How Mapleshade’s Drastic Decisions led her to the Dark Forest by Snowpaw

Snowpaw takes a look at Mapleshade’s actions.

Hi! I’m Snowflake here with my second article: How Mapleshade’s Drastic Decisions led her to the Dark Forest. Also this might end up being a really long article so if you want just skip to the last paragraph of each question to get to the summary.

Mapleshade was a bad guy who a lot of people think deserved better. But what did she actually do to make it to the Dark Forest and was it really her fault? Was there good in Mapleshade? What about the rule in the new warrior code? I’m going to cover these questions today.

What did she do?

Mapleshade was a ‘bad guy’ who killed many cats and enjoyed it. No, she really shouldn’t have done that, but, seriously, if you got kicked out of your property (ThunderClan) because your doctor (Ravenwing) thought your triplets didn’t look enough like you and your ex-husband (Appledusk) kicked you out of his home and your kids (Larchkit, Petalkit, and Patchkit) drowned in a swimming pool (the RiverClan border) with a lifeguard watching but not doing anything about it (Frecklewish), how would you feel?! Mad right?! Like dude?!

So she killed her doctor, her ex-husband, and Frecklewish. How she killed her first victim (Ravenwing): Bit him on the neck. Unless she was suffocating him, it wasn’t a cruel death. But I suppose it was at a holy place so StarClan didn’t like that. Also the fact that she dunked him into the Moonpool and left him to drown just in case he still wasn’t dead. Ok that souded pretty bad. How she killed her second victim (Frecklewish): She led her to snakerocks and she got bitten by an adder. Ok, Mapleshade technically didn’t kill her, but I guess StarClan still counted it. When Frecklewish called out for help, I’m pretty confident that even if Mapleshade did help, Frecklewish still wouldn’t have lived because their doctor is dead anyway. And it makes sense that Mapleshade didn’t want to get bitten by that snake either. 3rd Victim (Appledusk): Clawed his throat. OK THAT SOUNDED *uelgh*. So I suppose StarClan really liked Appledusk despite his life choices.

Ok. So I think StarClan could have helped Mapleshade get over her trauma if THEY SENT HER THERE instead of the place where CATS KILL EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME!! The Dark Forest definitely did not help Mapleshade in almost any way. Also Mapleshade never trained in the Dark Forest in her dreams while she was alive.

While she was alive, Mapleshade killed 2 cats by claw, and one cat indirectly, but StarClan doesn’t like revenge. I don’t think we’ll ever know StarClan’s exact reasons for not letting her into StarClan when Ashfur got let in 👀. I think basically any cat who purposely murdered someone, direct or indirect, gets rejected by StarClan. (Wait, what about Tall Shadow…)

Was there good in Mapleshade?

I think there was. When she died, she expected to get sent to StarClan. Surely that’s proof of some good? Before her kits, her only mistake was loving Appledusk. Cats expected her to be the next deputy; her reputation was very high. She was a good cat who died because of miserable rules.

What about the new rule in the warrior code?

So the new rule in the warrior code is:

A warrior or medicine cat may switch their allegiance from one Clan to another but must meet a set of conditions. The cat wishing to change Clans must perform a task of their intended Clan’s choosing. If they succeed, it will be deemed StarClan’s will that they change Clans, and their request will be granted.

Let me tell you, Mapleshade’s entire life would have been entirely different if that rule was just there in the first place. She would probably have ended up being Maplestar. (I would have wanted for that to happen, but then I guess her novella would have been a lot less interesting) Cats like Bluestar wouldn’t have had to suffer with the choice. If they succeed, it will be deemed StarClan’s will that they change Clans, and their request will be granted.

So that wraps up the article! I apologise if I went a bit mad during this. I know by the time I submit this New Years will already be passed, but I hope you had a good one 😀

Thanks for reading and bye! – Snow