The Starcave

[Abyssopelagic]

Coldamber walked to the Starcave alone, for the first time since she'd been named Medicine Cat. The air felt heavy as she made the trek. She'd never been so reluctant to come to a meeting.
As she finally stepped into the cave and looked at the other gathered Medicine Cats, her eyes laid upon Snakepaw, without his mentor and Ebonyfang, new apprentice at his heels.
It seems much had changed in the other Clans as well.
She dipped her head to Ebonyfang and his apprentice and then turned to sit with Snakepaw.
"You seem troubled, Snakepaw. Do you want to talk about it or would you rather try to not thin about it?"
She wouldn't be addressing Frostpaw today. She was too tired and too upset as it was. She wanted to at least pretend everything was normal before she had to tell the others about Snailswirl's choice.
@Rani @Angelique @Fletcher @Zesty Mango

[Moon Lily]

[ @Angelique @Zesty Mango @Fletcher @Rani @Rainquail @implimm ]

The blue-grey molly struggled up the last length of the rocky ascent, jaw clenched in frustration. Stupid... She clawed at the frozen dirt, catching a glimpse of the cave a few fox-lengths ahead. darned... Her disfigured limb nearly buckled from the strain. Star-cats...
Reaching the crest of the hill, she allowed herself several deep breaths. This exercise wasn't solely to ensure she wouldn't die on the spot; although she might as well. You could see it plainly on her face. She was nervous.

As the she-cat scouted her way through the tunnel, she paused in the void. You should go back, her conscience urged, they don't want you here. But her exchange with the Hag had consoled her jittering nerves to some degree. She wasn't going to back down from this opportunity. And besides, she didn't want to live with the thought that if the clans went extinct, she could have done something to help them.
And so she endured the rest of the black hallway, greeting the dimly lit cavern with a nostalgic smile. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she met the eyes of her former colleagues. Well...most of them.
She found herself unable to look at the black tom for more than a moment.

But she wasn't with him, this time. She was on her own.

Irisflame gulped and attempted a sheepish smile.
"Miss me?"

[Rani]

Ah other cats. Great. Snakepaws tail lashed as he tensely stood waiting for a response and lashed more when the shadowclan cats arrived. Great he got to be unprofessional in front of them now because on this, today was going great. Sure he relaxed that no one seemed to care or comment (not new no one liked Frostpaw) but still obviously wasnt in the best of states. Regardless he let his fur flatten and shifted focus onto the newcomer the only cat present younger then him and not by a lot and introduced himself.
"A new shadowclan medicine cat? Or medicine cat apprentice at least? Well Im Snakepaw riverclans medicine cat apprentice, my mentor Sparrowskip isnt going to be here today for reasons that are none of your business, but its good to meet you. Word to the wise dont listen to anything Frostpaw says she's full of it"
The little thing was rather lean wasnt he, even when compared to Snakepaws lanky and long frame and the tom had no clue what was up with his eye but he refrained from judgement on that alone. Gods knows Coldamber was missing a leg, Rainywhisker was old and semi blind and Snailswirl had that weird breathing issue so herb knowledge was obviously more important than any potential health issues.

There really was no time for response before Coldamber arrived though and Bouncepaw was forgotten because stars Snakepaw was happy to see her. "Coldamber!" He actually smiled trotting up to her and actually kind of leaning on her as he sat beside the older molly "You're ok! Sootstar said things in windclan were.... Well I was worried and am glad to see you now. Things havent been the best lately but thats probably nothing given everything. We can hang back and talk more after the meeting if you want?" He really didnt want to air out all of his issues in front of the rest of the group but was more then willing to spend extra time to talk to Coldamber about it later.

And then there was this cat interrupting things. She wasnt anyone Snakepaw recognised but he really didnt know many cats outside his clan. "Sorry who are you?"

@Angelique @Zesty Mango @Fletcher @Moon Lily @Rainquail @implimm

[Mango]

@Angelique @Fletcher @Moonlily @Rainquail @Rani

Frostpaw spun around to face Snakepaw,” Go back to camp, Fakepaw. Apprentice’s can’t leave camp without a warrior, I’ll bet you’ll be demoted back to kit for not just leaving camp without a warrior, but leaving the territory without a warrior. Gosh, I forgot how weak and helpless you fish are. I’m amazed you’re surviving this long out o the water. Oh, Irislame...what, did Dawnstar decided she needs to be the best in everything and have three medicine cats now? I’ll be sure to have a word with Starclan about this. ” she softly growled lashing her tail and narrowing her eyes at Snakepaw and Irisflame. She didn’t mind Oldrambler and Boneyfang, she didn’t know much about this new apprentice of Boney’s or where Flailcurl and Narrowtrip were, but frankly she didn’t care.

[Fletcher]

[ @Angelique @Zesty Mango @Moonlily @Rani ]

Bouncepaw

Bouncepaw swallowed, looking back and forth between the two arguing cats. He was mildly impressed at Frostpaw's deep repertoire of insulting names she had for the other medicine cats, though didn't quite understand the hostility. Moreover, he was...more than confused as to why a cat that looked like she could already be an elder donning an apprentice's name- and an attitude to match...

He kept that to himself, though.

He gave a polite glance to both Snakepaw and Frostpaw, "It's n-n..nice to meet you both..." he murmured amongst the piercing glares.

He had no reaction to Irisflame's entrance, as he wasn't aware of her existence. He nodded towards Snakepaw as he questioned who she was.

[Madelaine]

Ebonyfang didn't like that everyone was talking all that much at the same time. He didn't know who to listen to. The tom looked at his apprentice. "Bouncepaw here is the new medicine cat apprentice as you know. Its really my place to tell you.", he meowed, biting back a growl. It wasn't towards his Bounce though. The tom was calm up until he saw Irisflame. He was glad to see her without actually showing it. She was a fun cat to talk to, but that was all. He knew what he was doing. "So where exactly have you been? You just up and left the clan.', he growled.

// @Zesty Mango; @Rani; @Fletcher; @Moon Lily; @Rainquail; @implimm; \\

[Rani]

Wait Irisflame Snakepaw recognised the name if not the cat, she was medicine cat before Ebonyfang and her resigning (though now he doubted it was willing) occurred around the time he was appointed medicine cat apprentice. Whatever her appearance and issues with the others didnt matter when compared to his need to tear Frostpaw a new one, and if Bouncepaw was gonna cower from a simple argument that basically occurred every time the group met up he didnt have the backbone to be medicine cat.
"Are you stupid or something youre an apprentice too! Wheres your keeper or mentor old lady at least I can be trusted to be on my own while you need to be monitored at all times to not cause a disaster! And please me being demoted is about as likely as you actually doing something important with your life! Id resort to calling you names in return but I wont stoop that low and I doubt any name calling can match the shame of your actual name Frostpaw." The weak and helpless comment rankled though, Snakepaw still had no battle training and only one half remembered hunting lesson from his mother when she took him out of camp as a kit. He was kind of weak and only counter balanced it with sheer anger and drive but Frostpaw couldnt know that.

"Weak and helpless?! I'll show you weak and helpless when I rip you to shreds! Youre all talk and no meat though I doubt you'll actually do anything coward you've never had any ability to back up your bluster." He didnt lunge immediately though more off got up in the older cats face as his tail lashed and he hissed at her.

@Angelique @Zesty Mango @Fletcher @Moon Lily @Rainquail

[Moon Lily]

[ @Angelique @Rani @Zesty Mango @Rainquail @Fletcher @implimm ]

Irisflame could hear the vibrant chatter quieten as unfamiliar faces stared at her in confusion. A few gazes glittered with curiosity, and one very familiar pair of frosty orbs were screaming obscenities at her. She still refused to turn her maw towards Ebonyfang. It wasn’t as though she needed to; she could feel the blistering fury in his gaze.
A hot coal dropped into her stomach, setting her aflame with guilt—Why should you feel guilty? He doesn’t know you or your struggles. She met Boney’s fire with a cool stare, then ripped herself away from the momentary staring contest, seeing as it would get her nowhere, and instead focused her gaze on the others.

”Amber. Nice to see ya again. Slick’s not with you this time, hm? Last time I saw him, he decided to make friends with the wall,” She purred good-naturedly, thankfully uninterrupted by the Thunderclanner’s provocative growl. She just barely held onto her smile, and sanity, managing not to hiss at Frostpaw. ”Huh, still a jerkass, Wretch. Must be tiring.”

She turned her gaze towards the pair of new faces, one...Riverclanner...and one Shadowclanner. Her ears pricked up in interest at the skinny tom, who looked to be a nervous wreck.
”Irisflame—though I don’t care what you call me. It’ll prob’ly be true. Snakepaw—” Sniper. It suited him. ”—and Bouncepaw,” Jitterbug. One-hundred-percent. “Correct?” She inquired, shooting daggers at Wretch, who threatened to interrupt her. She wanted to get somewhat friendly with the motley crew. She used to be one of them, after all.

Perhaps she should have worried more about Ebonyfang, who seemed less-than-joyful now that she was here. And for good reason.
”I had to leave. Dawnstar was going to kill me, at any rate, and I was retiring. I was going to become a queen, Boney. Can you imagine? Me, a queen. Pft. Besides, you had the ‘med duties under control, Dawnstar couldn’t care less whether I lived or died and I...had a few loose ends to tie up. Problems to sort out. I have a life, Boney. I’m not only good for scaring kits before they go to bed,” She explained to the best of her ability, hesitating at parts. She just hoped the joke would be well-received. ”For what it’s worth...I missed you. I really did.” She murmured fondly, a soft smile warming her sharp lines.

You failed him, her conscience reminded her helpfully. She prepared to rebut the statement, her defenses sliding themselves up—and found herself choked. Because it was true. And because of that, things would never be the same between them. Or anyone, she reasoned. Searching his gaze, all she found was fire and frigid cold. Boney...what happened to you? She resisted thinking that he’d gone full ‘Ice-clone’.
So much had changed since she’d been gone. It was almost worth running off again. But she wouldn’t. She had promised too many cats that she’d stay. And she was nice enough to keep her word.

[Abyssopelagic]

"I look foward to seeing how you'll fit into your new role, Bouncepaw."
Coldamber gave them a genuine grin.
Despite the current situation in WindClan, she knew she couldn't take it out of these two, as she couldn't know if they had been in on this or if they approved. Ebonyfang was a good guy, though, from her experience and doubted he would have been ok with this.

Coldamber looked at Irisflame, unsure of how to feel about her reappearance. She'd been.... a nice cat to know. A calm that ShadowClan had very much needed.
"I.... hello again."
She gave a curt nod, acknowledging her.
If Irisflame had ended up a queen.... it would have made the two opposites, with Coldamber herself being promoted from queen shortly after Gullpaw became an apprentice.
She herself missed her, just a little bit and was glad to see her, but she couldn't blame Ebonyfang's anger or at least hesitance to accept her back. Stars knew she felt the same was about Snailswirl, but.... in different ways and she wasn't sure which could be considered more extreme.
She looked between the two, a mixture of emotions rising within her when Snakepaw and Frostpaw's pissing match reached her ears and she turned to them, a little irritated.
"Frostpaw, shut up. You're a whole adult that needs a guard wherever you go, you have no room to talk. Besides, shouldn't you be picking on someone your own size? Snakepaw isn't a kit, sure, but he's much younger than you, enough that you should know better."
She wanted to tell Snakepaw he shouldn't let empty and meaningless words get under his skin, but she wouldn't say as much around Frostpaw, it would just give her more ammunition to use against the apprentice.
She was..... vaguely paying attention to Ebonyfang and Irisflame. If they wanted a private moment to sort this out.... she'd turn away completely.

@Moon Lily @Zesty Mango @Angelique @Fletcher @Rani

[Mango]

@Rainquail @Rani @Moon Lily @Angelique @Fletcher

Frostpaw narrowed her eyes angrily at Snakepaw unsheathing her claws before spitting on the ground. She hated that little rat, she didn’t know why, she just hated him, but she figured she had to look like a good medicine cat,” Unfortunately I will concede, Fakepaw, I am willing to continue your training, since you probably still need more training. ” she meowed. She was a medicine cat, she could go where she wanted when she wanted.