Let them hate me provided that they fear me.

━─┉┈┈◈❖◈┈┈┉─━

When Maplepaw's eyes groggily opened, she stretched slightly and blinding white-hot pain shot through her entire body.

"Well, this is just going to be joyful to move around in," she snapped at herself before hauling her body forwards without mercy.

Every step was followed by a sharp stab of pain that shot through her like a bolt of lightning and Maplepaw gritted her teeth as she dragged her body forwards. Running for hours on end was something to be left for WillowClan. Not for MistClan. Not for her.

Maplepaw grumbled to herself as she marched forwards, stomping down heavily with every step. Her priority right now was to find something to eat. Her stomach snarled in agreement and she rolled her eyes as she dug her claws into the dirt.

[TIMESKIP]

It was nearly sun-high and Maplepaw could smell prey and...dog? That was an interesting combination, to say the least. However, Maplepaw's stomach led her there, and before her mind could even protest, sombre-grey slabs were looming over her. Maplepaw ventured in, her hunger not allowing her to do anything otherwise and her eyes immediately began to sweep around, hoping to find something salvageable to eat. Her gaze stopped on a dead sparrow and she pounced on it, her instincts immediately taking over, the pain in her body forgotten and in just a few seconds, what previously was a sparrow was reduced to a pile of thin, scraggly bones.

Maplepaw inhaled heavily. Being full had never felt so good to her as it did just then. Maplepaw still gnawed on the bones to lick out the marrow. However, only moments later did she begin to hear the commotion around her.

She stared up at a ring of enraged dogs. Their barks, growls and snarls were growing louder by the second before a particularly sharp and piercing bark silenced them all. The voice yapped three times before all of the dogs dropped their heads and left her alone, their tail between their legs. When the voice barked for the last time, Maplepaw was certain that a meow was laced behind it.

Confused and frightened by the sudden turn of events, Maplepaw fled, slower than what she would've liked. She bit down on her tongue as she ignored the violent stabs of pain in her sides and didn't stop to catch her breath.

She only slowed down once she had arrived in a sunny meadow. Her entire body ached and she knew it was only a matter of time before she wrecked it beyond repair. It was strange for her, not to have Silentpaw around, checking her and constantly giving her advice.

Her ears pricked up when a sound floated by. It didn't sound threatening. It sounded angelic and soft. Maplepaw was intrigued and stalked closer to the sound.

She saw a brown tabby she-cat frolicking through the meadows, singing and laughing as if she had no care in the world. Maplepaw ran after the cat. There was something about her that made her seem to familiar and yet, so foreign at the same time.

"Hello!" Maplepaw yowled at the cat, hoping to catch her attention, nearly face-planting into the grass from exhaustion and pain.

The brown tabby turned around gracefully and asked,

"Who are you and why do you seek me?"

Maplepaw stood there for a few second before saying,

"Um, you interest me?"

The tabby walked closer and said,

"You're a clan cat. Why so far away from home?"

Maplepaw shook her head and looked down at her paws. Her temporary exile was not something she wanted to discuss with anyone. 

She said clan, her thought rang out, so clearly and loudly that she was afraid the she-cat could hear it.

"You said clan," Maplepaw blurted out and before she could stop herself, she continued,

"Who are you? Were you formerly a clan cat? Did you get exiled too-"

Maplepaw suddenly snapped her mouth shut as she realised that she had given away too much information about herself.

The she-cat sighed but her green eyes were still shimmering with happiness. Maplepaw was taken aback by the she-cat's carefree-ness. In a way, this cat reminded Maplepaw of Silentpaw. But she seemed...free.

"What is your name?" Maplepaw asked.

"My name is Speckledpatch. Now tell me, what is yours?" the she-cat laughed.

"Maplepaw...aren't you the cat who elders and queens tell stories about?" Maplepaw asked.

Speckledpatch's eyes widened slightly as she said,

"Echostar told you the story?"

Maplepaw frowned,

"Who's Echostar? Cinderstar's our leader. Also, what story?"

Speckledpatch's eyes immediately flooded with sorrow as she whispered,

"Echostar was the leader before Cinderfawn, I mean, Cinderstar. She was my mother...and I never said goodbye. As for my tail...it's a long story."

Maplepaw queried,

"I'm patient. Could you please tell me? I'll tell you my story in return."

Speckledpatch looked up before saying,

"Okay, then. I guess since we're both exiles, it seems only fair. I was an inquisitive kit, a curious one. Even after I nearly got myself killed with a near-death encounter with a fox. The medicine cats followed me ever since they realised my inquisitiveness. They whispered about me all the time and soon enough, I joined their ranks as an apprentice. When I became a medicine cat, I willingly left the clan. It was as if the outside world was calling to me and I couldn't stay in MistClan, penned up forever. I was so overjoyed when I snuck out of camp that night that I frolicked, sang and danced the entire night long. When it was sun-rise the next day, I ran across a Thunderpath but was so tired that I couldn't move another pawstep. That was when a monster rolled over my tail and I amputated it. It took me some time to adjust to life without one, but you know, Echostar always told me to look at the world as if the sparrow is half-uneaten than half-eaten. And that is my story."

Maplepaw blinked in response before asking,

"Is it true that you sing?"

Speckledpatch's eyes looked away from the butterfly that was fluttering past and replied,

"Yes, I do sing. Why is it that you ask me?"

Maplepaw quivered slightly as she replied,

"In my foster mother's story, she said that on calm nights in new-leaf, we will be able to hear a cat singing."

Speckledpatch's whiskers twitched slightly but didn't reveal any other emotions she possessed as she asked Maplepaw,

"Now, you promised me that you would tell me your story. What is it?"

Maplepaw's ears drooped and cleared her throat before she began,

"My mother died when I was born along with one of my sisters. I was then given to Heatherstalk. I can't hiss. Never been able to since a flood ruptured some part of my throat. And now I'm apprenticed to Tinycloud of all cats."

Speckledpatch frowned slightly before asking,

"Who was your mother?"

Maplepaw rolled her eyes before snarling, her tone filled with exasperation,

"Take a guess. Begins with 'Scorch' and ends with 'Flame'."

Speckledpatch jumped slightly before softly saying,

"Hey, Maplepaw. Has Heatherstalk ever told you that any act of kindness, no matter how small, is never wasted?"

Maplepaw huffed before saying,

"I have been told that one sentence many, many times. But it wasn't Heatherstalk who told me about it. It was my sister, Silentpaw."

Speckledpatch looked at Maplepaw and said,

"Come on, young one. Let's go to my habitation. I have many, many stories to tell you. You may not be a kit anymore, but that does not mean you don't get to learn about the truth."

Maplepaw stepped forwards and a searing blast of pain followed. She winced and when Speckledpatch realised that she wasn't following, she asked Maplepaw,

"What's wrong?"

Maplepaw grunted in reply, looking over her shoulder to see a gaping wound on her back staring up at her.

Speckledpatch sighed as her eyes landed on the wound and said,

"Wait right here, I'll be back soon."

Isn't it peaceful, my dear? the voice purred.

The adrenaline from the dog-place had finally worn off and Maplepaw was growing sleepier by the second.

"Indeed," she slurred to the imaginary voice before her head fell onto the soft grass and she plummeted into the dark void below.

━─┉┈┈◈❖◈┈┈┉─━

Don't fear me for who I am. Fear me for what I am capable of.