The Experience of Ages… [Closed]

Blizzardstar took a deep breath as she walked out from her den. She had just woke from her dream with Flameclaw and she was still fairly agitated. Her head was nothing but a swirling mess of thoughts and emotions that she couldn’t put to rest regardless of how hard she tried, to the point of making her feel quite dizzy. She knew what she was supposed to do, and she was determined to carry on with the promise that she had done to her ancestors, but she was inexperienced in both war and diplomatic talking as a leader, or at least she felt that way. She knew better than to make public her dream right away or go to start the negotiations with Fishstar, though. Doing so would only cause even more chaos for her clan, confusion, or even start a war without proper precautions nor preparing her clanmates for what could be coming.

She needed advice, and she knew the cat she wanted to talk to first.

She was the one that held the position of leader even bore she was born, the one she had considered a friend for many moons, and even if she was no longer her superior she still respected as such because of her wisdom and experience. She knew it was early, as the first rays of sun were barely showing on the horizon, but she needed to talk with her, in private.

She looked inside the warrior’s den, not surprised to see most of them still asleep, and started to look for Darkflight between the shadows, which was proving to be harder than she anticipated thanks to the dark pelt she had and was the reason behind her prefix “Darkflight? Darkflight, are you in here?” Her voice was low, almost a whisper, hoping she wouldn’t wake another warrior by accident.

It was one of those moments between total sleep and total wakefulness, something that happened a thousand times during the night only to be forgotten in the morning. Darkflight was in one of those odd states, partially awake but her dandelion eyes had not yet opened. However, in such a state it was easy to be shoved one way or the other, and Blizzardstar's call brought the warrior into full consciousness. Eyes still bleary with sleep, she looked up from her nest near the center of the den and stretched, pressing her back paw against the back of a warrior who she knew was a deep sleeper. A yawn escaped her maw before she rose. "Good morning Blizzardstar,"

She picked her way through her fellow warriors' sleeping forms until she reached the bright-pelted leader. "Is there something you need from me?" The older she-cat ran a paw over her ears and face, dislodging a wisp of dry moss. What did she need?

Blizzardstar smiled as Darkflight approached “Good morning, Darkflight” She purred, her voice low to not wake any other warriors, but even if she was trying to mask it the worry was evident in her voice. She never had been exactly good to hide her true emotions from others, especially if they knew her as well as Darkflight did “I need to have a chat with you…but not here. Would you mind coming to my den?” The white leader hoped that her clanmate didn’t think that she was in trouble nor that she had done something wrong with how cryptic her words were, but even if she did it was way better than talking about such a delicate matter in the middle of the warrior’s den or in camp.

She silently padded outside the den, careful to not step on any of her clanmates, and then quickly went back inside her den. She would need to be careful how she said things to not give out wrong messages, as well to leave very clear to former leader that this was supposed to be kept in secret until further notice to avoid having a panicking or overly aggressive clan on their paws. The knowledge of a future potential war could affect cats in many ways, and she didn’t want her clanmates to worry over something that hadn’t been decided just yet.

'If she needs to speak to me alone, then this must be serious.' Darkflight shook out her thick fur. "Mm. I don't mind at all." She followed the white she-cat into her own former den. It was always a bit strange to stand in here again, but as a visitor once more, not the tenant. The first night she had spent with her lives had been outside of ThunderClan territory, as RiverClan and SkyClan had laid claim to their lands. Spottedstar, the leader who came before her, had died of her wounds from the fateful battle. It wasn't until the final defeat of the Dark Forest that she was able to set paw in the hollowed stone.

For a moment she wondered what would have happened to ThunderClan if she had refused to keep Blizzardstar's mother in the Clan all those moons ago. How different would the future have been? A soft breeze woke her from her brief drift and she focused on what her leader needed to say. No time for distractions.

Blizzardstar sat inside her den with her long fluffy tail curled around her paws, trying to put her thoughts in order as Darkflight entered. Anyone that knew the white leader knew perfectly well that she wasn’t exactly a leader with desires if fame and glory earned through the means of war, and this was the main reason she was trying so hard to find alternatives to the promise she had made to those that now watched over them from the stars after their request, not willing to jump straight into war against another clan.

She lowered her ears before letting out a long sigh, her calm expression soon turning into one of worry and anxiety “I received a dream from StarClan, Darkflight…they want me to take back Sunningrocks from RiverClan” She decided to go straight to the point without sugarcoating the message “I had been considering some options given the scarce amount prey we had been dealing with thanks to the fire, which I guess will be even worse once Leafbare arrives…Sunningrocks seems like a great option given that it was left undamaged, but throwing the clan into war?” Her voice threatened to become a mere whisper at the end as her voice cracked. The idea of war was more than enough to make her feel insecure. Her pleading eyes landed on Darkflight’s “I won’t lie to you, Darkflight…I’m scared and if there is any chance I may have to take Sunningrocks back without spilling blood I want to take it. You had been leader longer than I, maybe you have some advice for me?”.

Darkflight's eyes became shadowed for a moment, the gaze of a leader briefly returning to the older she-cat. The last time ThunderClan had held Sunningrocks was many moons ago, before her own leadership, in fact. Her clan had never needed the warm stretch of stones along the river's bank, as there was always enough prey to be caught elsewhere. That was not the case anymore. Her dandelion eyes narrowed and her face contorted into a snarl that did not fit her face nor her usual demeanor. She looked more like her parents than ever. "RiverClan is greedy. When we had no other place to go, Fishstar would only allow ThunderClan to stay at Sunningrocks for a single moon." Her tail lashed at the memory, but she soon calmed herself. "RiverClan is prideful as well. They will never forget any perceived slight against them. If StarClan truly does want us to retake Sunningrocks, then we must plan carefully."

'"We"? I am not ThunderClan's leader anymore, this is not my decision to make.' She shook her head.

"I thought I could finally put an end to the hostilities between our clans but it seems as if it was never meant to be. If we must hunt, it cannot be outside our borders." Darkflight hesitated for a moment. "We must take Sunningrocks if we are to survive the coming cold season. Otherwise, we must search elsewhere for the prey we need."

Blizzardstar sighed and nodded at Darkflight’s words. RiverClan’s pride would never be questioned, and while she hated to think negatively about any of the clans that surrounded them, the former leader’s words held a lot of truth regarding their greediness. Both factors that would make the negotiations she hoped to hold way harder “Do you…do you think they will be willing to negotiate? I understand your point, but we both know how dangerous it is for cats to be injured in Leafbare, especially one as bad as the one we are going to face…if I can I want this to be settled without the need of unnecessary bloodshed” Blizzardstar’s words were shaky, insecure, as if something inside her wasn’t completely convinced that the RiverClan cats would be willing to solve this through words only even if she offered something that would benefit them both.

And in all honesty, even if they managed to come to an agreement, she kinda expected it to come to an end soon. Whatever they could come up with would probably not be exactly well received by the clans and tensions would arise.

A soft sigh escaped the warrior. "I doubt it will make much of a difference, Blizzardstar, but you may try." Would those RiverClan cats let her Clanmates starve while they gorged themselves on fish? Perhaps. She wouldn't put it past them. They had thrown ThunderClan out of their own territory once before, and Darkflight saw no reason as to why they wouldn't do it again. In her advancing age, she could see why her parents despised the fish-faces so much. Their stench was surely a warning to other cats to let them know how awful they could be.

"Better to have ask for peace beforehand, and beat them if need be." She was tired again, but too riled up to go back to her nest. She would need to hunt later to blow off steam.