Now is a time for Peace (Closed)

The soft orange glow of sunset was settling over the camp. It brought shadows into the world that crept slowly from beneath the bushes and the canopy of leaves above them. A dark tabby tom watched the light slowly change, his dark amber eyes observing the clan around him with silence as his white tipped paws shifted on the ground. Deputy He still couldn't quite believe it. Just out of his vigil... and here he was. Still, he would have been lying if he tried to deny it. He could truly do the most for his clan now. Even better, he was welcomed.

No longer, did Marshpaw walk among them as an outsider. He was one of them now, Marshstorm. His paws itched with delight, and he stood from where he had been sitting with a glance around camp. Some cats were settling into sleep, others were eating fresh-kill or sharing tongues. Featherheart was in the Medicine den, and he didn't doubt that Wisteriapool and possibly Sharptooth were with him. The clan was at peace, and it was safe enough. With a nod to himself, he slowly padded towards the entrance of camp, murmuring to the cat at the entrance that he would return shortly before he left.

He padded to the top of the ravine, following a route familiar only to him. He stepped out into a small open clearing. The canopy an almost perfect circle to reveal the sky, where stars glowed brightly in the darkening shroud. He sat for a moment, his jaws parted to speak, then stopped. He paused staring at them. Was it safe for him to speak to them now? They would be welcoming Leopardstar soon. He remembered that the moonstone worked with the glow of the moon, so he forced himself to speak.

"Thank you, StarClan." He meowed slowly, but clearly audible. "My family... I hope I am making you proud." His tail twitched and brushed some grass aside, but he didn't speak further. StarClan already knew his promise to defend ThunderClan to the end. His vow to always be there, for Eaglefang, and his siblings. Still, he felt a measure of comfort in looking at the stars that had once guided him home so long ago.

The dusk patrols were finally wrapping up for the night, and one by one the groups of cats arrived back at camp, some with prey in stow. Dustcloud's had led her small group of apprentices and a fellow warrior closer to camp, but as they approached the entrance to camp, she'd asked them to walk ahead, that she'd be there a little later. She was still a little shaken by Leopardclaw's sudden outburst, but she'd get over it quickly. Losing a kit is not something a cat can be expected to take lightly, that was something that she, of anyone, understood.

She was about to sit down for a moment, take in the colors of the sun over the territory she'd grown up in when she saw just a flicker of movement, the dark pelt of what she assumed to be another prey animal. She wasn't one to let a good meal pass by in front of her. Dropping into the hunting crouch that she'd perfected over the seasons, the scarred she-cat crept in the same direction she'd seen the dark movement. It was only when she reached the height of the ravine that she realized that what she was following was one of her own Clanmates. She was about to turn around and head to her nest for the night when she heard the faint voice of... Marshstorm?

She wanted to give him the privacy that he deserved, but at the same time... what was the newly named Deputy doing by himself at such a time of day? She contemplated her options, flickering her ears towards where the tabby toms voice came from again, trying to catch a hint of what might be happening. Slowly, she walked through the brush on the forest floor and into a small opening, where the warm glow of the sun setting filled her vision. This was a place that she'd never been before; she'd never thought that there would be much to find in the way of prey near the top of the ravine. Her eyes flickered back to Marshstorm, who had likely not noticed her quiet entrance. "M-Marshstorm?" Her raspy voice rang out into the beautiful clearing, ruining the silence that had followed after the Deputy's words.

The voice startled Marshstorm. His pelt prickled, then warmed in embarrassment at being caught speaking to the stars. He turned his head to see who was there, then relaxed as he noted the scarred she-cat. Dustcloud, he smiled embarrasedly and wrapped his tail around his paws. She didn't seem alarmed or disturbed, so it was unlikely that it was an emergency.

"Good evening, Dustcloud. Did the dusk patrol go well?" He asked curiously, just to make sure he wasn't needed. He looked back towards the stars as the silence around them was broken by the soft sounds of crickets beginning their evening song. "... I... I realize some cats find it silly." He explained warily. Uncertain how Dustcloud would react to the revelation "When I find the time... I like to come out here... to talk to our warrior ancestors." He flushed and looked down at his white tipped paws. "If it weren't for them, I would be never have made it back home. I would never have been become a member of ThunderClan, let alone be its Deputy. "

He turned to her then, his dark amber eyes bright in the moonlight that began to overcome the small clearing. His ShadowClan heritage easy to see as he seemed to blend into the shadows. His most visible markers his eyes and the white patches of his muzzle and chest. Yet there was no hostility.
"I will always be grateful for what they have done for me... For those Stars that led me here. "

Good, he wasn't bothered by her presence. It was a relief for her, she was worried that he might think something was wrong."It d-did. Before t-too long, Blackpaw w-will be ready f-for her warrior c-c-ceremony," She noted, thinking back to the fact that she'd caught more prey than any other apprentice on the patrol. Her gaze shifted from the top of the tree canopy to Marshstorm when he made the comment about it being absurd. She tilted her head before he resumed his explanation, but a feeling of understanding coursed through her as the slightly younger tom revealed what he'd been doing."I don't th-think it's s-silly," She looked into his amber eyes earnestly, thinking back to all the times she'd done the same at Fourtrees. "I c-can't say I h-haven't done the s-same."

The dark colored toms last statement hit her hard, she'd not realized the similarity of their situations until that moment. "I..." The first thing that came to mind when she thought back on that horrific time was her kits, taken from her before they even had a chance to open their eyes. She'd done a good job of pretending like it hadn't happened in the last few moons, and it was something that she now rarely thought of. She shook out her grey fur, trying to push it back to the depths of her memory. "St-StarClan has it's w-ways.

The reassurance that Dustcloud had done the same at least once warmed him. He padded forward a couple paces to sit down next to her as she spoke. He nodded in agreement as she shook her pelt, settling next to her in the soft grass. His head returned back to the stars for a long moment, before dropping back down to look at the she-cat quietly. She bore many scars, he had noticed them several times. This was a she-cat who had fought many battles. Who had seen the worst of warrior life and must have gotten through it. He smiled encouragingly at the fact.

"Indeed they do... Even if they won't directly speak back." Not to him at least. Marshstorm figured that StarClan wouldn't go bothering a medicine cat over something that wasn't important. Instead, he focused on a question his curious mind prompted him. "You know how I came into ThunderClan... I heard other cats gossiping for a good while... but I hadn't heard anything about what happened to you?" He asked, his tail rested loosely on the grass behind him as he relaxed in the long grass. "Normally, cats are content to ignore StarClan... but they must have done something important for you." He encouraged gently.

A warm smile spread across Dustcloud's face as the Deputy sat down next to her. She looked up at the stars at the same time he did, her gaze remaining situated on the twinkling lights above them, even as he spoke again. Her eyes only fell when he questioned her own story, and she froze, looking back down to her paws as her eyes grew wider. A shudder went up to her spine, making its way into her head as she 'contemplated' what the tom might have meant. "I a-assume you're t-t-talking about wh-where I w-went, what happened to me, eh?" With a low, light-hearted chuckle, she pawed at the ground. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she didn't want to admit it. Keeping her nose pointed towards the ground, she looked up at him with a blank face. It was an extremely sensitive subject, but it wasn't like it was anything that she could hide. If anything, her outer appearance compelled more and more cats to wonder what might've happened, but the full story wasn't something she often told, and it wasn't to just any cat.

With a shakier voice than normal, she began. "It's n-not anything I'm p-proud of." Looking up to the slightly larger tom, her blue eyes reflected the starry sky above them. "Th-There was a t-tom-cat, I d-don't think you e-ever got the ch-chance to m-meet him, but h-his name was B-Blackt-" She stumbled over the name, thinking back to how he'd come back, very briefly. That was the only time Marshstorm might have met the tom, but he would not have known him as Blacktwig, that was far before his time in ThunderClan. Instead, he would have recognized the name Barkwhisker. It was derived from her mentor's name, Pinewhisker, and another bright young cat that had been his apprentice before he was taken, Barkpaw."B-Barkwhisker. We'd kn-known each other f-for a v-v-very long t-time, we'd g-grown up together, t-trained together. A c-cat can only i-imagine how that m-might have led t-to intimate f-feelings for each o-other, and Blackt- B-Barkwhisker and I f-fell in l-love."

The she-cat did not want to drag on about how they had come to fall in love, so she cut right to the chase. Marshstorm probably could have made the assumption that it had happened on his own, without the last bit, but it wouldn't hurt to be straightforward."He w-was on a h-hunting patrol d-during Leaffall once, b-b-but he never c-came back. It w-wasn't too m-much longer b-before I d-discovered I w-was pr-pregnant with his k-kits, and I d-did not l-like the th-thought of my k-kits growing u-up without a f-father like I d-did, not at a-all." The she-cat knew she had a father, but the fact that he lived in a different Clan made it seem like she did not. She never even got to meet her father until the day he died, and it was yet another death that she could have prevented, which made it even worse for her. It was not a pleasant feeling.

Keeping her eyes locked on the toms amber ones, she kept swatting away the thought of having to explain how she was unable to save her own kits, their youthful lives taken because of her impotence. The feeling of dread was already beginning to find its way into her mind, and she hadn't even begun that part of the account. Swallowing it down for Marshstorm's sake, she proceeded."I m-made what I n-now see as a r-rash m-mistake. I knew th-that I was c-c-carrying kits... I... I d-don't know w-what got into m-m-me. But w-we can't ch-change the p-past. I w-went out by m-myself, and I started l-looking for him. It g-got darker quicker th-than I had r-realized it, and a-after a r-run in with a r-rogue, I found myself l-l-lost." The realization that she could have so easily prevented so much pain, for both herself and so many others, including Blizzardshine, was not an easy one. After a pause that left an uneasy silence between the two of them, the scarred she-cat looked down at her paws, breaking the fixed stare that she had kept over the course of the entire conversation. This wasn't an easy story to tell, no part of it ever was.

The scarred tabby took yet another look back up to the stars, the circular break in the canopy of leaves revealing just enough room for her to see them. Had she not been so foolish, she wouldn't have lost her kits. Had she not risked her own life, they would all be alive and well, living the life of a warrior that they deserved. They would've survived to be great, prideful warriors, strong cats that ThunderClan needed, especially in times of hardship like they'd experienced this past Leafbare. She hated reflecting on what could have been, but this was one of the things that had very frequently plagued her mind when it had first happened. It was something that she’d learned to shake after a while, and now she hardly even though of it. Thinking of the event had started to happen less and less as time went on, but it hurt more and more each time. Dustcloud shook her head, giving up on her hope of shaking the thoughts of self-loathing and contempt.

Another sigh brushed past her lips."A g-g-good amount of t-time passed, and I k-kitted in a t-twoleg alley. They w-were wonderful, b-but I… I..." She trailed off mid-sentence, eyes widening just slightly as she tried to put together a string of words that might have made the slightest little bit of sense to the ThunderClan Deputy. It was then that her eyes began to water, tears threatening to spill over at any moment. Her claws unsheathed and dug into the ground just the smallest bit, leaving small indentations in the earth under paw. "Th-There was a f-f-fox... I c-couldn't..." Her breathing grew faster and her heart began to race, paws twitching in tune with the flicks of her tail. Her shoulders shook and her legs trembled, recalling how she'd been unable to save her offspring from a creature as shallow as a fox, vividly imagining how it shook their small forms as she tried her best to wrestle them from its grasp. Just thinking of what she had seen that night made her feel like her insides were being torn out and shredded by the same being that had taken her kits from her. The pounding in the back of her head only sped as more and more thoughts swarmed her head like bees, invading her thoughts.

Her tortured gaze was trained firmly on a shoot of grass, illuminated only by the stars above them. The only sound in the small clearing was the crickets chirping, and after several pained moments, all Dustcloud could manage was a choked up gasp. Her tiny paws were still shaking, but otherwise, her figure sat completely still. The air that had settled between the two cats was crisp and still, even somewhat calming. It was the absolute opposite of the inner torment that Dustcloud was revisiting inside. A single, strained tear fell down the she-cats face, falling off her fur and into the dirt beneath her. She watched soundlessly as it seeped into the earth, leaving a small dark spot to mark where it had been. Closing her eyes, she drew in a ragged breath.

She knew the tom was probably expecting her to continue, everyone expected her to keep going. But this time was different. When she tried to talk, no words came. Clenching her eyes shut tightly, she thought of what to say. Letting out a slow, rough sigh,"Y-You know th-those t-t-times... When th-there is s-so much to s-s-say... B-But you d-don't know h-how to s-s-say it?" She kept her eyes shut as the words passed her lips, trying in vain to push any thoughts of her kits to the back of her mind. An old wound had been reopened, one that had taken far too long to close the first time.

Marshstorm watched Dustcloud with a soft, patient gaze. He never prodded her to begin speaking, but waited patiently until she was able to. His head tilted at the words 'where I went, what happened to me.' though he didn't dare to interrupt what was obviously very personal for the she-cat to share. Instead, he settled himself deeper into the grass to listen with intent. His gaze on the stars above with hers as she spoke. The story she told of her past... he felt his heart clench at the pain of it. He had never known Barkwhisker, she wasn't wrong about that, but for a warrior to just dissappear. He hoped the fate that had befallen him did not befall that young tom. He felt himself struck hard about their similarities.

Growing up without a father... he knew that pain. Amber eyes lowered to the grass before them as he thought about his first memory of meeting Eagleheart. How the tom hadn't been too happy to see the kits that had made the long and dangerous journey just to see their father. To catch even just a glimpse of the great tom who had helped create them. His eyes closed as he remembered the hate that began brewing in his sister towards their mother at the discovery, but he forced his eyes to open as he listened to more of what Dustcloud was telling.

The idea of a she-cat leaving camp laden with kits was horrifying. It didn't get any easier to hear about their demise to a fox. He took a deep breath, then shifted over to rest his chin on her head in a supportive gesture. His body adjusting so his shoulders were even to her own chin if she needed it. He watched as the bushes behind her moved with a slight breeze.

"It is never easy... to hear of such troubles." He mewed with a soft seriousness. "I wouldn't wish that on any cat... especially not you." He paused, then sighed. It would be fair of him to confess to her what the clan didn't know of his own past. He stayed in place to support her, as he spoke to allow her voice some time to rest. To give her a moment to catch herself and recover. "My father was never around either... when we were young kits, we made a dangerous trek through the snow of leafbare. Just to get to the SkyClan border. To meet him just one time." Marshstorm's mew was fond, but sad. The memory bittersweet in his mind. "We did find him, but we were caught by Thrushstar... and by his deputy and our mother. Without meaning to, we had almost caused a clan war. The innocence of youth I suppose."

Marshstorm's tail twitched at the memory of being dragged back into the den. Of Wolffang's hatred, of Puddlepaw and the bright future that shone in front of her. Rather than lament on that, he plunged forward.
"My sister... I wish I had been here for her. I heard of the many crimes Wolffang committed... if I had never been caught by twolegs, perhaps I could have stopped it all. I will never forgive myself for it." He frowned, then placed his muzzle on Dustcloud's shoulder for support as he continued onwards.

"When I was captured, I was so certain I would never see the Clans again... I almost didn't. Just before I made it back to the twolegplace near this forest, I was attacked by a dog." He trembled at the memory. His body remembered the shock and terror. The dog which had him cornered, tearing into his leg. He subconciously twitched his hind right leg, where a couple scars from the beasts teeth had sunk in. "I ended up being trapped with twolegs again. The dog ran from them while I was recaptured and trapped in one of their dens for moons." His ears flattened uncomfortably. "I never gave up my name, but I won't lie, it was tempting to be a kittypet for a moment. If only so that I didn't have be a loner anymore. I was so relieved to run into Coyotefang. To make it back... then... " He swallowed, sadness in his throat and eyes as he forced himself onwards. "then I came back, to find my family was gone. I never got to know Puddlepaw, or see what kind of medicine cat she could have been. I never got to be there for Wolffang and stop her... I never got to truly meet my father, or... to save my mother. I... I know that she's in StarClan... but what I wouldn't give to see her... just one last time. To let her know that I'm so sorry I wasn't there. That I didn't mean to fail my clan and family." He blinked as tears fell onto Dustcloud's pelt.

He took a deep, shaky breath before he pulled back and looked at Dustcloud closely, amber eyes meeting blue as he smiled despite a couple tears that still fell.
"All that has happened in ThunderClan feels like a second chance. One I perhaps didn't deserve, but I am thankful to have recieved."

Breathing became slightly easier with the comfort from Marshstorm, and she gently laid her head on his shoulder as he offered. Her pelt grew warm as she sat contentedly by his side, letting a small purr escape her maw just as the dark tom began to speak. As she listened to the cold journey that he'd made as a kit, she made the connection that he'd been born to Cross-Clan parents, just as she had."H-Having parents from different C-Clans is not easy, w-w-we can both at-attest to th-that." Not having parents at all was harder, and she was sure that both of their parents had passed on. "My f-father was fr-from WindClan." She chimed in, confirming to the tom why he hadn't been there for her.

As tears began to fall from the strong tom's face, the senior warrior shifted her tail, placing it on his back gently in an effort to support and comfort him. "I didn't g-get to see m-my father until the d-day he... he d-d-died." The words were hard to say. She'd accepted that it'd happened long ago, but it was never easy to think about. As for her mother, she'd gone missing seasons ago. The thought had never occurred to her that she might still be alive, somewhere, but she highly doubted it. "It w-was at Fourtrees. Th-there'd been a l-lot of cats there t-that day, m-more than j-just my f-f-father were killed. B-But he was the f-first to go. T-tossed to the gr-ground by Sleetfang, w-without a second th-thought."

She held the belief that StarClan had made sure she was there on that day, to both meet her father and requite his death."I only f-found out th-that he was m-my father as h-he died, h-he'd told me as I st-stood by his s-side." Tears began to well up in her eyes again, but she held them back, looking down at her paws."I've n-never been a-able to p-pardon myself fr-from my actions th-that day, but k-killing Sleetfang prevented m-much m-more death and i-injury. I c-couldn't bear t-to watch h-him kill another c-cat, b-but he s-still didn't d-deserve to d-die, I t-took away any ch-chance he had at r-redemption." When Marshstorm looked down at Dustcloud, explaining that he'd felt like he'd been given one more shot at life, she smiled. "Y-You earned your s-second ch-chance, Marshstorm. I... I'm gl-glad you're h-here."


ooc; serious hamilton vibes from this. 'my father wasn't arouuuund... my father wasn't around... I promise I'll be around for youuu.'

I'm definitely drawing this.

His eyes closed sorrowfully at her explanation. The thought of seeing his kin die wounding him deeper than words could possibly hope to express. He pulled his head back to look at her seriously as he pressed his head to hers as she explained about Sleetfang and his death.
"You did it, because there were more lives at stake than his own." He meowed softly. His amber eyes staring into her blue ones with honesty and sadness as he thought of a warrior never returning home. He thought of Gingerstripe, the tom who came to ThunderClan to plead a case to stay, yet had willingly gone to lengths to murder a medicine cat. "If StarClan wanted him to have survived, he would have. If he had not padded down a path steeped in darkness, enough to kill a cat without thinking, then he would still be with his clan. You and I..." He paused, then turned his head to look back at the field. A soft smile on his muzzle as he caught a flash in the grass and lifted a paw.

Among the grasses, a single insect rested on his paw for a moment as he lifted it between them. Light, bright and vibrant glowed as the bug took off into the distance to rest among the crickets and find the nearest source of others of it's kind.
"Dustcloud. I am honored to have met a cat who has lived through so much as you have." He turned his amber gaze back on Dustcloud with a soft smile. "I would be even more honoured, if you would join me on my half-moon visits here."

The offer wasn't a light one. Marshstorm valued every moment he could have with the stars, but as he looked at Dustcloud, he hoped that she would take him up on his offer. He wanted to be around this brave and noble she-cat some more. To learn how to be as strong as her, in the ways that mattered. To get to watch the starlight glow on her silver and black fur, the scars did nothing to keep him away as he leaned forward, then paused. Swallowing nervously. What if this was wrong? He couldn't shake the feeling that StarClan might be mildly behind this, yet he felt nerves jump in his stomach. It paralyzed him, made him afraid to make the first move that could imply further intention.
"No matter what happens..." He meowed softly, seriously as he thought his own emotions over. One thing, came out more clearly than anything else. That this she-cat was very important, and that, he had to protect her. "I will do my best for you." -For the clan, he added silently as he leaned back to give her space once more with an embarrassed expression on his face. Ears burning with quiet unease. "We should get back to camp..."

The things that Marshstorm said weren't anything that Dustcloud could deny. If Sleetfang hadn't of died, many more lives may have been lost that night, and there wasn't a single cat there that night that found that to be a false statement."I j-just... I can't st-stand the f-fact that I've g-got his bl-blood on my p-p-paws." It was a feeling that she was never able to shake, and it plagued her mind for moons after the event. She was unable to stop calling herself a murderer, and it had been her belief that she had sunken to Sleetfang's lowly level. But now, in the moonlit clearing, she saw that she had risen above the occasion when the time was right. Of course, that didn't stop her from believing that there had been another way to solve the problem, but it helped ease her mind.

Dustcloud's pelt got a little warm when Marshstorm mentioned being honored to have met her, and she was about to comment that she had the honor of meeting him as well, when... "I would be even more honoured, if you would join me on my half-moon visits here." Instead of just warm, Dustcloud's pelt was hot. She shuffled her paws nervously."I... I'd b-be h-honored t-t-to, M-M-Marshstorm." She was stumbling over her words a little more than she normally did at that moment, and it was painfully obvious. She grinned sheepishly as she looked up into his deep amber eyes with a feeling akin to both admiration and affection.

"A-And I y-you, M-Marshstorm." She pressed her head to that of the Deputy, the warmth radiating from her pelt a reminder of the sudden spark she'd felt when next to him. Although she wasn't entirely sure if she'd be able to love another like she had Blacktwig, she hoped that Marshstorm shared her feelings. "L-Let's get g-going then, sh-shall we?" Dustcloud stood up slowly, wincing slightly as her stiff joints were put back into motion after not moving for a while. She stood next to Marshstorm, waiting for him to lead the way back to camp.