For The Good of the Clan (Closed)

"Stars, what do I do?"

Rookfire paced around the makeshift camp he was calling home for the time being. For what seemed like moons, his trust in Nightstar was rapidly eroding. The leader's decision to make drastic changes to the outsider policy, a policy that was working just fine since before he was born and led to some of ShadowClan's most loyal warriors (Batglow, Foxspark, Shira, Webshadow, Thalia, among others), alienated many of the cats who he was supposed to lead. Sablestrike suggesting to strip him of his lives the second he left was proof of that.

At the same time, ShadowClan was still something he'd die for, something he thought was more than worth protecting. He came back to ShadowClan despite living comfortably as a kittypet, and he'd do it ten times over again. But he was worried that ShadowClan was starting to turn unrecognizable from the place he had called home all those moons ago. Everyone definitely seemed to just... accept the new policy, even if they didn't like it. He wasn't excluded from this, either. But there had to be something he could do...

I need to talk to Nightstar.

He remembered when they first met, when Rookfire had just come back from camp. Nightstalker (as he was called back then) was very suspicious about Rookfire, though thankfully Murkystar and his old friends vouched for him being ShadowClan. That would make it a lot harder to convince him to relax outsider policies, but he felt that outsiders were more beneficial than otherwise, so he was willing to take a shot. Peeking into the leader's den, Rookfire noticed the tall black tom in his nest. "Hey, Nightstar?" he asked. "I got something to talk to you about."

Nightstar's eye flicked open as he looked up at the tom that woke him up. Recognition took some time to cross his gaze before he realized that it was Rookfire, one of his older warriors. Sighing heavily, though not with intentional disrespect, the black tom raised his head and leveled the black and white tom with a stare. "Come in, Rookfire. What is it?" He meowed, pushing himself into a sitting position and getting to cleaning his fur blearily, trying to wake himself up.

Rookfire nodded at Nightstar, his face conspicuously missing his signature smirk, before stepping into the den. "I have been thinking about something," he said. "About your outsider policy." He wasn't going to sugarcoat his words to the ShadowClan leader, since he was mature enough to take his thoughts. "It's something that's been on my mind for moons."

"I can understand that it might not be the best to change this in ShadowClan's current situation, with us being in Highstones and all that, but I feel as if it's something to keep in mind once ShadowClan's more stable."

"And what are you implying, Rookfire? That I change back to Froststars policy? Nothing has changed, we accept kittens just as he had, just not adults." Nightstar meowed, quirking a brow. He wouldn't begrudge Rookfire his stance, he was a returning Shadowclan cat that would likely have suffered because of Nightstar's policy should he have rejoined them much later in life. He didn't particularly care if that would have been the case. But what bothered Nightstar, was the fact that a large majority of his clan seemed to have forgotten when Dawnhawk and his family attacked Shadowclan, skinned a queen and a very valuable warrior; when Dark forest cats had taken control and starved their elders.

Nightstar was protecting Shadowclan from future threats that were like this, could Shadowclan themselves not see that? Did they not learn their lessons? Not every outsider was going to be nice and good, and even if they were, they didn't know what past followed them.

Rookfire scoffed. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. "I think that bringing in adult outsiders, many of them just searching for a better life than having to live alone, would be a benefit to the clan." Traveling from the Twolegplace he lived in back to ShadowClan gave him a perspective of just how difficult it was to live by yourself, especially during leaf-bare. He only survived due to him picking up traveling herbs as he headed home.

"I'm not telling you to let cats into camp without performing some sort of loyalty test - maybe just an apprenticeship under a ShadowClan warrior or something - but outside ideas and diverse opinions can help ShadowClan become even better. You know Thalia and the predator pelts we all wear now? That's something that she obtained due to her growing up in the Asylum, and it's now something that we benefit from." Imagine the ideas of cats who weren't born and raised in the clans, ideas that could expand horizons and could lead to prosperity for the five clans. If ShadowClan took them in, how much of the clan could be revolutionized?

The black tom cat's ears flicked back at Rookfire's scoff, and Nightstar's maw turned down in a frown. "I get that. But there are other clans in the forest they can go to. Shadowclan isn't the only clan out there. I won't deny that it can be a good idea, but the risks are too great Rookfire. Burningwing and Amberdawn - a queen- were skinned and used as pelts by rogues, or have you forgotten? Those very same cats were going to go for kittens, elders, and the rest of our queens had they gotten into camp. Loyalty tests aren't faultless, they can always lie and deceive and we'd be none the wiser." Nightstar meowed, returning with a scoff of his own.

"I cannot sacrifice the good of the clan for the probability of a rogue having one or two ideas. The same goes for other clan-cats, they can be just the same, if not worse." Nightstar stated, his tail giving a solid lash or two, but otherwise kept his calm.

Rookfire paused. "I didn't know about Burningwing and Amberdawn being skinned," the black tuxedo replied solemnly. "Just that they were killed by rogues." It seemed like he was finally getting into Nightstar's point of view of rogues, and why he was so harsh on them. But still...

The black tuxedo took a deep breath inward. "I think these atrocities and invasions are something that ShadowClan will be vulnerable to, and there's nothing we can do about it." Rookfire sat on his haunches, before curling his tail around in a comfortable manner. This is gonna be a long story. "Before I was even born, a rogue group called the Asylum took control over ShadowClan. They devastated the five clans, leaving trails of blood whenever they went. We were lucky to have suffered the least of all of them. And they still imprisoned and starved our clanmates before we finally came together and rose against them."

"And yet... in the darkness, there was light. The occupation may have brought in death and imprisonment, but it also brought a new kind of kindness, compassion, and innovation. An Asylum tom, Iniko, saved one of our warriors. Murky taught one of Asylum's servants, Ichtaca to hunt. And Asylum brought in many ideas that impacted the beliefs of cats all across the clans." Iniko was really the main cat responsible for most of Asylum's kindness towards ShadowClan, and his mere presence helped make his earliest days impactful. He remembered thinking that ShadowClan could have limited independence under the Asylum with Iniko's guidance, even though circumstances led it to not be meant to be. "After the Asylum fell, Flintstar, ShadowClan's leader back then, let in many Asylum-raised cats into his Clan when they had nowhere else to go. And do you know what they did? They helped a weakened ShadowClan become energetic and full of life! Foxspark, Shira, Thalia, Stag, they all contributed to this clan and helped it grow, for it to be amazing. And I wish you were there to have seen it."

The black tuxedo shifted as he sat. "My point is, there's nothing you can do to protect ShadowClan from any risk. And every decision you make will have its pros and cons. I personally feel like the chance that a rogue up and betrays us is significantly less than the chance they don't bring a new perspective. And even if they don't have any new ideas, they can still live a life as a loyal warrior for ShadowClan, and it would be for the good of the clan to let those types of cats in."

"I'll admit that a clan cat might still have loyalties to their former clan, and be more willing to betray us. I'm not asking for that. However, most outsiders looking to join would be wanting a new life to live, and the chance they belong to a rogue group that we don't even know of currently and are scouting us out to invade are much, much slimmer."

After the long speech, Rookfire let out a deep sigh. "All I want you to do is consider it, Nightstar. That's all."