RiverClan Leader's Den

[duckie]

Sootflare
__________

Another curt nod, "That's just fine with me. I don't think I'm quite ready to face the full attention of the clan just yet."

He paused. That was a truly terrifying thought. Up until now, Lionstar was the only one he would really be disappointing if he were to fail. Now - the whole clan would be watching. The forest, even.

"Lionstar- what if... what if I can't do it? What if all I'm good at getting the job done and as soon as I'm set to lead I can't... handle it?"

[BEAR.]

"Darling, you've been facing the full attention of the Clan since you became my deputy." Lionstar spun on his paws to face Sootflare fully, leaning in to give him a smoochen on his cheek. "And you've done marvelously. Better than anyone else."

Lionstar drew back, adding in a softer tone. "I'm very glad you were my deputy. With the others.. I went through three cats." He watched one of them die and had to exile another. He could still see Frostflight's blood soaking the snow, his insides decorating the icy landscape. The fear in his eyes.

He didn't want to die. Time had healed some wounds, but there was no hiding the inkling he felt at not trying to do more to save him.

And Eagleflight, sweet Eagleflight - the guy had been fun, but when push came to shove he crumpled under responsibility like a stick holding up a snowbank.

"So.. thank you, for being the best deputy a Clan could have. I don't think I was deserving of a deputy who kept things together, despite everything that's happened. It's more than I could ever ask for."

At Sootflare's concerns, Lionstar perked his ears up and let out a soft laugh. "I think.. you need to stop focusing so much on that. If anyone can do it, it's you. You're going to be a natural, Sootfather - trust me on that. Everything you've done so far is just stepping stones to this point, now all you need to do is make the final leap onto the bank.

"You might slip up," he flicked his ears and glanced toward his paws. "But you've been a deputy for several moons, you've managed and maintained events, you have the respect of your Clan-mates and you have a desire to do what's best for RiverClan. You're already concerned for the Clan's well-being as a whole, and you're not alone." Not like he was. "If you need help, you have cats you can go to. Like.. Flyfur, or me, or even Pinefawn even if he acts like a little cutie butt. Stop stressing: you got this."

[ @wnder ]

[duckie]

Sootflare
__________

A kiss on the cheek was simultaneously the last thing he expected from this interaction and the most Lionstar action to pull. Flustered, he was glad to have the leader pull away and he nodded along to his words - though he was barely paying attention to them. What a disaster of a conversation.

"Thank you, for being the best leader a deputy could have. I'm not sure I would have lasted this long if it had been with... someone else."

Clearing his throat quickly, "Right. Enough sap." A light laugh. "I certainly will slip up. No might about it. I'm glad to have you there to support me, Lionstar. I really am."

[BEAR.]

"I always wanted to be a good leader.." Lionstar admitted with his ears peeling back, glancing outside the den. "I wanted to show everyone what a leader was suppose to be. Fallenstream - you know him, he was so focused on moping around he neglected the Clan and I didn't want to be another link in the forest's worst vine. It's.. nice, to be able to step back from that and let someone else continue maintaining the Clan's growth."

Lionstar beckoned Sootflare to join him, already starting toward the den entrance. "Of course.. Are you ready to go?" He kind of wanted to get the show underway. And maybe stick his tongue out at Headless-star.

[ @wnder ]

[duckie]

Sootflare
__________

Sootflare followed Lionstar's gaze out of the den glad, that they had only one interruption through this conversation so far, "You did good, Lionstar. Truly." he mused, tail curling gently over his paws. Even with the rocky footing surrounding Fawnsqueak, Sootflare wouldn't ask for any other leader.

"Wait - now? Right now? Ah - right. Yes. Sure. That works. that's fine. That works." He quickly climbed to his feet, ready to follow Lionstar despite any hesitation in the back of his mind. Lionstar had led him towards good things so far. Hopefully, this was the start of another.

[duckie]

- - - - -

[BEAR.]

"Oh, there's one more thing."

Lionstorm had gone into the leader's den almost immediately after the meeting concluded. He was glad seeing Mossygrove triggered his memory - otherwise this could have been .. unfortunate.

"You may have noticed.. we have a couple new Clan-mates in our ranks. Mossygrove, Whiskernose, Citrusflower. They are all refugees from ShadowClan." He only paused on that a moment, revealing the Clan he had abstained from announcing when he addressed her during his meeting. "But Mossygrove is not some mere ShadowClan pawn, Sootstar. She's Hailstorm." Would he recall that Gathering warning? Lionstar wasn't sure. "A few Gatherings ago, Icebrains put her on a pedestal of being some savage and dangerous rogue. I don't know if I agree with her assessment on the little lady but she did kill Licehead once and for all, during a Clan meeting of all things, so there's that."

It was still weird to think about. Icestar being gone.

"The other two are less of an issue. Citrusflower is Icedead's sister and I'm pretty sure she's eyeing up Whiskernose like he's her dinner. Mossygrove is Citrusflower's niece, I'm not sure if that's through a different sibling or if Icefat somehow managed to pop something pretty out of her ugly hide." Hmm, he'd need to ask her about that sometime. "But if she is an Icespawn, that means Yawnslice has more of a reason to look for her. Being siblings and all."

But that was mostly a hypothetical scenario.. what were the chances more than one Icespawn survived that fatty's horrible manners? "For the sake of keeping the peace, I tried to lowkey Mossygrove's joining, but who knows if someone can't keep their stupid yapper closed." He gave Sootstar a small shrug. "But regardless of what happens, I wanted to be the one to inform you in case word gets out we have the Iceslayer in our midst."

[ @wnder ]

[duckie]

Sootstar
__________

Following the meeting, Sootstar had headed almost directly to his den and soon found Lionstorm trailing in behind. He raised a brow but otherwise settled down and let Lionstorm speak without interruption. He gave a small nod as he revealed they were ShadowClanners - that in and of itself was not an issue - but paused as Lionstorm went on.

Hailstorm? The cat that killed Icestar? That- That could certainly be an issue moving forward. Less on a Mossygrove-remaining-a-member-of-RiverClan front and more on the what-happens-when-Dawnstar-finds-out-RiverClan-is-sheltering-her-leader's-killer front. Not ideal to think about.

Cirusflower and Whiskernose, on the other paw, were pretty much a non-issue. A more than welcome contrast. Letting out a deep sigh, he gave a nod, "Right. Well, thank you for letting me know. It's not ideal to have the Icekiller in our midst but I'm certainly not going to kick her out and let her be hunted for sport by Dawnstar."

"For safety's sake, I'll have to speak to Mossygrove about her future attendance in Gatherings and staying away from the ShadowClan border - but that shouldn't be an issue. Thank you, again. Is that all?"

[ @BILL. ]

[Wings]

[ @wnder ]
-Russetstrike-

It had been a few days after Sootfl-star had been annouced as the new leader. Although Russetstrike was sure Sootstar would do a great job as leader, he didn't think himself ready to take on another apprentice if the leader was going to assign him one at any point.
Spotting at the den entrance, the scarred tom looked into the den to just make sure Sootstar was there without actually stepping fully into the den. And once seeing him, "May I come in?" He said with a slight wave of his half tail. Not having that other half of it felt weird in certain moments, like it was still there but, whenever he tried to feel it, it was invisible. It make things like walking under things where his tail would usually brush things weird. Cause his mind is thinking now a lot that it's still there, when there isn't anything there. It was hard to explain in his mind, and it'd be even worse if he tried to explain it out loud. Hopefully the conversation wouldn't get to that point.

[BEAR.]

Sootstar certainly took the news well. Lionstorm liked that - they didn't need to kick someone out for killing the fatass. "The only other thing is Citrusflower and Whiskernose wanted name changes. They wanted to try to make their joining a little less obvious, try to keep less attention on us with Mossygrove here. They're going by Flamebriar and Sedgestorm now, respectively. I never had the chance to announce their joining to the Clan so I think you could just, act like it's been their names all along. Our Clan isn't smart enough to question it. Oh, and all three of them probably need a swimming and fishing lesson. I don't recall if Mossygrove has any but the other two definitely don't."

As for Mossygrove and ShadowClan.. "She told me she'd be avoiding Gatherings and the border, but it doesn't hurt to check in with her and give her a brief reminder." Lionstorm shrugged, already starting for the den entrance. "That's all. Ta-ta, Sootfather!"

And then he was gone.

[ @wnder ]