[lone]

Originally Posted by InfernoFlicker

A wave of suppressed shock rippled through Infernosky's body. Dapplestar is gone.
What? That's impossible. I promised myself I would make it back for her...I can't be too late. Behind the wall of Infernosky's stony face was a wave of emotions and dismay. Some of it crept through, however, when she replied more unsteadily, "...What? How could she be gone?..." Her prideful gaze that was once towering over everyone else's, dropped a little. Dapplestar had been Infernosky's leader almost as long as she had been alive...she couldn't imagine Dapplestar just being...gone. The red tabby didn't even recognize the name of Blazingstar. Neither did she recognize Shrikecall. Where did all these cats come from? She couldn't have been gone THAT long...couldn't she?

Obsidiansky's voice came from behind the deputy at this time, and Russel and Jitterbug turned their attention to the...gentler face, among all these firey hostile deputies. Jitterbug offered an agreeing smile to the cats suggestion, and Russel nodded his head simultaneously. Yes, they liked this cat, who was about to let them in and get them out of this mess, stuck between the tensity between two deputies. Immediately after, Shrikecall's deadly narrowed gaze in response to the suggestion turned their hopeful faces into fearful ones.

Infernosky then responded to the next set of questions. Anger now openly expressed in her firey eyes and up-curled lip to bare her canines, she fired back, "Of course I can prove that she knows me! Just ask Twilightsky and Swallowsong. I wanted to speak to Dapplestar because I came HOME, and I want to see my friends and family again. Windclan is my home, just as it is yours, and I am not leaving until you find some cat to tell you who I am." The lowness and intensity in her tone was dead serious, as was the muzzle that she now had thrusted in Shrikecall's face in a challenging manner. In the back of her mind she was very troubled, however. The comotion they had made certainly would have attracted attention, and she would have expected Twilightsky and Swallowsong to hear her snarling by now, and come out to see her. They couldn't be gone too...could they? Maybe they were out on patrol. Everything in her heart screamed to Starclan, begging that she hadn't come back to a clan empty of the only cats she had truly cared about all her life.

A slightly sympathetic look came over Obsidiansky's features. He felt bad-- it was obvious that this cat, whoever she might be, had been expecting something completely different. Instead she was being harassed by the hostile deputy, and now being told that her friend-- or family member-- was gone. "She led us well. But there-- there was a fire here, and then...and then another cat took over. H-he got rid of Dapplestar, I don't know what he did with her... but she returned for a little while after he was overthrown by S-SkyClan...they're a new Clan that we just recently found out existed, heh...and then she was gone. She appointed Blazingstorm-- Blazingstar now-- as her deputy, and then she left, and he chose Shrikecall." That was a short explanation of what had happened, but it was the best that Obsidiansky could do at the moment. With Shrikecall staring at the cats as though he would like to kill them, or at least get rid of them, and them looking back at him with such confusion, he knew there was no way that he had time to explain everything. He glanced hopefully at the cats, wondering if they understood any of what he had said. He doubted it...it was too confusing to take in like that all at once. Everything was so mixed up and confused nowadays, it was hard to tell who was telling the truth and who was lying.

Shrikecall watched Infernosky with a curious, then deadly expression as she spoke. He had never heard of either of those cats, and he was beginning to think that she was ranting names out now, hoping to get into their Clan. Who wouldn't? The safety and protection that a Clan offered was special, and not to be given away to every cat who came asking for it. "I've never met any cat by that name. Now get out of here before you force me to take harsher measures. I do not wish to hurt you if I don't have to." He snapped. Shrikecall wasn't a heartless cat. He knew that this cat must have some connection to Dapplestar, but as she had no proof...and as Dapplestar was gone anyways...he guessed that they had no business here. Unless they wanted to ask Blazingstar about Twilight-something and Swallow-something, they needed to leave. There was no way that he was going to allow these strangers to get in his way and endanger the Clan. The red furred one obviously had some leaderlike tendencies, but if she had belonged to WindClan before, why had she left? And why was she returning now, right after Singenight had been defeated and the Clan was getting back to normal again? This couldn't be a coincidence. Now, even if they could provide him with significant proof, he wasn't sure he would let them in.

"Listen, why don't I take them aside and explain? They deserve to know what happened to Dapplestar at least, and I can't tell them everything within a few minutes," Obsidiansky mewed, looking anxiously at the Deputy. He knew better then to cross the tom, but these cats should know.
"Absolutely not. You can tell them here and now. I will return in a short amount of time to make sure you followed my orders." Shrikecall snapped back, glaring at the younger warrior. What did this young warrior know about running a Clan? About keeping a Clan safe? Nothing, that was what. Shrikecall knew what he had to do to keep WindClan safe, and Obsidiansky was acting like it was no big deal, like these cats were absolutely no threat to them at all.
"It's my responsibility. I promise I'll keep an eye on them." Obsidiansky mewed, glancing over at the cats with a curious expression and a half- hopeful one. He wanted to explain. Somehow, he knew they weren't here to hurt WindClan...they were here on perfectly innocent business.
"One wrong move, and you're all in trouble. Don't leave them alone for a minute. Understood?" Shrikecall asked after a while. Perhaps he was being unreasonable. And if this younger cat wanted to take on the responsibility...so be it. He could do that if he liked, but Shrikecall knew that something bad would happen and when it did, Obsidiansky would be the one to blame.

"Great. You won't regret this." Obsidiansky mewed, smiling at the Deputy before Shrikecall backed up and allowed him to pass through to the other cats. "Follow me. I suppose we owe you an explanation..." He mewed, glancing back at the cats who were standing at the entrance to the territory.