RiverClan Skyridge

[Mango]

@masquerade

Blizzardsky stretched as he padded out of the den at Sparrowskip's call. His eyes gazed around the clearing as they landed on Kestrelstar dead. That stopped him in his tracks," no" he choked out completely in shock and reeling in surprise. However, something that crossed his mind shortly passed Kestrelstar didn't follow Splashleap's request for me to be deputy...if it weren't for Sparrowskip I'd be about to become leader right now...I guess on the plus side now I can become Sparrowskip's deputy... he thought, for once smart enough not to say outloud. This was probably the only time Blizzardsky had correctly read the den, well the camp in this scenario. He wanted to shove Snakeheart out of the way and press himself into Kestrelstar's fur like he was a little kit wanting his mother's warmth, but then he saw Cloudpaw, Kestrelstar's apprentice who had gone through so many mentors before. He knew he had a reputation, but he needed to comfort the bean," I'm so sorry Cloudpaw..." he murmered going in to give Cloudpaw a reassuring lick between the ears for comfort," you won't be alone, the rest of the clan is here, Kestrelstar is watching over you...and I am here." he gently meowed. He was a father, he couldn't stand to see any kits or apprentices suffering. It was the least he could do. He wanted to take Cloudpaw's pain away, but he knew only time could fix that.

[versailles]

@Rani //

➵ brindlefeather | she/(they)/it

deep down in their heart, they knew something was bad when sparrowskip was the one that called a clan meeting. peaking out of the warriors den, brindlefeather found the assumption to be true. cats were already gathering around and pushing to the front, some teary eyed and crying, wailing. they looked over, and there, on the edge of the clearing laid kestrelstar's body - stiff, unmoving, and most importantly, not breathing. the first round of panic set in, because what would they do now? sparrowskip had just become deputy and now he would become leader? how did kestrelstar die? how many lives did he even have left? shouldn't he be waking up? he was young! their chest tightened, their heart pounded against their ribcage, they tried to inhale.

paws shuffling against the ground and tapping, they tried to calm themselves down. but, that was a bit hard considering so many people were wailing (understandably), the apprentices made their heart ache the worst. (they hoped russetpaw and spicepaw didn't show up. they shouldn't see their leader's corpse.) oh stars, okay, okay, he's dead. everyone dies eventually! leaders have died in the past. it'll be fine. right? ohh dear stars.. they breathed in, trembling and fur bristled.

another sight make their heart ache even worse, snakeheart. poor snakeheart. their paws felt as heavy as boulders as they slowly made their way to the young tom, glancing at sharkheart who was trying to get him away from kestrelstar. they glanced at cloudpaw who was sobbing her little heart out, then blizzardsky who came over to comfort her. then, they looked back at snakeheart. was comforting him the right thing to do? the wondered if they should just leave him be, so he could grieve. "snakeheart..i dont - i think.." they weren't even sure of what to say. they didn't know what to say. gulping, the large feline attempted to grab the medicine cat as gently as they could and pull him off of the leader, moves calculated and cautious.

___

open //

➵ swankit | she/her

with all the commotion, how could swankit not be curious? the thin molly poked her narrow face out of the nursery, watching the grieving and the mourning of her clanmates. she managed to catch a glimpse of the leaders body, lifting a paw and taking one step out of the nursery. she slipped past the warriors and apprentices, stopping once she was close enough to see that kestrelstar was, in fact, not moving. she blinked, looking at the torbie and another molly trying to get snakeheart away from the body, then at cloudpaw who was being comforted by blizzardsky and a different warrior, then back at the stiff leader, staring.

[Quasar]

Orchidmantis | he/him | @Starfall if you wanna reply to comfort him ;;

No... no no no no this wasn't happening. This couldn't be real. This...this was just a dream right? A nightmare that, soon, would all be over? He would just wake up in a couple moments and everything would be okay, right? RIGHT? Kestrelstar, he couldn't be... dead. Starclan wouldn't do that. The clan had been doing so well, things were looking up! Conflict with Thunderclan had ceased, they were allies with Windclan, Shadowclan had largely started leaving them alone. Was that all just a lie? Was it all just to subvert their attention, to distract them from what would happen to their leader in the future?

The large toms paws were rooted to the ground, unable to move from his spot just outside of the warriors den. A choked sob fought out of his throat, but it was drowned out by the cries that rose from his clanmates. Snakeheart was trying to save him. He would be able to bring him back, it was all gonna be okay. This was just some...some cruel joke, right? He knew what he was doing, Snakeheart was the most experienced medicine cat in the clans at the moment! He knew what to do!

But, deep down, he knew that there was no saving him. Kestrelstar was dead. The clan had just lost yet another great leader. Did Thunderclan do it? Or was it Shadowclan? Or...or was it someone else? A rogue? Sparrowskip would surely tell them... oh. Oh, thats right. Sparrowskip. He was leader now, right? Of course he was, thats how it worked. Sparrowskip would do a good job. He would be a good leader. He had to be. But what would they do now? Would he be killed too? No, no he wouldn't let that happen. He wasn't the best warrior, he knew that, but dammit he was going to make sure that they wouldn't have any more leaders die. Orchidmantis's jaw clenched, teeth grinding against eachother.

A small drop of water hit his paw. Was it raining? He looked up.

The sky was clear.

Ah, he was crying.

Well, its not like he was good at much else.

[Madelaine]

-->Petuniafire<--

The molly was out in the territory doing some hunting when she made it back into camp with a couple of mice. She padded over to the fresh kill pile and dropped it off. Now right as soon as she looked up she saw the leaders body. Her jaw dropped and her eyes filled with sadness. Petuniafire wanted to run over to Kestrelstar. He was her big inspiration and now he was gone.

Petuniafire's ears dropped and she lowered herself to the ground. She hadn't of even said goodbye and now he was gone. The warrior walked over to the back of the crowd, wanting to just be left alone. No other warrior besides the high ranks would know what it felt like to loose someone you loved almost as family. Ever since that first meeting she ever had with the leader when she was a kit she was proud to have him as her leader.

[Captain]

☁ Cloudpaw (she/her) ☁ [ @Quackers | @Zesty Mango ]

➢ The young fluffy apprentice didn’t know how much time had passed where she just cried against the large tomcat’s body. It all didn’t feel real. She had already been dealing with Swansong and Rosyfrost being gone, as well as her littermates and nursery friends. But now, Cloudpaw couldn’t even have Kestrelstar to be her mentor? She had been so excited for him to teach her how to swim in Cattail Pond. Why was this happening? Was she a bad luck charm? Is that why everyone that she cared about went missing or died? Cloudpaw felt sick to her stomach and she hated being so alone like this. Maybe she was destined to be by herself. Was this the will of Starclan? The young shecat didn’t know, but hated to think about it. Then, a familiar voice came to her ears: Fawnspring? Cloudpaw lifted her head, looking at the scarred warrior and quickly hugged the brown-furred tomcat, burying her face into his fur for a long moment. She forced herself to pull away from him though, sitting down in front of Kestrelstar’s body with this sunken gaze. It wasn’t long though before another Riverclan warrior stepped forward to comfort her, this one wasn’t as familiar though. A tomcat named Blizzardsky. She felt him lick her between her ears as she sniffled miserably. His words felt like they were a mile away, muffled and hard to hear, but she listened regardless with a pained smile as her expression. “T-Thank you…” Cloudpaw mewed, wiping her face with one small paw, “T-This isn’t m-my fault, right?” She looked up at Blizzardsky and then at Fawnspring too. Being his apprentice, it wasn’t surprising that she blamed herself. Maybe if she had been a better student. The fluffy molly shook her head, looking back down at her paws. No. She shouldn't think like that. No, no, no... It felt like a never-ending nightmare. "W-Wasn't I a g-good apprentice?" Cloudpaw whimpered.

[Mango]

@masquerade

Blizzardsky gave a saddened look at the apprentice. How could she think it was her fault. Blizzardsky felt horrible," Oh no sweetheart, it wasn't your fault. Not at all. It was no one's fault, it was just an accident, I promise. Tell you what, I'll take you out for training whenever you're feeling up for it." he meowed gently pressing himself against Cloudpaw. It wasn't really like him and his daughter did look upset, but she was a big warrior now she could handle this by herself, right now Cloudpaw needed her," You are a great apprentice. I'm certain Kestrelstar would agree." he meowed

[WhitesilverQueen]

Spottedpaw padded into the clearing nervously. She gasped at Kestrelstar's body. She wanted to cry. She wanted to mourn. She wanted to run, far, far, away. But she didn't. She needed to stay strong for Riverclan.
{open}

[Mango]

[Open]

Ploverkit wasn't even a moon old. Her eyes had recently opened. She was lucky she was alive. She was found alone in Riverclan territory as a helpless newborn with her eyes and ears still closed.The little grey kit with slightly darker stripes and a creamy underbelly had heard a strange cat who she didn't know call the clan out of the den for a meeting and everyone was saying this word called death. She didn't really know what it was, but there seemed to be a lot of quiet excitement about it. She didn't quite understand shock and grief at her young age but that was the way she described the emotions she was hearing. She had tried walking before, but hadn't had much luck. But this time she was motivated to see what this thing or cat was causing so much excitement.

She pulled her little stumpy legs in and pushed up. She couldn't believe it she was standing. She lifted one leg and clumbsly set it down stumbling and falling again. She tried again and continued to make her way to the big group of cats walking under the warriors due to her tiny size so she could get up close and see whatever was happening.

Ploverkit finally was up front and plopped down as walking and standing was still hard, her legs were still weak as they lacked muscle. But she decided to look and saw a big wet cat laying there. Something about that cat when she looked at him made her feel weird inside. She had seen cats sleeping before but it didn't look like that. The cat wasn't moving. She crept forward and extended one paw nervously touching Kestrelstar's tail. His tail felt cold, hesitantly she swatted at the tail with one paw and discovered that it felt rather stiff," Who is that? Why are they not moving? Why does everyone seem so excited and quiet. Why does seeing them make me feel weird inside." she asked. She had absolutely no concept of death.

[Hopeless]

~ Icekit ~
[Open]

When the deputy's voice had called the clan meeting instead of Kestrelstar, and Icekit had detected the emotions fueling Sparrowskip's voice, he had not expected to see the dead body of his leader, lying there, unmovingly as cats from all ages gathered around, their voices rising, some in desperation and grief, some in quiet mourning for the fallen cat. But while the murmurs, cries, and calls rose up around him, Icekit stood frozen in place at the edge, his blue eyes staring unseeingly towards the dead cat. But before his eyes the cat wasn't grey with the dark markings, it was night-black, with the eyes and green as the leaves when the sun shined through them, and a pelt as soft as feathers, despite the many battles it had been through.

"mom...."

The whisper that flew over his lips was as soft and quiet and a mere breeze, and he bearly registered having said anything, become the only thing on his mind was Nightwhisper. He had been very, very young when she died, and had never been allowed to see the body, but... was that how someone looked when they were dead? So still, but not the soothing calmness of being asleep, but the eerie stillness of death, of knowing that that cat would never walk, see, speak, or breathe again, that they were gone forever and ever and ever?

With a shivering breath and on shaking legs, he stumbled back slightly, just bearly managing to stay upright. "No..." No, that wasn't supposed to happen, Kestrelstar wasn't supposed to be dead. Starclan had gifted the leader with many lives, he couldn't have lost all his lives just like that. IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. "But- Starclan. No, he can't be dead yet, he should have lives left..." That was what he had been told, not the exact amount, but surely there would have been more than one left.

In the whole mess, amongst the confusing storm of feelings and questions, something somehow managed to make its way over to his head. The conversation he had had with Nectarrose not all that long ago, they had touched on the topic of Starclan. The warrior had said she didn't believe in the star cats, and Icekit had then been unsure on what he himself believed was true and what was tales for kits. One of the anchors he had held on to was the lives leaders were granted, nine of them, but now his leader seemed to have lost far too many all at once. With a slight wobble in his stance again, he ripped his gaze from the body, and directed it up, up towards the sky, the gloomy sky. He couldn't see any stars. Did that have something to do with all this, could Starclan be hiding from what they had done? Did that even make sense...

The stood still, eyes back towards the body, before he finally, slowly, turned towards his clanmates, questions and lost confusion glittering in his eyes as he wordlessly looked for some kind of answer in the other cats, only now noticing things that were going on around him. He could see many cats just staring at the dead leader, just as frozen in place as Icekit had been, but he could also hear a few voices, and now manging to tell them apart from the blurry mess it had been before. Mistypaw's had been among the first ones to speak, no openly but it was a familiar sound to hold on to in all this. Shimmerbird, a cat Icekit still thought shouldn't have been a shield to begging with, was doing nothing, actually, Birdpaw, an apprentice was the first one to call for the medicine cat to try and help the dead cat, and Icekit's gaze followed Sneakheart as the cat rushed up to Kestrelstar's corpse, frantically trying to get the former leader back on his paws before calling for Reedpaw.

Icekit wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't sure what he COULD do. He was a kit, probably a mere bug to many of the older cats, who would listen to him. Mistypaw maybe, Sparrowskip (Sparrowstar now? No no, that was moving too fast) had once, but the rest... Yet, he needed to know. "How many lives did he have?" His voice spoke into the empty air in front of him, not directed towards anyone in particular, just hoping for an answer.

Icekit had yet to understand what he thought about Starclan, but if they had taken away Kestrelstar out of some kind of spite, punishment, or something similar, he knew he would not forgive them. If that was a coucindece, and Starclan had nothing t do with this.... ... ... He wasn't sure, he did trust in the less now than at the begging on the day... but... He would need to think about all this...

[poppy]

| @starry. @Quackers @x ghostie @masquerade - for mention of Snowleap|

The small apprentice stared at Kestrelbuddy's dead, blank eyes and felt bile rise in her throat. It felt like she was just stabbed in the gut, and she swallowed vomit that built up. Misty's voice came from beside her, and habitually Birdpaw turned and buried her face in Mistypaw, and then felt a fluffy cat, a second one hug her back. It felt nice, for someone to hug her, not her hug someone. It felt like her body was empty, hollow, and she let out an anguished wail. "Kestrel!!" Her gaze fell, and she felt faint. Leaning heavily against Misty, Birdpaw's face was soaked with tears and spittle and snot as she sobbed.

She clung to Misty, feeling a wave of horror. She didn't like feeling like this. She hated this. Numbly she covered her face with trembling paws, and let out a massive shudder, the tears coming faster and in more abundance. She was so distraught and horrified that she Keeler over, gasping wet chokes for air through blubbering nonsense. She looked for Snowleap he looked sad but she hurt to much to move. She turned her head to look at Misty. "B-b-but Misty... He w-w-was my best b-buddy. I didn't even get to say goodbye...." Birdpaw felt so horribly selfish, crying while others were hurting. But she couldn't help it. Everything hurt. She didn't even know what StarClan was, but she knew one thing.

StarClan must be evil.