Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night
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Palestar was both relieved and a bit struck by the boldness of the two medicine cats as they took their stand on the great rock. On one paw she was grateful for their efforts but on the other they were still rocked by a trajety that was still a fresh wound.

Once the two had made their announcement, Palestar moved through and addressed the Gathering crowd first, starting the Gathering proper. "As was revealed by the medicine cats, Flutterdream is no longer with us. She was struck on our border by a Monster while she was retrieving herbs...earlier today." She tried not to let the grieve cloud her expression even though her tail wasn't held as high as it usually was.

"Other than that, ShadowClan stands tall. The warm weather has made prey run plentiful and our apprentices are learning and growing fast. Everyone is healthy and we look forward to a peaceful forest once again... And, we have welcomed a new, lively kit into our fold, Glowkit."

Let’s have some fun!
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

 

Muddypaw’s heart broke all over again as she saw Rowanglade’s reaction to the news. Why did Flutterdream have to leave them all so early? The fears regarding Shadowclan suffering because they would have to rely on only her began flashing through the young she-cat’s mind and she crouched down, quivering. Was disaster coming to Shadowclan? What if this was only the beginning? What if all the clans were about to go through tragedy? Muddypaw felt like she was encircled by every threat to the clans and that they were closing in on her, ready to kill her.

Before the ruddy torbie’s mind could spiral even further, Rowanglade’s voice broke through like a soothing rain and before she knew it, the older medicine cat was moving swiftly away. Confusion and then shock entered Muddypaw’s multicoloured gaze as she watched Rowanglade leap upon the Greatrock. Her shock shifted to horror and awe as it was announced that Rowanglade intended to train her in Flutterdream’s place. The young apprentice blinked, hardly able to comprehend everything that occurred that day.

Muddypaw was still blinking in shock, confusion and worry as Rowanglade returned to her side. If she accepted this offer, this demand, would Shadowclan be okay? How was this to work? Either Rowanglade would be travelling to Shadowclan to train her, or her to Windclan to receive her training. Either way a clan would be left without a trained medicine cat in the meantime. The situation felt impossible and the cinnamon torbie felt at a loss for words. Before she could voice her concerns, Nettleplume was moving, doing the same thing Rowanglade had just done. The tom’s words, however, calmed her nerves and answered her unspoken questions.

So new was Muddypaw to her apprenticeship that she knew nothing of Frosteyes, but she trusted Nettleplume to make a good choice to help her and her clan. It was a relief to remember and realise just how different the stances between warriors and medicine cats were. If not for the difference, Shadowclan might have been left alone to suffer, and Muddypaw alone to try to hold the clan together with her minimal knowledge. Once Nettleplume rejoined the group of medicine cats, Muddypaw dipped her head respectfully to him and Rowanglade. “Thank you, both of you, I don’t know what I would do without your help,” she meowed with warmth. Had she been older she might have recognised the debt that she now owed the two older medicine cats. A debt that would likely never be requested by the medicine cats, but only Starclan knew what the leaders reactions about it would be.

The reason people have problems is that they have too much time to think

⋆˚✿˖°

And just like that, Aspenberry had stilled and it was over. The cold reality of death lay before Petalsnap, clear and unsurprising as the light of the sun. Aspenberry was out of reach now, released from the pain. The latter thought provided bittersweet comfort. Petalsnap sat still as a stone beside Aspenberry’s corpse, heart beating like a fleeing rabbit’s paws against the ground.

Her eyes, round and unfocused, dropped to the ground. Aspenberry's blood was drenching her paws. Her instincts told her to keep going, that she didn’t have time to waste, but there was nothing else to do. The rogue, it seemed, had been taken care of. The determination and focus that she had felt trying to save Aspenberry disappeared, and Petalsnap began to shiver as shock set in. She felt she might vomit. I should have done better... oh, her poor kits…

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

｡ ₊°༺ ☀️ ༻°₊ ｡

When the rogue collapsed, movements still and chest no longer moving in ragged uneven breaths... no longer moving at all. That was when Emberdawn released her. He felt no grief for the rogue, just a justified sense of satisfaction. However, the satisfied purr was short lived when he remembered Aspenberry being healed by Petalsnap and Cloudflare. And by StarClan, they would no longer be doing it alone.

The tall tom-cat lifted himself from the rogue and broke from the swarm of RiverClanners that had toppled onto her, that wasn't his concern anymore. Instead he darted toward the body of their deputy, a white and ruddy blur in the wind as he met his sister and his cousin at Aspenberry's side. But... he was too late, he arrived after the light had faded from Aspenberry's gaze. Her eyes had become unfocused as he arrived, gore plastered across her throat.

The movement in her chest had stilled, gone as if the presence had never been there in the first place, as peaceful as it was made his heart plummet into his paws and his stomach clench, squeezing in on itself and his chest tightened, letting out a choked gasp. This wasn't just the death of a clanmate, this was Aspenberry, the clan deputy. Not just any cat, she had kin in the clan kits, friends, cats that cared about her and depended on her. "Oh StarClan..." was all that he could seem to muster at first before his legs crumbled beneath him. "I'm sorry... Aspenberry, I'm so sorry." 

Screaming into the void counts as progress

❖ ⭒ ❖ ⭒ 𓆣 ⭒ ❖ ⭒ ❖

Cloudflare rushed back with fresh moss from his most recently trip, piling it in front of Petalsnap while scattering away the blood soaked mess that quickly grew. Cloudflare didn't falter in his urgency, even if the thought that he may lose Aspenberry to StarClan flashed over and over again in his mind and even though the rogue still writhed in the midst of so many cats.

It was when Cloudflare was away to fetch a fresh heap of moss that the spotted deputy took her last breath, fading quietly...almost peacefully if not for the gore coloring her neck where Gemini had struck. 

---

Ragged was the breath that left her maw, strangled for air even as she spit every wordless curse she knew. Gemini raged against her attackers, although the more she fought back the more fruitless it became. Every strike became weaker, weaker as the hold drained her of her energy. Until the last flash of fangs struck at her throat...and then. Nothing.

Gemini's life force shrank as the blood of blood beneath her paws grew larger until she was no more. The Mad Rogue had been vanquished.

 

A little bit of elegance never goes out of style
⋆｡°✦°｡⋆ ⭒ ⤞ ✦ ⤝ ⭒ ⋆｡°✦°｡⋆

Monty wasn't paying much attention to much as he continued on his way, merely scenting the air every once and awhile in search of his friend's familiar scent. For a moment he thought he caught it, but it was merely her scent caught on a low hanging bush. Part of her border ritual, no doubt...

He hadn't gone long through his casual investigation when a bright white, well, mostly white cat intervened. Despite the tom's initial friendly disposition, it startled the older feline, jumping half a paw step out of his fur, each strand on end as he swung around to confront whoever might have come across him. No, definietly not Basilflame.

"O-Oh!" Stammering with a squeak that felt more natural coming from a mouse, Monty addressed the WindClanner. "I'm terribly sorry if I'm intruding...I'm looking for something, you see, noble Wind-Cat..." There was no way he would endanger the she-cat from his inquiries, but he didn't want to decieve Emberdawn either.

"Perhaps you've seen...a fiery herb about?"

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

｡ ₊°༺ ☀️ ༻°₊ ｡

Emberdawn's mind was still pondering the gathering, even if it had been close to a week since the loss of a medicine cat was more than WindClan would imagine, and the change in ranks of the cats in and out of WindClan and RiverClan, namely Muddypaw training under Rowanglade, and Frosteyes taking temporary healer-ship of ShadowClan had the new deputy all... confused for the most part. His first full moon as deputy and this is when StarClan decides it is the best time to place this upon then clans.

But truly, it wasn't about him, not really, this was medicine cat business. Uninvolving of him, so he didn't have a say in what the superior cat had over him. That wouldn't be... the greatest impression of a first time deputy. But remarking the borders that a patrols might have missed would have. Especially with the borders marked around the barn being so full of cats. However, the peace or troublesome atmosphere brought forward by his own thoughts was soon shattered by an odd scenet coming from the fence bordering the barn from WindClan.

He flickf his cinnamon colored ear and moved forward. His eyes caught a pale tom milling around the border, glancing off into the territory with the intent to search in his eyes. A peculiar action to be doing for someone not of the clans. But he didn't seem much of a threat a first. One could never truly know unless one were to see for himself.

"Something you need?" Emberdawn spoke as he advanced calmly toward the loner, tall as he could be with his height that wasn't sure was doing him favors in the interaction. He had no intentions of intimidation, just intent on finding out what the cat was here for. And why they were lingering so close.