Mapleshade

Mapleshade is a ragged, large, sturdy, thick-furred ginger-and-white she-cat with a fluffy white tail, a white muzzle, a scarred head, thorn-sharp claws, soft, matted fur, sharp, yellow teeth, and amber eyes.

Crookedstar's Promise

 * When Stormkit falls and breaks his jaw at the stepping stones while escaping from Goosefeather, he sees Mapleshade, although she is unnamed. She tells him it wasn't his time to die as she looks down at him through the river, before disappearing.


 * Later, when Stormkit, now known as Crookedkit, runs away from RiverClan, she appears and advises him to go back home. She asks Crookedkit to make a promise, saying that he can become stronger than his Clanmates, as long as he follows the warrior code and remains loyal to his Clan above all else. Crookedkit promises, and Mapleshade tells him he has a great destiny ahead of him. Crookedkit constantly thinks about how he is being mentored by a cat in StarClan, and she gets him under the impression that she is doing him a favour.


 * When Crookedpaw is made an apprentice, he is eager to finally train with Oakpaw, his brother. Mapleshade constantly reminds him he must be loyal to his Clan, as he had promised. She tells Crookedpaw that he couldn't be friends with Willowpaw, because she would be a distraction from his training. Crookedpaw gets angry at Mapleshade as she says this, and retains his friendship with the young apprentice.


 * Later on, Crookedjaw is luring a dog away from the RiverClan camp when his mother, Rainflower, dies on the riverbank. He wants to fetch Brambleberry and try to save her, but Mapleshade tells him to keep fighting, and that he needed to save the rest of his Clanmates. Crookedjaw reluctantly joins Oakheart, leaving Rainflower to die. Oakheart is angry at Crookedjaw for leaving her, saying if Crookedjaw had stayed with her, Rainflower might have lived.


 * When Shellheart steps down from his position as deputy to become an elder, Hailstar interprets a squirrel on the fresh-kill pile that has a crooked jaw as a sign from StarClan saying Crookedjaw should be the new deputy. Mapleshade later reveals, though, that she had created the omen.


 * Shredtail, while training with his apprentice, Thistleclaw, reveals to Crookedjaw that he was not training in StarClan, but the Place of No Stars, the place where dead cat's spirits went if they didn't make it into StarClan. Upon hearing this, Crookedjaw is furious with Mapleshade for lying to him, but Mapleshade smoothly points out she never said they were in StarClan. Crookedjaw refuses to listen to her from that point on.


 * When Hailstar is about to die in a battle with rats, Mapleshade tries to kill Hailstar in an effort to make Crookedjaw Clan leader, but he refuses to let her kill his leader. He dies from severe wounds, though. Mapleshade does not approve of Willowbreeze and Crookedjaw being mates as she says he is breaking his promise to her.


 * After Crookedstar's leader ceremony, Mapleshade appears to him. She tells him that both of them kept their promise and asks him if he is going to thank her. When Crookedstar turns away, telling her to leave him alone, she tells him that he cannot run away from her.


 * When Willowbreeze dies shortly after delivering her kits, and two of the kits also die, Crookedstar is very angry and depressed as he knows Mapleshade and his promise to her are to blame. He visits her in a dream, and tells her that he lost Rainflower, Shellheart, Hailstar, Willowbreeze and two of his three daughters, Minnowkit and Willowkit, due to the promise he made. She acts innocent, saying it was a sacrifice he had to make to become the greatest warrior ever reminding him that he promised. He then tries to fight her, but she stops him by telling him about her terrible past: ThunderClan exiled her for taking a RiverClan mate. She tried to take her kits to RiverClan, but they drowned in the river. The kit's father blamed her, and she was cast out from RiverClan as well. Her former mate then had kits with a RiverClan queen. They had a daughter, whose son was Shellheart, the father of Crookedstar and Oakheart. She told Crookedstar the reason she sought revenge on him was because StarClan had destined him to be a great leader, yet she believed that he should not even have been born and it should have been her kin who had a great destiny. She tells him she was testing him to see if he was weak like his kin, and she tells him that he is. Mapleshade doesn't bother him after that, and Crookedstar improves his relationship with his remaining daughter, Silverkit.


 * In the manga at the end, Crookedstar sees his daughter, Silverstream, with Graystripe, and hears Mapleshade's words ringing in his ears. When Silverstream dies, Crookedstar sees Mapleshade when he was on the border of StarClan and the Dark Forest. She tells him his punishment is now complete, and he has lost everything. Crookedstar tells her that she is wrong, and that everyone he has lost is waiting for him in StarClan while she has nothing and no one. That is the last time he saw her.

Night Whispers

 * When Ivypaw is chasing after Antpelt in the Dark Forest, she runs into Mapleshade, who retaliates by pinning the apprentice down. Mapleshade threatens Ivypaw until Hawkfrost steps in and tells her to back off. She obeys, growling at Hawkfrost to try and keep his visitors under control, then stalks off. As she is leaving, Ivypaw notices that Mapleshade is translucent, and can see through her to the trees beyond. Hawkfrost comments that Mapleshade had taken residence in the Dark Forest for a long time, but she would fade completely soon. Ivypaw believes him as her glowing figure fades into the outlines of the trees.


 * Later on, Mapleshade taunts Ivypaw when she tries to wake up from her dream in the Dark Forest. Ivypaw, frightened, asks why Mapleshade wouldn't just fade away. Mapleshade replies that she isn't going anywhere until she's settled some scores, then tells Ivypaw that she is training her that night. She forces Ivypaw to try and knock her paws out from under her when she's neck-deep in river water. Ivypaw tries, but Mapleshade pins her down underwater. Ivypaw struggles until she kicks a rock with her hind paws, and she is able to swim away from Mapleshade.

Sign of the Moon

 * Mapleshade is briefly seen after Ivypool wins a fight with Thistleclaw during a training session. She tells Thistleclaw that he had lost the session. She talks with Ivypool and tells her that she had her doubts about her in the beginning, but trusts her now. She also reveals that a battle between the Place of No Stars and StarClan will be soon. Ivypool later tells her sister, Dovewing, that she has a reputation for being one of the oldest cats in the Dark Forest, and many cats, including Tigerstar, are said to respect her.

The Forgotten Warrior

 * While Ivypool is visiting the Dark Forest, she runs into Tigerheart, who is listening to Mapleshade talk about the end of the Clans. Ivypool notes that she has begun to fade into mist, and she looked even paler than before. Ivypool reflects upon how terrified she'd been of Mapleshade when she tried to drown her in a training exercise. As Mapleshade is talking, she stops suddenly, saying she smelled fear. Ivypool is afraid Mapleshade would come for her, but instead, she turns on Snowtuft, and, after insulting him, knocks him away.


 * As Brokenstar holds a Dark Forest meeting, Mapleshade is noted to be standing with Tigerstar and a few other Dark Forest warriors. When Brokenstar is interrupted by Hawkfrost, claiming that Ivypool wished to speak, Mapleshade hisses, and doesn't seem too happy with the sudden intrusion.

The Last Hope

 * After Hawkfrost sends the living cats home, he meets with the senior warriors of the Dark Forest to discuss about the final battle, including Mapleshade. Ivypool comments that she could see the trees almost perfectly clearly through her. When they discuss ideas, Mapleshade plots to kill the kits in the Clans first. She believes that if the kits died, the mothers would have nothing left to fight for.


 * During the battle, Mapleshade is seen attacking Dovewing, asking why she doesn't just give up. Dovewing continues to fight her, and when Dovewing is knocked down, Ivypool comes to her side and attacks her, biting deep into her shoulder and flinging her backwards.


 * Mapleshade attacks Sandstorm, claiming she had everything Mapleshade ever wanted: taking a mate who loved her, having kits that she could watch grow up and one day have kits of their own, and respect from her Clanmates. which results in Spottedleaf yanking her off. She taunts Spottedleaf about why she would save the cat that stole Firestar's love from her, to which she replies that Sandstorm made Firestar happy. Mapleshade then attacks Spottedleaf and slices her throat open, killing her. While Firestar grieves for Spottedleaf, Sandstorm chases Mapleshade out of ThunderClan territory.

Trivia

 * Mapleshade was originally described as tortoiseshell-and-white in an Erin Hunter Chat. This was later changed to her current ginger and white description. However, she has also been described or shown as tortoiseshell-and-white in the manga in Crookedstar's Promise and throughout the entirety of The Last Hope.
 * Mapleshade has been described with green eyes.

Members
Mate:
 * Unnamed tom (formerly):

Kits:
 * Unknown kits: Deceased, Suspected StarClan members