[taillow]

 

Originally Posted by Ravens

Violetpaw layed down to feel a bit more comfortable but kept her gaze at cinderstar then sighed “m-maybe have the territories feel a bit safer.. I-I mean It felt safe but…” she started as her tail moved around herself a bit “me, Thunderblaze and RobinFlight were in the territory, chilling. Not to long thunderblaze left to make sure that fox left then that rogue attacked robinflight, That same rogue that attacked snowcloud. I dont know how it found us, I dony know where he came from but he was just there. I waited for thunderBlaze to return but he didnt. I just layed there like a coward… A coward” she said as tears slowly dripped and she started shaking “I didnt do anything I just watched it happen, I wanted to help robinflight but I was too scared to.. Scared, until he was killed. That rogue glared at me and disapeared into the forest, then when ThunderBlaze came, It was too late Robinflight was gone” she cried “I shouldve helped robinflight but I didnt.. Im cursed… Im sorry cinderstar, Im really sorry” she said as she put her paws on her face “I-Im very sorry” she cried

(Sorry this took long, I accidentally undid my typing and had to type it all over again )

Originally Posted by SpiritedWarrior

Flamepaw looked at Violetpaw with concern, she had never thought a cat would try to go after two cats that were the parents of her Clanmate- her friend. To help sooth her friend, Flamepaw cast a gentle smile in her direction and wrapped her tail along Violetpaw’s spine. No cat should feel this much pain, StarClan. Not all at once. Why did you let her take all this on on her own?

For a moment, Flamepaw didn’t dare speak. She knew it was hard for the fellow apprentice, Flamepaw herself was given to ThunderClan to be raised. She would never see her parents again, and both Violetpaw and Snowpaw wouldn’t either. That is until they get to StarClan one day. Flamepaw only hoped it wouldn’t be until much later in their lives.

“Cinderstar, what can we do?” She asked the silver bengal. “Snowpaw doesn’t even know her father’s dead yet. And we have no idea how to break it to her.”
@Ravens @marni

Cinderstar
In an effort to mimic Violetpaw and make her feel as comfortable as possible, Cinderstar too positioned herself in a half-sitting, half-lying position. She listened as she spoke of wanting to make the territories safer, and the leader found it rather odd that an apprentice was speaking of this, since they were not to go out without a warrior present. From there her story progressed rather rapidly, and there was obviously chunks missing. It seemed rather irresponsible on the warriors part, but that was of no concern of the apprentices before her.

Her gaze then shifted to Flamepaw who spoke up as well. "It is something I plan to announce at the Clan meeting, so there is no need to break anything to Snowpaw. If she asks though, you are welcome to send her to my den." She knew what it was like to lose a parent - after all, she had lost both of hers to the fire.

Looking back at Violetpaw, Cinderstar offered a paw stretching forward to touch her own in a silent gesture of comfort. "Violetpaw, this is not your fault. The territory, while me and Sparrowflight try to make it as safe as possible, still has its dangers. There are still trespassers and predators, but that's why we train our warriors so well - so that they can handle these issues when they take their apprentices out of camp." Hearing that there was a rogue out there that had bested a warrior whom she had deemed rather respectable was a little alarming, but the leader didn't let it show on her expression.

"I will let everyone know at the next meeting to keep an eye out for outsiders, and to be extra careful. It also wouldn't hurt to have cats not leave camp unless in pairs, even warriors." Part of that was just Cinderstar thinking out loud. Other than that, there wasn't much else that could make the territory safe. The life of a Clan warrior could be a ruthless one, no matter how many precautions were taken.

 

Originally Posted by poppy.

➵ @marni sorry this is so late!!

So Cinders DID know her Daddy!! She grinned, fluffy gray fur bristling with excitement. Maybe she knew where Daddy was! "Why didn't anyone look for him?" She asked softly, smile dying as the thought dawned on her. Did anyone actually care? Her baby blues fixed anxiously on the leaders matching sky hues, then down to the mossball as the leader complimented her talents at mossball.

As she talked about her Daddy, Ashenkit smiled a little. He was a good warrior? That was good. She liked hearing about how awesome her dad was.

Squeaking with surprise as the mossball rolled towards her instead of being tossed, she pounced on it, smashing it with her paws. Whoops. Trying to remold the moss pancake, she glanced up guiltily at the leader. After she had reconfigured it into a sphere, she rolled it to Cinders, smiling. This was fun. Cinders was fun.

Cinderstar
As much as she wanted to frown, Cinderstar restrained herself from doing so. Not to say that it wasn't upsetting that the assumption had been made, because it was - but Ashenkit couldn't possibly have known that. None of her thoughts made their way to her face as she smiled lightly. "As warriors of ThunderClan, we keep our eyes out for those who have gone missing. We make sure to seek out any signs of them, and to bring them home." And it was true - for the most part. Even before she had become leader, cats had made an effort to seek out those who had gone missing. A group of cats had, actually, actively trying to bring them back into the fold.

Watching as Ashenkit sprang onto the mossball, Cinderstar let out a little 'mrrp' of approval. "It looks like someone will be ready for their warrior training! I bet with that pounce you'll catch the biggest squirrels in the forest," she purred, eyes aglow with joy. Soon enough the kits paws reworked it back into a sphere shape and rolled it back to her. The leader stretched out on of her paws to 'bap' it back over to her, picking it back up and tossing it gently overhead this time.

 

Originally Posted by zenosaurus

BRIGHTPATH
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➣ Thankfully, Cinderstar didn’t seem too busy or annoyed by the sudden visit from them, which made the young feline feel better. They nodded to the gray-furred molly and officially stepped inside the leader’s den, making their way over to her and quietly sitting down to where Cinderstar had gestured. The entire time, Brightpath seemed to be avoiding making eye-contact with her, looking everywhere else but at the clan leader’s face. “I…” The single word came out shakingly and they didn’t know how to word it, where to even begin. Did they start at the beginning? Did they just blurt it out in one big sentence? The slim ThunderClan warrior didn’t know and they were struggling to keep themselves calm and professional in front of Cinderstar.

“Our battle with RiverClan at Firefly Cove…” Brightpath meowed quietly, slowly going over every word, “...I…I fought another apprentice there, during the battle… I don’t even remember if I ever found out her name… but I… I was just trying to hold her down and have her pass out. That’s all I wanted… But then, her eyes went all wide and milky and she went limp…” The memory had replayed over and over in their head since it had happened, “...I think I killed her… The RiverClan apprentice… I didn’t mean to… I swear!” They squeezed their eyes shut, pointing their nose to the ground, “The next thing I know, there’s another cat screaming at me and I just… ran. It wasn’t long until another apprentice came at me from… somewhere, I think they climbed a tree… but I moved out of the way and they hit the ground hard. I think he… broke his jaw or something, it looked really bad and I… I was trying to fight as best I could, but I only knew how to fight through Sleethound… and I…” So many words, rambled anxiously and flowing out like a rushing river of panic. Brightpath forced themselves to shut up and stop talking from that point. They had said far too much already.

“I’m scared, Cinderstar…” They meowed, opening their eyes, which was a mistake as tears soon rolled down their cheeks, “I'm so sorry... I don’t want to be a bad cat, but those apprentices… one died and the other got a life-changing injury… all because of me…” Their stomach did flips and they felt very sick. They could've said something, anything, so much sooner, but they didn't and the guilt of it all weighed so heavily on their soul. "I just... needed to tell someone about this."

⸻⸻⸻⸻

( @marni )

Cinderstar
Her concern only continued to grow as the young warrior seemed intent on avoiding her gaze. She wouldn't press them about it, and instead just noted it away for later if needed. As they somewhat started to begin, then promptly stopped, the leader slid a slender gray paw over towards them in a show of comfort. Whatever they needed to say was obviously rather difficult, and the silver bengal wanted Brightpath to know that she wasn't going anywhere - no matter what it was.

What came out was not even similar to what she had been expecting, however moons of experience had trained her to not allow these emotions of shock and surprise to register on her face. Instead, Cinderstar's face remained soft and understanding.

"First off," she began softly after Brightpath had finished, lifting her paw to catch the tears that fell from their eyes and brush them off of their cheeks, "their deaths are not your fault. But I do know how your first kill in battle can stay with you." Hers still did. A new warrior at the time, and even though she had long since forgiven herself, the memory still stuck to her like cobwebs. "The life of a warrior... it is not without its risk. Fighting for territory, defending our Clan; often times it comes at the price of others. It is unfortunate, but we must remember that this is the vow we swear to when we become warriors. Defending your Clan how you did in the battle for Firefly Cove, that does not make you a bad warrior."

If anything, the fact that Skystar had allowed such inexperienced apprentices into a battle in the first place was more his fault, but Cinderstar was tired of playing the blame game with RiverClan's kit leader. "I'm sorry that you have been carrying this with you, and I am glad you felt as though you could set it down with me. This does not make me, and I am willing to wager the rest of the Clan as well, see you in any less than that of a positive light that I did on the day of your warrior ceremony, and on the day you decided to speak up against Sleethound." Brightpath was an extraordinary warrior, and that was not something that would change because of a mistake in battle.