Hey everybody, chapter 29 of Mapleshade's Destiny here. As of next week, thanks to school, I will have almost zero access to the internet. I'll do what I can to update but it may take a while.

So many people hate Shredtail! Fantastic! And I'm over here feeling sorry for him. Is it wrong for me to want to write a whole other story about Shredtail, redeeming him somehow, even though I'm also the one who wrote Shredtail as an irredeemable cat with no tragic story causing him to become evil?

Anyway, enjoy!

When she awoke, it was still dark. The stars of Silverpelt hung overhead, their twinkling silver lights bringing only the smallest comfort to the tortoiseshell she-cat. The moon was nearly full.

Then Mapleshade realized that she'd gone to sleep under the cover of a bush. There was no way she could see the stars.

She shot to her feet, bristling and looking around for her kits, until a familiar form made her halt in place. It was a dark tabby, and for a second Mapleshade bristled, thinking of Shredtail, until she recognized that the cat's eyes weren't green but amber.

"… Cedarpelt," she mewed in recognition.

The StarClan warrior lowered her head in what could have been agreement or greeting or shame. "Mapleshade," she murmured.

"What do you want?" she demanded bluntly. "I have to go to the river and try to meet Pebblestep as soon as possible, and if this dream is going to keep me asleep longer than I need to be –"

"No," Cedarpelt meowed quickly. "No, you – I won't keep you long." She was avoiding Mapleshade's gaze, and she felt her pelt prickle suspiciously.

"What do you want?" she repeated.

Cedarpelt closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mapleshade."

Anger, white-hot and overpowering, rushed through her and she bristled, unsheathing her claws. "Oh, you're sorry? You're sorry? What do you know? Have you even seen anything that's happened to me?"

"I have," the StarClan warrior sighed. "I should have given you more guidance. I was supposed to help you avoid your prophecy, and instead you're already on the path."

With a snarl, Mapleshade arched her back and flattened her ears. "You regret it now? Now you're sorry? Now, after one of my kits has been murdered and I've been exiled from my Clan, now you say you could have done more?" She dug her claws into the soft earth beneath her. "I should shred you!"

Alarm flickered in Cedarpelt's eyes before another cat charged out of the bushes behind her, leaping to block Mapleshade. It was a russet and tortoiseshell she-cat that Mapleshade recognized as Redsky – Cedarpelt's daughter. "Wait!" the she-cat cried. "Don't attack her."

Cedarpelt made a noise of sharp surprise. "Redsky, don't. This doesn't involve you."

"Oh, sure, now that you're both here, I feel a lot better," Mapleshade spat. "Why doesn't Sparrowstar show up to complete the family reunion?

Redsky and Cedarpelt exchanged uneasy glances, and Mapleshade was briefly disconcerted – was Sparrowstar dead? – before pushing aside her confusion to glare at them. "What's the point of telling me about a prophecy if you're completely helpless to stop it from happening? Did you think I'd just figure out what to do on my own?"

"No," Cedarpelt mewed. "I can't directly interfere, Mapleshade. I'm here to give you guidance, and there wasn't much else I could do. You were – are – very hostile when we met, and I thought you would be unhappy if I visited more."

"You were worried about my happiness so you abandoned me so that I could lose everything I love," Mapleshade hissed. She saw fear glimmer in Redsky's gaze, though in Cedarpelt's amber eyes there was only a miserable acceptance. "I will never forgive you for this, Cedarpelt. Never visit my dreams again."

"I'm sorry," Cedarpelt murmured once more, and the dream began to fade.

"Mama!"

Mapleshade snapped out of her sleep and sat up, alarmed at Flamekit's cry. At her side, Breezekit and Seedkit were still asleep. The two hadn't left each other's side once since Skykit's death, huddling so close it was as if they were trying to become one cat. Mapleshade pressed her muzzle to their foreheads gently before getting up to see what her ginger son wanted.

He was standing outside near the place they made dirt, staring at something moving near Twolegplace. "Mama," he exclaimed, looking up at her, "what are those things?"

She squinted to get a better look and bristled immediately. "Oh, StarClan – those are Twolegs!"

They stood upright on their hind paws, their pelts strangely colored and with a mop of fur on their head. There were two large ones and one Twoleg kit with long, cream-colored hair. It was noisy, making high-pitched squeals, while the larger Twolegs milled around and mumbling things too quietly for Mapleshade to understand.

"What's a Twoleg, Mama?" Flamekit mewed. Mapleshade looked down at her son. In the half-moon since her exile from ThunderClan, he had lost weight – they all had, with only one cat to catch food in the middle of leaf-bare – and there was a haunted depth to his gaze that suggested what he'd seen Shredtail do still echoed in his dreams.

She blinked, realizing he was still waiting for an answer to his question. "They're – well, they're those things. Big and slow, and they can't talk. They don't like cats." This was of course not strictly true, since some Twolegs did keep kittypets, but Mapleshade had no intention of telling Flamekit that they were safe to be around. She wanted to warn him of any possible danger in case something happened while she was out hunting or asleep.

"They look funny," he meowed, staring at them curiously. "And they smell funny, too."

"I've told you about Thunderpaths, haven't I?" Mapleshade checked. "The Twolegs have great big monsters that eat them up and go back and forth on the Thunderpath, then spit them out somewhere else."

Flamekit grimaced, wrinkling his nose. "Ew, that's disgusting! Why do they do that?"

"Twolegs are weird," Shredpaw shrugged. "Maybe they go places too far to walk?"

"No one knows," Mapleshade replied, pushing away her memory and eyeing the Twolegs nervously. They were coming towards her den, though they hadn't seen her and Flamekit yet.

"Can we show Breezekit and Seedkit?" her son mewed, standing up on his hind legs to get a better view.

Alarm sparked in Mapleshade. "Get down!" she hissed, but was interrupted with a shrill yowl from the smallest Twoleg.

Flamekit didn't hear her over the sound, still propped up on his hind legs. Mapleshade's eyes grew huge as the Twoleg kit approached, followed by the larger Twolegs. Her legs were frozen, ears pressed flat against her skull and eyes huge.

"What are they doing?" Flamekit's frightened meow made her move. One big Twoleg was reaching out for him, its weird, grasping paw touching his scruff.

"Get away from my son!" Mapleshade raged, lashing out with her claws and striking the Twoleg's hand. It pulled back with a sound of surprise – but it didn't let go of Flamekit. Her son was lifted away with its hand, struggling and yowling in terror.

"Mama, help!" he shrieked, swiping wildly at the paw holding him.

Mapleshade flew into a fury, spitting and snarling as she leaped at the Twolegs, clawing at them wildly. One of them let out a yowl when one of her claws gouged deep into its leg and it raised Flamekit even higher. He let out a thin wail.

The little Twoleg was screeching, a throbbing wail coming out of her as she stumbled backwards and fell onto her rear, still wailing. The Twoleg not holding Flamekit captive picked up the little one and began to move back hastily towards Twolegplace.

Flamekit feebly tried to bite the hairless paw grabbing his scruff, but he had no such luck. His warbling cries rang in Mapleshade's ears as she remembered what she had once been told by the old rogue Oleander in Twolegplace.

"That stupid trash-hunter took your mentor there into this place to show him around, then got himself caught by Twoleg kits. They killed him while Breezepaw – Breezestar – was watching. Twoleg kits are vicious."

"Mama, help!" Flamekit yowled, struggling frantically. Mapleshade spat and clawed at the Twoleg in a truly ferocious display, but inwardly she knew it was over. She couldn't reach her son, and she couldn't do enough damage to the Twoleg that it would let him go.

Finally, she bunched up all her muscles in an effort to leap up and grab onto her son. Before she was able, however, one of the Twoleg's huge feet swung around and hit her right in the belly, sending her hurtling backwards several fox-lengths. Mapleshade's head swam with pain as she heard Flamekit's shrieking become louder and more frantic.

"Mama!" he yowled at the top of his longs. "Mama, are you okay?"

She wanted desperately to reply, but Mapleshade found that her breath wouldn't come. She couldn't speak, couldn't stand. All she could do was listen as her son's cries grew fainter and fainter as the Twoleg carried him away.

Oh, StarClan. Oh, what have I done to my kits?