He answered her invitingly, warmly, and already Bluebellcrackle felt the guilt twisting in her chest. She pulled the rest of her body into the den and sat down in front of him, one paw bouncing up and down on the den floor.
No time like the present.
She cleared her throat and spoke. "I'm leaving RiverClan." An open pause, waiting for any sort of response, before she carried on. "You know of my past. You know I was not born here. My brother... found me along the border earlier today. He told me that my mother is very sick."
She glanced down at her paws, both of which were now tapping against the ground. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. Apparently it's... bad. She might not-" Her voice hitched, cracked, and Bluebellcrackle turned her head away with a grimace. "She may not make it. And if something happens I have to be there."
__________________
On hiatus from June 9th to June 17th. Do not bump me/send me messages, they will go unresponded to.
The apprentice smiled happily as the leader agreed with her choices. "Thank you, da-." She sputtered to a stop, her fur burning hot. She had done it again. It didn't help that Silverpaw had never met her father, and the closest father figure she'd ever had was Flintfang. She shook her head softly. He asked her a question - "Is there anything else?" - and for some reason, tears flooded her eyes.
"In all honesty, sir, I'm scared. I'm afraid for my sister and brother, Reedwhisker and Flintfang. What if they go out and never come back, just like Stormpaw? They're all I have left. And I'm scared that whoever is killing apprentices is going to hurt me next. These past few moons have been so scary." She hiccuped, sniffled, and cried. She hadn't spoken to anyone about her feelings. She, on impulse, decided to hug her leader. Silverpaw knew he had been through so much, just as she. They both needed it, she felt.
The leader seemed quite annoyed to be interrupted, but that was the last thing that Beastgrowl cared about. Seemed quite the opposit to Pikestar actually. I would think that something as important as this would be more of a priority than your nap is, but maybe I'm wrong. The tabby fellow frowned at Pikestar, annoyed with how selfish this cat was.
If those rules you put in place at the last meeting were so great, why was Nightpaw laying dead in our clearing last night? Oh, you wouldn't know would you since you never even showed up. As the leader loomed over him, the time rose to his full height. Your rules were obviously not enough if both Hawkpaw and Nightpaw left last night alone.
A startled look overcame his scarred face as Pikestar mentioned Birdpaw being his daughter. Oh, so this was the dad that Birdpaw had mentioned missing. Well maybe if you were more of a father, your daughter would feel safer coming to talk to you. She was crying out for you last night and mentioned missing you when I comforted her. It is your fault. He thought again of the crying apprentice he had held in his arms the night before, and felt a wave of anger.
Did you not hear anything about what I said about Flickerpaw? When I first came in to this den, I wasn't coming with the intent to insult you. I needed to tell you about my thoughts on the deaths lately, but obviously your pride means more to you than the opinions of your cats and the lives of the apprentices. Or maybe not, but that's what it seems like. I know losing cats is hard, trust me, but from what I've seen, you've been making the lived ones you have left feel like crap, and your clan is falling apart because you're doing nothing. And now you're kicking me out because I've told you the truth and your ego can't take it.
He would leave, but Beastgrowl stayed because he needed to know that his leader heard it.
@canineantics
“...Nap?” Pikestar repeated the word, uttering a low laugh as he turned his head to look at Beastgrowl, “You think I was just taking some little catnap like some lazy kittypet, do you?” The tall dark-furred leader tilted his head to the side, looking at the young RiverClan warrior with this fake sense of innocent, almost mocking him in a strange way. He stood up and turned his body back around so that it faced the dark brown-furred tomcat before sitting back down. “I’m sorry to, uh, inform you of this, but I unfortunately need to get sleep now and again. It’s kind of, you know, important… like eating and drinking. I unfortunately can’t just never sleep again. My apologies that you had to find out that way.” He smirked at that slightly, another half-laugh leaving his parted jaws. Beastgrowl’s disappointed frown amused Pikestar in a deeply twisted way.
“I never said they were great, dumbass.” He remarked with a low hiss, his ear twitching irritatedly, “I can’t be everywhere at once. I’m sorry I can’t have my one eye on every single RiverClan apprentice at every possible second. Where were you then, huh? What were you doing when Hawkpaw and Nightpaw went out without a warrior, hm? Why are you blaming me and me alone for what happened to her? Aren’t warriors of RiverClan supposed to be caring for their youths too? Or is that supposed to be just my job?” The dark-furred oriental stared back at Beastgrowl with a coldness in his gaze, challenging the warrior’s argument. Nightpaw’s death was a sure tragedy, without a doubt, but he’d be damned if he allowed anyone to blame him and him alone for these deaths anymore. “I can only do so much about those who do not listen to me. I warned them, time and time again, about the rogues that were threatening us. I’ve done every thing in my own power to prevent these deaths from continuing. I can’t have eyes on them every second of every day to keep them from sneaking out of camp, against my wishes. What more would you have me do? Force them to stay in their den like they are prisoners? That’s no way to live.” Pikestar didn’t know what they expected from him. Was he supposed to never sleep, never eat, never just breathe?
Beastgrowl’s comment regarding his role as a father in Birdpaw’s life tore at the RiverClan leader in a very deep, personal place. And for the first time in this entire conversation, he had to take a few seconds to muster a response. “I am far from a perfect father.” He admitted, his bushy tail lashing behind him as he spoke, not meeting the warrior’s gaze, “I will admit that.” The recent memory of having to pull his other daughter, Shadepaw, out of the river after she drowned, flashed in his mind and he winced. Underneath all the anger that burned within the oriental tomcat, there was pain, so much pain. He lifted his head slowly to look at Beastgrowl. “She deserves a better parent than me, that much is true.” Pikestar murmured, his voice steady and not wavering, “But I do care for Birdpaw, make no mistake of that.” Being a father, and a clan leader, at the same time was harder than it looked. All while still grieving for his family who had recently died. But Beastgrowl wouldn’t understand that.
The unbridled anger would soon return however as the dark brown tomcat would keep on talking. “If you truly believe I have a big enough ego where all I care about is my own pride…” Pikestar growled once again and he’d shake his head as he stared at Beastgrowl, “...you truly do not know me at all.” Flickerpaw was hurt… missing… somewhere. The tall RiverClan leader blinked his eye, trying to draw himself away from seeing red and focusing back on the important things. “...I will speak with Birdpaw soon… about everything.” He would then say, his speech reverting back to a calm and collected tone, though it held a certain pensiveness to it. Pikestar was well aware that many of his own clanmates, not just Beastgrowl, viewed him as doing nothing. RiverClan was falling apart because of him. He shouldn’t be moping over the death of his son, his daughter, his mate, no, he should be working harder and relentlessly to make sure everyone else in his clan was safe. Pikestar had been selfish.
“Please. Just leave me be.” Pikestar would say again, turning away to stare at the wall of his den, “...I have much that I need to do.” His anger had made him want to exile Beastgrowl, and say so much worse to the warrior, but he refused to go that far. Owlpaw needed his mentor. Birdpaw needed her friend. The dark-furred RiverClan leader couldn’t just cast out a clanmate for speaking against him. No, that wouldn’t be right. Perhaps Pikestar did have an ego that needed to be put into it's place.
The oriental's ear flickered at the quiet sound of Pikestar pulling the bird closer to him. His gift was well-received he would assume. He did decide to settle down into a seating position. His long and sleek tail wrapped around him in a protective manner. Perhaps, to shield him from the world. (Ironic considering, he was the Shield in this position.)
Wormbite tilted his head in response to Pikestar's question. Ah... he shook his head lightly. "I do not. While I do think of it. I would prefer older warriors who may be familiar with the tunnels also. " He tried not to think of how by that saying he could be considered an older warrior. Rather strange, he was only in his 30's but, he did feel rather ancient at times. He had been an apprentice at the time, then again? Hm.
He squinted his eyes. Wasn't Pikestar around his age..? Were they old? .... surely not..
He blinked. Ah. His thoughts were beginning to drift. He shuffled his paws, nodding his head in agreement. That was one of his own worries. Wormbite would have suggested going alone if he didn't believe he would be met with refusal. (He didn't understand. Starclan had already proven to have a desire to keep him alive. They should use it to their advantage. ) "It is an honest risk. To lighten it, I could only attempt to reach the camp as it's an open space. Perfect for training. The tunnels I am familiar with are well-built. I do believe they will hold. It is up to you. It could lead to other things. " He would like to make use of the tunnels but, Wormbite wouldn't mind to simply host an event at night. It could build up the apprentices' endurance to fighting through tiredness. Oh. He did quite enjoy that idea ..hm..
"With that being said, I do have one more thing to say. Whitepaw has passed her assessment. She is a decent hunter with strength and can swim nicely. She does need to improve on her agility but, we all have our weaknesses. If you agree, I believe she is ready for her warrior's ceremony."
Pikestar continued to listen to Wormbite as he quietly ate the bird that was between his paws. His ears twitched to the shield’s words about not having anyone in particular in mind for this venture, but older warriors who have been to the tunnels would be good. “Sounds like a wise course of action,” The tall RiverClan leader hummed approvingly in-between bites, “Even though I’m old enough for it, I’ve never actually seen the tunnels personally, so I’m afraid of I can’t help you in that regard.” A small part of Pikestar wanted to participate in the activities, be apart of the group and explore the tunnels and see what they had to offer for RiverClan. However, he couldn’t help but fear he was too busy with other things. There were apprentices to train, meetings to call, borders to patrol, etc. He’d sit this one out and give Wormbite full control. It was probably for the best anyway.
Thankfully, the fellow oriental tomcat was quick to soothe his previous concern towards this whole situation. “I trust your judgment, my friend, you have my full support for this.” Pikestar meowed, swiping his tongue over his muzzle, “I know you’ll keep our clanmates out of harm’s way.” There was full trust within the dark-furred feline’s words, showing the moons of friendship that he had with Wormbite. He still remembered the night in Firefly Cove when Pikestar was still a warrior. It felt so very long ago now, but the memory was still there. He was thankful that even after everything that had occurred since then, they were still good friends. After suffering so many losses, Pikestar wanted to keep the few friends he had left very close.
His long ears perked up with intrigue as the blind RiverClan tomcat sparked up another topic: Whitepaw. “Oh? Well, that’s wonderful to hear. That means RiverClan can look forward to a new warrior being named during our next meeting.” Pikestar purred with satisfaction, somewhat excited to preform his first ever warrior ceremony as clan leader, “Thank you for letting me know. Ah, speaking of which, do you think I should bring up your whole plan with the tunnels at the next meeting? Or would you want me to leave it for you to bring up?” It was a silly thing to ask, but they wanted to make sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumina
Sunstone, who quickly beelined it from the medicine den to the Pikestar's den, made sure to slow his pace before entering the den. The large warrior cautiously lowered his orange head so he could poke it inside, amber eyes rounding on his leader. "Pikestar," His voice boomed, "So sorry to intrude, but..." He paused, not for dramatic effect, but to catch his breath. He hadn't moved this fast in moons (and at his size it was extremely difficult). "Fawnpaw is missing. Her scent is very faint in the medicine den...but there are no signs of a struggle. Featherflame and I came to tell you this immediately." He moved over for the speckled molly, who he assumed was right on his tail.
@lumina @canineantics
---
Featherflame, who was in front of Sunstone in their mad dash before taking an awkward tumble, did notslow her pace before entering the den. After regaining her footing, she raced to catch up with her fellow warrior. If it wasn't for him moving out of the way she surely would have crashed right into him. Dirt from her tumble flew off her speckled pelt as she skidded to a halt within the leaders den, a cloud of brown now surrounding the three.
"He speaks the truth! Her den was dustier than a sand rock. She has been missing for longer than we realized!" She sneezed after the mention of the dust, not for dramatic effect, but because of allergies. Se hadn't inhaled this much dust in moons (and hopefully wouldn't again). "Let me lead our mightiest warriors on the hunt for our Fawn! I will vanquish any enemy that stands in our way!"
The tall RiverClan leader looked up from his paws as Sunstone and Featherflame appeared in the mouth of his den. Both of the warriors looked rather frantic, so Pikestar immediately stood up and walked over to the two warriors, his expression laced with concern. Once the tomcat spoke, however, a heavy silence hung over the dark-furred oriental as the realization of their words hit him like a monster on the thunderpath. “Fawnpaw… She’s… gone?” He murmured, not realizing he had been staring at the floor of his den with a horrified look in his eye, “No… that… I could’ve sworn I saw her…” Pikestar trailed off, lifting his sunken gaze to look at Sunstone and Featherflame. His eye slid over to the speckled molly, who was quick to want to lead a patrol to go out and look for their beloved medicine cat. They slowly nodded, agreeing with the she-cat's bold statement.
“Alright… alright, yes, we must gather a search party.” Pikestar remarked, pulling himself out of the fog of his depressed mind, “Thank you both for informing me about this. I… She’s not…” The oriental longhair struggled to find the right words to say without voicing his honest fears to his two loyal warriors. But it seemed like there was no other way around it. “I refuse to believe that she’s dead until I see a body.” He uttered that sentence with a growl in his tone, trying to convince himself.
Pikestar said that bluntly, his partial gaze hardening. “She’s fine. She has to be fine.” He meowed, “We just need to go out and find her. And make sure to tell the clan as soon as possible.” The thought of rogues kidnapping Fawnpaw flashed in his mind. And then a horrible bloody memory of Birdpaw’s slaughter, only replaced with his beloved little sister instead of his young daughter. NO. He refused to believe that anyone would be that cruel to make Pikestar live through that gruesome nightmare again. “Featherflame, you have my full permission to gather a patrol of warriors to go out and look for Fawnpaw. Sunstone, you may assist with that too if you desire.” He remarked, forcing himself to speak. "We must act quickly."
He answered her invitingly, warmly, and already Bluebellcrackle felt the guilt twisting in her chest. She pulled the rest of her body into the den and sat down in front of him, one paw bouncing up and down on the den floor.
No time like the present.
She cleared her throat and spoke. "I'm leaving RiverClan." An open pause, waiting for any sort of response, before she carried on. "You know of my past. You know I was not born here. My brother... found me along the border earlier today. He told me that my mother is very sick."
She glanced down at her paws, both of which were now tapping against the ground. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. Apparently it's... bad. She might not-" Her voice hitched, cracked, and Bluebellcrackle turned her head away with a grimace. "She may not make it. And if something happens I have to be there."
Watching the marbled white-and-black molly enter his den, Pikestar blinked at she sat down in front of him, his partial gaze flickered down to her paw that anxiously seemed to tap against his den floor. Well, that certainly wasn’t a good sign, was it? He knew such an action was never a good one, but maybe the RiverClan leader was just overthinking it. However, Bluebellcrackle wasted no more time and spoke: She was leaving RiverClan. Immediately, a heaviness seemed to settle in the tom’s chest, like someone had just headbutted him right in the ribs. “...Oh.” That was the only response that the oriental longhair could muster, their expression slowly dropping. Regardless of the awful feelings of dread that swirled within, Pikestar listened intently to his friend and shield. Obviously, this was deeply important to Bluebellcrackle and he wouldn’t dare act selfishly, especially not now.
Her brother had found her at the border, and their mother was very sick. She wanted to go be with her family. Of course. How could Pikestar even begin to think to say no to such a thing? The tall RiverClan leader exhaled a small sigh through his nose, gave Bluebellcrackle a tiny reassuring smile and rested the tip of his tail on her shoulder. “You can go.” He meowed softly to his friend, “Be with your brother and mother. I hope she gets better, and I wish you all the best. Please... Don’t let me stop you.” He knew that any other cat would be questioning her loyalty to RiverClan and all that crap, but Pikestar felt like life was too short to worry about that. If Bluebellcrackle needed to go, then he’d understand. RiverClan would survive. Her family needed her right now and he respected that. Pikestar ignored everything else and solely focused on giving support to Bluebellcrackle.
Last edited by Captain; November 5th, 2022 at 09:22 PM.
The tall RiverClan leader looked up from his paws as Sunstone and Featherflame appeared in the mouth of his den. Both of the warriors looked rather frantic, so Pikestar immediately stood up and walked over to the two warriors, his expression laced with concern. Once the tomcat spoke, however, a heavy silence hung over the dark-furred oriental as the realization of their words hit him like a monster on the thunderpath. “Fawnpaw… She’s… gone?” He murmured, not realizing he had been staring at the floor of his den with a horrified look in his eye, “No… that… I could’ve sworn I saw her…” Pikestar trailed off, lifting his sunken gaze to look at Sunstone and Featherflame. His eye slid over to the speckled molly, who was quick to want to lead a patrol to go out and look for their beloved medicine cat. They slowly nodded, agreeing with the she-cat's bold statement.
“Alright… alright, yes, we must gather a search party.” Pikestar remarked, pulling himself out of the fog of his depressed mind, “Thank you both for informing me about this. I… She’s not…” The oriental longhair struggled to find the right words to say without voicing his honest fears to his two loyal warriors. But it seemed like there was no other way around it. “I refuse to believe that she’s dead until I see a body.” He uttered that sentence with a growl in his tone, trying to convince himself.
Pikestar said that bluntly, his partial gaze hardening. “She’s fine. She has to be fine.” He meowed, “We just need to go out and find her. And make sure to tell the clan as soon as possible.” The thought of rogues kidnapping Fawnpaw flashed in his mind. And then a horrible bloody memory of Birdpaw’s slaughter, only replaced with his beloved little sister instead of his young daughter. NO. He refused to believe that anyone would be that cruel to make Pikestar live through that gruesome nightmare again. “Featherflame, you have my full permission to gather a patrol of warriors to go out and look for Fawnpaw. Sunstone, you may assist with that too if you desire.” He remarked, forcing himself to speak. "We must act quickly."
Sunstone frowned as his leader slipped in a moment of panic. "Don't worry, Pikestar. We'll find her." The massive warrior reassured. The last thing he wanted was for his leader to be more stressed than he already was.
After a moment of held eye contact with Pikestar, Sunstone dipped his head in respect and turned to Featherflame. "Lets go sort those search parties." He mowed deeply, then slowly turned his massive body and exited the den.
On this particular morning in RiverClan, everything seemed quieter than usual with the air being colder than usual as it swept through the dens and sending a chill up the spines of every cat that was present. It was both calming and eerie to Pikestar in a weird way, but it was better than dealing with anything else at the moment. Currently, the tall dark-furred tomcat was finally attempting to groom his fur. These days, he often forgot to take care of himself, too busy with everything else, so stuff like cleaning his pelt and eating a piece of prey regularly seemed out of the question. Drawing his rough tongue over his fluffy chest in quick sessions of licks, Pikestar tried his very best in smoothing down the unkept strands of dark-grey hair. However, his long ears would perk up and he’d raise his head, a small bit of his tongue still sticking out his mouth, once he heard his name called in a familiar muttered voice: Gingerfrost. Ah, perfect timing. It was always a pleasure to talk with the young tom.
Pausing his grooming session, he’d clear his throat and shuffle his paws a moment before answering. “Come in.” He would quickly answer as he rested his tail over his front paws, “Good morning to you, Gingerfrost. What brings you to my den today?” There was no doubt that the shield had important matters to discuss on this fateful chilly morning. Well, lucky for Gingerfrost, so did Pikestar. But his topics could wait. Now, he only desired to hear what his clanmate wished to tell him.
Entering the den upon being permitted, the shield gave a nod in return to the leader's morning greeting. With everything that he had to go over (and in general) he wasn't feeling very chatty and so the tabby tom was pleased he could go straight to the point. Allowing himself to sit down first, for he felt he'd be there a little bit, Gingerfrost decided to begin with the patrols; "All the patrols reported back in time, there's little important to signal: Reedwhisker did scent a ThunderClanner and one of our own rather close to the border, but no trespassing was involved. And Rainwhisper didn't appear to have completed the patrol."
While some weren't perfectly on time, he wasn't nit-picky - they reported back before sundown and that was what mattered. With that he paused for a moment before continuing to the next matter: "Littlepaw passed her assessment, she's a good swimmer. Fast."
He added in his usually muttery tone, recalling how she managed to avoid the chucks or soil and sticks quite well. It likely wouldn't be long before she got her name, then.
With those two out of the way, the ginger tabby could move on to the third and most present point that caused his surprisingly early visit; he left a few moments of silence of course, before continuing. He wouldn't be surprised if his voice got all raspy by the end of this, but with the cold weather fast approaching, he'd rather have it out there and done with. "I wanted to suggest we reinforce our camp's walls. With leafbare fast approaching and all the recent intrusions, we could only benefit from it and find any weak spots that may have made easy entries. We might also want to use surroundings to better hide our camp's entrance; make it less obvious to those who aren't from our clan."
Ah. This was pleasant. Wormbite hadn't believed Pikestar would be willing. He did believe there would be no troubles if there had been no drastic changes since he had been down there. "Do not worry. You are not missing out, " He chuckled lightly, yeah, he would never forget the way dirt clung to him for weeks or the skeleton he and ... he ended the trial of thought. Wormbite had no need to think of his former mentor.
An unreadable expression took over his features, falling into a similar blank face but colder. Far away. The sentiment was - was nice. Appreciated. He couldn't wave the sickness that filled his stomach at the confession of how Pikestar trusted his judgement, calling him a friend. Wormbite could not fathom why. (He was not good. He did not deserve such trust. He was a monster.) He wanted to refute. Reject the sentiment because he couldn't handle it unexpectedly. Pikestar was his friend and painfully so, this meant the Dark Lord would lose him sooner or later. He had so few friends, he needed none. He could not have any - it was for their own protection. Wormbite was a warrior. Attachments were dangerous and he's been so soft and -
oh stars.
His gaze snapped back up to Pikestar, a panicked looked. "P- pardon?" Wormbite asked, breathless. Right. Right. Squeezing his eyes shut before reopening, "Yes. Yes, thank you. I will use this opportunity to the best of my abilities. " The words came with a slight shake but settled into a monotone voice once more.
Licking his lips to wet them, having a horrible case of dry mouth all of the sudden, all Wormbite really did was nod in response. "Of course.. I will bring it up later. I wish to work out the details before I start looking for warriors. Thank you, Pikestar. I will leave you be, then. " With that, the Shield took his leave - he did not want to bother the tom anymore.
.
__________________
❝ hold on tight to this time,
this place 'cause everything you know will be erased.
you were born inside your head.
and that is where you'll be when you are dead. ❞ -- the sleepy consumes me --
꒰ pronouns.cc꒱
Last edited by wolfie; November 5th, 2022 at 04:21 PM.
Otterfluff
He felt as though he had been here quite often since his return, but that was his punishment for wanting to dive headfirst back into his duties. With a soft sigh, Otterfluff stood at the entrance of the den, tail swishing behind him. "Pikestar? Do you have a moment?" he called, waiting for the leader to okay his sudden visit.
The ginger giant approached the leader's den with caution, dreading to spill the news. He poked his massive head into the den. "Pikestar? The search parties for Fawnpaw have concluded..." Sunstone trailed off, unsure of how to announce the results. His sheepish tone was probably a dead giveaway already, but he couldn't bare to lighthearted in a situation like this. Not only was Fawnpaw nowhere to be found, two patrols didn't come back with reports. "If you have a moment, I'd like to discuss it with you."
When Pikestar's first response was merely a breathy exhale, she thought she'd screwed up big time, and it showed with the way her eyes flickered anxiously.
Then he continued, resting his tail on her shoulder, and she deflated with a sigh of her own. A rare smile, albeit wobbly, inched its way across her lips. "Thank you, friend. I... I'll be back, I promise." Her tone became a little more serious as she added, "Don't you dare go anywhere while I'm gone."
She stepped forward to press her forehead to his before pulling back again. "If you see Fawnpaw, please tell her where I've gone. I don't have time to find her and I want her to know I didn't leave without saying anything first."
__________________
On hiatus from June 9th to June 17th. Do not bump me/send me messages, they will go unresponded to.
Re: RiverClan Leader's Den
Re: RiverClan Leader's Den
