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***Neptune.*** · #**1867** November 27th, 2023, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshiftreign

you can break a shovel when you break new ground.

purrks: agatha kitty, mind reader, go with the flow

[ @FrostyGalaxy [larkstar] ]

larkstar invited rushwater in, and the blue-grey tabby wasted no time dipping his head (being tall wasn't all that great, honestly, it meant he nearly knocked his head on just about everything.) and slipping into the den with an efficient sort of grace befitting of one as calm as he.

"there's two main things that brought me here today," he began, sitting arrect just inside the entrance. he felt wholly awkward just being here, but he didn't betray himself by letting it show. he was reserved and collected- just as he had to be.

first was the thing eating at him. a mystery unsolved, clawing its way through his mind. "if you recall, i found minkpaw drowned at haven springs a few evenings ago." the memory was fresh. the taste of her wet fur lingered at the back of his throat, taunting him. "i'm certain it was murder. a skilled one at that, because they escaped the scene without leaving so much as a scent or a tuft of fur."

he paused, savoring his words as he picked them carefully, "i've been doing a bit of digging- investigating, if you will. i wanted to gather as much information as i could before presenting this to you. i'm. . . there wasn't a lot of evidence left at the scene, but from what i can gather, i don't think it was personal nor was it a kill of rage or fury or- you get my point."

"it was a kill for the sake of killing. i'm afraid we might soon have a repeating killer on our paws. i hope i'm wrong, but i doubt it."

rushwater let larkstar take in all of the information, watching her expectantly. after several heartbeats of silence, he concludes:

"i'd like to continue investigating this." he said, simply, "i feel as though it is my duty to riverclan to unveil this crime and prevent further needless death. this isn't something we can brute force, it must be careful observation and tact. it must be subtle. for this reason, i've neglected telling anyone but you, tansypaw and cherryswirl of the true nature of minkpaw's death. if theres too much of a stir, the killer will get antsy and more careful. we need every mistake we can get them to make if we're going to find them."

"with that being said, i felt that it was your right as leader to make the decision as to if this deserves further investigation or not."

so that does it, then? rushwater's shoulders relaxed a smidge once the whole spiel was over. it was a lot, he knew, but an apprentice was dead and by starclan he was not going to sit idly by when another might very well be next. the real question was if he'd honor an order to leave it be- to do exactly that. sit and watch. as much as he preferred to remain entirely within the rules, if he felt that such an order endangered riverclan-

no need to hypothesize when he'd be getting the answer in the next breath. rushwater's indigo blue eyes skimmed the floor idly, observing every little detail. his second topic of talk was much grander.

[]

Minkpaw's death a murder... that certainly felt more likely than the young apprentice drowning on her own right. While she'd been a little bereft of information regarding this situation beforehand, at least she was getting filled in now. And Rushwater had taken it upon himself to begin the ground work of investigation, stating clearly his reasons for keeping this silent for now. Lark had to admit that was a smart call - she'd likely have told the whole clan about the suspicions of murder if he hadn't presented this reason to keep it quiet, too worried about not lying to those she was meant to lead to focus on if being honest all the time was always the smart move.

"Thank you for telling me this," she says, a troubled look in her eyes. If this was going to be a recurring problem, cats getting murdered by someone so skilled not even a scrap of fur or a whiff of scent was found, that would certainly pose a large problem. "Yes, I agree, keep investigating. Let me know any big breakthroughs you come too - especially if you suspect the culprit to be among our own ranks." Stars... would someone in RiverClan do this? Larkwing didn't want to think of such a scenario - she'd already had to take care of an attempt on her own life, and that hadn't been skillful or quiet at all. "And, uhm, the other thing you wanted to talk about it?"

"Uh, sorry," Larkstar begins, feeling suddenly a little self conscious of her young age. "I was born after Sootstar's time as leader, so I'm afraid I don't remember - sorry again." Why was she apologizing for not being born yet? That's a little stupid now that she's thinking about it - she can't help when she was born.

She takes the shells from the kits and places them near her nest carefully, making sure they don't crack or break, before smiling gratefully back at the three kits. "They're lovely - and I'll do my best." She adds at Soulkit's comment. She doesn't feel like she's able to make history, doesn't feel like she has what it takes, but maybe some cats think she does, and that's what matters, isn't it?

"Adderpaw?" Larkstar asks, noticing the kit she had just apprenticed finding her way into her den, "what do you want to tell me?"

"Ah, ok, so it's not a new thing - nevermind what 'seeing' means for now, Applebees? Can you escort him back to the nursery?"
[ @Leafy ]

"Yes, I hope so," the molly says wearily, weight heavy on her shoulders. This is so much harder than she anticipated it was going to be - this whole leading thing. Not that she thought it would be easy she just... well, she hadn't really thought about it much. She thought she had time. But she was wrong.

__________

Birdsnow pads into the den, frustrated, fur ruffled, and Lark briefly thinks she might be in trouble - that is until the molly opens her maw to speak. Sootpelt? Had tried to murder Bird? What was up with RiverClan and attempted assassinations lately? She sort of guessed some cats might not exactly be thrilled with her choice in deputy, but she hadn't expected attempted murder - or that Sootpelt was expecting kits. Lark had thought Soot to be rather level headed, but apparently not. Regardless, this information was troubling to say the least. "No... no you did fine... I just worry - what if she comes back seeking revenge? But- no you couldn't have killed her, her kits would've been lost too..." troubled, Larkstar trails off.

[ lark and bird form a book club where they don't read anything it's just an excuse to talk gossip lmao ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark

Fishpaw
/100
___________

Fishpaw was not happy. Not at all. Now, this wasn’t anything unusual for the tom as he could often be found with a scowl, however, his mood was particularly bad on this occasion.

He didn’t know what had happened to the clan in the time he’d been missing, however, it seemed like everything went to mouse droppings and fell apart. THREE leaders have come and gone, and now what? A half-baked warrior for a deputy? C’mon now! Birdsnow had JUST been made a warrior, and you’re telling him that there was NO ONE more qualified? You’ve got to be joking. See him personally? He’d never have allowed a warrior who’d spent almost their entire 24 (or was she older now? He didn’t care.) existence as an apprentice. That was a problem.

Stepping into Larkstar’s den, the blue spotted tabby fixed the young leader with a cold stare. She was hardly qualified to be a leader too. Deputized at a young age, became leader after potentially murdering the previous one, couldn’t make a proper decision worth a damn, and was hardly older than he was. Hell, if he wanted to become leader and lord over these nincompoops, it seemed he could do so relatively unchallenged.

It was disgusting.

RiverClan had become a joke and this cat right in front of him was only adding to narrative. It was… Okay. That’s enough of that, he actually came in here for a reason and sneering at the she-cat wasn’t going to get this anywhere.

Sitting across from her, he scanned her features with hardly veiled contempt. He didn’t know how much time passed since he came into the den, nor did he particularly care. What mattered was that the perceived root of many of his problems was right in front of him.

”I’m going to be quite frank with you,” He said after the long, dragging silence ”I think you’re stupid.”

The small tom took a moment to look down at a paw, and pick at his claws for a moment before bringing his pale green eyes back up and fixing them on the young leader. ”Choosing Birdsnow for your deputy while your current standing within the clan is… questionable to say the least, was quite honestly the worst and possibly dumbest decision you could’ve ever made.” he deadpanned, deciding to give the other cat a bit of explanation.

Now, he wasn’t the most experienced with leadership, but pulling the stunt that she did while many cats, himself included, believed she may have been involved with Gingerstar’s death was just plain ignorant of her surroundings. Well. It was his job to set her and seemingly the rest of RiverClan straight it seemed. They’d be hopelessly loss had he not been here. She should be thanking him, really.

[ @FrostyGalaxy ]

She was licking her wounds when Fishpaw entered unannounced - not that that was any issue really, she didn't exactly mind anyone coming into her den unannounced (or, if she did, she wasn't about to make that known). What she did find rather uncomfortable, however, was the way the apprentice just... stared at her. He didn't say a single thing for several heartbeats. Was this his goal? To unnerve the leader who was not that much older than even he was? Because if that's what he wanted to accomplish, he was certainly doing a great job of it.

And, when he did finally open his mouth, the first thing he said was not kind, the words were prickly and wrapped around the tortoiseshell like a thorn bush. "I'm going to be quite frank with you, I think you're stupid." he'd said. And he was certainly truthful in that the words were frank and even more sincere in his belief of what he'd said, not one thing about the apprentice's body language indicated he might be lying. And then he kept speaking and... ah, so his goal here was to criticize her choice in deputy.

Blue-grey fur starts to bristle at the comments. Here he was, criticizing the one cat in the clan Larkstar was absolutely certain she could trust. If she were a better person, Lark may have been able to see reason behind his words, may have been able to approach this conversation at a better angle, but alarms were ringing in her head. Did he want her dead, too? Was he here to kill her? Had he been working with Spiderleap? Is she safe in her own den? There's only one exit, and the apprentice is blocking it. Could she get past him? Would she have to kill this one, too? Further stain her paws red? She didn't want to, but what choice would she have?

"And what do you propose I do instead?" She asks, a snarl in her voice that she did not give permission to be there, "choose between a number of cats who may or may not want me dead? At least I know Birdsnow won't deign to kill me in my sleep. At least I know that much." She shouldn't let her insecurities show, she really shouldn't, but right now she feels as if she is backed into a corner, a scared little kid who has no idea what she's doing.

"A fox?" Larkstar says almost breathlessly. She'd never personally seen one before. "Yes- uh- thank you for telling me, take a patrol with you to retrieve the body." There's more she wants to say, she wants to organize a patrol to take care of that fox for good, but she can't bring herself to say the words, too stunned by Sycamore's report.