They Paint the World Full of Shadows... [C]

Falconmoon came into Skyclan camp with a calm stride and a cool confidence. His eyes were focused as they searched for either Wolfblossom... or Birdstar if he absolutely couldn't find his mother. He stepped through the groups of Skyclan warriors returning from their hunts, giving them casual nods in greeting as he passed by them. He'd returned with no prey at all, but that was far from his most pressing concern. At this moment, he cared not for the thoughts or judgements of any clan cat around him. He only needed to speak to someone in charge, in private. A flash of white caught his attention. Wolfblossom... she couldn't have returned from the forest at a better time. Falconmoon approached with serene gait and a warm expression. His tail even curled upward and pointed to the sky as he padded forward like nothing in the world was amiss.

He purred loudly before he ever reached her. "Mother." He said calmly before he reached his head forward for a gentle butting of heads. In that moment, he allowed her to see a flash of urgency in his eyes, like blue lightning splitting the sky. "A word with you, in private please?" His voice was still casual and grounded, but his speech cadence changed into someone who was not Falconmoon. The urgency in his eyes vanished as quickly as it came as he turned away. He was happy to lead them to the edges of camp or even further. No other cat had any business of hearing about this... yet.

He inhaled deeply through his nose and swiveled his ears like radars to make sure there was absolutely no one else around before he whipped around on Wolfblossom. There was no threat in his eyes, but the urgency was back. His body became stiff and his tail fluffed out to a larger size.

"I overheard Perchstar plans to go to war with us and that Birdstar already knew." His tone suggested annoyance, but it shook with something deeper. Something darker. "She wants Beechfang's life or her exile. I know how you probably feel about that, but I would also like you to consider the lives of the rest of the clan. My kits lives as well, and all of the other green apprentices that are not ready for what war brings." He had other plans rolling around in his head. Other... solutions. But even now the idea of them made him sick. He hoped that Wolfblossom might surprise him and tell him she and Birdstar already had a plan for this.

He doubted it, but he still hoped.

Wolfblossom had just returned from a hunting patrol, setting a pair of birds onto the fresh-kill pile and dismissing the warriors that had accompanied her with a wave of her tail. Blue eyes swept over the camp out of habit, taking note of who was in camp, who wasn't, and found Falconmoon heading toward her.

"I'm glad to see you up and about, Falconmoon." She purred, gently butting her head against his in greeting. The urgency that flashed in his eyes did not escape Wolfblossom's notice. Something had happened... Because stars above, of course it would. The deputy followed the golden-furred warrior toward the edge of camp.

He turned to her, tail fluffed out, and began to speak. A low sigh escaped the deputy. Perchstar was quite open about her intentions of war, it seemed, as the scars across her sister's face weren't enough proof of it. "We need to have a meeting about that... We should have long before now. I think most cats are smart enough to realize the tensions, and those that were there for Beechfang's return should know it would blow up in our face eventually - traveling in such close proximity makes it difficult for a cat like her to stay hidden long." Her own tail flicked once, anger simmering beneath the surface, but she tamped it down.

"So willing to risk the lives of her clanmates, for one cat who has kept away from their borders and regrets her actions. But my mother is the murderer and the demon that must be expelled. Riiight. Foxing. Hypocrite." Wolfblossom muttered, "Perchstar accepted her exile once. She won't accept that again, not with how Birdstar let her come back. Nevermind that the exile was done when we were apprentices, under very different leadership." Wolfblossom shook her heads at his words, "There's one option she will accept, and that's not an option I will accept." She knew her sister well enough to know Birdstar wouldn't, either.

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of her grandkits being put in danger. She knew what Falconmoon was getting at. She understood it. Still, the thought made her claws dig into the frost-covered earth. "A threat against one is a threat to all of us. If she wishes to lay claws on innocents to get at one cat, I will personally ensure she gets the same justice she wishes for."

"If there's one thing Skyclan seems to have innate talent for, it is war. I don't like it, I'd rather avoid it. I wonder, how many of Perchstar's cats will be happy to go up against us for the sake of a cat that's been dead longer than most of our clans have been alive? There's plenty of sick still... Not that I expect that to matter to Perchstar. If she were smart, it would. For the sake of her own clan. But I don't expect Riverclan to see reason, not when she considers the word of a former leader binding." The deputy frowned, tail tip flicking in agitation. It was good Falconmoon had come to her with this, but nobody in Skyclan had been talking openly about it, not yet at least. Their attention had been drawn to too many other things for the clan to be properly informed. That left another option... One that Wolfblossom wasn't sure she liked.

"How did you overhear this? It wasn't from Birdstar, or Beechfang herself, I'm guessing? We need to inform the clan properly, but panic spreading about this won't be wise." If Riverclan had been so close to their little piece bordering the lake for Falconmoon to overhear... That was bad news. Particularly if they were talking so openly.

Falconmoon was relieved to hear that at least thoughts of a meeting had been had about this. He was glad he didn't jump the gun and start screeching like a moronic kit about it to the whole camp. Maybe a mentally younger cat would have. However, what he heard after that made him tighten his jaw and the unease crept back in. He took a deep breath, hoping to blend it in with normal breathing. He needed to tread very carefully here. What was he to say? He was drawing a blank. The only thoughts he had was for his kits and their safety, but Wolfblossom's view wasn't exactly incorrect either.

Perchstar can't be this Dark Forest bent on war... didn't she at least mostly get what she wanted? Wolfblossom was too fiercely protective of her family to listen, which was understandable even if the outcome would not be ideal.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone but you or Birdstar. I overheard Perchstar talking to an apprentice about it while hunting. The apprentice accepted her decision, as a young cat like that trying to prove themselves normally would, but they were questioning her in the beginning."

That thought gave Falconmoon an idea. He didn't know entirely how well it would work, but it was certainly worth a shot if Perchstar couldn't be reasoned with either.

"Mom... Beechfang killed Cloverheart long ago... and most warriors alive in Riverclan aren't old enough to have any memory of it, just stories from elders and their disgruntled, hypocritical leader." His voice was calm and his tone was even, hoping that he wouldn't rile his mother up any further and that this may appeal to a more logical voice instead. He even sat down, hoping that even his calmer body language would transfer to Wolfblossom. She wasn't a stark raving lunatic with rage at the moment, but he knew his lineage had a way of being stone-faced even when their thoughts were drowning in blood.

"What if we were to send teams of our cats along their borders, act friendly or at least neutral, then start planting seeds of doubt about Perchstar's decisions to put their lives at risk for her grudge. Beechfang has done nothing wrong since returning. Perchstar can't have a war if her clan won't follow. If she can't be reasoned with, maybe the rest of her clan could. Perchstar can fight Skyclan herself if she is so determined to see Beechfang's head roll."

It made him wonder for himself when the thought of getting ahold of Perchstar without any of her supporters helping her sparked a vengeful sense of justice within him. I drowned one foolish Riverclan leader. I'm willing to bet I can do it twice. Killing a leader wasn't impossible, just difficult because of Starclan's power flowing through them. Once they were dead, they were just another cat. He had taken lives from leaders before, and while help was needed, he was certainly possible. He dug deep inside himself at that moment and forced those thoughts aside. If it came to that, he would try it, but he preferred to explore other options first.

"You overheard her speaking with an apprentice? If she's speaking of it that openly..." Wolfblossom sighed. Perchstar had nothing if not conviction, she knew. It was unlikely that she would be swayed from her path, but to hear at least one cat seemed to question it was a good sign. Even if the apprentice had relented and gone along with it...

The deputy frowned, expression turning thoughtful as she listened to Falconmoon speak.

"Her death was before our birth, she confessed at our first gathering." And what an awful mess than had been. "Perchstar stormed into our camp with two warriors and demands for her head, while some of my siblings were still in the nursery. Birdstar and I were on patrol at the time, though Bloodstrike wound up in exile with her and Briarstar took over leadership shortly after... She did what she had to for the clan, I can't deny her that." Wolfblossom didn't like thinking about how long ago that had been, much less how many of her own clanmates had not been alive for it. Briarthorn, Beechfang herself... Spottedfrog. Everyone else... "You are right... And the majority of our cats are also younger."

The deputy fell silent as her son continued to speak, blue eyes narrowing as she thought about his words. "A dangerous scheme, if Riverclan's leader is so open with her need to live in the past." She murmured. If the leader was so bold, surely some of her warriors would follow her lead, believing themselves just and righteous. "Even here it's still a border that will need patrolling and to be maintained. Patrolling by more senior warriors, I think. And those who can be trusted to keep a cool head." Not Sunfire, nor Graywind who had followed him into battle so easily. Stormwatcher too, while he'd proven to be more responsible just before falling ill... A low huff escaped the deputy. "It is risky, even so. Riverclan's leader has proven herself to be hostile, and we don't know what type of hold she has of her own clanmates. Some of them are bound to share her desire for retribution, some might be rash enough to try and enact those on whoever they come across." Still, the idea of turning her own cats against her, of sowing doubt, was not a bad one. They would just need to be careful in how they did it. "But no clan can stop cats from talking to other patrols they meet at the borders completely. And Perchstar can't be on every patrol or influence younger cats completely." It was in the nature of apprentices and younger warriors to disobey, to talk, to test boundaries. Maybe... Maybe seeds of doubt could be planted, if they were careful enough.

"I could do it." Falconmoon offered, though he had other ideas in his head as well. "I can usually keep my temper in check, especially if its important. Some apprentice or even another warrior isn't going to get a reaction out of me with just words." He was confident in that at least. He'd already been tested many times over, even as Falconmoon. "I can fight well enough, but I almost wonder how some of these other warriors would handle it if they attacked, only to find that I wasn't interested in fighting back, only talking. Surely thats not something a blood thirsty monster would do. And... I suppose if they mistake my kindness for weakness, they will find out how wrong they were if the bigger battles come." Beating another warrior wasn't hard, but taking a beating and refusing to do them harm? That took great restraint. It was a level of restraint he knew most warriors, most living things even, did not have. He could do it, for the sake of his family.

"Still, if we tried that, I think we'd need more than just me and Skyclan was a reputation for being hot heads. We need to fix that if we're going to succeed in this endeavor. Some of our members need to be told... probably a few times, that the goal here is not to win a petty skirmish, the goal here is to avoid a war, or in certain terms win it without having to lift a single claw to do so. I imagine that's far easier said than done for most of us." He hoped he didn't sound like a coward. He might see it as cowardly at first once upon a time as well, but looking at the bigger picture and knowing what was at stake if he failed... He didn't care if anyone thought he was a coward, so long as his plan worked.

"That goes against survival instincts, for most of us." Wolfblossom agreed, "I can't say I'd be comfortable doing the same, but if it might get into their heads..." It was dangerous, but she knew Falconmoon and knew that she wouldn't have to explain that to him. As his mother, it worried her. As his deputy, it worried her. But maybe it was a way they could prevent further bloodshed, if Perchstar's cats saw that Skyclan genuinely didn't want to fight, if they didn't want to fight for her...

"We do. If Riverclan can't be reasoned with, they will learn why." Not a thought Wolfblossom enjoyed, but a threat against one was a threat against the entire clan. Skyclan would not bend to the whims of another, not if she had anything to say about it.

"I have a few cats in mind who might be a better fit for this than some." She mused, "Those who will need reminders - those with a temper - might be better suited elsewhere in the territory for now. Border patrols sent that way will need to be careful. We cannot prove Perchstar right, and provoking a fight will be counterproductive." The cats she thought of were level headed and even tempered, if shy. But they each had proven themselves in battle if it came down to it, as well. The Skyclanners who upheld the clan's old reputation would have their use if it came to it, but Wolfblossom was willing to try something more unorthodox if it meant protecting Skyclan's vulnerable from another warmonger.