Risk Assessment (Open Clan Meeting;; IMPORTANT)

OOC: https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t34314-your-mistake-open

Ashstar stalked back into camp straight back from SkyClan's territory, tail lashing, eyes narrowed. As much as her heart screamed at her to declare war immediately on those fox-hearted murderers, the logic that governed most of her leaderly actions knew that before making such a drastic action, she had to speak with her Clanmates first. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!" she yowled, her ears still pinned back with rage from hearing Rippedstar's mousebrained words.

Nectarleap marched after Ashstar and into camp, fury lacing every step. So much pain filled him, and after hearing what those foolish SkyClanners said, the easiest way to deal was to convert it into anger. Willowpaw, his son, was dead, and Rippedstar refused to even give him justice? And the arrogant tom claimed to understand his pain. Those words would have actually meant something if the came with actions. As his leader called the clan meeting, he hoped that it was to inform his clanmates that they were going war. If he had to just sit there and deal with this atrocity, than he might just explode!

An infuriated silence seemed to yawn between the returning party of WindClanners, but Brindlewhisker found herself unwilling to breach the tense atmosphere. Hundreds of thoughts were coiling up within the dark recesses of her mind all at once, effectively causing the duration of the journey to cause by in a blur. The sheer insolence and arrogance displayed by Rippedstar was absolutely appalling- was this really how SkyClan chose to address the wrongful spilling of blood? Refraining from the urge to sneer at her inner recollections, she chose to merely keep her face an unreadable mask once the camp finally came back into sight. After everything that had transpired, war seemed inevitable, but she knew that her Clanmates had yet to weigh in with their personal opinions about the subject.

Dovestream leaped out of the warriors' den upon hearing Ashstar's call. The gray leader on top of the Tallrock seemed furious, and her expression matched those of both the deputy and Nectarleap. With a curious huff, the silver tabby brought herself towards the spot where all of her Clanmates were gathering together and sat down in the middle of the crowd. Whatever had happened to anger some of her Clanmates was enough to make Dovestream feel upset, too, and she hadn't even been there or seen anything.

Bouldering was still, surprise, a kit - and therefore was still too young to attend any meetings, but that didn't stop him from sticking his little nose where it didn't belong. He'd snuck out of the nursery and scampered to the back of the gathering crowd, trying to peek up at the shape of Ashstar on her perch. He'd never seen her so angry before. He'd hardly ever seen her at all, but.... That was besides the point.
Amber eyes gazed wildly around. Why did everyone seem so stressed?

Featherlight padded out of the medicine cat's den to listen to Ashstar's words. What was it this time? Really, she could only wonder, and be glad that at least it wasn't her or Mottleheart's name being shouted out. However, it still couldn't have been good news - a single look at Ashstar would have told any cat who wasn't blind as much, and for those who were, her tone wasn't exactly pleased.

Ears flicking at the sound of Ashstar's yowl, Acornpelt strolled to the Tallrock. The way Ashstar's expression was molded into fury made the fur on her neck bristle. What could Ashstar possibly be so angry about? Sitting down, Acornpelt's ears twitched and the tip of her tail flicked from side to side. This would be interesting.

Foxpaw ran to the tallrock as soon as she heard Ashstar's call."What did that Skyclan scum say?!" Foxpaw demanded. "Are they going to throw out that fox-hearted apprentice?! Demote her to a kit status for several seasons?! Tell me!” That Skyclan cat deserved the worst punishment there was. She had murderd her brother.

Hearing his mother call the clan together, Smokepelt padded over from the edge of camp and sat among the slowly gathering cats, his face expressionless, per usual, as he wondered what she was calling the clan together for. By the looks of it and the anxious feel to the air, whatever she wanted wasn't good news, and the grey and white tom wondered what had happened.

~~~~~

Sitting outside of the elder's den with Ryecloud sitting a couple pawsteps away from him, Cedarfur watched as Ashstar entered the camp. Noticing her angry expression, the older tom's heart immediately started to beat faster as his mind raced through what could've happened while the leader was out. A fight was sure to break out sooner or later, Cedarfur was sure of it. But whether it was among his clanmates or with another clan, he didn't know.

Sweetpaw had been out in the territory on a hunting patrol during the entire incident, having left early in the morning and staying even after the rest of the patrol had gone back to camp. Now, as she padded back into camp dragging her large catch, she immediately sensed something was off. Dropping the fresh-kill on the pile, she noticed a large number of cats in a circle off to her left but before she had a chance to investigate Ashstar called for a clan meeting.

Padding towards Tallrock, Sweetpaw spotted her father and padded over to him. "Hey dad! Do you know what's going on?" As she got closer she stumbled a bit, bumping into Nectarleap with a giggle. "Hehe, sorry." Looking up, she finally got a good look at his face an was suddenly worried. "What's wrong?"

(OOC: late lol)

Shadefall padded into camp behind Ashstar, her eyes narrow slits of anger. Her tail lashed angrily at what had happened at the Skyclan camp. She padded alongside Nectarleap and Brindlewhisker until they all broke apart into groups to discuss what had just occurred. Shadefall heard Ashstar's call to the clan for a meeting, and peeled away from the patrol that had went to Skyclan. She had heard her sister's question, and she went over to sit next to her. It took some effort to, but once she lowered the bristling fur on her neck, Shadefall turned to Foxpaw, " Rippedstar said that the only punishment he would give that fox hearted apprentice was guilt and maybe late warrior hood." She said, loud enough for only Foxpaw to hear. She was sure that Ashstar would announce the happenings that went on in the Skyclan camp. She looked at her other sister, Sweetpaw, and a small smile lingered on her face as she bumped into their father.

How will they take this?... Ashstar scanned the faces of her Clanmates closely as they gathered. Some of them already knew what had happened, and their fury mirrored her own. Some were clueless. Others did not even know of Willowpaw's death. Well, they would soon. The leader did not often get angry, let along feel such rage as she did at this injustice- and when she did, she normally did not show it to her Clan. However, there was no mistaking the fury on the grey-furred she-cat's face as she stood taller before her warriors, ready to speak. They wouldn't like this, but neither did she.

"WindClan," she began, "as most of you know, Nectarleap's son Willowpaw is dead. However, this death was not induced by greencough or a rogue or any predator- Willowpaw was killed by another Clan cat. A SkyClan cat." She remembered the initial grief she had felt at the news, but nearly all of her emotions had since unified into a united feeling: rage. "Brindlewhisker, Nectarleap, Shadefall and I went to Rippedstar, assuming he would be as aghast at this news as we were and offer the murderer a suitable punishment. However, to all of our surprise, he hid instead behind the excuses of it being an 'accident' and them 'defending the territory,' and effectively refused to punish Hazelpaw, the she-cat in question, at all, and tried to chastise me for asking him to give the family of the killed tom justice. He said that guilt would be enough of a punishment, and maybe a delayed warrior ceremony." The leader's face twisted into a snarl of disgust. "When we asked him again to punish the she-cat who permanently removed a WindClan soul from this forest, he kicked us out, yelling at me to worry about my own Clan."

Ashstar's face became slightly more worrying, edges of extreme fury fading off somewhat. "The only real answer, in terms of justice, is to prepare for war. However, we have just finished recovering from RiverClan's greedy invasion, and I don't know if we're prepared for another fight... especially if we do lose. As mouse-brained and weak as Rippedstar is, unfortunately for us he has powerful allies: both RiverClan and ShadowClan. If we bring in ThunderClan, assuming they are willing, we may have a full-scale, forest-wide war." Remembering her days in apprenticehood, when Falconstar nearly participated in such a war, made her blood run cold. "So, I thought I would ask for all of your input," she continued, voice steely, gaze focusing on each individual Clanmate. "I trust your opinions. We all want to give Rippedstar his comeuppance, but are we ready for war? I will listen to your voices on this matter."

Swiftstep felt his body shiver. His eyes held held many emotions. He had fought so much in his life that fighting didn't seem so bad. Unfortunately there were many, many risks. He couldn't bare losimg his remaining family. Having to see them fall one by one. His gaze became unfocused as he stared off, beyond what was there. He kept his mouth closed, listening to the opinions around him.

Acornpelt's puzzled expression twisted to one of hidden anger. How could this Rippedstar be so mouse-brained? Thinking for a moment before stating her opinion, Acornpelt finally yowled above the other cats. "While Rippedstar's actions were unjustified, we should not go to such large conflict over this incident. I am not saying Willowpaw wasn't important, but so long as we have no more... skirmishes like these, we should not threaten SkyClan. Three Clans largely outnumber two, even if one is known for their strength. Many unnecessary casualties and injuries could happen if we go to war. As much as I want to teach SkyClan a lesson as any of you, I think this is most rational. We cannot afford the possible negatives that come with going to war - and this would surely anger our ancestors." Acornpelt forcefully kept her head high, as much as she wanted to lower it and back away. Did she make herself seem like a coward? She hoped not. Shifting her gaze to Ashstar; her stare was solid. "However, if we do decide to go to war, I will faithfully fight for WindClan."

Nectarleap hadn't had a chance to answer before Ashstar spoke up, announcing her brother's death to the clan. Frozen, Sweetpaw looked over to her father as if expecting him to tell her it wasn't true but as Ashstar went on to say Willowpaw had been murdered she knew he would give her no such reassurances. Her breathing quickening, realization struck her and she turned, rushing over to the cats she had seen earlier. Shoving through them, she laid eyes upon her brother's body and a shriek escaped her maw quickly followed by a wail as she threw herself, sobbing, to the ground beside her brother. "No..." As she sobbed into her brother's fur, Sweetpaw could hear Ashstar talking in the distance but the only word that managed to punch through her fog of grief was 'Justice'. Standing, tears still streaming down her face, Sweetpaw went back to stand beside her father.

As Ashstar finished up, asking the cats gathered their thoughts on the matter, the usually cheerful she-cat spoke up. Her first attempt catching in her throat, Sweetpaw cleared her throat and waited for her best friend to finish before calling out to Ashstar. "If we don't fight now, when will we? I have no qualms with Skyclan but if they are harboring a murderer we should go there and retrieve the traitorous filth ourselves. We deserve justice for Willowpaw. The cat that killed my brother should pay." As she spoke, her anger shone through the grief. Sweetpaw didn't want to go to war and truly agreed with Acornpelt but her brother's murderer should not be able to rest peacefully under Silverpelt.