Maple

At the edges of the valley, there lived a molly named Mallow who fell in love with a tom named Mayday. They never stayed together and the relationship ended on rocky terms, and they only met again briefly when Mallow fell pregnant. She had four kits: Maple, Larch, Hemlock, and Cedar. However, the valley was not peaceful. War between rogues and Clan cats was looming on the horizon, and being a single mother among this talk of killing and kidnappings was terrifying. Mallow eventually rejected the kits out of stress and disappeared, and Mayday stumbled across the quartet huddled in a bush. It was only thanks to Mayday knowing another nursing queen, Oliver, that the kits survived. Even so, Mayday never stayed for long, only hunting to pay off his debt to Oliver and keep his kits' bellies full. Eventually, Maple decided to sneak out on her own one rainy night to find Mallow again. She’d never felt close to Oliver, and it was clear the molly had only taken the kits out of obligation. She wanted a real parent again. Unfortunately, a young kit can only go so far. On top of that, the rain had washed away her scent and tracks, meaning the chances of her being found by Mayday or Oliver grew slimmer as time ticked by. After a few days, tired and hungry, she hauled herself into a hollow tree to get some shelter and rest.

She soon found that, after awakening again, she had neither the energy nor ability to get herself OUT of the hollow. After many failed attempts to squirm out, her bravado faded. She found herself yelling for anyone - her siblings, her mother, even Oliver and Mayday - but nobody answered. Not until an unfamiliar cat’s scent reached her nose.

It was a stranger that smelled of what Maple would soon learn were mountains. They had black and white fur and no tail, and seemed concerned about the kit. Even as she was freed from the hollow, Maple insisted she was fine and could get along on her own, but her sniffles showed her true scared feelings. The cat - which introduced herself as Nightfrost (although she'd later change her name to Nightpool for personal reasons) - took Maple back to SnakeClan. And thus, Maple was adopted, with a new mysterious parent.

SnakeClan had more cats than Maple had ever seen in her life, although she didn’t see them initially. Nightpool had snuck her into a den that smelled of herbs. Maybe because this Clan turned out to be so divided upon the announcement of Maple’s permanent residence in the Clan. Some of them were upset about a “rogue” living with them, while some of them were supportive of taking in such a young, lost kit. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Maple refused to take a Clan name (which had precedent in SnakeClan, but didn’t do anything to ease tensions born from the recent battle against the rogues). After an argument involving Frosteyes which resulted in said cat's death, Maple hid in the nursery for the first few days, refusing to go outside out of stubbornness and because of how scary the Clan was. It was only thanks to Nightpool comforting her and helping her out of her shell that she started to venture outside. Even when Frosteyes threatened the kit, Nightpool and the rest of the family stood firm - even leading to his demise, although Maple wouldn’t fully realize the shock of it all until later. She still wasn’t entirely sure about having Nightpool as a parent. Would Nightpool be distant or leave like the others? But given time, Maple would warm up to the idea of Nightpool being her new guardian.

Maple chose to keep her original name upon reaching 6 moons of age. Although this wasn't a well-loved decision by many, she felt it was right. Thankfully, no massive fuss was made - especially with her family supporting her - and she became apprenticed to Eaglesky.

Despite her age, Maple felt a kinship with Pigeonheart and Silversong's kits, especially Shiverkit. Probably because they had been brought in while she was still in the nursery. She was confused where they came from - did someone abandon them? - but Nightpool explained that StarClan had gifted them to the couple. Nobody knew how exactly it worked, but StarClan must be powerful if they can do that!

Maple became acquainted with many other apprentices, including Snailpaw, who she created a rivalry with due to feeling patronized. She also stayed friends with Shiverpaw, although the younger cat's fire antics caused a small rift between the two.

Speaking of fire, at the tail end of her apprenticeship, a wildfire began spreading through the valley. Maple saw it up close (and got burned trying to put some of it out), but that would be nothing compared to the smoke that swallowed her one day.

TBA