Forgive Me Starclan, For I Have Sinned [Open]

"What?"

Mottleheart had remained silent as the crowd of cats murmured what this had been about, happy to embrace his daughter's company but the moment Sageleaf had dared to claim that Ashstar was going to lead them to ruin...His fur stood on edge as he took a step forward, his ears slicked back as he stared up at the medicine cat. He...He couldn't believe that it was true. Ashstar had nothing to do with what had transpired with the Dark Forest - it had been all of the outsiders faults. That...Tribe. He had never trusted them and he had been right to do so. They didn't know the Warrior Code, they never could have understood what it had truly meant to be a warrior and he would be more than happy to see them all return to where they came. But Sageleaf's bold claim that Ashstar would be the downfall of WindClan? He couldn't believe it...He...Honestly couldn't. He had made a vow to himself after everything that had transpired that he was going to follow the Warrior Code to the bitter end. And that code told him that Ashstar's will was law.

He gaze snapped around to the other cats as he swished his tail, bearing his teeth. "T-That can't be true!" he finally snapped as he turned his gaze back up at Sageleaf, his eyes narrowing. "StarClan chose her as leader those moons ago! She has lead us through our darkest times!" His voice raised an octave, his claws digging into the ground. "I promised my loyalty to her, this Clan and the Warrior Code when I became a warrior! The code states that what she says is law and I will follow her to the end while she is still leader!" He turned his gaze to look at Ashstar, his expression falling as he wondered what she was going to say. Truth be told, after all that had transpired Mottleheart wasn't even sure where his faith in StarClan stood. They had done nothing when his daughter was taken and had given no answers or even lent any aid. The Clans had fended for themselves...He didn't care if what Sageleaf was saying was StarClan's honest truth. He had made his vow - his loyalty was to be to Ashstar until she was no longer leader. If she stood against this...Then so would he.

What? Starclan wanted the leader to step down as well? So Starclan was on their side. The brown and white warrior felt some relief at Sageleaf's words. They wouldn't have to directly confront the leader after all. It would make their job so much easier. She looked over to Slatethroat, hopefully this was good news for him too. Green eyes turned to look at her father after he spoke up.. Her heart sank like a stone in the river. Her eyes losing a bit of glow. So she was going to be going against him? She didn't want to but this is where they didn't agree.

"But starclan changed their minds father.." She said softly. "The code was made by starclan.. and if they think Ashstar is not fit then the code doesn't apply in that matter anymore.." At least that is what she thought. It was either Ashstar or Sageleaf, and she was picking Sageleaf. The medicine cats always had a better connection to Starclan anyway.. If starclan wanted Ashstar gone, then who was she to question them?

If Laurelsong was expecting anything, it definitely wasn't that!  Taken aback, for a moment the young she-cat looked extremely stunned, her vivid eyes wide and rounded like tiny full moons.  What?  StarClan agrees with us?  I mean, of course they should take our side!  Weakness has festered in the clan for long enough...but...  Gazing around at the equally stunned - yet unknowing - crowd, the young warrior's sights rested on Slatethroat for a moment with a quizzical blink, before shifting to Ashstar.  It still hurt to know that the she-cat she had looked up to for her whole life was now an enemy to the clan, but the truth spoke loud and clear.  It was time for her to step aside.

Despite the many spoken outbursts, Laurelsong didn't raise her voice above it's normal speaking tone.  With a firm nod of agreement - disguised as reluctant acceptance - she meowed; "If StarClan says so, than it must be true."  On the inside though, she scoffed.  Pfft, StarClan didn't even bother to bring this up before we gathered together, we probably gave them the courage to even think about it!  If most StarClan cats are like that idiot tom that visited me, I wouldn't be surprised.  Her sleek tail curled attentively around her front paws, she fell silence to watch and see how her clan would react.

Mottleheart froze as he heard a voice behind him, turning to stare at his daughter with wide eyes. She...She was taking Sageleaf's side? His ears slicked back as a conflicted expression flashed across his face. "I..." he started, desperation sinking into his voice. Sh-She couldn't be seriously! He gave an angry shake of his head at her words. "No, I don't believe that at all! StarClan...Ashstar wouldn't lead WindClan to ruin! She has sacrificed so much to protect us! And StarClan...Starclan did nothing when you were taken by the Mist while Ashstar did everything in her power to help try to find out! I made my vow to stand at Ashstar's side in the face of anything after all that has transpired....And if you are against her..." His whole expression dropped, raw grief at the next few words clear on his face and in the shaking of his voice. His tail was limp, a pleading expression that Raccoonfang would take his side yet a faint determination flicking in his eyes with the knowledge that he wasn't backing down unless Ashstar herself did. "Then I stand against you."

Wildheart's mouth fell open, causing Lightningkit to drop to the ground with a squeak. He knew something was coming, but this? It made a definite impact, that's for sure. It made it almost impossible for Ashstar to refute without causing some major shaking of the trust of the clan. Only StarClan held absolute power over leaders, and without a foolproof way for non-Medicine Cats or Leaders to prove Sageleaf's omen, there wasn't much of a backing for anything Ashstar might try to argue. But there are going to be many that still stick to Ashstar's side.

"Why is your mouth hanging open like that?" asked the gray fluffball, interupting the young warrior's thoughts. Wildheart closed it and licked the top of Lightningkit's head. "Don't you worry about it, you'll understand when you're older." Lightningkit had been listening to Sageleaf, however, and wasn't sure what to think. There was so much he didn't understand due to the fact of how young he was. It frustrated the gray kitten to no end. Wildheart could sense the frustration coming from his son and continued to groom him to try and calm him down.

Hollowpaw almost choked on his hare. Quickly he swallowed, and blinked slowly, his eyes sliding to Raccoonfang and Mottleheart. He said nothing. Silently, he vowed his allegiance to Ashstar but... StarClan was important too...

Her heart sunk after her fathers new words.. So.. he was choosing Ashstar over her? His own daughter? Fine.. That was just fine. She was choosing Starclan and the good of the clan over him.. "Of course Starclan couldn't do anything! We were trapped by the Dark Forest in a Dark Forest like area!" She growled towards her father, her despair at his words turning into some resentment. "You know who else did nothing? Ashstar. If she tried so hard then she should have tried harder in the fight instead of letting herself get captured!" She didn't really know what else to say, but she was trying to find blows at this point.

"But if you want to pick her over me, then fine. Just fine. I see who is more important to you then." Raccoonfang growled. The brown and white she-cat turned her back on her father before running off and sitting next to Slatethroat, her eyes narrowed towards the ground as she sat in her own anger.

Swiftstep was speechless. His heart raced and his paws felt numb as he shuffled them around nervously. Was this all true? The medicine cat could not lie about something like this. Did Starclan really see Ashstar as not worthy? Was she really going to bring Windclan's downfall? He swallowed when he felt his throat dry up. He looked down solemly, choosing not to voice his opinions. The tom let out a stressed sigh as he heard Racoonfang and Mottleheart argue on who'd they join with. Who did he go with? Sageleaf, the trusted medicine cat that had a bond with the warriors in the sky, or Ashstar, the Windclan leader that in his eyes, was someone he respected and will always look up to. He closed his eyes in deep thought.

Nightheart was resting in camp after returning from a hunting patrol when Sageleaf had given the call. It surprised her that the omen was going to be announced publicly instead of discussed in private with Ashstar and Brindlewhisker. However, she was none to contradict the will of a medicine cat and even less the ancestors that lived within the stars, so she did her best to shake off the feeling and joined the gathering crows of cats that was looking at the grey Medicine Cat with mixed emotions.

She sat, she waited, she listened…and then something inside her felt like it had been ripped in half.

The omen itself was bad, but asking Ashstar to step down? “Are you sure that StarClan wants her to step down, Sageleaf? Were those their direct words or what you thought was the meaning of the omen?” Her words were a bit shaky, but also loud enough for the whole clan to hear. She had no intention to contradict her clanmate nor StarClan, but she wanted to be completely sure before she was forced to deal with the internal doubts she was having “Ashstar has been a good leader. She may had made mistakes on her past, but haven’t we all? Nobody is perfect, regardless of rank or age. If you misinterpret the omen you could be bringing the destruction that you foresaw on it. Please, tell us, are you completely sure of this?”.

Brindlewhisker let out a short little purr as she witnessed Mistkit scamper over and awkwardly splayed her still rather sore legs a bit more to make the appropriate amount of space for her daughter to sit with her. Feeling her daughter's small form curled up beneath her chest and belly helped soothe over any sort of foul nerves that were welling up inside her, but the moment Sageleaf spoke once more the momentary calm quickly faded. The scarred she-cat's face twisted in momentary confusion as she listened to the tale end of the prophecy- something about this wasn't right. At Mistkit's voice, she found herself leaning down to gently nuzzle her fluffy little she-kit. "Having more than one life is rather silly, but of course they gave her Ashstar all of her lives," Brindlewhisker gently reaffirmed, "She's the rightful leader of Windclan and she needs each of those lives to serve our Clan." Although she refrained from addressing the seemingly aghast issue of forcibly removing Ashstar from her position.

Lifting her head cautiously, Brindlewhisker began to watch as arguments erupted between her Clanmates, intently watching Mottleheart and Raccoonfang. Her heart twisted tightly as she watched the daughter of her closest friend seemingly turn her back against Ashstar, but she found herself unable to contribute to their private discussion. Even if she did feel the need to step in and get involved between the father, she would have no idea what to say simply due to the fact that...none of this simply sat right with her- none of it had since Sageleaf had first spoken to her. "Nobody can doubt Ashstar's bravery or unwavering service to our Clan- she's been leading us since well before many of you were born," Brindlewhisker finally calmly pointed out, her gaze pointedly falling onto Raccoonfang and Laurelsong as she spoke, "And we're still standing, stronger than ever in fact." Her gaze briefly waned between the expressions of Swiftstep and Hollowpaw, dutifully taking notes of the conflicted expressions that both young toms wore. Who could blame them? It was beyond cruel to ask a cat to chose between their loyalty to their leader and their loyalty to their ancestors. Forcing herself to rise to her paws despite the way her body still ached in protest, the Deputy strode forwards a few steps so that she was standing much closer to Sageleaf. Nodding in agreement with Nightheart, Brindlewhisker found herself grateful for the dark-furred she-cat's gentle support.

"I don't doubt the integrity of your word Sageleaf, I never would." Brindlewhisker mewed softly to her kin, "But if Starclan truly had such an issue with Ashstar's reign, don't you think they would of spoken to her directly about it? As far as I know, they've felt no such need to do so." She continued, looking to Ashstar for confirmation.

Mistkit stumbled after her mother, struggling to stay with her mother and making her life difficult, her eyes wide as she listened comfortingly to the rumble of her mother voice. Shutting her eyes softly she leaned against her mother's leg, giving her a purr. Mistkit felt like she should be picking a side, but if she did what would happen? She'd probably side with her mum. "Mum? Do I have to pick a side?" She weakly meowed, the pressure suddenly immense and scaring the little fluff ball.

Nectarleap's jaw dropped when he heard the news. Ash star had to step down from her position as leader? No, maybe Sageleaf was interpreting it wrong. But as the cats starting arguing, he felt himself growing less confident. Laurel song seemed to agree, and he trusted her more than any other cat. And he trusted Raccoonfang, and she seemed to have good reasoning on the medicine cat's side. His eyes worried and his confidence gone, he spoke up.
"If Sageleaf says so, she is probably right. And I trust both Raccoonfang and Laurelsong, so I'll have to side with them. I'm sorry, Ashstar."

Fawnpaw shifted quietly. She knew she didn't have much say in this but she really wished to give some sort of reason. Fawnpaw stayed quietly by her father's side, refusing to look anyone in the eye. "D-Dad...why is Starclan saying this about Ashstar? S-She hasn't done anything wrong a-and I don't understand what so many have against her." the she-cat mewed quietly.

Ashstar listened with her heart sinking as Sageleaf described the moors flowing with blood. More trouble for WindClan? Hadn't they been through enough lately? But it only got worse from there. The young medicine cat's voice grew accusatory, yet also uncertain, saying that she was the cause of pain coming to the Clan she loved so much. A sickening feeling attacked her as the shock and disbelief showed in her green eyes. What?! That couldn't be right! She would never..... What was this? Why would StarClan do this? "Ashstar, StarClan wants you to step down."

The leader took an involuntary step back as all eyes suddenly turned to her. Step... step down? For what? Her mins reeled in shock, trying to process the information. The barely named medicine cat must have misinterpreted her vision. Something was wrong here. There was no way that she would ever do anything to hurt WindClan! Had she not spent this last year suing for peace in the forest? Had she not fought as valiantly as any cat against the Dark Forest? No, she had done everything for her Clan. Everything a leader could do. She had replaced Smokepelt according to StarClan's wishes, and the last time she had spoken to them they had showed no signs of disapproval- to the contrary, they had appreciated her efforts to keep her Clanmates from harm. Why, then, would they send a message such as this- and not to her directly, but to the brand new, untried medicine cat?

The answer was simple. They wouldn't. All her logic, her love for her Clan and the wrong, twisting feeling in her gut agreed- this "vision" couldn't be true.

All her deducing and thinking done in a second, the unrealistically slow moment faded and she was back into real time. The gray-furred she-cat listened to Clanmates both defend and accuse her, her heart almost breaking at the rifts it immediately started to form. The last thing WindClan needed was more fighting among themselves- she had just made amends with her son, Falconstone was long gone, RiverClan was no longer actively seeking to destroy them, the Mist was vanquished- by all rights, now should have been a time of peace. But it seemed that once again, Ashstar would have to take a stand. There would be no more fighting.

"Stop." Ashstar's sharp voice effectively cut through the clamor, voice full of the commanding tone that she only used at Gatherings and calling her Clan to meetings. It demanded attention. And to be sure, attention was what she had. "I understand that you are all confused. This omen of Sageleaf's, if it was true, would mean even further division among this Clan- and I am sure that is not what any of us want." Her green eyes swept across the crowd, noting faces that held anger, or hope, or disbelief. She was glad for the support of Brindlewhisker, Nightheart and Mottleheart- at the expense of his own daughter's trust, to say the least. It was nice to know that she had Clanmates who would trust her this much in the sea of disapproval and disarray. "I would ask you all to remember that Sageleaf is a very young medicine cat who has only now gotten her medicine cat name. It is a very prevalent possibility that she has misinterpreted this vision, or even that it was just a nightmare. And I agree with my deputy in that believe that if StarClan truly wanted me to step down, they would tell me so. They have definitely never sent an omen like this before in the history of the forest. I have certainly done my best to protect each and every one of you, and you know that I have been trying to keep peace in the forest for a long time now. I don't see any reason that StarClan would have to send this sign, much less through a surrogate than to me personally."

The she-cat took a deep breath. The words she needed to say popped into her head, and as she spoke them, she hoped that the risk she was taking would pay off. "Just in case- just in case there is some truth to this vision- whether StarClan is unsatisfied with me or there is trouble coming to the Clans- I will be going to the Moonstone tomorrow. I will speak with our warrior ancestors myself. If they truly want me to step down, as Sageleaf says, then I will willingly surrender my lives to them. However, if I am right and this is all a misunderstanding, then I will do whatever I can to fix the problems that may be lurking right outside WindClan's borders- or inside them." Every time someone had opposed her leadership inside WindClan, the problem had died eventually. Hopefully, it would be the same with this fiasco- and hopefully, she could prove it to her Clanmates and regain their ill-lost trust once more. She didn't know that anyone still remained in the Clan who would truly want her out of the leadership position without this "sign" from StarClan... but if there was someone, the question was who? "Until then, I ask that you continue to treat me as leader and obey the warrior code. It has kept us safe thus far, and I believe it will continue to do so. If my predictions are correct, I doubt we are in any immediate danger. Tomorrow, we will put this to rights, once and for all."

"I am only passing along what they have shared with me Ashstar... in fact, I wrestled with sharing it for so long myself. Until, they also sent me a dream last night with Brindlewhisker standing in your place. I'm not sure why they chose to share this all with me, and I understand your doubts... all I am here to do is pass on what Starclan has shown me." Her voice grew quieter the more she spoke. As long as her brother was watching, she could not say anything else. Sageleaf had to do all she could to convince them, or there was no doubt he would act and end up doing something rash. What worried her, but not as much, was the grey leader's desire to head to highstones. Having already spent a lot of time learning the ways of Starclan, Sageleaf was certain they would not be direct with her. More than likely, they would also show her the images they had given her at her medicine cat ceremony.

Her green eyes turned to the earth. This mess was more than she could handle. The swarm of emotions began to run rampantly through her head again. Part of her was surprised that the leader would immediately discredit her word as medicine cat and the apparent word of Starclan. She had expected something else, it certainly seemed a bit out of character. But, part of her was glad that Slatethroat was not allowed to immediately win. His efforts to use her might have been in vein. But, it had stirred some emotion. She swallowed and said lowly to Ashstar, hoping Slatethroat would not question it, "I trust that they will clear things up. I only thought the clan deserved to know what I was told." Although, her own doubts began to swarm. Did Ashstar value her position more than the safety of her clan if she was so quick to dismiss it all? No. She would not allow herself to think like her brother.

Slatethroat was pleased with himself, and briefly with his sister as confusion broke out in the camp. But, that died away when Ashstar spoke. He wanted to tear into her throat. How dare the stupid she-cat stand before her clan and claim she had done everything for them? It had always been for her and her claim over the position. Her decision to let the clan fall to Riverclan, to allow the tribe to step into the forest and harm their clan, everything had been irrational. Everything had been in her own head. Windclan had suffered enough. The warrior had not been through the worst of it all, but he had seen enough and was convicted of it. She needed to be gone. His claws dug into the earth, yet his expression remained neutral and gave away nothing. The hiss that had threatened to explode from his throat was held in.

As he stepped forwards, the warrior kept a neutral tone. Instead of springing in impulsively, Slatethroat sounded mild-mannered and rather pensive, "I am no cat to challenge the word of Starclan, nor my own medicine cat. Who can we trust if not the cat that speaks to the stars? I agree that you should go speak to the ancestors, and willing they will provide further guidance to this whole wreck. I'm simply not sure why they would send Sageleaf such a message for no reason though... but again, the ways of Starclan are a mystery to me. What do you think this could mean Ashstar?" To any cat, he appeared as just another concerned warrior. Being a respected warrior of the clan, there was no reason for any cat to think other than he was just another one of the spectators. His head cocked in a slight question as he looked over the pair of cats in the center of the clearing. There was nothing he could do outright to stop her. All he could hope for was the support of clanmates and an ambiguous answer from their ancestors and maybe spending sometime discussing it with the group. Until then, he would play the part of dutiful warrior.