At a Gathering, there are tensions between ThunderClan and RiverClan due to a recent battle where two ThunderClan cats died (including the leader's son Birchface), but this doesn't stop Mapleshade of ThunderClan from talking to her secret mate Appledusk of RiverClan. She tells him that she's expecting his kits, and he promises that they can still see each other when things calm down. Mapleshade gives her news to the Clan the next day, and when asked about the father she says only that she's raising the kits alone. Frecklewish, the sister of the recently-deceased warrior Birchface, assumes that this is because Birchface is the father, and Mapleshade doesn't confirm or deny it.
One day when the kits are two moons old, Mapleshade is tired of an elder criticizing the kits for not jumping as well as Birchface, and so she sneaks out of camp with them to take them swimming in the river. They enjoy it, but a RiverClan patrol spots them and warns them away. The ThunderClan medicine cat Ravenwing also sees them, and tells her that he's figured out that the father of the kits is Appledusk, not Birchface. He insists that the Clan needs to know the truth, and tells them. Needless to say, the Clan does not take this well, and Mapleshade and her kits are exiled.
Mapleshade tries to take the kits across the river, but it's flooded, and the kits drown; Mapleshade herself only survives because a RiverClan patrol pulls her out in time. Appledusk confesses to the Clan about what happened, and he vows that his loyalty is only to his Clan; he blames Mapleshade for the kits' death, and RiverClan has no interest in letting her stay. She spends the night in a barn, and believes she can hear her three kits crying out for her. The next day she heads into ThunderClan's territory, where she learns from an apprentice that Frecklewish had watched her cross the river. Mapleshade vows vengeance on Ravenwing and Frecklewish, blaming them for her kits' deaths.
The following night, she waits at Highstones and kills Ravenwing at the Moonstone. After this she only hears two of her kits crying for her, and she thinks she needs to kill three cats total to properly avenge them. She decides that Frecklewish will be her next victim, and uses a mouse to lure her to Snakerocks. There, she tricks Frecklewish into leaping at an adder and getting bitten in the face. As they bring her back to camp, unsure if they can save her life, Mapleshade hears only one of her kits calling for her.
Mapleshade decides her third cat to kill will be Appledusk. She traps his apprentice as bait, and just when she's trying to get him to fight her, his new mate Reedshine shows up. Mapleshade goes for her instead, but Appledusk jumps in the way, and he takes the fatal hit. Appledusk's apprentice jumps on Mapleshade and bites her neck, badly wounding her; she vows to take revenge on Reedshine and Appledusk's bloodline before crawling away. Her third kit vanishes, and she thinks they're free, but also can't find them. She stumbles to the barn where she'd slept before, and falls unconscious for the last time.
She finds herself in a dark place and wonders aloud if it's StarClan; a voice tells her that it's the Dark Forest, and she feels glad, not upset, that she ended up there. She feels like she's found a place where she belongs, and is ready to wreak vengeance for all eternity.
Tropes appearing in this novella:
- Animal Assassin: Mapleshade uses the adders at Snakerocks to kill Frecklewish.
- Blame the Paramour: Mapleshade's RiverClan lover Appledusk had a separate mate in his Clanmate, Reedshine. Instead of being angry at Appledusk for cheating on her even after she'd had and lost his kits, she focuses her anger on Reedshine herself, being very possessive over her relationship with Appledusk. Her attempt to kill Reedshine wound up with both herself and Appledusk dead, but Reedshine survived and had kits, causing Mapleshade to later visit and curse their descendant, Crookedstar.
- Crime of Passion: Frecklewish is furious when she finds out that Mapleshade has lied to her about her three kits being her deceased brother Birchface's, and they were actually fathered by Appledusk, who killed him. She launches herself at Mapleshade and starts clawing her face.
- A Day in the Limelight: Mapleshade's only POV.
- Dead Guy Junior:
- Frecklewish hoped that Mapleshade would name one of her kits after Birchface.
- According to the official family tree on the books' website, one of Appledusk and Reedshine's kits is named Applefrost, presumably for the kits' father.
- Desecrating the Dead: After the other medicine cats bury Ravenwing, she digs up his body for the hawks to feast on him.
- Did Not Get the Girl: A genderbent example; Mapleshade did not end up with Appledusk.
- Dishonored Dead: While Mapleshade's kits are indeed buried, they aren't given a proper ceremony.
- Diving Save: Appledusk jumps in front of Mapleshade when she attacks Reedshine.
- Downer Ending: Mapleshade's three kits drown, she kills the three cats she blames for their deaths, and she ends up in the Dark Forest after her own death. She declares to herself that she will get her revenge on Appledusk's descendants until they are all wiped out.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Mapleshade tries to figure out the best way to ambush Frecklewish, and her paw gets tangled in some ivy. It reminds her a bit of a snake, and this makes her realize that Snakerocks would be the perfect place.
- Eye Scream: Frecklewish slashes Mapleshade across the face when the truth is revealed about the kits' father; Mapleshade gets a torn eyelid from this.
- Freudian Excuse: Mapleshade was hoping to become ThunderClan leader, but they drove her out after she had kits with a RiverClan tom. She then tried taking her kits to RiverClan, but they drowned on the way. RiverClan rejected her, her mate blamed her for the kits' death, and he took on another mate within his Clan.
- Gotta Kill Them All: Mapleshade decides that she needs to kill one cat for each of her three kits in order for the kits to be at peace.
- Lying by Omission: ThunderClan assumes that the father of Mapleshade's kits was Birchface, and Mapleshade doesn't correct them - for instance, when Frecklewish asks, assuming this is the case, and offers to help raise them due to believing them to be kin, Mapleshade says only "You have answered my prayers, Frecklewish. My kits and I are no longer alone." She justifies it to herself by thinking "I have not lied out loud" and that it'll help the Clan accept the kits, and that she'll tell the truth eventually.
- Murder by Inaction: Mapleshade believes the deaths of her kits to be this: Frecklewish was watching to make sure Mapleshade left the territory when exiled, saw them swept into the river, and left. Frecklewish said she'd seen RiverClan warriors on the other side, and assumed that they'd be saved and she never wanted them to die; this is also what she told her own Clan.
- Never My Fault: Although Mapleshade is by some degree a victim of circumstance most of her ordeals have more to do with her own actions.
- Please Wake Up: Mapleshade to her kits.
- The Promise: Lots of promises are made in this book. There are several that don't come to pass - that Mapleshade will never let anything bad happen to her kits, that the kits will one day see WindClan territory, that they'll be okay crossing the river. Appledusk promises to find the kits in the river (which he does, though sadly not alive), and that his loyalty lies only with his Clan now. Mapleshade also promises to ThunderClan and Appledusk that they will regret the way they treated her, and to Reedshine that she'll haunt her kin, which she follows through with.
- Revenge by Proxy: Mapleshade first intends to get revenge against her ex-mate by killing his new mate. When he takes the fatal hit meant for her, Mapleshade vows that she will get revenge against the pair of them by haunting their bloodline; in Crookedstar's Promise we see her following through with this by tormenting their great-grandson Crookedstar throughout his life.
- Screaming Birth: Mapleshade's kitting. She's tempted to sink her teeth into the medicine cat's leg.
- Shared Family Quirks: The kits take to the water naturally, just like their father. (Unfortunately, it's not enough to keep them safe in a flood.)
- Also averted in a sense, as they are heavy-footed, unlike their mother and assumed father, which is the first hint to the other cats that Birchface isn't really their father.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Mapleshade intends to get revenge on Appledusk by haunting his descendants.
- Slashed Throat: How Mapleshade kills Appledusk.
- Someone to Remember Him By:
- ThunderClan thinks this is the case with Mapleshade: after she tells them she's raising the kits alone, Frecklewish assumes that that's because the kits are her deceased brother Birchface's kits, and Mapleshade doesn't deny it.
- When Appledusk is killed, Reedshine is already carrying his kits.
- Start of Darkness: This novella is Mapleshade's.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Larchkit's pelt is the same shade of brown as Appledusk's, and Patchkit's pelt exactly matches Mapleshade's (but he has Appledusk's green eyes). Meanwhile, Frecklewish, thinking that Birchface is the father, claims she sees Birchface in all three kits.
- Taking the Bullet: Appledusk takes the fatal hit meant for Reedshine.
- Villain Episode: This novella shows Mapleshade's downfall and how she first became a villain.
- You Fool!: Mapleshade internally calls a WindClan patrol "fools" after she gets away with taking the rabbit they were chasing.
