Nothing to Lose [[Open- IMPORTANT for WindClan]]

Ashstar leapt on top of the Tallrock, taking a deep breath. I can do this. I'm just informing my Clan of a betrayal and a death. And StarClan's will. Nothing... nothing serious. The leader's voice almost cracked as she yelled out the traditional summons, resisting the urge to rest on Mottleheart's shoulder. Of course, both he and Brindlewhisker stood up there with her. There was no way that she could go through with this without their support. "Let- let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!" Hopefully, nothing would go wrong. Because so much already had....

Having heard his mother's call, Smokepelt emerged from the medicine cat den in which he'd been resting in and made his way towards the Tallrock, where Brindlewhisker and Mottleheart stood beside the leader. 'What does she need to tell the clan that's so important?' the grey and white tom wondered, trying to keep his mind off the fact that he wasn't the one standing beside his mother anymore.

It took all of Mottleheart's willpower not to shift back and forth on his paws as he stared down from Highrock. This wasn't his first time up here - he had taken over doing a ceremony or two for Ashstar and Brindlewhisker when they had both gotten sick but...This was something new. He was going to become their medicine cat. How would they react? So much had transpired in such a short amount of time but maybe if he had become a medicine cat sooner...He felt a lump in his throat as he thought about his daughter.

His last remaining family...Gone. He hadn't been there when Raccoonfang had died...Maybe with the knowledge that Gorsefeather had given him he could have saved her but...Ah, there was only hopes and dreams of what could have happened. He let out a shutter as he gave his pelt a shake, glancing at Ashstar and Brindlewhisker for a quick second before he turned his gaze back onto the clearing beneath them. StarClan had said that this was his destiny...But would the cats of WindClan believe them after such a fresh betrayal from Sageleaf...Even if it had been StarClan's will for her to leave as well.

Nightheart looked up at the Tallrock and tilted her head at the sight of Ashstar being accompanied by both Brindlewhisker and Mottleheart. Her cracking voice was enough to make her worry about what this announcement could be about, but seeing more than one cat on top of the Tallrock? She had to shake off the nervousness that caused her to feel shivers running all along her spine and raise her fur before joining the rest of her clan.

What could be so serious? She found herself almost immediately praying this wasn’t yet another war. After Sageleaf’s disappearance the clan had been attacked left and right with illnesses that could’ve been easily prevented….dear StarClan, Racoonfang had died through what probably could’ve been an illness that would’ve been easy to get rid of if they only had a Medicine Cat in camp! Having Mottleheart and Featherpaw taking up the role of Sageleaf had been helping out a lot lately, but she wasn’t sure if they would be able to handle a whole injured clan after a war.

Echokit looked out the nursery and walked out of it, sitting down on a little stone he looked at his leader

Featherpaw followed Smokepelt from the medicine cat den, joining her Clanmates to hear what their leader had to say.

Atop the TallRock beside Ashstar, Brindlewhisker’s stood as still as stone beside the Leader and Medicine Cat, with eyes as hard as flint. The only subtle sign of movement being exhibited was how the breeze occasionally ruffled her fur. Deep within her gut there was a roiling maelstrom of anger and despair, but she dared not outwardly display her feelings.

Thankfully, her Clanmates seemed to sense Ashstar’s urgency as they quickly began to flock towards the TallRock with little delay. Gazing down at her Clanmates, Brindlewhisker was quick to pick out the familiar pelts of her kits as she solemnly waited for Ashstar to delivered the news.

Laurelsong emerged from the warriors den and, after giving her pale pelt a few hasty licks, found a spot in the crowd and sat down with a slight huff.  This meeting call had woken her from a nice dream...it better be worth it.  Gazing up at Ashstar curiously, she wondered what this was even about.  From her kin's serious expression and stuttering voice, it had to be fairly serious.  Wrapping her sleek tail around her front paws, Laurelsong waited.

Looking down at her Clanmates' familiar faces, set with confusion and dread, made the leader almost reconsider announcing the bad news. However, not telling them about what had happened would be far worse than just telling them now. And besides, every misfortune came with a bright side- and Mottleheart was hers. Hopefully, this wouldn't turn out too badly. Shaking out her long gray fur, Ashstar steeled her nerves and began to speak. "Clanmates, friends, everyone- I have a few announcements to make. There's some bad news, and some good news... The bad news comes first." The she-cat tried not to look at Smokepelt, not knowing how he would react to the news of his kits. "As most of you know, Sageleaf and Slatethroat have been missing for some time now, with disastrous consequences. Due to our lack of a full medicine cat, we lost Raccoonfang to sickness, and Featherpaw has not received much training. None of us knew what happened to the two siblings- until yesterday. Blizzardstar came onto WindClan territory to talk to me, bearing news of our former medicine cat and my former apprentice. I will tell you what she said, and what I have discovered."

Ashstar tried hard not to let any bitterness seep into her voice, but it was difficult. After all, it was bitter news she bore. "Many of you remember the incident a moon ago, when Sageleaf called you all to a meeting and informed you of a supposed vision from StarClan, telling her that I needed to step down. That 'vision' was a fake. She had received a different dream from StarClan, one that warned of her brother instead of me, but she twisted it to her own purposes. After their attempt to remove me failed, Slatethroat and Sageleaf went out to the Gorge, where they argued and... my former apprentice was killed. Murdered, by his own sister's paws." Here, the leader had to pause, still shaken by what had happened. Her voice had the faintest hint of a snarl as she continued telling the traitor's tale. "She has claimed that she acted out of self-defense, but I find it hard to believe. After his death, Sageleaf ran away to ThunderClan, where she claimed another 'sign' from StarClan had commanded her to go. Taken in by her story, Blizzardstar accepted her as a medicine cat and mentor to Honeypaw. She has been there for the past moon, safe while we were without healing, causing Raccoonfang's death."

The next part might not make her the most popular leader, but it had to be said. "I have promised Blizzardstar that we will not retaliate against her Clan for this injustice. We will not be like RiverClan. It was an honest mistake, and ThunderClan can no more rescind their vow of amnesty towards Sageleaf than we would to any cat we accepted. However, I believe that the traitor will not be permitted to abuse her StarClan-given powers for much longer. Our ancestors will not stand for these false visions and signs. Either way, whether or not she dies, she is dead to WindClan and no longer one of us. If she is found on our territory, she will be treated as the rogue she is." Ashstar had to take a pause so that her Clanmates could absorb the information before she told them about Mottleheart. The betrayal had been hard for her to swallow- it only stood to reason that it would be hard for them as well.

The news of Sageleaf's betrayal hit the WindClan medicine cat apprentice like a brick. Sageleaf had disappeared, leaving her untrained apprentice to struggle to heal the Clan. Though Featherpaw tried to be patient and understanding, she couldn't help feeling bitter - feeling betrayed. Sageleaf had run off to ThunderClan without a word, and cats in WindClan had died due to her betrayal. Not only that, she had ended the life of one of her Clanmates - her own brother? That was where Featherpaw's mind faltered. Sageleaf hadn't seemed cruel in the time she had known her former mentor. Perhaps she truly had killed in self-defense? But she had still delivered a false sign from StarClan, and had fled rather than face the consequences of her actions. Despite that, Featherpaw knew she had no reason to doubt her leader's words for the moment, and listened attentively in case Ashstar had more to say.

Brindlewhisker remained still as Ashstar spoke, the only sign that she actually heard the Leader speak was the agitated lashing of her tail. A part of her disagreed with the notion of not taking action of ThunderClan for harboring Sageleaf, but a larger portion of her knew it would be terribly cruel to punish the forest-dwelling Clan for the actions of the disgraced Medicine Cat. Swallowing tightly, the Deputy cast her gaze down to her Clanmates as she watched them process the new information, her own heart feeling heavy as she caught wind of several dismayed expressions.

The look upon her sweet Featherpaw's face in particular felt like a hawk was tearing Brindlewhisker's heart from her chest. How was it fair that her kit was forced to suffer under the burden that Sageleaf fled from? She left an untrained, newly-appointed apprentice to look after an entire Clan for StarClan's sake! How could she be related to...to such a rat? A murderous rat at that! Gritting her teeth, Brindlewhisker silently vowed that she would let the entire forest burn before she ever caught sight of Featherpaw in such distress like this. Letting out a short sigh and straightening her shoulders once more, the Deputy found herself resigned to simply waiting for Ashstar to speak once more.

During the calling of the Clan, Fernpaw bounced around excitedly, eager to know what the Clan leader wanted to tell her Clanmates. She had completely missed -- or perhaps ignored -- the confusion and solemnity Ashstar's tone of voice had created for the cats... but at the mention that one of their very own Clanmates -- a medicine cat at that -- murdered a cat and betrayed the Clan she fell completely silent. She had never known Sageleaf, as she was born after she left to become ThunderClan's medicine cat, but she knew very well many other cats in WindClan did. She had enough common sense about her to know that ignoring the sadness, anger, and bemusement that rippled throughout the Clan by bouncing around like a senseless kit was harshly disrespectful, and she had no plans on being chewed out by Quailfeather, Ashstar herself, or any other cat.

Stormkit was awoken from his sleep by the call. He grumpily got to his paws, stretching and yawning. Stormkit stuck his head out of the nursery at the call, softly padding down to stand near the back of he crowd gathered at the base of he Tallrock. He listened carefully, his ears pricked for he information. Although he never knew his medicine cat, Stormkit couldn't help but feel personally betrayed. To murder a cat, betray a clan...surely this was why the cats looked so solemn. Stormkit decided he didn't want to hear the rest. His ears moved down and he swiftly ran into he nursery, lying on the soft moss, with no intention of going back to hear more bad news.

The looks on her Clanmates' faces, reflecting the same feelings that boiled in her heart, almost made Ashstar stop. But the worst was over- now it was time for the bright side to the whole betrayal. "I said I had good news as well, and I do. StarClan has seen our troubles and found a solution. They have blessed us with a new medicine cat." As she turned to the mottled tom sitting by her side, her gaze grew warmer, and there was pride in her voice. "StarClan has chosen Mottleheart to be mentor to Featherpaw. Gorsefeather, a former medicine cat of WindClan, came to him in a vision and blessed him with his own accumulated wisdom and knowledge of herbs and healing. We will still have a full-fledged medicine cat, one appointed by our ancestors themselves. It may take some getting used to, but I am convinced that this will turn out for our good. We lost a traitorous healer and gained a loyal one- and in the end, that is all that matters. If any of you are sick, or need treatment for scratches and the like, you may go to him and Featherpaw. StarClan has truly blessed us today." Finished speaking, Ashstar touched her nose to Mottleheart's before jumping down from the Tallrock.

Quailfeather was still taking in all the information, dealing with the shock and anger and hurt that the betrayal was causing her, but she smiled at the news of her friend becoming the new medicine cat. Chosen by StarClan themselves... there was no one else she would trust to fill her traitorous younger sister's shoes. "Mottleheart! Mottleheart!" she cheered, yowling his name like they did at any other ceremony. This was his ceremony, in a way.

Now there was reason to celebrate! Fernpaw joined in with her mentor in cheering the name of the new medicine cat, her yowls filled with the joy she felt for him. Of course she never knew him personally either, but they were still Clanmates, and she would be sure to give her full support to any and all WindClan cats. "Mottleheart! Mottleheart!"