the ones doing it, it must be Maggottail. Only he still had enough influence to round up the Dark Forest cats into any sizable band and the motivation to be doing this.
Maggottail! Mapleshade cursed the name, shredding a bit of loose bark in her claws. Of course it was disappointing to lose to Starclan and the living clans again, but at least they were consistent in being a pompous pain in the tail. Those traitorous Dark Forest cats who had actually helped the living cats and Starclan were far more infuriating. How mouse-brained could they be? Did they expect some kind of reward for their service? What fools.
Starclan offers no rewards based on merit, only their arbitrary, ridiculous choices. The rest was all just random chance. For instance, that loyal she-cat Mapleshade had seen throwing herself and Ashfur into the black water. The thought calmed Mapleshade a bit, a sadistic purr leaving her. How pathetic, to die like prey and receive no reward for it.
“I’ve found their scent!” a voice yowled through the fog, and before Mapleshade could get to her paws, Thistleclaw bolted forward in a blur of gray fur. Traitor! He must have led them here! Reflexively, Mapleshade’s claws lashed out, grabbing Thistleclaw by the flanks and preventing him from fleeing.
“Let go of me!” Thistleclaw’s claws stung Mapleshade’s ear and she responded in kind, spraying an arc of Thistleclaw’s blood across their former hiding hole.
“You were working with them the whole time!” Mapleshade accused, pure fury giving her strength as she pummeled Thistleclaw against the fallen trunk. Thistleclaw screeched back incoherently, biting down on Mapleshade’s shoulder to reverse their positions. Before Mapleshade’s back could touch the rotten wood though, she used it to spring against him, sending them both rolling down the length of the ditch in a tangled ball of claws and teeth. Mapleshade managed to get on top of Thistleclaw as they rolled together, bringing her paw up for a lethal blow.
Claws dug into Mapleshade’s shoulders then and pulled her back and away from Thistleclaw. Just as she spun around, ready to try to deliver a counterattack to the interloper, she felt teeth around her throat. Even Mapleshade’s rage was muted by that, her body freezing up.
“Move a whisker without us saying so, and Silverhawk finishes you off” Maggottail trumpeted triumphantly, digging his claws meaningfully into Mapleshade’s back. Mapleshade gave a slow nod, full of silent fury.
“I understand.” Silverhawk left her throat alone, joining Maggottail in holding her down. Mapleshade experimentally twitched her tail, and the pair immediately sunk their claws deeper into her spine. Hissing in frustration, Mapleshade glared at them. “Helping Starclan has made you soft hunters. At your best, you wouldn’t have needed Thistleclaw’s help to track down just one she-cat.” Maggottail let out a surprised meow at hearing that.
“Thistleclaw’s help? When did you turn him?” Maggottail said curiously to Silverhawk, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever she’s saying, she’s lying!” Thistleclaw’s snarly voice boomed out, drawing the three cats’ attention towards him. His pelt looked as if it had been shoved through a thorn bush, Mapleshade noted with satisfaction, and his legs quivered with every step he took. He was flanked on both sides by Sparrowfeather and Houndleap.
“That’s the last one caught” Sparrowfeather meowed cheerfully. Thistleclaw spat at her with such ferocity that Sparrowfeather actually had to wipe her muzzle.
“Bah, you couldn’t catch a blind badger if it bit you on the tail. You needed Mapleshade to rat me out!” Thistleclaw sneered. A moment of silence passed by, and the other Dark Forest cats began to let out amused purrs. Mapleshade’s insides twisted up in embarrassment as Thistleclaw prattled on, not realizing what everyone else had just realized. The only reason they had been caught was because they’d started a silly brawl like kits disagreeing over mossbal, and now she and Thistleclaw were the butt of this absurd joke.
“Just do whatever you need to and get it over with” Mapleshade said to her captors. “I can’t stand to listen to your nonsense a second longer.”
Maggottail just purred, and something about it unnerved Mapleshade. Something else about this situation was amusing to him besides the Thistleclaw mix-up, but what?
“Oh Mapleshade, it’s good to see you recognize who gives the orders around here now” Maggottail crowed. Mapleshade made another attempt to squirm away while he bragged, but his thorn-sharp grip did not weaken even as he boasted. “How many times did you insult me, attack me, or underlook me? But look who’s on top now. You know, you’re just like old Shadowclan, and I think you’ll understand why you lost better if I just tell you things from the beg-”
“Ugh, we get it, Maggottail! You’re so smart, you’re such a great leader! Your backstory is so tragic! You can keep pretending to be in charge once the boss is done with them” Sparrowfeather interjected. Maggottail’s tail lashed, the tabby looking rather stung. Though Maggottail being prevented from launching into another speech was welcomed by Mapleshade, Sparrowfeather’s last sentence kept her hackles raised.
“The boss? Who is your boss?” Mapleshade asked.
“I am” Maggottail grumbled insistently. In a quieter meow, he added, “So long as they’re gone, anyway.”
“That just makes you a glorified deputy” Thistleclaw jeered.
“That’s what I said!” Sparrowfeather mewed.
“It is not like that!” Maggottail shot back.
“I don’t know, it kind of is. What do you think, Houndleap?” Thistleclaw continued to jibe.
Houndleap jolted as though he hadn’t been listening to the conversation, blurting out “Leaders give the orders all the time, right?”
Maggottail’s tail lashed so violently now that it struck Mapleshade a few times. Thistleclaw meanwhile looked at Mapleshade and blinked deliberately. Mapleshade realized his intentions with a surge of dark joy within her. These fools can barely work together. Give them a little push, and they’ll be so busy fighting each other, we can escape.
“Silverhawk should know what a leader is best, after all, he was closest to becoming one” Mapleshade chimed in.
“Exactly, and I know that worrying about leadership at a time like this is mouse-brained” Silverhawk said. Maggottail’s claws left Mapleshade’s back, the tabby raising a paw to strike Silverhawk’s ears. Perfect. The moment he did, Mapleshade would bolt while Silverhawk was distracted. But the expected blow never came.
Mapleshade looked up, another insult ready to provoke Maggottail to action. But the words died on her lips as she saw his eyes were totally fixated on something at the edge of the ditch. And not just Maggottail, but all the other cats, even Thistleclaw. All of them were staring at a…thing at the edge of the ditch.
Even calling it a thing seemed generous. There was something there to be sure, but there was no shape to it. The harder Mapledshade looked at it, the more undefined it seemed to be, a roiling and coiling mass of darkness that pulsated and twisted among the dead leaves like some kind of living liquid. I’m just seeing things. Mapleshade blinked, expecting the dark void to vanish.
Instead, it reappeared only a tail-length in front of her as her eyes opened. Mapleshade lurched backwards, panic giving her strength to try to flee from whatever it was in front of her. Unfortunately, panic seemed to have given Maggottail renewed focus too, as his claws returned to her shoulders and forced her to hold still.
“What is that thing?” Thistleclaw meowed, his voice pitched high with fear. Despite having no discernable features or even eyes, Mapleshade somehow knew that the black shape’s gaze swerved to glare at Thistleclaw. Thistleclaw must have felt it too, as he flattened himself further to the earth, growling and hissing but not daring to speak. The figure’s focus returned to Mapleshade, and it pierced through her like the beak of a heron through a fish.
Mapleshade’s heart was fury and the blood in her veins was envy. Yet as she was compelled to gaze into that dark abyss, she found herself feeling other things. Things she had not felt in a long time, things she did not want to feel. The feeling of limp, little bodies touching her nose. The stink of sickness clogging up her throat. The sight of betraying eyes.
I don’t want to feel those things, not again! As soon as it had come, that oppressive pressure left her mind, leaving Mapleshade panting raggedly as though she had been made to swim up a waterfall. Shaking her head to reorient herself, Mapleshade stared even harder at the blackness, trying to discern any solid detail within the shapeless mass. This time, instead of evading her eyes, the blackness seemed to welcome them. It gradually solidified, a tail and four limbs sprouting out of the mire. Finally, a pair of teal eyes shone through the blackness and Mapleshade saw exactly who this was.
But seeing and believing were two very different things!
“No…No! This is a trick! I saw you fall into the black water! It’s impossible!” Mapleshade screeched as the shape before her finally finished morphing, crystallizing into the form of one should have been gone in both body and soul.
“Just like it was impossible to break the barrier between worlds. Just like it was impossible to get Dark Forest cats to work with Starclan cats.” The voice that came from the cat in front of her was garbled at first, swinging between low as the abyss and high as the sky from syllable to syllable. But soon enough, to Mapleshade’s dismay, the voice stabilized into the familiar mew of a she-cat.
“I guess I just have a talent for making impossible things happen” the voice of Bristlefrost purred, blowing any of Mapleshade’s doubts away like leaves in the wind. Somehow, some way, this ordinary she-cat had managed to survive what even a cat with all the power of the stars in his paws had been unable to.
Mapleshade growled from beneath her captors, refusing to show anymore fear to…was Bristlefrost even a cat anymore? Her form was that of the solid she-cat she had been in life, but her silhouette continuously broke and twisted around her like ebbing waves. Certainly it was nothing like Dark Forest cats, whose bodies became translucent but retained their silhouette.
“Thank you for bringing them to me, Maggottail” Bristlefrost nodded respectfully at the tabby tom. “It’d have been impossible to do what needs to be done without your leadership.” Mapleshade snorted hard into the leaf litter in front of her. Leadership? Maggottail couldn’t lead a patrol out of a one-way tunnel!
“It was easy” Maggottail grunted, his chest puffing out a bit with pride at the flattery. “And indeed, we will do what needs to be done now. Which is…well, better to hear it from Bristlefrost.”
“Mouse-brain” Sparrowfeather muttered.
Bristlefrost sat herself calmly in front of Thistleclaw and Mapleshade, licking her paws idly. Everytime she licked, a little bit of her silhouette came with it as though she were scraping away her own flesh, only for it to return immediately as the darkness continued to wave around her.
“Mapleshade, Thistleclaw, the pair of you fought for Ashfur even when you had been told he was lying to you. That he was just using you. That means you two are at least a little responsible for almost destroying the Dark Forest and everyone in it” Bristlefrost mewed.
“Spare me the platitudes” Thistleclaw spat and Bristlefrost nodded in reply, almost amused.
“Very well, I was honestly getting a little tired of giving the speech already. I just got done giving it to Rushtooth and honestly, I think it could stand to be a little shorter. So I’ll cut to the chase then…” Bristlefrost’s eyes grew hard as stones and the air around her seemed to almost grow heavier, pressing down on both Thistleclaw and Mapleshade. “A lot of cats in the Dark Forest want you dead. You and the other cats who stuck by Ashfur even knowing what he was doing and how he wouldn’t do anything for you.”
Mapleshade didn’t doubt it, the murderous light in the eyes of the four Dark Forest warriors working with Bristlefrost being as clear as day. While Thistleclaw writhed and spat about how this was an outrage, Mapleshade sat in thought. Why bother telling us this if she’s just going to kill us then?
When Thistleclaw was finally subdued at the cost of much flying fur by Houndleap and Sparrowfeather, Bristlefrost continued. “But the Dark Forest has seen enough cats lost. Snowtuft, Redwillow, and many others. And taking revenge won’t bring them back.” Her eyes glistened with emotion, and the sheer presumptuousness of it almost made Mapleshade wretch. Who is this mouse-brain to act so pathetically noble in the Dark Forest?
“Oh please! Don’t pretend you care!” Mapleshade sneered. “You were in the Dark Forest for only a day and you pretend to care about them? You have a weak heart, and I don’t care how you survived the black water; weak hearts make for easy prey here. If you don’t take revenge now, I will find you and I will…”
The force of the glare with which Mapleshade was fixed drowned out her next words. It was as though a torrent of water was striking against her, eroding at her flickering soul as Bristlefrost spoke loudly and proudly.
“I do care! I care that even in death, no matter what they did in life, they were destroyed by the machinations of a mad cat. And that caring? It’s not a weakness, Mapleshade” Bristlefrost meowed loudly, standing up and waving her tail. “My connections with other cats are what allowed me to survive that black water, they’re my strength. Meanwhile, you and Thistleclaw are alone now, so scared that you’d have torn each other apart just based on a guess.”
“I am not scared” Mapleshade replied, her hackles rising. The nerve of Bristlefrost to dare to lecture her made her claws dig into the forest floor, wishing they would sink into her. Yet Mapleshade had a feeling that if she somehow could, her claws would just strike nothingness if she tried. “I am Mapleshade; cats are scared of ME!” Mapleshade roared, every hair on her pelt rising so she looked as frightening as a badger.
Silverhawk flinched at her back, and she saw Houndleap shudder nervously. But somehow, those cowardly Dark Forest cats held their ground. And Bristlefrost? She glanced at her with sympathy, of all things.
“Mapleshade, you have been here for so long. Wouldn’t you like to just rest for a while?” Bristlefrost asked. Before Mapleshade could conjure yet another scornful reply, Bristlefrost went on. “It’s a new era for the Dark Forest now, the old ways can change. We can make this more like a real clan, where we help each other and better each other” she meowed, passing by Silverhawk and Houndleap and giving them reassuring nods. The only thing which sickened Mapleshade more than her sanctimonious words was the fact that the pair of Dark Forest toms actually seemed comforted by them.
“But in this new Dark Forest, we also need to make sure cats are loyal to it. And that’s how we come to this situation” Bristlefrost’s claws left her paws to enter into the ground, sharp as icicles even if her body seemed not entirely solid. “You two have a choice to make; play nice with Maggottail or be treated as our enemy.”
Mapleshade’s first instinct was to rage aloud, scorn Bristlefrost for her naivete, and curse the Dark Forest cats for falling for this trick. But there was one good thing about clan cats; how gullible they were.
Mapleshade choked down her anger like a bad piece of crowfood and nodded her head slowly. “I understand.”
“You can’t be serious” Thistleclaw hissed, glaring at her and then at Bristlefrost. “Even supposing we go along with this silly plan of yours, how do you plan on making us do anything?”
“Maggottail has volunteered himself to be leader, I suppose that would be on him” Bristlefrost shrugged nonchalantly. “Though, while we’re on the subject, Maggottail, wouldn’t it be smart to pick a second-in-command as well?”
Again Maggottail swallowed the flattery without a hint of thought and he nodded to himself as he preened. “Yes, I already had plans for that.”
“Sure you did” Sparrowfeather sniped, though Maggottail ignored her.
“Even if Maggottail doesn’t come after you for betraying us again…I will” Silverhawk muttered darkly.
“Traitors. Every single one of you..” Thistleclaw growled, all the while Mapleshade had to roll her eyes. Didn’t he realize that this was an opportunity to get away unscathed? Of course he just has to go and put his pride first.
“Watch your mouth before I decide to show you exactly how the new Dark Forest treats its enemies” Maggottail meowed threateningly, but before he could go further, Bristlefrost moved between Thistleclaw and Maggottail.
“Maggottail, remember, if you leave prey an escape route, it won’t claw you as strongly” she cautioned. With a grunt, Maggottail’s fur flattened and Bristlefrost nodded to him and then Mapleshade and Thistleclaw. “Well, you two have got the message. And like I said, better to leave you an escape route. Really think about what you’re going to do with the rest of your existence. I don’t think it’s too late for any cat to change.”
At a flick of Maggottail’s tail, Houndleap, Sparrowfeather, and Silverhawk stepped back, finally allowing Mapleshade and Thistleclaw to get to their paws. Thistleclaw didn’t even bother to give any last words, just hissing and bounding off into the mist of the Dark Forest until his gray shape vanished into the gloom.
Mapleshade had half a mind to do the same, but she paused, turning to gaze thoughtfully at Bristlefrost and her assembled cats. She might have said Maggottail was leader, and Maggottail might even believe it, but even a blind kit could see who really gave the orders here. So then why was Bristlefrost deferring to the Dark Forest cats and catering to their whims? The easy answer was fear of being killed by them. But then again, if a being was somehow powerful enough to survive the black water, Mapleshade had her doubts that it would yield to simple claws and teeth.
No, if Bristlefrost was acting so helpful and sympathetic, there must be another reason. She might have another motive, like Ashfur. Yes, no doubt she was planning on using them to try to return to the living world, and try to find some long-lost love. Something vilely romantic like that would be just like a clan cat.
“You can pretend to care, but I know you’re just in it for your own gain. That’s exactly why the clans needed to be punished, all your bloated self-importance, your hypocrisy” Mapleshade sneered at Bristlefrost. To her frustration, Bristlefrost just continued to look at her with pity. “Well? Say something!”
“I forgive you.”
Mapleshade’s jaws hung open, too shocked to even breathe as the words sunk in. “You what?!”
“For helping to kill me. I forgive you” Bristlefrost meowed simply, as though discussing the weather.
Mapleshade’s eyes bulged, her fur rose, and her tail stood straight up. She trembled with the urge to leap forward, held back only by the tiniest, fraying edges of her self-control. “You impudent little wretch!”
“I saw things in the black water. I still see things in it. I saw your worst moments, and they stretch on and on and on” Bristlefrost mewed, practically staring through Mapleshade. “I think you would be happier if you stopped doing those things over and over again. Repeating those thoughts over and over in your mind. Mapleshade…it’s time to let go.”
“Don’t talk like you understand!” Mapleshade locked her gaze with Bristlefrost in a battle of wills, daring her to say one word more. But she didn’t. She just stared. Mapleshade held her gaze for a moment longer, and then a hot, prickling feeling began to scratch at her chest. Mapleshade fought it, but like a sickness, it took hold.
And when shame finally took hold, Mapleshade’s strength left her. With an ear-piercing yowl, Mapleshade turned tail and ran. She ran from the ditch, from Bristlefrost, and most of all, from her infuriating words. And as Mapleshade ran, she turned her head back to see if Bristlefrost was following.
But she was no longer there among the Dark Forest cats. Instead there was just a swirling orb of black liquid hanging in mid-air. Mapleshade was tempted to call it the same as the black water, but that would be wrong, for the black water was entirely abyssal. In the black liquid that made up Bristlefrost, there was a single delicate, but brightly burning flame, a light that pierced through the mist and stopped for nothing.
For the first time in uncounted seasons, there was a true star in the Place of No Stars.
Fording a small stream and clearing a fallen log, Mapleshade’s gaze swept from side to side, desperate to find a refuge while her trail was broken. The corpse of a giant tree felled by the flood of black water was not her ideal place to hide, but it would have to do. Mapleshade ran down the length of the trunk to where the boughs lay impaling the side of a small ditch, and wormed her way in among the cracks in the earth and wood. She still did not dare to breathe until the yowls that had been pursuing her faded out somewhat, drifting into the fog. Finally, she let out a ragged, weary gasp.
“Who’s there?!” a voice snarled from just behind her. Mapleshade whirled around, heedless of the tree branches snagging her fur as she prepared to face the possible threat.
“Oh, it’s just you, Thistleclaw…” Mapleshade rasped, nearly flopping down on top of a branch in relief. Thistleclaw looked no better, just leaning on the side of their impromptu hiding place so he could keep a beady eye facing outwards. “Of all the cats to be stuck with, I can’t believe I have to be stuck with the likes of you.”
“Go ahead and leave then! See how far you can get” Thistleclaw snapped back ill-temperedly. In another time and another place, Mapleshade would have clawed his ears for that. But not now, not when he was her partner in being scapegoated for the Ashfur debacle.
“Silverhawk should have kept his mouth shut” Mapleshade seethed, frustratedly licking at the patches of her coat where the branches had scratched her.
“I never liked him” Thistleclaw agreed. “He was a coward then and a coward now. We should have known he’d easily be convinced into turning against us. Why did you let him be taken prisoner?”. Thistleclaw’s sneer carried such contempt that Mapleshade didn’t even have to look at him to feel the disdain.
“I didn’t LET anything happen. I told you already, Firestar somehow appeared there through Rootspring’s body. Nothing could have stopped him!” Mapleshade hissed, working her claws through the soil.
“Excuses! You had him outnumbered!” Thistleclaw snapped back.
“I didn’t see you daring to fight him at the end either. You were too busy running from Maggottail!”
“That’s a lie! But even if it was true…well we’re both running from him now, aren’t we?” Thistleclaw mewed bitterly. Mapleshade curled her lips, but had no response to that. It was true enough that the Dark Forest now had roving groups of cats now who prowled about, grabbing any who had willingly aided Ashfur and then taking them away. With Mapleshade and Thistleclaw obviously not being the ones doing it, it must be Maggottail. Only he still had enough influence to round up the Dark Forest cats into any sizable band and the motivation to be doing this.
Maggottail! Mapleshade cursed the name, shredding a bit of loose bark in her claws. Of course it was disappointing to lose to Starclan and the living clans again, but at least they were consistent in being a pompous pain in the tail. Those traitorous Dark Forest cats who had actually helped the living cats and Starclan were far more infuriating. How mouse-brained could they be? Did they expect some kind of reward for their service? What fools.
Starclan offers no rewards based on merit, only their arbitrary, ridiculous choices. The rest was all just random chance. For instance, that loyal she-cat Mapleshade had seen throwing herself and Ashfur into the black water. The thought calmed Mapleshade a bit, a sadistic purr leaving her. How pathetic, to die like prey and receive no reward for it.
“I’ve found their scent!” a voice yowled through the fog, and before Mapleshade could get to her paws, Thistleclaw bolted forward in a blur of gray fur. Traitor! He must have led them here! Reflexively, Mapleshade’s claws lashed out, grabbing Thistleclaw by the flanks and preventing him from fleeing.
“Let go of me!” Thistleclaw’s claws stung Mapleshade’s ear and she responded in kind, spraying an arc of Thistleclaw’s blood across their former hiding hole.
“You were working with them the whole time!” Mapleshade accused, pure fury giving her strength as she pummeled Thistleclaw against the fallen trunk. Thistleclaw screeched back incoherently, biting down on Mapleshade’s shoulder to reverse their positions. Before Mapleshade’s back could touch the rotten wood though, she used it to spring against him, sending them both rolling down the length of the ditch in a tangled ball of claws and teeth. Mapleshade managed to get on top of Thistleclaw as they rolled together, bringing her paw up for a lethal blow.
Claws dug into Mapleshade’s shoulders then and pulled her back and away from Thistleclaw. Just as she spun around, ready to try to deliver a counterattack to the interloper, she felt teeth around her throat. Even Mapleshade’s rage was muted by that, her body freezing up.
“Move a whisker without us saying so, and Silverhawk finishes you off” Maggottail trumpeted triumphantly, digging his claws meaningfully into Mapleshade’s back. Mapleshade gave a slow nod, full of silent fury.
“I understand.” Silverhawk left her throat alone, joining Maggottail in holding her down. Mapleshade experimentally twitched her tail, and the pair immediately sunk their claws deeper into her spine. Hissing in frustration, Mapleshade glared at them. “Helping Starclan has made you soft hunters. At your best, you wouldn’t have needed Thistleclaw’s help to track down just one she-cat.” Maggottail let out a surprised meow at hearing that.
“Thistleclaw’s help? When did you turn him?” Maggottail said curiously to Silverhawk, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever she’s saying, she’s lying!” Thistleclaw’s snarly voice boomed out, drawing the three cats’ attention towards him. His pelt looked as if it had been shoved through a thorn bush, Mapleshade noted with satisfaction, and his legs quivered with every step he took. He was flanked on both sides by Sparrowfeather and Houndleap.
“That’s the last one caught” Sparrowfeather meowed cheerfully. Thistleclaw spat at her with such ferocity that Sparrowfeather actually had to wipe her muzzle.
“Bah, you couldn’t catch a blind badger if it bit you on the tail. You needed Mapleshade to rat me out!” Thistleclaw sneered. A moment of silence passed by, and the other Dark Forest cats began to let out amused purrs. Mapleshade’s insides twisted up in embarrassment as Thistleclaw prattled on, not realizing what everyone else had just realized. The only reason they had been caught was because they’d started a silly brawl like kits disagreeing over mossbal, and now she and Thistleclaw were the butt of this absurd joke.
“Just do whatever you need to and get it over with” Mapleshade said to her captors. “I can’t stand to listen to your nonsense a second longer.”
Maggottail just purred, and something about it unnerved Mapleshade. Something else about this situation was amusing to him besides the Thistleclaw mix-up, but what?
“Oh Mapleshade, it’s good to see you recognize who gives the orders around here now” Maggottail crowed. Mapleshade made another attempt to squirm away while he bragged, but his thorn-sharp grip did not weaken even as he boasted. “How many times did you insult me, attack me, or underlook me? But look who’s on top now. You know, you’re just like old Shadowclan, and I think you’ll understand why you lost better if I just tell you things from the beg-”
“Ugh, we get it, Maggottail! You’re so smart, you’re such a great leader! Your backstory is so tragic! You can keep pretending to be in charge once the boss is done with them” Sparrowfeather interjected. Maggottail’s tail lashed, the tabby looking rather stung. Though Maggottail being prevented from launching into another speech was welcomed by Mapleshade, Sparrowfeather’s last sentence kept her hackles raised.
“The boss? Who is your boss?” Mapleshade asked.
“I am” Maggottail grumbled insistently. In a quieter meow, he added, “So long as they’re gone, anyway.”
“That just makes you a glorified deputy” Thistleclaw jeered.
“That’s what I said!” Sparrowfeather mewed.
“It is not like that!” Maggottail shot back.
“I don’t know, it kind of is. What do you think, Houndleap?” Thistleclaw continued to jibe.
Houndleap jolted as though he hadn’t been listening to the conversation, blurting out “Leaders give the orders all the time, right?”
Maggottail’s tail lashed so violently now that it struck Mapleshade a few times. Thistleclaw meanwhile looked at Mapleshade and blinked deliberately. Mapleshade realized his intentions with a surge of dark joy within her. These fools can barely work together. Give them a little push, and they’ll be so busy fighting each other, we can escape.
“Silverhawk should know what a leader is best, after all, he was closest to becoming one” Mapleshade chimed in.
“Exactly, and I know that worrying about leadership at a time like this is mouse-brained” Silverhawk said. Maggottail’s claws left Mapleshade’s back, the tabby raising a paw to strike Silverhawk’s ears. Perfect. The moment he did, Mapleshade would bolt while Silverhawk was distracted. But the expected blow never came.
Mapleshade looked up, another insult ready to provoke Maggottail to action. But the words died on her lips as she saw his eyes were totally fixated on something at the edge of the ditch. And not just Maggottail, but all the other cats, even Thistleclaw. All of them were staring at a…thing at the edge of the ditch.
Even calling it a thing seemed generous. There was something there to be sure, but there was no shape to it. The harder Mapledshade looked at it, the more undefined it seemed to be, a roiling and coiling mass of darkness that pulsated and twisted among the dead leaves like some kind of living liquid. I’m just seeing things. Mapleshade blinked, expecting the dark void to vanish.
Instead, it reappeared only a tail-length in front of her as her eyes opened. Mapleshade lurched backwards, panic giving her strength to try to flee from whatever it was in front of her. Unfortunately, panic seemed to have given Maggottail renewed focus too, as his claws returned to her shoulders and forced her to hold still.
“What is that thing?” Thistleclaw meowed, his voice pitched high with fear. Despite having no discernable features or even eyes, Mapleshade somehow knew that the black shape’s gaze swerved to glare at Thistleclaw. Thistleclaw must have felt it too, as he flattened himself further to the earth, growling and hissing but not daring to speak. The figure’s focus returned to Mapleshade, and it pierced through her like the beak of a heron through a fish.
Mapleshade’s heart was fury and the blood in her veins was envy. Yet as she was compelled to gaze into that dark abyss, she found herself feeling other things. Things she had not felt in a long time, things she did not want to feel. The feeling of limp, little bodies touching her nose. The stink of sickness clogging up her throat. The sight of betraying eyes.
I don’t want to feel those things, not again! As soon as it had come, that oppressive pressure left her mind, leaving Mapleshade panting raggedly as though she had been made to swim up a waterfall. Shaking her head to reorient herself, Mapleshade stared even harder at the blackness, trying to discern any solid detail within the shapeless mass. This time, instead of evading her eyes, the blackness seemed to welcome them. It gradually solidified, a tail and four limbs sprouting out of the mire. Finally, a pair of teal eyes shone through the blackness and Mapleshade saw exactly who this was.
But seeing and believing were two very different things!
“No…No! This is a trick! I saw you fall into the black water! It’s impossible!” Mapleshade screeched as the shape before her finally finished morphing, crystallizing into the form of one should have been gone in both body and soul.
“Just like it was impossible to break the barrier between worlds. Just like it was impossible to get Dark Forest cats to work with Starclan cats.” The voice that came from the cat in front of her was garbled at first, swinging between low as the abyss and high as the sky from syllable to syllable. But soon enough, to Mapleshade’s dismay, the voice stabilized into the familiar mew of a she-cat.
“I guess I just have a talent for making impossible things happen” the voice of Bristlefrost purred, blowing any of Mapleshade’s doubts away like leaves in the wind. Somehow, some way, this ordinary she-cat had managed to survive what even a cat with all the power of the stars in his paws had been unable to.
Mapleshade growled from beneath her captors, refusing to show anymore fear to…was Bristlefrost even a cat anymore? Her form was that of the solid she-cat she had been in life, but her silhouette continuously broke and twisted around her like ebbing waves. Certainly it was nothing like Dark Forest cats, whose bodies became translucent but retained their silhouette.
“Thank you for bringing them to me, Maggottail” Bristlefrost nodded respectfully at the tabby tom. “It’d have been impossible to do what needs to be done without your leadership.” Mapleshade snorted hard into the leaf litter in front of her. Leadership? Maggottail couldn’t lead a patrol out of a one-way tunnel!
“It was easy” Maggottail grunted, his chest puffing out a bit with pride at the flattery. “And indeed, we will do what needs to be done now. Which is…well, better to hear it from Bristlefrost.”
“Mouse-brain” Sparrowfeather muttered.
Bristlefrost sat herself calmly in front of Thistleclaw and Mapleshade, licking her paws idly. Everytime she licked, a little bit of her silhouette came with it as though she were scraping away her own flesh, only for it to return immediately as the darkness continued to wave around her.
“Mapleshade, Thistleclaw, the pair of you fought for Ashfur even when you had been told he was lying to you. That he was just using you. That means you two are at least a little responsible for almost destroying the Dark Forest and everyone in it” Bristlefrost mewed.
“Spare me the platitudes” Thistleclaw spat and Bristlefrost nodded in reply, almost amused.
“Very well, I was honestly getting a little tired of giving the speech already. I just got done giving it to Rushtooth and honestly, I think it could stand to be a little shorter. So I’ll cut to the chase then…” Bristlefrost’s eyes grew hard as stones and the air around her seemed to almost grow heavier, pressing down on both Thistleclaw and Mapleshade. “A lot of cats in the Dark Forest want you dead. You and the other cats who stuck by Ashfur even knowing what he was doing and how he wouldn’t do anything for you.”
Mapleshade didn’t doubt it, the murderous light in the eyes of the four Dark Forest warriors working with Bristlefrost being as clear as day. While Thistleclaw writhed and spat about how this was an outrage, Mapleshade sat in thought. Why bother telling us this if she’s just going to kill us then?
When Thistleclaw was finally subdued at the cost of much flying fur by Houndleap and Sparrowfeather, Bristlefrost continued. “But the Dark Forest has seen enough cats lost. Snowtuft, Redwillow, and many others. And taking revenge won’t bring them back.” Her eyes glistened with emotion, and the sheer presumptuousness of it almost made Mapleshade wretch. Who is this mouse-brain to act so pathetically noble in the Dark Forest?
“Oh please! Don’t pretend you care!” Mapleshade sneered. “You were in the Dark Forest for only a day and you pretend to care about them? You have a weak heart, and I don’t care how you survived the black water; weak hearts make for easy prey here. If you don’t take revenge now, I will find you and I will…”
The force of the glare with which Mapleshade was fixed drowned out her next words. It was as though a torrent of water was striking against her, eroding at her flickering soul as Bristlefrost spoke loudly and proudly.
“I do care! I care that even in death, no matter what they did in life, they were destroyed by the machinations of a mad cat. And that caring? It’s not a weakness, Mapleshade” Bristlefrost meowed loudly, standing up and waving her tail. “My connections with other cats are what allowed me to survive that black water, they’re my strength. Meanwhile, you and Thistleclaw are alone now, so scared that you’d have torn each other apart just based on a guess.”
“I am not scared” Mapleshade replied, her hackles rising. The nerve of Bristlefrost to dare to lecture her made her claws dig into the forest floor, wishing they would sink into her. Yet Mapleshade had a feeling that if she somehow could, her claws would just strike nothingness if she tried. “I am Mapleshade; cats are scared of ME!” Mapleshade roared, every hair on her pelt rising so she looked as frightening as a badger.
Silverhawk flinched at her back, and she saw Houndleap shudder nervously. But somehow, those cowardly Dark Forest cats held their ground. And Bristlefrost? She glanced at her with sympathy, of all things.
“Mapleshade, you have been here for so long. Wouldn’t you like to just rest for a while?” Bristlefrost asked. Before Mapleshade could conjure yet another scornful reply, Bristlefrost went on. “It’s a new era for the Dark Forest now, the old ways can change. We can make this more like a real clan, where we help each other and better each other” she meowed, passing by Silverhawk and Houndleap and giving them reassuring nods. The only thing which sickened Mapleshade more than her sanctimonious words was the fact that the pair of Dark Forest toms actually seemed comforted by them.
“But in this new Dark Forest, we also need to make sure cats are loyal to it. And that’s how we come to this situation” Bristlefrost’s claws left her paws to enter into the ground, sharp as icicles even if her body seemed not entirely solid. “You two have a choice to make; play nice with Maggottail or be treated as our enemy.”
Mapleshade’s first instinct was to rage aloud, scorn Bristlefrost for her naivete, and curse the Dark Forest cats for falling for this trick. But there was one good thing about clan cats; how gullible they were.
Mapleshade choked down her anger like a bad piece of crowfood and nodded her head slowly. “I understand.”
“You can’t be serious” Thistleclaw hissed, glaring at her and then at Bristlefrost. “Even supposing we go along with this silly plan of yours, how do you plan on making us do anything?”
“Maggottail has volunteered himself to be leader, I suppose that would be on him” Bristlefrost shrugged nonchalantly. “Though, while we’re on the subject, Maggottail, wouldn’t it be smart to pick a second-in-command as well?”
Again Maggottail swallowed the flattery without a hint of thought and he nodded to himself as he preened. “Yes, I already had plans for that.”
“Sure you did” Sparrowfeather sniped, though Maggottail ignored her.
“Even if Maggottail doesn’t come after you for betraying us again…I will” Silverhawk muttered darkly.
“Traitors. Every single one of you..” Thistleclaw growled, all the while Mapleshade had to roll her eyes. Didn’t he realize that this was an opportunity to get away unscathed? Of course he just has to go and put his pride first.
“Watch your mouth before I decide to show you exactly how the new Dark Forest treats its enemies” Maggottail meowed threateningly, but before he could go further, Bristlefrost moved between Thistleclaw and Maggottail.
“Maggottail, remember, if you leave prey an escape route, it won’t claw you as strongly” she cautioned. With a grunt, Maggottail’s fur flattened and Bristlefrost nodded to him and then Mapleshade and Thistleclaw. “Well, you two have got the message. And like I said, better to leave you an escape route. Really think about what you’re going to do with the rest of your existence. I don’t think it’s too late for any cat to change.”
At a flick of Maggottail’s tail, Houndleap, Sparrowfeather, and Silverhawk stepped back, finally allowing Mapleshade and Thistleclaw to get to their paws. Thistleclaw didn’t even bother to give any last words, just hissing and bounding off into the mist of the Dark Forest until his gray shape vanished into the gloom.
Mapleshade had half a mind to do the same, but she paused, turning to gaze thoughtfully at Bristlefrost and her assembled cats. She might have said Maggottail was leader, and Maggottail might even believe it, but even a blind kit could see who really gave the orders here. So then why was Bristlefrost deferring to the Dark Forest cats and catering to their whims? The easy answer was fear of being killed by them. But then again, if a being was somehow powerful enough to survive the black water, Mapleshade had her doubts that it would yield to simple claws and teeth.
No, if Bristlefrost was acting so helpful and sympathetic, there must be another reason. She might have another motive, like Ashfur. Yes, no doubt she was planning on using them to try to return to the living world, and try to find some long-lost love. Something vilely romantic like that would be just like a clan cat.
“You can pretend to care, but I know you’re just in it for your own gain. That’s exactly why the clans needed to be punished, all your bloated self-importance, your hypocrisy” Mapleshade sneered at Bristlefrost. To her frustration, Bristlefrost just continued to look at her with pity. “Well? Say something!”
“I forgive you.”
Mapleshade’s jaws hung open, too shocked to even breathe as the words sunk in. “You what?!”
“For helping to kill me. I forgive you” Bristlefrost meowed simply, as though discussing the weather.
Mapleshade’s eyes bulged, her fur rose, and her tail stood straight up. She trembled with the urge to leap forward, held back only by the tiniest, fraying edges of her self-control. “You impudent little wretch!”
“I saw things in the black water. I still see things in it. I saw your worst moments, and they stretch on and on and on” Bristlefrost mewed, practically staring through Mapleshade. “I think you would be happier if you stopped doing those things over and over again. Repeating those thoughts over and over in your mind. Mapleshade…it’s time to let go.”
“Don’t talk like you understand!” Mapleshade locked her gaze with Bristlefrost in a battle of wills, daring her to say one word more. But she didn’t. She just stared. Mapleshade held her gaze for a moment longer, and then a hot, prickling feeling began to scratch at her chest. Mapleshade fought it, but like a sickness, it took hold.
And when shame finally took hold, Mapleshade’s strength left her. With an ear-piercing yowl, Mapleshade turned tail and ran. She ran from the ditch, from Bristlefrost, and most of all, from her infuriating words. And as Mapleshade ran, she turned her head back to see if Bristlefrost was following.
But she was no longer there among the Dark Forest cats. Instead there was just a swirling orb of black liquid hanging in mid-air. Mapleshade was tempted to call it the same as the black water, but that would be wrong, for the black water was entirely abyssal. In the black liquid that made up Bristlefrost, there was a single delicate, but brightly burning flame, a light that pierced through the mist and stopped for nothing.
For the first time in uncounted seasons, there was a true star in the Place of No Stars.