An Unexpected Series of Events (Clan Meeting/ Open)

Thoughts reeled in the young leader's mind as her heavy paws carried her numbly across the camp. She didn't speak to any cat, she barely even glanced at them- why would she want to see all of the disapproving stares that were held for her. A group of cats whispered and snickered, glancing her way with malice, while other's looked on with pity. She gave neither any heed, making a beeline for the elder's den, where Fernsong and Half-ear eagerly greeted their daughter, grateful to see her alive. She could barely greet them before allowing her legs to buckle, laying between the pair of elder's like the kit she once been. There were no questions, no comments, only the welcoming purr of her loving parents as they meticulously began to groom her dusty and battle ridden coat. Their scent, their warmth, it blanketed her like a heavy mist, and suddenly she was spiraling into a dream. Her apprentice ceremony, her warrior ceremony, they flashed before her with excitement and eagerness. She would prove herself to her clan. Her deputy ceremony rang with shock and finally acceptance- a role she would fill until death. Her leader ceremony heralded the death of the wrong cat. She wasn't meant to be a leader- she couldn't- but now it seemed, she had no choice. She relived receiving her nine lives, this time trying to question the old leader, but dead cats tell no secrets.

By the time she jerked away, the sun was setting, and the clan was abuzz with cats returning from their duties, speaking in hurried, hushed tones. Her stress filled brain translated it into their distress over having Littlestar as a leader. Even her name left nothing to be imagined, and it made the pint sized leader burn with embarrassment. For a few long moments, she sat besides her mother, taking strength in the presence of the cat that had raised her, despite being adopted. The two she-cats shared no words, and finally Littlestar stood, reveling in how relaxed and pain-free she felt, as well as in her immaculately groomed coat, her neck wound clean and free of cobwebs, neatly covered over with fur, and almost entirely hidden from sight. It was pleasant to know, even if she had to go face the clan, that she could do so looking dignified. Slowly, she slipped from the elder's den, glancing around the camp quickly gathering her bearings. Dusk was falling, stretching long shadows across the snow-covered ground, and most of the clan sat scattered around the camp, in tight knit circles. Some cats were at ease, speaking and laughing with their clanmates, while others made her skin burn as they sat, quietly, eyes darting to shoot daggers at her as they caught sight of her. Those cats, she knew, believed she had no business leading the clan. Littlestar stood barely as large as an apprentice almost fresh out of the nursery, and although many cats had respected her as a deputy, they felt she could be no more than that. A deputy. A couple of the older and harsher warriors believed she had no place even being a clan cat, some of them even being senior warriors that had vouched for their leader to send the weird little hybrid kittypet back to the twolegs. Even if she had proven her place as a warrior, she had a ways to go to make any impact as a leader- and that was hard enough, while she had such doubt in herself.

She scanned the cats again, searching desperately for Blackclaw- he was her rock through this, but she couldn't seem to locate the dark tom, and it sent an odd ache through her heart. He was the reason she hadn't turned tail and fled already. After finding the hulking tom spying after her leader ceremony, it had been his steady resolve and gentle touch that gave her the courage to even return to camp, he was what gave her any hope she could do this- in fact, it had been while pressed deep into his chest, allowing all of her fears to run rampant, that she had been enabled a moment of clarity that had allowed her to decide the very cat she wanted to be deputy, the one cat she felt she could trust to be her helper and aid- aside from Blackclaw himself. Thankfully, she caught her father's warm gaze from across the camp, where he gave her a little nod of assurance. She could do this. Squaring her shoulders and raising her head, trying to force some sort of dignity and strength to emanate forth, to try to hide her doubts and dampen those of her clanmates, she strutted across the camp, heading towards the Highledge that now seemed to cast such a shadow. The dark cave that sat nestled into the base of the large mound of earth filled her even with a sense of loneliness. For the first time, she would sleep there, in that den instead of among the soft snores of her warriors, tucked against Blackclaw for warmth through leaf-bare- but for now, that could not be her concern. She forced herself to avoid hesitating as, with a powerful leap, she sprung herself to the top of the Highledge, and turned, glancing down at her Clan, a few cats noticing her and staring up expectantly. She inhaled the cold air sharply, taking one last moment to steel and center herself against her fear. Please StarClan, lend me the strength to lead my Clan... let Rushstar have been right. Let me... let me be able to handle this and make the right decisions.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Oh thank StarClan, her voice sounded stronger and more assured than she felt. She could only pray that she also looked the part of an imposing leader. The last dying rays of the setting sun caught her fur, making it shine cold, and warming her when she felt cold and worried. She hoped it was somehow, even, a sign she could do this already. Oh please let me do this right... Cats came from the woodwork, some slinking from their dens, and a few darting through the thorn tunnel to gather at the base of the tower, staring up at her, wide eyed and expectant. Even the cats who doubted her leadership were suddenly at attention. They were all ready. There was no time for her to even try to catch the gaze of Half-ear or Fernsong, or find Blackclaw in the throng of cats, before she felt obliged to continue. "What ShadowClan did was inexcusable, and with time, we will earn back what is rightfully ours- but for now, in the wake of Rushstar's death, we must continue to strive forwards and continue our lives. ThunderClan must persevere." She sent a silent prayer to StarClan that she knew just what to say. Inhaling deeply, she once again steeled herself, addressing both her clan, and StarClan with her next words. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice." She scanned her clan again, her pale blue eyes falling on the dusty grey tabby who she knew she not only owed her life, but so much more credit that she ever had given him. "The new deputy of ThunderClan will be One-eye."

One-eye ~ 70 ~ Tom ~ Elder

He'd spent the last few days in his den for the most part. He felt it was his personal job to assure Half-ear and Fernsong of their daughter's safety. He would escort them to the Medicine Den to see her while she was still there. But he felt as if he'd lost his purpose once she was better and had left for her ceremony. And once she returned, she didn't look at or talk to anycat.

She had yet to yell at him for going to the boarder skirmish and taking part. But oh boy was he ready for her! If she did yell at him, he had his defenses ready. He was asked - begged - by the medicine cat for his strength and assistance. He was needed and she valued the good he could still do for the Clan. No, he didn't really harbour any ill will toward Littlefire, er, Littlestar. She was just doing her job and he had deliberately disobeyed her orders. He had absolutely no doubt in her ability to be a good leader, he just thought she was kind of a buzz kill sometimes.

Which, in his opinion, was a trait of a good leader.

Anycat who tried to say that she wouldn't lead well would get a clawfull of One-eye's wrath and he stuck by that. If, you know, she would let him...

He was so lost in his own thought that he hadn't noticed the sun starting to go down or the little leader who made her way over to the announcement area. It wasn't until he heard her strong voice that he got up and moved over to the clearing, helping his two friends along. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting! What ShadowClan did was inexcusable, and with time, we will earn back what is rightfully ours- but for now, in the wake of Rushstar's death, we must continue to strive forwards and continue our lives. ThunderClan must persevere." He nodded. He doubted there was anyone who would disagree with her on that account. It was a strong thing to open with. Hopefully it would gain respect from at least a couple of the other cats.

"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice." He glanced around looking for Blackclaw. There was no doubt in his mind that she would award the position to her only other true supporter. Sure, he was young but that wouldn't matter in the scheme of things. She would need someone who was strong and willing to stick his neck out for her. Besides, if Blackclaw was deputy, then One-eye would certainly going to be able to go out into the forest more! "The new deputy of ThunderClan will be One-eye." He didn't even hear her words and he cocked his head in confusion when the black cat didn't move forward.

Then he realized...every head had turned to stair at him. He replayed her voice through his head and suddenly his head snapped back toward the small cat silhouetted by the rising moon. He felt a soft body bump into his back and he glanced back to see Fernsong's smiling face nodding toward the high ledge, beckoning him forward. His remaining eye was open so wide the orb looked about to just fall out. Slowly, he put one paw in front of the other and started to move toward the ledge, his confusion and incredulous expression evident to every cat.

Was this even allowed!?

blackclaw

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE I KNOW ARE GETTING ILL. PULL SOMETHING GOOD FROM THE ASHES NOW BE STILL.

After the yesterday's constant work and a night spent in fitful, anxious sleep, Blackclaw was still exhausted when the sun began to sink back towards the earth. If he'd known that Littlestar (and it was so very important that he think of her as Littlestar, now that he'd seen ThunderClan's discontent for himself) had been in the elders' den, he would've dragged himself over there in a heartbeat-- but sleeping late had embarrassed him so much that he'd thrown himself onto a sunhigh hunting patrol and tried desperately not to get angry at the mutinous discussions of his clanmates. They were so wrong about her-- what did they know anyway? Size never made a warrior: training did. Skill, loyalty, courage: these were the values that ThunderClan lived for more than any other clan, and just because their leader wasn't some StarClan-given tom the size of an oak tree with stormy eyes, that was no reason to behave like a bunch of whiny kits who hadn't gotten first pick of the fresh-kill. Useless crowfood-for-brains. If this was what age and seniority gave you, he was glad One-eye was in the elders den if it meant that he didn't have to deal with their narrow-minded rubbish.

But Littlestar's words last night still gnawed at him. 'I should've died in that skirmish, not Rushstar.' He remembered seeing her pinned under that black she-cat, blood soaking the grass underneath her-- and then there had been the other warrior, hadn't there, the big ShadowClan tom. He hated himself for even considering it. What would have happened if another warrior hadn't helped her, or if Rushstar hadn't been killed? Would she have been able to get free? There were some situations where skill alone not been enough to save her. What if the same was true of her spirit? It was all speculation and pain and he wasn't going to think about it any more. It was all nonsense. Littlestar knew how to handle herself. Of course she did.

It wasn't until the shadows were shredding the forest that he was aware of how long he'd been out. Maybe Littlestar would be awake now. Maybe he could get her to share some evening fresh-kill. Just outside of camp, he hear it. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" On heavy paws, the dark warrior padded into camp, a starling clamped between his teeth. There she was, standing tall atop the Highledge, her fur burning gold in the evening light. Her eyes flashed like a forest fire. The dark warrior nodded, dropping the bird and sitting, tail curled around his paws. Her words were strong, powerful, enough to make a sneering tom nearby close his lips and pay attention. He tried not to look at the other discontented faces or the fluffed-up coats.
"What ShadowClan did was inexcusable, and with time, we will earn back what is rightfully ours- but for now, in the wake of Rushstar's death, we must continue to strive forwards and continue our lives. ThunderClan must persevere."
He nodded, eyes set on her, trying to will her on. 'See, Littlestar? You can do it.' Whoever she picked, it would surely be one of the senior warriors: maybe it would sway her detractors if she had a respectable cat under her; one who'd lend her authority, credence.
"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice."
Her eyes scoured the clan and he saw them catch on someone, someone towards the front of the crowd.
"The new deputy of ThunderClan will be One-eye."
What?! The tom's eyes grew huge, but an even bigger grin was already spreading across his face. One-eye! He tried to keep the grin on his face as the sudden and obvious weight of a new sack of problems hit him square in the face. This wasn't going to cement Littlestar as a competent leader: anyone who'd had doubts about her had probably just acquired several more. Chosing an elder!, they'd say. She's completely cracked! He couldn't see the sky if he was carried off by a hawk-- how's he supposed to fight? they'd continue. And it wasn't like he could just tell them all they were stupid. If you didn't know One-eye, those were fairly legitimate complaints. All the cats around him seemed hesitant, glancing at each other as if they were waiting for Littlestar to laugh and tell them it was all a joke, or for Rushstar to leap out from behind the Highledge and laugh and tell them that everything was just going to go back to normal. As if this was an elaborate stunt instead of the future of ThunderClan. A crippled cat and a kitten? Is this what ThunderClan has come to? they'd say. Well, maybe it was. But maybe Littlestar and One-eye would do great things for ThunderClan. He couldn't believe it: One-eye, not just no longer an elder but deputy of ThunderClan? And, reluctantly, the young warrior allowed enthusiasm to win out over practicality. 'They will tell stories about this.' And, well, sometimes you just had to have faith that they would be good ones.

"One-eye! One-eye!" he cried, and the grin on his face shone in the fading evening light. Fernsong's voice joined his, and Half-ear's just as loud. The rest of ThunderClan followed suit, and for a brief but wonderful moment, the voices of ThunderClan's warriors were joined as one. "One-eye! One-eye! One-eye!"

Aspenpaw had just been trying to stay out of the way today. Everybody was still really anxious about what had happened with ShadowClan, and she didn't want to do something to make things worse, so she remained in the shadows most of the day. Pretty ironic really; the Clan being stressed out about SHADOWClan and her just wanting to hide out in the shadows. She amused herself most of the time. Not to say that she was lethargic and didn't do anything to help out; whenever she was sought out she went out on a patrol or out training or whatever, but otherwise she ghosted around the camp. That didn't make anything better, though. It was still extremely tense around the place by sundown and she had silently been picking her way across the clearing to seek out One-eye to see if he maybe wanted to go out on a walk or something; she couldn't do anymore harm to him than she already had. Unfortunately, as she was making her way over to the Elder's den she heard a familiar saying echo around the camp, although it wasn't issued by the same voice she was used to. 

It caused her to start, and she jumped a bit as she whirled around to fix her bronze gaze on the Highledge. Her ears twitched lightly as she froze in place for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she sees Littlefire atop the ledge. It was such an uncommon sight that it shocked her for a moment, causing her to forget the circumstances that revolved around the she-cat standing there until the reality of the past several days snapped back to her mind like a rubber band; stinging and fitting snugly to insure that she wouldn't forget again. Which made her want to slink back into the shadows until she realized that she would probably be in trouble if she didn't stick around for the meeting; she was definitely old enough to catch her own prey. So, she shuffled her paws forward, habitually taking a seat nearby her former mentor before training her gaze once again on the cat who called the meeting...not Littlefire anymore, but Littlestar. She wondered briefly how the she-cat would do with the role, but she figured she would do just as well as any leader before her. It's not as if she could mess up so badly as to tear apart the Clan or something like that, so she figured no matter what she'd at least do alright.

She listened silently as the she-cat spoke about ShadowClan and moving forward, a tinge of respect entering her bronze hues; she had never thought that the she-cat might give such a good speech, especially one that was so true. She'd always seen Littlestar as kind of stuffy and even a bit prickly, but she felt almost as if she could see the REAL Littlestar, even if it was only for the briefest of moments. She was wrong though; she hadn't yet seen the real Littlestar, as what she said next really blew her away. She was promoting One-eye to deputy! It wasn't debatable now if their new leader had a brain! She was so shocked that her former mentor was declared deputy that she was speechless for a moment, her jaw dropped open in surprise until she heard another cat beginning to chant the new Deputy's name. It took a moment for her to regain control before she was finally able to speak, but once she did she practically yowled to the skies One-eye's name; overjoyed as the Clan accepted One-eye into the role of Deputy.  

For a moment, her words echoed in the silence, and her heart seized in her chest, eyes falling on the shocked faces of her clanmates. Forced herself to remain outwardly confident though, eye gaze fixing back on One-eye, her new deputy. The look on the tom's face was priceless, and she nodded to him in encouragement. Behind him, Fernsong was urging him forward, and as he rose to his paws, still shocked, the rest of the clan seemed to come to their individual conclusions, Blackclaw leading the cry as the clan began to chant his name, some voices still hesitant, others rising strong above the crowd: Aspenpaw in particular seemed extremely pleased with her ex-mentor's rise to power, Fernsong and Half-ear's voices rising above the chorus, and through all of the excitement, Littlestar couldn't join in.

As the clan relaxed and continued to cheer, most cats rushing close to him now to congratulate him, the weight of her new role landed hard on Littlestar's shoulders. Exhaustion laced her muscles and suddenly she felt like the world was standing on her back. Her neck throbbed, and the cheers from the clan was beginning to make her head ache, and all she wanted to do suddenly was curl up in the warriors den and sleep for a couple of moons. Slowly, painfully, with much less enthusiasm than before the ceremony, she climbed down, coming nearly face to face with four of her warriors, sitting in the shadows, eyes glowing with malice. She knew they had issues with her, and her choices, and for that, she was afraid. To what extent would these worried warriors go in order to insure the avoidance of what she assumed, they believed would be the fall of ThunderClan. She gave a last ditch effort to hold her head high, stare each of them down, hide her exhaustion and fear, and then spun away from them, waiting until they turned away, to allow mental state to collapse. Her eyes, hollow, looked across the camp to the warriors den, and her paws froze. That wasn't where she would sleep, not in her nest, not tucked against her apprentice, leeching his warm, and the comfort of his presence.

She scanned the crowd, until she met Blackclaw's gaze. She didn't know what to say to him, although she wanted to say... something. She didn't want to sleep alone in the cold Leader's den, where she didn't belong, not among the scent and spirit of so many fantastic leaders before her, one she would never be. She held his gaze, her own full of pain and fear. For a moment she wanted to approach him, take comfort in his presence and perhaps have him join her- why sleep alone, when she hadn't, not once, her entire life? Instead though, she steeled herself and turned, disappearing into the dark tunnel that opened into the leaders den, lost in her own thoughts.