Maplethorn awoke in the Starless Forest and the first thing she saw was her mother. Scorchflame's fur was now rippled with wounds and bite marks had been present in her ears. Maplethorn gasped at the sudden transformation and wanted to apologise for leaving her mother alone  with the rabid she-cat but no words came out.

"I'm fine, my daughter," Scorchflame purred, still beautiful, breathtakingly so, despite her ghastly wounds.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Maplethorn mewed, feeling pathetic. It seemed as though nothing was going her way, no plans of hers seemed to be functioning. Perhaps this was StarClan's way to tell her she was travelling down the wrong path.

"You couldn't have done anything," Scorchflame replied. "Mapleshade's fits of anger aren't something that even the most experienced can control. We only sparked her trauma...because...well, I think you understand."

"An almost perfectly-functioning loving family?" Maplethorn asked, well-aware of the she-cat's background.

Scorchflame nodded and inhaled deeply before speaking, "Maplethorn, today we're going to train."

She blinked, confused. Didn't they always train whenever she came to the Starless Forest? Perhaps her mother had decided they would start training more ferociously than before.

Scorchflame smiled devilishly. A smile that promised tonight would be difficult. Maplethorn winced in response as she waited for her mother to speak.

"We're going to face a fear of yours today," Scorchflame purred. "One that I finally remembered to tackle after your incident today."

Ohhhh thrice-damned mouse dung, Maplethorn flinched as her mother approached her, ears flattened, cowering slightly, as though her mother was actually her fear instead.

"Water," Scorchflame meowed as Maplethorn finally heard the rushing of a stream beside them and instinctively leapt back, right into Scorchflame as her mother nudged her forwards, like a mother trying to persuade her stubborn kit to leave the Nursery and socialise with others.

"A cat with a weakness is a cat that's readily able to be exploited," Scorchflame told Maplethorn once again as she stared wide-eyed at the rushing water.

The water swirled around her, the only barrier to her clanmates as they sat, gossiping and giggling, watching her with their beady eyes, none of them stepping forward to help her. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as they watched her suffer. Not even her sister, Silentpaw stepped up to help.

Maplethorn flexed her claws as she readied herself to leap forward, to tear their throats out, but the water seemed to hold her back, suffocating her. She watched the bubbles floating from her mouth and upwards, among the swirling leaves, twigs and debris as she gave a yowl of frustration and fright, water immediately rushing into her mouth as she opened it, forcing itself down her throat, choking her-

"Maplethorn!" she heard Scorchflame screech, slapping her on the face.

She recoiled at the impact and raised her paw, preparing a slap of her own as her mother meowed, panicked, "Are you okay? You looked like you were...drowning."

Maplethorn muttered, tail swishing as she fought to control her roaring heartbeat, "Pretty much."

Scorchflame glanced at her with concern one more time before saying, "We're getting in."

"In the river?!" Maplethorn shrieked, taking another leap back, only to be blocked by her mother again.

"Yes," Scorchflame meowed. "Ever heard of exposure therapy?"

Her mother practically dragged her into the roaring water as she struggled to get a grip on land, claws digging into the ground with all her might, yet her mother was surprisingly strong for some cat with such a delicate frame.

The moment the ice-cold water touched her fur, Maplethorn let out a blood curdling wail, so loud and so pained it seemed as though she was being skinned alive, eaten by rats and thrown into a fire to burn all at the same time.

"Calm down, the water's not deep," Scorchflame gritted her teeth as she fought to keep a now rabid Maplethorn under control, which was rather difficult considering the amount of splashing she did. "You're going to attract attention, and not the good kind."

Maplethorn ignored her mother's words and continued to splash around in fear, even though Scorchflame was holding onto her scruff so tightly that beads of blood began to seep out. Her mother sighed and closed her eyes, the water turning calmer, so peaceful that only a gentle ripple disturbed the surface.

Maplethorn's screams of utter terror didn't cease, however, if anything, they seemed to grow in volume at the sudden change of environment that now happened.

"You're impossible," Scorchflame growled softly as she dropped Maplethorn in the shallow water and stepped back.

Maplethorn hissed and clawed blindly as she scrambled to find dry land. Bubbles of air escaped from her mouth as a paw finally managed to hit the dark, moist ground of the Starless Forest.

With one heave, she shot out of the water faster than half a blink of an eye and lay gasping on the bank beside the river and shuddered, shaking the water from her fur as she continued to shove air into her lungs, the memory of the swim still stuck in her mind.

"See," Scorchflame beamed. "Not so difficult."

"Yeah right," Maplethorn growled, deliberately stepping away from the water and licked her paws.

Scorchflame wrapped herself around Maplethorn and cleaned her fur for a couple of second, none of them disrupting the silence until Maplethorn spoke,

"Mother...did...did you just change the river's flow?"

"Yes I did," Scorchflame replied, grooming her hind leg as she gave a long, wide-mouthed yawn.

"But, how can you change the environment? It's fixed and beyond our control," Maplethorn meowed, confused, tilting her head to the side.

"Nothing here is real, remember?" Scorchflame meowed. "Apart from us deceased beings, everything here can be changed according to our will."

"Right," Maplethorn responded, as though her mother's explanation solved everything. "But I'm not getting into that damned river again."

"Oh yes you are," Scorchflame meowed firmly. "You're going into that river every time you come to the Forest until you can learn to continue to try to quell your fear so that you don't display it openly."

Maplethorn nodded at her words and Scorchflame cut in with a harsh,

"And don't think that you'll try to cut your lessons short by not sleeping and waking up early."

Maplethorn blinked as she said, "Yes ma'am. Can I wake up now?"

"Considering the amount of stress and trauma you went through today, I think you may wake up."

Maplethorn obliged as she opened her eyes, greeted by the rising moon and millions of stars inked into the fabric of darkness.