RiverClan Floodstone

[Captain]

(Cloverpaw)

The fluffy white she-cat spotted Clo-er-Cloudpaw by the Streamstone, "You don't know me, well I am Cloverpaw, nice to meet you" She mewed.
masquerade☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁

➢ While silently sitting by herself as the clan meeting went on like clockwork, the small black-and-white apprentice’s ears twitched to hear someone talking to her. Cloudpaw looked over at another shecat, though this cat’s fur was much more white than hers was, without question. Oh! This was Cloverpaw. She was wondering when she’d meet this clanmate who she had once shared a prefix with. ”N-Nice to m-m-meet you!” She mewed with a kind, sweet smile upon her muzzle, “H-How are y-you t-t-today?” Cloudpaw went ahead and ignored her stuttering tone at this point. If she didn’t draw attention to it, then it would eventually go away.

[stardust.]

(Cloverpaw)

"Well" She mewed, "I don't see my mentor, but I am fine here anyways" She purred, "How are you today?"
masquerade

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniapaw<--

Like always drama hit the meeting and Petuniapaw was quite tired of the meetings getting interrupted. By Kestrelstars face he must be tired of it too. Luckily it was done before it even started. Petuniapaw watched as all the kits went to their mentors. It was so adorable! One day she'd be a mentor to one of the kits of Riverclan. Sure she wouldn't be ready for a while even after she was a warrior.

Petuniapaw noticed her father sitting down and decided to move over to him. She sat down beside him, wanting to spend as much time next to Blizzardsky. "Hello.", she meowed. She settled down and looked up to wait for the meeting to continue.

// Zesty Mango; \\

[Silverfur & Co]

Spottedpaw watched as Featherspirit walked up to her. "hi. I promise I'm not a traitor like my adoptive parents." she touched noses with the tabby. Her green eyes lined with worry. "I didn't mess up the ceremony did I? Did I do something wrong?" She hoped Featherspirit would be nice. She didn't want a mentor who hated her.


Featherspirit giggles softly "no your just fine fid not think you was spotted." She mews smiling ar her apprentice

[WhitesilverQueen]

Featherspirit giggles softly "no your just fine fid not think you was spotted." She mews smiling ar her apprentice
(we should make a thread for training.)
Spottedpaw relaxed a bit. At least she hadn't messed that up. Now all she had to do was excel at being a apprentice, and prove to everyone she wasn't a traitor like her adoptive parents. No pressure at all, right? Wrong. Spottedpaw felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She felt extremely pressured to be perfect, because of her parents. Her adoptive parents. They weren't her adoptive parents anymore. No. Her biological parents were both dead. As far as she knew anyways. No cat had announced that they knew who her parents were. So more waiting. And more pressure to be perfect until then.

[Singing Jay]

~ Goldenpaw | Angelique |

Troutleaf. So that was her new mentor of the month. She didn't know anything about the warrior, and chose not to say much to him as they found each other, last time talked with her mentor after the reassignments it had ended up with her without a mentor. But hopefully Troutleaf would prove to be better than Creekfoot. She didn't comment on the warrior's words, simply nodded a little. "We could do some training after the meeting-" Another claimed her attention and her head snapped around to stare when she heard Lionheart's threat. She didn't know Pondpaw, but had a warrior just said that he would give them scars? She could still clearly remember what Creekfoot had said, but this was worse. She also heard Icekit (being much more reasonable than a warrior) mentioned her as an example, and while she didn't like it, she did agree with the young cat.

[flopsy]

Wrenkit

She nods her head disappointed in herself for stepping up late swearing she would be the first out of all the new apprentices to become a warrior first. The small tabby she tried to look for the warrior named Cottontuft but she didn't even know if they were in the crowd. Every other apprentice was talking with their mentors but she was alone, finally, she saw them. "Hi, Cottontuft ( Dilli )!" She was going to be a great apprentice! "When will we start training?"

[spade]

Despite Lionheart's words of asking for forgiveness, Kestrelstar didn't believe he truly felt remorse. Something about the warrior just seemed... off to the gray tabby, and he made a note to keep an eye on him. If he would say that to an apprentice, the leader could only imagine what he said to his fellow Clanmates, and he would not allow any of that to fly in RiverClan anymore. Now more than ever the Clan needed to remain united, especially if ShadowClan was being as quiet as they were now.

Thankfully it was calming down... somewhat, until Fawnspring came in spitting at Lionheart. Kestrelstar couldn't help the sigh of frustration that slipped past him. At least it didn't seem to kick things up anymore, and hopefully all cats involved would quiet down so that they meeting could progress normally.

"I have also been informed that one of our apprentices has successfully completed her training, and is now ready to become a warrior." Kestrelstar gave a smile, knowing this one would hold a special place in his heart. He navigated his way down the Streamstone, standing tall at its base as he spotted her next to her father - who he fully expected to be overjoyed at this part of the meeting. "Petuniapaw [ Angelique ], step forward."

marshall Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter lucid luminous Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 SourCream fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniapaw<--

The molly was so focused on what was going on ahe almost missed Kestrelstar tell her to step forward. Petuniapaw got up from where she was standing, her whiskers twitched for a moment. Forcing herself she stepped forward she felt a bit nervous, but ahe hid it very well. She made sure to bot say anything until spoken to.

[poppy]

// Angelique for mention of Petunia

Blizzardwind didn't pay much attention to the first part of the meeting. Lionheart was being a violent ass. That was a given, cats were always asses. The thin, matted furred senior warrior rested his chin on his chest, but then looked up as Petuniapaw was called to step forward. A smile grew on his face, and he purred. Purred. He hadn't purred in forever. Nodding proudly to his former apprentice, he settled down to get more comfortably, so he could watch the ceremony.

[Silverfur & Co]

Snowstripe smiled at petuniapaw and nods in support Angelique

[Mango]

Blizzardsky's eyes went wide in shock as he realized it was his daughter becoming a warrior. He couldn't believe it, he was so excited. He gave a slightly loud whisper," You got this!" he couldn't believe it. His daughter was becoming a warrior. Something his clanmates didn't think was possible.

Angelique

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedkit watched quietly.
(open)

[Shade.]

Lizardfrost felt the calm satisfaction of q decent job. She knew she had not trained the apprentice but she assured this meant her assessment had been decently conducted. She was also happy to see the warriors grow in numbers. She hoped Petuniasomething would contribute well.

[Fenz]

Lionheart
the large golden tom shrunk back as Fawnspring came spitting in at him with harsh words and comments. His usual stone cold face and robotic movements became lifelike as tears weld in his golden hued eyes. He hated it when his best friend yelled at him and even worse he had ticked him off when their friends death anniversary was soon nearing. Upon closer inspection of his short but compact friend he noticed his usually well groomed fur was a mess and there where bags underneath his eyes. I-I’m sorry fawn I didn’t mean to- he was cut off by kestrelstar announcing a new warrior. But his eyes widened as he felt Fawnspring press himself against him and mummer reassuring words of kindness and support. Leaning slightly on the small tom he allowed himself to be calmed by his soothing voice and sweet scent. I’ll try if it makes you happy…I’m truly sorry my friend.

Fawnspring

The small brown tom glanced at the now cowering giant before getting to his paws and walking over to the golden warrior. He had gone off on him without holding back and now he greatly regretted it. Walking forwards he pressed himself against lions side it’s ok I forgive you…I suppose we’re both on edge. He would stay like this for as long as he possibly could just to cheer himself up and to help his friend but he truly couldn’t after all things don’t last forever and he was starting to get tired of lions kit-like behavior and him constantly getting in trouble. Lion you must stop getting in trouble…try talking to others try making a few friends please…this is bad for you to only stay with me…. Their conversations quiet and comforting for each other.


x ghostie
masquerade
Just in case y’know a lil sum goes down

[falling]

Nectarrose listened, before realizing it was only the usual - apprentice ceremonies. She didn't really feel the need to attend them, since she had an apprentice now - Swanpaw. The molly made herself a mental note to go train Swanpaw soon - her training way was quite speedy, but she swore to make the apprentice an amazing warrior.
Nectarrose did not bother to look over as cats bickered - she was getting tired of it, like probably a lot of others. Kestrelstar had made the right choice of stripping Lionheart of his apprentice after the tom had yelled at Pondpaw like that. Apparently, Shimmerbird was Pondpaw's new mentor - at least she was a decent, deserving warrior, not a brat who tried to use harsh language on his apprentice.
Sure, maybe Nectarrose was sometimes harsh too, but not that bad of harsh. Instead, she tried her best to keep her temper in check. It seemed that Fawnheart had came over to first of all yell at Lionheart and then forgive him? Aw, cute family reunion, she thought sarcastically. The she-cat had no heart for such things.
Instead, Nectarrose redirected her attention to Kestrelstar as he prepared to announce a new RiverClan warrior - Petuniapaw. At least that turned this meeting somewhat decent, because in her opinion, everything had been boring so far. Except that the leader had taken apparent interest in Cloudpaw, taking the cat in as his apprentice.
Apparently Petuniapaw was somewhat popular in the clan, as she was getting some nods and phrases. Oh well. Maybe Nectarrose just wasn't the most active warrior of RiverClan as of right now, but she swore to herself that the fact of her currently being a brat would change soon.

[ThePiffle]

-Horsepaw-


This was interesting, finally a clan meeting. Not that they were infrequent, just that the golden tom was bored. Sick of sitting in the camp doing nothing to help the clan. Still lonely after Silverspot. She left him, yet he still felt something was off. But at the moment he had to repair his relationship with those he had been neglecting.


Horsepaw trotted over to Spottedkit and sat down next to her. "Hello, Spottedkit," he smiled, his tired eyes full of hope. Hope that the kit wouldn't completely hate him for what he did. He would never leave Riverclan. Not with Spottedkit here. She was his child and that was that."Um...how have you been doing?" he asked awkwardly.


WhitesilverQueen

[WhitesilverQueen]

-Horsepaw-


This was interesting, finally a clan meeting. Not that they were infrequent, just that the golden tom was bored. Sick of sitting in the camp doing nothing to help the clan. Still lonely after Silverspot. She left him, yet he still felt something was off. But at the moment he had to repair his relationship with those he had been neglecting.


Horsepaw trotted over to Spottedkit and sat down next to her. "Hello, Spottedkit," he smiled, his tired eyes full of hope. Hope that the kit wouldn't completely hate him for what he did. He would never leave Riverclan. Not with Spottedkit here. She was his child and that was that."Um...how have you been doing?" he asked awkwardly.


WhitesilverQueen

Spottedpaw looked at Horsepaw in disgust. "Why do you care, traitor? Your the reason I'm not fine. " she rolled her eyes. "My name is Spottedpaw now, if you were paying any attention to the meeting." she snapped, her green eyes flaring angrily.

[ThePiffle]

-Horsepaw-


The tom flinched. There it was, the hatred, the bitterness, and for good reason. He was a terrible father, but he wanted to be someone she could talk too. "I'm sorry Spottedpaw, I've been busy with apprentice duties, although it's no excuse," the golden tom shook his head. Great! Just great, he missed his daughters apprentice ceremony, so he could what? Mope around about Silverspot? How messed up was he? His stomach felt like two mice were wrestling with each other. He took a deep breath as he started to panic. Was he really this neglectful? No, no, he needed to address the past, but not live in it.


WhitesilverQueen

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw rolled her eyes again. She walked away from Horsepaw coldly.
InsertCoolNameHere

[ThePiffle]

-Horsepaw-


"Okay, kitto! Stay safe please..." he sighed. This was his fault. But maybe he could fix it?


WhitesilverQueen

[spade]

Out of the corner of his eye, Kestrelstar caught sight of Fawnspring and Lionheart... hugging, or something similar. Part of him wanted to roll his eyes in annoyance, knowing full well that the tom was just trying to save face. If the large tomcat thought it would evade him from punishment or at least a stern talking to he was certainly wrong. Threatening to leave scars on an apprentice? Absolutely not. The only reason Kestrelstar was not addressing it now was because he wanted to keep the meeting moving, but it would not be forgotten.

Another flick of his ear acknowledged the conversation going on between Horsepaw and Spottedpaw. Did these cats not know when to be quiet and respectfully watch the meeting?? Irritation simmered underneath Kestrelstar's fur but again he said nothing, instead keeping his focus on Petuniafire. She had worked hard for this moment, and Lizardfrost had done an excellent job with her assessment from what he'd heard.

"I, Kestrelstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to under stand the ways of our code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Petuniapaw [ Angelique ], do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?" As he spoke the words, another ceremony flashed before him; Petuniaflame. One of the first kind souls who approached him and spoke to him, despite his cold exterior.

A brief flash of grief shot through his gaze, and misty wetness overcame his sight. But Kestrelstar smiled encouragingly towards Petuniapaw, nodding once for encouragement.

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniapaw<--

Feeling a lot more confident with the proud looks she was getting from the cats she knew. It did feel weird though. Did they respect her or something. Well she wasn't anything like her father. She was very reserved just like her mother. She looked around before spotting her mother watching from behind. Prode showed in her face.

Well these cats were waiting too long she looked back at Kestrelstar. This sure was exciting. "I promise from the bottom of my heart to protect my home until the day I join starclans rank.", she purred. It sohnded far better than the normal words most apprentices said. She wanted to do something just a tiny bit more.

[corgigirl]

Pebblepaw looked at her fellow apprentice, excitedly waiting for her to become a warrior, like they all wanted.

[Jade13]

feather lily //
➵ brindlefeather | she/(they/it)

brindlefeather was horrified to find out that they had been late to the meeting, walking into camp after a short walk in the territory. they felt even more horrified to hear that - aaa! they were getting another apprentice! and they had .. ferocity?? according to kestrelstar, it was something he was hoping(?) would be passed down to russetpaw. i mean..i guess ferocity is a good thing if kestrelstar thinks it needs to be passed down? it thought. it hoped so.

searching the crowd for russetpaw, the large torbie strolled towards her, teetering the last few steps. luckily, it had gone through this process before, so it wasn’t that bad..yet. ”hello, ru-ussetpaw!! i’ll be your mentor, just like kestrelstar said..i actually have another apprentice, spicepaw - so you might train with her..in the future, uhm..” it hadn’t started so bad, unlike last time, in their mind at least. it was going pretty good!! y’know, until it’s brain started malfunctioning and it momentarily lost the ability to properly think.

mentally groaning at that, the warrior leaned down to touch noses with the newly made apprentice. ”sorry, just had to do that, i think..- anyways! it’s too cold for swimming..if that wasn’t obvious.” they said, gesturing at the thick layers of snow that still covered the ground. ”so we can start with land hunting or battle training, since i…don’t think? you will want your paws to freeze from water hunting? either’s fine with me. but uhh. we’ll have to start after the meeting.” it murmured, letting its eyes finally fall to the ground as it sat down. hopefully that wasn’t as mentally painful for russetpaw as it was for brindlefeather.


Russetpaw was proud of herself. She had made it this far which meant that she could make it farther. But she didn’t smile. With every good thought she had a bad one would come. Nobody else was proud of her. She didn’t have any friends. Any family. She was alone. For a second she felt like she was the only one left in the world. She only heard faint noise not any clear sound. Until she noticed somebody was talking to her. They made her jump and the. Explained that they were her mentor. They seemed nervous, great she had a nervous mentor. Though it wasn’t like she wasn’t sad or anxious all the time she was just better at hiding it. And she didn’t have a mentor that could hid it. But maybe they would be better at teaching then social interactions? They better be! Huntings fine. Though your the mentor arnt you supposed to chose? she asked in a slightly snarky tone. This would be a long day or… a long few moons.

[stardust.]

Cloverpaw was wondering where Flintstrike, her mentor was, so trying to get Flintstrike's attention, she called, "FLINTSTRIKE, GATHER HERE WITH THE GREAT CLOVERPAW" She just wanted to find her mentor, that was all

[Ian]

Quackers NinjaBloss
The oriental's glare faded away as Fawnspring stormed in, biting insults at Lionheart rightfully so. His attention was immediately diverted, ears perking up with keen interest as the warrior went off. Wormbite did his best to pinpoint where the tom stood, his eyes gleaming with warmth as he spoke. He was glad to see Fawnspring had healed and his spirit hadn't died down a bit. He shifted with his paws, nodding agreement to ignore the heat rising from his fur. Mhm, mhm, whatever he was saying he was agreeing. He listened to him comfort the kit and resisted to smile at the soft moment.

His attention diverged at the sudden gush of wind when Shimmerbird turned around to face him. Wormbite slowly turned his head to face her, cloudy eyes staring at her blankly. Uh. Huh. He wasn't suspected to be found out. He thought he was doing well at this. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached a paw up to aim to rest it on her shoulder. "..Good job, " Wormbite mewed, wow. He quickly retracted his paw if it succeeded, scooting back awkwardly.
-->Pondpaw<--

Hearing the threat loud and clear the apprentice stood there. she didn't cower down and she showed no signs of being scared. This cat was just a bully and she hated bullies. Wanting to argue with the tom she opened her mouth to speak when a warrior spoke up for her. What? She could speak up for herself. Not that she didn't appreciate it. She really did, but she was brave enough. It seemed there was enough drama for what her new mentor said, so she just let it go.

Pondpaw settled down beside Shimmerbird, keeping her head up and her emotions hidden. Flickering her ear she heard Kestrelstar speak up and reassign her to the cat that had helped her. She just gave a triumph glare to Lionheart before looking up at Shimmerbird. Looked like they were going to be training together. Pondpaw dipped her head to her new mentor., seeing she was a bit upset. "Hey its going to be alright. He dealt with that nasty warrior. Plus I'm alright!", she muttered quietly, so only she could hear. She then cast a look to Icekit with a dip of her head to show her respect. Such a young kit had earned it from her.

// NinjaBloss; [ Hopeless; Quackers; you two don't have to respond your characters were just mentioned]
Shimmerbird stood frozen as Wormbite slowly raised a paw towards her, unsure of his intentions, but not expecting what he said next. He thought she had done... a good job? A shy smile spread across her face and a warm feeling wormed its way into her stomach. She looked up to Wormbite and the fact that he had thought she'd done a good job made her happy. "T-thank you," she murmured softly, before turning her attention to her new apprentice.

"Thank you, Pondpaw. I'm glad you're alright, a warrior should never threaten physical harm against another Clanmate," the molly said softly as she watched the meeting proceed with attentive eyes. It seemed that the whole ordeal with Lionheart was over, which was good. She didn't want any more chaos at this meeting, or any meeting for that matter. Couldn't they just have a peaceful one for once?!

[stardust.]

Cloverpaw was furious, her mentor didn't appear, "FLINTSTRIKE IF YOU DON'T APPEAR RIGHT THIS SECOND THEN"She paused, letting her anger calm down"I am very.. very sorry for interrupting the meeting Kestrelstar"

[starry]

[ SourCream ]

Flintstrike heard his name called, more of screamed, by Cloverpaw. He got out of the warrior's den, narrowing his eyes. "What is wrong Cloverpaw? I'm sure the clan is able to continue on with me not attending one meeting," he meowed gruffly. "Don't do that again. I'm an old cat, y'know, Ive got to relax a little."

[stardust.]

(Cloverpaw)

Now she felt depressed, "I.. i know.." She mewed sadly

[TheWhiteWolf]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄

➢ Hearing both of them voice their immediate concerns regarding his expression, the oriental longhair realized that it was silly of him to think he could appear unsettled around these cats and expect it to get away with it. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” Snowleap meowed quietly, forcing a small smile to his expression as he turned to look at Lynxfall and then Shadepaw, “I’m just still getting used to all the responsibilities of being a shield, that’s all.” In a way, the tall tomcat wasn’t lying, wording it like that. He didn’t think he could ever really be completely honest with them right at this moment, especially not here among their clanmates. Snowleap didn’t want to accidentally cause a scene or something like that. After what happened at the shield meeting, the young Riverclan feline had surely left Kestrelstar’s den with many new thoughts in his head, but he didn’t want to worry his family about that. He nuzzled Lynxfall softly with a low purr rumbling from within his throat. “Enough about me though, how’s Riverclan treating you, hm?” Snowleap asked the two cats in a hushed tone so that the conversation was private between the three of them, “Are the other apprentices being kind to you?” The newly-named shield looked to Shadepaw when he asked this. He wanted to change the subject from himself.
❦ Lynxfall (He/They) ❦

❥ Lynxfall gave a small smile to Snowleap once he heard he was alright, nodding at his words when he was still getting used to shield duty. “So far RiverClan has been pretty nice, I’d say. I’ve had some… rather rude statements made about me by a warrior before, but I don’t blame him. I was a ShadowClan cat after all.” They said shaking their head.


❣︎ Shadepaw (She/Her) ❣︎

❥ Shadepaw nodded along at his words. “So far RiverClan feels like a wonderful home! I’ve only interacted with Ryepaw so far, but they seem super sweet and I’d love to talk to them again!” She replied with a smile.

[Sorry for these replies being so late, haha]

[spade]

Smiling at her words, at the legacy that she continued to upkeep of her aunt, Kestrelstar continued to meet her gaze. There was some surprise resonating within him that she had made it here. Who would have thought Blizzardsky's daughter would become a warrior? Thankfully, she seemed to have taken after her mother and aunt so the leader wasn't too worried about her moving on into warriorhood.

Just as he was about to name her a warrior, more shouting. The leader flattened his ears and gave an apologetic glance towards the young she-cat before shifting past her just a bit to look towards Cloverpaw and Flintstrike. "Flintstrike [ luminous ], please take Cloverpaw
[ SourCream ] away from the meeting." His voice remained calm and neutral, though there was a small look of disappointment as Flintstrike spoke of not attending the meeting. He wouldn't touch on it now, but Cloverpaw shouting like that needed to be handled and taken care of. "Perhaps teach her manners on how we do not interrupt warriors ceremonies, twice." Fixing the apprentice with a stern glare, he shook his head and dismissed the two with a flick of his tail before returning to stand in front of Petuniapaw.

"I apologize, Petuniapaw." The young apprentice didn't deserve that, and he knew he would have to speak to Cloverpaw later about meeting etiquette. Lifting his chin a bit to resume the meeting, he pushed all of what had just occurred to the side. "By my powers as Clan leader, I give you your warrior name: Petuniapaw, from this moment on you will be known as Petuniafire [ Angelique ]. We honor your loyalty and diligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan." He reached forward to rest his chin softly on the top of her head, recalling the similarities between this ceremony and Petuniaflame's. Pride welled in his heart at both. "You're becoming much like your aunt, Petuniafire," Kestrelstar whispered so that only she could hear, "she would be proud." A soft smile stretched across his face as he spoke.

Stepping back after a moment he nodded to her, allowing the Clan to chant her new name in celebration, bracing himself for the loudest perhaps being Blizzardsky, before he continued with the last few portions of the meeting.

marshall Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter lucid Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw continued to silently watch

[Spartan-117]

"Petuniafire, Petuniafire, Petuniafire!" Streamkit yowls, his voice soft and mixing in with Chervilkit's, Ravenclaw's and Coralsplash's.

[Singing Jay]

~ Goldenpaw

"Petuniafire, Petuniafire!" Goldenpaw called as soon as the cat's new name was pronounced by Kestrelstar. It felt wired to have another cat she knew become a warrior when she was still an apprentice, she was NOT going to be resentful of something this petty, not when it came to Petuniafire.

[starry]

[ SourCream ]

"Petuniafire! Petuniafire!" Flintstrike chanted, before turning his attention to Cloverpaw. "Cloverpaw. Never interupt a warrior ceremony again. It is extremely disrespectful. Come," he hissed, walking over to the apprentices den. If she didn't follow, she would just be in more trouble. "Stay there until the meeting is finished." With that, he padded back over to the streamstone, gaze settled on Kestrelstar.

[Spartan-117]

Spottedpaw continued to silently watch
Dimshard walks toward his half-sister and nuzzles her. "Hello, little sister." He mews softly, his head tilted.

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw whirls around. "Little sister? What do you mean?" she whispers. She doesn't want to disturb Petuniafire's special day,
Parabatai

[poppy]

"Petuniafire! Petuniafire!" Blizzardwind called. He had gone through many of his former apprentices becoming warriors, but this one... this one was special.

[Spartan-117]

Spottedpaw whirls around. "Little sister? What do you mean?" she whispers. She doesn't want to disturb Petuniafire's special day,
Parabatai
His brow furrows and he motions for her to follow him out of the camp. "Come." he mews softly.

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw looked worried. "I can't just leave a clan meeting" she continued to whisper, so she didn't disturb the meeting.
(we should make a private thread for this)
Parabatai

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~

It seemed that there was one more ceremony to be done. Petuniapaw was ready to become a warrior. Icekit heard many warriors congratulate and encourage her, drawing the conclusion that she wasn't exactly unpopular among her fellow clanmates. He had never been one to speak out company for the sake of having someone around and not just to pass the time, but couldn't help but would if he get cats like in his new den when he was Icepaw, cats who would want to be around him for him.

And so the same words were spoken as he was sure on every meeting and he was sure would be spoken on his ceremony as well. Promise to uphold the warrior code, protect and defend the clan, even at the cost of their life. And like expected the (not for much longer) apprentice promised, like everyone should already have in their hearts, to be loyal to the clan. And again he wondered, wondered how many moons it would be before he would stand there, in front of the whole clan and swear his loyalty to them.

And now the bid moment, but not before Flintstrike and Cloverpaw got up to something. Icekit had been too far away from the two to hear any details about whatever it was that was going on, but it seemed from Kestrelstar's words that Cloverpaw was disturbing things. Fantastic. But Flintstrike seemed to give her a few stern words to keep her in line.

Back to the meeting. It felt like the whole clan held their breaths like at the previous ceremonies, waiting eagerly for the new warrior to join them, with her new name. And there it was, Petuniafire, honored by their leader for her loyalty and diligence, fine trits in Icekit's mind. What Kestrelstar said next, about Petuniafire's aunt confused the silver-blue tabby slightly, but it wasn't a big thing, and nothing to stay on for too long. Around him the clearing burst into sound as everyone around him raised their voices and shouted out the new warrior's name to well come her. He was still a kit, one who shouldn't be a bother at meetings, but... this couldn't be something anyone would condemn him for, so he turned to the new warrior and joined in the short celebration of her new rank.

"Petuinafire, Petuniafire!"

[Ian]

"Petuniafire! Petuniafire!" Shimmerbird chanted with the others, her tail swishing behind her in happiness. Apprentice ceremonies and a warrior ceremony in one meeting was always cause for joy. Even if another a warrior decided it would be a good idea to try to take an apprentice out of camp while Kestrelstar was in the middle of a meeting. Shooting Dimshard a sharp look, she scolded the warrior softly in an attempt to draw too much attention which would take away from Petuniafire's moment. "It's rude to try to take an apprentice out of camp in the middle of meeting, Dimshard. Sit down and listen to Kestrelstar, and when the meeting is finished then you can talk to her about whatever you need."

Parabatai WhitesilverQueen

[Spartan-117]

NinjaBloss WhitesilverQueen
"I realize that and I am sorry." The dark-furred tom murmurs softly and falls silent.

[furrensic]

feather lily //
➵ brindlefeather | she/(they/(it)

black and ginger ears folded back once brindlefeather heard russetpaws snarky tone. ”oh.” they whispered with a small gulp, paws shuffling nervously. ”i - i mean i could do that..but i prefer giving people a choice…” they quietly uttered. luckily before they could worry about it any longer, a warrior ceremony started. petuniapaw was becoming a warrior! while it had never interacted with the molly, it was excited for a new warrior to join the ranks. ”petuniafire! petuniafire!” it cheered, a small gin on their maw.

[Mango]

Angelique

Blizzardsky let out a soft audible gasp at the name, Petuniafire. It was a reminder of his beautiful sister, Petuniaflame. The two were so similar, sometimes being with Petuniafire hurt because all he could see in her was his sister, but he was so proud of her, nothing would change that. And this time, he wasn't letting his petunia go, not like last time. He was going to keep this petunia close to his chest," Petuniafire!" he cheered

[alaskaa]

Sitting down beside Saltpaw, she sat and listened attentively. Petuniapaw was becoming a warrior. At last. She should've been one ages ago, but then she'd vanished and then reappeared a moon later. She tipped her head up, orbs zoning in on her friend, as she was named Petuniafire. It was a great name. Hazelstorm could say she was proud.

"Petuniafire!" she chanted, joining in with the rest of the clan. Then a shout from behind, and the tabby's happy mood vanished in an instant as she turned her head around. An apprentice. Cloverpaw, interrupting a warrior's ceremony! But she was then rebuked sternly, by both Kestrelstar and her mentor, and Hazelstorm hid a little chuckle. She dearly hoped that Saltpaw wouldn't ed up like that, but Saltpaw probably was too timid to do that.

The next crisis. Shimmerbird's snapping voice caught her bestie's attention, so Hazelstorm shot a swift glance over at her. She was telling off... Dimshard? For attempting to take an apprentice out of camp. Pffft. At least, after being reprimanded, he sat back down again. Well, that's what it looked like from the tabby's end. Turning her gaze back on Kestrelstar, a soft sigh escaped her lips. No wonder their recent apprentices had been so snarky and ignorant if warriors were being rude and disrespectful.

Parabatai NinjaBloss (For the mention of shimmer and dim)

[Pine'Paw]

~CrowKit~

The small kit had been listening to the meeting intently, sitting quietly. She looked at Cloverpaw as the apprenrice was taken away. Interrupting a warrior ceremony twice? That was quiet rude and disrespectful. What would StarClan think of them, for such impudence? She could barely think.

She then listened for the new name of the warrior. Peruniafire! What a beautiful name, she thought. "Peruniafire! Peruniafire!" She canted the name of the new warrior with the rest of her clan. She was happy RiverClan had gained another strong cat. One day, the clan would chant her warrior name.

[~whirl~]

"Petuniafire, petuniafire!" Chanted softkit

[stardust.]

(Cloverpaw)

"KESTRELSTAR, YOU AREN'T EVEN FIT TO BE A LEADER! YOU KILLED THE PREVIOUS LEADER FOR POWER!!" Cloverpaw mewed, "HA, DAWNY IS A BETTER LEADER THEN YOU, AND TWILIGHTY TOO, YOU HAVE MADE A ENEMY IN THIS CLAN" She was MAD WITH RAGE, "Fine, I will go to the apprentices den" She meowed finally

[WinterMara]

| Whitepaw of Riverclan |

So, she'd been zoned out this meeting, she got a new mentor but didn't ,really care? They didn't. . .seem to go over to her? But then she heard the most insane thing coming from one of her, ahem, 'peers'. ' 'I'm sorry, is that apprentice insane? That is something built on literally no evidence' ' Hypocritical? Absolutely! Was Whitepaw correct? Well. . .

[CLOSED, as Whitepaw is not directly saying it to anyone, you can react to her daily sass though]

[stardust.]

(I just wanna remind everyone that Cloverpaw isn't evil, she is just upset because she didn't have her mentor beside her, and that kind of made her angry)

"Whitepaw, SERIOUSLY? You are like, 2 years old, and STILL a apprentice, MY STARS! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT, OH STARCLAN! A APPRENTICE THAT WILL BE A APPRENTICE for evah" Now Cloverpaw was just spitting out complete nonsense, "Every apprentice here is worse than warriors" She stuck out her tongue at specifically Whitepaw and Horsepaw, "Horsepaw, you got DEMOTED and you still aren't back to a normal warrior! AND FOR WHAT..." Cloverpaw was now JUDGING the apprentices and Kestrelstar's strict leadership, "Do you two even care about yourselves as apprentices anymore?" She asked
InsertCoolNameHere WinterMara

(Jsyk, Cloverpaw's opinions on apprentices and Kestrelstar don't match mine, I love every warrior cat oc, just don't use this as an insult)

[Sweetie]

// Sweetie

Sparrowskip
____________

Wait wait wait WHAT?? Sunpaw was back?? Sparrowskip thought his brother was.. dead. AND He wasn't told?? Well, it wasn't a good time to be mad considering Sparrowskip's only family was back! Sparrowskip looked around the crowd and saw his brother and a warm smile crossed his face! He almost ran over and touched noses with him. "I'm glad to see you back Sunpaw!" Sparrowskip really didn't think Sunpaw would ever come back but, this was a good day. He nodded to Kestrelstar and looked back to Sunpaw. Goodness, Sunpaw had been an apprentice for much too long, and Sparrowskip would be sure to change that.




HUH. Was the first thought that came into the battered toms head. Not the fact that his brother was still alive but the fact that Kestrelstar made his younger brother his mentor. Sunpaw wasn't sure how to feel. Before he knew it Sparrowskip was in his face and bumping noses with him. The tom was shocked but quickly came over it as Sparrowship was grinning ear to ear and the tom couldn't help but smile back. "Hey, I'm glad to be back."

[stardust.]

Oaksong was.. surprised at the manners of that apprentice, "Cloverpaw, if you do that again, then you will get demoted" She mewed, Oaksong was very keen with apprentices, but this one reminded her of a former medicine cat of ThunderClan, one in particular that became one around the time when she became a warrior, "Cloverpaw, you remind me lot's of a former medicine cat, who acted like she was perfect, you have a TERRIBLE ego also, and if that continues, then like I said, you will get demoted, so follow Flintstrike out or else!"

[wolfie]

SourCream NinjaBloss // for brief mention of shimmer
Wormbite gave a nod towards Shimme.. Shimmerbird, it was all he figured he needed to say. It was enough and he lifted his head back towards Kestrelstar, listening to what he had to say. The oriental hummed contently, his memory of Petuniaflame was brief but fond. His ear flicked in annoyance as an apprentice, Cloverpaw he believed? Bothered to scream at the top of her lungs for all to hear. Wormbite sighed in distaste deciding to leave it alone while Kestrelstar handled it. "Petuniafire! Petuniafire!" He called out, his monotone hoarse voice rising. His throat protested the strain and it trailed off into a wheezing cough.

It was only when Cloverpaw began blubbering nonsense that Wormbite stood back up, fur bristling with frustration. Again? Stars, he had hoped this meeting would've gone smoother. Perhaps that is why interruptions kept being made. Starclan never enjoyed the Shield feeling content. "Do you have no respect?" He hissed, making his way towards her. It was easy to pick her out with all the nonsense she spewed. Wormbite tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. "Unless you have fish swimming about your head, Sootstar was killed by coyotes. Kestrelstar killed Eveningstar if that is what you are referring to. I do not understand why you would care about that. He has improved since then and you would be ignorant to not take that into account. " He corrected, that was a headful discussion he would prefer not to get into at this time. "I suggest worrying about yourself, Cloverpaw. You are making a fool out of yourself in front of your clanmates. Do you genuinely believe Dawnstar is a better leader? This scene you are causing would you get killed there but, you are still breathing, are you not?" Wormbite pointed out, his tail curling at his side.

"If you love Twilightstar and Dawnstar, go and join them, " His ears perked up to the sound of Whitepaw's voice. Insane wouldn't be the word he would use but he wasn't jumping to debate it. His patience grew thinner and thinner by the minute, tapping his paw against the ground in frustration. He nodded in agreement with Oaksong. "You have no room to criticize your fellow apprentices when you are acting like a kit not getting its way. The same question can be directed towards you. Oaksong is correct. Go to the apprentice's den with Flintstrike, whatever your opinions - have some damned manners for Petuniafire." Wormbite stood tall, towering over the molly. He did not want to sound .. like a senior but, gosh, kits.

[stardust.]

Cloverpaw fell forwards, her head hitting the ground, "I.." She was unable to speak after that, she felt blood swarming up to her head, she had hurt her head, "Sn.. sn... snak...." She paused, she suddenly saw images in her mind, she saw a cat being bullied, and she was standing up to that cat, she also saw herself as a apprentice just a few days ago, with Flintstrike, having so much fun, "Petuniafire... petuniafire" She mewed quietly, she suddenly felt everything around her, turn into eternal darkness...

[ThePiffle]

-Horsepaw-

"Okay, Cloverpaw, I understand your frustration, but there is no need for an outburst." he meowed sternly. Ah, so she had mentioned that he was demoted, well hopefully that would soon change, and know to address that little fact he mewed softly, "Yes, I have not been promoted again yet, although it was my fault, I am doing my duties now, and will continue to be faithful to the warrior code until Kestrelstar sees I'm fit to become a warrior again."


SourCream

[spade]

Stars above. Kestrelstar felt as though he'd gained several moons worth of bags under his eyes and white hairs around his muzzle as more commotion unfolded. More yowling from Cloverpaw (he took note that Flintstrike did not seem to follow his instructions of removing her from the meeting, simply instructing her to sit near the apprentices den then abandoning it). Yellow eyes watched the commotion, briefly flashing with - was that warmth? Was Wormbite...? The warriors words broke through the thick haze of chaos and touched the leaders heart - but there wasn't time to dwell on it.

Cloverpaw [ SourCream ] didn't listen when told to quiet down, and now she appeared to fall... out of nowhere... and hit her head. Kestrelstar couldn't help but find it amusing at her apparent lack of coordination considering a simple fall caused that much damage. Regardless, the leader held his tail up. It was clear that she would have to be taken to the medicine den, but from where he was standing her injuried didn't seem lift threatening - perhaps exhaustion, but he was no medicine cat. He padded forward to examine her, determining that she was, in fact, unconscious.

"Snowleap [ masquerade ]," he called, forcing the annoyance at the whole situation to remain clear from his voice and undetected, "please come grab this apprentice and get her situated in the apprentices' den. Let her know she needs to remain there until I have a chance to speak with her." He did not want to. Stars above he did not wish to devote any time to a brat - he hated kits and apprentices (his new apprentice did not count... neither did Fernpaw... okay so maybe hate was too strong a word...). But if Flintstrike was not going to stick around to teach her some manners than someone would have to. He knew and trusted that his new shield would follow through with the task and that Cloverpaw would not disrupt the meeting any longer.

Patiently, Kestrelstar took a seat in front of the unconscious apprentice while he waited for Snowleap to arrive and clean up the aftermath of the situation. Once it was handled, he would move the meeting on - there were pressing issues he had to get to, if only his Clan would shape up and listen. He would ignore her unfounded comments about him killing for power, and her likeness of Dawnstar (first Creamfrost and now Cloverpaw? Kestrelstar tried to recall if the two were related at all). Right now all he wanted was to get through the rest of this meeting without any further outbursts.

marshall implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter lucid Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight

[stardust.]

(Oaksong)

"Kestrelstar, thank you for getting rid of Cloverpaw" She mewed, "I am very grateful for you to be our leader" She meowed, "Our clan was... well... weak back when Sootstar was leader, and you made it strong" She meowed

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniafire<--

The molly listened to the words of her leader of her new name. She was quite proud to be a warrior and it seemes she was liked by her clanmates. That is what she had always wanted. She ignored Cloverpaw. They were just a waste of breath. Insitead she took to heart the comment that she was just like the girst petunia and how proud she must be. A simple glance up at the sky she believed every word of it.

Petuniafire looked at Cloverpaw, but didn't say anything. She was pretty disappointed that any apprentice would act that way. It wasn't like they knew anything about the former leader. Even she hadn't of been born when he was leader. She had no clue on anything about him. Moving back over to her father she sat down, wanting to spend this time with him. Her mothers eyes were still felt on her back. She'd go and talk to her after.

// Zesty Mango; \\

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ SourCream ( just mentioning so you know what's happening ) ]

➢ The tall dark-furred tomcat was still situated in the back of the crowd with Lynxfall, Shadepaw and Ryepaw once the clan meeting started to go downhill (as usual). Snowleap didn’t even know how it all started, but all he had heard was a young molly apprentice begin to start screaming and yowling at Kestrelstar like a bee-brained lunatic. Oh Starclan, could Riverclan ever have a normal meeting? With these cats? No way! Wormbite soon stepped in and began to give Cloverpaw an earful - which Snowleap thought was rightfully deserved, but he kept his mouth shut. Everything seemed to be handled well enough… however, the oriental longhair’s eyes widened with utter shock as the shecat fell forward and seemingly collapsed in front of everyone, going limp on the ground. The young shield was frozen, not really knowing how to react. Upon Kestrelstar’s voice, Snowleap looked up to meet the gray-furred tomcat’s gaze as he ordered him to get the unconscious molly back to the apprentice’s den. Standing up, the tall tomcat hurried through the crowd on quiet paws as they approached Cloverpaw’s limp body as the clan leader gave her a swift check over. “Yes, Kestrelstar,” They said, dipping his head politely to his superior, sniffing the youth before he gently picked up the Riverclan apprentice by the scruff and pulled her over his back with a quick simple heave of his head. He was no medicine cat, but regardless, the quiet shield made sure to support the molly carefully as he turned around. “Pardon me,” Snowleap meowed respectfully as he stepped through the crowd of clanmates, making sure Cloverpaw didn’t slip off of him as headed towards the Riverclan apprentice’s den. How fun this was.

[ will be continued in the apprentice den thread ]

[corgigirl]

Pebble paw chanted the new warriors name.

[Spartan-117]

Dimshard stands beside Ravenclaw and Coralsplash, waiting for someone to talk to them. Dimshard is the cat who is between the two brothers, while Coralsplash has his head tilted back as he chants Petuniafire's name loudly.
(Open!)

[Mango]

Angelique

Blizzardsky gave a loud purr as his warrior daughter joined him," I am so proud of you." he meowed deciding to focus on his daughter instead of the apprentice who was blatantly wrong, Sootstar was alive and well, atleast as of a couple of moons ago he was alive. He gently nuzzled his daughter, wondering where Heronflight was, she just missed this important moment in their daughters life.

[Ian]

Shimmerbird wanted so badly to drag a paw across her face and let out a sigh of exasperation. What was with everyone thinking it was a good idea to interrupt and cause chaos in meetings? At least Dimshard had actually listened to her, if he hadn't that would have been embarrassing and she probably would've just died inside. At least she had actually said something, a couple of moons ago she would've just kept her mouth shut and let some other cat handle it. She had slowly been getting over her anxiety a bit, but it was still bad. At least she could talk to her Clanmates if they were doing something wrong as long as everyone wasn't staring at her. Yep. Definite progress, maybe she should just leave it there?

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

The young warrior called out his congratulations to Petuniafire. Even as Cloverpaw continued on, Codwhisper tried to keep his attention up to Kestrelstar. He yawned exaggeratedly. Since his own mentor struggles through his apprenticeship, Codwhisper had taken the issue of disappearing mentors fairly personally as his own cause of sorts. Seeing apprentices act so out-of-paw was no doubt a consequence of his clanmates' apparent lack of responsibility in training the future warriors of the clan, but all the same with a blatant disrespect for every cat around her, it was difficult to want to advocate for the apprentice.

[spade]

As Snowleap came to remove the unconscious apprentice, Kestrelstar gave a snort towards Oaksong. "RiverClan has never been weak, Oaksong. Sootstar was not fit to lead, yes, but he gave RiverClan many wonderful moons of service under Lionstorm when he was his deputy. Do not soil his or RiverClans name." His own opinions on the former RiverClan leader aside, Kestrelstar would not just stand by and allow his Clanmates to call their home weak when they were nothing of the sort. With one pointed glance towards the warrior, Kestrelstar turned to glance at Petuniafire who was now sitting near Blizzardsky. He dipped his head as a sort of apology for how chaotic the meeting had delved into before resuming his place atop the Streamstone.

"I want all cats to hear me now," he called, deciding to speak on this now. "A meeting is not the time nor place to air out personal grievances, nor is a warrior ceremony any place for interruptions. If you have something you must speak with me about, you can do so in my den. If your mentor is not at the meeting, you can look for them afterwards." Sweeping his yellow gaze across the crowd, he hoped that his stern voice and firm words would sink into the Clan. It was honestly embarrassing, and made him worried about Gatherings. He did not need any more warriors making fools out of RiverClan.

With that piece said, Kestrelstar let silence hang in the air for a moment longer before continuing. "Now, there are a few more things I would like to discuss. I have not heard any word on Goosefury, and while I ask that you continue to keep your eyes out for him, RiverClan needs to have all of its shields present." Another realization that Plumstorm was still not here, and it clawed at him. "Taking Goosefury's place will be Shimmerbird
[ NinjaBloss ]. Over the last moon alone she was been vital in flushing out threats stemming as far as cats without our on Clan to outsiders trespassing. I believe she will do excellent in her new role." Giving a nod to the she-cat, he allowed a moment to pass for those to call out congratulatory yowls and exclamations - she definitely deserved it for all the hard work she had been putting into the Clan.

Truthfully, Kestrelstar had hoped to never replace Goosefury. Part of him felt it was too soon, and insinctually his gaze searched for Rowanmist among the crowd. If the tom was here, the leader was certain he'd have something to say about this. About waiting for Goosefury to show up, about going to search for him. And the leader wanted to... but so many cats went missing from RiverClan on a consistent basis that if the leader searched for every single one, his paws would be run to the bone before the day was over.

Another heartbeat or two, and then Kestrelstar cleared his throat. "It has also come to my attention that it has been nearly a moon since your demotion, Horsepaw
[ InsertCoolNameHere ]." Yellow eyes locating the tom, he watched him momentarily before his yellow gaze flickered to Sparrowskip. "Sparrowskip [ marshall ], would you say that he has completed his duties and has learned his lesson and should be reinstated as a warrior?" The tip of the leaders tail flicked back and forth as he awaited an answer.

Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 fluffycheetahs WinterMara Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight Angelique SourCream luminous

[endlessskies]

{OPEN}
Breezestrike looked at Kestrelstar. Horsepaw. He'd never really met that cat, but who cares. He glanced at his paws. He wanted an apprentice... a cat to train. Breezestrike wrapped his tail around his paws as he looked around. He wanted to talk to someone.

[ThePiffle]

-Horsepaw-


So, this was it? This would decide whether or not he would remain an apprentice. This was the deciding factor in which he got to train Pebblepaw and maybe, just maybe getting his kits and the clans respect back. He just hoped that Sparrowskip wouldn't say no. How embarrassing to be denied a promotion in front of the class. But it was up to them.


The golden tom straightened his posture. He looked at Pebblepaw and gave a her a sympathetic look, just in case. It wasn't fair for her, almost a moon he hadn't trained her, yet she was still his apprentice, he was very grateful for that.


corgigirl

[Carmela]

Petuniafire's name rang in her voice with the rest as Honeystream celebrated the new warrior. Yet again, things were as bad as a badger's den. Hearing Oaksongs words, she bristled.

"Getting rid of? Get ahold of yourself." She's muttered under her breath. Yes, the apprentice was dramatic, but this attitude of "ridding" of clan members was ridiculous.

Watching Snowleap carry the young cat, green eyes followed. She felt a tear in remaining and helping. For a brief moment she wondered what her leader would want... On one paw helping could be seen as supportive....or on the other as if she didn't care about his words.

Mulling over the thought for a moment she glanced at her leader, gave a small nod and turned to help Snowleap. While she wasn't asked, his job wasn't easy. Hopefully Kestrelstar would understand. For one reason or another, his approval was important to her. She figured to help them come back.

(( masquerade SourCream ))

[Rizo]

Smiling at her new apprentice, she ignored the chaos that had erupted around her. Moonfrost would catch her up on it all later, she was sure. Turning to pad back to her seat next to her sister, Wolfsong dipped her head in respect to Petuniafire. She had worked hard to earn her place as a warrior, and though Wolfsong did not know her well, she had certainly earned the right to be called an equal.
"Come with me Pebblepaw, you can sit with my sister and I," she purred. As she walked, she noticed the look that Horsepaw gave the younger she-cat, and a look of pity crossed her face for a moment.
To work so hard to train someone and to have that stripped from you... It must feel terrible.
The silver tabby turned back to the Streamstone, planting herself on the ground next to het dark furred sister, and patted the space next to her with her tail, gesturing to Pebblepaw that she could take a seat there.

[ corgigirl Carmela (for Petuniafire mention) InsertCoolNameHere (for Horsepaw mention) ]

[corgigirl]

Pebblepaw’s ears perked as she heard her demoted mentor’s name. Would Horsepaw go back to being her mentor, or would she stay with Wolfsong?

[corgigirl]

Either way, she went to sit with her Wolfsong and Moonfrost. She was glancing around when she saw Horsepaw looking at her. She tried to give a small smile, but she couldn’t, she was still angry with him. He had to just go a see that traitor and get demoted. Then after that he couldn’t train her. And that she could kind of get, but the fact that while he was demoted, he hardly said a word to her and never apologized.

RiztheHuntressInsertCoolNameHere

[marshy]

// spade InsertCoolNameHere

Sparrowskip
_____________

Sparrowskip smiled again at Sunpaw before focusing back on the meeting. He was glad for all the new apprentices and the new warrior as well. He cheered for Shimmerbird too, but he was a bit worried about Goosefury's whereabouts.. Then Kestrelstar posed the question about Horsepaw's training. "I think.. yes! He has certainly proved his worth over the last moon and I'm sure he won't be making the same mistake again." It wouldn't be such a good idea to keep him an apprentice forever as RiverClan needed all the warriors it could get.

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw made sure not to disturb the meeting. She stared up at Kestrelstar quietly. She wasn't going to mess up. No. She couldn't. The pressure made her want to collapse and cry, but she didn't.
{open}

[Brightlight]

--Brittleshore--

As some cats who probably had bees for brains decided to interrupt the Clan meeting, the grey elder shook his head. While speaking up and staring your opinion was something that Brittleshore would always support, doing so while their leader was speaking and while a warrior ceremony was in progress was just outright ride and disrespectful. Watching the apprentice get carried out by, oh, there was a cat he knew, Brittleshore made a quiet mental note about who it was. He would be sure to watch the cat carefully.

Brittleshore startled when his leader began speaking again, so lost in his thoughts he almost missed the beginning portion of what Kestrelstar was saying. A new Shield? While Brittleshore was a bit worried about the other warrior, he felt plenty of joy for this one's promotion. "Shimmerbird!" Brittleshore called out, hoping that one word would convey every thing he felt.

[ThePiffle]

-HORSETAIL YESSSS-


Purring, he nodded his head towards both of the tom's. Watching as Pebblepaw walked over to Wolfsong, a look of confusion crossed his face. What? Had they got to know each other? Or had he...missed a clan meeting. Wolfsong was her mentor now? Furrowing his brow the maine coon shifted his weight uncomfortably. Trying to play it off, the cat looked back at Kestrelstar and Sparrowskip. Kestrelstar might have given her a new mentor in private, or he really had been that bad of a Riverclan member. Missing meetings, demoted. His face began creep back into the look of confusion. Blinking hard he shook his head, as he opened his eyes again, his face looked as though nothing happened. Expressionless the golden tom regained focus to the front.


corgigirl marshall RiztheHuntress

[stardust.]

(Oaksong)

"I am sorry, Kestrelstar" She mewed kindly, suddenly, she saw that Horsepaw was about to become a warrior again, and Shimmerbird becoming a shield again, she chanted Shimmerbird's name while waiting for Horsepaw to earn his warrior status back

[poppy]

|| NinjaBloss - feel free to ignore the floof lmao ||

WOW, another shield!!! This was crazy cool. Letting out a squeal of excitement, Birdpaw shot forward, hugging Shimmerbird's leg. "Good job, Shimmerbird!!!"

[Ian]

Oh. That's what Shimmerbird had forgotten about. Her promotion to Shield. And now everyone was looking at her. Was it possible for a hole to magically open up beneath her paws and swallow her, because that's what she wanted to happen right now. The molly knew that cats were probably cheering her name but all she could hear was a buzzing as the anxiety filled her head like a bunch of bees.

The world was suddenly thrown back into focus when a weight collided with her leg and a soft squeak of surprise left the Shield's mouth. It appeared that Birdpaw had decided to cling to her to show her approval instead of simply chanting her name like the rest, and while it was a bit awkward it also warmed her heart. "Thank you, Birdpaw," Shimmerbird said softly as she gave the apprentice a kind smile.

poppy.

[stardust.]

Oaksong was tired, and she hadn't eaten in forever, she decided to leave the meeting and go hunting

(Oaksong has left the meeting)

[spade]

An ear flick was given as he noticed Honeystream moving to assist Snowleap. Kestrelstar didn't say much on it, knowing that Snowleap was more than capable of handling it so if he wanted help he could be the one to accept or deny it. The apprentice was unconscious to appointing more than one warrior to remove them from the meeting seemed unnecessary in the leaders eyes.

Despite his thoughts, the gray tabby toms gaze remained on Sparrowskip as the deputy delivered his assessment of Horsepaw and his behavior over the past moon. From what he heard it sounded like he had learned his lesson - and more importantly, Kestrelstar hadn't heard of the tom sneaking out of camp anymore to meet with Silverspot.

"Alright. Horsepaw [ InsertCoolNameHere ], you'll be given your warrior status back and will be known as Horsetail. Make sure to take this moving forward as a lesson on Clan loyalty." He sincerely hoped that the tom would take his words to heart and heed them so that they weren't back in the same situation by the time of the next meeting. "However, Pebblepaw will remain with her current mentor." His voice remained firm on this, giving off the tone that he would not be discussing it further at the meeting. Horsetail and his chances at having a future apprentice could be discussed at a later time.

Shifting his gaze he took notice of Oaksong leaving and had to restrain the sigh he felt build up within him. He felt annoyance at it, but would no longer tell his warriors what they should and should not be doing; they should know. If they did not wish to attend meetings, he wouldn't force them - instead he would just make note of it.

"There is one more piece of business I'd like to discuss." Kestrelstar took a moment to gather his thoughts. "As some of you are aware, there have been a number of outsiders finding the location of our camp and somehow managing to slip past our borders. This puts us all in danger, and I am wary of this being part of something bigger." His tone was carefully neutral mixed with slight concern, but not too much. He wanted to remain poised and calm, so as to not alarm the Clan.

Moving his yellow gaze across the gathered cats below, he wondered what their opinions would be on the next statement. "I have been thinking on this, and nothing has been decided, but I wanted to see what you all thought of potentially relocating our camp." It would certainly be hard work, and Kestrelstar would need to send out a patrol if it was favored to scout for new areas, but before he got too ahead of himself thinking that he wanted to know the Clans opinions (was that what they called... progress?) "This is a big decision, and I want to hear everyones opinion before coming to a final decision. If we decide to not move and stay, I would like to hear what you all propose we should do to better secure our camp."

Taking a moment, Kestrelstar fell silent to hear of any opinions or recommendations his Clanmates had on how to deal with the outsider issue.

marshall Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade NinjaBloss Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 fluffycheetahs WinterMara Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight Angelique SourCream luminous

[Pine'Paw]

"Kestrelstar, if I may speak, I'd like to say something. Peeped CrowKit. "Us relocating sounds nice and all, but what if the outsiders coming are scheming from other clans? Like, with D-Dawnstar. Maybe she wants to take over R-Riverclan and is using o-outsider spies?"

spade (thought I'd mention you so you saw this easier)

[Brightlight]

--Brittleshore--

The grey elder nodded along as his leader spoke. As usual, his leader was reasonable about dealing with this Horsetail cat. Brittleshore himself didn't remember exactly what the other cat had done wrong, but he did remember the young one coming to remove ticks from the elders at some point. That had to be a good sign, right? When Kestrelstar announced that there was something they all needed to discuss, Brittleshore flicked an ear, narrowing his eyes. Outsiders finding out where the Riverclan camp was located was not a good sign. Unease made Brittleshore's pelt prickle. Outsiders had never attempted to raid the camp before...but they could never be too careful.

Brittleshore mulled over the situation a bit more before speaking, his voice slow and considerate. "Outsiders finding where our camp is isn't a good sign, and should be taken seriously." He meowed, voice just loud enough to be heard. "However I think moving the entire camp just because of a few lone cats isn't the best decision. It would take too much time, too many resources, and we're just coming out of leaf-bare." Brittleshore paused. "I also think we'd be left vulnerable if we used all our resources and energy in moving. That would leave us in even more danger than if we stayed." He paused again. "I think we should stay. For now. And be on guard, prepared to move if necessary, and to face threats if necessary." Brittleshore just left it at that, sitting down and waiting to hear what his clanmates thought.

[Silverfur & Co]

Snowstripe was shocked to hear this riverclan slipping up like that. She looked at Featherspirit. Who seemed to have something to say as she had just gotten her apprentice.


Featherspirit spoke up " If we stay we should add more patrols then normal not just our three or four one for dawn, one for in between Dawn and sunhigh, then sun high and right before moon high." The brown tabby with white socks mews for him to hear. "I will follow wherever my clan goes however." She could adapt with change Kestrelstar had seen it himself when she was jusst a kit.

[furrensic]

Pine'Paw //

➵ brindlefeather | she/(they/it)

as the discussion of loners and relocating made its way into the meeting, brindlefeather looked around to gauge the reactions of others. only three cats had spoken up so far. that all too familiar feeling bubbled up inside of them and they shuffled their paws uncomfortably, frowning and almost forgetting that their apprentice was sitting right beside them. relocating when it's still leafbare? i mean, newleaf is right around the corner, but we'd be vulnerable. and we'd have to build dens all over again, and the loners might learn where the new camp is! and what if a coyote attacked us while we were travellin-. the torbie forced out a hum to distract itself momentarily, paws tapping against the ground anxiously.

"um..uh..." was there really a true reason to be that worried or was it just being paranoid? "i think th-that, um, maybe..maybe a few cats could be positioned in areas that the loners are - are mostly in and they could switch with other cats throughout the day..? maybe." brindlefeather suggested in a doubtful sounding tone. was that a good idea?? should it have said that? "or we could relocate camps, i guess.." they muttered, tail wrapping around their paws."also i, uh, I don't think..dawnstar would gain anything out of taking over riverclan, crowkit." they added on.

[Rizo]

~Wolfsong~

As she turned her attention back to the meeting, she was concerned to hear that loners had been finding their way to camp frequently. She took a moment to look around at the other cats. So far those who had spoken were advocating for staying put.
Is that the best decision?
Wolfsong's brow furrowed as she considered the options. Perhaps increased security was the way to go. And moving a whole clan in leafbare is a tremendous feat.
I need to hear what others think first, and more information on whats been happening.
She nodded to herself, turning back to Kestrelstar and setting her blue gaze upon the leader.
"Have we found out anything about these loners? Do we know where they've been crossing the borders and why?" As she voiced her question, a realization crossed her mind that she should try to justify why she asked and not just blatantly question their leader.
"I would like to know more about the situation before I form an opinion on whether or not to move camp," she added, hoping that she didn't come off as disrespectful. Truthfully she had not seen any loners herself, she had been busy with other tasks.

[alaskaa]

Hazelstorm narrowed her eyes as Oaksong left the meeting, after being scolded by the leader himself. Jeez, that tom had the behaviour of a kit, quite like Creekfoot and Honeystream... green orbs swivelling around, her gaze landed right on Honeystream, attempting to help Snowleap. The try was almost amusing, really. In her view, the she-cat had a bad reputation for contradicting Plumstorm at that meeting possibly a moon ago or so. She could barely manage keeping her smirk quirking her mouth as she pointedly turned her gaze away, letting it drift to Kestrelstar as he announced the prescence of outsiders in their territory - and let alone, they even knew where the camp was? That was quite alarming. Though her external expression was quite calm, she felt intense alarm inside. The tabby tipped her chin up, fixing her gaze on the fluffy grey tabby, perched on the Streamstone, hoping she was projecting her voice loud enough so he could hear. Public speaking really wasn't her thing.

"P-Perhaps, we should create a back-up camp?" she suggested, a little hesitantly. "It wouldn't have to be as detailed as our current one. If the need arises, we could relocate to it immediately if the outsiders became a serious threat - every warrior, Shield and apprentice could help look out for any danger posed by the outsiders."

The brown tabby paused, and continued, matter-of-factly, "Patrols could be sent out to also look for any areas fit for a camp. However-" deep breath again, she really had no stamina, honestly. "-I believe that we should stay for now, and just be on guard and be ready to face any... crisis."

Outsiders had never been so much of a threat before - well, as long as Hazelstorm had lived. She didn't understand. Besides, how the HECK did outsiders find a way to slither into their territory, unknown, and make some home in it? RUDE !! Or maybe, the warriors didn't have brains anymore, except a select few. Just look at all those RiverClan cats that weren't a good role model for the apprentices. Creekfoot, Lionheart... those were the two that really stood out in her mind.

[Shade.]

spade

Lizardfrost didn't want to fail as a shield again so she made sure to consider everything. She knew herself to be strong and hard-working but that clearly wasn't enough.

"A camp relocation wouldn't bring that many sacrifices and I agree that too many invaders have been seen as of late. However, I urge you to delay it since its still leaf-bare. Green-leaf would be our ideal time but that's too far away so new-leaf could do. Just so that we don't have to sleep in the cold until we rebuild all of the dens." she explained.

[bubble[error].]

Codkit couldn't take it anymore. They walked over to Streamstone. "We should stay and fight these rouges!" They mewed before bolting off back to the nursery.

[corgigirl]

Changing camp spot? Pebblepaw sat down with a mouth open. Suprized, but she still wanted to see why.

[ThePiffle]

-Horsetail-


Purring, the warrior was filled as almost as much giddy joy as he had when he was first appointed a warrior. The golden tom remained a calm demeanor. This moment of joy was interrupted by the news that he would not in fact be given his apprentice back, and Kestrelstar seemed as though he didn't want negotiate. Despite all of this information flooding in at once with a mixture of feelings, he decided quickly he wouldn't be saying anything, respecting Kestrelstar's decisions was about all he could do at the moment. "Thank you, Kestrelstar," he meowed composedly.


Listening to what was said about the outsiders, Horsetail began to formulate an idea. Willing to speak, and wanting even more to prove himself he opened his mouth, though he was interrupted by a not so familiar face he had only seen once or twice. Chuckling at the kit, he began to speak once more his gaze drifting from Codkit to Sparrowskip and Kestrelstar. "If I may speak, I suggest hiring, or capturing a loner and asking him to spread rumors about the clan. Like, oh say, they killed by friend with a single claw flick. It wouldn't take much resources." he thought once more before speaking, While it may seem a little arbitrary, I think it would do no harm."

[Hawkk]

Codpaw knew that staying wouldn't be safe. "I think we should move." They mewed

Howlpaw liked the camp. "We're strong, we should defend whats ours. If we move it's like giving in." He mewed

Darkpaw thought that moving would show weakness. "If you want us to seem weak, move, but I don't think its the right idea." He mewed.

[X Boy]

Brambletree knew moving would be the smarter idea.

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He lifted his tail and let out a mew. *
" If it would be of some help. I could scout the territory to find A new place. As I also agree we should move. I believe that the more we stay here the easier we can be found by those we don't want around. "
* He looked around hoping he made a good choice. *
__________________________________________________ ___

(( OPEN ))

[poppy]

As the meeting continued, Birdpaw looked up as Kestrelbuddy brought up moving camps. Her eyes widened, and she felt her eyes falling to her chest, which not long ago had been cut into by an outsider. If she wasn't safe in her own camp, then no one was, not exactly. Raising her head, the apprentice decided to speak up, but not to say something silly or anything, but to voice her opinion because she didn't want anyone to die because of the outsiders. "I.... I think moving camp is a good idea. I don't wanted anyone to get hurt because of them."

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~
Open for anyone if they feel like talking about any of his ideas with him a little //

Apparently the meeting wasn't over, as there was still more to go over. Firstly, Shimmerbird became promoted to a shield, and Icekit couldn't help by frown a little. Her? She had reacted quite strongly to Lionheart just a second ago, much more... emotionally than was necessary in his opinion. She had been one of the cats to react to it along with Icekit, so that was something, but being as good as a kit was hardly an achievement. But who was he to argue with the word of the leader, whatever Kestrelstar saw in both Shimmerbird and Cloudpaw was something Icekit's untrained eyes maybe simply wasn't sharp enough to take notice of.

The other, more interesting matter after Horsetail getting his name back, was the rouges Kestrelstar brought up, something that made Icekit react by pricking his ears and sharply turn towards his leader after the short glance towards Shimmerbird. Hadn't he and Sparrowskip talked about the matter not so long ago, and he and Nectarrose had discussed what would make a batter camp if need be. The chances of the deputy or warrior going to Ketrelstar after a conversation with a kit was so unlikely he didn't even consider it, but it was an interesting coincidence.

He quickly listened in on a few opinions and thoughts his clan mates voices, and one idea nagged in the back of his mind. It was a very little plan still, one that had popped up in his mind while he was laying in bed one night, waiting for sleep to sweep him away. It was after his father had told about the time Shadowclan tried to attack Riverclan at night. A second camp. Or, not a second, but a back up, emergency exit for cats like queens and elders (and kits of course, though that did not come to mind at the moment) who were unable to fight and defend themselves, who could flee along with a pawful of good warriors to a safer, more hidden place to wait out the battle.

He was still a kit, and shouldn't disturb the meeting... but pitching the idea couldn't be counted as being a bother, could it? No, that would be dumb, to punish someone for trying to help. So he stood up, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Hazlestorm's (and maybe a few other he couldn't overhear) voice reach his ears, as they gave the same idea Icekit had been thinking about. The kit sat back down, discouraged by what had happened. He had in a way wanted to be the one to give the idea. It was a selfish thought and he wasn't proud of it, the plan could have helped the clan, and he was well aware he couldn't want credit for it, but he also wanted cats to listen to him, and think about what he said despite his young age. But then again, maybe it was for the better the thought had been spoken by a warrior, someone who more would listen to and consider the words of anyway.

But there was still room to give his two cents, even if they would be less valuable now... "I... I don't think moving just like that is a good idea. It would be a large hassle, and if you, Kestrelstar, are right, and there are bigger plans behind this, it would give whoever is planning whatever a good opportunity to strike, while the clan is rather scattered, and many warriors probably away building the new camp. But having only one camp in the whole territory isn't the only answer, we could make an extra place, connected by a hidden little passage from this camp, in the event of a raid on camp, cats who are not in a state to fight - be they sick, not of the right age, or carrying kits - could be safely moved there for the duration of the battle" There were some flaws in the plan, but others could always get something rolling with it.

"Aditiannly, we should encourage everyone to keep an eye out for any traces or rouges in our territory, and ideally no one should leave camp without company, or at least good training and fighting skill under their pelt, while taking a rouge hostage might not the good idea, for now, nothing would prevent a band of rouges taking one of us as captive. As of now this isn't any sort of epidemic to my knowledge, there are a larger number of rouges than usually, but not so many as to say require an immediate evacuation of camp. We have to keep in mind that we don't yet know if this is a bigger thing or merely a few new or bolder rouges moving in, we shouldn't go turning our lives upside down based on just this. I'd advise causing, and maybe a patrol or two to see how the outskirts look, maybe try and look for rumors about any rouge in particular on so on. I have heard the stereotype that kittypets are just lazy pets who like so gossip, why not use some of that to our advantage, or offer some small prey to rouges if they give us all the information they have of their fellow outsiders?"

He wasn't quite sure on how the social systems worked outside their borders, and was merely going off what he had overheard from the occasional patrol, or queens sharing tongues in the sunlight. It wasn't much to base his knowledge on, but better than nothing, he supposed.

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

The young spotted tabby perked his ears at the mention of relocating the camp. The work that would need to be done to rebuild another camp didn't put him off but the idea of being able to explore more areas, possibly areas that he'd not yet seen before, was thrilling. He'd always had an affinity towards exploration and adventure, generally that tendency landed him in more trouble than praise, but this would be, not only sanctioned by Kestrelstar but, beneficial for the entire clan. Codwhisper rose to his paws, his tail twitching as he restrained his excitement. "Well we see that so many cats knowing our location is not guardable otherwise we wouldve been able to do that, it's no secret that that has always been the goal, to not let outsider welcome themselves to our camp. It'll be a lot of work to move but Riverclan has a lot of paws and we're strong, and resilient. We could get it done."

**Doeheart**

The lilac she-cat slowly groomed her pelt as she listened to Kestrelstar's announcements and ceremonies. Her lazy strokes stopped and she looked up to look at the leader as he mentioned moving the camp. She thought quickly of her sister, Icicledrop. She was as confident as the rest of her family that her sister had left Riverclan of her own freewill but the thought of leaving the camp she knew settled like a pit within Doeheart's stomach. If they left it'd be too close to accepting that Icicledrop was never coming back. Her younger sister had left knowingly, if she came back looking for the camp and it was no longer here, would she keep looking or simply give up? Her paws shifted but she kept her worries to herself.

[Misty.!.]

“I might go hunting why not” -misty cloud said too herself-

[spade]

Among the first to speak up for the Clan was Crowkit. Kestrelstar couldn't help but smile, though from where the rest of the cats sat it went unnoticeable due to how short lived it was. It wasn't a bad thought, but if Dawnstar were sending spies to RiverClan Kestrelstar was certain he would've sniffed it out by now. Everything was on high alert when it came to the ShadowClan leader. Thankfully, Brindlefeather stepped in to reassure the young kit. Her idea about placing guards in the hot spots (regardless of the way doubt seeped into her tone) was interesting, though RiverClan did already have Shields, which was essentially the same thing.

Brittleshore offered good advice, and Kestrelstar lifted his head to listen. After all, she was one of the Clans only elders and had lived through many more moons than he had. While he still had (some, it was dwindling) confidence in being able to make this decision it was nice to hear her input. Her, alongside Lizardfrost, pitched the idea that moving during leaf-bare would be detrimental - to which the RiverClan leader had to agree.

"I believe they are coming from our border that faces Lionsrange, as they do not have any other Clan scent on them," Kestrelstar informed Wolfsong after hearing she needed more information. Part of him wanted to scoff. More information? What more did she need than three outsiders having somehow made their way directly into the camp with hostile intentions? But he stifled his frustration for now and simply nodded.

While there were those who called for staying put completely and simply upping patrols, a few voiced their support for a back up camp. Hazelstorm was the first cat to call for the idea, and surprisingly it was followed up by Icekit. That was... one mature kit, Kestrelstar realized as his yellow gaze leveled towards the young tom. Rather peculiar, as most kits tended to get on his last nerve. But Icekit was well spoken and had some firm ideas that could be built upon and executed among the warriors of the Clan. "A back up camp is a good idea. Having some way for the rest of the Clan to escape to a safer place should it be revealed this is part of a bigger plan would be preferrable.

Kestrelstar recalled something about a temporary camp having been created during Sootstar's reign in the tunnels that ran underneath their territory, but if a flood came, it wouldn't be feasible to use. A camp above ground and well protected would be the best bet.

While most of the Clan had good and constructive advice to offer, Kestrelstar found his eyes narrowing towards Darkpaw. He was unsure what had gotten into RiverClan and this thought of "weakness" but he wanted it snuffed out. [B]"The decision to move camps is not a weak one, Darkpaw," he corrected the apprentice, keeping any frustration out of his tone. "RiverClan is and always will be strong, regardless of where our camp is located."

Shifting his gaze now onto the rest of the Clan, Kestrelstar sighed. There were those who offered to scout territory for the new camp, but the leader had reservations about assigning Stoneclaw to any sort of demanding labor. He had taken notice of how the tom had not eaten anything and was growing skinnier each day - from what he understood, Snowleap had tried to encourage him to eat and had also taken him to see Snakeheart, but to no avail. He simply nodded to the tom before moving on.

Kestrelstar did scoff however at the idea of capturing a loner for information. Icekit had touched on it briefly, but the kits idea had seemed much more mature than Horsetails. "Having a back up camp is not a bad idea. For now, the camp will remain here, and patrols will be stepped up in order to decrease the chances of loners continuing to find out camp. Any cat spotted on RiverClan territory that is not one of our Clanmates needs to be chased off. We cannot afford for them to keep finding our camp." His voice was firm and resolute.

With that, the meeting was pretty much over. "In the coming days I will be assigning some patrols to help with searching for areas for a suitable back up camp. Until then, remain vigilant and aware while you're out in the territory. And apprentices," he called, knowing that this needed to be said again, "another reminder that you are not allowed outside of camp without a warrior present." Hopefully it would finally make sense why, what with the issues outsiders had been causing lately.

"This meeting is dismissed." With a flick of his tail Kestrelstar descended the Streamstone.

marshall Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade NinjaBloss Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter iris Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove QueenOtter @lucid Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 fluffycheetahs WinterMara Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Papaya Cherry Blossom Brightlight Angelique SourCream luminous InsertCoolNameHere

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He gave a dip of his head to his leader and padded over to Littlebrook. He lightly nuzzled her before he made his way to the camp entrance. He padded out of camp as to go hunting. *
_________________

((OPEN))

[Spartan-117]

Streamkit's head lowers. He's six moons old and he still hasn't become an apprentice yet, and it makes him sad.
Chervilkit leans close to him and nuzzles Streamkit. "Hey, do't feel bad." He mews softly.
Dimshade looks at the two kits across the clearing and tilts his head.
Ravenclaw looks at Coralsplash, dropping a small fish at their brother's paws.
Coralsplash nods toward his brother. "Thanks, Raven." He murmurs and starts eating the small fish slowly.

(Closed, this is for the activity check)

[Raven~]

Palebrook
_____
Ghost of Red
Palebrook got up slowly, shaking her head. She couldn’t remember the last time RiverClan had had a Clan meeting that hadn’t ended badly. It was becoming a repeating thing that was growing tiresome. Palebrook just wanted to get the thought of leaving the camp out of her head. She saw Stoneclaw going out of camp, looking like he was going hunting. ”Can I join you?” Palebrook asked.

Frostpaw
____
Frostpaw left the meeting.

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She sighed and looked at Kestrelstar. She supported his idea, but her kits- would they make it? She walked up to him. "Kestrelstar.." She asked. "I trust you about this, but.. I would like to ensure that my kittens will be safe." She said, blinking. "I just, want to be sure, because- What if.."

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He turned around and noticed Palebrook. *
" Sure wouldn't mind the company since Littlebrook is in the nursery with our kits. "
* He turned back around and bounded off. *
_____________________________________
Raven~;

[marshy]

As Sparrowskip dragged Kestrelstar's body into the clearing he sat down for a couple minutes. Just to say goodbye, sure they'd have the vigil but.. Sparrowskip lightly touched noses with Kestrelstar before approaching the Streamstone. He didn't think he'd be having to call a meeting this soon into his high rank. He breathed in and called
"All c-cats old enough to swim. Gather under the Streamstone for a meeting."
He yelled into the clearing. It was a painful yet emotionless yell, as devastated he was he needed to keep a unemotional font in front of the entire clan. He took one last look at the dead leader before tearing his eyes away to look at the clan.

[ Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Angelique Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Luminous Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 @SourCream fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Slushie Cherry Blossom Brightlight ]

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He poked his head out of the nursery and gasped. He walked out and sat down. His gaze traveling to Kestrelstar's body. He felt a twinge of pain. He never knew the great leader that well, but he respected him. He was deeply saddened by this outcome for the great leader. *
___________________________________

((OPEN))

[WinterMara]

| Whitepaw of Riverclan |

Oh a meeting was being called by. . .Sparrowwhatshissuffix? Hm, maybe Kestrelstar finally kicked the bucket, she just sat down as, the deputy, leader, whatever seemed like a emotionally dead rat. And, oh, yep, okay he's gone, cool.

| CLOSED, WHITEPAW DOES NOT SHARE MY VIEWS, like tbh I think I almost cried when I heard the news myself.

[starry]

No. Mistypaw stepped into the clearing at the sound of Sparrowskip's call, dark amber eyes wide. There was Kestrelstar in the clearing. Dead. The molly gasped. "Kestrelstar! Wake up!" she exclaimed, a tear running down her cheek. But he was not asleep. He had been such a great leader. This could not be happening. "Sp- spa- sparrowskip? What h- happened?" she asked, her gaze traveling over to the deputy who was situated on the streamstone. Sobs kept escaping from her maw. I can't stop them. I can't stop myself from crying and I want to be a strong cat?

[Ian]

Shimmerbird perked her ears as she heard Sparrowskip call a meeting. Something was clearly wrong by the sound of his voice, and the fact that it wasn't Kestrelstar who was calling the meeting. Padding out of the warriors den her gaze was immediately drawn to the body in the middle of the clearing. No.. it couldn't be, could it?

She stepped forward, freezing, before glancing between it and the clearly devastated Sparrowskip. No no no no! What happened? Kestrelstar had multiple lives left right? This can't be happening! Her thoughts raced in panic as she numbly sat, a choked gasp coming out of her jaws.

What was going to happen to RiverClan now?

[stardust.]

Oaksong padded over to the streamstone. With a meeting being called by, Sparrowskip?He just became the deputy last moon. But then she thought of Kestrelstar's strict leadership, "Is he dead?" She asked, hoping to understand what happened to Kestrelstar. She remembered what Kestrelstar's leadership was like, he always punished cats who were not loyal. Oaksong was loyal, but sometimes she accidentally got into other cats business. Luckily, new-leaf is coming soon, and hope would finally arrive soon because of that. But we would find out what would happen during leaf-bare. Kestrelstar wasn't a leader for even a year. She thought, We really need stronger leaders.

Plumwillow was both confused and sad at Sparrowskip's call, Oh.. something might have happened to Kestrelstar, she thought. She padded over to a spot near the edge of the stone. She also noticed a stutter in Sparrowskip's voice. Plumwillow had feelings all over her head... It was time for Sparrowskip to tell the truth...

[GoldenDays]

~Frozen’paw~

Frozen’paw padded up to the Streamstone, the scent of death lingered in the air, why was Sparrow’skip calling a meeting? It wasn’t until he glanced over to the deputy that he saw it. “Is that Kestrel’Star?” he asked, a quiver in his mew. What happened to Kestrel’Star? No way he was dead right? No no, the riverclan leader had multiple lives left. What could have possibly happened?
“What happened?” what would riverclan do without their leader? Was Sparrow’skip leader now? Is he Sparrow’star now? Who killed Kestrel’Star? No doubt this would start some kind of fight if it was another clan cat. Frozen’paw had no doubt that if another clan cat killed him they were of Shadowclan, those fox hearts.

[dino.]

>Boarskull<
A large golden-brown tom emerged from the warriors' den, hooded amber eyes already grim. A call from anyone other than Kestrelstar could never mean good things, and as he swept his gaze around the clearing, he realized his assumption was correct. For a moment, Boarskull stood still, eyes looking unblinkingly in the direction of Kestrelstar's body. Then, with a heavy sigh and a sorrowful shake of his head, the scarred tabby made his way carefully to sit down amongst the growing crowd. His head was bowed and his eyes were closed as he delivered a silent prayer to StarClan.

[poppy]

Birdpaw was lounging about in the clearing, wondering who she should hug next, when she heard something fr the entrance. She looked up and saw Sparrowskip dragging in something. Her eyes widened, but they widened with horror when she recognized the body. No. Not her Kestrelbuddy. "KESTREL NO!!" She screamed from deep in her stomach, and ran to the body. As Sparrow left and climbed up on Kestrelbuddy's rock, she collapsed by Kestrelbuddy. A choked, strangled sob rose up in her chest. "Kestrelbudd!!! No Kestrel wake up! Wake up...." She looked around wildly for Snakie. He could fix Kestrel! "SNAKIE HURRY! BRING YOUR PLANTS! KESTRELBUDDY NEEDS HELP!!! SNAKIE HURRY!!!"

Looking around, desperate, she called the name of the next safest big cat. "Wormy...!" Where was Wormy???

// x ghostie Rani don't reply if you don't want to lmao

[beau]

Saltpaw followed the rest of the cats to the Streamstone. Her bright eyes searched for the familiar figure of Kestrelstar, but instead found Sparrowskip. What was he doing up there? He was gonna get himself in trouble. But then her gaze found Kestrelstar, his drenched body sat in the clearing. Here eyes glimmered with a sort of grim fascination. What was wrong with him? A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled that horrible thing of death her father had told her about - cats stolen away from the forest by terrible force, leaving only a shell to grieve over. Hadn't that happened to her mother?

Was this what it looked like? It looked.. uncomforting. Cold, unwelcoming. The sweetish scent - like poisoned berries - made her paws tremble. Was this what her mother had looked like? Cranefreckle had taken her before she could see it. She thought we was thankful for that, but she couldn't be sure. Where was Kestrelstar, then? If he wasn't here? Was he simply nonexistent? Was he where you went to dream? "What's gonna happen?" Her voice was whispery and shook as she spoke, making her question almost unintelligible.

[open if someone wants to come comfort her! bear in mind that Saltpaw is deaf.]

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He noticed Saltpaw alone in the clearing. She was clearly distressed. He walked over and sat down next to her. He laid his tail over her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. *
_________________________________
Naiad

[Silverfur & Co]

Featherspirit looked as Kestrelstar's body was brought into the clearing and she got upset. "What happened sparrowskip?" She mews after gathering beneath the rock.


Snowstripe looked at was shocked Kestrelstar had been a good leader. That was two leaders now that she had had to morn or three she lost count. But she was upset as well but walked up to mistyped and featherspirit trying to comfort the both of them.

[Fenz]

Fawnspring

Having just emerged from the warriors den from a nice rest turned at the voice of riverclans deputy, he seamed to be dragging a gray furred body with him and before he knew it the gray furred body had taken the shape of kestrelstar. H-hey w-what’s g-going on…is this a joke… his world seamed to dip and sway beneath his paws as he approached the leaders body, blue eyes wide in confusion and fear. I-it can’t be…he -he was so strong- no it’s not possible tears where now streaming from his eyes uncontrollably as he struggled to comprehend what was happening. He had already seen so many deaths, he had known pain and suffering all his life and yet no matter how much he tried to prevent his friends and clanmates from dying it never worked. His brown and white spotted shoulders slumped as he sat down, he couldn’t stop imagining his friends dead bodies one by one, his family everyone he loved. It wasn’t fair why must starclan do this it’s not fair. Haven’t they taken enough from me, from us already… he wasn’t close to kestrelstar at all but he admired him for many reasons and always looked up to him. Turning his dull eyes towards the deputy or…new leader of Riverclan he slowly dragged himself away and stumbled towards him only to halt an few feet away and sat down, head bent in greif and anger. He couldn’t suppress the rage that dragged at his heart, maybe…I’m useless just as I thought. Never able to protect anything or anyone … tch I’m so pathetic now at this point he was just numb dimly aware of what was happening around him and didn’t really care, maybe if he just stopped the pain will go away, maybe then he can finally be happy again without the pain and blame of others dying.


[ x ghostie ] [ masquerade ]

Just in case you wanna help him// also open to anyone else who wants to help the depressed man

[Rizo]

Sitting bolt upright as she was wrenched from a deep sleep, Moonfrost turned her gaze to the entrance of the warrior's den, where she could hear somecat yelling for Snakeheart. She turned to nudge her sister, but it was unnecessary. Wolfsong was already awake and climbing from her nest. The pair of sisters pushed out of the den and blinked in the sunlight, eyes adjusting to the brightness. That was when the scent hit Moonfrost's nose.
The beginnings of the smell of death.
Following her sister's gaze, Wolfsong looked to the edge of the clearing, where Birdpaw was collapsed next to a body. It was the all too familiar pelt of Kestrelstar. Shock overtook her and she padded forward slowly, looking around the gathered cats. She had to find Nightleap.
Meanwhile, Moonfrost was off on her own mission to find someone.
Cloudpaw, oh Cloudpaw. I'm here! Where are you?
The black tabby was turning frantically, trying to find the small cat.
Both sisters knew that the meeting call that finally registered in their brains came from Sparrowskip, who was sitting atop the Streamstone. But they had to find the cats that would need them first.

[bubble[error].]

++ Codkit = 1 Moon Old Kit = They/Them/Their ++

< open >

Codkit watched from the nursery. They got closer and they spotted Kesteralstar's body. Kestralstar DIED!?!?! The kit got closer till they could hear everything.

[Shade.]

Lizardfrost made her way over, curious as to why the deputy was announcing a meeting. She sat down neatly and listened, failing to recognize the emotions in his voice. She then noticed the corpse and understood that their leader was dead. This appeared to be the announcement.

[taillow]

Dustymoth
Gallivanting in through the camp entrance with a rather large leaf clamped firmly in his jaws, Dustymoth was fully prepared to stand up as straight as he could to show it off. The whole Clan had to know about his wonderful find! But the further he padded into the clearing, the more he could feel the heavy weight of the air around him. Confusion swept through him, eyes darting around until they landed on a familiar gray pelt. Kestrelstar.

His heart lurched sideways in his chest and the tom shuffled his paws. He was never good with death, or any serious situations. Sorrow clouded his blue gaze as he awkwardly moved forward to approach the leader's body. There were already cats gathering to hear what Sparrowskip would have to say, but Dustymoth knew he would not be able to stick around.

"...I was going to put this in my nest, but I think you need it more," he whispered to the lifeless tom as he set his large leaf down near his chest. Misty tears welled in his eyes as the large fluffy tom turned to survey his Clan. This was not good. Every cat was sad, and Dustymoth knew deep down there wasn't a thing he could do. So without another word, the tom turned and sprinted right back out of camp.

[ closed! ]

[TheWhiteWolf]

❦ Lynxfall (he/they) ❦

❥ Lynxfall padded out of the warriors den, only for his eyes to fall on the body of Kestrelstar. A wave of fear and sorrow racked through his body as he froze in place. “What…?” He mumbled to himself, his heart sinking down to his stomach. He didn’t know the leader very well, but he respected him. Padding towards where the other cats sat, he slowly sat down, slouching over in disbelief.

❣︎ Shadepaw (she/her) ❣︎

❥ Emerging from the apprentice den, she saw a familiar grey pelt on the ground. Kestrelstar. No- it couldn’t be, could it? How did this happen? Making her way over to Lynxfall, she slowly slumped down beside him, tears welling in her eyes. While she didn’t know the leader personally, death was a very serious thing for her. She’d always cry at a loss of another cat, no matter where they were from.

[Rani]

The wail that tore itself from Snakehearts throat was earsplitting and gut wrenching all in one.

Eyes locked on the limp still form of his brother the medicine cat tore through the crowd slamming into anyone who didn’t move quick enough in a desperate attempt to get to his brother skidding to a stop as he buried his paws into Kestrelstars limp side. The thought alone that his brother had lost another life was devastating but…. But why wasn’t he getting up? That thought was worse.

How many lives did Kestrelstar have left? How many!? Snakeheart didn’t know, he didn’t know! The medicine cat was panicking as he checked over the leader a soft whimper tearing free at the absence of any pulse.
“Kes, Kes! Come on birdbrain get up, get up! I told you to be careful you never listen! You cant keep losing lives again! Damn it Im going to murder you when you get up, stop laying there and GET UP!”
He wasn’t moving why wasn’t he getting up he couldn’t be at nine lives already right? Right!? Maybe something was wrong with the resurrection maybe he needed help.

“Reedpaw! REEDPAW GET OVER HERE NOW! I need burnet yarrow and chamomile! Stop standing there and get them! NOW! Hold on you idiot healings coming I got you I got you. Breath just breath!” Snakehearts paws were flying frantically working with all he knew to try and fix a situation that couldn’t be fixed. The medicine cat refused to stop trying. The leaders head was tilted back elevated to try and drain the water as Snakeheart reared up paws pressing against his chest in pulsing motions the tom trying to start a heart long stopped. Moving ever moving faster and faster this had to work this HAD TO WORK! Why wasn’t he getting up why wasn’t Kestrelstar getting up?! Snakeheart didn’t understand he didn’t get it his brother had to move he wasn’t done he wasn’t allowed to leave!

Distantly, a mind a step away from a panicking body Snakeheart felt like a kit again. Waiting ever waiting for a family member missing (gone though he refused to think of it that way) useless helpless to fight against fate. He wasn’t helpless, he couldn’t be he was the medicine cat, it was his job to fix these things! HE HAD TO FIX THIS! THIS COULDN’T BE HAPPENING HE HAD TO FIX THIS! WHY WASN’T IT WORKING! Choaked sobs tore from the toms throat even if he didn’t know it frantically working against a set fate to change things he couldn’t change.

He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. HE WOULDN’T ACCEPT THIS!

HE HAD TO FIX THIS HE COULD FIX THIS WHY WASN’T KESTRELSTAR GETTING UP COME ON BIG BROTHER PLEASE PLEASE DON’T LEAVE HIM YOU CANT LEAVE WHY NO NO NONONONONONONO

And so Snakeheart worked and worked, tears dripping down his face even as his mind denied denied denied refusing to accept the truth breathing ragged and torn as he was bend double over his big brothers limp body.



@marshall (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=10933) @Nixey (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=14359) (Open to 1-2 cats to drag snake away from the body)

[CloudDOuG]

What the heck happened!? How!? Sparrowskip...Kestrelstar...what? Sparrowstar, hm. Why Kestrelstar, why? What happened to you...?

[starry]

:: poppy.

Another sob escaped from Mistypaw's lips before she could stop it from coming. She hurried over to Birdpaw, a low sigh escaping from her jaw. "Birdpaw," she meowed, assuming a soft, almost mother-like tone. But it was full of pain and experience. The apprentice knew that she could not continue on like this. Salty tearwater stung her eyes as she tried to comfort Birdpaw. "He won't wake anymore." Her voice was full of regret, grief, anger, torment and... anger. Anger at StarClan. "B- but he's up there in the stars, and he'll always watch over you. Don't worry."

More tears flowed out of her eyes and she could not stop her voice from trembling. "It's going to be okay," Mistypaw breathed, though she knew the words were also to herself, not Birdpaw. "Everything's going to be fine."

[BirdieChirp]

The wail that tore itself from Snakehearts throat was earsplitting and gut wrenching all in one.

Eyes locked on the limp still form of his brother the medicine cat tore through the crowd slamming into anyone who didn’t move quick enough in a desperate attempt to get to his brother skidding to a stop as he buried his paws into Kestrelstars limp side. The thought alone that his brother had lost another life was devastating but…. But why wasn’t he getting up? That thought was worse.

How many lives did Kestrelstar have left? How many!? Snakeheart didn’t know, he didn’t know! The medicine cat was panicking as he checked over the leader a soft whimper tearing free at the absence of any pulse.
“Kes, Kes! Come on birdbrain get up, get up! I told you to be careful you never listen! You cant keep losing lives again! Damn it Im going to murder you when you get up, stop laying there and GET UP!”
He wasn’t moving why wasn’t he getting up he couldn’t be at nine lives already right? Right!? Maybe something was wrong with the resurrection maybe he needed help.

“Reedpaw! REEDPAW GET OVER HERE NOW! I need burnet yarrow and chamomile! Stop standing there and get them! NOW! Hold on you idiot healings coming I got you I got you. Breath just breath!” Snakehearts paws were flying frantically working with all he knew to try and fix a situation that couldn’t be fixed. The medicine cat refused to stop trying. The leaders head was tilted back elevated to try and drain the water as Snakeheart reared up paws pressing against his chest in pulsing motions the tom trying to start a heart long stopped. Moving ever moving faster and faster this had to work this HAD TO WORK! Why wasn’t he getting up why wasn’t Kestrelstar getting up?! Snakeheart didn’t understand he didn’t get it his brother had to move he wasn’t done he wasn’t allowed to leave!

Distantly, a mind a step away from a panicking body Snakeheart felt like a kit again. Waiting ever waiting for a family member missing (gone though he refused to think of it that way) useless helpless to fight against fate. He wasn’t helpless, he couldn’t be he was the medicine cat, it was his job to fix these things! HE HAD TO FIX THIS! THIS COULDN’T BE HAPPENING HE HAD TO FIX THIS! WHY WASN’T IT WORKING! Choaked sobs tore from the toms throat even if he didn’t know it frantically working against a set fate to change things he couldn’t change.

He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. He couldn’t accept this. HE WOULDN’T ACCEPT THIS!

HE HAD TO FIX THIS HE COULD FIX THIS WHY WASN’T KESTRELSTAR GETTING UP COME ON BIG BROTHER PLEASE PLEASE DON’T LEAVE HIM YOU CANT LEAVE WHY NO NO NONONONONONONO

And so Snakeheart worked and worked, tears dripping down his face even as his mind denied denied denied refusing to accept the truth breathing ragged and torn as he was bend double over his big brothers limp body.



@marshall (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=10933) @Nixey (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=14359) (Open to 1-2 cats to drag snake away from the body)

SharkHeart went over to the Streamstone and saw Snakeheart. “Hey! Calm down, I know it’s hard!” She said lightly pushing SnakeHeart away from KestrelStar. “He will always be in your heart!” She said trying to comfort him.

[littlelove]

Ever since the... fiasco that had taken place during the previous gathering, Morninglily had made it a habit to avoid any clan meetings. It felt like her presence was marked by an aura of bad luck; if she dared to show herself, something catastrophic was bound to happen. So in her nest she was determined to stay.

The calling of a meeting from a distinctly not-Kestrelstar voice followed by a chorus of wailing and shouting, however, suggested to the warrior that her method was not working. A freezing cold pit settled in her stomach, shooting ice through her veins and causing her heart to sink. Part of her pleaded, cried to her to stay curled up her the corner of the warrior's den - whatever was out there, her presence surely wouldn't help - but Morninglily knew there wouldn't be any less fallout later. She could feel her breath catch in her throat as she stepped out into the clearing.

She blinked once. And then again. Every other part of her body was frozen stiff, including her eyes, which were locked onto the soaking, unmoving form of a dark grey tabby at the edge of the clearing. He remained still, too still, as her mind willed him to move. He was a leader, with a pawful of lives left; it would only be natural. No matter how much her head goaded, however, he stayed exactly where Sparrowskip had left him at the edge of the clearing.

Dead.

Mechanically, Morninglily made her way towards the corpse, pawsteps uncalculated and clumsy. His near-black fur was unmarred by any injuries, and had it not been for the salty water that still clung to his pelt, one could have thought he was simply sleeping. Rest is what he deserved, after all, after the hell he'd gone through (and raised) during his tenure as leader. The warrior took a seat before him, a foxlength or so away - any closer would be disrespectful. Anything and everything she'd said to him seemed to rush back to her in an instant. Thoughts that weren't her own flooded her head.

aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you happy! aren't you ha


All of a sudden, Morninglily wished she could take his place.

[open!]

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ Memento Mori ]

➢ Padding into the Riverclan camp, the long-furred tomcat had just returned from another fishing trip. He was holding a plump, silvery fish in his jaws, humming a oftened tune to himself like it was just another day. However, immediately, Snowleap saw the group of Riverclan cats gathered. Oh, had he nearly missed a clan meeting? Where was Kestrelstar? The tall shield soon noticed that many cats had their heads hung low and some were crying. That was when the oriental longhair saw the clan leader’s familiar fur accompanying the limp form that everyone was gathered around. No. Snowleap dropped the fish in his mouth. No, no, no. Their mouth immediately felt dry as they padded forward, catching sight of Lynxfall and Shadepaw mourning. Tears welled up in his eyes. How did this happen? He had seen Kestrelstar just a few days ago, fine and healthy as ever. Snowleap sat down next to his mate, curling his bushy tail around the other tomcat. He stared down at the ground, tears dripping from his eyes and into the dirt. Kestrelstar had been Riverclan’s leader for so long. They weren’t familiar to a Riverclan without him. What would happen to his clan now?

---
☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ open to anyone ]

➢ The small fluffy apprentice had been sleeping soundly in the apprentice’s den, having slept more than usual because of a nasty headache. She soon woke up though to the sound of cats outside the den. What was going on? Cloudpaw lifted her head, blinking sleepily before pulling herself out of her nest. The Riverclan molly slipped out into the clearing, seeing many clanmates gathered around. Huh? Her light-blue eyes flickered over to the body of Kestrelstar, the sight hitting her like a monster on the thunderpath. “K-Kestrelstar…” She mewed, her voice shaking before she ran over to his limp form, “No! P-Please! I don’t w-want to be all a-a-alone again! Not y-you too!” Tears streamed down her face and she felt like screaming out. Why? First her mamas, then her siblings and friends, and now her mentor? Why? Did Starclan hate her that much? No! “P-Please wake up! I c-can’t do this w-w-without you..” She buried her face into his fur and hugged the dead body of her teacher, trembling uncontrollably. Cloudpaw was scared, terrified. The black-and-white shecat sniffled and sobbed, not knowing what to do now. She had just begun her training. She hadn't even learned how to swim yet. Why why why? He was supposed to be here with her and help her.

[Fenz]

the brown tom sunk lower and lower to the ground as the startled cries of others filled the air. It’s not fair why must we all lose someone important to us all? This had been a question that Fawnspring couldn’t answer for as long as he lived but he would never drop the question, it had lingered in his mind after puddlekit had died long ago. A shaky sigh slipped out as he staggered towards snakeheart , his dull eyes emotionless and empty as his steps became more accurate and less staggerish. Reaching out a small paw he gently rested it on snakehearts shoulder letting the older tom know he wasn’t alone in this saddened clearing. He knew how snakeheart felt alone and lost like the world was falling apart before his eyes they where both alone in the darkness now but if he could Fawnspring would at least like to give the other tomcat some hope a guiding light to the potential future while he stayed behind alone he owed the medicine cat that much at least. I-I don’t know much about your bother or you, but I know what it’s like being alone…I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember even though I was surrounded by clanmates I always felt alone. he murmured quietly to the tomcat before adding on but it’s ok because even if you don’t see it we’re all one happy family your never alone snakeheart, never and if you ever feel alone I’m always here for you we all are so don’t suffer alone. leaving the older tomcat with those parting words he made his way over to birdpaw who seamed shaken to the core and gently placed himself beside the apprentice. It’s ok, it’s going to be just fine after all he is watching over us from starclan. he reached out a paw and pulled the apprentice into a warm fluffy hug to comfort them. Then his attention was guided towards cloudpaw and his heart shattered hey CloudPaw…want a hug? he offered kindly shifting slightly to allow more room if the other apprentice wanted her own fluffy hug.
Rani masquerade poppy.

[Mango]

masquerade

Blizzardsky stretched as he padded out of the den at Sparrowskip's call. His eyes gazed around the clearing as they landed on Kestrelstar dead. That stopped him in his tracks," no" he choked out completely in shock and reeling in surprise. However, something that crossed his mind shortly passed Kestrelstar didn't follow Splashleap's request for me to be deputy...if it weren't for Sparrowskip I'd be about to become leader right now...I guess on the plus side now I can become Sparrowskip's deputy... he thought, for once smart enough not to say outloud. This was probably the only time Blizzardsky had correctly read the den, well the camp in this scenario. He wanted to shove Snakeheart out of the way and press himself into Kestrelstar's fur like he was a little kit wanting his mother's warmth, but then he saw Cloudpaw, Kestrelstar's apprentice who had gone through so many mentors before. He knew he had a reputation, but he needed to comfort the bean," I'm so sorry Cloudpaw..." he murmered going in to give Cloudpaw a reassuring lick between the ears for comfort," you won't be alone, the rest of the clan is here, Kestrelstar is watching over you...and I am here." he gently meowed. He was a father, he couldn't stand to see any kits or apprentices suffering. It was the least he could do. He wanted to take Cloudpaw's pain away, but he knew only time could fix that.

[furrensic]

Rani //

➵ brindlefeather | she/(they)/it

deep down in their heart, they knew something was bad when sparrowskip was the one that called a clan meeting. peaking out of the warriors den, brindlefeather found the assumption to be true. cats were already gathering around and pushing to the front, some teary eyed and crying, wailing. they looked over, and there, on the edge of the clearing laid kestrelstar's body - stiff, unmoving, and most importantly, not breathing. the first round of panic set in, because what would they do now? sparrowskip had just become deputy and now he would become leader? how did kestrelstar die? how many lives did he even have left? shouldn't he be waking up? he was young! their chest tightened, their heart pounded against their ribcage, they tried to inhale.

paws shuffling against the ground and tapping, they tried to calm themselves down. but, that was a bit hard considering so many people were wailing (understandably), the apprentices made their heart ache the worst. (they hoped russetpaw and spicepaw didn't show up. they shouldn't see their leader's corpse.) oh stars, okay, okay, he's dead. everyone dies eventually! leaders have died in the past. it'll be fine. right? ohh dear stars.. they breathed in, trembling and fur bristled.

another sight make their heart ache even worse, snakeheart. poor snakeheart. their paws felt as heavy as boulders as they slowly made their way to the young tom, glancing at sharkheart who was trying to get him away from kestrelstar. they glanced at cloudpaw who was sobbing her little heart out, then blizzardsky who came over to comfort her. then, they looked back at snakeheart. was comforting him the right thing to do? the wondered if they should just leave him be, so he could grieve. "snakeheart..i dont - i think.." they weren't even sure of what to say. they didn't know what to say. gulping, the large feline attempted to grab the medicine cat as gently as they could and pull him off of the leader, moves calculated and cautious.

___
open //

➵ swankit | she/her

with all the commotion, how could swankit not be curious? the thin molly poked her narrow face out of the nursery, watching the grieving and the mourning of her clanmates. she managed to catch a glimpse of the leaders body, lifting a paw and taking one step out of the nursery. she slipped past the warriors and apprentices, stopping once she was close enough to see that kestrelstar was, in fact, not moving. she blinked, looking at the torbie and another molly trying to get snakeheart away from the body, then at cloudpaw who was being comforted by blizzardsky and a different warrior, then back at the stiff leader, staring.

[Quasar]

Orchidmantis | he/him | Starfall if you wanna reply to comfort him ;;

No... no no no no this wasn't happening. This couldn't be real. This...this was just a dream right? A nightmare that, soon, would all be over? He would just wake up in a couple moments and everything would be okay, right? RIGHT? Kestrelstar, he couldn't be... dead. Starclan wouldn't do that. The clan had been doing so well, things were looking up! Conflict with Thunderclan had ceased, they were allies with Windclan, Shadowclan had largely started leaving them alone. Was that all just a lie? Was it all just to subvert their attention, to distract them from what would happen to their leader in the future?

The large toms paws were rooted to the ground, unable to move from his spot just outside of the warriors den. A choked sob fought out of his throat, but it was drowned out by the cries that rose from his clanmates. Snakeheart was trying to save him. He would be able to bring him back, it was all gonna be okay. This was just some...some cruel joke, right? He knew what he was doing, Snakeheart was the most experienced medicine cat in the clans at the moment! He knew what to do!

But, deep down, he knew that there was no saving him. Kestrelstar was dead. The clan had just lost yet another great leader. Did Thunderclan do it? Or was it Shadowclan? Or...or was it someone else? A rogue? Sparrowskip would surely tell them... oh. Oh, thats right. Sparrowskip. He was leader now, right? Of course he was, thats how it worked. Sparrowskip would do a good job. He would be a good leader. He had to be. But what would they do now? Would he be killed too? No, no he wouldn't let that happen. He wasn't the best warrior, he knew that, but dammit he was going to make sure that they wouldn't have any more leaders die. Orchidmantis's jaw clenched, teeth grinding against eachother.

A small drop of water hit his paw. Was it raining? He looked up.

The sky was clear.

Ah, he was crying.

Well, its not like he was good at much else.

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniafire<--

The molly was out in the territory doing some hunting when she made it back into camp with a couple of mice. She padded over to the fresh kill pile and dropped it off. Now right as soon as she looked up she saw the leaders body. Her jaw dropped and her eyes filled with sadness. Petuniafire wanted to run over to Kestrelstar. He was her big inspiration and now he was gone.

Petuniafire's ears dropped and she lowered herself to the ground. She hadn't of even said goodbye and now he was gone. The warrior walked over to the back of the crowd, wanting to just be left alone. No other warrior besides the high ranks would know what it felt like to loose someone you loved almost as family. Ever since that first meeting she ever had with the leader when she was a kit she was proud to have him as her leader.

[Captain]

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Quackers | Zesty Mango ]

➢ The young fluffy apprentice didn’t know how much time had passed where she just cried against the large tomcat’s body. It all didn’t feel real. She had already been dealing with Swansong and Rosyfrost being gone, as well as her littermates and nursery friends. But now, Cloudpaw couldn’t even have Kestrelstar to be her mentor? She had been so excited for him to teach her how to swim in Cattail Pond. Why was this happening? Was she a bad luck charm? Is that why everyone that she cared about went missing or died? Cloudpaw felt sick to her stomach and she hated being so alone like this. Maybe she was destined to be by herself. Was this the will of Starclan? The young shecat didn’t know, but hated to think about it. Then, a familiar voice came to her ears: Fawnspring? Cloudpaw lifted her head, looking at the scarred warrior and quickly hugged the brown-furred tomcat, burying her face into his fur for a long moment. She forced herself to pull away from him though, sitting down in front of Kestrelstar’s body with this sunken gaze. It wasn’t long though before another Riverclan warrior stepped forward to comfort her, this one wasn’t as familiar though. A tomcat named Blizzardsky. She felt him lick her between her ears as she sniffled miserably. His words felt like they were a mile away, muffled and hard to hear, but she listened regardless with a pained smile as her expression. “T-Thank you…” Cloudpaw mewed, wiping her face with one small paw, “T-This isn’t m-my fault, right?” She looked up at Blizzardsky and then at Fawnspring too. Being his apprentice, it wasn’t surprising that she blamed herself. Maybe if she had been a better student. The fluffy molly shook her head, looking back down at her paws. No. She shouldn't think like that. No, no, no... It felt like a never-ending nightmare. "W-Wasn't I a g-good apprentice?" Cloudpaw whimpered.

[Mango]

masquerade

Blizzardsky gave a saddened look at the apprentice. How could she think it was her fault. Blizzardsky felt horrible," Oh no sweetheart, it wasn't your fault. Not at all. It was no one's fault, it was just an accident, I promise. Tell you what, I'll take you out for training whenever you're feeling up for it." he meowed gently pressing himself against Cloudpaw. It wasn't really like him and his daughter did look upset, but she was a big warrior now she could handle this by herself, right now Cloudpaw needed her," You are a great apprentice. I'm certain Kestrelstar would agree." he meowed

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw padded into the clearing nervously. She gasped at Kestrelstar's body. She wanted to cry. She wanted to mourn. She wanted to run, far, far, away. But she didn't. She needed to stay strong for Riverclan.
{open}

[Mango]

[Open]

Ploverkit wasn't even a moon old. Her eyes had recently opened. She was lucky she was alive. She was found alone in Riverclan territory as a helpless newborn with her eyes and ears still closed.The little grey kit with slightly darker stripes and a creamy underbelly had heard a strange cat who she didn't know call the clan out of the den for a meeting and everyone was saying this word called death. She didn't really know what it was, but there seemed to be a lot of quiet excitement about it. She didn't quite understand shock and grief at her young age but that was the way she described the emotions she was hearing. She had tried walking before, but hadn't had much luck. But this time she was motivated to see what this thing or cat was causing so much excitement.

She pulled her little stumpy legs in and pushed up. She couldn't believe it she was standing. She lifted one leg and clumbsly set it down stumbling and falling again. She tried again and continued to make her way to the big group of cats walking under the warriors due to her tiny size so she could get up close and see whatever was happening.

Ploverkit finally was up front and plopped down as walking and standing was still hard, her legs were still weak as they lacked muscle. But she decided to look and saw a big wet cat laying there. Something about that cat when she looked at him made her feel weird inside. She had seen cats sleeping before but it didn't look like that. The cat wasn't moving. She crept forward and extended one paw nervously touching Kestrelstar's tail. His tail felt cold, hesitantly she swatted at the tail with one paw and discovered that it felt rather stiff," Who is that? Why are they not moving? Why does everyone seem so excited and quiet. Why does seeing them make me feel weird inside." she asked. She had absolutely no concept of death.

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~
[Open]

When the deputy's voice had called the clan meeting instead of Kestrelstar, and Icekit had detected the emotions fueling Sparrowskip's voice, he had not expected to see the dead body of his leader, lying there, unmovingly as cats from all ages gathered around, their voices rising, some in desperation and grief, some in quiet mourning for the fallen cat. But while the murmurs, cries, and calls rose up around him, Icekit stood frozen in place at the edge, his blue eyes staring unseeingly towards the dead cat. But before his eyes the cat wasn't grey with the dark markings, it was night-black, with the eyes and green as the leaves when the sun shined through them, and a pelt as soft as feathers, despite the many battles it had been through.

"mom...."

The whisper that flew over his lips was as soft and quiet and a mere breeze, and he bearly registered having said anything, become the only thing on his mind was Nightwhisper. He had been very, very young when she died, and had never been allowed to see the body, but... was that how someone looked when they were dead? So still, but not the soothing calmness of being asleep, but the eerie stillness of death, of knowing that that cat would never walk, see, speak, or breathe again, that they were gone forever and ever and ever?

With a shivering breath and on shaking legs, he stumbled back slightly, just bearly managing to stay upright. "No..." No, that wasn't supposed to happen, Kestrelstar wasn't supposed to be dead. Starclan had gifted the leader with many lives, he couldn't have lost all his lives just like that. IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. "But- Starclan. No, he can't be dead yet, he should have lives left..." That was what he had been told, not the exact amount, but surely there would have been more than one left.

In the whole mess, amongst the confusing storm of feelings and questions, something somehow managed to make its way over to his head. The conversation he had had with Nectarrose not all that long ago, they had touched on the topic of Starclan. The warrior had said she didn't believe in the star cats, and Icekit had then been unsure on what he himself believed was true and what was tales for kits. One of the anchors he had held on to was the lives leaders were granted, nine of them, but now his leader seemed to have lost far too many all at once. With a slight wobble in his stance again, he ripped his gaze from the body, and directed it up, up towards the sky, the gloomy sky. He couldn't see any stars. Did that have something to do with all this, could Starclan be hiding from what they had done? Did that even make sense...

The stood still, eyes back towards the body, before he finally, slowly, turned towards his clanmates, questions and lost confusion glittering in his eyes as he wordlessly looked for some kind of answer in the other cats, only now noticing things that were going on around him. He could see many cats just staring at the dead leader, just as frozen in place as Icekit had been, but he could also hear a few voices, and now manging to tell them apart from the blurry mess it had been before. Mistypaw's had been among the first ones to speak, no openly but it was a familiar sound to hold on to in all this. Shimmerbird, a cat Icekit still thought shouldn't have been a shield to begging with, was doing nothing, actually, Birdpaw, an apprentice was the first one to call for the medicine cat to try and help the dead cat, and Icekit's gaze followed Sneakheart as the cat rushed up to Kestrelstar's corpse, frantically trying to get the former leader back on his paws before calling for Reedpaw.

Icekit wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't sure what he COULD do. He was a kit, probably a mere bug to many of the older cats, who would listen to him. Mistypaw maybe, Sparrowskip (Sparrowstar now? No no, that was moving too fast) had once, but the rest... Yet, he needed to know. "How many lives did he have?" His voice spoke into the empty air in front of him, not directed towards anyone in particular, just hoping for an answer.

Icekit had yet to understand what he thought about Starclan, but if they had taken away Kestrelstar out of some kind of spite, punishment, or something similar, he knew he would not forgive them. If that was a coucindece, and Starclan had nothing t do with this.... ... ... He wasn't sure, he did trust in the less now than at the begging on the day... but... He would need to think about all this...

[poppy]

| starry. Quackers x ghostie masquerade - for mention of Snowleap|

The small apprentice stared at Kestrelbuddy's dead, blank eyes and felt bile rise in her throat. It felt like she was just stabbed in the gut, and she swallowed vomit that built up. Misty's voice came from beside her, and habitually Birdpaw turned and buried her face in Mistypaw, and then felt a fluffy cat, a second one hug her back. It felt nice, for someone to hug her, not her hug someone. It felt like her body was empty, hollow, and she let out an anguished wail. "Kestrel!!" Her gaze fell, and she felt faint. Leaning heavily against Misty, Birdpaw's face was soaked with tears and spittle and snot as she sobbed.

She clung to Misty, feeling a wave of horror. She didn't like feeling like this. She hated this. Numbly she covered her face with trembling paws, and let out a massive shudder, the tears coming faster and in more abundance. She was so distraught and horrified that she Keeler over, gasping wet chokes for air through blubbering nonsense. She looked for Snowleap he looked sad but she hurt to much to move. She turned her head to look at Misty. "B-b-but Misty... He w-w-was my best b-buddy. I didn't even get to say goodbye...." Birdpaw felt so horribly selfish, crying while others were hurting. But she couldn't help it. Everything hurt. She didn't even know what StarClan was, but she knew one thing.

StarClan must be evil.

[Weekend-Wondering]

Willowfeather stared at Kestrelstar’s body, her jaw wide open. “K-Kestrelstar?” She murmured in a sorrowful whimperish Murmured. She bent her head, and sighed sadly.

[beau]

Saltpaw flinched as someone sidled up next to her, and her wide blue eyes flicked to the warrior anxiously. It wasn't a warrior she was familiar with, but as he draped his tail over her, she allowed herself to sink into his fur. The apprentice's gaze flew from cat to cat wildly, trying to catch everything that was going on. Birdpaw was clearly upset - Saltpaw guessed she was close to the leader. Snakeheart rushed onto the scene, his mouth moving so fast she couldn't tell what he was saying. The medicine cat began trying so hard to resurrect Kestrelstar, with such fervor that it frightened the silver-and-white molly. Eventually she just stared at her paws, no longer wanting to be present in whatever was going on. Though, curiosity still lingered, and her eyes occasionally wandered to Sparrowskip, in case the newly appointed deputy (now newly appointed leader?) said anything important.

Ghost of Red

[alaskaa]

Hazelstorm
When she first heard the call for a Clan meeting, she was slightly surprised to hear the stutter. Kestrelstar usually was confident. That's when she realised the voice was..different. it wasn't Kestrelstar. Was it a rogue?? Mildly concerned the brown tabby surveyed the clearing, from her place in the opening to the warriors' den, green eyes instinctively flickering up to the Streamstone. Oh. Sparrowskip. Was. Calling the meeting...?

Her concern turned into alarm as she trotted up to the gathering crowd, taking her place by the sidelines as usual. A gray tabby pelt caught her eye and she instantly looked towards it, before regretting it a little. Was that Kestrelstar? She tilted her head down, swallowing. She knew someone would leave her eventually, even if she'd never interacted with them. He had given her her warrior name and that was what she thought was special about him. Now, he was gone. But why? What in StarClan had happened?

Ploverkit was touching the fallen leader's tail, and then the kit swiped at the tail too. Maybe testing if he was actually dead. She stepped forward, a couple of steps, until she was by Ploverkit's side.

"It's Kestrelstar," she told the kit. "He's still like that because,.." How did she explain death to a kit, to make them understand? ".. because he's dead."

Zesty Mango

[ThePiffle]

-Horsetail-


Recoiling at the sight of Kestrelstar's limp body, the golden cat said nothing. Dead? Already? The grey tom's life had only just begun! And now, he was dead? Flicking his long tail he looked at Sparrowskip and gave him a look of empathy. Horsetail never knew the cat much. Kestrelstar kept his distance, and in turn, so had he. Yet this did not make his sorrow feel any less great, he was Riverclan's leader, and a good one. The large tom stepped away, as to give friends and family of the fallen leader space to grieve, it was not a funeral he was likely to be invited to anyway.

Hanging his head low in a sign of respect he whispered, "May Starclan take his soul."

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She looked down. "No... no.. no... NO!" She hissed, running up to his body. "Please, don't be dead.. no.. Kestrelstar.. you can't be dead!!" She yowled to the wind, stuffing her fur into his. "Please.. I have so much to learn from you.."

[Captain]

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Zesty Mango | Kunaiskrill - for the mention of Nightleap ]

➢ The young Riverclan molly didn’t know how to feel at this very moment, hearing the white-furred tomcat reassure that none of this was her fault. Her small ears twitched at his offer of training, peaking her interest - but only a little bit since they were all still deep in the process of mourning. “I w-want to l-learn how to swim in C-Cattail Pond,” Cloudpaw meowed, peering at Kestrelstar’s still body with a saddened gaze, “H-He learned to s-swim there when he was m-my age.” Even though it only happened a few sunrises ago, it seemed like ages since their first lesson together. He had shown her part of Riverclan’s territory, telling her about his own experiences growing up within this land. She wanted to honor him in any way that she could. Leaning against the larger warrior, Cloudpaw’s ears laid flat against her head as she heard those around her mourning. This was a sad, terrible day and the small apprentice wished it could be over already. She looked up at the sky, seeing that it was still overcast with dark gray-colored clouds. It was too fitting for this. The dreadful silence was too loud for Cloudpaw, wanting to talk more with Blizzardsky, but she didn’t know what to say. Riverclan had lost their leader. One who had led them long before she was born. She watched Nightleap run forward, pleading and crying into his fur like the fluffy youth had done moments before. It was just the other day, she was sharing a fish with the queen, and now both of them were mourning the beloved clan leader. This all was happening too fast, much too suddenly, and it made Cloudpaw feel terribly nauseous. She wished Moonfrost was here right now to console her.

[corgigirl]

Pebblepaw froze. Her eyes glistening with tears. Kestrelstar had been the best leader she had known. The tears came like the rushing river. To many cats in her clan were dieing and disappearing. Adderkit, their last deputy, and now Kestrelstar.

[Mango]

masquerade

Blizzardsky nodded," Of course. I can teach you to swim in cattail pond. And I'm certain Kestrelstar will be watching over the training from Starclan." he meowed. Leaders only visited cats who were special, hopefully Kestrelstar would see that Cloudpaw was special and visit her, maybe train her in her dreams. It would be a sweet gesture, he did promise to finish her training off, the least he could do is keep that promise just training her there," We can do it whenever your ready, I know you might need some time before you're ready for training." he meowed hoping to reassure Kestrelstar's apprentice. He wasn't the best at this, but he was doing his best. Hopefully no one would butt in and kick him out for simply being near an apprentice.

Iris.

Ploverkit tipped her head at the warrior speaking. Kestrelstar had to be the leader. She knew leaders names ended in star. So this cat was dead...so dead made you still and not move while sleeping. It was paralysis in her mind," When does dead end?" she asked, nothing seemed permant to the kit. Sleep was temporary, awake was temporary, any action someone did was only temporary....existence is temporary, but she hadn't really made the connections yet. Unfortunately for her she didn't know the word death so dead was just a verb to the kit like running, walking, sleeping, talking, playing," When will Kestrelstar be done deading" she asked, blissfully unaware of what had happened to the leader.

[starry]

:: poppy.

Strangled gasps escaped out of Mistypaw's jaw as she tried not to cry, but it was no use. Since she had already started letting the tears flow, there would be no easy ending. She could feel Birdpaw leaning against her for support, and she let the apprentice, although she could barely keep on her legs herself.

"He could not have said goodbye," she meowed, sobbing. "But I'm sure he would have if he had the chance to." For StarClan's sake, she could not stop the river of tears flowing from her dark amber orbs. Mistypaw had never felt this distraught, not even when Stormtalon had disappeared... died. This was a new chapter of grief, one that was still unexplored by the small molly.

"Shh, Birdpaw. It's going to be okay. Everything will be fine. Don't worry. He will always watch over you, even when he is up there with the stars."

[Rani]

Snakeheart let out a howl as he was pulled back paws reaching out to try and grab onto the grey fur in front of him. “No!” He yelled “No I can fix this! I.....” a sob interrupted his desperate pleas as he thrashed trying to escape. He didn’t care for the kind words of his clanmates didn’t care they were just trying to help him they were stopping him from getting to Kestrelstar! So brindlefeather and sharkheart were ignored with a spitting hiss as the medicine cat clawed at the ground trying to break free of their grasp.

Snakeheart struggled as he was pulled away snapping at the cats that held him as he tried to reach Kestrelstars side once more sobs of “No no no no no…” tearing his throat ragged. Why were they taking him away? He could fix this! He could……. He…… he……. The tom abruptly when limp body slithering out of the warriors hold as he collapsed onto the ground clawing his way back to his brothers side before any of them could grab his limp wobbly form again. Snakeheart wouldn’t let himself be separated from his brother, he wouldn’t he needed to be there.

For a moment it seemed like he’d start back up his desperate attempts to fix Kestrelstar as he paws pressed into the older toms side… Until the medicine cats face pressed into the leaders cold limp form and he simply wailed. Wailed like a kit torn from their mother, wailed like he was the one dying, wailed like a cat who’d lost it all. And he had lost, lost his brother who had been by his side through all to the cold harsh uncaring world that only ever took.

Foxblaze, Vixenkit, Fernkit, Chivepaw, Twigpaw, Baypaw, Cloudedkit, Honeykit, Fidgetpaw, Lionstorm, Stormtalon ….. Kestelstar.

Nothing good could stay.

It was enough to break a cat and broke Snakeheart did wailing and wailing as he curled his long form around the limp body tears soaking the grey fur under him. All he could do was cry and in front of the clan in front of everyone Snakeheart just cried heart breaking from the loss of his kin in all but blood.

@sid (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=9054) @BirdieChirp (http://warriorcatsonline.com/forums/member.php?u=16278) (Post closed for interaction snakeheart needs to cry on his own for a bit)

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

The young warrior was walking through the clearing, heading towards the freshkill pile when a call for a meeting took his attention. It struck him instantly that it was Sparrowskip's voice that he heard, rather than Kestrelstar's. He was turning his head to look for Sparrowskip when he was shoved out of the way. He looked around, bewildered, as he noticed it had been Snakeheart erupting from the medicine cat's den and blundering past him. Codwhisper's green eyes darted around until he saw Sparrowskip standing above another cat and Snakeheart's destination. His eyes took a heartbeat to adjust, to comprehend. The cat lying between the medicine cat and deputy was Kestrelstar...what's he doing laying down in the middle of the clearing? Even as the question formed in his mind, his heartbeat quickened, pounding nauseatingly against his ribs. He knew but he couldn't comprehend. He tried to swallow, his gaze stuck on the dead leader, but his throat had dried instantly and a knot lodged itself there. The clearing seemed to spin beneath him. He'd heard of other clans losing their high ranks but Kestrelstar had been a constant in Codwhisper's life. He'd been leader for as long as the young warrior could remember. He gave him his name, in honor of his mother. Codwhisper never understood the criticisms Kestrelstar had received from so many of his clanmates, he was too young for most of the issues to have mattered to him. Kestrelstar had so many plans, he was protecting the clan, building, he was the vision of strength. How could it all have changed so quickly. Codwhisper couldn't move his stare away from the leader lying motionless but his paws were stuck I place where he'd ended up after Snakeheart's blind shove.


**Doeheart**

The lilac calico lifted her head from her grooming, enjoying a small patch of sunlight she could find in the clearing. Movement had caught her eye from the camp entrance and her eyes met it absently. Slowly, the scene unraveled in her mind as she recognized Kestrelstar's limp pelt being dragged in by the deputy. She was already on her paws, and walking slowly forward when Sparrowskip called the clan. Doeheart sighed sadly. He had seemed so strong just the day before, to lose a leader was always a sad occasion and Kestrelstar was doing so much for the clan, making up for his past discretions.

[stardust.]

Oaksong was sad. She showed empathy for Snakeheart and everyone, but to herself as well. She started crying, her best way to get this out of herself.

Plumwillow was shocked by Kestrelstar's death. Unfortunately.. oh no, IT WAS CLOVERPAW.

"WHERE IS KESTRELSTAR!!!!" Cloverpaw shouted, "I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO HIM THIS INSTANT!!!!" She turned around, hoping that she would be well respected for her perfectness.

[endlessskies]

Otterstorm looked up at the call. Sparrowskip was starting a meeting. Wait. Sparrowskip? And there, in the clearing in front of the RiverClan deputy, lay a body. A cat's body, an unmistakable cat's body. Otterstorm felt the world collapsing on her. 'Kestrelstar! No!'

[poppy]

| Luminous |

Mistypaw was upset too. Mistypaw was sad. Birdpaw felt her mind urging her to comfort the other apprentice, but her heart felt too heavy. Her eyes were too full of tears. Then her old denmate Cloverpaw burst into camp, and Birdpaw let out a wail. How could Cloverpaw not see Kestrelbuddy?! How could Cloverpaw not understand?!

The little molly burrowed her face in Misty's chest fur, bawling. "I-I-I-I wo-would s-say goo-goodbye to y-you o-of I ev-ever di-died." How could anyone die, leave without saying bye? Especially if they were someone's best buddy. "Mi-Misty I'm s-so sad... Misty I want him b-back!

[DeltaDace]

Bearspot

The large warrior sprinted out of the warrior's den, immediately knowing something was wrong. This wasn't the call of Kestrelstar! Bearspot moved his way through the crowd of cats to see what has happened a- Oh no. The cold, dead body of Kestrelstar lay prostrate on the clearing. H-he's dead. But how? How many lives did he have left? He became leader recently, so he had to have enough lives left to right? What has RiverClan done to deserve this? What has Kestrelstar done... He tore his clouded green eyes from Kestrelstar's body towards the top of the Streamstone and gazed at Sparrowskip. It hasn't even been two moons since his deputy ceremony, yet here he is. Having to announce Kestrelstar's death. A shard of pain and sympathy shot through Bearspot. They're both too young. They don't deserve this.

Mountainpaw

The chocolate tabby padded out of the apprentice's den. All the commotions confused her. What was going on? Why did Kestrelstar not call the meeting? Mountainpaw needed to know these things immediately. A blur of brown fur pushed the apprentice back, and that gave her an opening to see what all the cats were clamoring about and... The sight of Kestrelstar's dead body shook her to her very heart. The most powerful cat she had known lay there dead as a rock. The only things she heard were the wails of the three cats mourning right next to the leader and her breath. All the other cats' voices and cries were tuned out as Mountainpaw stood there, horrified and helpless. Cloudpaw was his apprentice, and Snakeheart had been close with the deceased leader. Their wails were worse than any dog barking or monster roaring. She couldn't help it. Mountainpaw let out a choked wail of dismay, yet the countless other cats drowned it out' mourning.

(Open to anyone)

[Nixey]

Sleep fogged her brain as Reedpaw stumbled from the den. She hadn’t gotten up too long after the noise Snakeheart had made. She was confused, and the light was too bright, causing her to squint her eyes towards the crowd of cats gathering. What was happening? She was preparing to begin excusing herself through until she noticed Sparrowskip on the Streamstone. Wait, Sparrowskip? He wasn’t supposed to be up there, was he? She wasn’t entirely sure, but wasn’t Kestrelstar the one meant to be up there unless he couldn’t be? Speaking of which, where was the leader of Riverclan? Odd, but he had disappeared before.

Only then was her train of thought disturbed by her mentor calling her name. Turning her head in the direction it had come from, Reedpaw began to make her way towards him. Speeding up as he called for her yet again. Why did he sound so upset? As she emerged at his side, Reedpaw realized what was wrong.

Her heart almost immediately fell at the sight. Snakeheart pushing on the leaders chest, Kestrelstar’s head elevated. She understood now, understood why that noise had come from Snakeheart, understood why he sounded so upset. Even though she knew the leader was gone, gone to hunt with Starclan, Reedpaw was quick to make her way back to the medicine den to collect what Snakeheart had demanded her to retrieve. It repeated over and over in her head, and she was able to pick them out and bring them back, her heart racing in her chest. Kestrelstar’s heart would never race this way again. She had spent these last few moons fearing Kestrelstar, fearing he would return to his old ways. Fearing him and fearing those that believed he had been doing the right thing. Now she regretted it, though somewhere that fear still lingered.

Just as she was emerging from the den to bring the herbs to Snakeheart in an attempt to help in whatever way she could, Reedpaw noticed Brindlefeather and Sharkheart by Snakeheart. Hoping they had it under control, Reedpaw carefully put the herbs back into place in the medicine den. Never would she mess up whatever organization system Snakeheart had. Stepping carefully from the den, Reedpaw began to make her way back through the crowd in an attempt to find a spot to sit.

As her gaze found him yet again at the wailing, it was enough for Reedpaw to feel as though her heart had been shattered in two. She knew the two had been close, but didn’t expect anything like this. Swallowing back any apologies she could’ve walked over and given to Snakeheart, Reedpaw simply weaved her way through the crowd, finding a seat in the back. Her gaze stared up towards Sparrowskip, waiting for him to begin.

Rani (for reading from the previous message)
[Open to anyone! Reed may not be the most talkative.]

[Rizo]

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Zesty Mango | Kunaiskrill - for the mention of Nightleap ]

➢ The young Riverclan molly didn’t know how to feel at this very moment, hearing the white-furred tomcat reassure that none of this was her fault. Her small ears twitched at his offer of training, peaking her interest - but only a little bit since they were all still deep in the process of mourning. “I w-want to l-learn how to swim in C-Cattail Pond,” Cloudpaw meowed, peering at Kestrelstar’s still body with a saddened gaze, “H-He learned to s-swim there when he was m-my age.” Even though it only happened a few sunrises ago, it seemed like ages since their first lesson together. He had shown her part of Riverclan’s territory, telling her about his own experiences growing up within this land. She wanted to honor him in any way that she could. Leaning against the larger warrior, Cloudpaw’s ears laid flat against her head as she heard those around her mourning. This was a sad, terrible day and the small apprentice wished it could be over already. She looked up at the sky, seeing that it was still overcast with dark gray-colored clouds. It was too fitting for this. The dreadful silence was too loud for Cloudpaw, wanting to talk more with Blizzardsky, but she didn’t know what to say. Riverclan had lost their leader. One who had led them long before she was born. She watched Nightleap run forward, pleading and crying into his fur like the fluffy youth had done moments before. It was just the other day, she was sharing a fish with the queen, and now both of them were mourning the beloved clan leader. This all was happening too fast, much too suddenly, and it made Cloudpaw feel terribly nauseous. She wished Moonfrost was here right now to console her.

Finally catching sight of the young cat, Moonfrost sprinted to Cloudpaw's side, sorrow in her eyes.
Oh little one, I'm so sorry.
She began covering the apprentice in comforting licks, pausing only to blink warmly at Blizzardsky, her heart full of gratitude for the tom. She lifted a paw to invite Cloudpaw to burrow into her belly fur, as she had at the Gathering.
Oh the Gathering... No apprentice should have to go through so much tragedy, especially one so young.
Tears filled her eyes, both with anguish of the loss of their leader and empathy for the little cat she had come to adore as a daughter.

[ @/masquerade Zesty Mango ]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She looked down. "No... no.. no... NO!" She hissed, running up to his body. "Please, don't be dead.. no.. Kestrelstar.. you can't be dead!!" She yowled to the wind, stuffing her fur into his. "Please.. I have so much to learn from you.."
Pebblepaw froze. Her eyes glistening with tears. Kestrelstar had been the best leader she had known. The tears came like the rushing river. To many cats in her clan were dieing and disappearing. Adderkit, their last deputy, and now Kestrelstar.

Wolfsong finally caught sight of her sister and started towards her, before seeing her apprentice frozen in place. Sadness filling her heart, Wolfsong padded up to Pebblepaw. "Come with me Pebblepaw, you can sit with Nightleap and I for the meeting..." she mewed softly, laying her tail on the apprentice's shoulder before walking up to where her younger sister was laying next to Kestrelstar's body.
"Nightleap, I'm so sorry," she whispered to the she-cat, settling down beside her. She pressed her flank into the fur of her sibling, eyes misting with tears.
"I know how much he meant to you," she said sorrowfully, giving Nightleap a comforting lick on the ear. She paused to look back at her apprentice, patting the ground beside her with her tail to invite the young cat to sit on her other side with a soft, comforting blink.

[ @/Kunaiskrill @/corgigirl ]

[furrensic]

~Oakpaw3441~ //

➵ brindlefeather | she/(they)/it

brindlefeather watched as snakeheart escaped the hold of them and sharkheart, stomach twisting at the sight of the heartbroken medicine cat crawling back to the leaders body. they lifted a paw, hesitating for a moment, questioning if they should reach out to him again. they put their paw down, deciding not to. he needed time - that was fine. stepping away from snakeheart, brindlefeather looked down at their paws, nervously tapping one against the ground.

the loud shouting from cloverpaw made them look at her in pure shock. jaw dropping slightly, the warrior stared at the apprentice wide eyed. everyone was sobbing, wailing, kestrelstars name was clear in the air from conversations, his body wasn't hard to see. they were sure cloverpaw wasn't blind either. was she trying to be disrespectful? they opened and closed their mouth, hurrying over to the apprentice.

"cloverpaw..that is - that's..ex-extremely rude. not only are you shouting at a meeting, but you're also shouting a - a demand. kestrelstar's body is not hard to see..people are mourning." they stammered in a hushed voice, hoping to not embarrass the apprentice more than she'd already embarrassed herself.

[stardust.]

@sid

"WHO CARES, BRINDLESTINKY!!!!" She screamed, "I demand to be the most popular cat in the world!!!"

Oaksong and Plumwillow stared at Cloverpaw wide-eyed, "Cloverpaw. No." They mewed

[vellichor]

// marshall

beansprout
________

pale blue eyes widened in dismay. denial. fear. but most of all… disbelief and misery.

blind with emotion, the siamese shoved his way to the front of the crowd, ears ringing, only to find… kestrelstar. yes, that was his body. his heartbeat thudded in his chest, his ears, his entire body. no. no no no. no. this wasn’t real. this was all just a dream. there was no way that the cat who had just allowed him back into the clan with open paws and a smile was lying here, unmoving and unspeaking. it just wasn’t possible. tears fell swiftly from his eyes, and dropped onto kestrelstar's fur. NO.

without looking, he went to brace himself against the nearest cat… which of course, happened to be sparrowskip. he attempted to lean his head on the other cat's shoulder, acting as both a comfort for himself, and the new leader, he supposed. but that wasn’t what he was thinking about. he needed something, someone to ground him. he— there was no way— whatever gods were out there truly despised him, beansprout decided. first, they took away grizzlybug. then, he was taken away from his home twice. and just when he was returning to some sense of normality, life had to hit him in the nose once again.

fate, it seemed, was cruel.

[alaskaa]

@sid

"WHO CARES, BRINDLESTINKY!!!!" She screamed, "I demand to be the most popular cat in the world!!!"

Oaksong and Plumwillow stared at Cloverpaw wide-eyed, "Cloverpaw. No." They mewed

Zesty Mango

Hazelstorm
Her chest rose and fell, sighing, turning away from Ploverkit just to hide her face. It was so insensitive, but it was only a kit.

"Well... when you're dead, you're gone forever and you can't come back unless you have nine lives like a leader does," the mackarel tabby meowed. She didn't mention the part where you could potentially be revived. She put a blank expression on her face and lifted her head, to be greeted with a disrespectful apprentice. Urgh. What made it worse was that it was Cloverpaw, seriously, didn't that se-cat have discipline or something? Hazelstorm resisted the urge to snap and yell at the darned apprentice as she glared at Cloverpaw.

Hazelstorm went back to Ploverkit, but then Cloverpaw's screechy voice filled her ears again. She scrunched her eyes shut, grinding her teeth, setting her jaw.

Shut up, she longed to say. She breathed out, a small, quick spurt of breath.

"Cloverpaw, learn some manners," the warrior snapped irritably, just loud enough for the apprentice to hear. Under her breath, she added, "for StarClan's sake."

Hazelstorm sat down on her haunches, curlng her fluffy tail around her paws and did nothing.

[pxxylo]

https://i.ibb.co/QYNYXdL/5-C2-E017-D-80-FD-442-C-A766-3-A6-DEA6-AB08-D.png

Raccoonear | she/her | OPEN

Yes, it really is that simple. Raccoonear didn’t want to feel anything. That’s it, one sentence could describe how she was feeling. She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to feel anything. Feelings are overrated, even joy. Even love. It’s all nothing it her now, at times like this reasoning is eliminated from one’s mind, it just disappears, and suddenly you can’t think straight, you feel dizzy. Staring at the smokey gray body of Kestrelstar, her eyes grew misty. She ran over, stumbling over her own paws at times and quickly standing back up, her floppy ears up and alert.

The cat who made her best and closest friend in the whole clan a Shield, the cat who set her straight when she acted irrationally, the cat who at least tried to make up for his past mistakes, the cat who showed grace to many and admitting them back into his clan, is dead. How she longed to just go back to the tree stump with Snowleap, or replay that moment in time when she and Snowleap sprinted across the beach and watched the flock of seagulls the ran through flap away. That was a precious moment, the only thing that could really clear that hatred for life she had right now.

All the gray molly could do was embrace the cat closest to her. She dashed over to the nearest cat in a pathetic heap, right on the shoulder. Whoever this was would hate her forever, wouldn’t they? What have I done? I just made someone really mad. They must be confused and looking down upon me as a fool right now, a fool that raced over to them in a sobbing mess, to embrace them out of the blue. All she could hear was the wailing of Cloudpaw, the yelling of Cloverpaw, and a sea of cats crying, screaming, fighting. This is what happens when someone of power falls. Fights, screaming, arguments. The death of a lead rat wreaks havoc on a clan, no matter how stable said clan may be. RiverClan was always, for the most part, a stable clan. Medicine cat with an apprentice, leader and deputy have a true and honest relationship (at least to her belief.) and it was just… okay.
Not anymore, I suppose.

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

"Please.." She whispered, her voice hoarse. But, she whipped around. "C-cloudpaw.. Please.. Leave me.. bee.." she growled. "Sorry.. I.." she looked at him. "Please!" She growled. "You can't be dead! Please! No!"

[ masquerade ]

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She looked back at her sister. "He was my mentor.. I owe everything to him, and now he's dead!" She wailed. "Please! no!" she cried. If i wish hard enough, this will all be a dream! She thought, and she pressed her nose to his. "I can't let you go.. Dont.. go.. please!"

RiztheHuntress

[starry]

:: poppy.

Mistypaw closed her eyes, trying to ignore all the commotion that was going on. Instead she focused on Birdpaw. Somehow I have to comfort her... She was crying and weak, and now she'd also let it upon herself to comfort another cat. Maybe it hadn't been her best choice, but for the sake of Bird she would try.

"But it'll take time before you die, Birdy. You're still so young," Mistypaw stuttered, even though she knew age meant nothing. "It was cruel from StarClan to take him up there already, but he did not have a chance to say goodbye, okay? He would have if it wouldn't have been so quick." Gosh, no she was just repeating herself...

"You can be sad. Just don't let your grief, anger, and whatnot possess you. That's what I cannot stop, but you can, Birdpaw. Please, just try," she whispered sadly, through tears. "Maybe he'll come back someday." Mistypaw knew that all those words were not only to Birdpaw but also to herself. Her legs shook as she supported Birdpaw, and all she wanted to do was run from this horrid sight.

Mistypaw wanted to crouch next to Kestrelstar. She wanted to try and wake him up even though she knew all hope was gone. But there had to be a way.

[taillow]

Otterfluff
In all honestly, the young tom had hoped the shrieks and wails resonating from outside the warm den walls of the warriors den were not what he thought they were. From the voice calling a meeting that was distinctly not a Kestrelstar voice to the jumbled wails, Otterfluff could guess what was occuring. They took a moment to himself, swiping their tongue across their maw in a nervous sort of way. Another beat passed before he allowed himself to push up onto shaky paws, brown plume of a tail sweeping out behind him. Okay... he just had to go outside, and hide emotion, and be there for his Clan.

Emerging from the den was like walking onto the bloodied battle ground of when RiverClan had been led to attack ThunderClan. Memories from that precarious night rushed back at once to him, and Otterfluff attempted to blink them away rapidly. Twisting his head this way and that, his blue gaze avoided looking directly at the soaking wet corpse that was laid out onto the side clearing and instead sought out the expressions of grief among several of his Clanmates. Briefly, his attention lifted to Sparrowskip, wondering first and foremost what had occurred between the last time Otterfluff could recall seeing the gray leader in camp, and now.

"May he rest in StarClan," they offered in a quick prayer, paws shuffling in the soil below. He had not been close with the departed, so he simply took a seat near the back of the crowd, only deviating from his comfort of sitting still and being quiet to cast a sharp glare to one cat in particular that was yowling up a storm. An apprentice - maybe he'd cut her some slack. Still - she was demanding to speak to a leader who was clearly dead. But it appeared like the situation was at least attempting to be handled, so Otterfluff dismissed it and returned his sorrowful gaze to the deputy.

[ open for interaction! ]

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ Memento Mori | door~ ]

➢ As he held his mate close to him, the dark-furred shield’s ears flattened against his head as he looked down at his paws. Kestrelstar was the reason that Lynxfall and Shadepaw were beside him right now, away from the cruel clan that was Shadowclan. Snowleap would always be eternally grateful for that, but he had hoped that they’d be able to thank the clan leader in person someday. Now… that was impossible. Dear Starclan, how could this happen? Riverclan had always been seen as the most stable and strongest clan in the forest. Everything had been perfect. Well, maybe not perfect, but it was better than Thunderclan or Windclan’s current situation, right? What would happen to them now? Snowleap could only imagine the stress that Sparrowskip was under right now. It seemed like only yesterday that the golden tabby tomcat had been named deputy and now he was Riverclan’s leader - though not officially yet. The oriental longhair wiped his eyes with one of his paws and looked up at the sky. He was scared of what the future held for all of them. The clan felt so incomplete and broken now without Kestrelstar with them. He didn't want to say that, let alone think it, but couldn't dismiss such upsetting thoughts.

Being so lost in these troubling thoughts, Snowleap hardly noticed Raccoonear sprinting over him. Though he flinched in surprise as the gray-furred molly went ahead and embraced him. He could hear her sobbing, which tugged at his heart, having not heard her cry in so long it seemed. The Riverclan shield licked his best friend between her ears in a comforting way, resting his chin on her head after doing so. With Lynxfall on his left and Raccoonear on his right, he kept the two most important cats in his life close, silently consoling them as they all grieved the loss of Kestrelstar. His icy blue-hued gaze slid over to Cloverpaw, who was screaming her head off and slowly angering the tall tomcat, but he stayed where he was with his loved ones. If the disruption continued, he’d step in and put an end to this inappropriate behavior, but it appeared other cats were already handling it. Good. He hated how some cats just couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They were grieving for Starclan sake, had they no decency? Snowleap sighed and went back to softly reassuring his close friend, Racoonear. Everything was a mess.
---
☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Zesty Mango | RiztheHuntress ]

➢ Nodding to what Blizzardsky said, the small Riverclan shecat looked off to the side, a saddened numb emotion in her light-blue eyes. Was Kestrelstar watching over her right now? She didn’t know for sure, but maybe if she believed so, it would make her feel a little better at the very least. “I t-think I’ll t-t-take a few days before r-resuming my t-training.” Cloudpaw murmured, her tone gentle. The black-and-white-furred molly didn’t like the idea of holding off her training, but it felt wrong to start it right back up again after losing Kestrelstar so abruptly. She needed time to think, time to grieve, time to… process all of this. “T-Thank you, Blizzardsky.” She added, glancing up at the white-furred Riverclan warrior and then back towards the clan leader’s body. Hearing Nightleap’s growl, Cloudpaw wasn’t surprised, though a little hurt by the nursery queen’s tone. As much as it pained her to do, the young apprentice slowly stood up to move away from the gray-furred tomcat’s body, in order to give other cats time to grieve. So many of them had known him longer than she had, so Cloudpaw felt a little selfish now. Her stomach hurt so much and her body ached with this terrible feeling. She hated all of it.

At that moment, Moonfrost rushed over to her, the two of them finally finding one another in this time of mourning. The Riverclan shecat soon covered the young molly in comforting, gentle licks like a mother would to her kitten. Tears welled up in Cloudpaw’s eyes again and she burrowed her small frame into the warrior’s belly fur, clinging to Moonfrost as she trembled with grief for her teacher and leader. They had only met at the Gathering a few sunrises ago, but it was no secret that the dark gray-furred shecat reminded her so much of Swansong - so much that the fluffy apprentice viewed her as a mother. “M-Mama…” She mewed pitifully into Moonfrost’s fur, quietly beginning to cry again, “I m-m-miss him so m-much!” Kestrelstar had cared for her so deeply and Cloudpaw could see that, even if they hadn’t spent that much time together. She could still remember him brushing her head with his tail at the Gathering. Oh Starclan, why did he have to be taken away so soon?

[Singing Jay]

~ Silvernight

Night blue eyes stared blankly forward. She was there, physically, but not mentally, because her mind was quickly scrolling through all the meetings where she had seen Kestrelstar, the time he had led the clan to the hot springs, all those times, when he had been there, alive. She knew she had taken that for granted then, that she didn't always appreciate cats for what they were, didn't appreciate them enough, at least. But Kestrelstar? He was the last cat she had expected to see there, dead.

A horrible, cold shiver shook through her as she came to recall her first encounter with death... Nilo... She had watched him die at the claws of her own father, and that would always be the worst experience of her life... It didn't mean she would ever get used to seeing someone so lifeless.

Her thoughts moved on, to wonder how the leader could have died, from everything she knew about Starclan, that thing that leaders had many lives was one of the things she was most sure on. A few voices managed to partly get her empty attention, and she could feel her heart freeze when she saw Birdpaw. Her apprentice. The little cat should not have seen death that close up, but the thought that made Silvernight shake as if she had a fever wasn't that... Because what if Birdpaw would die. The silver molly hadn't shown Birdpaw how to fight yet, and she had hoped the apprentice would never have the need for such knowledge, but that was a naive thought in a world like this.

She stood up, making an effort to move and comfort Birdpaw, but stopped, hesitated, and back down when other cats already seemed to fill that purpose. But after this she would make sure Birdpaw at least knew how to defend herself, and well.

[wolfie]

Quackers poppy. ~Oakpaw3441~ starry. // he doesn't directly talk to mistypaw but since he's talkin' to birdpaw figured you might want to have her react
Time was fleeting, slipping through his paws as if it was precious grains of sand. Again, again, and again this was the conclusion Wormbite came to. Each late night filled with harmful thoughts and nightmares, struggling to live - it all seemed to come easy for the others. He could push his body to the limits and let his mind slip into the hazy fog that consumed his every waking moment, but it was still not enough. No, not in his opinion, he needed to do more, but he was grasping at straws here. However, as he walked into camp, misty hues fixated on the ground he walked on. Early newleaf was upon them and he was grateful. Unfortunately, it was time for a stark reminder to Wormbite that similar to time; everyone else around him wasn't constant.

His tail flickered back and forth, the bustling noises in the clan - a clan meeting, he guessed. He arrived just in time in fact. Wormbite approaches the crowd, listening keenly to the birds that sung in high symphony. He still had a stuffy nose but at least for today, he felt better than previously since he first had gotten sick. He supposed it was finally passing, maybe. It was only Snakeheart's shrill cry that erupted his thoughts. Then he realized the strong scent of death. It was overpowering. His paws took on their own lifeform, trailing after it like a hungry mutt. Wormbite knew. He could hear it in others' voices, the name they all spoke with such sadness, and he tried to not believe it.

Wormbite stood in front of Kestrelstar's body.

Life had slipped away from the tom he once knew, and shuddering breaths slipped from him. (a memory of a walk is prominent now soured with sorrow - oh. ) The oriental leaned down, pressing his nose gently against the tom's shoulder. He never cared about Starclan and more often than not would damn them but still, still, "May Starclan light your path." The words were bitter in his mouth, he pulled away - taking steps back. Wormbite was tempted to flee the scene. He wasn't - he couldn't place his opinions on Kestrelstar. It wasn't his place to forgive his actions and he wouldn't try to but the anger that he still had carried simmered down until it was nothing but ash. he would just miss him.

The birds still sung their sweet tunes - now one of death. A memorial but no, they were too beautiful. Unaware of the corpse they watched, the morning cats, it was such an ugly scene that this music shouldn't be allowed. It shouldn't. They still sung. They still sung and - stars, the Dark Lord wished he could take Kestrelstar's spot. Unfortunately, only for selfish reasons. It meant Wormbite could be free from the pain that damned him and he hoped that at the very least, Kestrelstar was freed from the shadows that demanded his every sacrifice.

He heard Fawnspring first but Birdpaw's desperate cry for him made him pause. Guilt flooded in, he wanted to comfort his friend but - ,,, Fawnspring had others. He didn't need Wormbite and, he could not see himself turning Birdpaw away after she called for him. It felt like failure. Instead, he approaches the brown-fluffed warrior. Gently he brushes against Fawnspring's shoulder, "I am sorry. It will be alright. We can talk after this?" Wormbite offers, but he doesn't stay longer to hear his answer. Perhaps for the better.

He starts to search for where Birdpaw would be but is erupted by Cloverpaw's shriek. His fur bushes up with frustration because time after time this damned apprentice interrupted important meetings that he could offer no sympathy. Wormbite whipped around, squeezing his eyes shut in irritability. "Cloverpaw! Shut up before I drag you into the elder's den and make you stay there until you are one of them. Have some respect or remove yourself, " He snapped. He did plan to threaten exile to the naive molly, but threatening children would be one way to make the crowd even more chaotic. (sometimes you should exile cats for being annoying)

It takes him a moment to recollect himself, forcing his fur to lay flat. Even longer to find where Birdpaw resides - it seems like she's talking to another apprentice. Wormbite pauses before continuing, approaching her with caution. "Birdpaw?" He speaks up, tilting his head. he was not at all good with children, actually, he just didn't want to ignore her but - oh boy, he had no experience in this. like, even on a decent day wormbite struggled to talk hip with the kids.

[stardust.]

Quackers poppy. ~Oakpaw3441~ starry. // he doesn't directly talk to mistypaw but since he's talkin' to birdpaw figured you might want to have her react
Time was fleeting, slipping through his paws as if it was precious grains of sand. Again, again, and again this was the conclusion Wormbite came to. Each late night filled with harmful thoughts and nightmares, struggling to live - it all seemed to come easy for the others. He could push his body to the limits and let his mind slip into the hazy fog that consumed his every waking moment, but it was still not enough. No, not in his opinion, he needed to do more, but he was grasping at straws here. However, as he walked into camp, misty hues fixated on the ground he walked on. Early newleaf was upon them and he was grateful. Unfortunately, it was time for a stark reminder to Wormbite that similar to time; everyone else around him wasn't constant.

His tail flickered back and forth, the bustling noises in the clan - a clan meeting, he guessed. He arrived just in time in fact. Wormbite approaches the crowd, listening keenly to the birds that sung in high symphony. He still had a stuffy nose but at least for today, he felt better than previously since he first had gotten sick. He supposed it was finally passing, maybe. It was only Snakeheart's shrill cry that erupted his thoughts. Then he realized the strong scent of death. It was overpowering. His paws took on their own lifeform, trailing after it like a hungry mutt. Wormbite knew. He could hear it in others' voices, the name they all spoke with such sadness, and he tried to not believe it.

Wormbite stood in front of Kestrelstar's body.

Life had slipped away from the tom he once knew, and shuddering breaths slipped from him. (a memory of a walk is prominent now soured with sorrow - oh. ) The oriental leaned down, pressing his nose gently against the tom's shoulder. He never cared about Starclan and more often than not would damn them but still, still, "May Starclan light your path." The words were bitter in his mouth, he pulled away - taking steps back. Wormbite was tempted to flee the scene. He wasn't - he couldn't place his opinions on Kestrelstar. It wasn't his place to forgive his actions and he wouldn't try to but the anger that he still had carried simmered down until it was nothing but ash. he would just miss him.

The birds still sung their sweet tunes - now one of death. A memorial but no, they were too beautiful. Unaware of the corpse they watched, the morning cats, it was such an ugly scene that this music shouldn't be allowed. It shouldn't. They still sung. They still sung and - stars, the Dark Lord wished he could take Kestrelstar's spot. Unfortunately, only for selfish reasons. It meant Wormbite could be free from the pain that damned him and he hoped that at the very least, Kestrelstar was freed from the shadows that demanded his every sacrifice.

He heard Fawnspring first but Birdpaw's desperate cry for him made him pause. Guilt flooded in, he wanted to comfort his friend but - ,,, Fawnspring had others. He didn't need Wormbite and, he could not see himself turning Birdpaw away after she called for him. It felt like failure. Instead, he approaches the brown-fluffed warrior. Gently he brushes against Fawnspring's shoulder, "I am sorry. It will be alright. We can talk after this?" Wormbite offers, but he doesn't stay longer to hear his answer. Perhaps for the better.

He starts to search for where Birdpaw would be but is erupted by Cloverpaw's shriek. His fur bushes up with frustration because time after time this damned apprentice interrupted important meetings that he could offer no sympathy. Wormbite whipped around, squeezing his eyes shut in irritability. "Cloverpaw! Shut up before I drag you into the elder's den and make you stay there until you are one of them. Have some respect or remove yourself, " He snapped. He did plan to threaten exile to the naive molly, but threatening children would be one way to make the crowd even more chaotic. (sometimes you should exile cats for being annoying)

It takes him a moment to recollect himself, forcing his fur to lay flat. Even longer to find where Birdpaw resides - it seems like she's talking to another apprentice. Wormbite pauses before continuing, approaching her with caution. "Birdpaw?" He speaks up, tilting his head. he was not at all good with children, actually, he just didn't want to ignore her but - oh boy, he had no experience in this. like, even on a decent day wormbite struggled to talk hip with the kids.

"I SAID, I DEMAND TO SPEAK WITH KESTRELSTAR THIS INSTANT!!! Want my advice? It's because I am the MOST SPECIAL CAT IN THE CLAN!!! I HAVE THE BEST EGO I BELIEVE THAT I AM THE BEST!! I THINK EVERYONE LIKES ME!!!" She let out a good explanation of why she was so demanding. "Now I demand you stop talking Wormbrain or you will..." She didn't say, "death berries"

[Singing Jay]

~ Goldenpaw | ~Oakpaw3441~ |

Like everyone else, Goldenpaw was grieving for her leader. In some ways, she had looked up to Kestrelstar, not as a leader, but as some kind of role model. And now he was dead. A few voices rose up around her, and she listened to them, calmly, but not filled with the same emotions as they were, it seemed. She hadn't known Kestrelstar like some others, and she couldn't quite relate to what they seemed to be going through, and it made her a little uncomfortable that everyone was so incredibly sad when she seemed to mostly feel what a loss this would be to Riverclan.

Her clear blue-green gaze quickly shifted towards Sparrowskip. He would now be the leader... Oh Starclan how could this ever end well. - Her attention was snapped away as what seemed like Cloverpaw was making a mess once again. "Shot. Your. Mouth! If you couldn't see, the clan is mourning the death of our leader. So you have no place to be demanding attention. A kit would know that, so why can't you be at least a little respectful."

[stardust.]

~ Goldenpaw | ~Oakpaw3441~ |

Like everyone else, Goldenpaw was grieving for her leader. In some ways, she had looked up to Kestrelstar, not as a leader, but as some kind of role model. And now he was dead. A few voices rose up around her, and she listened to them, calmly, but not filled with the same emotions as they were, it seemed. She hadn't known Kestrelstar like some others, and she couldn't quite relate to what they seemed to be going through, and it made her a little uncomfortable that everyone was so incredibly sad when she seemed to mostly feel what a loss this would be to Riverclan.

Her clear blue-green gaze quickly shifted towards Sparrowskip. He would now be the leader... Oh Starclan how could this ever end well. - Her attention was snapped away as what seemed like Cloverpaw was making a mess once again. "Shot. Your. Mouth! If you couldn't see, the clan is mourning the death of our leader. So you have no place to be demanding attention. A kit would know that, so why can't you be at least a little respectful."

"Why do you look like a warrior??? Oh you are just going to be an apprentice for a super long time" She insulted Goldenpaw, "Or you will be exiled" She tried to just gain more attention, "Back when Kestrelstar was leader, I had to misbehave, now that Sparrowskip is leader, I CAN EVEN MORE!!!!!!!! Now Kestrelstar's death is just going to make me gain power"

[Singing Jay]

"Why do you look like a warrior??? Oh you are just going to be an apprentice for a super long time" She insulted Goldenpaw, "Or you will be exiled" She tried to just gain more attention, "Back when Kestrelstar was leader, I had to misbehave, now that Sparrowskip is leader, I CAN EVEN MORE!!!!!!!! Now Kestrelstar's death is just going to make me gain power"
~ Goldenpaw

A nerve had been touched when Cloverpaw mention that Goldenpaw was outgrowing her rank, but the golden tabby didn't flinch. "I look like a warrior already? Oh well I take that as a compliment. Being a warrior certainly would place me in a position to punish you." Her voice stayed as calm as she always was as she eyed Cloverpaw up and down. "Maybe two moons of elder duties, collecting moss and removing tics might fix that attitude of yours." She mused. "But alas, someone else will have to decide that punishment for you." And hopefully someone would. "Until then I highly suggest you sit down, and listen!"

[poppy]

| starry. x ghostie |

The small cat's world was trembling. It was shaking, if she was honest, and her head was spinning. Mistypaw was right. You had to be old to die. What about Talonkit? And Kestrel wasn't super old. StarClan was just cruel. They were mean cats that messed stuff up and never helped. But she didn't know what RiverClan was like without Kestrel, he was one of the only constants in clan life. He found her as a mewling kit, and brought her back. But now he was dead and gone.... She didn't know what would happen now. RiverClan felt headless without him.

She blinked up at Mistypaw, swallowing heavily. If he was gonna come back... "I'll wait for him, then." She whispered, but then her eyes found the body, and she let out another sob, burying her face I'm her paws.

But the voice of another buddy made her sobs praise for a moment. Like a lost kit, she looked around for Wormy. There he was. He came. Still clinging to Mistypaw, she reached out for Wormy, bawling as if her whole life was going to end. The initial shock was blanketed by the horror and now immense pain the stung her heart.


"I-I pr-promise I-I wo-won't l-let it c-co-control me. " She mumbled as she still reached out for Wormy but still clinging to Mistypaw like a lifeline. But how could she not let her sadness be so big? Her bestest buddy in the world was all gone, her life was just flipped over, and now she had two cats she needed to hug but she didn't want to let go of one to hug the other for even a second.

But then she felt really really sick. It felt like she was about to vomit, so she gulped a lot, trying not to be gross.

[stardust.]

~ Goldenpaw

A nerve had been touched when Cloverpaw mention that Goldenpaw was outgrowing her rank, but the golden tabby didn't flinch. "I look like a warrior already? Oh well I take that as a compliment. Being a warrior certainly would place me in a position to punish you." Her voice stayed as calm as she always was as she eyed Cloverpaw up and down. "Maybe two moons of elder duties, collecting moss and removing tics might fix that attitude of yours." She mused. "But alas, someone else will have to decide that punishment for you." And hopefully someone would. "Until then I highly suggest you sit down, and listen!"

"Ok, then go become a kitty pet and abandon your warrior life!" She mewed, she groaned and then turned back to the apprentices den, "YOU WANT ANOTHER MOON OF TICK PULLING?"

[Brightlight]

--Brittleshore--

It took Brittleshore longer than he'd ever admit to arrive at the meeting. It was partly because he was an elder, and he moved slow. It was also partly because the voice that had called all of them...wasn't the voice he had heard for moons and moons and moons. The grey elder slowly padded into the area, the wails and cries of grief making his heart drop. Slowly, he raised his head. Not wanting too, not wanting to see whatever had devastated the Clan.

Brittleshore's legs failed him, and he collapsed on the ground. The hard earth was unforgiving on his joints, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. All that mattered was that Kestrelstar. Was. Dead. Brittleshore hung his head, struggling to breathe. The elder had always thought that their leader was strong. Had always thought that Brittleshore would go before him. But apparently not. Why did this happen? Kestrelstar still had things to do! There were so many things that needed to be done...and now...he didn't know.

[marshy]

God, how chaotic was this meeting going to get? Sparrowskip had literally just announced the meeting and cats were being insane. Was this really what Kestrelstar went through as leader? Everyone asking him what happened, as if he wasn’t getting to that. Sparrowskip wasn’t angry at them for the chaos, well no he was. A lot of it could of certainly been avoided. With all this and plants screaming to add onto it, he was about to have a mental breakdown. He took a deep breath and tried his best to keep himself together as he continued with the meeting.
Then Snakeheart came over. Dear StarClan. Snakeheart did exactly what Sparrowskip wanted to do so badly, yet knew wouldn’t help except wasting herbs. He watched as Blizzardsky did something helpful for once, and comforted Cloudpaw. Sparrowskip wasn’t expecting for him to do anything but worsen the situation, so he was grateful Blizzardsky toned it down a bit.
Sparrowskip wasn’t sure where the hell the queens were as kits were coming into the meeting, they of all cats did NOT need to be seeing a damn body in the clearing. “Daystripe!” [ Shootingstar ] Sparrowskip hissed, “Can you get off your ass and get these kits of the meeting?? Please??” Sparrowskip did not want kits being traumatized.
It broke Sparrowskip’s heart to see Birdpaw’s reaction, it hurt enough for Sparrowskip to find the body himself and now to see all the other clanmates who loved the leader was starting to break Sparrowskip a little. Nightleap’s reaction as well it, it all hurt the same. Kestrelstar was gone, and there was no getting him back.
Then.. Cloverpaw. Sparrowskip’s silent attitude turned into anger as he snarled at the apprentice. “Cloverpaw, shut. The. hell. up.”He hissed. “Snowleap! [ masquerade ] Shut this.. kit up. Cloverpaw, if you continue to act up I will take pleasure in making sure you NEVER return to RiverClan.” Sparrowskip wasn’t about to let someone take all the attention away from Kestrelstar and his passing, that was just insensitive.
“O-okay. I’m sure you’re all wondering how this happened to our leader as he had multiple lives left.” Sparrowskip said, choked up. ”I found him washing up on the shore of lionsbeach. The only thing I can think of that happened was that he fell of the cliff and drowned over, and over, and over again until he lost all his lives.” Sparrowskip had another theory about what could’ve happened but, he kept that to himself. “We will be holding a vigil for him in the Sleepy Thicket after this meeting is over.” Sparrowskip was surprised he was able to get it out without breaking down. He would leave what happening after the vigil until everyone had settled in with what he had just said.

[ Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Angelique Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Luminous Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 @SourCream fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Slushie Cherry Blossom Brightlight ]

[Rizo]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She looked back at her sister. "He was my mentor.. I owe everything to him, and now he's dead!" She wailed. "Please! no!" she cried. If i wish hard enough, this will all be a dream! She thought, and she pressed her nose to his. "I can't let you go.. Dont.. go.. please!"

RiztheHuntress

Turning back to her distraught younger sister, Wolfsong pressed harder into Nightleap's side, trying to give her sibling some kind of comfort. She knew it was fairly futile, but she hoped that the younger warrior would understand that she wasn't alone. She knew there were no words to remedy things at this time, so instead she remained silent and gave Nightleap soothing licks around her ear.


☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Zesty Mango | RiztheHuntress ]

➢ Nodding to what Blizzardsky said, the small Riverclan shecat looked off to the side, a saddened numb emotion in her light-blue eyes. Was Kestrelstar watching over her right now? She didn’t know for sure, but maybe if she believed so, it would make her feel a little better at the very least. “I t-think I’ll t-t-take a few days before r-resuming my t-training.” Cloudpaw murmured, her tone gentle. The black-and-white-furred molly didn’t like the idea of holding off her training, but it felt wrong to start it right back up again after losing Kestrelstar so abruptly. She needed time to think, time to grieve, time to… process all of this. “T-Thank you, Blizzardsky.” She added, glancing up at the white-furred Riverclan warrior and then back towards the clan leader’s body. Hearing Nightleap’s growl, Cloudpaw wasn’t surprised, though a little hurt by the nursery queen’s tone. As much as it pained her to do, the young apprentice slowly stood up to move away from the gray-furred tomcat’s body, in order to give other cats time to grieve. So many of them had known him longer than she had, so Cloudpaw felt a little selfish now. Her stomach hurt so much and her body ached with this terrible feeling. She hated all of it.

At that moment, Moonfrost rushed over to her, the two of them finally finding one another in this time of mourning. The Riverclan shecat soon covered the young molly in comforting, gentle licks like a mother would to her kitten. Tears welled up in Cloudpaw’s eyes again and she burrowed her small frame into the warrior’s belly fur, clinging to Moonfrost as she trembled with grief for her teacher and leader. They had only met at the Gathering a few sunrises ago, but it was no secret that the dark gray-furred shecat reminded her so much of Swansong - so much that the fluffy apprentice viewed her as a mother. “M-Mama…” She mewed pitifully into Moonfrost’s fur, quietly beginning to cry again, “I m-m-miss him so m-much!” Kestrelstar had cared for her so deeply and Cloudpaw could see that, even if they hadn’t spent that much time together. She could still remember him brushing her head with his tail at the Gathering. Oh Starclan, why did he have to be taken away so soon?

Hearing the little she-cat call her 'Mama' filled Moonfrost's heart simultaneously with immense joy and insufferable sorrow.
You've lost so much for one so young.
Wrapping her paws around Cloudpaw, the warrior held her tightly against her belly, and wrapped her tail around the little cat. She understood all too well what it felt like to lose a father-figure at a young age. There wasn't much that could be said during this time that would make Cloudpaw, or anyone for that matter, feel better. Good thing she had no use for words.
I'm here, little one. I won't ever leave you.

[JusticeRabbit]

~Daystripe~
Had she not heard the deputy's call? "Uhm- Yes sir!" She mewed, and headed out of the den, searching for the kits she had spent some time with. She ached slightly, but she wouldn't let that get in the way. She started rounding up the kits in her mind, before going out and gently trying to persuade most of them to come with her. Maybe she could start up a mossball tournament in the nursery while this was going on... and for the kits not wanting to play mossball? They could keep track! That was a good idea. She tried to get them into the nursery for this, and that she would start it as soon as they had enough kits (which meant all of them) and waited for them all. She hoped that they would agree. She really did.

(ALL KITS AT THE MEETING, THIS IS THE REPLY FOR SUCH)

[Sweetie]

It was a light drizzle with the clouds hanging overhead allowing some sunlight pass through. Sunpaw was resting in the medicine cats den when he heard his brother call for a meeting. It was only recently that the fiery tom found out that his sibling beat him to the deputy position before he could. While it did sting the pride outweighed the jealously and Sunpaw was more than happy to support his brother. Paws still dull with pain, stung as the overgrown apprentice swung to his feet and wobbled out to the clearing. Sunpaw wasn't sure if Snakeheart would swipe at his ears for walking while he was still healing. But surely the Medicine Cat will-
The whole clan arrived before he could and chaos ensued before he could make ten paw-steps out from the den.

What in Holy Starclan Hell is going on?

A sea of cat pelts swarmed to the middle of the clearing as Sunpaw could barely make out Snakeheart and Sparrowskip. To his surprise, Snakeheart was losing it and Sunpaw meant losing it. Never as long as the tom knew the medicine cat did he ever see him cry or wail as he was now. Ocean blue eyes moved pasted the grief-stricken tom and onto his brother who held the same emotions. His clanmates were bickering and crying left and right.

What i-

Then the world stopped. Sunpaw no longer felt the light raindrops or the warmth from his clanmate's bodies. His eyes landed on the fallen leader as his ears caught the last part of what the deputy was saying.

"I found him washing up on the shore of lionsbeach. The only thing I can think of that happened was that he fell off the cliff and drowned over, and over, and over again until he lost all his lives"

Sorrow quickly shot the apprentice through the heart as he stood still with his eyes glued to Kestrelstar. It felt like an eternity before Sunpaw moved his gaze to Sparrowskip...the new Riverclan leader...

Should Sunpaw move to comfort his only blood relative or stay standing where he was? On one paw this was his brother he was looking at. But on the other, his was his mentor and new leader.

marshall (If you wanna reply)

(Other than that, open)

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ ~Oakpaw3441~ ]

➢ Upon the Riverclan deputy’s command, the dark-furred oriental longhair stood up, leaving Raccoonear and Lynxfall for the moment. “Yes, Sparrowskip,” He meowed, sending a narrowed glance in Cloverpaw’s direction, “It would be my pleasure.” Snowleap gave a sigh and walked over to the loud, rude apprentice with his bushy tail lashing behind him. “Come with me, I’m not asking,” The tall shield growled lowly, “You’re going to the apprentice’s den until this clan meeting has concluded. You obviously cannot be trusted to act accordingly during a time of grieving.” He ushered the young molly away from the mourning party with a sharp huff, rather disgusted by Cloverpaw’s actions. Of course she’d ruin this for him. Starclan forbid he was able to say goodbye to his respected leader and dear friend. As Snowleap drew himself away from the group of his beloved clanmates, his long ears twitched to Sparrowskip explaining what happened with Kestrelstar. Drowned over and over again at Lionsbeach. How dreadful... The mere thought of it made the blue-eyed shield shudder.

( This RP will continue in the Apprentice's Den thread. )

[stardust.]

(CLOVERPAW/SHE/HER)

"Yes, Snowleap" She mewed sadly, she nodded her head and went with Snowleap to he apprentices den

[taillow]

Otterfluff
Well, that was a shocking turn of events. Otterfluff was certain the troubled leader would have lost his lives to something more of a "noble" cause such as locked in battle with ShadowClan, or tussling with an aggressor from ThunderClan. Not... simply falling off the cliff. They clicked their tongue, their expression remaining a careful mix between neutral and sorrow.

Though he had not been close with the now-deceased RiverClan leader, he had enough sense to keep his mouth shut. More outbursts from Cloverpaw earned the she-cat a fierce glare from Otterfluff, the young cat shifting his gaze over to where she stood. One brow raised in shock, but he hadn't been called to remedy the situation so still he sat. The fluff of his tail danced on the ground beside him as his head moved back to watch Sparrowskip. He was also calling for the kits to be rounded up and that was maybe something Outterfluff could assist with!

Shuffling to his paws, the lean tomcat made his way over to where Daystripe was beginning to usher the kits back towards the nursery. "If you need any assistance, I am happy to lend a paw," he offered with a flickering smile and a glitteringly warm gaze.

[ Shootingstar, any kits! ]

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~
marshall

The silver-blue tabby had been sitting quietly, watching the drama unfold before him. Watching Cloverpaw being an idiot, and a disrespectful one at that. And Icekit could feel his fur bristle slightly as he heard the apprentice's word, claiming and demanding attention when the clan's leader was laying there, dead. Goldenpaw (a cat he had begun to respect more and more) luckily seemed to put an end to most of it, and Icekit nodded a little in agreement when he heard Goldenpaw's (half)suggestion about a punishment.

The Sparrowskip finally spoke, and Icekit's ears pricked to listen, but he stiffened as the golden cat ordered Daystripe to take away the kits. Quickly he stood up to protest, but Sparrowskip's talking went on, not giving Icekit time to speak his mind. But he did get an answer to how Kestrelstar had died, presumably having drowned, many times over, until all the lives had run out.


Then Sparrowskip had finished and seeing his chance Icekit quickly made his way towards the cat. "Wait, Sparrowskip, can't you let me join the vigil after this? Please." His voice was calm but much less aloof than usually. He needed to come, he would be five moons of age in a bit, and while that was still not apprentice-age, he didn't want to be grouped in with some of the other kits, cats who spent their days chasing therír tails.

[dino.]

>Boarskull<
A wince twisted Boarskull's expression as the chaos began to rise up around him, yet he forced himself to keep his eyes shut and his head bowed. Adding to it would do no good, he knew, even if it was only an attempt to help. It seemed Sparrowskip knew the same, and one ear flicked as the deputy - rather, leader, now - snapped at those who caused it. How disrespectful could cats be? They knew their leader had just passed, and yet they insisted on causing such a ruckus. What cheek, he huffed silently.

As Sparrowskip started to explain, he lifted his head and opened his eyes to watch the tom and listen intently. What he heard made his heart twist. Oh, what a horrific fate... to die, alone, in one of the most painful ways possible.

Boarskull would join that vigil later. It only made sense.

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

"p-p-please.." Nightleap cried. "Moonfrost.. I- I."

RiztheHuntress

[JusticeRabbit]

Otterfluff
Well, that was a shocking turn of events. Otterfluff was certain the troubled leader would have lost his lives to something more of a "noble" cause such as locked in battle with ShadowClan, or tussling with an aggressor from ThunderClan. Not... simply falling off the cliff. They clicked their tongue, their expression remaining a careful mix between neutral and sorrow.

Though he had not been close with the now-deceased RiverClan leader, he had enough sense to keep his mouth shut. More outbursts from Cloverpaw earned the she-cat a fierce glare from Otterfluff, the young cat shifting his gaze over to where she stood. One brow raised in shock, but he hadn't been called to remedy the situation so still he sat. The fluff of his tail danced on the ground beside him as his head moved back to watch Sparrowskip. He was also calling for the kits to be rounded up and that was maybe something Outterfluff could assist with!

Shuffling to his paws, the lean tomcat made his way over to where Daystripe was beginning to usher the kits back towards the nursery. "If you need any assistance, I am happy to lend a paw," he offered with a flickering smile and a glitteringly warm gaze.

[ Shootingstar, any kits! ]
×Daystripe| With Otterfluff×
Her mind was still on the idea of a mossball tournament when she heard a Tom's voice. "Oh! Hello! That would be nice. I'm thinking about a mossball tournament to keep them busy while that's going on." She said, calmly. Her eyes drifted over the nursery as she counted the kits.

She hadn't really known Kestralstar, but she had heard about him. Quite often, actually. She looked at the kits. "I think we're missing a few. Let's see if we can find them." She mewed, quietly. She stood up and shook out her fur, before starting to walk forward.

Her paws made little sound as she found more kits. More then a few, actually. Quite a bit. She gently encouraged them to come to the nursery, hoping she wasn't missing anyone. "Think we're missing anyone?" She asked, counting them again.

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

His trance seemed to crack as Sparrowskip's voice sounded again. He took a deep breath, suddenly realizing he'd been stuck to shallow inhales, and took slow, tentative steps closer to the crowding Riverclanners and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Drowned...over and over agian... different thoughts and emotions flooded Codwhisper. He was confident in his swimming abilities and his first irrational wish was that he was there and could have saved Kestrelstar, but surely Kestrelstar was a far better swimmer than he. Then he felt betrayed. A Riverclan leader drowning felt like the ultimate betrayal. The water gave them food and life and it was the soothing cool that satiated Codwhisper's insatiable need to keep moving. Yet it had now taken the life of his leader. He crouched down, his belly fur brushing the ground, as close as he dared to get to the leader among the other cats who were closer to Kestrelstar.

[Mango]

Zesty Mango

Hazelstorm
Her chest rose and fell, sighing, turning away from Ploverkit just to hide her face. It was so insensitive, but it was only a kit.

"Well... when you're dead, you're gone forever and you can't come back unless you have nine lives like a leader does," the mackarel tabby meowed. She didn't mention the part where you could potentially be revived. She put a blank expression on her face and lifted her head, to be greeted with a disrespectful apprentice. Urgh. What made it worse was that it was Cloverpaw, seriously, didn't that se-cat have discipline or something? Hazelstorm resisted the urge to snap and yell at the darned apprentice as she glared at Cloverpaw.

Hazelstorm went back to Ploverkit, but then Cloverpaw's screechy voice filled her ears again. She scrunched her eyes shut, grinding her teeth, setting her jaw.

Shut up, she longed to say. She breathed out, a small, quick spurt of breath.

"Cloverpaw, learn some manners," the warrior snapped irritably, just loud enough for the apprentice to hear. Under her breath, she added, "for StarClan's sake."

Hazelstorm sat down on her haunches, curlng her fluffy tail around her paws and did nothing.
Shootingstar (She's kinda traumatized and like frozen in fear, probably gonna need to be carried out. She's like not even a moon just discovered death exists)

Ploverkit's went wide in shock, someone could just stop existing? That sounded awful. The little kit wanted to cry in horror at that concept but didn't know how to let herself cry. She just stood there, shocked. Unfortunately the kit was young enough she knew nothing of Starclan. The idea of ceasing to exist scared her. She was completely frozen in fear that she could just suddenly cease to exist. Eventually perhaps someone would carry her off to the nursery as she stood there not really processing any other words happening around her.


masquerade RiztheHuntress

Blizzardsky watched as Cloudpaw's mother, Moonfrost and gave her a sad smile," I think you'll be able to comfort her better than I can." he meowed he'd definetly in a few days check in with Cloudpaw and see if she was up for a swimming lesson. He wanted to keep comforting her, but he understood that right then, Cloudpaw wanted her mother far more than him, the cat no one trusted around apprentices comforting him. He was amazed to learn Kestrelstar just drowned. He couldn't figure out how he ended up falling into the ocean. He wasn't dumb like him, he would have seen the cliff and not jumped off.

[R0WAN]

Spiderpaw [OPEN]

The apprentice sat in silence. This wasn't the first loss in his life, no, but it still hurt. He was tired of the cats around him panicking, and the air became heavy as all of the cats grieved. He wasn't super close to Kestralstar, but his friend Cloudpaw was. He felt his legs shaking, and he laid down to try and hide it. Oh dear god... Cloudpaw! He was worried about how she was doing, since she admired the leader so much. He leaned his head down and covered his face with his paws. Spiderpaw didn't know what to think of the situation. He was confused and hurt; he felt like he was taking on the emotions of the his clanmates that he didn't want to deal with whatsoever. He just decided to get up and limped over to the apprentice den. He needed quiet and time to think.

[JusticeRabbit]

Shootingstar (She's kinda traumatized and like frozen in fear, probably gonna need to be carried out. She's like not even a moon just discovered death exists)

Ploverkit's went wide in shock, someone could just stop existing? That sounded awful. The little kit wanted to cry in horror at that concept but didn't know how to let herself cry. She just stood there, shocked. Unfortunately the kit was young enough she knew nothing of Starclan. The idea of ceasing to exist scared her. She was completely frozen in fear that she could just suddenly cease to exist. Eventually perhaps someone would carry her off to the nursery as she stood there not really processing any other words happening around her.


masquerade RiztheHuntress

Blizzardsky watched as Cloudpaw's mother, Moonfrost and gave her a sad smile," I think you'll be able to comfort her better than I can." he meowed he'd definetly in a few days check in with Cloudpaw and see if she was up for a swimming lesson. He wanted to keep comforting her, but he understood that right then, Cloudpaw wanted her mother far more than him, the cat no one trusted around apprentices comforting him. He was amazed to learn Kestrelstar just drowned. He couldn't figure out how he ended up falling into the ocean. He wasn't dumb like him, he would have seen the cliff and not jumped off.
(Alr!)
~Daystripe~
One left. She walked over, standing next to her. "Sweetie, can you come here?" She asked, kindly. When she didn't get a response, she thought she might need to pick her up. She earned over Ploverkit and lifted her up by the scruff. She was gentle not to hurt her, and walked away from the previous leader's dead body and towards the nursery. She set Ploverkit down inside of the nursery. "Ploverkit, are you alright? You're okay. I'm here." She mewed, quietly. She groomed her fur, trying to calm the kit down.

[taillow]

Otterfluff
As Daystripe accepted his invitation to assist the young tom gave a gentle smile before sweeping his gaze across the clearing. Most of the kits had already been gathered, except for one who appeared rather traumatized. But yet Daystripe was retrieving them as well, so that left zero left to gather. Or, so the brown feline thought.

His gaze was caught by an older kit - Icekit, he recalled - stepping up to ask about remaining at the meeting. Sparrowskip had called for all kits to be gathered, so off Otterfluff padded, coming up behind Icekit with his gaze directed towards the deputy. There was a lingering question there, whether this kit should be swooped up as well or if he was alright to remain out here. Truthfully, Sparrowskip had made a good choice in asking for the kits to be taken into the nursery.

But Icekit was almost the age of an apprentice, and would soon be thrust into the real world of claws and fangs and blood and death. What difference would a moon make? The decision was not up to Otterfluff though, so patient the tom awaited further instruction from Sparrowskip.

[ Shootingstar Hopeless marshall ]

[endlessskies]

Otterstorm wailed. Why did StarClan do this to them? Kestrelstar, dead. They had never been close but still, Kestrelstar was the leader. Drowned, over and over again... No. Kestrelstar.... Otterstorm wished she could race away into unknown territory and die, rather than watch her grieving clanmates. A lump was forming in her throat. The water was meant for RiverClan, yet Kestrelstar... had died of it.

[OPEN for any cats who wants to comfort her!]

[corgigirl]

Pebblepaw sat crying. How could there leader who was so strong just, be gone, dead.

[corgigirl]

Finally catching sight of the young cat, Moonfrost sprinted to Cloudpaw's side, sorrow in her eyes.
Oh little one, I'm so sorry.
She began covering the apprentice in comforting licks, pausing only to blink warmly at Blizzardsky, her heart full of gratitude for the tom. She lifted a paw to invite Cloudpaw to burrow into her belly fur, as she had at the Gathering.
Oh the Gathering... No apprentice should have to go through so much tragedy, especially one so young.
Tears filled her eyes, both with anguish of the loss of their leader and empathy for the little cat she had come to adore as a daughter.

[ @/masquerade Zesty Mango ]




Wolfsong finally caught sight of her sister and started towards her, before seeing her apprentice frozen in place. Sadness filling her heart, Wolfsong padded up to Pebblepaw. "Come with me Pebblepaw, you can sit with Nightleap and I for the meeting..." she mewed softly, laying her tail on the apprentice's shoulder before walking up to where her younger sister was laying next to Kestrelstar's body.
"Nightleap, I'm so sorry," she whispered to the she-cat, settling down beside her. She pressed her flank into the fur of her sibling, eyes misting with tears.
"I know how much he meant to you," she said sorrowfully, giving Nightleap a comforting lick on the ear. She paused to look back at her apprentice, patting the ground beside her with her tail to invite the young cat to sit on her other side with a soft, comforting blink.

[ @/Kunaiskrill @/corgigirl ]
Pebblepaw nuzzled against Wolfsong. She tears wetted her thick fur.

[furrensic]

~Oakpaw3441~ (for mention of cloverpaw, no interaction) //

➵ brindlefeather | she/(they)/it

the warriors ears burned with embarrassment as cloverpaw started screaming at them. what type of insult was brindlestinky? who's kit was this?! brindlefeather stepped back, brows furrowing together. clearly, cloverpaw thought highly of herself, too highly. at sparrowskip's words, they simply shuffled away from the apprentice, watching snowleap come over and take her to the apprentices den.
they sat down, long tail wrapping around their paws. kestrelstar had drowned, over and over again until he lost all of his lives. a shiver went down the torbie's spine. they didn't even want to imagine how horrifying that would be.

they'd join the vigil - what type of warrior would they be if they didn't?

__
Shootingstar (just so daystripe knows swan went to the nursery) //

➵ swankit | she/her

a large ear gave a twitch, and swankit glanced over her shoulder at cloverpaw. the apprentice seemed to be desperate for any type of attention she could get, even the negative kind. blinking, the kits gaze returned to the leaders body, almost looking as if she was..studying it. whatever reason, her staring would come to an end it seemed, as sparrowskip spoke up and according to him, kits should not see such a thing. she looked around and noticed that maybe he was right, considering some kits were acting as though they'd seen a ghost. am i just being weird? the kit wondered before deciding that no, she probably wasnt so weird. loonkit would most likely react the same. with a small flick of her thin tail, swankit turned and made her way back to the nursery.

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw was shocked. She stepped back. She couldn't hold it in any more. She felt awful. Like, somehow, it had all been her fault. She ran as fast as she could out of camp. The apprentice ran where her paws carried her. She couldn't stop. It hurt too much.
{open}

[Rizo]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

"p-p-please.." Nightleap cried. "Moonfrost.. I- I."

RiztheHuntress
Pebblepaw nuzzled against Wolfsong. She tears wetted her thick fur.

~Wolfsong~

Wrapping her tail around her apprentice, the silver she-cat paused the grooming of her sister's ears and turned her blue gaze on Pebblepaw. She didn't have any words, so instead she gave the young cat a lick on the forehead. It was all surreal, to think that Kestrelstar, a leader who she had come to respect deeply, was gone. She turned her muzzle back to look at the pelt of the fallen leader, watching his still form for a moment before she managed to find her voice. "I'd like to sit vigil with you after the meeting, Nightleap," she said softly. "Would you join us, Pebblepaw?" she asked, leaning slightly against the smaller she-cat.


masquerade RiztheHuntress

Blizzardsky watched as Cloudpaw's mother, Moonfrost and gave her a sad smile," I think you'll be able to comfort her better than I can." he meowed he'd definetly in a few days check in with Cloudpaw and see if she was up for a swimming lesson. He wanted to keep comforting her, but he understood that right then, Cloudpaw wanted her mother far more than him, the cat no one trusted around apprentices comforting him. He was amazed to learn Kestrelstar just drowned. He couldn't figure out how he ended up falling into the ocean. He wasn't dumb like him, he would have seen the cliff and not jumped off.

~Moonfrost~

As she saw the tom begin to turn away, Moonfrost reached out with a paw, placing it on his shoulder.
Please don't leave. She needs you too.
She couldn't use words to convince him to stay, so she hoped that he would understand. Cloudpaw only had the two of them now. The black tabby she-cat would gladly fill the role of mother, but she couldn't take up the hole that Kestrelstar had left. She wasn't able to.
Help me help her. Please.
She looked down at the little apprentice and smiled softly before looking back at Blizzardsky. She was not at all practiced with forming her muzzle into words, having no ability to use them anyway, but she gave her very best attempt to mouth the word "stay."

[ masquerade for the Cloudpaw mention and presence ]

[poppy]

| QueenOtter @/anyone else ig haha ( Luminous masquerade for mentions of Mistypaw and Snowleap )|

The screams and wails from the clearing made the senior warrior burrow deeper into his nest. Yet another tragedy. He didn't even want to go out and look. So he didn't. The commanding voice on the Streamstone didn't even register, but the faceless sounds of grief made Blizzardwind finally rise to his paws. His whiskers trembled and his paws tingled with nerves. this couldn't possibly be good. Someone was dead, and with his luck, it would be someone important, close to him. His ears twitched and as he neared the den exit, the pit of his stomach dropped into a chasm, face darkening with dread. As the muscled old tom shouldered his way out of the den, he couldn't help bellowing, "Mistypaw! Snowleap!" Blizzardwind roared their name, the only thing powering the sound emitting from him was raw fear. They couldn't be dead. Not another apprentice of his.

But he recoiled at the scent of death and the voice atop the Streamstone that just registered. Sparrowskip. Everyone was huddled around a body. A limp, gray body. A body that was ruffled by touch and still musty and sodden. A body with dark gray markings. One would expect the tom to shout, to howl, but he just slumped backwards. Kestrelstar. Stormtalon's brother. Snakeheart's brother. RiverClan's leader. StarClan newest member. His jaw clenched, and he closed his slate eyes. Numbly, he looked back up. He could mourn whatever the young tom was to him later, but things needed to be done. Straightening his head as Sparrowskip announced the vigil, Blizzardwind exhaled softly. Okay. Emotions could be sorted out later, but right now, younger cats needed strong words.

He saw Otterstorm looking sickened and horrified. Padding over to the molly, he lowered his large head to hers, his mouth near her ear to be heard but not be creepy, and murmured, "He's happier now. With Stormtalon. With his mother. With all his lost ones. Try and find peace in that. He was hurting, but now he's in a paradise, and will never hurt for the rest of eternity." Even though it hurt to know that this cat he had known through Stormtalon, this dead cat that was his leader but also something more to him, he knew that the tabby leader wouldn't want his grieving Clanmates to mourn lone, but rather stand united. He nodded to the molly, as if welcoming her to cry into him, to hug, to do something, and tried not to be awkward.

[flopsy]

Wrenpaw | she/they | open

It was chaos the clan had descended into total madness. Her eyes started to spill pearl-like tears as she sat by herself in a sea of chaos. The was fighting, crying, arguing, and in the middle of it all the loss of a leader. She clicked her tongue in anger at Cloverpaw, who did she think she was! The most special cat in the clan she said, Cloverpaw was crazy and delusional, it wasn't the first time she pulled crazy stunts like this. She stared back at her tear-soaked paws before looking back at the deputy, or was it leader now, she didn't even know why she was crying she and Kestrelstar had never been particularly close. But she felt like she owed it to that tom.

[endlessskies]

| QueenOtter @/anyone else ig haha ( Luminous masquerade for mentions of Mistypaw and Snowleap )|

The screams and wails from the clearing made the senior warrior burrow deeper into his nest. Yet another tragedy. He didn't even want to go out and look. So he didn't. The commanding voice on the Streamstone didn't even register, but the faceless sounds of grief made Blizzardwind finally rise to his paws. His whiskers trembled and his paws tingled with nerves. this couldn't possibly be good. Someone was dead, and with his luck, it would be someone important, close to him. His ears twitched and as he neared the den exit, the pit of his stomach dropped into a chasm, face darkening with dread. As the muscled old tom shouldered his way out of the den, he couldn't help bellowing, "Mistypaw! Snowleap!" Blizzardwind roared their name, the only thing powering the sound emitting from him was raw fear. They couldn't be dead. Not another apprentice of his.

But he recoiled at the scent of death and the voice atop the Streamstone that just registered. Sparrowskip. Everyone was huddled around a body. A limp, gray body. A body that was ruffled by touch and still musty and sodden. A body with dark gray markings. One would expect the tom to shout, to howl, but he just slumped backwards. Kestrelstar. Stormtalon's brother. Snakeheart's brother. RiverClan's leader. StarClan newest member. His jaw clenched, and he closed his slate eyes. Numbly, he looked back up. He could mourn whatever the young tom was to him later, but things needed to be done. Straightening his head as Sparrowskip announced the vigil, Blizzardwind exhaled softly. Okay. Emotions could be sorted out later, but right now, younger cats needed strong words.

He saw Otterstorm looking sickened and horrified. Padding over to the molly, he lowered his large head to hers, his mouth near her ear to be heard but not be creepy, and murmured, "He's happier now. With Stormtalon. With his mother. With all his lost ones. Try and find peace in that. He was hurting, but now he's in a paradise, and will never hurt for the rest of eternity." Even though it hurt to know that this cat he had known through Stormtalon, this dead cat that was his leader but also something more to him, he knew that the tabby leader wouldn't want his grieving Clanmates to mourn lone, but rather stand united. He nodded to the molly, as if welcoming her to cry into him, to hug, to do something, and tried not to be awkward.
Otterstorm blinked. 'We- We'll miss him-' she managed to say, choking on her words. She wailed again. 'He wasn't meant to die! He could- could of lived longer, with his clan, his deputy, his leftover kin and friends! B- but no, StarClan l-let him die!' Otterstorm couldn't move. It was like waves, strong currents with icy water pulling her down, and the grief! The grief felt heavier than the whole place altogether, helping the cold waves, dragging her down. She turned her tear-stained face to Blizzardwind.

[poppy]

| QueenOtter flopsy |

As Otterstorm raised her teary face to Blizzardwind, his face softened a bit. Everyone was hurting. Why? Because this cat, this sodden corpse of a body depleted of its soul, brought them back. Yeah, he had a rough start but he fixed it, he was doing so much better. And he died. He was dead and now RiverClan had to fling it's trust blindly at their newly announced deputy. He blinked kindly to her, the fresh shock and horror and grief curbing his usual gruff exterior. Otterstorm was struggling with the Clan's ancestors, wrestling with the same theory that Blizzardwind had been battling for moons, for seasons. More so this last couple moons. Fake it, Blizzardwind. Fake it. Fake your unshakable faith in those starry creatures so that this young molly will feel reassured.

But then he saw another pained cat, an apprentice this time, and reached out his tail and tapped the younger cat. "Wrenpaw, would you like to sit with us?" Wrenpaw needed to hear what he was going to say, too.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he murmured, "StarClan knew how much he hurt. They watched him suffer. I think it would've been more cruel to let him walk on down here. He adored this Clan. He gave up so much for it, but in the end, we're all powerless to battle our fates." Kestrelstar died so young though. He was so young. The massive tom sighed again. "StarClan doesn't take lives. They give lives, and they welcome souls. Death takes lives, it's not StarClan who kills. Death takes lives, the ground takes the bodies, and StarClan bring the soul to paradise." He looked over at first Wrenpaw and the Otterstorm, hoping they understood the words this old tom uttered.

[Kunaisoul]

{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She looked into the leaders den, and leapt up to the leader's den, and then emerged soon with a sunflower. The one she had given to kestrelstar.. She.. set it next to him. "I- I can't.. I.." She teared up. "Please.. Just.. dont.." She set the sunflower in between his paws. And then she looked at Sparrowskip. "I gave this to him a little while ago.. and.. Could you bury this with him?" She asked.

RiztheHuntress marshall

[endlessskies]

| QueenOtter flopsy |

As Otterstorm raised her teary face to Blizzardwind, his face softened a bit. Everyone was hurting. Why? Because this cat, this sodden corpse of a body depleted of its soul, brought them back. Yeah, he had a rough start but he fixed it, he was doing so much better. And he died. He was dead and now RiverClan had to fling it's trust blindly at their newly announced deputy. He blinked kindly to her, the fresh shock and horror and grief curbing his usual gruff exterior. Otterstorm was struggling with the Clan's ancestors, wrestling with the same theory that Blizzardwind had been battling for moons, for seasons. More so this last couple moons. Fake it, Blizzardwind. Fake it. Fake your unshakable faith in those starry creatures so that this young molly will feel reassured.

But then he saw another pained cat, an apprentice this time, and reached out his tail and tapped the younger cat. "Wrenpaw, would you like to sit with us?" Wrenpaw needed to hear what he was going to say, too.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he murmured, "StarClan knew how much he hurt. They watched him suffer. I think it would've been more cruel to let him walk on down here. He adored this Clan. He gave up so much for it, but in the end, we're all powerless to battle our fates." Kestrelstar died so young though. He was so young. The massive tom sighed again. "StarClan doesn't take lives. They give lives, and they welcome souls. Death takes lives, it's not StarClan who kills. Death takes lives, the ground takes the bodies, and StarClan bring the soul to paradise." He looked over at first Wrenpaw and the Otterstorm, hoping they understood the words this old tom uttered.

Otterstorm nodded quietly. 'Y-yes, but Kestrelstar...' She trailed off, staring at the limp grey body of the RiverClan leader. StarClan. What good are they if they can't protect our clan, our leader? They gave him nine lives, only to take away the few left all in one go. She sat up, alarmed. Isn't what she just thought something Dark Forest cats would think? Otterstorm gazed up at Sparrowskip. So, you, you are our new leader? Then lead us well, Sparrowskip, Sparrowstar.

[pxxylo]

https://i.ibb.co/QYNYXdL/5-C2-E017-D-80-FD-442-C-A766-3-A6-DEA6-AB08-D.png

Raccoonear

| she/her | masquerade | Memento Mori

Who did I just randomly embrace like I would my dead brother? For any other, it would’ve taken her mind a beat too long to associate their scent with a name, rank, and relationship, but for her best friend, it doesn’t and never will take her too long to remember who this cat is; Snowleap. Despite the fact that any form of an awkward wall between the two had been broken on that day they took out any and all anger on that poor, beaten up tree trunk, she still felt the horrible, sinking embarrassment weighing down into her like she’d swallowed a rock. However, as tears welled over her bi-colored eyes, she still felt the tugging urge to run, go back to the tree trunk, and stay there. At that trunk, there was nothing happening. It’s just you and the stump. No drama, no death, no bloodshed. It’s a nice place.

As Snowleap gently licked the gray molly between the ears, she calmed down a bit. That’s one good thing. There are people who don’t hate her, it’s not like anybody does, but times like this can make one feel like the whole of the universe is going against you. She couldn’t help but crack even the slightest smile as the dark-furred Shield lowered his head atop hers, something that lightened her dark mood. Physical affection is something that can truthfully, make anyone at least a little bit happier, right? She looked up at the irritable deputy as he screamed at Cloverpaw as the young apprentice whined and yowled on about being a popular and famous she-cat that everyone loves, demanding to speak with a dead man. She stared, her gaze washing over the cats. Not a dry eye in the crowd.

Continuing to listen to Sparrowskip yowl, he heard amidst the sorrowful sobs and angered screams, Snowleap be called forward to rid the mourning crowd of the screeching Cloverpaw. She watched him walk over, bring the annoyed apprentice to their set den with a stern look upon his face. It’s for their best, I suppose. They should learn to give people their time to mourn, it was our clan leader after all.

However, Raccoonear was now left to speak with Lynxfall. Truthfully, she’d been wanting to get a word in with them for a while, seeing that they were her best friend’s mate. No, she hadn’t been officially informed that the two were together, but two cats that are just friends look one way. Mates, they look a completely different way when they are tighter, it’s a definable difference in her eyes. It brought her everlasting joy to see them together, they looked like an amazing little family with Lynxfall, Shadepaw, and Snowleap. While she sort of considered Snowleap as a sort of brother nowadays, she still deeply respected, and wanted to meet Lynxfall.

“Hello,” She mewed in a soft tone, turning to look at the orange cat beside her. “I’m Raccoonear, we’ve never met or anything, but I’m a friend to Snowleap, and a friend of his is a friend of mine,” She chuckled at the slightest, casting Lynxfall a warm smile. Her tears had dried already, and like many others, she’d continue her mourning elsewhere, but for now, she just wanted to meet the orange tabby before her, someone she hoped to become just as close friends with as she already was with Snowleap.

[alaskaa]

Hazelstorm

She drew back as Ploverkit seemed shocked at the fact that you could just stop existing entirely. Hazelstorm was more than relieved when Daystripe came and took thekit away. The tabby didn't know how to treat kits, let alone care for one. That was why she never wanted to have kits anyway. Lifting her green gaze to Sparrowskip, Hazelstorm felt a glowing curiousity in her. How did Kestrelstar die in the first place? Didn't he have multiple lives left or something?

She mused over this, coming up with plenty of theories in her head until the deputy's voice grabbed her attention. Hazelstorm sealed her lips shut, hoping she could control herself for the worst.

It was like that day she'd lost her parents all over again. She scratchedat the ground with sheathed claws. She really attracted misfortune didn't she? A dreamcatcher for all those unlucky cats. For them, she was the solution.

Kestrelstar apparently had drowned. Over, and over again, after falling off a cliff at Lionsbeach. Vaguely Hazelstorm remembered some outing with Twilightshimmer there, and recalling the she-cat's statement of her being deputy, the mackarel tabby wondered if she had attended the meeting or not.

RiverClan was different from the other Clans because they were trained to swim. The water gave them life and activities to do. How could it be such a traitor to the Clan that treated it with the most respect? She bit her lip, fighting back the anger and misery that swelled up inside her. Life was awful, and Kestrelstar's fate was too.

At least Cloverpaw had been dealt with and Hazelstorm glanced up, respect kindling in her expression. At least, Sparrowskip didn't seem like a failure yet. The tabby tipped her head downwards, eyelids dropping to hide green orbs, and did what she always did when things went wrong. Pray to StarClan and hope for the best.

"May StarClan light your path, Kestrelstar," she murmurred softly, sighing heavily as her whiskers drooped, no positive energy in the she-cat anymore for today.

[corgigirl]

~Wolfsong~

Wrapping her tail around her apprentice, the silver she-cat paused the grooming of her sister's ears and turned her blue gaze on Pebblepaw. She didn't have any words, so instead she gave the young cat a lick on the forehead. It was all surreal, to think that Kestrelstar, a leader who she had come to respect deeply, was gone. She turned her muzzle back to look at the pelt of the fallen leader, watching his still form for a moment before she managed to find her voice. "I'd like to sit vigil with you after the meeting, Nightleap," she said softly. "Would you join us, Pebblepaw?" she asked, leaning slightly against the smaller she-cat.



~Moonfrost~

As she saw the tom begin to turn away, Moonfrost reached out with a paw, placing it on his shoulder.
Please don't leave. She needs you too.
She couldn't use words to convince him to stay, so she hoped that he would understand. Cloudpaw only had the two of them now. The black tabby she-cat would gladly fill the role of mother, but she couldn't take up the hole that Kestrelstar had left. She wasn't able to.
Help me help her. Please.
She looked down at the little apprentice and smiled softly before looking back at Blizzardsky. She was not at all practiced with forming her muzzle into words, having no ability to use them anyway, but she gave her very best attempt to mouth the word "stay."

[ masquerade for the Cloudpaw mention and presence ]
“Yes, I’ll stay.” She nodded. She briefly pressed her head to the fallen leader’s.

[TheWhiteWolf]

https://i.ibb.co/QYNYXdL/5-C2-E017-D-80-FD-442-C-A766-3-A6-DEA6-AB08-D.png

Raccoonear

| she/her | masquerade | Memento Mori

Who did I just randomly embrace like I would my dead brother? For any other, it would’ve taken her mind a beat too long to associate their scent with a name, rank, and relationship, but for her best friend, it doesn’t and never will take her too long to remember who this cat is; Snowleap. Despite the fact that any form of an awkward wall between the two had been broken on that day they took out any and all anger on that poor, beaten up tree trunk, she still felt the horrible, sinking embarrassment weighing down into her like she’d swallowed a rock. However, as tears welled over her bi-colored eyes, she still felt the tugging urge to run, go back to the tree trunk, and stay there. At that trunk, there was nothing happening. It’s just you and the stump. No drama, no death, no bloodshed. It’s a nice place.

As Snowleap gently licked the gray molly between the ears, she calmed down a bit. That’s one good thing. There are people who don’t hate her, it’s not like anybody does, but times like this can make one feel like the whole of the universe is going against you. She couldn’t help but crack even the slightest smile as the dark-furred Shield lowered his head atop hers, something that lightened her dark mood. Physical affection is something that can truthfully, make anyone at least a little bit happier, right? She looked up at the irritable deputy as he screamed at Cloverpaw as the young apprentice whined and yowled on about being a popular and famous she-cat that everyone loves, demanding to speak with a dead man. She stared, her gaze washing over the cats. Not a dry eye in the crowd.

Continuing to listen to Sparrowskip yowl, he heard amidst the sorrowful sobs and angered screams, Snowleap be called forward to rid the mourning crowd of the screeching Cloverpaw. She watched him walk over, bring the annoyed apprentice to their set den with a stern look upon his face. It’s for their best, I suppose. They should learn to give people their time to mourn, it was our clan leader after all.

However, Raccoonear was now left to speak with Lynxfall. Truthfully, she’d been wanting to get a word in with them for a while, seeing that they were her best friend’s mate. No, she hadn’t been officially informed that the two were together, but two cats that are just friends look one way. Mates, they look a completely different way when they are tighter, it’s a definable difference in her eyes. It brought her everlasting joy to see them together, they looked like an amazing little family with Lynxfall, Shadepaw, and Snowleap. While she sort of considered Snowleap as a sort of brother nowadays, she still deeply respected, and wanted to meet Lynxfall.

“Hello,” She mewed in a soft tone, turning to look at the orange cat beside her. “I’m Raccoonear, we’ve never met or anything, but I’m a friend to Snowleap, and a friend of his is a friend of mine,” She chuckled at the slightest, casting Lynxfall a warm smile. Her tears had dried already, and like many others, she’d continue her mourning elsewhere, but for now, she just wanted to meet the orange tabby before her, someone she hoped to become just as close friends with as she already was with Snowleap.

❦ Lynxfall (he/they) ❦

❥ Glancing over at the sight of another cat being comforted by Snowleap, it made a small smile form on his face. Snowleap was a loving cat deep down, and that’s why he fell for him. Thinking to himself for a moment, he realized that this must be a friend of his. Ears flicking when he heard her speak, he also greeted her with a warm, tender smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Racoonear. I’ve heard a little bit about you, you’re very important to Snowleap, and a friend of his is a friend of mine as well.” He purred gently. The mist from his eyes didn’t once disappear, but he felt glad that there was a slight change of atmosphere. There was time to mourn alone later, right now though he wanted to get to know some clan mates. He was excited to make a new friend.

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ Memento Mori | door~ ]

➢ The tall oriental longhair gave a curt sigh as he finally walked out of the apprentice’s den, hoping that Cloverpaw would stay put now. His icy blue-hued gaze flickered over towards Raccoonear and Lynxfall, who were engaging in a lighthearted conversation. This made a small smile come to his expression. Despite the situation, Snowleap was happy to see his best friend and mate becoming friends. Both the gray-furred shecat and the orange-furred tomcat were special to him, there was no doubt about it. Without further ado, the Riverclan shield padded over to the two of them to continue mourning and being with his family. “It’s nice to see you two talking,” Snowleap said with a warm purr, giving Lynxfall’s muzzle an affectionate lick before sitting down comfortably between them again (though not enough where they couldn’t still see one another and continue their conversation, of course). “I wish it could’ve been at a better time, but that’s okay, we’re all here together and that’s what is important. That’s what Kestrelstar would’ve wanted.” Or at least, that’s what Snowleap would like to think. He knew the clan leader had a distaste for Shadowclan cats, but still, he saw something different in both Lynxfall and Shadepaw. The long-furred shield curled his tail around his mate and looked towards the clan leader’s body once again. He wanted to say something, but knew that he should wait until the vigil in the Sleepy Thicket. The icy blue-eyed tomcat hoped that everything would work out.

[TheWhiteWolf]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ Memento Mori | door~ ]

➢ The tall oriental longhair gave a curt sigh as he finally walked out of the apprentice’s den, hoping that Cloverpaw would stay put now. His icy blue-hued gaze flickered over towards Raccoonear and Lynxfall, who were engaging in a lighthearted conversation. This made a small smile come to his expression. Despite the situation, Snowleap was happy to see his best friend and mate becoming friends. Both the gray-furred shecat and the orange-furred tomcat were special to him, there was no doubt about it. Without further ado, the Riverclan shield padded over to the two of them to continue mourning and being with his family. “It’s nice to see you two talking,” Snowleap said with a warm purr, giving Lynxfall’s muzzle an affectionate lick before sitting down comfortably between them again (though not enough where they couldn’t still see one another and continue their conversation, of course). “I wish it could’ve been at a better time, but that’s okay, we’re all here together and that’s what is important. That’s what Kestrelstar would’ve wanted.” Or at least, that’s what Snowleap would like to think. He knew the clan leader had a distaste for Shadowclan cats, but still, he saw something different in both Lynxfall and Shadepaw. The long-furred shield curled his tail around his mate and looked towards the clan leader’s body once again. He wanted to say something, but knew that he should wait until the vigil in the Sleepy Thicket. The icy blue-eyed tomcat hoped that everything would work out.

❦ Lynxfall (he/they) ❦

❥ Lynxfall nodded and glanced over at Shadepaw with a smile. “We both have Kestrel to thank for everything. Though we haven’t been here long, I appreciate everything he’s done for us. I hope he’s able to rest well up in StarClan. Thank you, Kestrelstar. For everything.” He finished the last part looking up at the sky, hoping that his words would be carried by the wind. Glancing over at Snowleap and Racconear, a tired smile made a way to their face. “I really am happy that we could all be here together.”

❣︎ Shadepaw (she/her) ❣︎

❥ Shadepaw listened in quietly and looked up at the stars as Lynxfall did. Smiling at the other cats before her, she felt a little in lighter spirits as everything went on, but another part of her felt a deep worry for Cloudpaw. Kestrelstar was her mentor, right? Maybe she could find a way to comfort her during these trying times.

(Sorry for adding a Shadepaw reaction, I just want to make sure she’s used so she doesn’t come up as missing.)

[marshy]

As Sparrowskip watched the clan mourn the loss of their leader, he noticed Icekit coming up to ask him a question. He had spoken to this kit before, about rouges and loners. She certainly seemed like a curious kit, it made him remember the curiosity he had as a kit, despite his shyness. He sighed, the kit was almost an apprentice but.. still wasn't there yet. As much as he wanted to let Icekit come, he really didn't want the vigil to become a kitsitting event. "Icekit, stay here at camp with Daystripe. Y-you can ask a warrior or apprentice to explain what happened to you afterwards." Sparrowskip said sorrowfully, he gave a nod to Otterfluff [ tulle ] to take the kit back to the nursery.
Sparrowskip spoke up a final time before the vigil would be held. "After the vigil, I will be heading to Starcave.. alone. I know my way there from my medicine cat days and.. I guess we'll see what happens." Sparrowskip wasn't quite sure what he was suppose to do when he reached the starcave, but surely it would come to him... hopefully.
"This meeting is dismissed, anyone older than 6 moons is welcome to come to the sleepy thicket to mourn Kestrelstar's death." With that, Sparrowskip hopped down from the streamstone, it was a short meeting yes but... Sparrowskip wasn't planning to do ceremonies after that bomb was dropped. Sparrowskip tried to hold back tears as he began to bring Kestrelstar's body to the sleepy thicket.

[ Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Angelique Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Luminous Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 @SourCream fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Slushie Cherry Blossom Brightlight ]

[corgigirl]

Pebblepaw decided she would go to the vigil. It was the least she could do to honor their leader and comfort other cats.

[stardust.]

Oaksong decided to go to the vigil, it would be a good way to say goodbye to Kestrelstar

[ThePiffle]

-Horsetail-


The golden tom watched the other cats spiral into grief, though he felt the same as many, he did not panic. He didn't even know Kestrelstar that well, but again, he was his leader, and he supposed it was respectful to go to the vigil. Walking slowly up to Sparrowskip he meowed calmly, "Stay safe, and I'm sorry for your loss." Dipping his head in respect he walked back and sat down alone. It was the least he could do. It must have been horrific to see Kestrelstar's life repeatedly ripped away.


(Sorry for the short post.)

[taillow]

Otterfluff
As Sparrowskip gave him a nod, Otterfluff returned it slowly before shifting his focus towards Icekit. "You heard him," he said gently, turning to attempt to usher the kit back towards the nursery. "I do understand that you're close to being an apprentice, but it's better for now if all of the kits are in one area." While the fluffy brown tom would have allowed the older kit to join the vigil, he understood Sparrowskip's reasoning for keeping him here. "Go ahead and find Daystripe, I'm sure she's got a fun game for you all. If you would like, I could say a few words on your behalf at Kestrelstar's vigil." Talking was not something that was welcome during times such as this, but Otterfluff knew that this had to be an exception for that.

Patiently, he awaited to see if the kit would have any words he wished to be delivered before Otterfluff would head off to the thicket.

[ Hopeless ]

[GoldenDays]

~Frozen’paw~

Frozen’paw stood to leave for the sleepy thicket, while he hadn’t been close to the leader, Kestrel’Star was the only leader he had ever known. He felt it was the least he could do since Kestrel’Star had always been ready to defend riverclan and by extension, themself.
“I can’t believe Kestrel’Stars’ dead.” he muttered. This was change, Frozen’paw didn’t like change. He had a million thoughts raving through his head but each one stopped about two words in before it was drowned out by another.
This would take a long time to process.

[Rizo]

As Sparrowskip watched the clan mourn the loss of their leader, he noticed Icekit coming up to ask him a question. He had spoken to this kit before, about rouges and loners. She certainly seemed like a curious kit, it made him remember the curiosity he had as a kit, despite his shyness. He sighed, the kit was almost an apprentice but.. still wasn't there yet. As much as he wanted to let Icekit come, he really didn't want the vigil to become a kitsitting event. "Icekit, stay here at camp with Daystripe. Y-you can ask a warrior or apprentice to explain what happened to you afterwards." Sparrowskip said sorrowfully, he gave a nod to Otterfluff [ tulle ] to take the kit back to the nursery.
Sparrowskip spoke up a final time before the vigil would be held. "After the vigil, I will be heading to Starcave.. alone. I know my way there from my medicine cat days and.. I guess we'll see what happens." Sparrowskip wasn't quite sure what he was suppose to do when he reached the starcave, but surely it would come to him... hopefully.
"This meeting is dismissed, anyone older than 6 moons is welcome to come to the sleepy thicket to mourn Kestrelstar's death." With that, Sparrowskip hopped down from the streamstone, it was a short meeting yes but... Sparrowskip wasn't planning to do ceremonies after that bomb was dropped. Sparrowskip tried to hold back tears as he began to bring Kestrelstar's body to the sleepy thicket.

[ Rani Nixey implimm x ghostie Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Starfall error Pheasantflight DeltaDace poppy. Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris NinjaBloss Parabatai Cherryfalls tulle RiztheHuntress door~ Ravensong ~Fierce~ Angelique Carmela sid @Epsilon-11 Ambermoon Zesty Mango littlelove Otterstorm QueenOtter @lucid Luminous Memento Mori Ghost of Red ruebar charm Quackers Winterberrycat BeeDee Jaxson Moon669 @SourCream fluffycheetahs WinterMara InsertCoolNameHere Jae corgigirl GoldenDays tye Hawkk Sweetie Kunaiskrill WhitesilverQueen Wintermist flopsy feather lily Ivory. ~Gale~ Naiad Hopeless CloudDOuG Zeus Pine'Paw Spiderleaf sid Firebender Slushie Cherry Blossom Brightlight ]

~Wolfsong~

Stepping forward as Sparrowskip began to lift Kestrelstar's body, she dipped her head to the new leader in respect. "Please, allow me to help you carry him," she stated, taking a moment to give Nightleap and Pebblepaw each a lick on the head.

[ Kunaiskrill corgigirl For the Nightleap and Pebblepaw mentions ]

[Captain]

❄ Snowleap (he/them) ❄ [ Memento Mori | door~ ]

➢ The tall dark-furred shield nodded to the orange tomcat’s words, a warm smile still as his expression. Hearing Sparrowskip’s voice once more, Snowleap’s ears twitched and he turned his head towards the golden tabby. The vigil was starting to commence and soon, the deputy would travel to the Starcave to become the next leader of Riverclan. “Come, let’s follow everyone to the thicket,” The oriental longhair meowed quietly to Raccoonear, Lynxfall and Shadepaw. With that being said, Snowleap rose to his paws and followed after Sparrowskip as Kestrelstar’s body was brought to his final resting place. He remembered the last time he had been to the thicket for a burial, which had been for Talonkit. If you had told the tomcat that the next vigil they’d be a part of was for Kestrelstar back then, they probably would not believe you. The sky was nothing more than broken clouds as Snowleap walked along in utter silence with the rest of his clanmates, his head low and his bushy tail swishing.

---

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ Zesty Mango | RiztheHuntress ]

➢ The small Riverclan shecat stayed tucked away against Moonfrost, not knowing what to think or what to do in this miserable moment of loss. It all felt like some awful dream that she couldn’t wake up from. However, Sparrowskip’s words soon caused Cloudpaw to look up, hearing the golden-furred deputy tell everyone that they’d now be traveling to the thicket for Kestrelstar’s vigil. “I-I want to g-g-go too, can y-you come with m-me?” She mewed, looking up at Moonfrost with light blue-eyes. Carefully, the young fluffy molly stood up, though her legs felt wobbly and weak, like her body didn’t want to move after feeling so terrible. Cloudpaw refused to miss her beloved mentor’s burial though, no matter what. She looked over at Blizzardsky, who had moved away. “C-Can you c-c-come too?” The youth asked, wanting both Blizzardsky and Moonfrost to be by her side when she said goodbye to Kestrelstar for the last time. Seeing that the procession of cats were already heading out and Sparrowskip was transporting the clan leader’s body to the thicket, Cloudpaw quickly dashed after them, almost tripping in the process. She wanted to be close to Kestrelstar’s body for as long as she could until he was put to rest forever. The small apprentice had little time to accept that she would never see his face after today.

[pxxylo]

https://i.ibb.co/QYNYXdL/5-C2-E017-D-80-FD-442-C-A766-3-A6-DEA6-AB08-D.png

Raccoonear

she/her | masquerade | Memento Mori

A wave of relief washed over her as Lynxfall returned the act of a smile. Situations like this, where you’re meeting somebody new, it’s just way too stressful for how simple it is. Say hello, smile, and from there it’s the living decency of the other cat to return the kindness. However, if many others had a like mind to Raccoonear, they overthink. It made her happy to hear another speak in such a kind tone, all she’d heard up to this point was an angered Sparrowskip shouting at an ever madder Cloverpaw, or maybe somebody sobbing their eyes out, just negative connotation everywhere, so a light shift in atmosphere was definitely something that brought a smile to her face.

As Snowleap returned and spoke his word, Raccoonear gave a slight nod, allowing her gaze to lift itself, resting upon the sky. “I think is peak for everyone when I say- now wasn’t a good time, but not anytime would be been much better than this.” She mutters, floppy ears angled backwards and laying flat down the back of her head due to her chin being facing up. Lowering her head, Raccoonear sat silent as she listened to what everyone was saying, trying to process the words of Lynxfall, Shadepaw, Snowleap, and Sparrowskip all at the same time. Kestrelstar, death, vigil, friends, together, and some other snippets of their sentences is all she could patch together.

Oh, right! Vigil. She quickly stood, and prepared herself to zone out any other words for the walk there, but of course started too early with her meaningless spacing out and tuning out any other cat’s words, and did not hear Snowleap call for the two to follow along, however she still did so, as it was what she was going to do either way, whether she was asked if it or not. With that she trailed behind Snowleap and Lynxfall as they walked forward, beginning to space out.

After this, I’m going to the trunk, I’m gonna stay there for the night. As thoughts of what she would do flooded her mind, she continued to mindlessly walk like a robot, not pausing to listen to another cat’s words or comments, just walking along, thinking things through.

[Kunaisoul]

~Wolfsong~

Stepping forward as Sparrowskip began to lift Kestrelstar's body, she dipped her head to the new leader in respect. "Please, allow me to help you carry him," she stated, taking a moment to give Nightleap and Pebblepaw each a lick on the head.

[ Kunaiskrill corgigirl For the Nightleap and Pebblepaw mentions ]
{Nightleap of RiverClan}

She sighed and helped

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniafire<--

The warrior looked on. She wnated to go sit vigil, but she would probably just end up breaking down. She glanced at the sky as if to see the leader. He'd understand right? Of course! He had been amazing and she was heartbroken he was gone. Petuniafire stood up, tail and ears down before padding into the warriors den. She curled up tightly and tried her best to fall asleep.

[TheWhiteWolf]

❦ Lynxfall (he/they) ❦

❥ Listening to the words of Ketrelstar’s vigil, Lynxfall rose to his paws and flicked his tail at Shadepaw. “Come on, hon. We have to go.” He said in a somber tone as he watched Shadepaw stand. Lynxfall trailed behind everyone, feeling like he didn’t deserve getting any closer since they hadn’t been there long. Finding Snowleap in the crowd, he felt a pain in his heart to see his mate so saddened. He understood though, Snowleap and Kestrelstar seemed to be friends, and Snow was his shield. A strong duty it was. Looking at the sky as they walked, the thought a silent prayer to Kestrelstar. ‘Thank you sir, for everything. I owe you everything. If I could’ve done something to stop this, I… I would have. You were the one who helped me be with my family. To find a new home. May you Rest In Peace in StarClan.’ They thought as tears began to stream down his face.

❣︎ Shadepaw (she/her) ❣︎

❥ Standing up after Lynxfall spoke to her, she walked brushed up against his side in a comforting gesture. Tears began to fall as she stayed by her father’s side. She combed the crowd to see her Clanmates in such pain, making her heart sink. She thought of everyone who had known Kestrelstar personally, of his friends, his family, his loved ones. She grieved for all of them. She let out a few sniffles as tears continued to stream down her fluffy face. ‘Kestrel? I hope you’re resting well, sir. Thank you for giving us a home. I wish I could’ve became a warrior you would’ve been proud of. I’ll miss seeing you call meetings. I’ll miss just seeing you in general.’ She thought to herself as they continued their way to the thicket with only the sound of her soft sniffles filling the air.

[Silverfur & Co]

Snowstripe and Featherspirit nodded they were both sad that he had died but followed.

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~
tulle

He had stood still, waiting, but when Sparrowskip told him to stay in camp, with the queen no less, he flinched slightly. To add insult to injury, the golden tom said that Icektit could ask an apprentice or warrior what had happened. Great. Did they think he was too weak-hearted to understand or deal with death? Or too young and childish to properly say goodbye to someone?

His attention we claimed by another voice as Otterfluff, a cat who had helped with the kits a little and had now padded up behind Icekit, to escort in away no doubt. But the brown warrior offered to bring a message of Icekit's to the vigil and say to Kestrelstar's body. Usually he would have been a little glad that he almost looked like an apprentice already, but his shoulders lowered in defeat. "Just... Tell him I would have been honored to serve under him..." He knew Kestrelstar would have let him come to the vigil since kits had been allowed there when burring Talonkit's body. Now they were stuck with Sparrowskip instead.

For once he did not bother with listening to whatever more the golden tabby had to say, Icekit turned and saunter towards the nursery. He wasn't interested in any of the 'fun games' Daystripe had planned.

[elswhere]

Kitepaw - @/closed

This was, horrid. He dug his claws in the earth as his blue gaze followed Sparrowskip carefully taking Kestrelstar's lifeless body out of camp. Why? Why time after time again did RiverClan have to have their leader die after just a couple of moons!? Kitepaw couldn't rack it into his brain that StarClan would let such a thing happen to a great leader! A dusty brown paw reached up to wipe away at the corner of his eye. He had to be strong, for Sparrowskip.

Kitepaw forced himself up onto his paws and to follow the older cats to mourn and bury Kestrelstar. He could feel the depression and sadness in the air, it was so thick Kitepaw could probably scratch it with his claws.

[Glitch_Candle]

Mintleaf walked up to the highstone. The deputy was going to ramble on about something. Great. Just what we needed.

[Spartan-117]

(Open)

Dimshard's heart drops to the ground when he sees the leader's body. He lets out a hiss, trying to seem emotionless, but he can't. Kestrelstar was an amazing leader for RiverClan, he didn't deserve to die.

Streamkit gasps, running up to the dead leader. "K-Kestrelstar? W-w-wake up!" He mews softly, looking at the leader, tears filling his eyes.

Rooted to the ground, Ravenclaw doesn't move until they hear the words of a vigil. They walk toward Kestrelstar's body and they stand there, looking at the dead leader. 'You have been the best leader. It was an honor to serve under you.' They think to themself and walks moves the small kit away from Kestrelstar. "Not now, Streamkit, you must go." They mew, nuzzling the kit toward the nursery.
'So, Kestrelstar had died. Of course. Sadly, this means that Sparrowskip is going to be the new leader. Well... Let's just hope that he doesn't ruin RiverClan.' The wiry blue-grey cat thinks to themself.

[flopsy]

The little wren listened to the old tom's words and thought about what he had said. Wrenpaw had never really been taught much about Starclan from her loner mother but she knew who they were and what they did. Right now it was hard to think that Starclan did anything but welcome souls, but the message was clear and she understood. Sure every cat knew that death would come and collect them eventually, for that was the way of life, but there was something comforting knowing that you'll be greeted not with darkness but with Starclan. The apprentice nodded and gave a strained smile.

poppy. no need to respond

[TanaDraws]

Rainwing wandered out of the warriors den, hearing all the commotion. She yawned, blinking open her eyes. She then saw Kestrelstar’s lifeless body. She gasped in anger. “What happened..” she muttered.

[Riverfly]

(I'm not sure if I should be posting this late into the thing, but I will.)


Flypaw had only just heard the commotion outside the den, and she groggily blinked sleep from her eyes. All tiredness was gone as soon as she saw what lay outside. "No... please! Oh Starclan why!" She felt like crawling down into a bottomless bit and burying herself to grieve. In the center of the clearing lay her amazing, brave, strong leader. H-he's sleeping, he must be! She thought to herself. But she knew he wasn't. He was dead. Her limbs crumpled beneath her, and she fell to the floor, sobbing. (Please, feel free to interact with Flypaw in any way, bad or good!)

[Carmela]

Dead. She couldn't believe it. Just like that. Gone. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago he was holding his own meeting? It felt wrong. Bad. Like a mouse that was left out too long. Feeling disgust crawl through her fur, Honeystream couldn't help but let her lip curl into a snarl. How could he have drowned that many times? Shaking the thought away with a brisk body shake, the orange feline stood to go to the vigil.

Still, ants had to have been in her fur. How could StarClan allow that? Did he truly just lose them all or did something darker happen?

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* His eyes filled up with tears. He couldn't believe Kestrelstar was dead. He wouldn't go to the vigil. He didn't know the great leader that well so he wouldn't go. He got up and started to slowly pad out of camp. *
___________________________________

(( OPEN to anyone who wants to comfort him... ))

[TanaDraws]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* His eyes filled up with tears. He couldn't believe Kestrelstar was dead. He wouldn't go to the vigil. He didn't know the great leader that well so he wouldn't go. He got up and started to slowly pad out of camp. *
___________________________________

(( OPEN to anyone who wants to comfort him... ))
Rainwing padded up to him, swishing her tail. “Hey, Stoneclaw? I’m sorry you’re not feeling great. If you want, we could talk about it, or do something that might distract you,” she said, not knowing what to say.

[Red'fur]

(( Stoneclaw ))

* He looked up *
" H-huh oh... hey... "
____________________
TanaDraws

[sol.]

Lilycreek sat placidly on a small rock, swishing her tail back and forth. The gears in her mind turned, dumb with disbelief. Dead? Kestrelstar, dead? She couldn't, wouldn't believe it. She had left for what? A week or two?


---

"When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time — the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers."
— John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

[marshy]

As Skystar padded back into camp, he felt a sense of relief. He had actually done it.. gotten his lives and was about to announce himself as the new leader of RiverClan. It was a lot for him to handle, and he wasn't quite sure if he had it in him to handle it but he certainly was going to try.
"All cats old enough to swim, gather under Streamstone for a clan meeting!"
Skystar still winced as he called out, he still felt this wasn't his right to call a meeting and that it was still Kestrelstar's but.. he had to do it now. Especially since he had gotten his lives.


[ Rani Nixey x ghostie NinjaBloss Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Parabatai poppy. Kunaiskrill Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris tulle RiztheHuntress door~ TheNyanCatMinecart Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela
sid -Cherrypaw- Zesty Mango littlelove QueenOtter puffball InsertCoolNameHere falling starry. elysian Quackers Memento Mori Ghost of Red ~StinkyStinky tye Angelique Silverdream Don't Panic ~Silver~ wnder TanaDraws Silverstreak_10 Rippleshade BirdieChirp Glacial cerberuscattos Slushie wildfirelion LightningArts Ode Atticus starry. WinterMara Jae GoldenDays Hawkk Sweetie Tuftdrawsanddoodles R0WAN WhitesilverQueen flopsy Skycloud padrojamgh Naiad sid dark seeker Pine’paw BeeDee ]

[duckie]

FRECKLECRY
__________


At Skystar's call, Frecklecry made her way over to the Streamstone. Recent events made it clear what this meeting was going to be about and despite the heaviness that hung over many of the hearts of RiverClan, Frecklecry was hopeful for where their new leader would take them.

[Ian]

Shimmerbird hurried over to the Streamstone as the meeting words rang out. She was anxious to hear what Sparrowskip--Sparrowstar now she assumed--had to say. Hopefully everything had gone well at the Starcave and life would start getting back to normal even if the hole that Kestrelstar left would not heal for a long while.

[taillow]

Otterfluff
And there he was. Blue eyes turned away from his grooming momentarily to rest on Sparrowskip - or who he assumed now was Sparrowstar - as the golden tabby cat ascended to the top of the Streamstone. A sudden feeling of calm swept over him while Otterfluff rose to his paws, brown tail sweeping the sandy clearing below him. His paws began to make their way over to the gathering cats, attention still resting on RiverClan's new leader. Sharp blue eyes caught the way the new leader winced, leading Otterfluff to try to imagine the amount of stress he had to be under. Continuing on the strength that flowed through RiverClan was no easy feat, but he had faith in not only the new leader but the Clanmates around him.

Not sure if it would be lost amongst the faces of the crowd, Otterfluff let an encouraging smile flourish across his maw, a sparkle of reassurance glinting in his gaze as he attempted to catch the tom's gaze. His tail came to wrap around his paws as he sat upright, chin lifted and ears moved forward to listen to the first meeting called by RiverClan's new leader.

[ open! ]

[poppy]

| both open :heartbounce: | tulle for mention of otter |

Birdpaw looked up as Sparrow padded over to Kes's rock. It made her sad to see him up there instead of her buddy, but at least now things could be normal. Normal as they could be without the bestest buddy she had ever had. Looking over, she saw Otterfluff looking at the cats gathering with a nice smile, and tried to smile back in return. That was nice of him!

-----

At the new leader's call, Blizzardwind stood from where he lay, and walked slowly and tediously over to where cat's gathered. It was a little soon, but maybe Sparrowstar(right?) had already picked a deputy. He had a couple ideas for good candidates, but his opinion hardly mattered.

[dino.]

// open

>Loonkit<
Loonkit turned her head to blink in the direction of the Streamstone as Sparrowskip's summons rang out across the clearing, and stood up from grooming herself to wander over and take a seat.

[JusticeRabbit]

~Spottedspirit, Daystripe~
The two were having a conversation, before they heard the leader call out. The two sat near the front, smiling and bowing their head down to the new leader, and then lifting their head back up, smiling up at Skystar.

[Silverfur & Co]

Snowstripe and Featherspirit came out and was quiet as they sat in the meeting. Featherspirit wandered where greyshell was.

[LightningArts]

Brightstorm
Brightstorm lifted her head from lazing in the sun, she was close enough to see what was going on, and she was comfortable laying where she was, but she couldn't help the slight pain in her heart losing a leader would be hard on anyone.

[BirdieChirp]

As Skystar padded back into camp, he felt a sense of relief. He had actually done it.. gotten his lives and was about to announce himself as the new leader of RiverClan. It was a lot for him to handle, and he wasn't quite sure if he had it in him to handle it but he certainly was going to try.
"All cats old enough to swim, gather under Streamstone for a clan meeting!"
Skystar still winced as he called out, he still felt this wasn't his right to call a meeting and that it was still Kestrelstar's but.. he had to do it now. Especially since he had gotten his lives.


[ Rani Nixey x ghostie NinjaBloss Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Parabatai poppy. Kunaiskrill Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris tulle RiztheHuntress door~ TheNyanCatMinecart Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela
sid -Cherrypaw- Zesty Mango littlelove QueenOtter puffball InsertCoolNameHere falling starry. elysian Quackers Memento Mori Ghost of Red ~StinkyStinky tye Angelique Silverdream @don’t panic ~Silver~ wnder TanaDraws Silverstreak_10 Rippleshade BirdieChirp Glacial cerberuscattos Slushie wildfirelion @aurdino Lightingarts Ode Atticus starry. WinterMara Jae GoldenDays Hawkk Sweetie Tuftdrawsanddoodles R0WAN WhitesilverQueen flopsy Skycloud padrojamgh Naiad sid dark seeker Pine’paw BeeDee ]
SharkPaw looked up at the Streamstones. “Hmmm…Where’s SharkHeart?” She thought out loud

[ThePiffle]

-Horsetail-


Padding over to the Streamstone the maine coon tom dipped his head in respect at the newly crowned leader. It seemed odd, Kestrelstar had died so quickly, but his loyalty was to his leader, and his leader was now Skystar.

[Captain]

﹙ Snowleap | he/them | open for interaction﹚
⇢ The tall dark-furred shield had been in his usual corner of solitude, grooming his unkempt chest fur in sporadic, feverish licks. It seemed like despite the grim spectacle that had taken place several sunrises ago, there was still a haunting lingering taste of blood in his pelt. Or maybe Snowleap was just paranoid. Yeah, that was most likely it. However, his train of thought soon shifted as he caught the glimpse of a familiar golden-hued cat out of the corner of his view. His deep icy blue-hued eyes flickered up and over to the clan’s brand new leader as he entered camp after his trip to the Starcave. A warm smile slid onto the oriental longhair’s muzzle as a Riverclan meeting was called. There did not really need to be any questioning about what this one was about -- it was pretty obvious from the new leader’s appearance alone. Snowleap had to admit... It was weird hearing something that wasn’t Kestrelstar’s voice ringing throughout the clearing, but the long-furred shield refused to allow such a thing to dampen the mood. This was a new age for his clan and he would welcome it with open paws. Without further ado, Snowleap lifted himself to a standing position and padded swiftly over, his tail swishing behind him. Soon after that, the Riverclan tomcat sat down and looked to Skystar with slight curiosity. For the first time in moons, the sun shone clearly over the camp's open clearing. "How fitting for a day like today." The loyal shield thought, feeling the relaxing rays on his back. Oh, how Snowleap had missed the sunshine. It seemed almost symbolic.

[WhitesilverQueen]

As Skystar padded back into camp, he felt a sense of relief. He had actually done it.. gotten his lives and was about to announce himself as the new leader of RiverClan. It was a lot for him to handle, and he wasn't quite sure if he had it in him to handle it but he certainly was going to try.
"All cats old enough to swim, gather under Streamstone for a clan meeting!"
Skystar still winced as he called out, he still felt this wasn't his right to call a meeting and that it was still Kestrelstar's but.. he had to do it now. Especially since he had gotten his lives.


[ Rani Nixey x ghostie NinjaBloss Shade. masquerade Silverfur & Co Raven~ Parabatai poppy. Kunaiskrill Singing Jay Clock Dragonshifter Iris tulle RiztheHuntress door~ TheNyanCatMinecart Ravensong ~Fierce~ Carmela
sid -Cherrypaw- Zesty Mango littlelove QueenOtter puffball InsertCoolNameHere falling starry. elysian Quackers Memento Mori Ghost of Red ~StinkyStinky tye Angelique Silverdream Don't Panic ~Silver~ wnder TanaDraws Silverstreak_10 Rippleshade BirdieChirp Glacial cerberuscattos Slushie wildfirelion LightningArts Ode Atticus starry. WinterMara Jae GoldenDays Hawkk Sweetie Tuftdrawsanddoodles R0WAN WhitesilverQueen flopsy Skycloud padrojamgh Naiad sid dark seeker Pine’paw BeeDee ]
Spottedpaw walked quietly over. She hadn't talked much since Kestrelstar had died. She silently sat down and stared up at her leader.

[Clock Dragonshifter]

~Quietpaw~(OPEN)
The long-legged apprentice was extremely quiet as she padded through the camp, she had been headed to the apprentices to hide from the rest of the clan but quickly turned around gracefully hearing the new leader call the clan I meet. As she paded towards Skystar with her paw steps light and her silvery-white pelt shining brightly her eyes looked dull and lifeless though she sat near the front giving Skystar all of her attention. It was obvious what the meeting was about though she feared there would be more and she would be re-assigned to yet another mentor. She'd been through so many mentors and she couldn't wait to become a warrior maybe then she'd get an apprentice though she highly doubted her capabilities at least she'd be present.

[Orion]

|| Flickerpaw | Open, Rippleshade ||


Flickerpaw honestly had no idea how to feel about... recent events. Sad? Angry? Confused? All of those things and more? She'd withdrawn more than she normally did, throwing herself into training with vigorous—perhaps terrifying—dedication, sleeping only a few hours each night. Hunting kept Flicker's mind focused to a razor-sharp point; practicing their battle moves left them with no extra breath to cry; if the apprentice wasn't busy, she was actively seeking out chores to finish, jobs to take on, responsibilities to pile onto their shoulders—because anything felt better than grief.

Their eyes shone like fire as a call to gather rang out over the camp. Flickerpaw ceased the crouch she'd been working on with jarring swiftness, launching herself into a brisk trot to find a decent spot by the streamstone. Though her lungs heaved with exertion, she attempted to calm herself enough to look presentable; a few short licks of her black pelt helped it lay smooth and presentable along her petite frame.

Sparrowstar gazed out at the clan with an expression that Flicker could only call... uncomfortable. The young molly swiveled her ears forward, tension strung throughout her muscles. Well? What was he waiting for? He stood as their leader now—it was his duty to offer a facade of strength, no matter what he might truly be feeling. He owed it to his clan, to all the cats whose hearts lay cracked and broken. If Flickerpaw could put on a brave face—if she could push all her emotions deep down where they'd drown in the river—then so could the one meant to guide RiverClan.