Walking On Thin Ice [Clan Meeting / Open]

After indicating Gingerstripe to sit under the Highrock, exactly on the same spot Lionspark had occupied a long time ago when her fate within the clan had to be decided, Blizzardstar jumped onto the Highrock and called her clanmates to gather around them “All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the Highrock for a clan meeting!”.

Usually she wouldn’t call her clan to know if they wanted to accept an outsider to join them or not, but this was a special occasion given Gingerstripe’s motives to join the clan. While she was willing to give him a second chance and let him prove worthy of still being called a warrior, she wanted the opinion of the rest of the clan, let them have the final say.

The future of the former ShadowClan warrior was in her clanmate's paws.

Dustcloud quickly padded beneath the Highrock, eyeballing the ginger tom that sat directly beneath it. She had been skeptical of his sudden appearance in the Clan, but it Blizzardstar was alright with his presence, then so was she. Shaking out her dull silver fur, she took her spot to see what Blizzardstar had to say, most-likely regarding the young cat before them.

Dawnpetal narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the ShadowClan cat as she padded out of the warriors' den to meet her other Clanmates for the meeting. She knew this cat was the brother of Firestone, the cat who foolishly befriended her murderer of a mother and accused her of heartlessly killing her. If she had it her way, she would make sure this outcast of his own Clan would never live in ThunderClan.

But that wasn't her choice to make. It was Blizzardstar's. Hopefully she would be sensible and not agree to provide a home within the very heart of their territory to this suspicious-looking tom.

Boarpaw looked over, at the tom from where he sat. He had been short on words lately, doubts filling his head after the horrid result of his walk with Sharptooth. Grooming his shoulder, he grimaced at the tug of dried blood. He padded over to Dawnpetal and offered a weak smile before settling down.

Birchheart dropped two plump sparrows and a lizard into the pile, sitting down to hear what was happening. Every announcement that wasn't a ceremony seemed to be bad news. She hoped this wasn't as well. For her kits.

Newttongue didn't move from the nettle patch he was sunning near, laying his head on his paws and angling his ear to listen with shut eyes.

Wildfire sleepily plodded out the warrior's den and plopped down in the clearing, giving the ShadowClanner a wary look.

Forestpaw lifted her head from he Starling she was eating when she heard Blizzardstar's call for a clan meeting. She quickly gulped down the last few bites and padded into the crowd of cats surrounding the highrock. She spotted Dawnpetal in the crowd, and decided to siton the other side of her. As she sat down she noticed a Ginger tom sitting at the base of highrock. 'Who is he?' She wondered, staring at the tom. He reeked of Shadowclan, but She wasn't going to say anything to him until she knew how he acted. Forestpaw was usually one of the last cats to criticize another because of their roots, unless they're disloyal, of course.

Wisteriapool silently made her way out of the warriors' den after hearing the familiar meeting call that Blizzardstar shouted out to the Clan. She stayed close to the back, as usual, but she could still see the ginger ShadowClan tom below the Highrock. She had felt rather nervous about the fact that a former ShadowClanner had been sharing a camp with her, but ThunderClan was allied with their clan... so at least it wasn't a RiverClan cat staying here. Wisteriapool didn't think that the cat should be judged on the fact that he came from another Clan, but on whatever he did to get himself cast out of the Clan that he used to call home. With a small sigh, the she-cat wrapped her tail tightly around her paws and looked up at Blizzardstar.

Eaglepaw's head snapped around to the highrock as the leader called to them. Aggravation immediately fired itself up with the very depths of his belly. Sitting there, beneath Blizzardstar's feet, was the strange cat he had smelled around camp. And with it, the stench of a clan not their own. A low growl rumbled in his chest, yet he padded over dutifully. Ignoring the call of his leader would make him disrespectful and a bad warrior. However, he couldn't shake the feeling this had something to do with that ginger tom below. If Blizzardstar thought that he would welcome another low-life into the clan with open paws, she was sorely mistaken. He'd already seen this happen before with the mangy half-cat, Boarpaw. They'd even fixed the former rogue with a clan name.

"Any idea what this is about?" His tail flicked with agitation as he settled down next to Birchheart. He settled down onto the dirt and sat as high as he could while doing so. The dark tom's powerful muscles tenses and relaxed over and over as he kept digging his claws into the ground. Maybe she would surprise him, but Eaglepaw had no hope in this moment. While he waited for an answer, his amber eyes bore into the Shadowclan tom that was allowed to sit in the middle of their camp. This better be good.

Emberheart joined the gathering cats, sitting next to Dawnpetal and wondering what this could possibly be about before realizing the ShadowClan scent was that of the cat sitting near their leader. She watched the leader with curiosity, wondering what exactly Blizzardstar had in mind. Surely there was a reason for this?

At Blizzardstar's call Leopardclaw emerged from the warrior's den, his pelt ruffled and ungroomed.  The tip of his long tail dragged on the ground as he padded across the clearing to sit near the front of the crowd, silently taking in the situation.  The tom sitting near the leader that reeked of ShadowClan was unfamiliar to him, except for maybe a passing recollection of seeing his ginger pelt in the crowd at a Gathering once or twice.  The deputy knew that he should be more invested in this situation, but he couldn't seem to be able to drum up any sort of curiosity or anger. His dazed pale green eyes just started blankly up at his leader, waiting.

Scarletpaw walked out and stretched, as she heard Blizzardstar's call. She stared curiously at the young cat, wondering Who is he?

Tigerspark took a seat. Was it a rogue coming to the clan?

Gingerstripe sat nervously below the Highrock, intensely conscious of the ThunderClan cats' stares. He'd been lucky enough to get Blizzardstar to believe his story, when no one else would, but he was worried about these cats. Many of their gazes were openly hostile, though some were just curious. He offered a strained half-smile to a few of those warriors who didn't seem to be bristling at his presence, then turned his attention fully to the leader above him. Would these cats reject him as easily as his own Clanmates had? Or accept him, and his remorse, and become his new family? Tail swept across his paws, the tall, lean tabby waited for Blizzardstar's words, trying to ignore the glares and whispers.

Violetfall took her seat among her Clanmates, staring in turn at the ginger tom below the Highrock. "Who is he?" she muttered to no cat in particular. She caught a whiff of ShadowClan scent, and was instantly suspicious. The cat looked vaguely familiar... maybe he was a ShadowClan cat and she had seen him at a Gathering. She blinked twice and turned her attention to Blizzardstar.

Blizzardstar looked down at her clan from the Highrock as they slowly started to gather. She allowed some time to pass so as many clanmates could be present as possible before speaking once more “Gingerstripe arrived to our camp not long ago, with Nettlesting close behind. Some of you may had noticed it, some may not. The reason of his visit is him requesting to join us and fight alongside us as a clanmate” She had to take a deep breath and organize her words carefully for what she knew what she was going to have to say next.

“However, his reasons to join aren’t as pure as it would seem. For what I could gather from the stories told to me, he was involved in the death of Honeydrop, the former medicine cat of ShadowClan. After she was exposed as a codebreaker and kicked out of the clan for it, Gingerstripe, who had just found out to be her son, followed her to the Thunderpath where an argument between the two took place. In a mindless act guided by confusion and anger, Gingerstripe pushed her to the Thunderpath without noticing the approaching monster, who attacked and killed Honeydrop on the spot” She allowed her words to reach everyone in her clan and sink in. She had told the story the best she could using all what she could gather from Gingerstripe’s story that claimed all had been nothing but an accident, but as much as she wanted to stop there to put him on the best light possible, she know her clanmates deserved to know the rest of the tale.

“After the incident where he had accidentally caused the exiled she-cat’s death, he returned to ShadowClan and kept his muzzle shut about what happened for several moons. According to him, because of fear of not receiving any kind of forgiveness for it. For moons no word was spoken about the matter until Nettlesting was told through StarClan about his involvement in Honeydrop’s death. He immediately informed his clan about this, which caused his fears to become a reality. Shunned by those he once considered friends and family, his pleas went unheard, he was exiled and his paws led him here. Nettlesting came to advise me against taking him in at all, calling him a dangerous and unregretful murderer, but besides his suspicions of lack of regret regarding Gingerstripe’s silence, he lacked any further proof to back up his claims, even telling me he knew nothing about what had happened when Honeydrop died besides the fact that Gingerstripe was involved” After finishing the story and putting him in the best light possible she could without twisting the story and what she was told she looked down at Gingerstripe for a couple seconds before looking at the rest of her clan with serious eyes.

“Given the special motives behind Gingerstripe request, I decided to let your voices be heard about this matter. Should we take in this former ShadowClan warrior and give him a second chance?”.

Sootpaw settled next to Eaglepaw, his eyes widening at the ginger tom that sat below Blizzardstar. "Who's that?" Sootpaw asked, his brow raising as confusion made him stretch out to try to see the tom better. "He smells like the Thunderpath." The shy young tom looked at Eaglepaw as if he had all the answers.