An Unexpected Visitor [open]

Reedstar raised his head as a shadow passed over the entrance. "Ebonyleaf?" There was a tinge of surprise in his voice as he stood and padded over, slipping past his former apprentice and into the dying red light of sunset. Camp was bathed in a soft crimson glow and the first stars of Silverpelt could be glimpsed in the darkening sky. It was going to be a peaceful night. So why in StarClan's name did he have to deal with the ShadowClan medicine cat? He hadn't caught sight or sound of any ShadowClan cats since he lowered Sagewhisker into the ground, so why would they come now?

He padded over to the small cluster of RiverClan cats gathered at the entrance and silently pushed himself through, head raised and gaze kept even. His eyes were measured, neutral, expressionless, but there was a hint of coldness behind those murky green pools. Scars, fresh and old, marked his once-handsome glossy pelt, and there was gray peppered into the white fur on his muzzle. Reedstar flicked his whiskers and looked the she-cat over. She was ShadowClan, alright. There was no mistaking that stench. "Ebonyleaf, is it?" The RiverClan leader stood head and shoulders over the medicine cat, and he pressed that to his advantage. He took another forward, dipping his paw into the stream that separated them, practically looming over her. Intimidation made cats terrible liars. "And why has Nightstar sent you?"

Midnightsky wanted to explain the situation but Ebonyleaf had a better understanding of this strange circumstance. He stood by Ebonyleaf and tried to read Reedstar's expression.

The medicine cat felt a shiver go down her spine once she saw the grizzly tom step out, shifting around again and casting a glance at the warrior who had come to stand by her side, looking rather small compared to them both. Ebonyleaf was already smaller than most in her young age, there was no way she could outrun or fight these cats. She honestly wouldn't sure who she should be more wary of, the one mere rabbit hops away from her or the leader who looked over her several strides away, his paw dipping into the water as if he were readying to pounce at her at any moment, eying her with that loathsome stare. She wondered how quickly they could get through that small moat of water.

She swallowed dryly, sitting up straight - her green and yellow eyes meeting Reedstar bravely. She still had her pride, and the pride of her clan, but there was no taming the furs that stuck up on the back of her neck. "N- Nightstar did not send me," she called back, "Thrushstar is our leader now." It would be alright if she had told them that, right? She thought back to the black speckled she-cat, who had died of sickness and infection from their battle. She'd hid from the clan in her last days, so far-gone even Mallowroot couldn't save her. The memories jaded her thoughts before she shook them clear out of her head. "And he did not send me either. StarClan came to me in my dreams. They told me that your clan needed a medicine cat with proper training, so I've come to take Cloverpaw as my apprentice." She took a shaky breath, "With your permission, I'd like to be able to come to travel RiverClan to do so." Which included searching the territory for herbs and helping Cloverpaw in her den. It seemed like so much to ask, especially with the tension between their clans, but this had to be some sort of exception.

Nightstar was dead, then? Mallowroot too, if this she-cat was really taking on an apprentice. Thrushstar, Thrushstar... And how much was Thrushstar like his predecessors? He considered throwing the medicine cat away just at the notion of ShadowClan working with their most prized Clanmate, their link to StarClan, their only healer, and his chief advisor, but he stopped to consider. If not her, then who would train her? Cloverpaw was only an apprentice, with no one to teach or guide her, and they were at war. Ravenwing, Nightfire, he couldn't trust either of them, even if their leaders let them help. Gritting his teeth, Reedstar lashed his tail and looked away for a moment, watching the stream trickle by, before meeting Ebonyleaf's mismatched gaze again.

"You will come at sunset every day, by the Twoleg bridge near Fourtrees," he said. "You will wait there until you are escorted to camp by a patrol, and you will be escorted back to the border once you are done. Your training sessions will be supervised by a warrior, and whenever you feel it is necessary to leave camp, you will be accompanied by at least one apprentice. Remember where you are when you come here. This is not your marsh." Reedstar turned to walk back to his den. "That will be all," he called over his shoulder. "You're free to our fresh-kill pile, if you're hungry. I can't stand seeing a cat your age look so stunted and scrawny."