I Would Have Been Better. Nobody Would Betray Me.

Mapleface had left Thrushstar alone for many, many moons. She stayed to herself in StarClan, but spent her time watching her brother and every move. For a while after their interaction, Mapleface had felt better. Her face had returned to beautiful and whole. But, as the moons went on ShadowClan, her clan, went rotten. Traitors. Murders. Darkness returned like a cool wave, chilling her soul and turning her face back to scarred and ugly tissue. She paced endlessly, going through her options. Gingerheart had stopped visiting again, annoyed with her daughter's sour mood. She prepared to return to Thrushstar.

It was a dark night; the moon was small so the stars shone on their own. Thrushstar was sleeping restlessly, like usual. The shadows were easy for her to move in, so she stayed in the corner. Her green eye glowed slightly, her pelt shimmered like a crystal pool. Her paws twinkled. Licking her lips, she slunk forward, standing over the sleeping leader. Slowly, she went to tap his shoulder with her paw. Her paw went straight through him, but it was sure to send a tingle through the unsuspecting leader. She retreated back to her shadows, saying nothing and waiting for her brother to wake.

For a while had become desensitized to his nightmares. Usually, it was the same one night and night again. Granted, it still kept him from sleeping like he should, but he stopped waking up in a frantic panic like he used to. However, that had changed once more after he found out what Brokenflame did. After putting her down himself, he couldn't shake the rage and the guilt as well as the distrust of the clan. She was his blood after all. His own kin disgracing the clan... Who could he trust anymore?

Now the nightmares were even more vivid and different. Some of them showed the desperate face of Brokenflame as he killed her like she had a major change of heart just seconds before her life was ended. The guilt that flooded over him was overbearing. On the other hand, there were nights where the whole situation was switched. Brokenflame had gotten the best of him and tore his soul from his body several times with a twisted smile too dark for words to describe. Of course, these were mixed in with the several nightmares he still had about Mapleface. Fortunately, they had settled down since he met her so long ago in his dream, but with the new turn of events, even those nightmares had twisted and become something new. Brokenflame still haunted those dreams too, but rather these dreams put him in her place as the murderer of the other clan cats with the she-cat leading the clan. All the while he was terrified as his own clan turned against him for the deeds they thought he had done while Mapleface's voice, along with the voices of the Thunderclan cats and Skyclan cat screamed in his head about why he couldn't save them and it wash is fault they were dead.

Unfortunately, this was the dream that haunted his mind before he jolted awake, letting out a cry of despair and terror, his eyes wide with horror and his claws digging into the ground before he realized that it was all just a dream. Breathing heavily, he stopped, looked around to get a bearing on his surroundings before his eyes caught the glow of another presence. Locking eyes with Mapleface and still half out of it, all of the kit-like fear he had stowed away for so long came to surface as he thought that his dream had come to life. "Get away! I didn't do anything!" he yowled before he finally came to his senses (as much as he could) and realized she wasn't attacking him... yet. His breathing becoming more frantic for a moment, he just watched the she-cat, waiting for any kind of move. But there was nothing.

"What... What do you want? If you've come to kill me, then do it already!" he hissed.

Mapleface laughed, a chilling and cold laugh. "But brother, if I killed you, you couldn't follow through with your promise!" she moved forward, her glittering fur throwing no shadows or illuminating nothing. She circled her brother, her tail swishing behind her. "You let cats be murdered, and the murder was our kin. You are not fit to lead anymore." she said darkly, smoothly, her eyes never leaving her brothers. "You made a promise to me many moons ago, brother. I let it go because I was satisfied with how you were acting, but now..." she paused, her green eyes menacing. "You're not. ShadowClan looks like it can't control its own members. ShadowClan has allowed WindClan to take over two territories." her voice got angrier and angrier until it was a snap and a hiss.

She stopped circling, her back turned to Thrushstar. Taking a deep breath, she put a sweet tone into her vocal cords. "Brother, you're tired." she said sweetly, sounding like she was when she was a kit. "You don't play anymore! I am lonely." When she turned around, her face was young and new, eager and full of life. "I was going to be leader, and you my deputy. Remember? We used to play it all the time." Mapleface walked back to her brother and batted his face softly, sending cold sparks down him. "It can be like good times, when we were young, only you would have to speak for me!" she said happily, purring and rubbing his face. "Mother would be so proud! Her two kits leading ShadowClan to glory." With a nod, she sat back, curling her sleek tail around her paws.

As his brain finally began to fully function once again, his breathing slowed down. His thoughts became less fuzzy. However, he could still feel his heart trying to pound out of his chest and adrenaline rush through him. When he could finally think straight again, he paused, shivered a few times as Mapleface brushed against him, and tried to relax. "How, though?" he asked. "How would you be able to fix all of this? I've tried everything! I tried being merciful. I tried being open-minded. I accepted ideas and gave the clan a voice. I've avoided battles and conflict. I've created a better reputation for Shadowclan! I kept everyone safe! I... I tried..." he muttered, his voice trailing off as all of his fear quickly turned into a kit's desperation. "What did I do wrong? I can't even trust them anymore! After all of the things I have done for them, they treat me like this! I've thought through every logical answer. I've created every situation in my head a million times over, and it's all gone wrong! How can you fix this?!" His eyes did not leave Mapleface's. At this point, it was pretty obvious that she'd won. He just wanted answers.

Mapleface purred caressly, rolling her eyes as if it was obvious to any cat with a brain. "Silly brother, I am a StarClan cat! I have an advantage! I can take a look and see what any clan is doing at any time! Can you do that brother?" she paused again, craning her neck to peer outside. "And I know a lot more about how things work. I've talked with many leaders from the past. I know secrets you wouldn't even think about!" she lied softly, turning her head back to her brother. "What more could you want? We would be an excellent team, brother." Mapleface clearly ignored responding to what he had done to make his clan betray him. Mapleface knew telling him what she thought about the matter would only make the babbling kit cry worse.

Mapleface dancing around his question didn't make him feel any better, but at this point, with his body finally calming down, he was too tired to care. With his breathing back to normal and the sound of blood pumping in his ears gone, he took a silent moment to glance out into the empty camp from the entrance of his den. The silence hung heavily in the air as his mind went over each warrior and apprentice in his clan. The only one he could begin to trust right now was Leopardfang, but would he turn on Thrushstar like everyone else?

Moving his gaze from the camp to the ground, the leader had finally given up. "You know what? Do what you want. I don't care anymore. Take over. You can't screw up Shadowclan any worse than I have..." he muttered before turning around and lying down so that he was facing the back wall of the den. "I can't even imagine what Gingerheart and Nightstar are thinking about me right now..."

Mapleface smiled a toothy smile, desperately trying to remain sweet and innocent. "This is a great choice, Thrushstar. I will let you sleep now, but tomorrow I will be eager to start whipping this clan into shape." Mapleface purred happily, slinking back into the very corner, shadows covering her slightly. She laid down, facing her brother. She did not need to sleep, but she would stay here to keep watch in case Thrushstar had any visitors during the night. Excitement made her happy and youthful, her existent long dream of being leader becoming true giving her the glow. 'Do whatever you want.' rang over and over in her head. As she waited for the sun to rise, plans ran through her head. Yes, yes. Things would change. Tomorrow they would start changing and training. Yes, yes. She would play on the recent murders to frighten the other clans. Yes, yes.

Yes, yes.