A Matter of Business [Deathly Shades Plot] [SC/SkC]

He'd never himself had seen so far into ShadowClan territory. As of a matter of fact, the only other territory that he'd gone on that hadn't been his own was ThunderClan, and that had been for... entirely different circumstances many moons ago. This time, his purpose was far different, and he knew all too well how skeptical and proud of a cat that ShadowClan's leader, Thrushstar, was exactly. The two of them had only met as leaders during gatherings, but even then, it was easy to see the tabby didn't take kindly to other clans, and certainly not visitors.

Yet Breezestar felt as if he had little choice. RiverClan had seemed reluctant to help them - or that was, the cats on the border had seemed reluctant to take them to see their leader for whatever reason. Going to ThunderClan or WindClan was out of the question. This was the only good option left.

At least their medicine cat was kind. She had noticed them at the border near twolegplace, seemingly out searching for herbs with nothing to show for it. At Breezestar's request, she'd reluctantly took him and a small patrol back to the clan for parley.

"Wait here." She had told them once they'd crawled through the uncomfortable bramble entrance. Even from outside, it was easy to see that ShadowClan wasn't in the best shape, the stench of sickness thick in the air. The gray tom straightened himself out, glancing around and watching as the medicine cat disappeared into what seemed to be the leader's den.

Out of Breezestar's sight and earshot, Ebonyleaf was calling for her father's attention. "Thrushstar," she meowed. "SkyClan is here to see you."

The deputy had followed Breezestar to Shadowclan, Rockfall had only met Thrushstar once - no twice, he had saw the leader before at gatherings and he seemed very serious most of the time but overall Trushstar seemed to be a very nice cat, maybe it was the stress of being a leader that made him very solem. The other time.. Well Skyclan was saved thanks to Shadowclans help, a past battle had came into Rockfalls thoughts, maybe this was a good time to thank him personally. Although skyclan came for an entire different reason. During leaf-bare the clan was hit hard with Greencough and whitecough, for awhile Rockfall himself had whitecough but thanks to their very talented medicine cat, it had left before turning into green cough.

Shadowclans territory.. It was very different then all the other clans. At his paws they felt mushy everytime he took a step, leaving the deputy to wonder what kind of prey exactly lives in these parts of the forests. They weren't very much tree's in the territory only a very open marsh, that would get extremely wet during the rainy seasons. Once Ebonyleaf had vanished into the camp Rockfall had quickly made his way up to Breezestar. "Shouldn't we have gone to Riverclan instead..?" The deputy spoke in a whisper, his ears twitching as he waited for his leaders response.

Breezestar had stayed quiet, sitting up straight and trying to ignore any harsh stares. In the darkness, they were harder to see, but the tabby knew they were there. It wasn't only ShadowClan's mysterious nature that had given him this feeling, though. During his days as a rouge, he was always used to be on his watch, constantly on his guard for the watchful eyes of others, especially at night. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant feeling, but you could say he was used to it.

"Don't you think I considered that?" Breezestar asked, the tip of his tail twitching, mildly annoyed his deputy was questioning him in the middle of an enemy camp. He swore that he'd told Rockfall what happened of RiverClan. Like, in the post before this. /shot Not only had their allies been reluctant to speak, though, but their warriors were looking far too thin for the usual. He assumed they had serious problems of their own, and not any they yearned for help with at the moment.

Poking his head up from where he lay, Thrushstar was rather confused at the statement. What was Skyclan doing here? The Shadowclan leader wasn't exactly complaining--better Skyclan than one of the other clans. Quickly standing up and shaking out his pelt from the moss that was spread around, he cleaned himself up to look a little more presentable. "What is it that they want? Who is out there?" he asked, not wanting to deal with anymore trouble right now than there already was. With the sickness spreading through the clan and not many herbs to help, it was getting hard to live peacefully. Thankfully nothing had really happened yet and the disease hadn't taken any lives, but he felt that it wasn't even close to ending yet.

Ebonyleaf blinked as he pulled himself up and out of his moss nest, quickly flattening down the ruffled turfs on his pelt. Her ear flicked as she gave him a slightly solemn look. The tabby looked about as tired as she was herself, if not more-so. "It's Breezestar and his deputy, along with a few others." The she-cat mewed, glancing around her back for a mere moment and saw them in the same spot she left them in, the two toms muttering between each other. "I don't know what it is the want exactly." The medicine cat answered simply. "I saw them at the border and they only asked to speak with you... Something about making a deal between our clans." She wasn't sure what to think about it, but she'd felt there was no real threat in taking the inexperienced warriors back to Thrushstar. Her own curiosity had gotten the best of her.

A deal? That was interesting. No clan had ever actually come to Shadowclan for a deal. Maybe Riverclan had once in the past, but never recently. The closest they ever came to making a deal with another clan was to keep a fight from breaking out between Windclan, Riverclan and Shadowclan when Windclan wanted to take Skyclan's territory when Nightstar was still around. Tilting his head slightly out of a bit of curiosity, the Shadowclan leader nodded to his daughter and padded past her out of the den. Upon walking into the camp, he quickly turned his attention to the visitors standing in his clearing. Watching them warily, he padded closer, standing tall and as leader-like as he could before slightly dipping his head to Breezestar. "Greetings, Breezestar. What brings you to Shadowclan? Hopefully it is on good terms?" he asked, dreading the possibility of another war breaking out. He didn't believe it would happen, but there was always that little bit of doubt in the back of his mind. Shadowclan couldn't handle it right now--not with the sick and the little herbs they had.

Breezestar raised his eyes again once the leader of ShadowClan had stepped out, looking as tall and proud as ever, despite the obvious circumstances. He seemed tired to the gray tabby, but then, who wasn't exhausted now-a-days? He'd found it a difficult life simply being a warrior. Being the leader of the entire clan was entirely draining. "Greetings, Thrushstar." The SkyClan cat nodded back, respectfully. "I've come with a proposition that will certainly benefit both of our clans." The tom meowed, his blue eyes glinting as he met the other tom's own. "My clan has herbs to spare, catmint especially." He thought over his words carefully. Sometimes it was easy to remember how other clans tended to pick your words apart. "An invaluable asset in these trying times, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would," The Shadowclan leader replied, narrowing his eyes slightly, although it was more out of having no idea where this was going rather than out of malice. The tip of his tail twitching uncertainly, he looked between the Skyclan leader and the deputy for just a moment before speaking again. "What about these herbs that you speak of?" This couldn't have been Skyclan thinking that Shadowclan couldn't make it through this on their own, could it? Even if he wasn't sure, he wasn't going to let these cats think that they were weak enough to accept help so quickly. But Thrushstar was going to give Breezestar the benefit of the doubt... for now. "And what is it that you want if this plan is supposed to benefit both clans?"

Breezestar took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He had rehearsed these words over and over in his mind repeatedly on the journey over to ShadowClan camp. The tom was nervous to screw up, but confident all the same. He had to make this deal, there was no other choice. "My clan has been going through troubled times, recently." The tabby admitted, his eyes narrowing as he thought back to home. "Like much of the forest, we've been fighting greencough - and while we have enough supplies to keep it under control, we've been met with a different problem as well." He meowed, frowning. "Badgers and foxes have been appearing in great numbers in our territory recently. They've been stealing prey, making it harder to hunt, and pose a danger to our camp." His gaze flickered between Thrushstar and Ebonyleaf for a moment. "Many of my warriors are still recovering from sickness. We've found some of their major nests, but don't have the strength to throw them out completely ourselves."
Normally, the words would have come bitterly out of his mouth. He'd quickly grown accustomed to the pride of being leader, but if it meant his clan would survive, he was more than willing to cast that aside for the time being. "I'm asking you to lend the strength of your warriors to help drive out these creatures." Breezestar said, "In return, SkyClan will provide your medicine cat with catmint, and any other herbs that are needed to bring your sick to health again."

Ebonyleaf's ears had pricked immediately. Her herb supply was practically nonexistent, and her thoughts had immediately to the many cats in her den - including kits, and her mother. She knew better to speak up at a time like this, but her gaze had shot back to her father, watching him closely for a reaction.

The offer came as quite a surprise to Thrushstar. As many herbs as they needed just to drive out foxes and badgers? Granted, it was quite a task. Foxes and badgers weren't creatures to mess with. They were extremely dangerous and could easily kill a cat. But with their numbers, Shadowclan could do it; Thrushstar had no doubts about it. He just didn't exactly want to risk his warriors since they were already at risk with this deadly disease going around. However, he did think about who was sick. Shadowclan needed those kits to grow up healthy and strong to become great warriors. Not to mention Mistflower was very ill too. That was his main concern. He didn't want to lose her. Not now and not like this. 

After a long period of silence and moving his gaze from Breezestar to Ebonyleaf to the ground, Thrushstar sighed and looked back up to the Skyclan leader. "That is a big task that you ask of us. However, Shadowclan is in need of these herbs that you say you have." he fell silent again as he tried to think of a way to say what he wanted to say. It was tough trusting another clan to help his own. Since he wasn't on good terms with any of the other clans, it was very difficult to simply accept this proposition, especially when it's a clan made of ex-rogues and kittypets. But if Starclan didn't want them there, they would have already driven them out... "I have not trusted another clan like this, Breezestar. Not in a long time. If you keep your end of the bargain, then I will keep mine; herbs for protection. Although I will go ahead and say that driving out the creatures will not happen immediately. We need time to prepare and see what we are going up against. This may be a rather long process."

A rather long process? Breezestar tried not to led anything show, but that was rather off-putting for them. "Not too long, I should hope. Time is something we can hardly afford." The gray tabby meowed back. How long would Thrushstar like to wait? He understood his concerns, but the way the SkyClan leader saw it, time was of the essence. The longer they waited, the closer those badgers and foxes got to SkyClan camp, the more prey they ruined, and the more sickly the ShadowClan cats themselves would be getting. "If it is fine with you, then I will send a patrol here tomorrow to take ShadowClan back to our territory, then you can see what we're up against." He said.

That was fair. He didn't want it to last any longer than he had to as well. The sooner they got it done meant the less time that Shadowclan had to risk their lives fighting those things, but he wasn't going to just have his warriors charge in there to take them out without having a clue as to how many there were or just how big and tough they were. "It shouldn't take long. I completely understand your fears, Breezestar. I just pray you don't expect them all to be gone by tomorrow if there are as many creatures as it sounds," He was only expecting it to be no longer than a week if it came down to it. He definitely was going to try his best to get all of the foxes and badgers out of there as soon as possible, though. The better that Shadowclan did at their job, hopefully the better they would get in return.