High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]
Dawnstar's tail swayed back and forth swiftly behind her calling attention to herself as she rose to her full height. "You've all been waiting long enough for a new deputy so I figured I'd get that over with first." Even though earning the rank of the deputy was supposed to be some grand honor, Dawnstar spoke as if it were another chore for her to handle. Dawnstar had already settled on the fact that she'd be going through a large number of deputies during her leadership. The only one that really mattered would be the one who take over ShadowClan after her reign. The rest were all placeholders, much like how Beastspark had been hers. Dawnstar would find a fitting deputy to take over leading ShadowClan one day, but her time for an heir wasn't here yet so she failed to see the point in getting all worked up about it.
"Cinderblaze will be ShadowClan's new deputy." Dawnstar never worked out what happened to Shadestorm, he just up and vanished leaving behind his clan and duties. The only good thing he had left behind was Ivysnake and considering Dawnstar had already claimed the young one as her own, it was unlikely Dawnstar would be contributed any of Ivysnake's future success to him. Shadestorm had slacked on his duty and become a waste of space, Cinderblaze was only replacing him because Dawnstar noticed that he wasn't a complete idiot and could probably handle patrols and the punishments that came with them. Beyond that, he was nothing special. Badgerscar might have made a decent deputy, but Dawnstar wasn't certain she was ready to put any of her kits as deputy. Especially when she had so little faith in those who held the rank.
Once the clan had quieted down, Dawnstar moved on to the new ranks for ShdowClan. "I've settled on the title of Enforcers for our new ranks." She had been thinking of a few others, but Enforcer was simple and intimidating enough without being over the top. "Enforcers will serve as ShadowClan's elite, I expect nothing but the best from them. They should be competent, strong, loyal, obedient, and inspirational. These cats will be ShadowClan's fiercest fighters and protectors. I'll be working the these chosen few to set up a separate training regiment for them to ensure they're in peak physical condition for any and every task I have them. However, I'm not interested in mindless idiots out for blood, ShadowClan has more than enough cocky warriors for that.
My Enforcers should be bright enough to aid me in decision-making regarding any future wars and battles and advise with any other counsel I may seek. They will need to work harder than any average warrior when it comes to our clan's apprentices. So many mentors have failed them and will continue to do so. Just as I have urged the apprentices to take their training into their own paws, I'll want the Enforcers to be the cats' apprentices can turn to for extra training when our warriors can't." Dawnstar was well aware that not all of her warriors sucked when it came to training and successful promoting apprentices into warriors, but Dawnstar felt like her clan could do so so much better.
"The Enforcers will sit a rank above warriors but no higher than that. Unless stated otherwise by me, Cinderblaze, or Elmshadow and Ivysnake, their orders should be followed by the rest of the clan. Any punishment issued must be approved by me. This authority that I'm willingly giving you does not come without a cost, if I find you abusing this power by anyone in this clan and you are found guilty, you're dead. I'll gut you like the worthless worm you are and leave your body for crowfood, regardless of whether your my kin or not. If I find you slacking whether it's on hunting, borders, or herb patrols, I'll let it slide the first time but after that, I'm going to demote you to the point where you'll have to go through your apprentice training all over from the beginning, and if you earn your warrior statues once again, don't expect to ever be considered as Enforcer in your miserable life-time." Dawnstar was extremely serious about this rank. These Enforcers would be aiding not just her but the entire clan as cats that helped lead ShadowClan to greatness alongside the high ranks.
"If I or the rest of the high ranks don't have a current task for an Enforcers to oversee they should be taking out hunting patrols or going on solo hunts to make up for the official ones that I know without out a doubt are going to fail. Our borders need to be marked, trespassers challenged and chased off or preferably killed, and I know without a doubt that there are always going to be apprentices that need training. I can only growl and snap at morons for their incompetence so many times, if I have to do that same with Enforcers, you don't deserve this gift I'm so gratefully offering. Vixensnarl, Badgerscar, Brackenfire, Warblermoon, Softpelt, and Cougarivy will be ShadowClan's Enforcers." Dawnstar had the utmost confidence that most if not all wouldn't be taking this rank for granted. After Dawnstar shouted out the members of the new ranks she glanced around, searching for a few cats in particular. Ebonyfang, Orchidmoon, Spiritfire, Redpaw, Juniperpaw, and Aspenpaw. These six would do at least for test subjects, depending on how well they fared would decide on whether she'd be keeping it or not.
"Though not all of you, quite a number of you, and you know who you are, utterly and completely handle my event so poorly that it got to the point where I wonder why I keep you around... or better yet how the hell you managed to keep yourself alive on a day to day basis. If you weren't arguing for the hell of it, you were coming up with the most ridiculous plans, not taking into account the time of day, running off on your own, or just freaking out for no reason and making everything that much harder on your teammates. I don't like it. If you don't smarten up or at least take more accountability for your actions ShadowClan will no longer serve as the place you call home." Dawnstar had chosen the cats she felt had contributed during their game. She'd see about refining their skills during their training. Those who did not make the cut but hadn't done anything wrong were just a little too average for Dawnstar to take interest in. It wasn't her fault that they didn't do anything that stood out to her.
"Cougarivy, though I'm well aware of your enjoyment of shredding cats, I trust you have the experience and judgment to at least take responsibility for the members of your team. You'll serve as the Enforcers' commander, you can think of it as a patrol leader. Any problems that may arise with the Enforcers I'll be taking up with you." Dawnstar had been iffy about Cougarivy at first, the molly reminded Dawnstar greatly of her missing mate of a mutt, capable and willing enough to handle any challenge Dawnstar threw at her. She knew Cougarivye wouldn't pick fights for the hell of it considering how well she had dealt with the rodents for two moons. However, Dawnstar worried about whether the battle-loving she-cat would step down from combat without a direct order from the leader herself. She didn't need the molly getting ShadowClan's enforcers tangled into battles that could cost them their lives.
Dawnstar assumed the chosen cats had enough sense to know when to stand down, but still... the powerhouse would have to make it extremely clear that no matter how skilled Cougarivy was, the leader would still skin the warrior alive if she ended up getting Dawnstar's Enforcers killed over some fruitless fight because she didn't know when to quit. The leader paused there to allow her clanmates to take in the news. She'd move on to how cats could earn the Enforcer rank once she was certain they were all on the same leaf and announce their newest warrior before moving to the regular ceremonies.
