Maplestar's Path

Chapter Two.

“…And this is the border we share with WillowClan. See the chunk of land that we’re standing on? NightClan and WillowClan have fought over this for many, many moons. I’m glad to say that right now, this territory belongs to NightClan.”

Maplepaw sniffed the air, overwhelmed by all of the new scents. She had never seen any of this before! The world was so large, and she had been tied to NightClan’s tiny Camp. But there was so much to explore! 

“Maplepaw, calm down! It’s getting late, we can’t explore territory all night. Let’s head back to camp. Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to hunt.”

Maplepaw slowly padded into the camp entrance. It was twilight, and the quarter moon was just rising into the deep purple sky.  Foxheart treaded a few paces behind Maplepaw. “You know where the apprentice’s den is, right?” He asked. Maplepaw nodded, and started to pad off towards her new nest. Quickly, she turned around and saw Foxheart walking to the Warriors Den. “Goodnight, Foxheart!” She added. The young tom turned around, startled. “Goodnight,” He said quickly, then headed for his den. Maplepaw turned back around, and padded into the apprentice’s den, worried about how the other apprentices would treat her.

There were three other apprentices. the only thing Maplepaw knew was that two of them — the two orange tabbies with the same bright green eyes — were Smokestar’s kits. From what she could remember, something had happened to their mother. No one talked about it, but Maplepaw had heard the queens talking about it a few moons ago. From what she could tell it was something tragic and unexpected, but that was all she knew.

Smokestar’s kits were playing around the apprentice’s den, tossing around a small moss ball. “Caught it!” The she-cat shrieked, happily bounding across the place. The two stopped playing as their eyes fell on the new apprentice. Maplepaw then noticed the third apprentice who was sitting in the corner, and quickly raised her head once the apprentices had stopped playing.

“Hello… I’m Maplepaw,” she said nervously, stepping a bit farther into the unfamiliar den. “We already know who you are,” the orange tabby she-cat said in a snotty voice. She rolled her eyes and quickly introduced herself. “I’m Dawnpaw,” She said, starting to settle down into her moss nest. “I’m Smokestar’s daughter,” Dawnpaw added, almost as if it were a warning. Maplepaw quickly dismissed it. The tabby tom started to speak next.

“I’m Flamepaw,” He said in a much friendlier voice than Dawnpaw. “Nice to meet you.” His sister glared at him with the same flaming green eyes as her father, and Flamepaw quickly laid down in his moss nest. Maplepaw looked around and saw an empty moss bed next to the pale white she-cat. Maplepaw walked over towards the nest, her pawsteps silent across the cold stone floor. 

Making herself comfortable, Maplepaw laid down her head and closed her eyes. She was about to drift off to sleep when a soft voice woke her. “Are you still awake?” Maplepaw’s head shot up, the sleepiness quickly fading away. It was the white she-cat who had spoken. “I’m Snowpaw,” She whispered, glancing over at Dawnpaw and Flamepaw. “Sorry I haven’t introduced myself by now, Dawnpaw’s a bit controlling with everyone.”

“That’s alright,” Maplepaw answered softly. “Your sister’s the new medicine cat apprentice, right?” Maplepaw nodded slowly. “That’s what I thought.” Snowpaw answered, looking up at the sky for a moment. 

Maplepaw glanced back over at Dawnpaw, who by now had been sleeping for awhile. “Is she ever nice?” Maplepaw asked, her tail pointing towards the sleeping apprentice. 

“You mean Dawnpaw? Well, no, not really. She usually acts nicer when other people are around, but when we’re all alone with her it’s horrible. She thinks she’s so special just because her father is the leader.”

Maplepaw was silent for a moment, thinking. Why had Dawnpaw been so mean to Snowpaw? “We should probably get some sleep,” Maplepaw said after a few moments of silence. Snowpaw nodded. “Goodnight,” Maplepaw murmured, getting comfortable once again and closing her eyes. She could hear Snowpaw say “Goodnight” before Maplepaw was sound asleep.

The young tortoiseshell she-cat knew what to expect when she opened her eyes again. The nightmare. It was always the same, nothing changed, and it was there to haunt her every time she went to sleep. There was no night that Maplepaw could remember where she had slept peacefully. It started out with two silhouettes of cats — pitch black against the ominous red sky. Maplepaw could never see any features of the cats, only their eyes. One cat’s eyes were a bright amber, and the other cat had striking green eyes. Images of horrible war flashed, and suddenly a sharp pain in her chest made her gasp. The dreams had always been frightening, but never had they caused her pain. Maplepaw looked down at her paws, and found that they were wet and matted with blood. Her hear started to beat fast, and just as soon as the nightmare had started, Maplepaw found herself waking up suddenly in the apprentice’s den. The sun was shining, and Maplepaw noticed that the other apprentices were not sleeping in their dens. 

Shaking bits of moss out of her fur, Maplepaw got up, stretched, and padded outside to the NightClan Camp. She could see Snowpaw talking with her mentor, and quickly spotted her own mentor just across the clearing. Maplepaw dashed across and stood in front of her mentor, ready to learn how to hunt. 

Suddenly, a golden she-cat appeared next to Foxheart. Maplepaw quickly recognized her as Creekheart, NightClan’s Medicine Cat, and Hollowpaw’s mentor. “Hello Foxheart,” the young medicine cat said. Maplepaw could tell that she was tired. She must have been working hard on something. “Roseclaw injured her shoulder earlier, and we’re running low on some herbs. Would you mind taking Maplepaw with you to go and get some more herbs? Hollowpaw and I are busy taking care of her.”

But I was going to learn how to hunt!  Maplepaw thought. She’d much rather learn how to hunt instead of gather herbs. “Of course,” Foxheart answered. “We’d be happy to help.”

“Great! Thank you so much,” Creekheart said, looking more relieved already. “Come with me, I’ll show you what herbs we need.”