High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]
Cinderstar
As mentors and apprentices newly assigned to each other began to meet and touch noses, Cinderstar was glad to hear several of the mentors she'd chosen voice their commitment to seeing the training through to the end. Hopefully they would soon be able to put forth action to the words they spoke and provide newly named warriors to the Clan.
One warrior spoke up about her decision to not assign Flamepaw a mentor, and Cinderstar turned to look towards Fireflyheart. She could understand the warriors concern - however it did confuse her considering that apprentice training, more often than not, was not handled by the mentor but instead by several warriors. There was no point in scaring the young cats, and a flash of disappointment in the choice of words shot across her expression.
"Flamepaw will not be assigned a mentor, however if you are concerned with her training you are more than welcome to take her out for some," she replied, trying to recall if she had ever seen the warrior take out an apprentice for training. "I never said Flamepaw would not become a warrior, and I do not believe they are going to die at all," she continued, keeping her voice level. "Most of the time, an apprentices training is completed by several warriors - most of which aren't even the apprentices' assigned mentor."
Hopefully that would appease Fireflyheart, as there were really no points left to argue. But if she wished to continue, Cinderstar was resigned to giving her a glance and nothing more. She would always hear out her Clanmates opinions and thoughts, but when they were unfounded and baseless, she saw no point to it.
Her expression saddened a bit as she decided to move the meeting along. "This moon is also not without its trials. Robinflight was killed earlier by a rogue. He was a wonderful warrior, loyal and steadfast. He will be missed." After giving the announcement, she bowed her head for a moment to offer her silent respects for the fallen warrior. There had been no body returned, and by now whatever had happened to it, it would be in no state to bring in for a formal grieving process. Still, the leader figured she would go have a sniff around the area that it had been reported.
After a fair amount of time had passed, there was one more death that they had to get out of the way. And this one... would sting. Her gaze sought out on cat in particular; Bumblebreak. She tried to will her with her eyes alone to ready herself. To brace herself. Stars, she knew the young warrior would be disappointed - but if Cinderstar could absorb that and avoid any future conflicts with RiverClan, she would do so.
"As many of you know, at the last gathering it was revealed that Skystar had kidnapped Cinderpaw from the heat of battle at Firefly Cove and chose to keep her for over a moon without informing us. He demanded that we exchange prey and herbs for her instead of simply giving her back, to which I told him we would do no such thing. ThunderClan no longer bows to any Clan." A firm edge lined her voice as she spoke. She made sure to single Skystar out in particular, as after her discovery it had become clear that this was a decision he had made alone without much support.
Sweeping her gaze across, the leader continued. "I took a patrol out to the border to meet with him, however it was not Skystar I ran into but two RiverClan warriors who seemed just as angry as we all were at her kidnapping. They told me that Skystar had left on some journey to find new territory, and that Cinderpaw had not been seen in their camp." She knew that would arise some anger, so she continued on as quick as she could. "We tracked a scent trail from RiverClan territory that eventually led to the outskirts... and discovered that Cinderpaw... had been killed by some sort of predator."
News that would surely ripple through the Clan and cause uproar. "Before anything is said: while I am just as frustrated as you all are at RiverClan's obvious neglect, I do not believe they had anything to do with her death. There was no RiverClan scent on her body, but there were obvious signs of wounds that no cat could have created. Because of this, I went ahead and buried her body in Willow's Rise. Tonight, I will help lead a mourning party out so that we can all pay our respects."
Chaos would surely come as it did every Clan meeting, but this was different. Cinderpaw had been a pillar for her fellow apprentices, despite her fiery personality and spitfire snark. She would be missed. "In our anger and our grief," Cinderstar concluded, "let us not forget what has happened; no matter who is to blame, the life... of a warrior was lost. We will mourn as a Clan, together."
And with that, she let a few moments pass so that the Clan could process the fact that not just one death had occurred, but two. A moment of silence would be well deserved.
