NOTICE: This text is not the completed version of this story. Some of the mentioned characters are not included in this portion. I apologize for any confusion the incompleteness of this story may cause. Also for not spacing out the last paragraph. I copied and pasted it, and I'm too lazy to fix it.
“Maplestar Speaks: A Rough Kithood”
Part 1
Who’s there? Come out where I can see you. Oh, Flamekit and Darkkit! It’s you! Come into the den before you freeze.
How are you? It’s awful cold this Leaf-Bare, isn’t it? It’s strange, how it’s been much colder and rainier than it has been in many moons, but still no snow has fallen yet. I’ll bet Moongaze isn’t too happy about that. She loves the snow almost as much as I love Greenleaf. I’ve yet to meet a cat who hates it more than her father, though. Brindletail says he would rather eat crow-food forever than be stuck out in the snow. But enough of that. What can I do for you two?
What? You want me to tell you about when I was a kit? Well... I don’t really like to talk about that too much, Darkkit. It’s a little depressing to some cats. It’s a bit long, too, and it’s late. You two need sleep. And Great Starclan, was it ever a long time ago, too. Back before this clan or any of the other clans came to the lake territories. But, if you really want me to, okay. I’ll tell you.
It was a long time ago, back in the old forest territory. My parents were loners who fled from the twolegplace, because their twolegs would constantly kick and beat them. My mother was a ginger tabby she-cat named Honey. She is where I got my red pelt from, and yours too, Flamekit. She was almost as bright as Firestar, The leader of Thunderclan. My father was a golden yellow tom who went by the name of Dawson. Have either of you two met Dustpelt, the brown warrior in Thunderclan? He looks just like my father, except Dustpelt has slightly darker fur than he did, and my father’s eyes were a dark gray color similar to mine, and yours too, Darkkit.
My mother and father were introduced to the same twoleg nest at a young age, and as you can probably guess, they fell in love. The twolegs they were living with never took my father to the cutter, however, so my mother eventually ended up expecting a kit. Well, the twolegs were not exactly pleased about that either, and became even more abusive. It finally got to a point where my parents decided to flee, in fear of being hurt or killed. So, they fled into the forest one day. Now, in a freak coincidence, they happened to flee on the exact same day that the original four clans left their old homes, and came close to the spot where our camp is right now. It was there that my mother gave birth. The kit was a dark red tom with a very unusual spot on his side. It looked almost exactly like...
A maple leaf. A golden yellow maple leaf. Yes, that kit was me. My parents had never seen a strange mark like this before, but assumed it was just some sort of genetic rebellion in my pelt color. They decided to name me Maple, in honor of the mark.
After about three moons in the forest of dragging around a kit who could barely even walk, it became too much work for them. They needed to face all of the dangers of the forest such as badgers, foxes, and fox traps, while all the time carrying around a kit who couldn’t fight for himself, and kept getting heavier and heavier. So, they made the decision to abandon me in a hollow tree. I just cannot understand why any cat would want to do that to a helpless kit, especially their OWN son, that came from the life of a kittypet! But, they believed that it was the right thing to do. My father caught a rabbit, and while I was asleep, my mother found a hollow tree stump with a hole in it, and put me down inside it with the rabbit. Then, they left me. Just like that. I never saw them again, and to this day, I don’t know where they are. They could be dead, alive, or may have even found their way back to the twolegplace, and stayed there. Perhaps fleeing may not have been everything they thought it would be, and even though the twolegs were cruel, it may have seemed better to live with them than running around in the forest carrying a kit in their jaws. But, we can never know for sure. The sad part about that whole experience though, was that I don’t remember my parents ever saying that they loved me or cared about me before they left. Not even at the moment when they left me in the stump. I will never know if they loved me or cared about what happened to me at all. Ever. I still get sad about that, sometimes. That was my early kithood in a nutshell.
Anyway, I lived in that tree stump until I was able to walk. I fed off of the same rabbit for over a moon, even when it started to spoil. I got a nasty bellyache from it, of course. When it was gone, I resorted to eating beetles that were always crawling around in the stump. Yes, Flamekit, that is the reason I like to eat bugs as prey sometimes.
I never strayed far from the stump when I was young, but after I grew up a little more, I left the stump, and wandered out into the forest. Not long after that, I was wandering around in the forest, and I heard a rustling in the bushes. I went to investigate, and right as I got close to the bush, a large badger jumped out and bowled me over. I flipped over my front paws in mid-air, and landed back on all fours. I retaliated by slashing at it’s muzzle with both of my front paws. To my great surprise, the badger went flying off it’s feet, and came down hard on it’s side. I stood there for a moment, shocked. “Wow,” I thought. “I didn’t even hit it that hard.” The dazed badger then tried to make an attempt to stand up, but fell back down. I decided I’d better end the fight. I went up to the stunned creature, and hit it on the head as hard as I could with a sheathed paw. The badger stopped jerking around, and fell down, unconscious. I was very shocked. I couldn’t believe that I had taken on a full grown badger by myself. I guess my parents were wrong about me not being able to fend for myself.
After that little episode, I continued to venture through the forest. One day, I unknowingly strayed into Shadowclan’s territory. I thought I smelled something strange, but I ignored it. Turns out, it was the Shadowclan border marker I smelled. I was just padding up to a large interestingly shaped boulder, when I heard a voice say, “Stop! Not one step further!” I turned around, and saw a group of four cats standing behind me. I remained calm. “Why, hello there.” I said casually. “What brings you four to this fine location?”
The dark ginger she-cat, whose name was Russetfur bristled. “What are you doing on our territory?” she hissed. “I am simply passing through this lovely part of the forest.” I replied. “It’s very nice here, isn’t it? Quite a great view of the lake from here.” Rowanclaw, the ginger tom standing next to Russetfur, said in an aggressive voice, “Yes, but it also belongs to us! And if you don’t turn tail and leave within three heartbeats, we shall be happy to escort you out ourselves!” “I mean you four no harm.” I said. “I am just passing through here. And really, how can four ordinary cats like you think you can keep this entire forest to yourselves? It’s not possible.” Cedarheart, the dark gray tom spoke next. “It most certainly is possible! We are more than just four cats, you know! You just happened to stumble across the Shadowclan dawn patrol!” “Yes,” said Tawnypelt, the green-eyed tortoiseshell she-cat who looks a lot like your mother, except for her amber colored eyes. “We are members of Shadowclan. We have been sent on a dawn patrol to renew the border markers, and make sure that they aren’t being crossed.” “Shut up, Tawnypelt!” hissed Russetfur. “He’s heard enough already! We can’t just give away information about our clan to some random loner!” “Um... Well, I think I must have come at a bad time, so... I’ll just be off then.” I said hastily, but with no fear. “Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere,” said Rowanclaw, with a hint of a snarl in his voice. “You’ve heard too much about us, and we can’t let you go and report us to any of your little friends, now can we?” Looking around, the odds of fleeing were not in my favor. Rowanclaw was wrong, I had no friends to report to, but even so, that did not improve my situation. I knew I was going to have to fight my way out.
To be continued...
“Maplestar Speaks: A Rough Kithood”
Part 1
Who’s there? Come out where I can see you. Oh, Flamekit and Darkkit! It’s you! Come into the den before you freeze.
How are you? It’s awful cold this Leaf-Bare, isn’t it? It’s strange, how it’s been much colder and rainier than it has been in many moons, but still no snow has fallen yet. I’ll bet Moongaze isn’t too happy about that. She loves the snow almost as much as I love Greenleaf. I’ve yet to meet a cat who hates it more than her father, though. Brindletail says he would rather eat crow-food forever than be stuck out in the snow. But enough of that. What can I do for you two?
What? You want me to tell you about when I was a kit? Well... I don’t really like to talk about that too much, Darkkit. It’s a little depressing to some cats. It’s a bit long, too, and it’s late. You two need sleep. And Great Starclan, was it ever a long time ago, too. Back before this clan or any of the other clans came to the lake territories. But, if you really want me to, okay. I’ll tell you.
It was a long time ago, back in the old forest territory. My parents were loners who fled from the twolegplace, because their twolegs would constantly kick and beat them. My mother was a ginger tabby she-cat named Honey. She is where I got my red pelt from, and yours too, Flamekit. She was almost as bright as Firestar, The leader of Thunderclan. My father was a golden yellow tom who went by the name of Dawson. Have either of you two met Dustpelt, the brown warrior in Thunderclan? He looks just like my father, except Dustpelt has slightly darker fur than he did, and my father’s eyes were a dark gray color similar to mine, and yours too, Darkkit.
My mother and father were introduced to the same twoleg nest at a young age, and as you can probably guess, they fell in love. The twolegs they were living with never took my father to the cutter, however, so my mother eventually ended up expecting a kit. Well, the twolegs were not exactly pleased about that either, and became even more abusive. It finally got to a point where my parents decided to flee, in fear of being hurt or killed. So, they fled into the forest one day. Now, in a freak coincidence, they happened to flee on the exact same day that the original four clans left their old homes, and came close to the spot where our camp is right now. It was there that my mother gave birth. The kit was a dark red tom with a very unusual spot on his side. It looked almost exactly like...
A maple leaf. A golden yellow maple leaf. Yes, that kit was me. My parents had never seen a strange mark like this before, but assumed it was just some sort of genetic rebellion in my pelt color. They decided to name me Maple, in honor of the mark.
After about three moons in the forest of dragging around a kit who could barely even walk, it became too much work for them. They needed to face all of the dangers of the forest such as badgers, foxes, and fox traps, while all the time carrying around a kit who couldn’t fight for himself, and kept getting heavier and heavier. So, they made the decision to abandon me in a hollow tree. I just cannot understand why any cat would want to do that to a helpless kit, especially their OWN son, that came from the life of a kittypet! But, they believed that it was the right thing to do. My father caught a rabbit, and while I was asleep, my mother found a hollow tree stump with a hole in it, and put me down inside it with the rabbit. Then, they left me. Just like that. I never saw them again, and to this day, I don’t know where they are. They could be dead, alive, or may have even found their way back to the twolegplace, and stayed there. Perhaps fleeing may not have been everything they thought it would be, and even though the twolegs were cruel, it may have seemed better to live with them than running around in the forest carrying a kit in their jaws. But, we can never know for sure. The sad part about that whole experience though, was that I don’t remember my parents ever saying that they loved me or cared about me before they left. Not even at the moment when they left me in the stump. I will never know if they loved me or cared about what happened to me at all. Ever. I still get sad about that, sometimes. That was my early kithood in a nutshell.
Anyway, I lived in that tree stump until I was able to walk. I fed off of the same rabbit for over a moon, even when it started to spoil. I got a nasty bellyache from it, of course. When it was gone, I resorted to eating beetles that were always crawling around in the stump. Yes, Flamekit, that is the reason I like to eat bugs as prey sometimes.
I never strayed far from the stump when I was young, but after I grew up a little more, I left the stump, and wandered out into the forest. Not long after that, I was wandering around in the forest, and I heard a rustling in the bushes. I went to investigate, and right as I got close to the bush, a large badger jumped out and bowled me over. I flipped over my front paws in mid-air, and landed back on all fours. I retaliated by slashing at it’s muzzle with both of my front paws. To my great surprise, the badger went flying off it’s feet, and came down hard on it’s side. I stood there for a moment, shocked. “Wow,” I thought. “I didn’t even hit it that hard.” The dazed badger then tried to make an attempt to stand up, but fell back down. I decided I’d better end the fight. I went up to the stunned creature, and hit it on the head as hard as I could with a sheathed paw. The badger stopped jerking around, and fell down, unconscious. I was very shocked. I couldn’t believe that I had taken on a full grown badger by myself. I guess my parents were wrong about me not being able to fend for myself.
After that little episode, I continued to venture through the forest. One day, I unknowingly strayed into Shadowclan’s territory. I thought I smelled something strange, but I ignored it. Turns out, it was the Shadowclan border marker I smelled. I was just padding up to a large interestingly shaped boulder, when I heard a voice say, “Stop! Not one step further!” I turned around, and saw a group of four cats standing behind me. I remained calm. “Why, hello there.” I said casually. “What brings you four to this fine location?”
The dark ginger she-cat, whose name was Russetfur bristled. “What are you doing on our territory?” she hissed. “I am simply passing through this lovely part of the forest.” I replied. “It’s very nice here, isn’t it? Quite a great view of the lake from here.” Rowanclaw, the ginger tom standing next to Russetfur, said in an aggressive voice, “Yes, but it also belongs to us! And if you don’t turn tail and leave within three heartbeats, we shall be happy to escort you out ourselves!” “I mean you four no harm.” I said. “I am just passing through here. And really, how can four ordinary cats like you think you can keep this entire forest to yourselves? It’s not possible.” Cedarheart, the dark gray tom spoke next. “It most certainly is possible! We are more than just four cats, you know! You just happened to stumble across the Shadowclan dawn patrol!” “Yes,” said Tawnypelt, the green-eyed tortoiseshell she-cat who looks a lot like your mother, except for her amber colored eyes. “We are members of Shadowclan. We have been sent on a dawn patrol to renew the border markers, and make sure that they aren’t being crossed.” “Shut up, Tawnypelt!” hissed Russetfur. “He’s heard enough already! We can’t just give away information about our clan to some random loner!” “Um... Well, I think I must have come at a bad time, so... I’ll just be off then.” I said hastily, but with no fear. “Oh, no. You’re not going anywhere,” said Rowanclaw, with a hint of a snarl in his voice. “You’ve heard too much about us, and we can’t let you go and report us to any of your little friends, now can we?” Looking around, the odds of fleeing were not in my favor. Rowanclaw was wrong, I had no friends to report to, but even so, that did not improve my situation. I knew I was going to have to fight my way out.
To be continued...
NORMAL Mary sue.
Stereotypical Mary sue.
