Call Forth The Tides Of War[Crew Announcement]

Several things had changed in the span of a moon, and somehow Ajex had gone from a new member of the Crew to it's captain. Of course, it wasn't an immediate change, but after Forest's mysterious disappearance they had waited and waited until they could no longer wait. They had decided, with the help of their trusted(and beautiful) Healer, Alethea, to have a vote, and somehow he had been chosen. So here he stood, on a small rise that allowed him to overlook his fellow crewmates, ready to address them all.

There was another thing that had happened recently, something that though secretly excited him, would serve only to anger his crewmates. The tom sighed to himself; why these cats that he had chosen to associate held grudges so easily, he had no idea. Well, he reflected to himself, it was partially the Clans' fault. They had taken hold of land that belonged to no one, then chased anyone who dared to step paw in it away, even threatening to kill them. They held some kind of rediculous belief for cats who had long died and even made up dreams about talking to them. As a Clan-born cat, Ajex should believe in StarClan as well, and he did, once, but after meeting so many new cats, it no longer seemed realistic. It's not like he had ever seen a StarClan before; why should he believe that dead cats could even exist out of life?

The worse part about the Clans, worse than their arrogant behavior and seemingly unreasonable believes, was perhaps their insistence for sticking within their borders. No one was allowed within these borders, not unless they were kits, in which case these Clans took them in to train like slaves to serve their causes. They also refused to expand their borders, instead choosing to fight amongst themselves and ridding the forest of precious life in order to heal the wounds that they caused each other. They hold grudges for generations, grudges that went so far back that no one knew when it began, and yet they drill it into their kits like a mantra. Ajex could still remember the stories repeated to him by elders, who, rid of their prime by battles that they were praparing to fight since before they were born, now lay in a deserted corner of the camp. Stories passed on by elders seasons before even the elders were born, stories made to brew hatred in kits barely old enough to fight. Such a stubborn, violet life, and yet they made up rules about "keeping peace". Did they truly believe that their way of life was the only way? Had not one of them ever took a step back and looked at their pathetic system and thought to themselves that it was wrong?

Ajex scoffed. Of course not. The ginger tabby shook his head to clear his thoughts, then raised his voice to call together the Crew. His Crew. The thought struck him suddenly, and the tom faltered for a moment. How had he become responsible for all these lifes? Blue eyes swept across the small group that gathered. They had voted for him. They trusted him. But could he trust them? No, he was getting distracted again. His gaze sought out Alethea, and found comfort in her familiar figure. He had to give these cats what they wanted, and perhaps he could find what he longed for as well.

"As all of you should know by now, Forest went missing a moon ago, and it was ultimately decided by the Crew that I'd be the new Captain. That means that I will be in charge of you all from now on. In the future, if there is anything of importance, please report it to me or Alethea," Ajex gestured with his tail to where the Healer was seated, and gave her a moment to address the Crew if she wished to.

"Now, on to... less pleasant news," Ajex sighed, dreading already the reactions of his crewmates. "Several reports have confirmed that the Clans have returned to the forest, and claimed their old territory once more." He gaze grew serious, and his voice was much louder, "We cannot allow these arrogant Clan cats to terrorize the forest again! They will hunt the forest to it's roots, just like they did before." He found, to his surprise, that it was easy to channel rage into his words. His tail flicked angrily as he continued. "No, we have to do something, and soon." His gaze raked over the gathered cats, all waiting for his decision. The choice was his now.

"We must prepare for war," the words came out as a growl, a sound so filled with rage that it surprised even him. Ajex could taste the words, burning with anger, on his tongue. "We're not strong enough to take on a whole Clan yet, but we will have to be, if we want to protect our lives and the forest," He wasn't one to scheme, but that didn't mean that he didn't have the brain to do so, "From now on, battle practice will be held regularly. Any new members of the Crew, even kits, will have to go through a test before they can be racognized formally as a member of the Crew, and therefore worthy of defending the forest. I will be watching over these tests myself, in which the participant must hunt down and kill a predator by themselves." Ajex paused to let his gaze soften. "This is to make sure that we don't send any cat who can't fend for themselves into battle. We're not as cruel as the Clans, after all," He added, his voice soothing and gentle in case he had scared anyone.

"As for our actions against the Clans currently..." As he got to this part, a grin worked its way on the tom's maw. "If they're so insistent on keeping only them within their own borders, make sure to keep them to their word. From now on, everyone is only permitted to leave base if they are with one other recognized member of the Crew. If you see any Clan cat step even one paw out of their border... you are permitted to attack them. First pick of fresh-kill if you manage to kill them and hang their pelt just a few tail-lengths out of their border~"

Ajex's time wasn't over, it seems, as Grub spoke up. A promise? This was the first that he was hearing of this. He internally cursed Forest for all this trouble that he had gotten himself into, then put on an understanding front for his fellow crewmate. Well, he was rather fond of the patch-furred tom, and he himself had had a few encounters with RiverClan before. The ginger tabby's gaze lingered on his companion for several moments, then let a grin break through. "I'm sure that if anyone was caught visiting RiverClan's land and borrowing a few bites to eat and helping them with uh, population control, we could turn a blind eye to that," He mewed, sounding every bit as innocent as his face, but even then he couldn't hide the smirk that twitched at the edge of his features. "And Grub? If you ever run into someone who isn't quite that pleasant, I'm sure we could arrange a little visit to have a private talk with them. Just let me know when."