The shecat gave a quick nod to Minkpaw and Kestrelskies carrying Rainpaw and Birdsnow away. That was good, she would have more time to focus on the meetings and any things she needed to pay more attention to as a lionheart. She really hoped Birdy would be okay; she didn't know if she could cope with losing the cat that had been her best friend all her life. They'd been through so much together... got kidnapped together, came back to life together, so many more adventures and traumatic experiences...
"Please be okay," she whispered to herself with a small sigh. She had half a mind to run after her best buddy, comfort her, try to heal her, but it wasn't the time for that now. RiverClan would be her home no matter what happened and she was sure Fadingsun would be disappointed in her if she made irrational decisions. Everyone would be disappointed. [ @
alec - Minkpaw ] [ @
sol. - Kestrelskies ]
Sometimes, she just wanted to go back in time. Be small little Mistykit again who was being told a "scary" story by her future mentor, Stormtalon. Nowadays she realized that story wasn't even scary compared to all the obstacles she had faced in life. Then at the beginning at her apprenticeship, everything was so nice. Stormtalon was her mentor, she was making friends... until he
died. And she became a shell of herself. Everyone started dying, anyone she started getting close to suddenly disappeared. The list of names went on and on and sometimes in the middle of the night, she could feel it haunting her. Weighing her shoulders down; a weight that would never be lifted. But that was over now. It made no sense to dwell on it. She wasn't Mistykit anymore, or Stormpaw, or Mistypaw. She was Misty
shard, a RiverClan lionheart who was persevering through the challenges of her past life and doing her best to aid her clan...
Was that what everyone thought? Or did no one believe in her? The tabby was ripped out of her troubled thoughts when Fadingsun continued with the meeting. All the voices, all the drama, it was making her head pound. Couldn't they have a single meeting where no one fainted, where no one complained, and where Fadingsun could just tell them what he wanted to announce without any backlash? Luckily Fading seemed to be on a good path to achieve that. Redmire was being called out and removed from the meeting, escorted by Owltalon. Hopefully the newly named Lionheart would not take Redmire's temper to heart.
Mistyshard had not seen a lot of the tom yet, but as much as he seemed to be strong and determined, his way of expressing his thoughts was disrespectful to put it simply. Hating on everyone and pretending to do better wouldn't help; it would create more drama and trouble for Fadingsun. Next was something about the Lionhearts handling situations. She agreed with that; more voices often caused unecessary misunderstandings and more arguments. Then a little lecture for Dusklion, a lecture for Birdsnow...
As much as she loved her best friend, she could not say the words Fadingsun was speaking weren't true. While Fadingsun was injured her and Dusklion had been carrying the weight of the clan on their backs - where had Birdsnow been? She was supposed to be a strong leader figure. Of course her condition wasn't healthy, so Mistyshard was glad she was taking a step back and doing what's best for her. Nonetheless, she hoped Birdy would still be able to stay in RiverClan and put more effort in this time. If her last anchor left, she might just lose her mind. Of course she had new cats to rely on now but it wouldn't be the same. She would stay loyal to RiverClan no matter what, but there was stilla sliver of hope Birdy would never leave her side.
Stay until we both grow old together, she silently begged her best friend. [ @
poppy - Birdsnow mention ]
Now Riverwhisper was also getting removed from camp. That was good, Fadingsun was handling everything well so far. Mistyshard felt like he'd finally be the leader who brought RiverClan back to strength. His approaches were good and he was stilling the chaos that usually happened without any bounds during meetings. It was so damn disrespectful; Misty would never be able to understand these cats. Was it so hard to just listen to the leader for a single meeting and cooperate with his ideas and plans? Rainpaw was also getting a lecture, he'd definitely be attented to... great, great, it was all going good. She would've been mad if Rainpaw just downright denied treatment just because "birdsnow needed it first". They both required it urgently.
A medicine cat was being announced as well, that was wonderful. It symbolized a new beginning for the clan and showed they would rise from their past mistakes. Wait... why was Fadingsun looking at her? She furrowed her brows and cocked her head. Surely just a quick glance and then he'd choose someone.
What.
Her.
No.
That couldn't be.
There were so many other candidates, so many cats to choose from... and yet it was
her? She looked at Fadingsun with wide eyes. Before she could say anything she noticed a starry present next to her and glanced over.
"Fawnlight?" she whispered and returned the nuzzle. Had it been her sister that made this choice? If Fawnlight thought she could do this... surely she could, right? She trusted this molly with her life so surely it was the right decision after all.
"Thank you... I love you," Mistyshard mewed, her one amber eye still open wide.
"I promise I'll do my best, I will look after them." Forcing herself to swallow the shock down, she smiled brightly at her sister. Then the starry ancestor was gone.
Hopefully I will see her again soon. [ @
taillow - Fawnlight ]
Before thanking anyone who congratulated her, she turned her attention to Fadingsun and let her voice be loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I am honored to take on this position. I will do my best to serve RiverClan well. If anyone has questions or concerns they are free to approach me directly." She let her amber gaze sweep around the crowd, not wanting there to be any difficulties or doubts due to misunderstandings. She would be able to deal with all the doubts externally, but surely it would take a mental toll on her. However, she promised herself to not let them make her doubt herself. She was stronger than that; she had been through worse.
Then came all the congratulations, chanting her name... Mistyshard turned to Adderpaw and offered the apprentice a gentle smile. She was glad to have Adder's support; she was a valuable clanmate who had done a lot for RiverClan.
"Thank you, I do hope I will," she purred. That meant there were cats standing behind her, clanmates that would have her back... Maybe she should stop overthinking everything. She wouldn't show on the outside, but there was a whirlwind of thoughts going through her mind every time something happened. Yet she always managed to cope, even with many obstacles on her path, and she'd continue to do that now that she was her clan's medicine cat.
Don't let anyone drag you down, she reminded herself. [ @
Fish - Adderpaw ]
Owltalon was congratulating her as well. The reassurance of the Lionheart also made her feel more full. Her doubts were already starting to fade away more as cats came to her to say “congrats” or “you’ll do great”.
“Thank you,” she mewed to Owltalon, voice warm and full. She let her eye linger on the newly named Lionheart for a few moments more as she departed to the territory with Redmire. [ @
Marigoldwhisper - Owltalon ]
Next was Cobwebpaw… and the decision of Mistyshard becoming a medicine cat really seemed to be taking a toll on the apprentice. She let out a soft sigh and was about to tell Cob to keep her head up and keep going no matter what, but the molly was already gone.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured mostly to herself. It was very quiet so probably the only cat able to hear it was Cobwebpaw in case she managed to catch it before she ran. She would stay in her position and not let such things bring her down, but yet she had empathy for Cobwebpaw and Minkpaw. They’d worked hard; they could have done well in the position too. Maybe it just came down to a bit of luck in the end? She didn’t know what had made the new leader and Birdsnow settle on the final decision but surely there was something. [ @
sillycreatur - Cobwebpaw ]
Blizzardpaw was also congratulating her, wishing her the best… Misty smiled at the apprentice and gave her a thankful nod. She did a similar gesture to Spottedstream, dipping her head in gratitude. It felt kind of weird; everyone kept doubting RiverClan’s leader, everyone was most likely doubting her… and yet they were suddenly supportive at this moment. Not that she was not grateful – some cats surely meant it – but she felt like the doubts would start coming soon. [ @
Spookez. - Blizzardpaw ] [ @
Breaking Dawn - Spottedstream ]
Then came Lilacpaw's very
loud outburst. Well, not really an outburst, just supportive cheering. The medicine cat let out a chuckle and padded over to her.. apprentice? Her former apprentice? That she wouldn't mentor her three apprentices anymore was most likely true, but she'd still make effort to train them and interact with them.
"...Thank you. I do believe I won't be mentoring you anymore, however if you ever want training or need to catch, feel free to come to me." She gave Lilac an enthusiastic bob of her head in an attempt to somehow match the young cat's excitement, then turned to the next cat. [ @
Breaking Dawn - Lilacpaw ]
Goldfish's frustrated expressions didn't just fly by Misty. She looked at the shecat with quirked eyebrows, confused when suddenly a "congratulations" came. Ah, and a talk after the meeting. She felt like there'd be some trouble with this discussion.
"...Sure," she muttered cautiously.
"Just stop by my den." Since it was "partially medical" it couldn't be too bad right? Her mind churned with all the possibilities, but then she forced herself to direct her attention to another one of her clanmates. It would do her no good to dwell on Goldfish's request until she actually knew what it was. [ @
blxze. - feel free to mention me in the med den whenever ]
Thunderchaser was snapping at Cobwebpaw and Minkpaw now... Mistyshard let out a grunt, eyeing the warrior and making her way over.
"...While I do understand why you may be feeling this way about the situation, they're surely just frustrated and need some time for themselves... I think they just need to calm down and snapping at them won't help with that. It'll just make 'em more riled up. They have done a lot, even if not with the right approach." She nodded curtly at the warrior, keeping her voice in a respectful manner. If Fadingsun wanted to lecture he could, but she did not want to test her boundaries just yet. [ @
Astraea - Thunderchaser ]
With that done she took a small step back from all the cats and let reality sink in. So many cats congratulating her, so many cats believing in her... there would be so much to do. As soon as she was done dealing with Rainpaw, Birdsnow and Goldfish she'd organize the herbs and then hopefully find someone to teach her things... maybe it would be good to have a conversation with Cobwebpaw and Minkpaw as well. Oh, and Fadingsun. She wanted to discuss some things with the leader considering they'd be working closely together now and it was partly her job to make sure everything ran smoothly. It had already been like that when she was a lionheart, but medicine cat would mean even more responsibility.
[ please let me know if i missed writing a reaction to your post and i will edit it
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