a long awaited talk [private]

[BEAR.]

It didn't take long for things to go south for Buckstar, but that wasn't a surprise. Brokenstar had expected better reflexes from a leader.
(It wasn't hypocritical. Sure, some idiot knocked him off the Highpeak and he snapped his neck, but he had been old. Stiff. Losing mobility. Buckstar didn't have that excuse and Brokenstar would flay anyone who said otherwise.)

As the brown and white tom materialized, Brokenstar narrowed his eyes at the younger tom. He had chosen Dusklit Den as their place of meeting -- Buckstar could admire seeing his still-bleeding body by their paws. In theory, it'd be a good learning experience. In execution, they'd see. "You need to work on your demotion skills."

[ @Slushie ]

[dino.]

// @BILL.

>Buckstar<
────────

His eyes snapped open and he could barely stop himself from letting out a strangled yell. One paw pressed against the place where the life-ending gash should be, and he pulled it away, expecting to see scarlet dripping from his pads - but there was nothing. Brokenstar's voice took more than just a couple seconds to register as he stared down at his own dead body, limp on the den floor, blood pooling beneath.

A shudder wracked his body and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to steady his shaky breathing. He'd just lost a life to the coyotes that has ravaged his Clan, and now a second had been stolen from him. His own fault, he supposed. He should have been more careful, paid more attention. He'd known Frostpaw was unpredictable, but he'd never expected her to pull something like this.

"Yeah," he grunted in response, slowly turning to face Brokenstar. "Apparently." A moment of silence, and then, respectfully but firm, "This is the second time in just a few sunrises that I've lost a life. Where were you the first time? No one was there. I thought I wasn't coming back. I thought that was it, that my Clanmates would be left at the mercy of those- those beasts. Where were you? And why do you choose now to show up?"

[BEAR.]

"Silence is a consequence of inaction, Buckstar." Brokenstar cocked his head. "You were given the opportunity to handle the coyotes before the situation escalated to an invasion, but you did not. You were given many opportunities to dispose of that menace the she-devil appointed to your Clan, but you allowed yourself to be blinded by faith over reason and it became your undoing. Now your Clan-mates are being fed lies by an imbecile who lacks morals."

Brokenstar glanced pointedly down at Buckstar's corpse. "We're not here to hold your paw, Buckstar. You need to be ready to make decisions based on the evidence laid out in front of you, not what some invisible cat told you in your dreams! Be a leader, not a follower." Seriously! The amount of times ThunderClan had been led by a pushover who waited until things became problematic was sickening. "You have the potential to be the greatest leader ThunderClan has seen, but you're not going to get there if you wait for terrible things to happen to your Clan."

[ @Slushie ]

[dino.]

@BILL.

>Buckstar<
────────

Well... to be quite honest, that certainly wasn't the answer Buckstar had been expecting. Indignant frustration swelled in his chest, trying to force its way through his gritted teeth in the form of snapped insults directed at the StarClan tom in front of him. But he clamped his jaws shut and forced himself to consider the words being spoken to him.

Brokenstar was right, in some instances. He'd had opportunities to fix the disasters that had captured ThunderClan in their claws, and had waited to act until after they had shredded it to pieces. Now he and everyone else who had perished as a result of his actions were paying the price. His ears twisted back, and the original frustration toward Brokenstar turned to guilt and bitterness toward himself.

"My faith in my ancestors is what keeps me going, what always has... but you're right. I waited too long, hung up on the words of a vision I hadn't even experienced for myself, and now ThunderClan is suffering the consequences. I won't be another Duskfeather." He refused to be. "I'll fix this, and everything else after it. I made you a promise when we first spoke - I intend on keeping it."

[BEAR.]

"Your faith in your Clan should overcome any belief in the dead." Blind trust never did any good. Brokenstar let out a sigh, allowing the tension in his body to fall. "I know you have the best intentions at heart, but your willingness to let things happen before acting is a trait seen too much in the past leadership of our Clan. How much longer would you have allowed the pretender to reign as a high rank in your Clan if not for my warning? Would you have waited until things got out of hand, until you had absolutely no choice?" He shook his head. "Learn to trust your instincts. If something doesn't seem right, put an end to it before things escalate further.

"Idleness only ends in destruction. When you awake, your Clan will be in turmoil. Accusations of murder and falsehoods will be running rampant and you will need to be prepared to restore order." Already, the world around them was fading. Soon Buckstar would awaken to a similar scene - minus Brokenstar's presence. "Good luck, Buckstar." You'll need it.

[ @Slushie ]