March 2018 Medicine Cat Meeting

Mottleheart sat hunched outside of the entrance of Highstones, his eyes listlessly staring off at the horizon as he waited for the other medicine cats. Truth be told, he didn't want to be here. He knew he had to get out of the camp and he was thankful for that - he didn't want his Clanmates to judge his unkempt appearance and clear sign of unrest but he also didn't want to face the other medicine cats...Most of all those from RiverClan. A sigh escaped him as he gave his pelt a tired shake as the moon started to rise, knowing that the others would arrive soon. It was tempting to just duck into the cavern and get it over with but there was a hesitation of his own on that regard even if he couldn't place why. He had already informed Featherlight that she was free to go within if she wanted, but it felt like he had to wait for the others...Even if he didn't want too.

OOC: Small note, the other MCs are free to go straight to their dreams but Mottle and Golden are going to have a small chat before they do it.

Goldeneye was alone for this moonstone visit, with Cloudstone ill in his nest he was unable to attend the meeting. It was odd, not having her mentor with her but one day, it'd be a constant. Goldeneyes thoughts turned sour, and even more so as she saw Mottleheart. The golden she-cats paws staggered as her mind thought of continuing and avoiding the conversation she knew they must have. But, the poor tom must be working with nothing but the crumbs and dust of the herbs that Riverclan tore from them.

Goldeneye pushed on, but stopped in front of Mottleheart, her ears pressing against her head. "Mottleheart, we need to talk." Her voice almost quavered, she had to tell him not to fear Ivystar. She had to ask for forgiveness because if it had not been for her, there would have been no war. It was not Ivystar alone that should have been feared, but her, she pulled the strings and what resulted was Windclan without treatment for their wounds, no food to feed themselves, and precious hunting ground land taken from them. Guilt was eating the she-cat from the inside out, but Mottleheart had a right to know.

The journey to Highstones was difficult alone, although Mintpaw had stumbled across a small nest of mice halfway across Windclan territory- technically it wasn't hers to eat, but one of the mice had been old and weak, and it would've been a shame to just let it be.
The small tabby flicked her tail as she saw Goldeneye and Mottleheart with their heads together. Mottleheart looked as worn as the oldest elder, and something in his eyes made him look as if he would blow away if a particularly strong gust of wind passed by, and Goldeneye's expression made the fur on the back of Mintpaw's neck prickle. The taupe apprentice trotted through the dark passageway, her whiskers and paws guiding her towards the lighter chamber. Although she was nearly late, she could tell that not all the Medicine Cats had made it yet. Instead of stopping, Mintpaw faltered and smiled weakly, deciding it would be best to stay out of such matters. She, like nearly every other cat in the forest, had heard of Riverclan's most recent war. In times like these, she was glad that Skyclan wasn't Riverclan's enemy, although she couldn't bear to think of all sick and injured cats that were forced to go without treatment.
Although she wanted to see the beautiful Starclan territory, Mintpaw sat beside the Moonstone, waiting for a more familiar Windclan face. The least she could do was offer her dear friend her condolences, and try to keep the medicine cats on good terms. She hated to have the forest divided- already, her two closest friends' clans had met in battle, and she could almost feel the storm on the horizon. Mintpaw had never seen war's scarred face, and she wanted to keep it that way, but she couldn't deny the crackling tension in the air.

Featherlight froze when she saw Goldeneye approach her mentor, and looked for an excuse to put her focus elsewhere that didn't involve going directly to the Moonstone. Something told her that sharing tongues with StarClan would do little to put her mind at ease. Her savior came in the form of SkyClan's medicine cat apprentice, and she let out a breath of relief. "Hello, Mintpaw," she greeted politely, though it still sounded a little awkward. She was still getting used to casually interacting with other cats, even now. "How are things in SkyClan?"

Mapleleaf was one of the last medicine cats to arrive at the Moonstone. Her green eyes swept the gathered cats and walked over to Mintpaw and Featherlight, eager to chat with the others. Her tail twitched slightly as she observed the conflicted movements from Featherlight. Mapleleaf had heard of the recent battle between Riverclan and Windclan for herbs. She knew right away how things went. She sat a few lengths away from the chatting she-cats, not wanting to disturb their current conversation but was going to join in when she felt it was appropriate.

Mottleheart's ears perked for a second as his name was called, turning to see who had spoken only for his expression to sour in return at the sight of her. "Goldeneye," he meowed, his voice rough from the nights of unrest he had been facing. He wasn't sure if he was to be relieved or not that it was her that was talking to him instead of her mentor...But for some reason, the fact that it was her only made the pit in his stomach grow. For a second, his body tensed up as he was almost tempted to lash out at her - to tell the RiverClan medicine cat that he wasn't intrested in whatever words she  had to say...But he quickly shut it down as he realized that it was just his wariness that was putting him on edge.

He sighed, about to say something in return when the young SkyClan apprentice came padding by. He felt pity for her, being just an apprentice but yet being the head medicine cat for her Clan. She was brave, that was to be sure...He watched as Featherlight followed after Mintpaw, and Mapleleaf settled down near the two she-cats. Only ShadowClan had yet to arrive. He watched the three she-cats for a few moments before he stood up and jerked his head in a motion for Goldeneye to follow. He had a feeling that whatever she was about to say was something that should remain between them - the other medicine cats didn't need to worry about the tension between RiverClan and WindClan and he could share whatever Goldeneye had to say with Featherlight later.

He padded a short distance away, still well in view of the others but a good distance out of ear-shot so that they would have to be knowingly listening in to hear what they said...As long as voices didn't get raised that was. He turned to stare at Goldeneye, his ears flat on his head as he stared at her. "So...What is it that you want to say?" he rasped, blinking at her. He could tell that something was bothering her but he had no idea what...And he wondered how he himself looked like to her as he felt like he was falling apart at the stems.

Nettlesting was in no mood to sit and chat. As he made his way up to the Mothermouth, he nodded his head to the other medicine cats. They were so... Lazy. Clearly, he flicked his tail and entered the cave. Sitting down, he pressed his nose to the rock and fell asleep.

--

Waking up in StarClan, Nettlesting stood and stretched. He was quite familiar with the feel of StarClan now. With all this stress, he was practically dead himself. Looking around, his eyes landed on Silentstorm. Silentstorm was a Senior Warrior killed when he was an apprentice by foxes. At least, that's what he was told. "Silentstorm," Nettlesting said respectfully, dipping his head. The starry warrior nodded his head back.

"Greetings, Nettlesting. I know you are tired right now, with the Gingerstripe incident, but I have my own story to tell as well..." Nettlesting nodded slowly. Of course, he knew what was coming. What would be Silentstorm's story? Was it another ShadowClan murderer? He couldn't really stand to have another one. He really couldn't. "It is true that my wounds were mostly made by foxes. However, an apprentice at the time, named Echopaw, was the one who dealt the final blow. In my confusion and blood loss, I had accidentally wandered onto WindClan territory. He knew I was injured, but it esculated to a fight in which he slit a vein in my throat, I died at his paws." Nettlesting nodded. At least it wasn't another ShadowClan murderer. He would take it up with WindClan, right after this.

"Thank you for your story. I'll go right away." The warrior began to fade and Nettlesting's vision faded to black.

--

Waking up, Nettlesting yawned. Time to head to WindClan. Quietly, he slipped out of the cave and headed to the too familiar camp.

The member 'Nettlesting' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'StarClan Revelation' :

Goldeneye at first was afraid that Mottleheart would reject her and continue on their way, but to her relief, Mottleheart decided to hear her case. Goldeneye padded alongside the Windclan medicine cat to a location just a little more private then right next to mother mouth. "I just wanted to apologize for Riverclans cruelty. I needed more herbs for my stock, but Riverclan has been having it hard this leaf-bare. Cats have been coming in with life-threatening wounds, foxes have been preying on my clan-mates, other cats are murdering them left and right." Goldeneye sputtered, but she wasn't done.

"I warned Ivystar about going to war with Windclan, told her to seek more peaceful options but... she took everything you had and more. I'm sorry, but if there is a cat to blame for your misfortune, it is I." Goldeneye meowed lowly dipping her head to the older tom, her tail tucking just slightly, her ears pressed against her head as she awaited the toms response.

Mottleheart's ears flickered back the moment it was clear that Goldeneye's intent was to speak about the war that had transpired. He couldn't say he was completely surprised and...Well, truth be told ehe had been expecting it but it didn't change the fact that he wasn't eager to hear what she had to say. But yet, he listened as she sputtered out her apology before she finshed with a dip of head. He remained quiet for a few heartbeats, his eyes narrowed as his body shook with a tinge of anger but mostly of simple exhastion.

"Tsk," he finally exhaled, turning his gaze away from her as he sat down. "Apologizes will not help my clanmates, Goldeneye. You are not the only Clan that has been suffering this leaf-bare - despite what Ashstar said in the Gathering, we were not as strong as you may have thought. WindClan has been low on herbs, our cats coming in injured as well and one of our Clanmates was even killed by one of our own before Ashstar exiled him..." he growled softly, being mindful to keep his voice low lest the others overhear. "And in your own hunger for herbs, you have left my Clan not just without any herbs for our own but injuired, weak and terrified thanks to your leader's actions...But.."

Almost all at once, the anger from his body let go as he bowed his head, his body trembling from the effort it had taken just to muster up that bit of anger. "...I do not blame you. Despite wishing otherwise, battle is apart of our live and always shall be. I do not even blame RiverClan as a whole - you were doing what you needed to survive and...I honor loyalty to one own Clan. It will be hard, but I have trust that WindClan will recover. Know that I hold nothing against you, Goldeneye. We are both doing our duties, even if that puts us on different sides at time. Now...If you have anything more to say, I think we should have our dreams with StarClan."

"No." Goldeneye shook her head though she wished she could say more but what was there to say? Gently, the she-cat rested her tail against the toms shoulder as a final goodbye before she turned away and padded down to mother mouth, some guilt alleviated from her chest though she still worried about him. Goldeneye almost faltered as she looked at the looming cave, wishing that Cloudstone would be by her side.

Goldeneye pushed forwards, her paws carrying her alone the well-worn path to where the bright blue moonstone loomed. Inhaling sharply, the she-cat stepped forwards and tucked herself in, her nose pressing against the moonstone as she laid her head on her paws.

The member 'Grey' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'StarClan Revelation' :

Mapleleaf got up slowly. She didn't want to waste anymore time and stepped up to the Moonstone. The she-cat settled down and pressed her nose to the cold stone. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed. The medicine cat sighed softly as she ascended to greet one of the starry cats.

The member 'Hazel' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'StarClan Revelation' :

Mintpaw opened her mouth as Featherlight approached her, but she couldn't think of anything to say. What did you say to someone when your clan had denied them aid? Instead, the small taupe tabby gave her a deep, sympathetic look before turning towards the moonstone, her shoulders hunched. Starclan had better have some good news.