Escapades In Nepotism [closed]

The sky was stained with pale golds and blues that signified the approach of dawn and hardly any clouds marred the already light horizon. Despite the early hour, the moor was already being battered with the harsh winds that Windclan had been accustomed to, Brindlewhisker remained seated on the rough outcrop, thick fur plastered against her side as the warm breeze continued to buffet her sitting form, face pressed into a solemn frown. A soft sigh escaped her maw as she continued to gaze out at the greening moor that unfolded all around her sitting form. Ever since she had been appointed deputy in Smokepelt's stead, most of her kin had avoided her as if she was the walking embodiment of Greencough. They were acting like she was some sort of...usurper. The thought of the hostility evident at the Deputy naming ceremony made her want to roll her eyes and curl up into her nest all at the same time- wasn't appointing a new deputy supposed to be a good thing? No matter the situation? Especially if the situation was brought down upon someone by their own doing? Shaking her head briefly, Brindlewhisker returned her attention towards the shallow hill that was scooped out beneath the ragged rocks she was seated upon, noting with relief that the usually brown, dull heather and grass springing up around was at least turning much greener. At least they would have more prey in their bellies soon- that would make dealing with whatever new problems faced them much easier.

Sleep was a thing of the past. If Ashstar had thought that righting a moons-old wrong would finally take the mountain of stress off her shoulders, she had been more wrong than Fishstar thinking her Clan were cowards. From her own Clanmates openly doubting her decision to exile Kindleblaze to her only son avoiding her at all costs, her stress and weariness had tripled, if anything. She knew she had made the right choice, that wasn't the issue here; she just wished her Clanmates would know it as well. Too exhausted and troubled to sleep and knowing dawn was coming, the older she-cat made herself get to her aching paws and walk out of her lonely den. A gust of wind buffeted her tired form almost immediately, but despite her frail appearance, the she-cat stood strong against the sudden storm. The wind pushed and pulled her long, fluffy gray fur, whipping her whiskers in her face as she walked steadily up the hill where she went to think. The long green grass moved around her paws, the wind dying down to a soft breeze as she reached the outcropping. To her surprise, her weary green eyes spotted Brindlewhisker sitting there. First Mottleheart, than her... Either StarClan is intervening, or I need to find a new hill! The leader walked silently over and sat by her deputy. The brindled she-cat looked despondent- this had probably been hard on her, too. "What's troubling you, Brindlewhisker?" Ashstar asked quietly.

"Aside from having to deal with my grandfather's mutinous glares? Nothing much." Brindlewhisker mewed, looking over at Ashstar as she settled down beside her, tone heavy with a mix of sarcasm and self-depreciating humor. Wrapping her tail around her paws, the newly-named Deputy continued to look over at her kin, frowning deepening as she continued to observe. Despite how hard this situation seemed to be for her, Brindlewhisker was certain that was much harder for Ashstar. "You look tired." She finally conceded, tilting her head slightly, "Do I have to sleepless nights to look forward to as well?" Brindlewhisker joked halfheartedly, blinking slowly as she did so. After the brief moment of silence that mainly consisted of Brindlewhisker staring at the steadily rising sun, she finally swung her head back towards her great-grandmother, her briefly forced humor evidently gone. "How have you been with all of..this?" She finally mewed once more, feeling slightly awkward as she did so- most of the conversations she had ever held with Ashstar never seemed to be so heavy- normally when they spoke it was just over silly matters.

Ashstar let out a half-hearted snort of laughter at her great-grandkit's sarcastic humor. She had noticed how Smokepelt was treating his kin after the incident, and it hurt her heart to see her family torn apart. That couldn't be easy for her deputy, she knew. These positions always carried weight. Horrible, heavy weight. "Sleepless nights.... No, you shouldn't, not unless you're as horrible a leader as I have been," the leader remarked quietly, green eyes staring through the clouds at the bright, rising sun. "Which I doubt; that is why I chose you, after all. You shouldn't have the same nightmares I have, at least. You're a good cat, Brindlewhisker- you won't make the same mistakes I did."

At her next question, the fluffy gray she-cat blinked in slight surprise. How... How had she been? She didn't like to dwell on her emotions too much; she knew what happened when she wallowed in grief. Usually she just shut off her fdelings entirely. Emotions were a fickle thing. The WindClan leader let herself think for a little bit. "Not well, Brindlewhisker. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I've ever felt worse. The pain of losing my mate was extreme, but at least then I had the knowledge that he still loved me and was watching from StarClan. Now? Now I seem to have lost the trust of all my family members, despite each choice I made being for the good of WindClan." Ashstar inhaled- a deep, shaky breath as all her feelings overwhelmed her. "And Smokepelt. I did this for his own good, his safety, I was as kind and loving as physically possible, and still he treats me like I've betrayed him, like he's some victim and I'm just a foolish old she-cat who doesn't know better!" Tears flowed from the exhausted, frustrated leader's eyes, slipping out despite her normal self-control. "They don't trust me, Brindlewhisker. Th-they hate me, no matter what I do for them. And there's... There's not much more I can do. Is this my fault? Where do I go from here? I- I can't...." Ashstar's quiet, desperate voice tapered off into silent sobs, tears blinding her vision and making the sunrise in front of her swim in a sea of bright light.

"Smokepelt-" Brindlewhisker scoffed, nape fur bristling as she witnessed Ashstar's crumbling composure, "hides behind the victim mentality because he is unable to accept the full consequences of his actions. He would rather make you suffer instead of ridding himself of that Starclan forsaken superiority complex of his for one heartbeat- Great Starclan! How can one cat's head be so full of grass." She grumbled, tail lashing irritably. Watching her kin and leader become so distraught over such a truly terrible issue made her blood boil- what was wrong with their family? Were they seriously choosing sides in a situation as delicate as this?  Half of them weren't even alive whenever all of this initially occurred! What gave them the right to simply support one cat just because they only knew a fraction of the story. Her tail continued to twitch in an agitated manner as she continued to gaze at the despondent grey she-cat, a twinge was evidently felt in her chest.

"Don't ever let their let their petty anger drag you into the foolish belief that you aren't an adequate leader. You stopped a full blown war Ashstar- not many cats can do such an impressive feat. You've been navigating us through tightly-wound tensions between our Clan, SkyClan, and Riverclan- you've been dealing with the fallout of Smokepelt and Kindleblaze's actions with a fairness that neither of them deserved. You've made choices you believed were right- nobody could ask more of you." She murmured, reaching out to gently brush her muzle against Ashstar's head. "None of these things are easy to do whenever you have a jackal of a son." She added once more, voice warmed with frustrated humor.