WindClan Galewood

[gs29513]

The meeting had been going smoothly enough since the execution/removal of the three Riverclan rats, and Deadmoon had lapsed back into half listening in case her name was called and cheering for the young ones when appropriate. She was vaguely aware that Snowybreeze had received another apprentice, clearly a better mentor than her if his success rate was anything to go by, and that there were new kits ranking up. Hopefully a few of the current apprentices would be warriors soon, goodness knew they needed a steady supply with all the chaos going on.

And then she noticed something was off. Something was in the air. Two something’s, actually. If Deadmoon didn’t identify them immediately it was only because they had already been in the clearing during this meeting, or because she chose not to acknowledge the possibility that they could be making a return so soon. The scents were familiar, too familiar.

Riverclan. And blood.

She was already looking at the entrance when Littleshock entered, clearly the source of the odor. And with the younger warrior, a body. The slowness in identifying the individual, clearly dead given the complete lack of motion, was again more attributable to Deadmoon’s lack of will to acknowledge that this, too, was familiar. Breezefeather’s body had looked something like this. Coyotesnarl too had, by all accounts, been bloody and battered and dead. Wolffang, though the killer had been different, had also smelled of blood and his attacker, though he’d arrived in camp alive. It made no matter though. At the end of everything, it was always a deputy dead on the ground, the dust of the clearing darkening with their blood.

Of course it was Fallownose, for who else was absent? Who else would pull such attention? Who else would their enemies slay, bringing this powerful feeling of deja vu sweeping through her life? She was not as personally attached to him as she’d been to two of the others, but it hardly mattered. Soon the outrage would begin, the quarreling. The swearing of revenge. The curious thing was Littleshock. Deadmoon had noticed something of a rift between her and some cats, down to some yelling done at a meeting. She proclaimed eagerness to explain, but no such words had left her maw. All Deadmoon could think to say was Then explain. perhaps a bit louder than necessary. More firmly than she herself had expected. She DID want an explanation. They deserved it. The clan needed to know, because they couldn’t keep losing cats and not knowing, or knowing and doing nothing.

Perhaps Deadmoon was a bit more affected than she had thought, her anger and disbelief a strange, quiet rage that made her eyes flash. She saw little need to personally mourn those she did not know, but that didn’t mean she felt nothing at their passing, nothing for the ones they’d left behind. It was all so unfair. Windclan hadn’t harassed any clan intentionally, and here they were, as always, with their camp invaded (though a sorry attempt it had been) and their deputy slain. It was becoming increasingly likely, with each passing moon, that it be one of her family that fell. She doubted the stars would grant her mercy a second time and return them to her. Deadmoon, for once, was quietly seething.

Fleckstorm (when had they arrived) was already next to their sibling, evidently imagining some sort of danger would befall Littleshock. Deadmoon wondered. Riverclan scent was evident on the pair of body and bearer, more so than what had already coated the clearing. Almost unconsciously she stepped forward, peering at the body. It seemed like it had been a bite to the throat that had done it, though there was too much crusted blood and dirt to really tell what came from where. The sight probably ought to be more concerning than it was, but Deadmoon could push past her private deputy-death related crises until later. For the moment, she was more concerned as to whether this would turn into another witch hunt. Littleshock wasn’t the most popular. Cowtuft had been beloved. This was only one death, yes, but it was murder. Far more direct and far more requiring of a culprit. She didn’t think it would take long for accusations to fly. She was personally a bit suspicious, but if there was a good explanation which could be corroborated by evidence at the location of death (how callously she thought of things now) then it seemed reasonable enough that an outside cat had been the cause. Her immediate assumption had been that. But closer inspection might reveal different truths. It remained to be seen. (OPEN)

[Rani]

Crowtooth
Windclan Tunneler | He/him | 49 Moons
Power Card: Cold Gust

Art by Marigoldwhisper

Things had been so good before they went bad. But wasnt that always the case?


The tom had been smiling as he patted Rabbitpaw on the head, amused at his enthusiasm as he rasped a light "Ya don' have ta cheer fer me kiddo. It aint my special moment right now, its yers." As his chest puffed with pleasure at the kittens awe and excitement at Crowtooths craft. This was perfect, he had a kid who was eager to learn and wanted to learn his special skill and so had indulgently chuffed before explaining "Tell ya a secret kiddo, huntin' in the tunnels is easier in the winter then huntin' above is, creatures go down there ta hibernate an' are easy pickin'. But ta hunt down there ya need ta learn how ta move, so learnin' tunnel basics occurs before huntin'." But he couldnt help himself really. "But tell ya what 'cuz I just know you'll be a natural an' will make everyone so proud o' yer skills. 'f ya breeze through tunnelin' basics Ill teach ya one tunnel huntin' method even before we do a proper huntin' lesson.



Ya see its-"


He was going to continue explaining, grin in place and excited to teach when a chill ran through the air. It was as if all the little joy and calm that was here was gone in an instant, replaced with sorrow fear and dread. The tom couldnt see what caused this sudden hush, the split second of silence before the oncoming storm, being faced away from the camp entrance towards Rabbitkit, but it was instant that drove him to be suddenly silent and stiff.


The tom desperately wished his instincts werent right today.



Littleshock, with Fallownoses body, and he didnt even think she was the culprit. Not when their deputies corpse stunk of fish.

"It was a trap. I-it had ta be a trap. The cats here were a distraction fer this. T-there is no way anyone could defeat Fallownose otherwise. Its the only way this makes sense....."

The toms mind reeled, trying to make sense of the slaughter in any way he could. Why would riverclan just do this if it wasnt some complex plot to harm windclan. You didnt just invade a camp and murder a deputy on accident, starclan wasnt cruel enough for that this had to be malicious in nature, it just-


A small voice broke Crowtooth from his trance. Rabbitpaw. Little Rabbitpaw just had his happy day, relatively peaceful life, ripped away. This'd mean bitter war and the kid was just old enough to be in it. Crowtooth felt sick.
A tail curled around him to shelter the kid and break his view of the body, the tom softly rasping to him.
"Kiddo.... Remember what I said in my tale? Clan life 's hard, an' cats will die.... Even 'f we dont want them too. Its horrible but we cant let that be the end. Of them or us. We gotta remember them, get justice fer the lost, an' be brave an' strong in their name.



Fallownose is- he's gone kiddo and 't shouldnta happened but we can fight ta make sure those we love can live well as he woulda wanted us to."


The fear, the worry for his apprentice and all the cats in his clan was the only thing keeping the bubbling rage in the toms gut from boiling over right now, forced calm as he awaited Twilightstars dictation. So as his shoulders shook in fury he leaned in and whispered gentle into Rabbitpaws side "Ill keep ya safe, I promise but be just brave, I know ya can."


Hetrochromatic gray and brown eyes remained fixed on the chaos, kept locked in wait as he wished he could comfort the leader who'd lost yet another deputy as well.


@Dolomedes

[RoboPrism]

-Hollowfoot-
Male
WINDCLAN - Warrior
A sturdy grey tom with green eyes.

Hollowfoot peered from between the gathering spectators as they gasped and murmured and questioned. He wanted to let a small smile slide for once, but the pleasure shone like the sun in his mind.
How these clans tear themselves and the others apart. He thought, making sure to frown for show. It helped that he didn't talk much, but this was an opportunity.

His rasp was soft as he pushed forward and arrived at Littleshock's side.
"You did well in bringing him here, I don't think there's much to explain however." He glanced across the others surrounding the body. "you don't have to be a medicine-cat to know where wounds like these came from. And you wouldn't have brought him here if you were at fault." @Poprock

[Goopysharkboi]

Sleepybramble looked over and upon seeing the deputy's corpse froze up. WHAT IN STARCLAN HAPPENED?!?!

[felidays]

Maplepaw
A tall tri-colored she-cat with blue/green heterochromia.
a light Russian accent [R's are rolled or 'purred']
Purrk(s): Monkey's Paw (wish & withdrawal determined)
Not the most social cat

note:
any sentence that is communicated through sign language will be in italics
any sentence that is communicated through verbal dialogue will be in bold

Yeah, Maplepaw knew that everything and everyone had to come to an end. That was life, and life was unfair. Very unfair. But did anyone expect for life to take itself away from the deputy of WindClan?? A high rank who was supposed to keep order and be the second in command? Be a successor for the leader role? Keep everybody in check? Be a role model? No, nobody had. So why had StarClan allowed this murder?

Hah. Because there was no StarClan.

She didn't get it. Her whole life, Maplepaw had known something was up with StarClan. It was just... weird. How do cats swear upon, devote themselves to, and depend themselves on ghostly cats who don't even have the power to change what is and was happening? Yeah, sure, they maybe be above them, but only physically above them. Did they actually have the powers they say they had?

She shook her head. Now was not the time. She could think all she wanted in her den. Now, she had to focus on the dead cat in front of her. Maplepaw glanced up at Littleshock. "what happened?" She gestured. Why was she asking that? Of course she knew what happened Fallownose smelled an awfully lot like RiverClan. Wow, those fish did this? Damn, didn't know they had claws or were brave enough to cause something like this to happen. Now, lets see if their claws were enough to fight against more cats, because Twilightstar was 100% going to do a call for war. It was inevitable.

46/100

@Poprock

[Tiabirb]

Swiftfire
----------------

Swiftfire was staring at the medicine den. Lately Lightningstorm had a slew of patients, and Swiftfire's mind was heavy with a slurry of feelings. Guilt, anger, anxiety. But her emotions wouldn't help her. It wouldn't help them get better. It wouldn't feed anyone...

So swallowing back the rising storm, Swiftfire's head turned as she heard a commotion, and she was hurrying over when she saw something that....did not sit well with her; Littleshock had returned to camp dragging the body of their own deputy, Fallownose. Swiftfire reached her friend in a few leaping bounds. hurriedly pressing her forehead to her younger friends side in a gesture of comfort. Then she pulled back, taking a long look at Littleshock before she turned her attention to Fallownose.

'What happened? What happened?' Swiftfire wanted to roll her eyes with a heavy sigh at the repetitive question. Crowtooth seemed to be more...elaborate with his wonderments, but only Littleshock would know. So her pale yellow gaze rested on Littleshock. It was undeniable; The scent of RiverClan was all over the dead deputy.
"Why was Fallownose at the RiverClan border?" An orange brow arched. "Were you on patrol with him?" Her tone was both urgent and gentle, an odd combination from the gruff and sharp-tongued tortoiseshell.

@Poprock

[MangoBearGoGrr]

@Poprock


Whisperingwater looked at the body in dismay and snarled. "What the hell did you do!" as Honeymew let out a growl. "You killed him!?"
Watertail rested his tail on the warriors flank for a moment and looked around to his clanmates before taking it off. The senior warrior raised his deep meow. "Enough! Littleshock has an explanation, lets not jump to comclusions. She also must be just as shocked as you all, retract your claws until Twilightstar or other authority's reach the body to assess whats happening." Watertail said, his tone was strong and he hoped some clanmates would listen to him. As Whisperingwater continued to growl and hiss, Watertail shot him a cold look. "Shut it before I shut it for you." He warned his brother. Seeing the warrior back down, he was smart enough to tell his mate to back off as well. Watertail looked at Honeymew, "Keep the kits off to the side for now, we don't want any cat under our paws when were all angry enough." He mewed, seeing Honeymew nod and go to the nursery, any time a kit strayed to close she'd nudge them back a bit with kind words.

Watertail looked over to Littleshock and murmured, just for the warrior to hear, "No matter what happens, stay strong. Even though there your clanmates some won't hesitate to claw you on spot." Watertail mewed, he knew his words were obvious even to a kit, but it seemed like he was comforting himself as well as her. Watertail's words were also a hidden promise to defend her if to many were against her.

[taillow]

Bravebird - WindClan Warrior
She/her | 45 moons | Beefed Up T3, One with the Warren

The trek back to camp is a difficult one for Bravebird as all she can think about is ripping her claws through more of those slimy RiverClan fish. Unfortunately for her Hawkfur had talked her out of it, much to the lilac lynx-point's displeasure. She'd tossed him a scowl and given a lash of her tail without much else, having turned around without putting up a fuss. There would be other opportunities for her to shred some fish fur.

Perhaps she'd even see about dragging Fallownose along - she hadn't spoken to him in a little bit, not since her return really, but it seemed like he despised RiverClan just about as much as she did, if not more. The thought brought a light smile to her face and a snort-laugh, if only because of how much she missed fighting alongside her friend. Perhaps she'd find him at the meeting that was apparently going on that she had missed. Poke him and ask about a mission to knock whatever pedestal had given RiverClan the right to think they were welcome anywhere on WindClan territory, let alone their camp.

So when the patrol slides into camp with Brave following them, she doesn't see the body in the clearing at first.

Except that when her eyes darted back, the pelt looked awfully familiar. The gray fur mattered with blood, the glossy yellow eyes, the white chest. Suddenly her paws were frozen to the ground and her jaw dropped.

He wasn't... That wasn't... N-No...

A shrill wail rose from her, quiet at first until it shook her whole body and morphed into a blood-curdling scream. Claws came out as Bravebird expected whoever had done this to descend upon the camp in a flurry. Eyes darted wildly around then back to his body, that now laid in the middle of the clearing. It was a miracle she remained upright as one of her closest friends was now staring at her - dead.

"NO!"

Grief clawed at her throat but her paws refused to move. She stayed glued by the camp entrance, staring wide-eyed as if at any moment Fallownose would stir - he would get up and laugh, and tell everyone to stop worrying over him so much. He would smile and say that he liked her idea of retribution, and together they could launch their crusade against RiverClan.

Nothing felt real anymore. Bravebird felt like she was floating, high above everything and watching the scene unfold from above. It was at that moment that something else clicked, and like a rushing tidal wave of water everything snapped back at once - and the weight of it made her legs buckle underneath her until her haunches slammed against the ground as she was forced to sit. Racing alongside Fallownose along the moor, hunting with him, laughing, sharing tongues, bonding over their shared hatred of anyone that wasn't WindClan. Even the moments they had butted heads, like when he'd taken a patrol to help aide RiverClan. Everything came back.

Everything came back and it ended with his face, and his warm smile, staring back at her.

It was in that moment the warrior felt her heart shatter.

"N-No..." The whimper came out like Bravebird was no older than a kit as she shook where she sat hunched by the entrance. "You can't leave us yet..." The anger would come later, because even from where she stood the stench of RiverClan met her nose. But right now all the warrior could do is stare wide-eyed at the dead body of one of her closest friends, willing herself to move closer to him and yet unable to lift herself off the ground.

[ @Mica @/open - this'll take place after the patrol of leechscar, hawkfur, and swiftfire come back from sedgewater valley! wasn't sure when this week i'd be able to get a reaction post out and wanted to do so before i wouldn't be able to! hope that's okay; if not staff can bap me and i'll remove hehe ]

[Neptune.]

Hushpaw
~<>~
23/100
9 moons || he/him || WindClan Apprentice
medium furred tom w/ black, grey and white fur; gold eyes

The scene that he turned to look upon was horrible - the stench of blood overwhelming. Flashes of a different body being dragged back to camp flood him, and the usually confident apprentice slinks back in on himself. He can't help remembering when his own mother's corpse was dragged into the clearing... bloody and near torn to shreds. He'd been just barely able to be apprentice'd then and was so excited. This scene reminds him of that... the dread settling over his bones like a blanket is familiar and unwelcome. He does not want to believe this a trick like Crowtooth claims, but he's finding it hard to fit into any other claim. An accident? Maybe he ran into a different predator? No, the scent on him is similar to the three infiltrators. RiverClan had done this.

[Blaaze]

Meetin' had been goin' great, yep, yep. Enjoyed it, yep. She'd watched with wide eyes as Rabbito had been apprenticed to Crowtooth. Nice! Yep, yep, lotsa luck on that! A good warrior, he was, Mmmmmhm. Respected him lots. She'd been watching with great interest when outta nowhere Poof! Catto comes flying in all tense and shrieking about...

Crap! Fallows! Her eyes bulged in horror as he was announced dead, mouth gaping in surprise. Blood, blood, blood. The scent clogged her nose, but while inside she was mortified, outside she was relaxed and focused. She had a mannerism of doing so. A lot, yep, yep. She also had a very, very loud voice. Helpful at times like these. She screamed a lot, actually. For better or worse. But most of the time she screamed words, good words or... bad words. Her lavender-hued eyes trained on Littleshock as she spoke, and Blazesong cleared her throat politely. Everybody? she said in a rather quiet tone, In the most respectful way possible, I think if she did talk we wouldn't be able to hear her so SHUT THE CRAP UP! Her voice was a shriek as loud as a monster- in her opinion anyways, and she continued to sit, relaxed, looking polite. But inside? A torrential storm.

Righto, Fallownose was dead. Dead as prey on the pile, yep-yep. Okay, a mean example. She didn't approve. Mm-mm. Not at all, nopes. Her brain was working faster than a rabbit's nose, assessing everyone around her and the... unfortunate dead body. Ew. It reeked of Fish and death. What a terrible way to go, 'specially for a deputy. Yep, yep, lots of agreement there. She twitched her nose, suddenly pondering if it could go as fast as a rabbit's-- Off topic! Gosh, she hads to work on that. Yep, yep, lots of agreement.

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|Open I guess?|