Chilly Negotiations [Closed]

Blizzardstar walked through the snow towards the usually damp territories of RiverClan, walking the same route she had taken several moons ago as a deputy to warn the clan about Rockthorn until she reached the shore of the river separanting the two clans.

The ThunderClan leader would be lying if she said she wasn’t beyond nervous when she carefully placed a paw on the ice that had formed over the waters of the previously roaring river, hearing some small cracks with worry. She was a forest cat, not used to swim…even then, with how cold these waters appeared to be she doubted RiverClan themselves were eager to swim in them. She made a quick signal with her tail to the small patrol that had decided to come with her, she wanted to talk with Ivystar alone, in private if possible. If the proud leader saw any kind of threat coming from them, any chance to solve this conflict without unsheathing their claws, however small it could be, would be crushed.

For the first time in the whole chilly season, she found herself thanking her unusually light weight thanks to the lack of prey in her clan’s territory, fearing that if she had been in her usual good shape the ice under her paws would’ve given in under her weight.

Once her paws left the ice and landed on the firm ground on the other side she let out a long sigh and sat with her long fluffy tail curled around her front paws, hoping that someone would see her and take her to Ivystar to avoid invading too far into their territory…if the leader herself didn't show up first.

At the scent of a patrol wandering over their lines led by Blizzardstar, Minnowpaw was quick to dash back to camp with the news. She was all jittery with part nerves and excitement, though she knew that battles were not things to be overjoyed by, the apprentice couldn't help but feel a thrill at the idea of being in a battle like her warrior clanmates. Bristled up like a brush, she sped into the Leader's den to inform Ivystar of the news...

Forgiveness, that was what Frostfall had given the RiverClan leader yet when she'd heard of a ThunderClan patrol on their lands, there was a moment where she felt a storm of fury rip through her. Blood electrified in her veins, energising her, unleashing a monster that had poor Minnowpaw cower at her leader's killing intent. The fear from the apprentice had her exhale, let out the anger and think rationally. No attacker would have been so foolish to linger at the edge of camp, perhaps it was something more harmless. They lacked herbs or they needed to consult Cloudstone as he was currently the most experienced Medicine cat in the territories. There had been no omens of war lately, there was still hope that this wasn't another battle.

Dismissing the apprentice, she called over a few senior warriors to follow. She took the long way around, ordering a couple of warriors to shatter the ice nearest to camp just in case. She didn't trust them, she might have forgiven them for her family's downturn, but trust was something that had to be earned.

Though her fur was wet, and the biting cold left them stiff with ice, she ignored it as she approached the ThunderClan leader. Her tail was high in a polite greeting, a sign of neutrality. "Blizzardstar, I trust you have a good reason for crossing so deeply into our territory?"

Blizzardstar’s ears raised as Ivystar approached her, a mix of feelings taking over her as her voice reached the while leader’s ears. Part of her was grateful that no warrior nor patrol had found her, not only because that saved her from unnecessary confrontation, but also gave her a chance to discuss this with her without curious ears around if the RiverClan leader decided to not take her to camp. However, at the same time she couldn’t help but feel intimidated with the idea of having to try and negotiate with her of all cats.

Her pride and eagerness to battle were just as well known to her as the dislike she had towards ThunderClan, as well as most clans in general. While she had no idea what had sparkled such dislike in the first place, she did know of how unlikely it was for these negotiations to work because of it…but she wasn’t willing to give up just yet. If there was any chance, regardless of how small, to avoid a battle over this piece of territory, she was willing to try and take it.

“Greetings Ivystar. Yes, I actually do…I…” She cleared her throat before continuing, trying to force her voice to not give away her insecurity “I don’t want any kind of battle, especially not in this harsh season where herbs and prey are scarce. That’s why I decided to come here and try to settle things through words instead of claws, in private instead of starting a scene in the middle of a gathering. It has to do with Sunningrocks, Ivystar…” While she was trying to no sugarcoat this to avoid giving an unclear message, she made sure to state that her intentions were not those of war. She just hoped that Ivystar wouldn’t immediately reject her pacifist approach without giving her a chance to explain herself.

Otterleap's tail lashed in irritation behind her, and it seemed other warriors were following suit. Sunningrocks was a point of contention between the two clans, especially since a couple of ThunderClanners had crossed the border brazenly a few moons ago before Fishstar's passing. Though her warriors were loyal and obedient, the fervour of clan rivalry was always strong in them, and like Blizzardstar said, this was a bad season for fighting. Wounds healed slower with fewer fresh herbs at Cloudstone's disposal, and the cold meant harder times for prey.

Though she didn't say anything to them, her tail flicked once as a warning to her warriors. There would be no battle today, though she understood their wariness and annoyance at the patrol meeting here rather than waiting at their actual border. But the fact Blizzardstar started with asking for civil negotiation over fighting didn't bode well for this conversation, she would listen. For now.

"And what do you have to say to me that you'd feel afraid to state in front of all the other clans regarding Sunningrocks? Is this a confession of guilt? No need, I'm well aware that certain warriors of yours have been crossing onto our territories. We haven't caught them in the act yet, but we'll be certain to give them a painful reminder of where our borders lie if they're spotted." The silver tabby spoke candidly, giving Blizzardstar a rather bland look.

Blizzardstar felt slightly insecure when the other RiverClan cats approached. She wished this talk would’ve been private, there was a reason she had left the rest of her patrol behind the border and only crossed it herself, but they were not her warriors. If Ivystar didn’t told them to retreat she had no right to say anything to them.

She took a deep breath before her gaze returned to the silver tabby before her, while her words didn’t surprised her in the slightest given the previous evidence of her personality at the gatherings, they made her effectively nervous. Negotiations had surely started with the wrong paw and a small voice inside her head was telling her that it was way too late to go back and make things right once again…but the white rosetted leader was just way too suborn to give up on a peaceful solution and simply declare war “It’s not that…listen, Leafbare hadn’t been kind on ThunderClan after the fire. Your clan wasn’t affected like ours, so I don’t think you can understand, and we got to a point where I’m forced to consider my options. There is also…someone I simply can’t say no to involved in the decision I took, and they requested me to take action. ThunderClan needs that piece of territory, Ivystar”.

She allowed some seconds for the information to sink in before continuing “We both know that piece of territory once belonged to ThunderClan, I might not be old enough to experience it, but I just know it was. Most leaders would’ve decided to go into war without asking questions to take it back but I don’t want unnecessary bloodshed, especially in this season. I know you care for your clan as much as I do, and that you wouldn’t want to see those under your care join StarClan before time just because of a perfectly avoidable war like this one. We can talk this out, come to an agreement we both agree on, there is no need to cause our clan unnecessary suffering, Ivystar”.

The naivety of the ThunderClan leader was startling. She almost thought that she'd misheard her, except the tense bristling on her warriors made it clear that it was no mistake, Blizzardstar was really asking for her to hand over Sunningrocks. And what drove her to this decision? Because some cat apparently said it was her duty and ThunderClan was apparently withering away?

Coward.

Previously, she'd thought the ThunderClan leader as simply a dithering fool who was scared to face the realities of clan life. But now she saw her clearly. Blizzardstar was a coward, hiding behind false facades of kindness to justify her weakness. To think this was what was left of ThunderClan's mighty legacy. Dewstar, Spottedstar and her father did not die to watch their clan turn into pacifist fools. If her father wanted something, he took it. She'd heard how he invaded RiverClan twice to getting back Sunningrocks, that he's ambushed Fishstar during the early hours of the morn. Yet here this spotted mouse-brain was, pleading that RiverClan just handed over their rightful lands like it was some mossball to be flung around between their clans.

"So you want us to give you Sunningrocks because ThunderClan is made up of soft kits that can't endure one harsh Leafbare and some cat urged you to beg for it? No wonder you didn't bring this up at the gathering, ShadowClan and SkyClan would be at your camp entrance with a battle patrol if they knew how pathetically weak you were right now." Her tone was acidic, each word spat out. "There is no agreement that we can come to, I don't care if Sunningrocks was originally ThunderClan's or not. It is our lands now because we took it. You were a fool to come here. The next ThunderClan cat I see on our lands, I will send them to StarClan myself. And as I do it, I will tell them that I did it because their leader was too weak to protect them."

Blizzardstar couldn’t help but narrow her eyes a bit with Ivystar’s statement. She wasn’t exactly happy with what she was hearing, and she was actually glad she had ordered her warriors to stay behind the border or the insults of the RiverClan leader would’ve surely sparkled a fight right then and there. However, the white she-cat kept her claws sheathed and tried her best to not let the insults get to her nor cloud her judgement “I wasn’t instructed to beg for it, I was instructed to take them. However, I’m not a brute who thinks everything needs to be solved through claws and strength. We are clans, for StarClan’s sake, not a pack of dogs fighting over a piece of meat” Unlike Ivystar’s words, hers were calm and polite, like if they were having a completely normal conversation instead of a failed attempt to negotiate that had turned into a verbal fight. Even the nervousness that Blizzardstar originally had was completely gone, mostly because now that she could see that convince the silver tabby was near to impossible she no longer had nothing to lose by being less careful with her words.

“Leafbare may not had been kind to us, but we are definitely not weak, and if I refused to address this at the gathering wasn’t because I was afraid of being attacked, but because I thought you would appreciate the chance of avoiding a conflict in these harsh times. You might not had been affected by the flames, but you would be a complete fool by denying that your clan isn’t in the best shape to fight as well. River or not, prey is scarce and herbs even more, a war will only bring pain and death for both sides” Her unusually long tail started to move rather slowly as she talked, just not to the point of making it a sign of her discontent about the path this talk had taken, almost looking casual. She had to take some seconds to keep speaking, fights, both physical and verbal, weren’t something Blizzardstar like to be involved in and this wasn’t the exception, but she couldn’t just leave without sharing a piece of her mind with Ivystar. True, she didn’t care if she thought she was weak, pathetic nor if she threw some insults her way, she had quite some experience letting those slide given her origins and the not few doubts about her own loyalties after her father and mentor was revealed to be a liar, traitor and Dark Forest loyalist when she was still fairly young, but she was insulting her clan as a whole and that’s where she had drawn the line “You speak of killing another cat as if it was something to be proud of, when even our ancestors made clear it is not through our noble code. I still remember how your whole clan turned on WindClan when they injured your clanmates, and yet you threaten to kill one on mine’s without second thoughts…I thought you had more honor than that” With those words she got up, clearly with the intention to leave, not wanting to prolong this any further “I wanted to avoid a war, but if these are your last words I can see there is no other option”.

Ivystar let out dark chuckle, it seemed that the ThunderClan leader wasn't completely spineless after all. Though she was still quite foolish and too full of self-righteousness to see clearly. She called for her to give up her lands, to set her clan alit so hers could survive and yet maintained she was the peacemaker, the innocent lamb in this conversation. And reading between the lines, it seemed a ThunderClan StarClan warrior probably set the white leader on this path of self-destruction and she saw the lands now as her right. Blizzardstar's cautions of war fell on deaf ears, Sunningrocks was only ever taken in one way, through the shedding of blood. If she wanted these lands, she'd have to take it over her dead body.

As the leader retreated after meowing out her parting words in a forced calm manner, Ivystar called out to her. Her tone mocking and derisive. "When your clanmates blood paints Sunningrocks red, be sure to tell me how much comfort your noble code and your honour brings you. And know this, Blizzardstar. Anything your clan does to mine, I will do to yours threefold. The fire will seem like a blessing compared to the destruction I will reign down on you... I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield."

With that, she turned away to head back to camp. In passing, she meowed to her warriors. "Follow her, and make sure her patrol heads back to their lands. If not, do what you must."

Blizzardstar turned her head to look at Ivystar as she spoke, growling softly with her threats. Probably it was because of her pacifist way to see things, maybe it was because of how she was raised, maybe she simply was too young and unexperienced compared to the RiverClan leader to see the world through her eyes, maybe it was something else completely. Regardless of what the reason behind it was, the result was the same. She simply couldn’t bring herself to understand why on StarClan Ivystar would be so willing to start a war that would only harm both sides instead of trying to come up with something that would benefit them both. Dear StarClan, one of Blizzardstar’s suggestions was to share that land to end the conflict for once and for all, but she couldn’t even bring that up before the rival leader had declared that it was war or nothing.

She just sighed with her last words and lowered her head, shaking her head from side to side in a disapprobatory way “You’re too prideful, Ivystar, and you’re willing to put yourself and those you love in lethal danger only to prove your point across when you could easily do the same through smart words and less aggressive actions. That one day will come to bite you on your tail unless you change it, I had seen it happen to many. You may see me as an enemy and left me with no choice but to do the same tomorrow at the battlefield, but I hope you at least take this piece of advice. You may find it useful in the future” She really didn’t mind at all the warriors that escorted her back to the border, where her own warriors were waiting for her.

Her greatest fears had become a reality, war was looming upon her clan. She had to warn them and get them all ready as quickly as possible. She knew for a fact that Ivystar wasn’t going to wait.