Forgive Me Starclan, For I Have Sinned [Open]

It was the next morning when Sageleaf's paw planted firmly into the earth at the center of camp. She had wrestled all night with her thoughts. Anytime she closed her eyes, her brother's horrifying grin was all she could see. After their confrontation in the tunnels, all of her worst fears had been confirmed. As Gorsefeather had warned her, there was a purely dark side to Slatethroat that she had been ignorant towards. For so long, she had wanted to believe that it wasn't true because believing that would mean turning her back on the lovely image he had pained for himself. Everyone only saw the strong and loyal Windclan cat. To some extent, that was true, but there was something darker that plagued his heart; it appeared he did not even realize how bad it was. The subtlest hints that he gave of being anything other than a true warrior were virtually unseen. Only because she had been watching him with interest did she catch on. And then... last night had happened. That was why she now stood frozen in the center of camp.

Cats mulled around just beginning to get ready for their daily duties. She finally caught sight of Slatethroat out of the corner of her eye. The medicine cat did not even dare to look in his direct. But, it did affirm the fact he was watching her as promised. It had to happen, needed to happen. If she did not do as instructed, it could lead to so many worse things. Hopefully, any violence could be avoided. All she longed to do was run from the omen that loomed over her head. Sageleaf wanted so desperately to be any other cat in that moment. Being her meant doing what she was about to do. Being her meant turning disrespecting the word of Starclan... at least that was exactly what was about to happen. Even if she despised her duties as a medicine cat at time, it was in her character to stick strictly to the code. Slatethroat was making sure that she was turning against everything she valued. Well except for her innate desire to do all she could to protect the cats she cared for most. That was the one thing she clung to right now. This had to be the right decision, right?

There was only a moment of hesitation. Her brother seemed to scare her more than Starclan in that moment as he watched her with gleaming, green eyes. After swallowing the knot stuck in her throat, she cleared it and yowled, "Cats of Windclan! I need your attention! Starclan has given me an omen!"

OCC: friendly reminder to all that cats (except for those involved in the other plot threads) have no idea what is happening. your cat had 0 clue what is going on. in fact, most of you have 0 clue what is about to go down, so just let it play out my dudes and only react IC with IC knowledge ;D

Mottleheart sat at his normal spot on the cusp of the WindClan hill, remaining guard as he stared out into the moor. His ears twitched at the sound of a voice, easily recognizing it as Sageleaf's from his many visits to her. His body however grew ridge at her final words, turning his head to stare at her with wide eyes. An omen? That...That wasn't good...Was it? He had never dealt with an omen but it seemed like StarClan would only send them as warnings...The nervous tom shook his head as he stood up, making his way into the camp proper as he stared up at Sageleaf in silence. He supposed he would just have to listen to what she had to say...

Mistkit stumbled out of the nursery, having grown slightly more courageous as she grew up. Her blue eyes just turning amber as she puffed out her grey fur, her flat face making her eyes large glowing orbs that seemed to convey surprise despite not being so. Mistkit was quite interested in this... omen? Despite not quite knowing what it was, looking around for a cat to answer her she stumbled towards Slatethroat with her tail puffed. "Hey, Slatethroat- What'sa-what's an omen? Why'd Starclan give Sageleaf an omen?" Sputtering Mistkit looked up at Sageleaf with curious eyes.

After visiting the nursery to see which kits were ready for their ceremonies, Ashstar had been on the way to talk with Brindlewhisker about mentor choices. As she neared the warriors' den, though, Sageleaf suddenly called out about... an omen from StarClan? Why have I heard nothing about this? Something like this seemed more in the category of "speaking to the leader and deputy in private" than the "announce in the middle of camp and disregard common courtesy" variety. Still, it must be important. And undoubtedly so, if StarClan was deciding yo involve themselves with WindClan after the whole Dark Forest Mist fiasco. Curious, slightly annoyed and hoping for anything other than a proclamation of disaster, the gray-furred leader walked up to the medicine cat. "What is this about, Sageleaf?"

Hollowpaw looked up from his morning meal. The older apprentice had not yet to visit Sageleaf, but he knew who she was of course, and had spoken to her a few times. Hollowpaw blinked as Ashstar took a step forward. He slowly chewed his mouthful of hare, quietly as to not disturb the interaction.

Emerging from the warrior's den, Smokepelt was surprised to hear Sageleaf yowl for the clan to listen up. What in StarClan's name could the medicine cat want to tell the clan so urgently and why did Ashstar look so confused? Padding over to his mother and standing by her, the tall, lean, grey and white tom's fur stood on end as he and the clan waited in anticipation for what the she-cat had to say.

Laurelsong's ears flicked up, followed quickly by her head as she awoke from a nice mid-day nap.  Annoyed at first that her dreams had been rudely interrupted, she glared in Sageleaf's direction crossly before she realized what the commotion was about; the medicine cat had received an omen!  Instantly curious, the young warrior got to her paws and padded up to join the gathering crowd around Slatethroat's sister, yellowish-green eyes shining with intrigue.  I wonder what it's about...hopefully nothing terrible.  Haven't the clans been through enough lately?

Frostpaw came out of the apprentice den after a good sleep. She woke up to the sound of the medicine cat call the clan. She looked at her mentor and ashstar and noticed they where confused too. She went to the cats and sat down with them to listen.

Nectar leap strode out of the warrior's den at Sageleaf's words, eyes wide with curiosity. An omen? He had had though they were basically a thing of the past by now. He sat down looking at her intently, wondering what the heck she had to say. Hopefully nothing bad, though the reasonable part of his mind whispered that is probably was.

'Starclan has given me an omen!'

Brindlewhisker, who was still doing her best to speedily recover from giving birth to her latest litter, found her head lifting sharply as she recognized Sageleaf's voice. Confusion twisted her gut as she processed her former apprentice's words. Had she received another omen? Or was she simply deciding to tell the Clan about her previous one? Stiffly rising to a awkward sitting position, the Deputy found herself watching with sharp interest as the Clan began to quickly gather and babble, although Ashstar's words made the worrisome pangs in her belly grow even sharper. Why didn't Ashstar know what Sageleaf was about to address the Clan about- didn't the Medicine Cat think to speak to her before informing the entire Clan?

Letting out a little wince, Brindlewhisker forced herself to her paws and did her best to ignore the sharp stiffness and slight pain that still lingered in her hips as she slowly made her way towards Ashstar and Smokepelt. Coldly brushing off her grandfather's presence under the guise of a polite nod in his direction, the she-cat quickly took her place on the other side of Ashstar, doing her best to hide her relief at the fact that she could finally sit down once more. "Mistkit," Brindlewhisker called softly, fondly watching the little grey she-cat totter around Slatethroat's paws before finally speaking once more, "Don't bother Slatethroat- come sit with me."

Wildheart had been playing with his son Lightningkit when he heard "the call." Picking the small kit by the scruff of his neck (completely with a mew of protest) he headed to the center of the camp. He knew what this was for and it made him nervous, especially with his child having just been born recently. "Lemme go lemme go lemme go," Lightningkit said, squirming furiously.

"No, now keep quiet you furball," he said lightheartedly, muffled by the fur of his kit. Lightningkit sighed but listened to his father as they sat, waiting for it all to go down.

Raccoonfang padded out of the warriors den at the call of Sageleaf. She wondered what this was about.. An omen now? Her mind wondered to the other day but she didn't believe that was the case. The brown and white warrior padded over to her father, and pressed close to him. She had a little fear in general of what this was going to be. She didn't want more bad things to happen. She didn't want to live in a cave again.. She was even scared of going down into the tunnels now.

Triggered by the sudden yowl of the medicine cat and the confused expressions displayed by the leader and deputy, curiosity flared up inside the slender body of Foxpaw as she swerved around equally confused cats, heading towards her seemingly calm mentor Slatethroat. "An omen from StarClan, eh? Probably just a misshapen leaf." The cynical apprentice muttered, placing her haunches in the space where a fluffy kit once stood.

"It appears they have something to to say to our clan." The large grey and white warrior muttered to Mistkit, never letting his eyes leave Sageleaf. She was doing exactly as she had been told. All ears were on her now. Clanmates had assembled quickly. Both the leader and deputy were immediately there. The warrior quickly spared a glance at Ashstar. A soft smile flashed on the corner of his lips, too quick for any cat except for his sister to catch. Slatethroat settled back on his haunches to hear what she had to say. Of course, he already knew. It was just his words flowing through her lips, passing as the true words of Starclan. There was some truth to the claim, but the meaning was twisted by the very cat who it initally spoke of. No cat would be able to distinguish the lie. Everything was cleverly masked by half-truths. Their trustworthy medicine cat was about to deliver a life-changing message. And he was simply here to watch it play out.

His latest apprentice came over to his side and added a slightly disbelieving remark. Normally, Slatethroat would have scoffed along with Foxpaw. However, there was validity to this claim today. He believed whole-heartedly in what his sister was about to say. It was his words after all. The warrior flicked his tail across Foxpaw's pelt and meowed lowly, "Shush. Sageleaf is a wise medicine cat, despite being young. I trust it is something important."

The medicine cat's eyes wanted to dart through the camp and look over her clanmate's faces. But, she feared that her will to continue would be forgotten if she did. That would only damn them further. This was the only logical way to avoid the inevitable blood shed of the vision she was about to share. Sageleaf's voice was quiet as she avoided Ashstar's gaze and meowed softly, "I'm sorry, Ashstar, but they need to hear this." Her head swung slightly to face the clan as a whole. There was no one cat that she focused on. There was no way she could bear to see any of their expressions as she delivered her now memorized message. Right before launching into the words that every cat was waiting to hear, her pale green gaze glanced up to the sky. Please forgive me, Puddlepaw. Please understand.

"When I went to receive my full medicine cat name, Starclan showed me an image warning of our future: waves of blood rushing over the hills of the moors and soaking into our territory." Her words were not quite the same level of the initial call to the clan, but still loud enough for those crowded around to hear. A chill ran down her spine as she remembered the crimson tide once more. Sageleaf refocused herself and took a deep breath before continuing, "At the top of the hill stood a single cat... Ashstar." Her breath hitched in her throat. The word was out. Everyone now knew of the supposed image of Ashstar standing over their blood-soaked lands. But, there needed to be more. There needed to be a push for them to believe. While it was her duty to interpret signs from Starclan, there would be no doubt some would question one as seemingly insane as this.

"I-I was hesitant to come forward with such news," Her voice wavered slightly, "But, Starclan is warning us about what is to come... after the appearance of the dark forest, the bloody battle at fourtrees, I can only imagine things will get worse if we continue down this path. Ashstar, Starclan wants you to step down." The words hung heavy in the air. Sageleaf's eyes locked with Ashstar's pleading for her to listen. But what none of them knew is it was not the wrath of Starclan she feared, but rather that of her own brother.

"But that doesn't tell me what omen is..." Mistkit muttered, her eyes flickering to her mothers call and she answered it swiftly. Bounding over the grey Persian rubbing against her mother lovingly, her tail swaying softly as she purred and settled down. Nestling into her belly and in between her legs, properly cocooning herself in her mother's warmth, though she was getting a bit big.

Mistkit turned to listen, her little kitten soft ears perking to listen to Sageleaf's.... omen. Ashstar? Did she mean the old grey she-cat? Turning to look up at her mother, her chest fur prickling her eyes as she asked. "Ashstar step down? But she's been leader ages, right? Why would Starclan tell her to step down mama? Didn't- Didn't they give her lives or somethin'? How does that work anyway mama? Getting lives? Don't we only get one? Having more than one is kinda weird..." Mistkit sputtered, utterly confused and unsure of how to understand the situation. She was purely dumbfounded.