"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather underneath the High-Ledge for a meeting!" Waspsting's bold voice rang across camp.

The scent of death, something so familiar in the Forest, wafted into Maplethorn's nostrils, and the tendrils of dread and uncertainty held her in their grasp as her pawsteps faltered towards the High-Ledge.

Waspsting gestured with his tail and Blackcloud, standing beside him, with silent tears dripping down his face, disappeared into the leader's den and re-emerged, a dark, limp creature hanging from his jaws. Maplethorn's next breath died in her throat as she realised the enormity of this moment. She wished it was false, for Waspsting to say something else, but her greatest fear was confirmed as Waspsting opened his mouth,

"Our great leader, Cinderstar, now rests with StarClan. She has been a great leader and we have valued her wise rule over so many moons. Now, it is time for me to stand in her position and continue her legacy. A new deputy shall be chosen tonight, after I visit the Moon-River with Ashpool."

A wave of sorrow flooded throughout the clearing as the clan mourned, heads dipped in loss at their leader. Blackcloud alone hauled her body to possibly the graveyard; no one dared to accompany him, nor did he raise the matter aloud.

Maplethorn sighed heavily, Heatherstalk glaring at her. At least her father finally managed to attain his ambitions, to become the leader of MistClan, perhaps things may take a turn for the better, now that her father stopped plotting to overtake the former leader of MistClan.

"Hey," Shadepool snarled at her, causing Maplethorn's spring-green eyes to connect with his.

"What do you want?" she snapped in return. "A congratulations for becoming the deputy? Well there you have it, now leave."

"I don't like that attitude, warrior," he growled, his voice low as he stalked towards Maplethorn, speaking as though he already was the deputy of the clan.

"And I frankly don't like you," she hissed, before choking on her on breath, thankfully not as severe to draw blood before her ears flattened, causing gasps of shock and a ripple of murmurs from the rest of the clan.

"We'll see about that," Shadepool's eyes darkened, yet a smirk formed on his face. "When I become deputy, I'm going to make your life a living Starless Forest."

I'm already one of them, dear brother and it's not like you could ever match their cruelty, Maplethorn internally rolled her eyes yet slathered a face of muted horror and shock over her face, something she knew that Shadepool was expecting from her.

Once he saw that, she watched him prance away triumphant, believing he had won that match with her. Maplethorn licked her forepaws, grooming the dirt out of them and heard Ghostwhisper approach them, along with Silentpaw, who had somehow slipped out of camp during that announcement.

"Did I miss anything?" she whispered into Maplethorn's ear.

"Cinderstar's dead," she casually replied, looking at her sister for her reaction, wondering if she would break down into tears, the side of her sister she was so used to, however, only a spark of alarm shimmered in her radiant eyes.

"Ohhh, mouse-dung," she hissed, ears flattened against her head and they both knew what she was referring to.

The four cats sat in silence at the edge of camp, watching as most of the clan stood up from their mourning, and went on with their daily routines as though nothing had happened. Yet some, especially the more elderly cats stayed put until it was almost sun-down, for they had been present for a majority of Cinderstar's life.

They exchanged tales amongst each other, Ghostwhisper offering the most, especially those about Cinderstar and what she was like as a deputy, before she ascended to become a leader. Maplethorn genuinely was shocked as to how long the half-blind tom had been around for; he seemed almost ancient, seeming almost as old as the fellow elders of the clan, yet seemed healthy and intact as ever.

Maplethorn was surprised that Waspsting didn't order the clan around immediately, perhaps he'd already set off to the Moon-River to claim his nine lives as soon as possible.

"Hey," Heatherstalk meowed. "You still in there? We asked about what happened during your uh, one moon exile."

"Oh," Maplethorn replied, shaking herself. "Not much. I never met any cats outside of the clan, except for some in a big, red place, where I took shelter for one night, however, those were all so kittypet-like that I trotted out of there in the middle of the night."

Heatherstalk chuckled and Silentpaw gave a smile, but her gaze said something opposite, a glance that said she knew Maplethorn was not revealing something to her.

[TIMESKIP]

"I, Waspstar," the new MistClan leader began, his gilded pelt coated with a thin layer of the remnants of moonlight that managed to seep through the cracks of the foliage. "Appoint Shadepool as my new deputy, for he has demonstrated his skills and the courage necessary to become a deputy within the clan. Although he has not mentored any apprentice, I'm sure all of you can see he is fit for this position."

"Shadepool! Shadepool! Shadepool!" the clan yowled, celebrating the announcement of the new deputy, which was to no one's surprise. Maplethorn watched as Waspstar licked Shadepool's shoulder, a customary thing when declaring the position of a new deputy.

After the cermony, Maplethorn watched as her brother leaped down the High-Ledge and was immediately greeted by Moonpaw, who enthusiatically lauded him with kudos and praise. She knew that Shadepool was absolutely basking in her attention, soaking up the praise as fuel for his overly-inflated ego.

"So," Moonpaw began, her head dipped in reverence. "May I ask something of you?"

"Please do," Shadepool rumbled, in a semi-drunken state from the excessive approval of Moonpaw.

Maplethorn watched as the apprentice whispered something into her brother's ear and her brother's posture stiffened, not out of disapproval, but of something else.

"Of course," he responded, "Consider it done tonight."

The apprentice was ecstatic, entire body bristling with gratitude and happiness, and thanked her brother profusely before she headed off to the apprentices' den and Maplethorn was curious as to what Moonpaw asked of him, but decided it would be better to not pry into matters that weren't hers. But Briarwish could no longer be seen in camp.

"Unfortunately," Waspstar said, deftly slicing through the chatter between the cats, "There is a matter the medicine cats must say."

Ashpool opened his mouth and began to speak. "We have noticed that the leader didn't die because it was StarClan's wish. She died because somecat deliberately poisoned her prey."

Maplethorn's brow furrowed as she tried to decipher what her father had up his fur now. She knew it was some sort of ploy, but had no idea what it was.

"And from their conclusions," Waspstar snarled. "I am deeply sorry that it was my former daughter, Maplethorn, who had done this."

Cries of outrage formed around Maplethorn as the pieces clicked into place a few seconds too late. She was a fool for having an ounce of sympathy for the leader. Her infrequent visits allowed for Waspsting to plot something against her. Now that she was out of the clan, she knew that Waspstar also knew that Silentpaw would have no one to guide her, thus, he could have full control over her. She knew that her father was a control freak and hated anything that wasn't in his power to change but never imagined him trying to exile her from the clan just to gain power over one cat.

"As such, a traitor of our clan shall be exiled forever from all the clans at moon-high tonight!" he roared, gaining cheers of approval from her now ex-clanmates.

"Exile that rogue!"

"She was a traitor from the beginning!"

Maplethorn shook her head, knowing she'd be trying to fight a losing battle if she attempted to disagree with Waspstar.

"Waspstar!" Ghostwhisper yowled, rushing over at full speed, or as quickly as his body could allow him, his voice barely audible over the shouts of her former clanmates, "Briarwish's kits are coming early!"

The entire clan fell into silence as whimpers of pain emerged from the Nursery.

"Attend to her now, you fools! Why are you still gawping at me?" Waspstar growled and as Ghostwhisper ran to the medicine cats' den, Ashpool sprinted to the Nursery where Briarwish was situated.

So that's where she was, Maplethorn rolled her eyes, but positioned herself so that she could see what was happening inside, yet far enough to not let her former clanmates attack her for perhaps attempting to slaughter innocent queens and kits.

Shadepool, on the other hand, was now completely frantic, practically clawing at others to get into the den, where he comforted Briarwish, who was now mewling and bawling with pain from the spasms that shook her body.

Ghostwhisper forced a stick into her mouth, after much pleading and scolding, but soon enough, the dull golden she-cat complied, and pushed with all her might as the first kit slid out and it was licked clean before handed to Briarwish. Her brother froze as his eyes landed on the kit's appearance before grimly exiting the den, soon accompanied by Moonpaw as they headed out of the camp and into MistClan's territory. Now that some of the cats had left, she could see what her brother was so shook up about.

The first kit was a golden she-kit with harsh black stripes that stood out from the rest of her fur.