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**Captain** · #**1667** February 18th, 2023, 02:18 AM

Time seemed to slow to a still for a moment as the marbled she-cat came closer and sunk into his embrace, allowing Pikestar to gently wrap his paws around her to console and comfort his friend in one of the few ways he knew how. The large dark-furred tomcat listened to Bluebellcrackle as she hoarsly spoke into his shoulder, recalling more details on what happened with her mother. The word 'vet' was something he had not heard in quite awhile, but Pikestar was familiar with the term from his troubled kithood living in the twolegplace.

"She tried her best, and that's what matters." He murmured softly, gently brushing his right paw over the grieving she-cat's back in a soothing motion, "And you were there with her, during that half-moon. Despite how short it was, I know it must have meant the world to your mother." Pikestar didn't know Bluebellcrackle's birth mother whatsoever, nor even Bluebellcrackle herself as well as he would've liked, but he genuinely was trying his best to find the right words to say in this moment. They'd always found it difficult to know what to do when those they cared about needed comfort, but by the moon, they wanted to bring peace to those who were in pain with all that they could offer. "I'm here, okay? I'm here for you. You're not alone." Pikestar added, his voice hushed.

Pausing in his casual washing, the lanky dark-furred tomcat tilted his head at the young apprentice upon hearing her words. “You are never a bother, Mintpaw,” Pikestar assured her with a light wave of his paw, “Share with me these… troubling thoughts… of yours, and I shall see what I can do to help you out.” Her voice was quiet, uncertain and the tall RiverClan leader couldn’t help but wonder if she was afraid to speak up to him. He knew he was a large cat that held quite the amount of power in his paws, but honestly, was he that intimidating of an individual? But no, that was not the case, and deep down, Pikestar knew he was just acting selfish. Mintpaw had made it this far, after all, to speak her mind. They would do their best to listen well.

Eventually, after a few silent moments between the two of them, she’d finally tell him what was truly on her mind. The suffocation for so many new faces in RiverClan’s ranks in so little time. “A keen observation, and an understandable worry to have.” Pikestar responded, looking off to the side, like he was lost in thought. Even with three newly-made warriors now, their apprentice's den was still pretty packed to the brim. She was thinking like a true warrior would, and it made the RiverClan leader respect her a little more that day. "After taking some time to think it over, I realize that my rash decision to open our borders was..." The long-furred tomcat twirled his paw in the air as he searched for the right word, "...inconsiderate of me."

"And that is not the legacy I wish to be known for." Pikestar confessed, uttering a tiresome sigh, "During our next clanwide meeting, I plan to propose a vote amongst all of our clanmates to decide if outsiders shall be let into our ranks. I will leave it to the masses rather than just me." Humming slightly, he wondered if he should think about it more in-depth. "I was thinking maybe I gather up three kinds of shells with three varying colors. One color is to vote that we allow outsiders into RiverClan, the second shall be we will allow only cats from other clans into our ranks, and the third, well, will be that only RiverClan born cats are allowed here." Pikestar would not be kicking out those who already live here though, like Raccoonpelt and Sun, regardless of the vote, and that was his compromise. "Do you have any other ideas on how to tackle this problem? More hunting patrols? Expeditions for more territory? Please, share with me what I can do to ease your worries."

“Good afternoon, young Tidepaw.” The tall dark-furred tomcat returned the greeting to the siamese molly, “What can I help you with today?” A few brief moments passed between the two of them before the RiverClan apprentice would answer this question. Ah, more training issues it seemed, but nothing that could not be easily fixed. Although, it was a shame to hear about another clanmate gone missing. “Ah, my apologies for the disappearance of your mentor.” The Lord of the Waters meowed, voicing his sincerest condolences before shifting onward towards fixing the issue at paw. “Is there any preferences you have towards a new mentor? I’d be happy to hear your suggestions if you have any. After all, I do want you to be happy.” They too had a few warriors in mind for it, but this was Tidepaw’s training and Pikestar wanted to be certain she got a mentor that she wanted, not what they wanted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ophelia

[ @canineantics ]

beastflame
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There was a pause before Pikestar's reply, and for a moment Beastflame dared to hope that perhaps the leader had already heard about the threat, or was too busy to see him, or...something. He didn't know why it was so dreadful, the thought of reporting this incident to the clan leader; all he knew was that he needed to get it over with so that he could go back to his day.
The striped tom padded heavily into the den, tufted ears angled backwards ever so slightly in unease. The leader looked nervous, which made him even more reluctant to speak. But he squared his shoulders solidly and nodded respectfully to Pikestar in greeting nonetheless.

"I was out hunting just now when I encountered Mistycloud and Mintpaw in the territory," he began, naming the warrior and apprentice. He still didn't know what they were doing out there in the first place, but hadn't been curious enough to ask. "They'd just been attacked by minks. Three, Mintpaw said," he recollected. "Both of them obtained injuries and were very weak by the time I got to them; I had to carry Mintpaw back." Probably not the apprentice's proudest moment, being carried into the camp like a kit. He knew he certainly wouldn't have liked it. But there really had been no other choice, except to leave her freezing and bleeding in the snow.

"I came immediately to report to you, and I believe they are both receiving medical attention now. All the minks escaped from what I could tell, and there might be more where they came from." He hesitated for a moment, tail sweeping back and forth slowly as he debated whether or not to offer up his suggestion. Beastflame did not consider himself to be a leader by any means, and did not want Pikestar to think he was trying to be one. Still...

"Perhaps a patrol could go out to flush out the nest, in case they attack more cats?" The two she-cats had sustained significant damage from the ambush, but Beastflame was fairly confident that if there were a greater number of better trained and prepared cats, the threat could be eliminated.

With his partial gaze following the large striped warrior as he entered his den, the tall RiverClan leader waited in silence for Beastflame to start talking and explain what exactly was going down. Thankfully, the other tomcat seemed to sense Pikestar's current anxiety and not waste anymore time to begin this fated conversation. The oriental longhair remained completely unresponsive verbally throughout the unknown amount of minutes that ticked by as the troubling situation was revealed to them, plainly nodding along and peering over at Beastflame as he talked. Pensiveness was clear within his deep blue eye, many thoughts occupying his mind regarding this matter.

Mistycloud, and Mintpaw too, were attacked by three minks out in RiverClan's hunting grounds... but where exactly? He needed more details. "Do you know where exactly this attack was? Near a specific landmark or along the main river that runs through the forest? I want to know where this nest is as soon as possible." Pikestar stated, seeming to take on a more serious, urgent tone rather than the anxious one he had worn beforehand. The two injured clanmates were getting medical treatment as they talked, which was good. Pikestar had no doubt that Fawnlight had already taught Stonepaw how to deal with those specific kind of injuries to avoid any serious infections, so he wasn't concerned about that. Regardless of that, the long-furred tom was thankful for Beastflame's quick thinking and assistance concerning the event. Of course, the RiverClan warrior expected action to be taken, suggesting a patrol be sent to eliminate the varmints. That was when an idea popped into Pikestar's tiresome brain, presenting him a unique opportunity.

"Yes, a patrol would do perfectly.. Perhaps four or five cats at the very most." He murmured, mostly to himself as he nodded, looking towards the ground as he sank deep into thought for a few brief moments. Then, the large RiverClan leader appeared to snap out of his trance and flicker his gaze back towards Beastflame. "Not a single cat is to attempt to track down that wretched mink nest without my say." He remarked, pointing a claw at the striped tomcat, "I shall personally lead a strong patrol of warriors out into our hunting grounds to exterminate these troubling creatures so they do not attack anyone else." The Lord of the Waters wanted to handle this problem himself, knowing that it could give him the answers they had been seeking for the past moon or so. Beastflame, of course, was welcome to be apart of this patrol, but that was up to him alone to decide. They waited for a response.

Still sitting comfortably in his soft moss nest, the tall oriental tomcat eyed the small black-and-white kitten as he padded into his den, carefully placing the object he was carrying onto the floor in front of him. Pikestar leaned closer, seeing that it was a beautiful-looking seashell that held a nice peach-to-white hue along it's ripples. Now that was a gift he could be impressed by, without a single doubt in his mind. His partial blue gaze flicked back up to young Beetlekit, who was laying down, appearing to prepare himself to tell a mighty tale. Ah, well, who was Pikestar to deny a well-told story? Easing his body back down into a loafing position, tucked neat into his bed, he perked his ears to listen. When was the last time any clanmate had told him a story of any kind? The lanky leader could not recall.

Listening as attentively as he possibly could, the RiverClan kitten explained that he had been playing out in the clearing when the snow had been at it's fluffiest, building snowcats and having a grand time. Then, suddenly, without warning, this gorgeous little gift fell from the sky! Pikestar was a bit taken back by Beetlekit's last jumble of words, claiming that the stars that are in the sky must have given it to you as a gift because your name is PokeSTAR! As silly as it sounded, it truly touched the Lord of the Water's heart and they smiled.

"My, what a honor it is, to be given a gift as special as this." The dark-furred tomcat remarked, reaching out a paw and bringing the scallop closer to his nest, "I will treasure it for the rest of my life. Thank you, Beetlebug, you've made Pokestar's day so much better today." A moment or two passed by where they laid in a blissful silence, as the tall RiverClan leader gazed at the pretty shell with a gentle fondness in his eye. He hummed thoughtfully before speaking again. "You know, I was wondering if maybe in the future, I could decorate the walls of my den with seashells. Maybe I could stick them to the stone surface with honey or mud, or something like that. What do you think?" They looked to the younger tomcat once more, tilting their head to the side.

Hearing the dark gray-furred tomcat's explanation, the warm smile on Pikestar's expression was soon replaced with a look of ultimate confusion. Wait, what? Was he serious? "Now let me get this straight... You brought a complete stranger, all the way into our territory, into our camp, into my den... all because she was thirsty?" Of all the idiotic things he had heard during his six moons as RiverClan's leader, this certainly would be in the top five, and he couldn't help himself from uttering a long, tiresome sigh."First of all, why would Cattail Pond's water make her sick? Is it contaminated? Polluted with something?" They fought the urge to draw their paws over their face then. "Why couldn't you have just taken her to the main river that runs through our hunting grounds? Or literally let her drink from the water that literally surrounds our camp?" By the moon, Pikestar felt like he was aging twice as fast because of his own warriors. "Do you two understand my confusion? Or am I the one being unclear here?"