what once was [Clan Meeting]

Fawnshine had left with a promise. It had done nothing to comfort Birdchaser– if anything, it had agitated her more –but she was in no place to hunt down ThunderClan's medicine cat. Even if she wanted to, the wiry little thing swore on it. Birdchaser would hold her to it, then; there would be time for cat hunts later.

Now, though, she had a duty, to family and to Clan. Once the fury and pain had subsided into nothing more than a numb ache, she rose in silence, staring down at Dovefrost's mangled form. How she had failed to notice when she first laid eyes on him was beyond her. It made her sick, to think she'd run up to press against him as if he'd stir awake, forepaws wrapped comfortingly against her shoulders. Never again. It would haunt her, the rest of her life.

So it was back to SkyClan. Any conversation was kept brief, but there was enough of it to entreat Beechfang to follow. To help. Dovefrost's weight was more than she could carry on her own, even if her legs didn't tremble with every step. Birdchaser was grateful the scarred tabby hadn't disappeared back into Twolegplace to stew in her own private grief; the help with carrying Dovefrost's body was immensely appreciated, but more than that, she was grateful to have her mother. She would need someone. Anyone.

The journey to find her father had taken forever, or felt like it. The return home– done in a heartbeat. Before she knew it, the half-fallen wall of sharpened sticks and tactifully placed brambles was in view. She wished there'd been more time– to think, to close her eyes and pray this had been a horrible, horrible dream, to scream and beg and curse and demand StarClan refer him, fill his muddied white pelt with life again. Hesitating, the deputy's tail flickered to and fro. "Thank you. And I'm sorry." Birdchaser rasped, head ducked low. If Beechfang hadn't returned home with her... she shook her head. Stepping away, she allowed Dovefrost's weight to slide from Beechfang's shoulders and rest fully across her back.

It was time. SkyClan had to know.

With a distant stare and a low sigh, Birdchaser pushed through the entrance of camp, careful not to let Dovefrost's pelt get snagged on the thickets and ripped from her back. Before her ears had even cleared the walls, there were eyes on her. Of course there were. She'd disappeared with the dawn, and returned with an exile and a body. It was a spectacle, she was sure. Had it been anything else, she was sure to have found some humor in it, but it was hard to forget when the weight pressed against her shoulders.

Ducking her head to avoid contact from her milling Clanmates, Birdchaser padded forward until she reached the heart of camp, where she stooped down to ease Dovefrost onto the earth. Rest for him, finally. She should... she needed to tell the Clan. She needed to tell Briarthorn, but– but– glancing around, Birdchaser caught sight of the cats that had taken notice. Shocked, horrified. Her gaze lingered particularly long on the nursery; the kits still romping around outside, unaware of what had befallen their Clanmates.

She had almost been them. Been terrified that would be her– rolling in the dust with her littermates, presented with a dead mother the next. The whole Clan needed to know. It couldn't wait.

Mechanically, she moved to the Tallbranch, clumsily leaping to stand atop it. Her gaze scanned the crowd, lingering between her father and Beechfang. Beechfang... she had no idea Birdchaser was deputy. Hadn't even known she'd been made a warrior. The pain in her chest tightened, suffocating.

"Let all cats old enough to climb a tree gather beneath the Tallbranch for a Clan meeting." Her voice was dull, but it echoed across the clearing. Anyone outside would know what this about. The others would find out soon.

Her siblings would find out soon. Birdchaser's claws flexed, digging into the wood.

ooc: takes place before the flood plot with shadowclan!
immediately follows this topic

Trufflepaw came sulking out of the Medicine Cat's den, her vision still blurry from illness induced sleep. Shortly after Moonstone, she fell incredibly ill. Moons, she lay rasping and sputtering in the medicine den. She had two parents that were medicine cats, and yet, they had abandoned her to SkyClan's medicine cat as a whole for her to waste away. Her siblings were to busy being made warriors and deputies, leaving her in the dust to squirm and beg for breath. She would be made a warrior soon, and soon, punishment would come for all of those that would need it. As her head exited the den, she was wracked with another coughing fit. 'Green Cough', or something. If StarClan had any mercy, if Trufflepaw wasn't so stubborn, it should have just killed her than allowing her the utter humiliation of being still an apprentice when her own sister was the Deputy.

As the coughing ceased and her vision returned to normal, all she could see was her Mother and a mangled body... Father? Trufflepaw inched her way cautiously to the two forms, unsure if this was another fever dream or the truth. "Mother?" Her hoarse, raspy voice - a snarling mess of one - called out as she approached apprehensively.

To Beechfang, it had never been a question of whether she would go back into Skyclan territory with Birdchaser. Even with the pain of knowing she wouldn't be able to stay with her kits. Burying a parent wasn't a task any kit should have to do alone, and Dovefrost had been her mate, too. Her cheeks were tearstained, though Beechfang kept quiet, padding silently alongside her daughter with Dovefrost's weight carefully distributed across their backs.

Soon enough they were at the camp entrance, and gingerly she helped Birdchaser reposition Dovefrost so she could get through the camp entrance. Beechfang followed, head and tail lowered. She hardly gave a thought to Birdchaser leaping onto the tallbranch and calling the clan together, she'd seen plenty of cats who weren't in a position of leadership do so, and who was on the tallbranch wasn't exactly at the forefront of her mind as she sat hunched next to Dovefrost's body.

The scent of sickness made her lift her head, and concern sparked within her as she saw Trufflepaw. "Trufflepaw..." Beechfang mewed softly, gently touching her nose to Trufflepaw's ear. She was burning. "You should be resting." She had never appreciated being a medicine cat, but she would've done whatever it took to help her kits. She didn't know the state of Skyclan's herb stores, and with Dovefrost now dead, she wondered who would be left to fill in. There hadn't been an apprentice officially named when she'd been unceremoniously exiled.

In a different time, were it a different cat that was sick, she might have said it wasn't her problem any longer. She had given up her position as medicine cat, and now she was no longer Skyclan at all. But her family was here; her sister, her kits, one of whom was ill enough that she shouldn't have been outside the medicine den at all. Skyclan potentially being without a medicine cat was absolutely her problem, and whoever thought otherwise was a fool.

Fogkit's- Fogpaw, finally? Or had he even earned a full name? - choked sob swung Beechfang's attention toward him. "Fog-" She began, hesitating not only because she wasn't sure of his name. He... Hadn't been happy with her, she understood that. Deserved it, even. Still, the scarred tabby forced aside the hesitation she felt. His father was dead and he - all of them - needed what family they had. Her fluffy tail curled around her son, drawing him closer. Her eye narrowed at the scent of herbs that clung to him, but now wasn't the time to ask. A good cat lay dead at their paws, and that needed an explanation. One Beechfang was still trying to process herself.

"We-" Speaking was suddenly difficult with the sudden lump in her throat. "-We found him. Like that." How had she not found Dovefrost on her way to Skyclan's border? How had she not known he was around twolegplace? Let alone another cat bearing the scent of Thunderclan? If she'd been more vigilant, if she'd frequented the area more, maybe this wouldn't have happened. She could've found him sooner.

If she hadn't been exiled at all, Dovefrost would've had no need to go to twolegplace at all. Beechfang shook her head, knowing that thought was irrational at best. The rarer, more useful herbs were often found in twolegplace, that alone was reason to go. And twolegplace had never been a safe place. But why then, a random Thunderclanner? The scent was only vaguely familiar, but it lacked the sharp, cloying scent of herbs that the medicine cat Fawnshine had. The medicine cat would find who did it, or Beechfang would. And Skyclan would know soon enough, with Birdchaser standing on the tallbranch above.

Beechfang glanced around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her and Dovefrost's other kits. They had all loved their father, they shouldn't have to hear the news from anyone but family. She might not be allowed to stay for long, but she would be there for them as much as she could... If Wolfpaw, Plumpaw and Lichenpaw (were those even their names, still?) even wanted to be near her, after everything.

---

Wolfblossom poked her head out of the warrior's den at her sister's call, blue eyes widening at a scarred pelt that most definitely shouldn't have been in camp was... In camp. Fogpaw and Trufflepaw had already gone over to her, and Wolfblossom felt her heart twist at how ill her sister looked still, worry making her chest feel tight as she hurried towards the trio.

Why was mom here, anyways? Wolfblossom had been pained to hear she was exiled, and while her mother's crimes had demanded punishment, she was still glad to see her back. Even if she looked like she might be sick, herself...

Padding closer, that was when she spotted the white form that lay at Beechfang's paws, that had been half-obscured by her siblings' bodies. Blood stained Dovefrost's pale fur, and up close the scent was enough to make Wolfblossom feel sick. "No..." She mewed softly, "He's not..." But the way Fogpaw was sobbing, the way Beechfang looked at her, rage-and-grief-stricken and heartbroken all at once.

"Foxdung." She hissed, "Why? What did this to him?"

Something was wrong.

Some solemn quietness spread over camp- and it wasn't simply to respect his sister's words for a Clan meeting. Murmurs and shuffles preceded the clearing, no lively chatter of excitement from a promotion to apprentice to warrior. A few cats gathered by something in the middle of the clearing. Curiosity of the small crowd took his attention; and rather than facing the Tallbranch, Lichenpaw edged some strides over.

It took a moment for Lichenpaw to realize what it was- his siblings and.. StarClan; mom..? surrounding the figure. A body. His chest tightened. That couldn't be-- he must've seen it wrong. He had seen it wrong; the alternative wouldn't be considered without actual thought. He must've assumed; there were many things on territory that could match what glimpse he caught. ..But the closer he padded, the less he could deny it.

The lifeless corpse of his father, laid simply upon the camp's ground.

The sight chilled Lichenpaw. Dovefrost's normally pure white pelt; stained with blood still drying- and a gash to his neck uncomfortably visible. Everything about it was wrong. Even the way his body was splayed was uncanny. It wasn't a relaxed position, sat to be comfortable- no, it was nothing more than how fresh-kill was set down on the ground. Limp and uncaring.

Lichenpaw took a moment to register Beechfang's words, only flicking an ear to her statement. "We found him. Like that." ..His mother, come back, only to report the death of his father. His heart twisted again; to see Beechfang.. Lichenpaw hadn't a way to respond. She was kin- nothing more direct than his own mother, earliest and happiest memories spent by her in his kithood. But, another word described her just as well: a murderer. It was for the best she was exiled. But he should feel some relief that his mother was back; even with such horrible announcement. Yet neither emotion felt right. Juxtaposed with the haunting corpse of Dovefrost.. There was only one state he could feel. Lichenpaw felt numb.