[Fawn]

Originally Posted by Starfall

His wounds ached. Shoulders burned, lungs burned, head burned. His whole body was sore, fighting off those two deputies were a little more difficult than he originally thought. However, he managed to ... well, Windygale was dead. Of course it was all still nothing more than a blur, like he wasn't the one controlling his own body. One second he was shoving the cream tom away, the next the forest floor was red. Whenever he thought about it his head started pounding.

He had been curled into himself, nestled into his moss littered nest. His whole body felt like it had been crushed by boulders, he wanted to sleep so badly. The whispers of accusation and worry buzzing about kept him from doing so. However, he didn't get any more time to ponder on it, a familiar voice echoing in the empty den. The leader lifted his head, though he could only lift it slightly, a soft shock of pain ripping through his body.He settled for resting his chin on the very edge of his nest. He was too tired to try and process how he felt about his childhood friend suddenly in here once more.

Lapis optics watched as the brown tabby shuffled in, knowing that he needn't be invited in like most others. Save him a few painful breaths. The ebony tom listened as his friend babbled on about thoughtless concerns, mumbling about things he didn't understand. With a sigh, he shifted into a more comfortable position. "Cedarsprint." he mumbled. However the warrior didn't hear the call. "Cedarsprint." this time a little louder. Once again the call went right over the toms head. Fallenstar listened onto his friends babbling, an exhausted look plastered on his face. "Cedarsprint!" he shouted, voice hoarse from all the yelling he had done. "What in the name of Starclan are you talking about? Why would I be angry that you called me by my warrior name?" the question ended in a sigh and a shake of a head. "Nevermind. Whatever it is you're babbling on about, there's something a little more important that I gotta ask." he huffed, ignoring the last point the warrior named. It made his heart ache, he didn't wish to confront it.

The leader picked himself up on wobbly legs, ashamed that it was taking so much effort to just pick himself up. His bones were screaming at him. Muscles wailed. He had been thinking about it for a while now, since he had retrieved ... or more accurately stumbled upon Cedarsprint. He was unphased by what had been happening, he was a fresh face, a fresh outlook on what was happening. All the decisions he made did nothing but bring ruin upon the clan. He allied with Thunderclan, and he got backlash for it. He brought the issue up, and they were driven out of their territory. They fight over the borders, fighting for the pitiful land they were driven to, and a kit gets killed in a raid. Daisyshade died, Heatherfur dissapeared. He was all alone.

"I'm calling a clan meeting. And announcing our new deputy." he huffed, staggering towards the entrance of his den. He refused to look the warrior in the eyes. "So get yourself presentable, there's going to be a lot of eyes on you here pretty soon." he gruffed out. He needed to stop for a second, resting himself against the cold stone. "You're going to be Riverclans new deputy."

At Fallenstar's rumble, Cedarsprint's ears tilted forward in earnest, then lowered toward his head - not a gesture of anger but embarrassment as he realized his rambling had possibly been foolish in hindsight. It may have been well thought-out, but he could have practiced its delivery on a stick or a leaf before coming in here, that may have made for a smoother conversation. If his one-sided suggestions could be called that at all, when Fallenstar hadn't spoken until now. "What do you mean, what am I talking about?" he meowed with intensity, eyes flashing as hurt panged his heart. "When we were out there- fighting that dog with that one tom, you…" He trailed off there and shook his head to recollect his thoughts, unwilling to let this get the better of him.

Rather than digging into the central matter immediately, Cedarsprint chose to focus on his other question, the one that didn't require soul-searching and a confession of feeling like Fallenstar's care toward him was inadequate. "I figured you would prefer Fallenstar, y'know, being a leader. Fallenstream, sure… it flows better, it sounds tough like rapids, but it's still a reminder of a rank that you don't have anymore." Technically, two ranks, and both would be considered below him… though he wondered if that mattered to him, being a strong advocate of giving his warriors say in decisions and genuinely feeling compassionate toward everyone, regardless of status. As long as they weren't Cedarsprint, they were apparently fair-game for Fallenstar's empathy.

No time was allotted to truly organize where he wanted to go with this discussion, as Fallenstar seemed to be moving on without him. Typical, maybe, but he internally scolded himself for thinking like that when it wasn't appropriate right now. "Wait, you have a question for me?" Cedarsprint clarified but it was more of a dubious scoff, blinking in surprise. "But… I came here with questions for you—" There was no chance in finishing that because Fallenstar had dragged himself from the nest, leading him to examine his friend with quiet uncertainty, worry.

At the announcement of calling a clan meeting, he was stunned into a perplexed silence because this wasn't how he'd thought this confrontation would go at all. Slowly, he was starting to wonder if he'd chosen a bad time but it was nearing moonhigh, he hadn't thought Fallenstar would be doing anything but resting. "Okay," he replied evenly. "Do you want me to come back later? Because I'm not sure we were actually done with that discussion. I think after your clan meeting would work." Unless he planned on avoiding him again. However, Cedarsprint refused to let this go, couldn't stand another night of obsessing over whether Fallenstar secretly hated him or not, and he was going to force the truth from him eventually. He couldn't keep calling clan meetings forever.

His world came to a screeching halt at the next bit of information, body going tense as he was wrought with shock. "What?!" he finally exploded, gawking. "Are you crazy? That's— there's no way I'm doing that! Have you met me? I barely became a warrior, so I have no idea why you think I'd be a good deputy." Cedarsprint's heart hammered in his chest as he bounded forward to catch up with Fallenstar. "Look, it's flattering, and I think you're one of the better leaders RiverClan has had, but choosing me would be a mistake. I'm not going to be deputy."