**Daisypool**
Ancient Shadowclan Warrior - Starclan
@
Starfall @
marshall @
Sakura.
She pitied Featherfoot, truly. It was a pity that a warrior should feel that they were never given the chance to live, to do anything with their life. The haughtiness of her address to Magpiewisp was a bold choice, one Daisypool could have respected if not for the rest of the pitiful display the once-warrior was putting on. And the question was one that, of course, she thought would get the desired reaction. But the question just solidified something in Daisypool. She'd thought the warrior grasping at any conceivable chance before, but that simply proved it to the starry warden. Attempting to play on Magpiewisp's emotions was a losing game, but most other cats would agree, but that was exactly the reason why it certainly was no reason to return, or else they'd be sending back every cat who entered here with a plea. It made the pity grow as she thought about how confident the pleading warrior had seemed that that would work. And then there it was...
"I...I...I...I..." She couldn't be sure if the she-cat was right about her role with Lightningpaw but the self-importance was giving Daisypool more than anything Featherfoot was actually saying. She hated saying no, she loved her job for those she could help, those she could send back. But these cases where she had to fight a cat's own self-destruction to get them back were always the hardest. They clearly wanted it so dearly but if not for the right reasons, she simply couldn't.
But then Pebblepool stepped in and her and Magpiewisp gave their responses, and Daisypool felt her heart giving once more; the
pity. Pebblepool had clearly not liked what she'd heard and Magpiewisp's answer to the plea was of no surprise. Once the other two had finished, Daisypool began hers after a brief pause.
"Oh dearest. Sadly you are not a rarity having not accomplished all you wanted to in life. It is too common. But it is not a cat's circumstances that change who ends up here fulfilled and who does not, it is the cat themselves. You were waiting for somebody or something else to give you a chance? And you still are, by the way you say it. You say you've learned self-respect. I don't doubt it, to the extent you believe it's true, but in the most important matters, you haven't learned anything. Life does not give you the chance to do something with it, you must make the opportunity." She took a breath, releasing the tightness she felt over the matter.
"I think your cause is a good one, I do. More cats should be standing by one another through their struggles, from outside and within. I don't know about dear Lightningpaw's prospects without you or if what you say about her is how she feels it as well, but Magpiewisp and Pebblepool are right, Lightningpaw can not rely on one cat so heavily if she is to become Windclan's medicine cat. Your loss must be a lesson learned and she must learn how to move forward, or else she will be a liability to the clan at every loss. Maybe, love, you accept that your role in her life has done its job and your final act of grace in her journey is that of one of life's hardest lessons?" Daisypool could not yet bring herself to say no outright but the tightness in her heart told her well enough that, unless something were to change significantly, dramatically, that was the only answer she'd be able to give.