ThunderClan: Life Before 2023's Sinkhole

[taillow]

Cindersky
So many voices were raised. So many angry yowls. Some in defense of Aspenstar, others opposed. To Cindersky, in the midst of the chaos, she simply turned her nose up towards the sky. StarClan showed no sign of disapproval amongst a gray sky. Nothing that would indicate if they were even watching. Not a day had passed in her life that Cindersky ever felt her faith waver - until right now. It was.... earth shattering. A shocking realization that maybe, just maybe, her ancestors might not have her homes best interest at heart. Emotions encompassed her heart, squeezing tight. Why did she feel as though she was committing treason? Going against the thought belief system that she had grown up studying? Putting her faith in? Was the warmth that had surrounded her after each catch of prey, each patrol, each meeting, a lie? Was it all just a fabrication of illusions, weaved together by cats who were making it up as they went along?

Cindersky could not lose her faith. It had helped her countless times before, had pulled her from the wreckage of death and despair, as she was sure it had Aspenstar, Dogbark, Nectarflame, and everyone else that was present at the meeting. Could they have been... wrong all this time? To blindly put faith in cats that so few actually saw? She was not a leader, deputy, nor medicine cat. She had not once seen with her own eyes the cats that occupied Silverpelt. They twinkled in the sky at night, but what comfort did that offer? Silent answers to yowled questions, and not a single drop of rain to indicate that they disagreed with the dissolution that was happening to ThunderClan.

Had they really forsaken her home?

It hurt. More than any pain Cindersky had received in battle, more than any tear of her pelt or broken paw. More than any stinging nettle or entangled bramble bush. More than any heartache she had ever experienced. This was her home. ThunderClan was her home. And it was ripping apart before her very eyes.

When Nectarflame had stepped forward, Cindersky had felt pride for the warrior. Now, she was unsure. Her ears went back as cats continued to yowl. Arguing pointless opinions back and forth. The poor kits whose ceremonies were today... her heart ached for them as well. She barely felt the icy glare from Acornpatch, not registering any looks thrown her way. She was lost in her mind, sitting there rigid against Softpaw. She was trying her best for the young she-cat, trying her best to be a role model, to be someone that she could look to. Briefly, blue hues shifted towards her, studying her. She could not tell what thoughts were racing through the she-cats mind, but she could only pray to StarClan that her pelt pressed against hers was offering comfort.

With how little she felt right now, Cindersky was unsure what to do. She felt doubt creep in under a normally smooth pelt that was now bristled slightly with anxiety. Her mind whirled and spun, making her dizzy as she tried to follow it. Briefly the gray furred warrior gave a shake of her head and did the only thing she could think to do. She stood, rising to her paws and looking around. Mistpaw was going towards Buckbranch, and while she had conflicting views of the tom ever since their run in at Icicleripple's grave, she nudged Softpaw gently to signal for her to follow.

"Buckbranch," she greeted with a respectful head dip, blue eyes shifting to Mistpaw. They shone with warm and courage, hoping to pass some of it along to the young apprentice. "May we sit with you?" Cindersky was already resting back on her haunches, patting the spot next to her for Softpaw. Blue eyes scanned the clearing as she spotted another apprentice. They were too young to worry over any of this, in her opinion. "Tawnypaw, care to join us?" Her voice was warm, as was the smile on her face as she nodded to the apprentice.

Ah, she was beginning to wonder when he would make an appearance. To Cindersky, Cornpaw simply needed structure in his life. "Cornpaw!" she called, though kept her voice low to now appear as if she was yelling. "There is no need for names such as those. I understand your anger, but how about you come on over here? We've got quite the group of apprentices." Oh, dear StarClan Cindersky hoped she was being helpful. With all of the yelling and fussing and screaming and unsheathing of claws, her main focus was the apprentices. The young generation. She wanted them to feel safe and secure, despite ThunderClan beginning what appeared to be a descent into chaos.

@Papaya @WinterMara @finnzel @Berd @NinjaBloss @Jayvines (and anyone else i forgot! cinder is doing what she does best and rounding up the youngsters!)

[elswhere]

//: @WinterMara; @Jackpot; @spade; @tulle; @Berd; @implimm; and everyone else!


acorn's response will be posted on monday!

[iliri]

{Tawnypaw}

She felt like her lungs collapsed on her. She couldn't really focus. Her head felt light and she shook slightly on her paws. Jumping from the sound of Cindersky's soft voice, she looked up and made brief eye-contact with the senior warrior. "I..I-I..yes..yes I would please." Her voice shaky and out of rhythm, she followed the taller warrior. What had ThunderClan became? It became..monstrous..seeing what had just happened had traumatized the 12 moon old molly.

Noticing Buckbranch she paused, trying to search for words. Wait..Buckstar is alive? She blinked her eyes a couple of times. She must of been blind for a while to not notice. "B..B-Buckst- I mean..Buckbranch?..Your..Your-" Her throat dried up as she couldn't speak, she felt like a lump was in her throat. She shook her head, looking back at the ground. She couldn't bare to look at Cornpaw after what he just said. It..it hurt her. Once she gained the courage to look back up at Cindersky, she decided to go ahead and let out all the words that had been stuck in her for quite..some time.

"Cindersky?..Why is..ThunderClan like this. It..it became a sudden burden. A mess. It's not the one I used to know. I wish it was back to normal. Where everycat got along..and..and.." Her throat choked on words to say, burning tears staining her eyes. "I just wish ThunderClan was normal again..not like this." She tried to fight off the peeking sadness in her voice, her light gaze filled with salty tears. She felt embarrassed and horrible. As well as a mixture of ashame.

@tulle @finnzel @Papaya

[Courage]

~Thunderpaw~

STAY CALM she thought. JUST STAY CALM!!!! Well clearly she want convincing herself to stay calm very well. Name calling was bad, but being rude to the leader! This was unexeptable! The clearing was busling with chaos and of corse Cornpaws insults. She noticed a group of other apprentices that Cindersky was rounding up and went to sit by them.

[Rani]

Ridgeclaw was roused from his nap in the elders den by, you guessed it. Yelling. Same old thunderclan at this point their meetings had been a mess long before he was a warrior and they would be a mess after he was retired to the elders den after he lost his leg. With a sigh and a growl the Tom rolled out of his nest and hobbled out to the clearing to see this new mess. Ah it was Aspenstar getting her dues and the few trying to protest this just fate grasping for straws... Guess that meant he should step in and add the wisdom of an elder.

”IF YOU WERE DEDICATED TO DOING BETTER YOUD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY NOW JUST STATE IT WITH EMPTY WORDS.” the bellow was clear even though it was rasped and cracked with age “it is easy to say and harder to do and you’ve proven time and time again as you take the easy path of promising and only doing so in situations that suit you! The event you avoided accusing words that held naught but the truth instead deeming this where all eyes are on you to actually do your job for once while ignoring the true issue! You. Are. A. Coward! Look to Dogbark who faces the harsh truth with dignity and fixes the issues in himself without having to promise to first! He simply does as a proper leader should! You are a child who seeks praise for your ego above all and doesn’t truely care for your clan! What are you doing to deal with our lack of medicine cat!? How will they be trained!? How is thunderclan going to live when the frost has already set on and our herb supply is barren!? What of our prey stores?! A true leader would think of this and all that Buckstar failed is too he was legues better then you!”

The tripod elder hobbled further into the clearing to growl in closing “A true leader would recognise you aren’t suitable for the rank and step down. So I call upon you. Step. Down.”

[WinterMara]

Softpaw of Thunderclan

Softpaw went over to the others, but still stayed close to Cindersky, Tawnypaw seemed like a nice cat, even if they didn't agree with one another, and Mistpaw also seemed nice, the apprentice that seemed to be coming over, she had no impression on, so, yeah. As for Buckbranch, well, she still viewed him highly, and his points made sense, but with all the other warriors yelling, she was tense.

What was Thunderclan becoming? Warriors yelling, apprentices scared, kits clueless, this wasn't how things were supposed to be. Everyone was supposed to be happy, and care about eachother, and. . . not horrifying and scary. Shouldn't everyone have family and friends, and a leader they can look up too, that's what she grew up with, or, the idea of that. Honestly, the most terrifying part of all of this was that Cornpaw was once again yelling, and it was against Aspenstar. . . would she lose the corncult now that she was speaking her opinions?

| @Papaya @tulle @Aurene @Berd @Jayvines [sorry if I forgot anyone!]

[Quasar]

Shallowshiver | she/her?? | @implimm @tulle sorry for how long this took-

Day by day, night by night, the clan was falling more and more into shambles. The very clan she had found pride in being part of was now a mere husk of its former self. Patrols were failing to be sent out, cats scarcely hunted anymore, and the leadership might as well be nonexistent. This thought infuriated the huge warrior to no extent. Dogbark had apologized and taken accountability, but still hasn't done much.

So, Shallowshiver decided it was about time to take things into her own paws. Borders needed to be re-marked, and prey needed to be brought back. Those things weren't going to get done just by sitting around.

Getting up and padding to the center of camp, the black tabby took a moment to glance around at who all was there. Two familiar pelts caught her attention rather quickly, and she knew that those two were probably some of the few in the clan that refused to just sit idly by as countless things just got worse and worse.

"Nectarflame, Cindersky, would you two like to accompany me on a brief trip around the territory to gather some prey and re-mark the borders?"

[dino.]

// @tulle, @Jayvines, @WinterMara, @Aurene, @Berd

>Buckbranch<

The brown and white tom moved to wrap his tail comfortingly around Mistpaw's shoulders as she sidled over to him and tried his best to give her a gentle smile. "It should settle down soon, don't worry," he murmured to her.

And then- oh, boy, it seemed his interjection had garnered more attention than he had anticipated. He turned his gaze to Cindersky and nodded, both in greeting and in answer. Of course they could - things were getting a little out of paw now and it would probably he better to stick in their own little calm group for the time being.

"Leave him," he said softly to Cindersky in retrospect to Cornpaw. "If he hasn't learned by now that those kinds of words won't get him anywhere, then he won't for a while."

Tawnypaw approached him next, and, as he had with Mistpaw, he did his best to give her his warmest smile in the hopes that it would offer some form of comfort. "In the flesh," he attempted to joke, albeit awkwardly.

That smile faded slightly as she turned to Cindersky and spoke, and he swallowed. He knew how she felt - while shouting might get the message through quicker and much more strongly, he had learned it was more stressful than anything, especially for the younger cats, and he winced as more caterwauls began to rise. This has to calm down soon...

Another flicker of movement caught his attention and he caught sight of Thunderpaw, heading in their direction as well. He flashed what was hopefully a welcoming grin, and then swiveled his head to see Softpaw joining them as well.

So. Four frightened apprentices crowding around he and Cindersky was the result of this mess.

Fantastic.

[Willowfern]

@poppy.

Dogbark blinked in surprise, she was almost quoting his Giving Thanks speech word for word,

“Aspenstar, I regret to have to say this, but reusing speeches generally doesn’t help your cause.
I expected more than that.”

His tail was lashing, his heart was pounding.

Here we go.

“Do you remember, Aspenstar, when you became Leader? How you promised that things would be different, that you wouldn’t be another Eveningstar? It’s true you aren’t like Eveningstar, but you aren’t any better!
I admit, I am not doing as good as I could be, but I could be doing so much better if I had a competent partner to lead this clan!

For example: The missing cats! Larkfrost has been missing for a long time, and she just pops up again! I know that I didn’t pay attention to that before, but Nectarflame has alerted me to the fact that we have a lot of cats in our midst that do not belong right now!

And you do nothing!

You sit in your den all day, but come out occasionally for the odd clan meeting, or an event you’re hosting, but that’s pretty much the extent of it! You need to socialize with the clan, Aspenstar! I bet you didn’t even know that just the other day, two young kits were in the woods! Outside of camp! Alone! In leafbare! If I hadn’t been there, they would have been coyote bait!”

Coyotes! Of course!

“Also, Aspenstar, might I alert you to the fact that you didn’t even notice that your own Deputy was missing for a day until now! Nectarflame, Cindersky, and Shiningskies sure noticed, but you? You didn’t! As far as you knew I was here the whole time! Your ignorance is outstanding!

I sometimes wish it had been the other way around, me as Leader with you as Deputy, because you’re clearly struggling with the idea of the responsibility for a whole clan on your shoulders, and you were not prepared. As Deputy you would have learned how to lead, how to fix problems, take care of duties, and how to be active in the StarClan-damned clan for once! I have seasons and seasons of experience, but as you are such a young cat, you were thrust into this whole ordeal with no idea what was up and what was down! I would have had most of the problems taken care of by now, I would have made peace with RiverClan the very first moon!

But alas, it was not how the dice were tossed.”

He longed to tell Aspenstar about his ordeals at the border, and how he’d saved Kestrelstar’s life and cemented the peace between the two clans, but he wanted to keep it from her for now, like she’d kept multiple things from him.

“Right now, ThunderClan is weak, you are leading with the ideas that if we keep dragging the past along behind us, ever looming like a dark cloud on the horizon, that somehow we’ll get out of this mess!

You’re wrong, Aspenstar, very wrong.

The only way we can even begin to take our first few pawsteps into the future is to let go of the damn past! The past is the past!

My whole family was killed by a dog when I was young, but do you see me crying about it every time they’re mentioned? No! It still stings, it always will. I’ve come to terms with the fact that Swancloud and Blackshiver are dead, like you should come to terms with the fact that the past is dead, that the old ThunderClan is no more, that we do not need the help of anyone else, ThunderClan needs to stand on its own paws if it is going to be the greatest clan in the forest once more!

Aspenstar, to march into the future, you must let go of the past, and I don’t know if you’re willing to do that.

But know that I am, and I will never cease to serve and protect this clan with all my heart and soul... for as long as I shall live.”

Suddenly, he recalled the promise he had made himself when he became Deputy, and he decided to bring it up.

“When I became Deputy, I made a promise, a promise to protect the clan from anyone who wanted to destroy it, either from the outside in, or the inside out, and now I see that the latter is what seems to be happening, Aspenstar, and I wish you would correct it.”

@implimm

Now the Deputy paused, Nectarflame had approached him claiming that he should have just jumped up there and taken control of his clan, to be completely honest, that was what he felt like it would have to come to at the end of this,

“I am offering a chance for correction on Aspenstar’s part, currently, she needs to own up to her mistakes as I did,” He said, “But sometimes I feel like it wouldn’t be a bad idea,” His tone was joking, but was he joking? He’d have to wait and see.

Listening to the cries of his clanmates some all for him taking the reins and steering this clan on his own, others blindly claiming Aspenstar was an innocent child who didn’t need so much pressure- she shouldn’t have accepted leadership in that case- and some just trying to de-escalate, all in all, it was a mess.

@finnzel

Now, when Cornpaw piped up, Dogbark was quite amused, as he actually didn’t seem to say anything negative about the Deputy, which kind of seemed like a milestone for the tom to have passed- being on neutral terms with Cornpaw.

@Rani

Dogbark was surprised when the Elder emerged from his den, he hadn’t expected a tom from the generation before him to believe in him in such a way, he would have expected a verbal lashing, but he dipped his head and blinked a “thank you” to the elder.

So far, Aspenstar had not said anything more regarding the situation, which angered Dogbark to say the least, he at least expected some sort of reaction from her, even if it was just her escaping into her den.

Tapping his tail against the ground as the yelling got louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore, Dogbark knew he had to reach a conclusion, but what??

[Giving y’all a chance to respond before I say anything else, enjoy a cliffhanger.]

[Mistletoe]

[Open]

~Eaglekit~

Eaglekit was shocked to his very core. No he was terrified. Every cat was yelling. Great Starclan even fighting each other! He puffed up his pelt as if he could hide in his mid-length fur. What’s going on! Aspenstar’s the leader! Why can’t we all agree with her!
He shrank away from his clan mates. Ears pinned to his head. Eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Deathly aware of how big they were compared to him. What would happen if they started fighting? This isn’t how clan’s should act is it? He was too frightened to speak.

~Mallardstep~

Mallardstep had expected this. He had hoped, but with a clan this broken how could it not have ended up this way. He angled himself so he could easily leap in defense of the apprentices. Cindersky seemed to have it covered, but you could never be too sure. Especially since they were so mouthy. Say something Aspenstar. Show us you’re worth following.
He wasn’t sure what he would do if an uprising started. Dogbark seemed like a good leader. However, he didn’t quite have the audacity to go against Starclan and his leader. He felt bad for the kit’s who were supposed to be having their big day, but this was an important discussion. He just hoped Aspenstar would have the sense to call another meeting for the later. One that didn’t involve apologizing.