[Ziera]

// RiverClan (open)

Eerie silence blanketed the air. Stormtalon kept off to the side, distanced but not too far from Kestrelstar as he led them to seastones, ears perked and emerald eyes sharp. Grimly observing. He knew what waited for them at this gathering were accounts of blood and bile. Despite Kestrel's orders to stand down, Storm couldn't help but factor in the impetuous characters on both sides; respect for anything warrior code-related fizzled out long ago, laughable in the aftermath of apprentice murders and poison claws. An uneventful evening might (most definitely) be wishful thinking. But who knew? Expect the worst and be right or pleasantly surprised. Words to live by.

Sand absorbed the sound of his paws when Storm broke away from the front. He scented only WindClan on the light breeze and was distantly thankful for it, although Twilightstar looked...cagey on her perch, disquiet made obvious by each twitch of her tail. Interesting. Stormtalon had been too absorbed in his clan's struggles this past moon to grasp what ate at the WindClan leader. What did ShadowClan do this time? They were the usual perpetrators when it came to bunny trauma. No doubt anything worth knowing would come to light soon enough. When settling, Stormtalon chose a vantage point that would best suit watchful eyes.

It felt good to stop and sit a moment. The cool air was heaven against his striped shoulders, which had begun to stitch together despite his repeated attempts to strain them. (Storm had no concept of what they looked like and didn't care to know; it was a part of him now, carved like righteous judgement and that was that.) He listened to the hum of fish mingling with windcats a while. Ever so often those green eyes would drift, lingering on the empty space where ThunderClan might still enter.