ShadowClan 'Gathering' April 2022

Nightstalker stuck to the edges, unknowing how to wrap his head around the absence of his ancestors. His entire life, did he pray to his ancestors, thank them for his meals and well-caught hunts, he swore under them to be the best warrior he could be... but they were not here anymore. Eyes tight, he tipped his head forwards at the request to pray, and gladly would he do so.

Murkystar could hear the unhappy grumblings, and her heart twisted. She was trying to keep the peace, to not lose any more of her family (for the clan was her family, at this point, she loved each and every one of them and couldn't bear the thought of their life being snuffed before it's time). But this was the result. A night of celebration, she had called it. But as she stared down at the lizard she had grabbed, she found herself wondering what Loudnose would be doing. Would Ratrunner be sitting with Nightstalker? Would Swiftheart have joined them? Burningwing... What would he be doing in the current situation? Stars, they had lost so many... A voice cut through her thoughts, and she looked up to see Frostgaze atop Jaggedrock, calling for a prayer. The fur along her spine rose as she looked at the dark forest cats surrounding the camp warily, eye briefly meeting with one that looked particularly unamused by the event. She stood, abandoning her lizard to stand next to Frostgaze, watching over him while he prayed. She noticed many of the others bowing their heads as well, and her stomach twisted. She couldn't protect them all while they prayed, and who knew what the dark forest cats would do, how they would react. Would they mock them, laugh at their attempts to contact their ancestors? Or would they take exception to it, and attack them, ripping new wounds into their pelts, taking more lives? What could she do? What could any of them do? Hope was running out, and Murkystar found herself at a crossroads. If they fought, they would die. One by one, until their was no ShadowClan. If they gave up, they would die, perhaps not physically, but in every other way. Either way, was there any chance for them? Was it this way in the other clans? There was no way to know. The only thing she could do, was watch and wait. She would defend her clan with every ounce of breath left in her body. She prayed with her eyes open, watching over everyone, begging the stars to return, that her clan would be safe, and that every cat would be okay.

Rainstrike had never enjoyed Gatherings. To her, they were pointless... instead of socializing with the other clans, pretending like they wouldn't murder each other over a piece of territory as soon as the opportunity presented itself... they could be hunting, or training, or planning. As she wound her way through the ShadowClan camp with the full moon shining down on them, Rainstrike found herself annoyed at the way the clan cats were moping around, acting as if it was the end of times just because they couldn't go play with their friends from the other clans.

Pathetic.

The former ThunderClanner wrinkled her nose, claws slipping into the marshy ground. The more and more time she spent here, the more she disliked them. ThunderClan had been far from perfect, especially with Oakstar at its head, and now she knew why... he'd come from here, from ShadowClan... and ShadowClan was weak.

They only proved her point when their deputy called out for a prayer to StarClan. Rainstrike's singular eye glittered with malice, the shadows swirling around her as she moved forward, picking her path carefully and deliberately and in no hurry. She wanted them to see her coming, and she wanted them to be afraid of her. Each cat who joined in earned a sidelong glance from her, but she had only one target now... Frostgaze, the one who clearly needed to be made an example of.

She drew close to him, nostrils flared, and stared for a long moment. And then, in the blink of an eye, she lashed out, raking claws across the side of his neck and then pressing forward, looming over him as his blood painted the ground at her paws. She bared her teeth, eye flicking over to Murkystar as her voice hissed out, "You should encourage your clan to make good choices, Murkystar, not choices that will get them killed. Do I need to make an example?" She lifted a paw again, taking a singular claw and pressing it against Frostgaze's throat, pulling back and studying him now. "Or am I understood?"

“NO!” Snowfoot screamed, running as fast as her three good legs and one sore one could take her. She stopped as close as she could get to Frostgaze while still being out of immediate striking distance of the creature. Was he… dead?

Murkystar's eyes narrowed as Rainstrike stepped forward, and she moved to place herself between the approaching she-cat and her deputy. In a moment, she had whipped around and slashed at his face, and horror gripped Murkystar's belly. Instinctively, sh jumped forward, knocking the sharp claw away from his throat and putting herself firmly between the two cats, meeting Rainstrike's eye. "I don't see where any bad choice was made. After all, if the stars are truly gone, Rainstrike, then what do you have to fear or be angry about with my clan praying? What harm is there in praying to nothing, if what you all have claimed is right, and they are gone forever?" She hissed in return, tail lashing as her mind scrambled for ways to prevent further damage to Frostgaze... Or anyone else. "So, the stars are gone, dead, you've said that over and over. So there should be nothing wrong with continuing traditions and praying, even if it's to empty air. If you, or any of your companions, take exception to that, then you can talk to and make an example of me, but do not touch my clanmates. We have done what you said, listened to your rules, and there was never one against praying to our ancestors. So back down, this is still my clan." Oh how she longed to add an insult, to call this sorry excuse for a she-cat what she really was, but she was padding on thin ice and knew it.

The shadowy she-cat allowed Murkystar to push between her and the deputy, her lips twitching in a sadistic smirk as she sheathed her claws and put her paw down, single eye watching the ShadowClan leader closely. Her voice was unbothered as she responded, paws carrying her away from the dappled leader and closer to Snowfoot, who'd just joined them. Her eye never left Murkystar's. "StarClan is dead," she hissed, though her voice lacked the conviction of one who truly believed such a thing.

She lifted her lip, baring a single pearl-white fang as she stepped around Snowfoot in a lazy half-circle. "Praying to them isn't going to help you," she spat. "It's only going to cause trouble, encourage rebellion, and the next cat to remind you of that might not be as generous as I am. You've lost, ShadowClan. All the clans lost. There is no going back - this is the way things are now, so get used to it." She put her muzzle close to Snowfoot's ear, but her voice was still loud enough to carry. "So fall in line, or die. Makes no difference to me." She snapped her jaws close to the black-and-white she-cat's ear with a quiet, menacing hiss, and then turned and slipped back into the shadows.

Snowfoot held her breath as Murkystar stepped between Frostgaze and the enemy. This could go several ways. She trusted Murkystar not to do anything stupid, but the Dark Forest cats had killed for less. Snowfoot stood stock still as Murkystar spoke, breathing a sigh of relief when she finished her speech without saying anything the dark cat could easily take issue with.

Still, she couldn’t suppress a shiver as the creature circled her, as if about to attack. “Generous?” she muttered as it left. “Right. Because this is definitely a well-intentioned visit, not an invasion.” Fall in line or die, just a friendly greeting. Snowfoot might have been brought up ShadowClan, but loner blood still flowed through her veins, and her mother’s words still rang in her ears. “You are free to choose your own path in life. Some may try, but no one can ever truly take that away from you.” Fall in line, or die. Snowfoot would do neither. She wasn’t sure how, but it was her choice.

Murkystar's heart raced as the dark forest cat stepped away, only to draw close to Snowfoot. She silently begged anyone or anything listening to spare the young she-cat, or at least to give her time to take the hit, but thankfully it wasn't needed. Rainstrike backed down, well, left of her own accord. The chilling words seemed to echo behind her, cutting through the silence and ringing in her ears. Once she could no longer see Rainstrike, Murkystar found Basilbloom among the gathered cats. "Basilbloom, please hurry. We need to get Frostgaze's bleeding under control. Snowfoot..." The she-cat was the closest, and perhaps she would appreciate the distraction. "Please go collect any moss and cobwebs Basilbloom has available. Let me know if there's anything else you need, Basilbloom." She mewed anxiously, hoping that they still had time.

Snowfoot nodded, a numb feeling spreading through her, and limped off in the direction of Basilbloom’s den. Frostgaze was down. She entered the den and searched around. She hadn’t been in here much, just for a checkup as a kit, the occasional cut or scrape, and of course her leg. After what felt like ages, but was in reality just moments, Snowfoot found Basilbloom’s stash of cobwebs. She grabbed as many as she could carry - wow, cobwebs felt weird in your mouth - and headed back to Murkystar and Frostgaze.

Snakepaw lingered at the edge of the crowd. Half of his clan seemed inclined to pray to Starclan in a clear defiance of the Dark Forest occupation. He'd never met the ancestors and had no desire to - he didn't care for such things. But as he cast his yellowed gaze around the clearing while he looked from the shadows. They were fools for proclaiming ther devotion to dead cats that had disappeared. The Dark Forest was real, and they were here, and not that bad. It was hard to keep back a low snort of contempt. Admittedly, Snakepaw was not a fan of his deputy being targeted, it made his paws itch. Yet the tom had asked for it. He said nothing, though, merely watched with a muted interest and a flickering tail.

Fuzzypaw watched Frostgaze and saw he was wounded. The brown tabby sprinted to the medicine den to grab cobwebs and moss. He didn’t know much yet, but he knew enough to know that bleeding profusely was generally something to be avoided. Basilbloom could help with the poultices, but if Frostgaze bled out, the poultices would be useless.

Frostgaze's eyes were closed as he heard pawsteps approach him. He knew what was likely to happen next, he had assumed as much would happen when he made this decision. Yet this would ensure that his clan did not lose faith, did not lose hope. No matter what came next, he would, at any rate, be an example to follow. Claws slashed at his neck, catching it in the side, and pale blue eyes flashed open, a deep grimace crossing the tom's face. He remained on his paws as claws poked at his neck, tilting his head upward toward Rainstrike.

"Do not speak to Murkystar as if I am not here, dead one," Frostgaze growled through gritted teeth. "You have made more than enough of an example, unless you plan on killing me this night. If the stars are truly gone as you say, then you have nothing to fear from my desperate prayers to my ancestors." As the claws left his throat, Frostgaze's head slumped downward, eyes down at his paws. There was... quite of bit of blood, wasn't there? He continued to stand through sheer will, his gritted teeth, and shallow breathing a few of the signs of his injury.

"I apologize, Murkystar. I put the clan in danger, but if no one did anything, we would all still be sitting around accepting our fate. That, I cannot allow. Not- not against our clan." Frostgaze's words were interrupted by occasional huffs of air as he tried to control his breathing, attempting to control the pain. He did not want to be weak now, not when he had just put on quite the display. His head lifted to look at Snowfoot, his adopted daughter, one of those he loved in his heart. "Thank you Snowfoot." That was all he said as he sat, blood continuing to stain the side of his white pelt.

Deerleap leaped to her paws at the outrageous act. her tabby tail waved back and forth in anger, though she stood still, content with only glaring at the shadowy she-cat. her lips curled back in a snarl. no, the clans have not yet lost. they will continue fighting with all their might!

The she-cat padded up beside Frostgaze. she stood by his side as she glared at Rainstrike, her amber eyes narrowed and burning with anger.

Sootwhisker hadn't bent his head to pray, intending to keep an eye on the Dark Forest visitors. Unfortunately, that meant he saw the cat strike out at Frostgaze, unable to move his paws quickly enough to stop it. Rage pulsed through him at the sight of his adopted father, the cat who'd taken him in when his coward parents had abandoned him, with claw marks staining his neck from these filthy excuses for warriors. He rushed to Frostgaze's side, intending to allow the tom to at least lean on his shoulder, a slight reprieve from his injuries while he waited for the medicine cats to retrieve herbs for him.

He admired the deputy's strength, his effort to unite the clan in the face of such terrible odds, but he was afraid of the consequences it would incur not only for Frostgaze, but for the rest of the clan as well.