[vellichor]

Originally Posted by Captain

As their conversation would begin, the Lord of the Waters nodded solemnly. “Indeed. I have been doing my best to help keep it restocked, but we can only do so much if hardly anyone else is putting forth the work as well.” They mentioned, clearing their throat beforehand and aiming to speak a bit louder. From there on, however, Pikestar let Beansprout continue on without any interruption. He listened fully, giving the RiverClan warrior his undivided attention as a gentle nod of understanding and agreement would be made occasionally throughout. The large dark-furred tomcat’s large ears perked with intrigue as an idea for a special event would come up. He loved events, both hosting and participating in them, even if he didn’t always have the energy or time to do so. Beansprout made some good points in his plan. Mayhaps a competition would reignite that fire in their clanmate’s veins to do some hunting. The clan he knew was quite the competitive types, and the scarred siamese knew that as well as he did. It would be in their best interest to put that to use.

“You’re more than welcome to begin that event whenever you would like, Beansprout, I think it’s a wonderful idea and something that RiverClan could really use about now.” He said with a low crackly purr stirring in his injured throat, “And do let me know if you ever need someone else to host such a thing in the coming moons, I notice how hard you work for all of us and I’ve learned the hard way that it’s better to work together than to overwork yourself from doing too much alone.” Pikestar gave the other tomcat a gentle look, one of genuine understanding and kindness. He'd hate to see one of his best warriors work himself into the grave, though some cats were rather stubborn about that kind of thing. But trying to reach out rather than not at all was better in the end. If he felt up to it, maybe he himself would participate in that hunting competition, although his skills were with fishing rather than land hunting. Pikestar would give it some further thought. Eventually, the topic would shift to something more serious. He returned the slight dip of his head, silently telling the RiverClan warrior that it was alright. Apparently, Beansprout had come across none other than Bouncepaw caught up in a twoleg trap. Thankfully, he managed to free the calico apprentice and made sure that contraption would hurt none further. Regardless, this was rather concerning.

"Last moon, while I was out patrolling the borders, I happened to stumble across Pebblesplash caught up in a trap as well." Pikestar recalled to Beansprout, holding up his right paw to show the scars across his paw-pad, "The box was quite the opponent, but I managed to pry the damned thing open and free her. That was outside our borders, but it appears they are getting bolder and placing the traps within our land now." The RiverClan leader uttered a sharp 'tsk' of irritation and shook his head, tired of twolegs meddling in their business more and more these moons. "I shall alert the clan of these traps at our next clan meeting. Thank you for telling me about Bouncepaw. That kid is basically family to me at this point, so I am glad other cats are looking out for him, as reckless as he may be sometimes." Pikestar scratched the side of his neck idly for a moment, looking off to the side as he pondered something. "Lately, I have been having trouble keeping RiverClan in order and out of trouble. Gingerfrost recently recovered from an infection, and Stonepaw is still just a child. I need more cats that I can trust and have in my corner to help make sure RiverClan thrives. Beansprout," He meowed, shifting his partial gaze back to the siamese, "I'd like to promotion you to be one of my shields during our next meeting."

Beansprout
RiverClan Warrior

With a pleased, rumbling purr, Beansprout dipped his head toward the leader. He was already planning the specifics of the event, the cogs in his brain working. He couldn't get too far into thought, though, as Pikestar continued. With a concerned tilt of his head, Beansprout listened intently as the dark cat before him described a similar scenario to his own. As the leader held up their paw, Beansprout held up his own, small scars crisscrossing his pad. "Those traps are awful on our paws." With a nod of affirmation, the warrior spoke. "I'm glad you're letting the Clan know. If this was an isolated incident, it could be taken care of perhaps a bit quieter. But we do need every cat to know of this, just in case."

With a prick of his ears, Beansprout felt adrenaline race through his veins. "I would be honored," the siamese answered, dipping his head. He wasn't too surprised, considering he had been working his paws off for RiverClan lately. With the new rank, perhaps he could accomplish even more. "Speaking of Gingerfrost and Stonepaw though, I do have... a few concerns with them." Though perhaps a bit out of line, Beansprout needed Pikestar to hear this. "I feel like I haven't seen much of either of them lately. Sure, Gingerfrost is there to give out patrols every once in awhile and watches over some events, but... I feel like that's all I see of him. Even during Clan events, he mostly watches. I get being busy, and perhaps there are issues behind the scenes that I simply can't see. But I fear Gingerfrost's lack of... public presence, per se, might give our Clanmates the wrong idea about your choice in deputy. As for Stonepaw," With a brief pause, Beansprout let out a low hum and figured out how to word what he was thinking. "Stonepaw is young and inexperienced. I get that. But I hardly see the kid at all, in the medicine den or outside of it. Sometimes I forget the kid even exists." With a slightly irate flick of his fluffy tail, Beansprout continued. "The kid ate a damn rock and then disappeared for the dog fight, for the Moon's sake. I just feel like, maybe the kid could use a few extra paws to help him learn? Whether that be the 'Star Cats' or Fawnlight and... what was that ShadowClan medicine cat's name again? Marigold...leap! Yes. But he needs pushing to do more."

He had a few more things, unfortunately for the dark-furred leader. "I'd also like to tell you that I've heard rumors about the cause of the dog attack, and I would like to hear the true cause from you. I was sick in the warrior's den, so I, regrettably, have no idea how the attack happened. So... how did that huge pack of dogs get into camp?" As he asked the question, Beansprout felt a strange sensation. He felt as if he could tell, somehow, if Pikestar lied to him. Perhaps this was the result of his roleplayer having too much kk on their hands.

After a moment, Beansprout shuffled his paws uncomfortably. "I'd... also like to bring up something that you might not like, and that's Clan names. We have Clanmates named... Blue, Cloud, and July. Even Ranch Dressing and Cheeseburger. Why don't these cats follow naming structure? I understand unique prefixes -- I was once Bean, after all. But I took a Clan name as a kit, apprentice, and warrior. Why do these cats get to skirt that? I'm not a stickler for tradition, but it feels... necessary, to assimilate into the culture of RiverClan. Otherwise, cats will see them as outsiders forever." His tone wasn't harsh, but confused and frustrated. There was no accusation in Beansprout's voice.

"My apologies for all the different inquiries, I've had a lot on my mind lately."