The Struggle [open]

The recent times had been hard. Stoneteller knew that. He tried everything that he could to stay strong for his tribe but he was starting to crack. No matter how much he practiced his looks and the way that he talked, he wouldn't be able to hide his fears forever. Besides, his tribe was already talking. He knew that soon they'd be coming up to him with question after question about what to do, and the worst part was that Stoneteller didn't have an answer. He'd tried the stones several times during the Time of the Freezing Water but there had been no answer. Of course, he had not told his tribe this terrible news. They wouldn't take it well at all. Instead, he told them to keep sticking it out and keep trying, continuing with the daily duties and making sure that they strive for the end of this harsh weather. How much longer could he keep this up, though?

With a deep breath, he padded across the floor of the cave, noting how his steps echoed off of the walls enveloping the tribe. As he walked, the tom couldn't help but kick around a small stone until one hit went too hard and the stone skidded across the floor and into a small crack. Well, that was that. However, his attention was suddenly taken by someone approaching him.

"Stoneteller?" There was an uncertainty in Storm that Lights the Cloud's voice as stepped toward the tom, a small frown on his face as he tried to study his leader. He had no doubt that Stoneteller was under very much stress, Storm would be to if he had to try to lead this dying tribe. He had respect for the aging tom but the uncertainty of what to do ate away at the Cave-Guard. Even now his stomach rumbled in hunger but there was no caught-prey to feed it...Or at least what little prey there was he wanted to save for those who needed it more then him. He opened his mouth, ready to say something but thought the better of it and decided to ask a different question. "Stoneteller...How are you?" It seemed like an odd question but he had to make sure his leader was alright.

The sound of a stone rolling on the hard floor caught the attention of the prey-hunter. Fox pricked his ears and walked toward the sound, wondering who could be walking trough the caves. He blinked surprised when he noticed that it was the Stoneteller accompanied by Storm that Lights the Clouds.
The leader of the tribe looked tired and a little frustrated and Fox couldn't help but approached him with a worried and serious face. The spotted cat lowered a bit his ears when he finally was beside him.
"You don't have a good look, Stoneteller. Are you okay?" Fox that hunts in the Night knew that expression because he often looked like him in the last time. It was upsetting and frustrating seeing how all the tribe had been struggling to survive but even if all of them tried their best, the death always reached them. When The Time of the Freezing Water will end? He thought, kind of angry because of all the sorrow that they were living.

As soon as Stoneteller saw Storm approaching, his ears perked and his eyes widened. Oh great. He didn't have a problem speaking with his tribe mates, but it was always a bit of struggle trying to convey his thoughts and settle their minds. "Ah, Storm! Yes, yes. I am fine. Just... Just like all of you, currently," he meowed, as if that gave the tom any kind of answer. However, before he could try to correct and explain himself, he saw others drawn to him as well, first Fox and then Bear soon after. Perfect. More explaining. "Yes, everything is okay. Well, at least as much as it can be," he told Fox before nodding towards Bear in acknowledgement of the tom. He tried not to sound too worried, but it was hard to hide anything from his tribe. With a sigh, the leader sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws. He knew that he couldn't avoid his usual questions. In mere heartbeats, his entire demeanor changed. His voice grew more serious with an eerie confidence to it. His stare grew narrower but still had a hint of concern to it. This was his leader mode."How are all of you doing? How is everything outside of the cave?" He asked. "Any good changes?"

Storm spared a glance at his two tribemates that came walking up, simply dipping his head in silence greeting of both of them but kept the bulk of his attention focused on Stoneteller. The caveguard had a sharp frown on his face as the healer attempted to form his words but giving a sad shake of his head at his questions. "I am afraid that I bear no good news," he sighed, a bit of anger seeping into his words - most of the anger directed at himself that he could not bring good, hopefully news to his tribe leader. "Caught-prey is still scarce and having lost most of our hunting force to ancestors knows what, there is still much trouble in attempting to catch whatever prey we do find. We are all weak from hunger and while the other cave-guards and I," he muttered, dipping his head to Bear as he was a fellow cave-guard. "Are doing our best to help hunt, we aren't trained it in, we are far from as useful as the prey-hunters are...As for how I am doing...I cannot say that I am doing good when our tribe suffers." There was an angry shake of his head before he turned his focus onto Bear and Fox, his gaze sharp. "Do either of you have any good news to share?"

Ash of the Burning Forest padded slowly through the caverns, having caught a hardly notable vole that looked more like a shrivelled leaf. He came across the large group of cats surrounding Stoneteller, which slightly startled him. Shouldn't they be doing their duties, especially in times like these? He then shrugged it off, thinking that he hardly did his duties himself. He pushed past Storm, dropping the scrap of prey in front of Stoneteller. "Yours." he grunted, taking a few pawsteps back.

He looked at Ash of the Burning Forest with serious eyes. At leat he got something for the Stoneteller, instead of him, that wasn't able to even saw an animal outside the cave. Fox tried every day to hunt something for the weakest of the clan but he normally caught one prey per day. That wasn't enough to feed all the tribe.
"I just came back from the outside of the cave and like Storm that Lights the Clouds said, prey is hard to find and the weather isn't the best for prey-hunters and cave-guards. Both of them had been doing their best but we cannot do too much. I'm afraid that that's all I have to say. There is no good news on this days." The prey-hunter sighed after this words, tired and angry about all this. He wished that all this misery would end soon for the good of his tribemates.

Stoneteller closed his eyes and looked down for a moment, trying to take it all in. For a moment, he was hoping that there would be some kind of good news. Maybe they found a nest of a creature somewhere and were able to take something from it or maybe they had been able to snatch something from a hawk in the distance, but there was nothing. Only when he heard another set of paw steps did the Healer look up, noting Ash's presence as the tom dropped a small piece of prey at his paws. Stoneteller glanced down at it, noting how scrawny and almost inedible it was and sighed uncertainly. "Thank you, Ash," he said, trying to sound a little happier than he felt but it failed. Sorrow drenched his voice. At this point, there was only one thing left that he could do, and he would keep doing it until he got some answers. "I feel that another Telling is in order. I will try again tonight when the moon shines brightly overhead. I pray we get some new answers soon."

Storm's gaze flickered over to Ash as the tom pushed past him, dropping prey at Stoneteller's paws. His stomach rumbled at the sight, even if it nothing compared to what they once had but he pushed the hunger down - he could survive without caught-prey for a little bit longer. His ears folded back as Fox could only agree on his words, giving his head an angry shake at their abilities to do nothing. But then Stoneteller spoke up, nodding his head at his words. "Praying for answers is all that we can do, isn't it?" he asked, his voice hollow as he stared at their leader. He shifted on his paws, a bit annoyed that what skills he had learned as a to-be and even as a cave-guard was useless. Everything was out of their paws...And into the paws of the Stoneteller and the Tribe of Endless Stars.