The Starcave

[Rose]

Event [#event]

Like two sides of a coin, like two sides of a bridge, a sacrifice on one end means a sacrifice on the other. To fix a problem, there was always a price to pay. In the realm of the dead, Brokenstar had paid that price, leaving the Wardens adrift, with no leader to turn to. As for the land of the living. . .

It starts with a small, innocent rumble, imperceptible to most, a whisper of power leaking out of a splinter in the starstone. A prelude to something far more disastrous. A suspicious quiet, before all hell breaks loose. The earth begins to shake beneath Starcave, seeking vengeance for the wrong that'd gone on too long in the skies. Too late, it had been fixed. Repercussions were in order. Pebbles on the ground tremble in fear of what is to come, pieces of rock dislodging from the ceiling to crash to the ground in great, booming thuds as the inner sanctum caves, dust flying in its wake. A shower of rocks hot on the heels of RiverClan's high ranks as they only just make it out, deadly and unforgiving to anything unlucky enough to be caught beneath them.

And just as Brokenstar had been reduced to fragments, part of the crystal explodes outward, pieces of glass scattering through the air. Shards clinking and clattering against stone as they slide to a halt. All that follows is a foreboding silence, as the dust clears once more.

The Starcave has been sealed off, its entrance inaccessible. What does this mean for the Clans?

[squidz]

| BERRYSHINE |

small & nimble dark brown she-cat with darker flecks and light, leafy-green eyes | the collector | dreamwalker |

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 15 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

Lostspark... did that name sound familiar? RiverClan's medicine cat wasn't sure, but she shook it off for now. The entire interaction had been strange enough, and Berry's mind was foggy enough with all that was going on. She simply took the news as it was, deciding to ponder if she'd ever seen or heard of the former Clan cat who now lived in the mystical cave below.

Berryshine had nodded gratefully to the news from both the newly-named Owlstar and... Cobwebstorm! At once Berry's eyes softened, recognizing the weight of her friend's new name. For honor, for her own force... the medicine cat knew it felt right. It was a bit unnerving to hear that StarClan had been disappointed enough not to give Owlstar a proper life, at least one, but... she was still granted her new name. It was gonna be alright.

She touched her nose to Cobwebstorm's ear and flicked Owlstar's shoulder with her tail, eyes gleaming with relief and pride. "Stars... I-I'm happy for both of you. We're... w-we're gonna be alright. Let's get home, before—"

But the jumpy she-cat froze, her wary senses catching that slight little tremble. At first, she'd thought she'd imagined it — yet it had still been enough for her words to falter off, eyes narrowed in confusion as she glanced back deeper into the cave. "Uh... sorry," she muttered, shaking her head. "T-Thought I heard something. But, a-anyway, we—"

This time, no, she knew she wasn't imagining it. Berryshine froze, eyes going wide as she felt the ground rumble beneath her paws. What in StarClan's name...? Before the she-cat could ask if her fellow high ranks had felt that, there was the sound of pebbles falling... then chunks of rock, one landing dangerously close to her paws. Berryshine jumped back in alarm, a squeak of surprise escaping her, heart skipping a beat. Oh no.

She had never experienced something like this before, the literal ground quaking beneath her paws. But that didn't mean her instincts didn't immediately scream at her: run.

And run, she did.

"W-What the-... w-we gotta get outta here! Run!" She sputtered to her Clanmates, practically scrambling into both of them as her small frame lurched, trying to propel her friends forward as well. The medicine cat ran as fast as she ever had as the rocks tumbled around them, hissing in pain as a few pebbles and smaller rocks struck her side. Thankfully, nothing fatal or too injurious, but enough to try and falter her steps. But she wouldn't let it; panic fueled her paws into a blur, the nimble she-cat racing faster than the erratic beat of her heart. The roar of tumbling rocks and the shaking ground overwhelmed her senses, filling her veins with fiery adrenaline.

It wasn't until she nearly stumbled to the ground, her lungs screaming for air when Berryshine finally stopped, whirling around. Gasping for breath, the medicine cat stared wide-eyed, making sure her companions were with her. To her shock and horror, the entrance to the Starcave—the place they'd all been standing just moments before—was now covered in piles of stones, not an inch of space spared.

The entrance had been sealed.

And had they'd been just a few steps short, a whisker too late — they would've met the darkness beneath the stones as well.

"Great StarClan..." Trembling like a leaf, Berryshine could only stare, stunned, for several moments. Then dread began to pool with an icy trickle into her belly. Maybe a sixth sense, maybe her own spiritual beliefs and connection to the stars via her position... whatever it was, something felt restless in the medicine cat. Unnerved, shifted, wrong...

"...Something's very, very wrong," she whispered hoarsely, ears flattening as the shock began to mix with her fear. StarClan... were they angry? Or had something terrible just happened? And... was this because of the RiverClan cats' visit, and their tumultuous past? More disapproval from their starry ancestors — and a final, unprecedented movement to cut them off?

Regardless, one thing was for sure, spoken in a horrified murmur of realization:

"..T-The Starcave is closed off... for good."

[ @Marigoldwhisper @finley ]

[Rose]

She/Her | Purrks Overlook

Where was the worst place to be when an earthquake caused a cave-in? Inside the damn cave that was caving in. Lark had barely made it through the narrow passage back to her excuse of a den when the ground started rumbling, raging, and then roaring. Her pupils narrow to vertical slits, paws turning on stone as Lark whirls around, head snapping to the ceiling as the first of the pieces of deadly rocks dislodges. A shower of dead.

"Bleeding. Burning. SKIES!" Terror draws the yell from her maw as Lark throws herself sideways, eyes on the ceiling. The ceiling, that was dislodging, that was collapsing. There was no mercy to be found here. She was going to be encased in rock. This was her grave, her tomb. A rock crashes to the floor, sending Lark sprawling, crashing into the opposite wall with a sickening thud as chips of stone embedded into her fur. A hiss of pain escapes past gritted teeth as blood wells, claws chipping as they scrabble on stone for a hold.

Her strength was draining far faster than she'd like for it to. Her heart hammered against her chest as her fight or flight activated. This wasn't something she could fight. Not at all. The only way to survive this - Lark rears back as another rock in the inner sanctum crashing to the ground almost threw her off balance - was to run. To find a safe spot and hide. She knew how to survive, and right now, an inflated ego would do no one any good.

Skidding across the floor, deciding it too reckless to lift her paws too high, Lark spared a few precious heartbeats to pick up the three yarrow and the half-eaten hare in her storage, wincing as a smaller rock pelted her side. Bruises were going to bloom on her body soon enough, and Lark was currently ignoring the blood dripping down her flank, shoulders, and face.

And then she was getting out of there. The exit to the Starcave was too far for Lark to consider, but the narrow passageway that connected her once-home to the rest of the cave? Lark could make it that far, and then swear to the skies that if this collapse killed her after everything she'd gone through, she was going to hunt down the cause of it and terrorize them for eternity. Safety from falling death only lasted so long, for the dust that rose was worse, and hacking coughs shook Lark's body as she curled up in a corner, muzzle tucked into her own fur, blocking out the chaos with the rest of her body.

The only game left to play now was the waiting game.