RiverClan Leader's Den

[panchiko]

// @wnder

“uhhh…”

“um,,,...”

he took an unsteady breath. “...no!!”

“it's.. it's not alright. you know,,, i didn’t mean to! it just happened! but- um, it wasn’t an accident either… he told me to! i.. i didn’t want to, but he was being mean! and .. like. ..” dayheart trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. as tears began to stream down his face, he all too well recalled the events that had happened. “um.. charredpaw. it was charredpaw. i.. i was in lionsbeach, doing my own thing, and i saw charredpaw. well, i heard charredpaw first, and then i saw him. and .. and he was screaming and i didn’t know why and i wanted to know why, so…. so i went to check it out. and.. charredpaw was mad. mad at me, i think. but maybe just mad at the world? i.. i don’t know.”

“but … but um.. anyway.. he told me he was going to kill me...??? and that he'd rip out my teeth one by one, and that no one would care if i died. and…. and then he—” he cleared his throat as his voice cracked. “he ripped out his eye and told me to kill him. so.. so i did. that was the right thing to do, right? he was a danger to himself, and to me, and to maybe his clanmates. and.. he was in pain. i ended his pain. that has to be good, right?? was it wrong to kill him?? it… it can’t be right, because it was murder, i think, but was it wrong?” dayheart’s eyes darted around, unwilling to meet sootstar’s face. “he also.. um. he told me to cover it up, and not to tell anyone except for you. so… uh… you won’t find his b...” dayheart’s tail-tapping continued. “...you know. you won’t find him.”

“sootie.. he was dangerous, right? i did the right thing.. right????? i need to know. i.. i can’t stop seeing him everywhere. it’s like he’s haunting me. everywhere i look... i see him. i see his blood. the scene keeps replaying in my head and i want it to stop.” dayheart glanced at sootie. “so.. i just wanted to make sure you knew. um..”

[Wings]

[ @wnder ]
-Russetstrike-

The red tom sat down quietly as Sootstar because it talk. Taking in multiple deep breaths as he had to face the truth he had been running from. "I understand Sootstar." He said with a nod and straightening up his posture when his leader said he was a capable warrior. He was and still is and he couldn't forget that. Standing up now, he gave a grateful smile to the other tom. "I'll try my best and just so you know it's not badgers, just foxes." Giving a dip of his head to the leader, he because to walk out with new found confidence in him. And had a little huh moment at his mention of foxes. His voice hadn't shook, he hadn't cowered at the name. Maybe he was getting better..

[duckie]

Sootstar
__________

"I'll announce your joining to the clan in the next meeting. If there's nothing else you need, you should go get yourself a nest and get settled. I'm sure some of the apprentices would be happy to help you out."

[ @Siren Bliss you can go ahead and submit her to the allegiances! ]

- - - - -

Sootstar wrinkled his nose. Could've sworn he had said badgers before... No matter! He gave a nod and watched as Russetstrike walked out of the den before turning around to bury himself in his nest. Not a moment of free time lately...

[duckie]

Sootstar
__________

Almost immediately Sootstar tensed up, watching the tears trace lines down Dayheart's face. He wanted to reach out. To brush them away and tell him everything would be alright.

It wouldn't, though.

Simple assurances can't wash those memories away.

Every word that Dayheart relayed sent an anger coursing through his veins that he hadn't felt in a while. Digging his claws into the dirt, he did his best to stand tall, look put together.

'he'd rip out my teeth one by one, and that no one would care if I died. and….'

If he could pull a cat out of their grave just to stomp them back into the ground again... Never before had the thought crossed his mind to sink his claws into the body of one of his clanmates and tear them to shreds. It truly was a shame Charredpaw was dead. Starved him of the opportunity.

Meeting Dayheart's gaze, he loosened his grip on the soil. It was a painful sight and he resisted the urge to glance away. Shaking his head, "Dayheart... Dayheart you've done nothing wrong."

Again, he took a cautious step forward. What kind of leader wanted to reach out and brush all of his warrior's troubles away? What kind of leader wanted to bury themself in their warrior's fur and share the comfort of warmth? Were these just momentary whims, soon to vanish? Did it matter?

"You were protecting yourself, your clanmates... I-... Come here." Another step forward, two, and he closed the gap between them, pulling Dayheart into a hug and nestling his head onto the tom's shoulder.

"You did the right thing. I promise you."

[ @hope aaaaaaaaaa ]

[stag]

*Frosttail looked into the den and saw the 2 toms and waited outside if day heart to walk out,he wasn't just gonna jump in. frost lashed his white tipped tail,he waited calmly. The sun was in the sky flying high.Frost aol sneezed wiping his nose* wonder what's going on in there. *He heard day hearts frantic voice and heard the words* dead...charredpaw... Told me too..
*Frosttail covered his muzzle and his eyes wide. He just walked away from the den.anger in his eyes* you murdered a clan mate why are you crying,you damn guard.
*Frosttail said kinda loud hopefully they didn't hear. He ran out of camp fast*
@wnder & @hope

[BEAR.]

Unfortunately for Sootstar, work was never done.

Lionstorm didn't bother going fully into the den, just outside it with a raised voice. "Sootstar, we have a problem. Flyfur and Sugarapple were attacked by a trespassing ShadowClan cat. Flyfur is okay, she's badly shaken up - but he killed Sugarapple." Lionstorm flicked his tail in the direction Flyfur had taken the body.

More sourly and angrily, he added. "Those flea-bags have never respected the border. This isn't the first time their cats have crossed and attacked ours."

[ @wnder ]

[duckie]

Sootstar
__________

The leader suppressed the urge to let out a groan, dragging his paws down his face before climbing to his feet and joining Lionstorm at the entrance of the den. Sleep was all he wanted, frankly. A nice, long, uninterrupted sleep. Maybe he'd put together a nest in the warriors den and hope nobody would think to look for him there. There was so much to be done.

"I'm certain no friendly chat with Dawnstar is going to be able to solve that problem. For now, I'll make sure patrols mark that border more frequently and heavily. I'll address it at the gathering if I can." he replied with a heavy sigh, "Did either of them happen to catch the name of the warrior?"

[ @BILL. ]

[BEAR.]

"Look at how Icestar reacted to a simple border skirmish with WindClan!" Lionstorm lashed his tail, ears flattened back. "Her spawn is no different. Addressing this at the Gathering won't do dung and you know it. She'll scoff and tell you to deal with it." It was infuriating to him, what felt like a lack of action when their Clan-mate had been savagely brutalized. "No, though I can't imagine Sugarapple being able to tell us his name if she did." Since she was currently dead. "She was long gone by the time Flyfur brought her into camp, Sootstar.. he tore out her throat like an animal." And that didn't even touch upon Flyfur, having to try to save their dying friend.

"What are you going to do when Dawnstar does nothing about what happened?"

[ @wnder ]

[duckie]

Sootstar
__________

"I already said talking with her is likely to do nothing, Lionstorm. I know that. Buck and Twilight already seem to recognize Dawnstar as the wildcard she is but it's worth mentioning at the very least." Sootstar's hackles bristled as he stamped a paw into the ground, "I don't intend to do nothing about this but we are not in a position to go raiding whomever we please or whatever you think I ought to be doing instead. You know how our playfight with WindClan went. It was a mess. There are preparations to be done."

"If you think I should be handling this differently then tell me how but do not sit here and act like I'm incompetent!"

[BEAR.]

"I didn't say it wasn't worth mentioning, but ShadowClan trespassing and murdering one of our cats in cold blood is worth a hell of a lot more than just a mention." Even letting this sit felt wrong - putting it off for another time. "I asked you what your plans were when she spat on you, mouse-brain. I want to know how you plan on handling this when ShadowClan tries to walk all over us like they've done every time before. This isn't the first time those brutes have trespassed and attacked us, and you know it won't be the last."

Lionstorm did want to fight, it was incredibly tempting to charge in and take them on headfirst. But he wasn't an idiot - no, as much as he itched to be impulsive he wanted to plan things out first. Figure out what Sootstar even wanted to do. He had somewhat of an idea -- something that would work in RiverClan's favor publicly. "Tell me what you're planning so I can help you! If you're leaving me at 'talk to her', that doesn't give me anything to work with!"

[ @wnder ]