You Can't Escape From Your Past II (Semi-open)

The night fell over Riverclan's lands when Silverfang entered the camp rushing. Her odd eyes looked at the clearing where different cats were slowly returning to their dens to sleep. Luckily, Ivystar wasn't sleeping and she ran toward her, eagerly to tell her what she discovered. Giving her a respectful nod as a greeting, the she-cat started talking in a serious tone that showed how serious was what she was going to tell her. "Ivystar! I'm sorry to interrupt you when you were about to sleep but I have something to tell you... about Sweetheart." She mewed.

Ivystar awoke with a startle gaze, her heart picking up in concern that something had gone wrong again. Another fox? Had they lost a queen to another one of those mangy beast? But no, Silverfang's gaze was different, not one of fear but something else. Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn't be good as she unfurled to speak with the warrior.

"Is this sensitive? Should we leave camp to talk, or can you speak here?" The walls of her den were secure most times, but Jaystream did have free access to visit her. And kits were known for their snooping.

"I'm sorry but you know I'm not a patient cat and I prefer you to tell you this and now." She mewed, her odd eyes looking at her leader with determination. She took a deep breath and after checking that no one was close to them, she dropped the bomb.

"You must still remember the sympathy she has for other clans and how she often tried to put them above the well-being of our own clan. You even punished her and Nutfur for disobeying your rules and be in the Gorge when, coincidentally, they encountered and fought this Thunderclan rescue patrol. Well, now I have the reason to all that suspicious actions because, before she became the mate of my son, Reedclaw, she was the mate of a Shadowclan warrior. I heard that from his own mouth this night and after training Shadepaw, it does make sense. Sweetheart was pregnant when Reedclaw was still an apprentice and Shadepaw, her son, never learned how to hunt like a Riverclan warrior. I had to teach him in a different way, similar to the Shadowclan techniques." The warrior's voice didn't tremble or hesitate. It was time to speak the real truth about Sweetheart. She betrayed her clan, the Warrior Code. She lied to her whole clan and her own son and mate. It was time to make the things right.

"From the start, I knew she was hiding something. Now I know what it is. I leave the rest to you, Ivystar, but if you ask me, I wouldn't let her stay. She was on thin ice before this and she betrayed your trust as well. I have only one request to ask you: please don't blame Shadepaw for his mother's mistakes. He's a good apprentice and loyal to his birth clan, not to Shadowclan."

OOC: If Ivystar makes an announcement or calls Sweetheart, Yoshachu and other roleplayers agreed to join this to add more drama ;D

"This is... A difficult matter... Give me a moment to think, I must consult the stars." Ivystar, for once in her life, was lost for words, though probably not for the reasons that Silverfang thought. Yes, it was a betrayal of the code to run off and bed a ShadowClanner, but her mind was more preoccupied with the fact another cross-clan kit was in her clan. Her heart ached for Shadepaw, torn between two worlds as she was, and an ember of fury sparked within as she remembered her own youth. But what to do with this anger?

Twisting around, she dismissed Silverfang with a flick of her tail, and only when she was alone, did the leader take a violent swipe at the walls of her den, claws sparking against the rock that was the foundation of the leader's den. Her nails chipped, outer layers splintering and falling apart. Her nail beds ached, and she used this pain to hone her mind. Pain was good, it let her focus. It allowed her to drain that fury into something productive, to focus on her duties as leader. None in her clan would object if she exiled the traitorous vixen, but that wasn't her way. A RiverClanner born, would die a RiverClanner. It was her ardent belief. So what to do with her...

'StarClan give me wisdom and patience, for I seem to have none today,' she thought to herself as she finally emerged from her den. Her silver fur looked haggard, ruffled from when she awoke. But that didn't mean she wasn't mentally sharp, her eyes agleam with a torrent of emotions as she leapt up onto the willow branch to call out to her clan. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the willow branch for a clan meeting!"

Shadepaw heard Ivystar's call. Grinning excitedly, he rushed out of the apprentices' den and up to the gathering cats. Perhaps today was going to be his warrior ceremony! He was due for one any day now.

Sweetheart sighed tiredly and slowly rose up to her paws, padding sluggishly out of the warriors' den. Even if she was partially content with being quarantined, she was still tired of not being able to leave camp and breathe in the fresh scents of RiverClan territory. This place was becoming very stuffy, very fast. Perhaps Ivystar would allow her and Nutfur both to be free of their sentence, as it was nearly new-leaf.

Spotfur walked out of his den. He was about to fall asleep. He yawned. What was going on? He blinked the sleep from his eyes. He had fallen asleep early today. But Ivystar's voice seemed laced with some kind of combination of regret, anger, annoyance, and indecisiveness. This had to be bad.

Cinderpaw jumped over to the willow branch. Maybe it was a ceremony!

Silverfang left her leader's side when she told her to do and she simply walked to the warrior den. But even if she laid down on her nest, she couldn't sleep. Not after the truth was soon going to be revealed. Now, her hate and despise for Sweetheart was justified... and the clan would know that soon.

When Ivystar called, she stood up diligently and joined the meeting. She sat down next to her son, Spotfur, knowing that the news would probably affect him badly. Unlike her, he liked that traitor even if she wished he didn't.

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Jaystream jumped from his nest when the voice of his mother was heard. A meeting? Now? As her deputy, he left the den as soon as possible and joined her side. He looked at her confused and clearly wanting to know what was this about. Her face told him that this wasn't a ceremony... or good news.

OOC: Pika, you can post again if you want and if you can. The people who asked me to join is here but maybe more will come.

Darkpaw immediately stopped what she was doing and paddes obediently over to listen to what their leader had to say. Her eyes shined with an admiration for the she-cat that wasn't broken by circumstance. As she briefly tore her gaze away, the apprentice spotted Silverfang and settled down at her side. Usually she would have said something, but Ivystar was about to speak so she simply smiled briefly at her mother.

Smokewish padded out of the warriors, fresh and alert. It felt good to be a warrior again. She waved her tail behind her as she walked over to settle somewhere between Spotfur and Sweetheart. She had heard the fury in Ivystar's voice and it scared her so. This was no ordinary ceremony. Were they going to war? She dearly hoped not, in the fear one of her sweet kits might have to go and battle as apprentices. She took the time to glance comfortingly at her mate and her best friend, hoping that they would be spared from whatever the meeting had been called for.

At the sound of Ivystar's voice, Scorchclaw raised his head, startled. He was currently seated at the edges of camp, enjoying a fresh meal of fish. For a moment, the brown warrior thought that some kind of ceremony was taking place, but he quickly realized that that was not it. Ivystar's tone hinted that something was wrong, and her pelt was all ragged. What had been so important that the leader of RiverClan did not even groom herself first? He scoffed down the last of his fish and headed over to the willow branch. Watching Ivystar with an intense green gaze, he waited for her to continue speaking. The fur on the back of his neck rose slightly at the ominous vibe this clan meeting was giving off.

Stormpaw jumped and looked up as Ivystar called a meeting, his summer-yellow eyes wide. There was something different about his grandmother- a hint of anger in her usually calm voice was enough to make the usually lazy tom scramble towards the willow branch, his heart thudding. Perhaps it was time for them to go fight Thunderclan, defeat them once and for all. Normally Stormpaw would've been shouting questions, but he knew better than to test Ivystar's patience now.
The dark tabby quickly sat beside Darkpaw, wrapping his fluffy tail around his paws. His fur prickled, and the tom flicked his ears. Everything was probably fine- he had no reason to worry.

From her vantage point on top of the willow branch, she looked down at the warrior in question. All the fire and fury was doused as she saw Shadepaw sitting by his mother with eager eyes looking up at her with glee. How could she do this? Commend this apprentice to the suffering that had haunted her entire life? The leader visibly swallowed, then exhaled slowly. "...It seems Newleaf is nearly among us, I would warn everyone to be careful as with flushing prey, comes more predators. Be... Be aware of foxes, I have had a sense of unease regarding them. Perhaps it is StarClan warning me... That is all... Sweetheart, Reedclaw, I require your assistance in tracking down the bush from my dreams. Follow me."

With that, the leader leapt down, nearly stumbling at her first step down. She couldn't meet anyone's gaze, feeling under pressure with the tension racking her body taut. Ivystar lead the warrior pair towards the Broken Pools, where she was certain that they would not be overheard. Or, at least, she hoped they would not be overheard.

"You!" The leader snarled at Sweetheart, her fur bristling with all the anger she'd been hiding.

Spotfur looked at Smokewish, somewhat relieved. "[color:d701=009933]Just a newleaf warning? Seems fishy to me." He said to her quietly.

(OOC: Would anyone be against Shadepaw eavesdropping on Ivystar, Sweetheart, and Reedclaw?)

Shadepaw huffed grumpily when Ivystar had said nothing about his warrior ceremony. Well... hopefully the next meeting would be different. He watched as both his mother and father followed after Ivystar and tilted his head in confusion. What could she possibly want to tell them?

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Sweetheart exchanged a confused glance with Reedclaw before standing up and following the RiverClan leader, not exactly sure how to feel. Was she going to talk to them about Shadepaw’s training? He was about to become a warrior after all.

But then Ivystar rounded on her with such rage that made her actually leap high in the air, her own fur bushing out in terror. No... No, no, she couldn’t know, she just couldn’t! Please, StarClan, don’t let this be happening!

A whimper escaped her throat as she backed away to hide behind her mate.

Scorchclaw tilted his head slightly upon hearing Ivystar's announcement. Was that really all the RiverClan leader wanted to say? Things seemed off. Ivystar's message just did not match with her tone when she called the clan together. The astute warrior could easily tell from Ivystar's mannerisms that something was wrong, but he could not tell just what. With a slight frown, he watched the retreating form of his leader tailed by Sweetheart and Reedclaw. Well, it's probably nothing. He thought, turning away at length. Since he had already eaten, he would groom himself before going to sleep a while later.