Mapleshade's End ~ Chapter 3

Instructions

[ Enjoy! ( || = thoughts ) ] CHAPTER 3 ---------------------------------------------------- “In what place do you think this is okay?” Patchfall hissed. “My father and my sister are gone because of you. There’s literally nothing I can do to get them back. “I see you don’t care anyway. As long as everyone pays for what happened ages ago, you’re alright.” “And don’t think for one second that you have any power over us,” Larchspring added. “You don’t deserve any. You were our mother. I don’t even know who you are anymore! You’re...you’re...a tyrant! Even worse than the others who you followed so you wouldn’t get killed!” Mapleshade had enough. “Go. Go back to StarClan, invaders,” she spat. “I wouldn’t imagine barging into your territory. I see that you don’t care about borders.” Patchfall’s eyes were blazing, but his voice was calm and steady as he responded. “This has nothing to do with borders, Mapleshade. I thought you would want to see us and finally reunite. But-” Thistleclaw came out from the forest and interrupted Patchfall. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” he purred. Mapleshade dropped her voice so her kits couldn’t hear. “Yes. They’re our prisoners now. Find some cats and gather them over in the clearing with the big rock and bring some more over here to capture them.” “As you wish, Maplestar.” Thistleclaw then ran off into the darkness to recruit some cats. Mapleshade did like how that sounded. It gave her more authority. “We have Stumpytail, Rushtooth, Clawface, and a few more here to help,” Thistleclaw announced. “Houndleap, Silverhawk, Maggottail, Sparrowfeather, and lots of others are in the clearing waiting for you.” Along with Thistleclaw, the recruits captured Larchspring and Patchfall, although it wasn’t an easy task. They were squirming, trying to get out of the recruits’ strong grip. She led everyone to the clearing. It was huge with big, overgrown trees surrounding it. It had a massive gray rock in the back. “Make sure our prisoners can’t escape,” she commanded. The recruits nodded and constructed a prison that they could never escape from. Larchspring and Patchfall were furiously yowling even though it was no use. They were too deep into the forest for anyone in StarClan to hear. Mapleshade felt like she had accomplished the impossible. She had trapped her own kits. || My own kits... || She realized that she had made a fatal mistake. StarClan would hunt her down and surely shred her. But it was too fun for her to resist. She called all the recruits together. “Cats of the Dark Forest,” Mapleshade yowled, “No one will call me Mapleshade anymore. I am Maplestar of the Place of No Stars!” Mapleshade was pleased to see that the cats were bowing to her as she announced her new name. “We are no longer the Dark Forest. We are DarkClan!” “DarkClan! DarkClan! DarkClan!” The cats cheered. “And Thistleclaw will be my deputy,” Mapleshade added. “Thistleclaw! Thistleclaw! Thistleclaw!” The DarkClan cats cheered. Their faces were eager, ready to kill. There was a cat who was quiet until the cheers died down. “What have you done, Mapleshade? I refuse to join. That cat,” he flicked his tail towards Thistleclaw, “forced me.” Mapleshade was seething mad. “You dare to not call me Maplestar? You think I care if you want to be here? I am the leader of the entire Place of No Stars, and if you reject me, you reject your life here!” The entirety of DarkClan gasped. “I will kill him myself,” Mapleshade announced. “Clear the way.” She strode towards the rebellious tom and ripped his throat open. Within seconds, he was no more. She turned to the cats, whose mouths were gaping in horror. “Start building dens, or you’ll be next,” she hissed. The DarkClan cats nodded glumly and started to gather materials. “Thistleclaw. Come over here,” she called. The tom rushed over to meet her. “Yes?” he asked. “Help me make a code. These cats need to know how things work around here,” Mapleshade told him. Thistleclaw nodded. “What are you thinking...?” “We’ll need to make things clear to everyone. We cannot have a Clan that is out of control. So,” she proposed, “I think we should have a rule about betrayal. They can’t just go tell StarClan about what we’re doing, right? What do you think?” “Yes, I think that’s a great idea,” Thistleclaw agreed. He turned to look at the cats feverishly working on the camp. “I also think they should respect your position as leader and address you properly. Obviously, you deserve respect for putting this Clan together.” “Yes, yes. No one should disapprove of this Clan,” Mapleshade went on. “Of course, they will do it anyway, but if we catch it, they shall be punished.” Her eyes sparkled. “Anything else, Thistleclaw?” she asked. The gray-and-white tom nodded. “If you do not fight with DarkClan, you’re against us,” he suggested. “And if you’re against us, we’ll kill you.” “That’s a great idea,” Mapleshade told Thistleclaw. “I will tell them now.”