[Abyssopelagic]

Sedgestorm relaxed and was rather happy Mintpaw didn't seem to mind the odd structure of the lesson. It was a lot easier for him to remember the most recent events and go back than try to remember when he first came to RiverClan forward.
The muscular, dappled tom to a moment to catch his breath before starting.

"The leader before Pikestar had been Skystar. His leadership lasted 3 Gatherings. In his time as leader, his only Medicine Cat had been Snakeheart, who later had taken on an apprentice named Reedpaw. The only deputy that served under him was Snowleap, who had been completely re-named to the leader we now know as Pikestar upon receiving his 9 lives.
Like our current leader, Skystar has been given a new name upon becoming leader, and had been Sparrowskip before this. And before his time as deputy, had spent many moons as RiverClan's Medicine Cat, but was a warrior and a Shield when he was appointed deputy.
Skystar became leader after the leader before him, Kestrelstar had disappeared, only later did his body wash up on Lionsbeach, and was believed to have lost several lives to drowning. His body has since been laid to rest in the Sleepy Thicket."
He was definitely doing to need to change that up whenever there were kits, but with Mintpaw, he figured she'd be alright with hearing the details.
The more he racked his head for information about Skystar's leadership, the more he realized how chaotic those few moons had been. Sheesh, nothing could ever be simple, could it?
He almost felt the urge to chuckle at the thought, but refrained. But if the two Clans he'd lived life in had one thing in common, that there was always chaos and drama.
He put himself back in a head space to continue the lesson.

 

"Despite the brevity of his leadership, RiverClan was not without its troubles or completely untouched by the drama of the other Clans.
During Skystar's first Gathering as leader, neither ShadowClan or ThunderClan had arrived, which was later revealed by a group of ThunderClan apprentices who had sneaked out of their camp to bring the situation to the other's attention.
As we were told, Dawnstar had been invited onto ThunderClan territory by a ThunderClan warrior, and she and a group of warriors entered the camp and declared herself leader after the Clan had gone many moons without a leader, and many more without stability even with leaders around."
He worded each statement carefully, trying not to let anything he said sway one way or another.
"Although the leaders listened to the ThunderClan apprentices, there was obvious exasperation with the group for walking into the Gathering and hopping onto the Seastones without requesting permission and then speaking over both Skystar and Twilightstar..... they only just had a chance to speak of their situation when Dawnstar herself made her way to the Gathering as well. I can only guess she must have noticed the group leaving camp and decided to follow them, though that is unclear to be the case.
As for Dawnstar, I'm not sure what she'd said, but it had been rather brief, because she left before the Gathering was dismissed.

Eventually, Skystar and Twilightstar managed to get their reports in, but the normalcy was shorted lived as a fight broke out.
It's uncertain why the fight happened or who started it, but once it ended, the rest of the few attending ThunderClan cats declared a warrior of their own a traitor and promised he'd be held prisoner, suggesting they might have been the one causing a stir. I don't believe we ever heard about what was done with the cat once they went home.
The Gathering was dismissed once things were settled and thankfully nothing more happened before RiverClan could come home."
That..... could not be said about after they came home. He struggled to remember exactly how long after the Gathering it had been, but drew a blank. Instead of focusing on that, he dove back into what he was saying once he'd taken an adequate breather.

 

"In between Clan meetings, ThunderClan had either pulled free from Dawnstar or the leader grew tired of them," He felt it was the latter, as Dawnstar was fickle in all matters...... not that he'd voice as much at that moment.
"And yet, they were still without a leader. Despite this, they organized an attack against RiverClan, with the intention to take Firfly Cove back.
Firefly Cove was originally a gift from RiverClan many seasons, before I'd joined the Clan; a gift that from my understanding, had no strings attached at the time of gifting it. ThunderClan had then used the gifted territory as a place to bury their dead. During Kestrelstar's reign, he'd taken the land back as RiverClan territory."
He tried to skirt around that as best he could, as he planned to go into more details when he spoke about Kestrelstar.

"ThunderClan launched the attack on a border patrol, either one of the patrol members or another cat had returned to camp to call for reinforcements. Despite the Clan's best effort, after a harrowing battle, with the lives of many apprentices and one kit starting to add up, a retreat was called and ThunderClan reclaimed the territory.
During the retreat, however, an unconscious ThunderClan apprentices was mistaken to be RiverClan and brought for healing. Snakeheart determined the apprentice was not one of them and eventually..... Skystar made the decision to hold her prisoner, heal and feed her and to use her as some sort of bargaining tool.
The Clan was split on this decision, but I don't believe anyone really argued with the choice. She was kept in the Medicine Den for many moons before eventually escaping. Presumably, on her own.
However, for the rest of Skystar's leadership, she remained in RiverClan custody."
Stars, he hated talking about this specifically. It had reminded him too much of what he'd been running from, from his old Clan.
And there'd been serious moments where he wondered if he'd left one ruthless, bloodthirsty Clan and traded it for another battle hungry Clan. He was more comfortable now with Pikestar as leader, and grateful he'd stuck around, but.... for awhile, the thought was there.
Thankfully, with Snowstar, they seemed to be past it all and heading to clearer waters.

 

"His second Gathering as leader started entirely uneventful until Cindersky tried sitting among the other leaders, as a representative of ThunderClan and after a unanimous choice from the other leaders,, Cindersky had agreed to have their Medicine Cat, Sundust, handle announcements that Gathering.
Just before any Clans left, once announcements were made Twilightstar invited the Clan leaders for a private Gathering on WindClan territory, for only the leaders and a select few individuals to attend.
Although Skystar did attend, he did not announce who he would be taking or when it would be. And for now, this piece of history is unknown and unexplored to those who were not present."
Sedgestorm just wished he at least had a name to go off of to try to ask about the event. It was a part of their history he'd be leaving undiscussed and it gnawed at him.
Technically, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume his deputy had gone with him? Perhaps he'd ask Pikestar of he knew anything about it before the next lessons, but how he might approach the topic..... he wasn't sure. He was already planning to talk to him, so maybe he could get two frogs with one pounce and bring it up then as well.[B]

 

"At Skystar's 3rd Gathering as leader, ThunderClan finally had named a leader, but Cinderstar admitted she'd been chosen before the last Gathering, and had simply not received her name or lives. WindClan and ShadowClan especially had taken offense to Cinderstar's original attempts to sit at the Seastones.
Aside from a change in leadership, the announcements at this Gathering were uneventful. The Gathering itself, was not, as one of the apprentices let it slip about RiverClan's prisoner from the Firefly Cove, which had lead to a rather large argument and disruption among the crowd. It did not escalate among the crowd, but it was clear Cinderstar was not pleased.
With her demand to return the apprentice, the Gathering was dismissed and and at least the two in conflict stayed to discuss the terms of the apprentice's release.
I am unaware what was asked for in return, but considering she remained prisoner for moons after, I believe it can be assumed Cinderstar had declined any debate."
He believed the private Gathering took place after this, but he didn't know for sure and honestly I'm running out of comment, I've been typing for 3 hours, aaaaaa.

 

"After everything that happened, with the loss of Firefly Cove likely in Skystar's mind, he announced that he and a group of volunteers would be traveling outside Clan boundaries for territory to replace the land lost, with the idea it'd be.... far easier to protect, with it being unknown to the other Clans and most likely unfindable without being directly lead to it.
There was brief talk of plans to use the territory as a base, should RiverClan find itself driven from their home."
Like WindClan had done to ShadowClan. It was so long ago, but sometimes the memories returned like a flea in one's pelt. At the time, he'd thought it a good idea. Considering the results, however..... perhaps not in hindsight.
He desperately hoped there was never a repeat of what had happened. No Clan deserved what had happened, and not all that had happened after being driven from their own territory. But he could cover that later.... maybe. That was if he could avoid getting emotional about it.

"As pure as his intentions might have been, I was all for naught, as reportedly things fell apart on their journey. The group had turned back to return home, but they returned without Skystar, who had appearantly left to return home first and it is believed on his way home was where he lost the last of his lives.
His body was found, with the scent of a hound-beast clinging to it and wounds no cat could have inflicted. After the mourning process, what was left of him was buried in the Sleepy Thicket.
Soon after, Snowleap took the name of Pikestar."
No thoughts, head empty. Got no comment lol

[ @Wingnettle ]