RiverClan Skyridge

[wolfie]

== > @Dirtfur @~_LuzuraTheTitan_~
Six. Six cats. Six of their clanmates, one of them was a damned child. This could've been prevented, and it should've been. And he cursed at himself, at how he had fell in line. At how he had gotten comfortable. Wormbite always struggled to get a firm grasp on his own opinions. He didn't enjoy how Pikestar's words were reminding him of Kestrelstar - two different cats. Very different. Even the prior leader had made a change before he .. The Dark Lord sucked in a deep breath. Pikestar hadn't and wouldn't be ruthless.

Hell, at least the tom didn't go on a mystical journey and abandon his clan to come to this conclusion.

A low sigh came from him. Then the small kit piped up with clarification. Right. Little children must be decently civil. Ish. "Pikestar, " Wormbite grunted in response, ears pulling back as the leader went on to purpose the idea of.. water burials. Frustration rippled through his short fur, eyebrows furrowing close together. Why the hell were they trying to fancy up funerals instead of something productive?

.. Not increasing patrols for territory, increasing training, something? Hell, set up traps in the Sleepy Thicket. Anything was more productive than this. Perhaps it would come up later, but the Dark Lord didn't understand why not bring it up now? Why shift the topic?

His misshaped ears perked up at Graytail's statement and a laugh was ripped from his lips. Cruel and dry, because how rude. "Do not speak for the dead, " Wormbite remarked, and held his tongue. And they wanted to either pollute their water supply or dump bodies in the Haven Springs. A place he was fond of.

He reached a paw and dragged it down his face. Tired rage bubbled up, but it didn't threaten to spill. He would bring up his concerns privately or, at the very least, simply do it himself. He was given this rank for a reason, might as well make use of it. Besides, Beansprout .. well.. he was speaking truths. Didn't need to repeat or, overwhelm Pikestar. Gosh. Wormbite was tired and so was Ghostie.

[Fade]

MINNOWPAW
They/He | Post Count: 4

Minnowpaw felt pressure from all sides, peer pressure to say something, anything towards the leader. Was this what his job as an apprentice was? To stand against your leader and agree with masses without free speech? Water burials? what... who would want that? who would want to wake up all alone again and die in the middle of the sea? The apprentice stands up, nodding in respect towards their leader as a sign of not hate but not total agreement.
"Pikestar..sir? What if they wake up all alone in the ocean, cat's come back to life just like you. The ocean doesn't want them, that's clear enough with what...what.. Icefury said. I wouldn't want to wake up and be floating in the middle of the sea. How about if they have no kin remaining, then they come back and are left to die out t...t..there"
Stars above, they felt nervous. Were all of The Cats Of The River Settlement going to come slamming down on him with a thousand paws of fury? Welp- They were about to find out. But they still had something left to say. "Also...what if the dogs come back. What would we do, Stonepaw can't take a whole clan in their den at once. I know this may sound extremely stupid, but what if we moved. That would be something I would like you to even consider as an option, I know we can't just pack up and leave in a day- "
Minnowpaw mewed towards him and only him. The apprentice wasn't one to just say random things but that did really seem like the better thing to think about right now. Could The Cats Of The River Settlement take another hit like that? Could they even lose anymore cats, heck could they lose Pikestar, right now?
@Captain

[BEAR.]

Tinystorm hadn't planned on attending.

The truth of the matter was, he refused to come to the call of cats who hadn't earned his respect. Kestrelstar had his admiration once; until the former leader took a vacation and abandoned them. Paired with naming Sparrowskip, a failed medicine cat and warrior-- his deputy-- he had marred it completely.

Tinystorm was a cat with many flaws, despite how bull-headed and stubborn he might be on that subject alone. But when it came to the wellness of his Clan, it wasn't much he was asking for. He just expected his presiding high ranks to be role models. RiverClan severely lacked that these days.

But, even from the shelter of the warriors' den he could hear the self-pitying announcement, and the voices of the idiots who ate it up. Tinystorm was tired of this song and dance. If RiverClan was to change, it needed to be more forceful than the ocean's current.

"Enough!" As he limped out of the warriors' den, his angry gaze first cast upon Graytail. "What are you, daft? Your precious leader sat on his tail while dogs rampaged the thicket. He knew they had tasted cat blood, that they killed Mosstalon, and still he didn't take the initiative to lead a patrol to clear them out, despite his assurance otherwise. If my son were alive, he'd be livid Snowleap couldn't be damned to at least protect our camp before things were out of control." A short pause to gain his breath, a heavy sigh escaping him. He was exhausted by all this - physically sapped from blood loss. "Patrols taking the fight to the thicket would have given our Clan an advantage. Less cats would have been involved .. A lot of suffering minimalized.

"So don't freaking pretend like he's a saint. He didn't save anyone with his actions." Then, he turned to Snowleap. "Shove your so-called punishment up your ass. All the cats that died should have been you ten-fold! Even Whisperwave-- an exile--, deserved more. You want to prove you're worthy of being our leader, but it should not have taken this to drive that passion. As a leader, that should have always been your drive. It's disgusting to hear it wasn't your intent to begin with."

This wasn't all. Where the hell was Gingerfrost? Tinystorm's smoldering gaze sought the ginger tom out in the crowd. "You." It was pure venom. "I can understand why such a lazy, spineless excuse of a cat was named deputy under Snowleap, but for the Clan's sake at least try. You cater to a cat for permission who hasn't had the Clan's best interest at heart his entire leadership, and you spend your days keeping to the sidelines and observing. Step the hell up and be a leader of this Clan, or step the hell down for someone who will."

This wasn't touching the pure stupidity of water burials, especially when it came to putting them in warm water, but other cats hit that nail on the head and he was too drained to care.

"At this rate, we'd be better off playing ThunderClan." It was entirely sour, because for all the 'stability' they had, nothing good came of it. At least ThunderClan burning through leaders meant there were less cats bobbing their heads mindlessly. Tinystorm was entirely sick of how far his Clan had fallen.

[ @Captain, @~_LuzuraTheTitan_~ @Estelle @ literally anyone else idc ]

[Starfall]

Sleepywolf
@Captain

The tuxedo listened as their ... 'leader' spoke up, eyes narrowing as he spoke up. Nothing more than half-baked words, and more half baked promises. They had nothing more to give than words because their actions would be worth nothing. Too little too late would be a wonderful way to put it, remorseful because he could have prevented something had he actually put in the effort. But he didn't he chose, instead, to hide and avoid the duties he was given the lives to devote himself to. Instead, choosing to sit pretty with 8 chances to mess up, rather than the 1 the rest of them had, and the 1 some of them had paid for.

The Warrior listened quietly, listening to the angry cries of his Clanmates. Ears twitching. This wasn't the Clan he was raised in, this wasn't the Clan he had grown to love. It was a sad shadow attempting to be the same...and failing miserably. Amber eyes flicked between the Warrior that got the brunt of the attack, Tinystorm was the name. A name he would do well to remember, someone who earned the suffix Storm. It was nothing but explosive anger, nothing more than blurts of resentment and barks of detestment.

Sleepywolf looked up at the Tom who now said he'd do his best to become a Leader...when he was supposed to be one Moons ago. The moment he had gotten the lives was when he was to begin working towards bettering his clan. The tom didn't care about the other's personal growth, as long as the Clan was well off. That's how it was. "Pikestar...if you don't mind me speaking up. I have a question." he said, stepping forwards, hoping his voice would be heard over the seas of shouts. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't shout or hiss.

The other was putting in the effort of an...well to be kind he would say a Warrior, so, he'd speak to the other as if they were equals. Because at the moment they were, he had a fancy name, but that was all. There was nothing to back it up. "What makes you think you loosing one of your many lives was worth the many that were lost? I'm sorry...I'd just like to hear your thought process behind it." a tight smile. "Is it something like loosing Four large catches of prey, and someone loosing a small Minnow and saying it's the same? There's many minnow in our territory, easy to catch. It's harder to catch a bigger fish that will fill bellies."

He would get to the lack of responsibility later, whether the other wished to touch base upon it or not. It was getting brought up, or he would march up there himself and get in the other's face. He wouldn't hesitate to make a fool of their so called 'leader' after all they were nothing to be scared of, they never finished what they started anyways. Not that Sleepywolf saw.

[Ian]

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Talonkit
╚══════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══════╝

The fluffy kit stared in disappointment as Pikestar spoke. This was not what had he expected. Not now, and not all those moons ago when he had given Pikestar his life and new name. Voices spoke up against the idea of water burials, and Talonkit didn't feel the need to add his own to the chorus of disagreements.

And then another voice, louder than the rest, spoke out against Pikestar and his inaction. Turning to look at the new speaker, Talonkit's blue eyes widened and he stared. That was the tom who had saved his life, throwing himself in front of the dogs that had been chasing him without second thought.

Talonkit stood, barely hearing the other voices that chimed in as he made way over to the large cat. He cautiously reached out paw, hesitating, as if touching the warrior in front of him would make him disappear. As if he didn't exist.

"You're the one who saved me. Why? No one has ever acted so selflessly before. Not even Pikestar. You know, I was the one who gave him his final life and his name? I was dead before I came back. Snakeheart told me I wasn't loved, that StarClan made a mistake, and I left in the middle of leaf-bare because I thought it would be better and died in the cold. I told Pikestara about it in a dream, but nothing came of it. Snakeheart simply disappeared."

He was rambling, but he didn't care. Someone, for once, and put Talonkit first and he didn't know how to deal with it. It had never happened before.

@BEAR.

[Estelle]

Everything escalated quickly. And he should have expected some part of it, at least. It started with a minute of silence for the fallen, head lowered to the ground in respect to the lost souls. He still couldn't believe none had told him of the dogs; despite his being nest-bound at the time, it is something he would've liked to at least been made aware of. But that may very well be, in part, his fault too for having gotten sick in the first place. He should have been smarter, and sought help earlier - Stonepaw and what happened made that clear.

Next came the water burials. Before he could even think about it, the clan erupted in protest. One feline after the other brought up points that he could not disagree with; dirty their water supply, current too strong, attract predators, to name a few. Gingerfrost remained in an uncomfortable silence as he listened. Evidently, albeit an aesthetic idea, water burials would not be a thing. Too problematic, and the clan made that very clear. Only that it didn't end there. What started as shutting down the water burial idea, became a berating of Pikestar himself - most notably, Tinystorm, a feline who surely never hesitated to speak his mind. Ears turned towards the warrior, he listened to his words with a frown. Snowleap. A simple sign he didn't respect Pikestar as a leader, although that much was obvious.

Gingerfrost was passive. Too passive, yes, and his mixed feelings kept him from defending Pikestar or calling him out. He was rarely one to take the spotlight, engage, and berate lest it was truly deserved. Perhaps it was deserved now. Yes, Pikestar should have taken action earlier. And now this happened. If he didn't know better, he'd call this a rebellion -- or at least, the start of one. They were sinking lower than ThunderClan ever had, erupting into chaos and... Instability. And it was his fault, too, his fault that he let it sink this far. His fault that RiverClan was what it was now; this wasn't the home he grew up in anymore, and it was his fault.

Tinystorm made that clear. Turning to him, the tabby didn't flinch but took a breath when the warrior got up in his face, berating his own laziness. Gingerfrost took the criticism head-on, realising more and more that Tinystorm was right - that he had a point. A very solid, valid point. And he? He could be sorry that he was letting his sister, his clan, down? He was that too, yeah, he felt sorry. And angry. Enraged he hadn't done better all this time. Step up or step down. Tinystorm was right. He was right, and Gingerfrost wholeheartedly acknowledged that. Step up or step down. If given the chance, he would step up. No. No, no. He needed to take the opportunity himself, to step up. He couldn't care less about his image that was true, but if there was one thing he couldn't stand it was letting his family down. RiverClan was his family now, and he let them down. May fury fuel the passion. RiverClan needed a leader, then a leader he had to be.

"What happened with the dogs is beyond awful and the result of pure negligence. Although I was sick at the time, and therefore unaware of their presence, the responsibility for what happened is mine as well.

This should have happened earlier, but from now, additional patrols will be sent to areas that are not being hunted in. As for the Thicket... It may never be fully restored. But, tomorrow at sunrise, I and whoever is willing will clean the area up and restore as many graves as possible. In any case, the unburied need to be reburied so no other predators may come -- and the area well scented."

He rarely spoke much, but he had to get used to it. It felt awkward; he was going to make mistakes -- maybe this was a mistake, but he'd discover that as he went. He could already imagine the backlash he'd get. Until then... He had to try, as Tinystorm said. Hah. How stupid, but the deputy turned to the aforementioned warrior. He didn't speak or nod or simple, he only sought to meet with a serious gaze, for a brief heartbeat, before returning to look over the clan. Why? For helping him realise what an utter fool he is. But if the clan would still have him, he wanted to step up. Shame it took being yelled at and RiverClan's instability to realise that.


[ @BEAR. @Captain ]

[puppeteer]

silversnow

| @Captain @BEAR @/anyone else |

The hot headed molly could feel a snarl rising in her scarred throat, and she limped out of the warriors den. She felt anger blazing through her fur, and she forced her way to the front, pushing past cats. "Alright, some of you!" Her words started as a snap, then slowly developed into a snarl. "Yeah, my dads done some stupid things, so have plenty of you! None of you get to sit here and yell at him for things that could have been prevented by some of you! Gingerfrost was sick, so you, Tinystorm, why didn't you take a patrol to the Thicket, hm? Can you answer that?! I lost my sister and my brother to those asshole dogs! I lost almost my entire family! I watched my dad lose a life!" She couldn't stop her words now, and she just kept speaking.

"Why on the stars-forsaken earth, are we only blaming Pikestar?! We should be taking some goddamn blame ourselves! We could have taken care of this! You think he wanted to see Clanmates die?! Of course not! Things happen, mistakes are made, cats die. That's apart of being in a Clan and if none of you can handle that, well. Leave." She glared at everyone, almost begging them to argue with her, to get in her face. She wanted an excuse to fight. "Maybe, just maybe, Pikestar was struggling with the fact one of his daughters went missing and one of his closest friends just died! Any of ya think of that one?"

She turned to her dad, a soft look on her maw. "I will say, though, water burials. Great idea, but not something we can truly partake in."

[Nixey]

Otterkit
she/her | Riverclan

With a mrrow coming from Otterkit at the lick to her forehead, her gaze flickered back towards her father momentarily. Relaxing back against his fur, she turned her attention back to the big stone that the figure rested atop of. Even if she couldn’t quite grasp the ideas that were being thrown out by the Riverclan leader, awe shined in her eyes while she listened to the voices. That was till something seemed to burst amidst the clan members.

Pressing back against Cloudjumper as a way to confirm her father was still present, Otterkit tried to follow each voice that was speaking. She didn’t understand what was happening, why everyone suddenly seemed so..upset. A noise of confusion escaped the small body before looking towards Cloudjumper. She didn’t expect an answer, but instead was looking towards him to see how she should be reacting.

@lio | @x ghostie | @Captain

[Wintersun]

Robinpaw (He/Him)

The apprentice flicked his ear. Their camp had been attacked by dogs? What else had happened while he was gone. In a moment of fear, he realized that he hadn't seen his friend for who knows how long. His anxiety spiked at that realization and his eyes began flicking across the crowd of cats. Where was he? Was he alive? Was he still in the clan? His only thoughts were of his friend at the moment, and he couldn't keep himself calm. His tail began to lash slightly and he strained his eyes even more. He couldn't find him... The tom took a deep breath to calm himself, perhaps he was just in the den..? He would check later. Refocusing his attention to the leader, he finally calmed down a bit.

[poppy]

briarkit

The wounded kitten looked around her as chaos erupted around her. Fear pulsed through her paws, and she looked around for her father. For anyone. But her dad wasn't here. he hadn't been here. So she turned to looked at Lilycreek, and tried to limp her way to pressed herself to the forever queen's side. But then cats were yelling, and she swallowed a lump of anxiousness in her throat.

Why did Pikestar get so many lives, and everyone else only got one? That didn't seem fair. Everyone was important. Briarkit felt a wave of nausea pass over her. Over exertion in her tired state? She didn't know what it was, but she let out a low whimper and leaned on Lilycreek, head pounding out of nowhere. But she didn't want to leave the meeting. She wanted to see her dad. So she stayed, using Lily as a brace.

[ @sol. ]