A Gift For A Curse (Closed for Shad)

It was a normal night in ShadowClan when Maplekit adventured out of the nursery for the first time. Without a mother to watch only her, it was easy to slip out as the other queens cared for their direct spawn. Amberclaw was nice and all, but it was difficult for him to be a mother without the natural hormones a she-cat posessed. No matter, Maplekit was young, strong and beautiful. Her orange eyes glowed the color of a pumpkin. So full of life much older than most of the camp, all but one. The tiny she-cat would be unknown to anyone, unknown to them other than Maplekit, the she-calico that lost her mother at birth. To one cat, she would be much more. She would be a daily, stark reminder of a horrid day of their life that had plagued them through eight whole lives. When the Dark Forest left and the cat was on the front lines, he had been given a small gift in the form of a half orphaned kit. So innocent and subtle.

As her tiny paws padded aimlessly, dodging around cats much older than herself, her eyes landed on a crack in a rock. She had gotten lost, and didn't remember what the nursery quite looked like. Ashamed to ask a big cat doing their business, Maplekit charged ahead. Slipping through the crack, Maplekit found herself inside a cave like structure. "H-hello?" she called out, frozen in fear. "I need help, I don't know where I am. I'm going to sit here and wait." Maplekit sat down hard, curling her silky tails around her snow white paws. Sitting and waiting is what the queens told Maplekit to do if she found herself lost. She would do it now. Purring a quiet tune, the haunting kit waited for help to arrive. Or was the cat to find her waiting for her help?

It hadn't been too long since Thrushstar had finally woken from the injuries that he had received in battle. His den had been shrouded in a dark silence since that day aside from the frequent visits made by Alderheart and occasionally some warriors. He had a lot of time to think as he recovered, but it was almost deafening listening to his own thoughts all of the time. Typically, tey were mixed-- some were good, some were bad. The bottled anger that seemed to firmly house itself in his heart sometimes would seep out but he would quickly gather them back up and force them into the back of his mind. However, today was different. Today, there was a new little visitor, one he had never seen before.

As soon as he heard the kit's voice, his eyes opened lazily as he lifted his head to see who it was. This wasn't the first time that something like this had happened, but there was something a little off. Not bothering to move the rest of his body that lay sprawled in his nest, his eyes focused on the kit. "What are you doing... here, little one?" he asked, his voice suddenly more raspy and probably more frightening than usual. It took him off guard a little, but he couldn't help it.

Maplekit stood, wandering towards the raspy voice. It was scary, but there seemed to be a tug at her paws to go to where it was coming from. What was she actually doing there? "All the queens were focused on their kits so I went on an adventure." she stated pretty boldly. Her round, orange eyes were newly opened and not well customed to the dark as an adult's were. With a squeak, the she-kit tumbled forward into the elderly leader after tripping over his paws. Pausing for a second after she fell, the kit instinctively began to snuggle closer to the warm body, brushing up against Thrushstar's neck. "My momma died. Amberclaw doesn't pay much attention to me. I'm bored." Her tiny kitten paws kneeded the warm body. She didn't get many snuggles.

This was annoying. When the small kit pressed against him, he instinctively moved his head away, trying to put some space between him and Maplekit. Good to know that Amberclaw has been teaching this kit manners. "Maybe some of your... little friends can make you have some fun," he said, his tail twitching with irritation. He knew he should have some patience with her. Judging by her size, she was barely old enough to exit the nursery. She wouldn't know too much yet about the rules of the clan. With a heavy sigh, he gave in for a second, looking down and studying the kit for a moment. She looked oddly familiar. The markings on her fur and the color of her eyes were strangely and almost terrifyingly comforting. What was going on? How could this be? "Say, what is your... name?" he asked her, curious to know just who she was. A small nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him that he already knew but he couldn't put a paw on it...

"Maplekit. Hi, I'm Maplekit." she said, standing suddenly. "Who are you? I forgot to ask." The calico she-cat neared the front entrance to sniff at a leaf that had blown in. A bright beam of moon light hit her pelt, glowing her pelt and giving her a starry glow, much like a StarClan warrior. Her head turned and she made eye contact with Thrushstar, her leaf green eyes wide and innocent, then squinty and curious. The whole moment lasted one second, before she turned and padded to the other side of the den, away from Thrushstar but still visible. The whole den was so new and interesting.

Suddenly everything fell into place. The feeling in the back of his mind, the way that he instinctively wanted to pull away from her. He did know her and now it all made sense. The sudden drop in his stomach made him feel sick as his head began to swim. "R-Really?" he asked in disbelief. This couldn't be her. There's no way. Why would Starclan send her back? Was this to taunt him further? No, Leopardfang had set things straight. He had to start acting better. He couldn't keep gong like he had before. He just had to calm down and ignore it... Let it pass. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he could feel his shot nerves relax slightly but it didn't help too much. Awkwardly glancing back at the small kit, he finally got around to answering her question. "I... am Thrushstar," he told her. "Shadowclan's leader. And you're in... my den."

Maplekit's eyes widened. Thrushstar the leader? That was a mistake. Maplekit bowed her head, amazed to be in such royalty of StarClan. However, that second passed and Maplekit rejoined into her kittenhood state. "I'm going to be leader one day." The calico she-kit insisted as she kept exploring the darkening cave. "Amberclaw insists that's what the stars want." She laughed at such an oburd thing. Stars wanting things? She heard of StarClan, but it was a 'quiet subject' Amberclaw said.

Just knowing her name was beginning to be too much for Thrushstar. She couldn't be here. This was all just a big trick. Yet, even if this was all real, he was going to play along. He couldn't let her know just how terrifying this was to the old leader. It wouldn't be that big of a deal really if this wasn't the second time this had happened. Taking a deep breath, he tried to keep himself calm. "It is a great goal to strive for, little one," he told her calmly. "It is good to know that Amberclaw is wanting to help you in your journey."

"I'm going to be an apprentice soon. Who is going to be my mentor, Thrushstar?" she asked curiously, crouching to pounce on the leader's tail. She came up triumphant, standing up with the defeated tail of Thrushstar. She quickly dropped it, turning to leap on a leaf coming in to the entrance.

After he had spoken last, his mind had already begun to wander, dazed and confused by what had just turned up. It was the small kit's voice that had snapped him back to reality but he felt guilty for not quite knowing what she said. It took a few minutes to piece it together but even then, he wasn't quite sure how to answer. "Oh, I... am not sure yet. I have to... assess which warrior would be best suited to train you," he told her as he watched her move from his tail to a leaf. She certainly was a kit. That was a bit of a relief.

"Can you be my mentor? They say you're the best warrior ever." Maplekit yawned, plopping down in the entrance. She was getting sleepy and her eyes shut slowly, and she jumped back awake, blinking at Thrushstar in the dark.

He watched her with very little expression on his face as she tried her best to stay awake. It was a little cute but his nerves were keeping him from really feeling anything about it. "We... We shall see," he told her. "Now why don't... you scurry along back to the nursery... okay? I need some rest."

OOC: sorry for crappy post D;

Maplekit nodded and stood wearily to her paws. With a yawn, she scuttled out of the den to the nursery.

OoC: Make the apprentice topic when ready bae <3