You can't be caught unaware [Open for TC to Join]

Blizzardstar’s ears were mostly deaf to her own clanmates as her gaze fell on the RiverClan warrior. She didn’t blame the she-cat nor any of her fellow clanmates for being angry. She understood her pain after all, being forced to face the same ordeal not long ago thanks to Thistlpaw’s death, and because of this she just lowered her ears as she listened. She may was the leader in her own camp, but given the current circumstances she had no reason to be prideful, even less to try and shield the ones responsible of these crimes from the consequences of their actions.

Her attention turned to Ivystar as she spoke, she did not move nor reacted when the tabby stepped closer to her. To be honest, she had lost most of the fear she had towards the rival leader after losing her first life during their battle at Sunningrocks, facing death in such way truly could change a cat’s perspective. However, while Ivystar herself didn’t truly intimidate her, what she could do as leader of RiverClan against her clan if their justified demands weren’t met soon did terrify the white leader.

Blizzardstar had to take a deep breath and clear her throat as she processed Ivystar’s words. Like if an invisible bubble around her had popped, her ears finally started to catch up the voices of her clanmates, causing her neutral expression to change to a frown. She turned towards the cats around her almost immediately after “Enough!” Her voice almost echoed across the camp, it was no longer calm, no longer shocked. In her voice, only anger could be identified now “While I appreciate your loyalty, this is not the way to show it. As much as it pains me to say it, defending a murderer is not something any of us should do, even if that murderer is a friend, or family”.

Her eyes landed on Flickerpaw after she was done speaking “Flickerpaw, come here. The rest of you, stay back” Her voice made clear this wasn’t an option, it was an order. She would drag the apprentice by the scruff if needed “This is the apprentice that killed Fawnsong, Ivystar”.

As she allowed the apprentice to approach and maybe Ivystar share a word or two with him, she turned to face the rest of her clan “Ivystar and Silverfang had brought fairly reliable evidence to us regarding the death of this apprentice, a murder we had no idea of until now, and how ThunderClan was more than likely to be involved. Taking this in consideration, and unless any of you have very good evidence that could counter theirs, thing I highly doubt at this point, I give the cat or cats responsible a chance to step forward and confess right now. But if the murderer or murderers decide to cower behind the rest of us instead of facing the consequences of their actions we will make sure to find them through any means necessary, and I’m sure RiverClan will be more than willing to help us in this, as this is a crime that won't go unpunished”.

Flickerpaw opened and closed her mouth. She put her tail between her legs and looked back at her siblings. "Thanks for defending me, but I have to face this alone. I killed Fawnsong,
not you." She looked at her siblings sadly and walked out to where Blizzardstar told her to, looking at Ivystar's icy raged eyes. "P- punish me how you will." She said defeatedly.

Spotpaw watched in bitter silence.

OOC: If you really want to, Flickerpaw can die, you have my okay

With a vicious amount of strength, Splashwillow cuffed Featherpaw and sent him staggering several paces back. "Are you really so eager to join your rotting denmate?" She spat, her spine arching aggressively as she pressed against Ivystar in a defensive manner. For all of the ThunderClanners cries for peace and sanity in the situation, it seemed as if they completely lacked the ability to control their apprentices. Did Blizzardstar and Leopardclaw truly just let their apprentices run wild and kill other cats without so much as a single rebuke? The entire Clan should of burned- it would of been a favor to everybody. Stepping forward and meeting the younger tom's challenge with an even more indomitable rage, the calico bared her teeth in a fierce warning that promised pain and bloodshed on his behalf. "Now back off before you dig your own Clanmates grave, you fish-brained craven."

However, before Splashwillow was forced to strike once more, Blizzardstar finally spoke up. A brief twitch of her ear was all of the acknowledgement that she offered in response to the ThunderClan Leader's naming of the guilty cat. Her cold gaze fell upon Flickerpaw, who still was protectively crowded by denmates, a look of disgust and hatred burning intently upon her face. Perhaps the idea of cats who were practically kits banding together to protect one another would of been cute if they weren't defending a rat-faced murderer. Her gaze trailed after Flickerpaw as she slowly padded to Blizzardstar, feeling virtually no pity as she saw the way the young she-cat's tail was tucked between her legs. "And what do you intend to do if the murderers of Rowanpaw do intend to send your Clanmates off to the slaughter to protect their own identity? Your Clanmates don't seem awfully eager about speaking up, now do they?" Splashwillow called, a challenging gleam evident in her gaze as she stared at Blizzardstar.

Tatteredleaf let out a growl and launched herself forward and tackled Featherpaw as Splashwillow got the apprentice off of Ivystar. She pinned the apprentice down, so Featherpaw wouldn't try and start a battle again. "Just because you want to die for this murderer doesn't mean the rest of the clan wants to." She growled keeping the apprentice pinned with her weight.

The gray and white warrior looked up from the apprentice to her clan. "I joined Thunderclan because I thought this clan was honorable, and friendly but I see it's just a clan full of cowards who want to hid themselves from punishment as the sacrifice of their whole clan. If you murderers don't come forward then you aren't clan cats, you are just a bunch of rogues acting like a clan." Which was a lot coming from her seeing how she wasn't even a clan cat, but she was more full clan than they were at the moment.

Emberheart's contribution to the conversation was spoken quietly. "I thought ThunderClan was better than this. I thought we actually followed the warrior code, instead of making a mockery of it, breaking it by needlessly committing murder and hiding the truth. One of us is a murderer, and a liar." She was so tired of these drawn out confessions and lying to take the blame for someone else. If you made a mistake, you should own up to it and face the consequences yourself - while Flickerpaw had made the incredibly stupid and dishonorable mistake of murdering Fawnsong, she wasn't acting like she hadn't and was accepting her punishment.

Rowanpaw's murderer, whoever they were, hadn't even done that. Dishonorable and dishonest. It made her furious.

As the clan rallied for the murderers head, Specklefang stepped out of the warrior's den. She was no murderer, but this clan was her family, a family that Specklefang did not deserve. Specklefang stopped as she sat with the crowd, thinking. She was positive that there was no cat within her clan that wished to murder any cat, at least willingly. Plus, if they did not step forward, everything would be worse for the clan as a whole; her family. Her kits and their kits will suffer. A sacrifice had to be made, she could see that as clear as the clear blue sky in Greenleaf. Taking in a deep breath, the large she-cat stepped towards Blizzardstar, her facial expression hardening.

"I am responsible for Rowanpaw's murder. The brat wouldn't shut his trap about Riverclan, and all its apparent glory, and I thought that no cat would miss the scrap. An eye for an eye. My daughter's life, for their apprentice." She growled, her claws unsheathing as her frame shuddered, trying to look every part the one. "It was easy." She curled her lip, turning to glower down at Ivystar. "I see nothing great about Riverclan, they deserve it. To have every one of their clan-mates ripped from them by Thunderclan." She spat.

duckpuddle ❖

Duckpuddle's brown tail lashed, and she narrowed her sharp green eyes as she watched the commotion occur between the apprentice and Ivystar. How dare he? Was he even aware that he was just an apprentice? However, as the warrior watched the group of apprentices stand up to face the RiverClan patrol, she couldn't help but feel a small pang of sadness. They were a family... and they were standing up for each other. They were trying to protect each other, but their actions would probably end up making it worse for their own Clan. No matter how foolish they may have been acting, the she-cat knew that their hearts were in the right place. That was what a true family did, in her eyes, and that was something that Duckpuddle would never be able to be apart of or experience. What really angered the warrior, though, was the fact that Rowanpaw's murderer had still not stepped up. Despite everything that was happening, they were still hiding back within their Clan like a coward. A cat that breaks the warrior code should at least have the humility to own up to it, and Duckpuddle could only imagine that their punishment would be far worse than what Flickerpaw was to receive. At least she had stepped up and confessed.

That's when a cat stepped forwards. The brown she-cat stared blankly at Specklefang as she made a rather harsh confession. What if this was another lie? What if this warrior was doing the exact same thing that the apprentices had tried to do? How was Duckpuddle supposed to believe a word that any of these ThunderClan cats said?
"An eye for an eye?" The she-cat suddenly hissed, "Has it not occurred to you that RiverClan has lost more than one cat? If you believe so much in this 'eye for an eye' nonsense, then maybe we should kill this 'Flickerpaw', just to balance it all out! After that, will ThunderClan be so stupid as to kill another innocent apprentice? Where did the sanity of this Clan go?"

wisteriapaw ♪

StarClan, why?! Wisteriapaw felt panic and fear begin to rise within her as Featherpaw launched a mild yet evident attack on Ivystar. That was the RiverClan leader for StarClan's sake! Now, he would probably end up getting punished as well. The she-cat backed up on Blizzardstar's command. It made her feel angered that the cat who had killed Rowanpaw wasn't speaking up. Couldn't they realize that they were just stirring up trouble that was uncalled for and unneeded? The apprentice regarded Flickerpaw as brave for standing up and speaking. At least she had the sense to confess. All Wisteriapaw wanted to do now was shrink back into the apprentices' den and stay there until the RiverClan patrol left, or until all of this hostility died down. She was sick of it, she hated it, she wanted nothing to do with it, but being apart of one of the Clans that was in the midst of this hatred practically meant that she was being dragged into it. She felt intimidated by the RiverClan cats, she felt intimated by most cats, and she didn't want to let that show... but she was letting it show, anyway. All she wanted to do now was knock Tatteredleaf off of Featherpaw, but she knew that she'd end up digging herself into a deeper, darker hole if she did so. The she-cat had stood up with her siblings, but now she was backing down. She barely even paid attention to Specklefang's words... she was too busy being lost in her own thoughts.

Newtpaw sent a glare Leafstorm's way before the situation escalated to violence around them and Flickerpaw stepped forward. His gut wrenched. He didn't want to watch this. To see his clanmate like this. RiverClan felt the same way about their now dead friends and family. His ear only flicked in Specklefang's direction at the confession as he stared at the ground.

"WHAT?!" Birchheart ran to her mother's side with wide eyes. "Please... It isn't true, right? You're lying! Please, Specklefang." Her fur bristled with anger and fear as confusion filled every whisker. "Why would you do that?!"

Wildpaw looked at her mother. Right, she'd give them away if she talked for long. Biting her tongue with a whine, she watched her sister give up and her brother get tackled. This wasn't fair, it couldn't be!

Dappledpaw couldn't take in everything that had just happened. Specklefang murdered Rowanpaw, he had been told to leave Flickerpaw possibly to die, and now Featherpaw was being pinned by his own Clanmate. What was StarClan trying to do to them? He edged his way over to where Tatteredleaf was over his brother. 'Get. Off. Him." He hissed as quietly as he could, half tempted to shove her away. He settled with poking her with a sheathed paw.

After Blizzardstar appeared and took over the conversation with Ivystar, Leopardclaw stood back beside his daughter Birdflight, and watched everything unfold.  Dappledpaw trying to take the fall for Flickerpaw, but the young she-cat stepped up anyway.  Featherpaw attacking Ivystar, and getting tackled by a calico RiverClan she-cat and Tatteredleaf.  Specklefang confessing to the murder of Rowanpaw...."Oh StarClan...not again..."  His sad voice was barely a whisper, and the deputy gazed down blankly at his paws.  This chaos...this disorder...families being torn apart...young cats gazing into the eyes of death...it brought back memories that he couldn't handle.  Of Rockthorn's treachery, and the terror of the Mist...why couldn't there have been peace for us?!  His legs shaking slightly, he leaned against his daughter's flank and laid his tail over her back; a faint comfort, but not enough.

Swoopnose watched the havoc unfold, frozen still where he was sitting. Though he did realize how much ThunderClan was to blame, it didn't feel right just sitting there while these invaders spat insults rapidly. Especially when they were at fault as well. It shouldn't be allowed. They had to stop going all defensive, and take a shot at being offensive. These cats had done horrible deeds, more than just killing Thistlepaw. That was way to over mentioned in reasons to hate those fish munchers. Getting to his paws, the usually quiet and kind hearted tom let out a low growl, digging his claws into the dirt to stop himself from ripping them through the foxheart's pelts. This was a battle of words. Each clan was fighting for the moral high ground. So what would happen if instead of getting his clan higher, he got theirs lower? It was worth a shot. He was about to do so calmly when his former mentor confessed to murder. No, Specklefang was lying. Something in his already angry mind suddenly snapped with that piece of information.
"Stop invading our territory just to tell us how horrible we are!" he hissed loudly. "That is against the code, and just downright rude! I can't believe you all have the nerve to blame us in our own camp, when you have done so much horrible things to our clan as well. I get murdering is bad, and I'm sad my clanmates have done it, but you have your own faults. You," he turned to Spotpaw, teeth bared. "If it weren't for you, Birchheart would still have her tail. She would have died out there if her clanmates hadn't happened to find here." Those words were spat like venom, as he looked at the whole group of RiverClanners. "A warrior attacked my sister with the intent of KILING her, and if it weren't for a nicer ember of your clan, he would have succeeded. Not to mention her mentor died because of injuries caused by you!" That last part was directed at Splashwillow, his green eyes now crackling with anger. The part of him he hated with all his soul was starting to shine brightly, and he was unable to stop it. "So stop pinning all the blame on us and look at what you have done! We may have done things I wish we hadn't, but at least we regret it! I haven't seen any of you apologize!"

Foxfire couldn’t believe what was happening. All these cats protecting a murderer, though Foxfire was scared to see what Ivystar would do to this apprentice, Foxfire wasn’t sure it was the best thing to do to stand up for Flickerpaw, who had in fact killed a warrior for no good reason. When Specklefang confessed that it was her who killed Rowanpaw, Foxfire’s heart stopped (but not really ;)). Specklefang, his mother, a loyal and great ThunderClan warrior, murdered an apprentice? All of this was very difficult for Foxfire to wrap his head around.
It was all so overwhelming. RiverClan storming into ThunderClan camp, Flickerpaw confessing to her crime, and now Specklefang? Her anxiety started to show up. What was Ivystar gonna do to Flickerpaw and Specklefang? Would they be killed? Would they be exiled? Or would they get away with their crimes? Her pelt prickled with anxiousness, and her eyes were darting from Ivystar, to Flickerpaw, To Specklefang, To Leopardclaw, and to Blizzardstar. Back and forth.

daisyheart and spottedpelt stayed in the nursery protecting there kits while riverclan was in there camp. daisyheart knew foxfire was out there and got really worried for him. spottedpelt hoped crowpaw wasn't going to fight all the cats because if he did he might get hurt.

Ooc: im sorry if this sucks everyone said I should join{I disagreed} so I joined.

ooc: dude, yall wait up
Pika is a little busy right now, so it'll be a little bit before she can post. And this isn't just coming from me, it's straight from Pika too. Just wait until she can get another post in before posting anymore~

Dustcloud didn't even have time to process Emberheart's words due to all the yelling that had proceeded her arrival. All she wanted to do was go lie down in her nest and forget that any of this had happened in the first place. She was already stressed out, and this was not helping. After Specklefang spoke up, that was all she could take. No one seemed to have any respect for the RiverClan cats before them, especially Ivystar, whom they should all be regarding the most. "THAT'S IT! Y-You all n-need to sh-sh-shut it, e-every s-single one o-of you! You r-really th-think that a-all of this id-idiotic y-yelling is r-really g-g-going to help? I h-hate to s-say this, but Th-ThunderClan i-is already o-on thin i-ice, and if a-any of you th-think this p-pointless sc-screaming is going to h-help, then I-I r-recommend you g-get up and l-l-leave, now!" The silver she-cat shook the snow out of her fur, growing even more frustrated by the second. "N-Now if y-you'd p-please, let I-Ivystar t-talk!" Dustcloud didn't like RiverClan being in their camp any more than the rest of them did, but she still respected the she-cat, regardless of if she fought her in battle or not. She was a leader, for StarClan's sake!

Being swatted across the nose by an apprentice in ThunderClan camp was.. Unexpected.

The apprentice had courage, however misplaced it was. Her teeth bared for a second in an uncontrolled battle instinct rising and mixing with her barely suppressed rage, but Splashwillow's swift intervention stopped her redirected aggression giving the apprentice a good tongue lashing. Instead, she listened with flattened ears to Blizzardstar's surprisingly reasonable words, and got a good look at that apprentice that claimed her grankit's life. Though she heard distantly the rabble of ThunderClan bickering and showing their usual inability to respect a leader's authority (it seemed apprentices were the same regardless of clan or upbringing), her focus was narrowed on the apprentice before her.

She looked like a beast out of an elder's tale, at full height she stood taller than Blizzardstar and her short fur did nothing to hide the taunt lines of her muscles built over swimming in the river against currents. And in this moment, she radiated a killer's edge, something she'd fought to hide, only letting it slip in handful of events. Ivystar had only killed three times in her life, technically. The first time, she'd tasted blood, she remembered feeling fear, guilt and elation. The second, she'd learnt to suppress the guilt and fear, only elation took over her. And the final time, she'd just watched and felt nothing as her mother drown in the river. And looking at this apprentice, she felt the dark side call to her once more. Oh how quickly she could break that little snivelling things neck, let her blood drown her mewling siblings.

But through this murderous haze, a memory cut through it.

"Forgiveness."

"Justice."

"Clear sight."

Yes, these were the gifts that she'd been given at her leadership ceremony, and she called upon all of them to break her death stare on this apprentice. Killing her would do nothing, it wouldn't bring back her granddaughter. It wouldn't even give her the joy of serenity, her miserable life would spark another blood feud that would end in another death. It was time to think as a leader, not as the angry she-cat that was alone against the world that was out of harm her.

Ivystar visibly calmed down, backing off Blizzardstar...

...Until Specklefang spoke.

In a split second, she pounced on top of the she-cat, pinning the warrior in place. Oh Specklefang might have been bigger, but she was a leader, honed in battle after battle, and she wasn't below playing dirty to pin her. Ivystar was beyond furious, whatever peace she'd scrounged up from remember Frostfall, Heronwing and Vixentail's words turned into mud. She wanted to break this miserable she-cat's neck, watch her blood flood the earth and give this wretched land the cleansing it desperately needed.

"The dung heap of an apprentice of yours may keep her life, trapped in my camp without any contact with ThunderClan. Let her live out the rest of her life around those that mourn a sister, a warrior who'd just been appointed not even a few sunrises ago. But this one, I will not let her live. I've seen eyes like yours before, and I know what they can do, will do... Her life for peace, Blizzardstar. I'll even return Lionspark to you early." As rationality returned, Ivystar realised that she'd seen this sort of look in her own reflection. They shared a sort of dogmatic loyalty to family. But crucially, to set them apart, she didn't have her warrior ancestors whispering and guiding her, or the burden of a clan to hold her back. This mangy scrap of fur was not the sort that would learn or let go of a grudge borne.

If she wasn't put down, she would come back for more.