A few new additions to the clan, some reassignments, and so on. Nothing was terribly out of the ordinary, which made Alderstep feel hazy and bored. Despite everything, at least the few reassignments meant that fewer cats were slacking off or disappearing. A small victory that was so close to the bare minimum that Alderstep couldn't bring himself to mentally celebrate it.
He cast a quick glance to the apprentice at his side, noting that his other had yet to join the meeting. Faint worry colored the russet's insides, but he only reassured himself that she must be sleeping through the meeting. Seeing as he'd done so himself a couple of times in the past, Alderstep let it slide. Who wouldn't want to be in their nest at this time? The deputy looked back to Bumblestar, waiting for the rest of her announcements.
Alderstep couldn't help the surprise that tinged his expression when he heard that Sootfur had stepped down. Maybe it made sense, though. He'd never understand the cat's grief for his lost mate, but it was plain obvious that was what the warrior was experiencing. It was probably for the best, even though Sootfur was one of their greatest warriors.
At the mention of the sinkholes, Alderstep turned his gaze to the setting sky. They'd lost a lot to those. More than he'd bring himself to ever admit. At least they'd gotten some territory back. It's what they needed the most at the moment. He blinked and brought his eyes back down to the Stormcrest, slowly realizing what Bumblestar could possibly mean by a solution to get more territory.
A lot of cats were volunteering themselves for the position of Hornet. Alderstep tuned them out, knowing that Bumblestar would make her decision on her own time, and definitely not at this meeting. But there was Wildtwist, asking about restrictions. Alderstep refrained from sighing. It probably wouldn't be nice of him to pipe up and say something like
'if a dumb apprentice falls down a pit, that's their problem, not mine.' Sounding apathetic, like Dawnstar, really did not seem like a good idea. And yeah, okay, maybe it was valid to worry about 'paws falling down pits, but they wouldn't even be out there anyway without their mentor or some other warrior. They still had general restrictions, so Alderstep saw no reason for worry. Oh well, he'd just have to wait and see if Bumblestar agreed: he still felt fairly new to the position, and talking for her definitely was not a great idea. Plus, Wildtwist had directly addressed Bumblestar.
[ @jupiter - fireflypaw mention @Bean_The_Cat - wildtwist mention ] feel no need to reply