Deception, Disgrace {CLOSED for now}

Leopardstar restlessly paced the small den he called his own, his aggressively twitching tail giving away the deep unease that tore at his insides.  His face was lost in the shadows that usually relegated themselves to the corners of the cave, but today seemed to be absorbing everything in sight.  He couldn't escape the truth they held...the shaded reality he had been living in.  It had been a few sunrises since he had learned the truth, and still, the venom of it all shocked him to his very core.  He couldn't believe this had happened...how could a cat sacrifice their family just to keep a secret?  Their own mother!  Soon, very soon, he would have to face this monster.  He would have to pass judgment on their life, their honor.  Death or exile.  The two choices that had been given to him by Jaystar.  Before a few days ago, if a cat had asked him if he would've had the guts to kill one of his own clanmates, he would've spat in their face.  Now though...he would have to talk to Sharptooth.  His own apprentice...a cowardly murdering liar.  Marshstorm would be back any moment now; he had sent the deputy to fetch Sharptooth from the empty den where she had been being guarded.  It was time to pass judgment on a cat he had believed in, that he had wanted to succeed and thrive...a cat that had failed him.  Oh StarClan...give me strength.

Marshstorm padded silently towards the elder's den. He nodded briefly to the cats guarding it as he steeled himself, then stepped into the dark of it. His amber eyes bright in the dim light as he looked at Sharptooth for the first time in days. Ones he had spent cautiously at Leopardstar's side, in helping to bring happiness back to the clan as best as he could. The weight of the situation however, could not be ignored. Sharptooth had killed, and she had allowed another cat to die. Didn't have the courage to speak up for her own mistake. The idea made Marshstorm's frown more severe as his tail lashed behind him.
"It's time." He meowed simply, then turned to lead her to the leader's den without a glance. His posture strong and proud as he led her from the elder's den to Leopardstar's as he parted the moss that covered it. His eyes firmly on Sharptooth every step after he turned.

He would not allow her a moment to attack. He called out to Leopardstar to announce their presence.
"Here she is." He meowed curtly as he padded to Leopardstar's side with a firm glare in her direction. His posture only minutely relaxed next to the golden tom. "If you have anything to say for yourself, for your kin Sharptooth, I'd advise you start talking." He warned courteosly.

Sharptooth ducked into the den, pushing through the moss that hung over the entrance as gracefully as she could manage, her green eyes lingering on Leopardstar as she sat down, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. "Leopardstar," She spoke his name quietly in greeting, blinking before turning her gaze to the tom at his side; the one that had lead her here.
Marshstorm couldn't be faulted for his loyalty. Leopardstar had made a wise decision when he appointed him as Thunderclan's deputy.
Sharptooth's tail tip twitched as Marshstorm spoke. "Yes, I suppose it is." She sighed. This was it. This was the moment that Specklefang had died for. This was what she had been waiting for. They would kill her here, and she would fall into the Dark Forest.
Sharptooth cleared her throat. "In case there's any remaining confusion, let me be clear in stating that I indeed killed the Riverclan apprentice that was trespassing on Thunderclan territory. I murdered him, and threw his body into the river." She gave no reaction, doing her best to hide the pain that was pushing her to confess everything. "I watched as my mother took the fall for me. I allowed Ivystar to exact revenge on our clan, poisoning Specklefang despite her innocence."
She took a deep breath. She had a better reason for staying silent. If she had confessed to Ivystar then, she would be in Starclan now. It was better to wait and commit a worse crime if it meant that she was certain she would arrive in the Dark Forest.
"Specklefang rests in Starclan now. With Thistlepaw."
The silence that hung over them made Sharptooth want to flee, to run into Twolegplace and live out the rest of her life as a coward. Her clan thought she was worse than Ivystar, previously friendly gazes turned hostile.
She had never been so alone.
Sharptooth had to stay strong. She was going to get what she deserved, and she welcomed the momentary embrace that death would give her before casting her into the Dark Forest with all the other murderers. With her death, Thunderclan could finally rest easy.
"Just do it already." Starclan, the silence was unbearable. She couldn't stay silent any longer, the desperate words tearing themselves out of her maw and taking flight into the heavy silence that stretched between them. "Kill me." She begged. "I deserve it, don't I? Let me go to the Dark Forest to live out the rest of my days where I belong. That's why I stayed quiet in the first place!" The words were out before she had the chance to stop them.
Sharptooth took another breath, feeling a strange calm wash over her. When she spoke again, it was gentle and quiet.
"Forget me when I'm gone. Forget this whole Starclan-forsaken war." Once she was dead, Thunderclan would be able to thrive once more. Hopefully, she had managed to get Leopardstar to understand.

"That's all I have to say."

"Sharptooth...you're a fool."

Leopardstar had stopped in his pacing as the two cats had entered his den, seating himself stiffly on the sandy floor, Marshstorm by his side.  His eyes had fallen to his paws, not wanting to look at her face, the face that held the same inquisitive green eyes that had once begged him to let her go hunting on her own...he didn't want to see how they had darkened.  He remained in this position all the while as she talked, his black-tipped ears flattened against his head - in fear or anger he did not know - but when she finished, his eyes closed.

When his head raised, there had never in many moons been so much anger burning in those hazel depths.

"Let me make this clear; none of this should've happened to begin with!  I know, for a fact, that I trained you better than this!  A warrior does not need to kill in order to win their battles...do you remember where that's from Sharptooth?  I need to check since you have flounced the Warrior Code so carelessly for...I don't know how many moons."  The leader's voice was oddly patronizing, but he continued on without regard for his tone and rose to his paws.  "You would've been well within you're right as a ThunderClan warrior to have simply chased Rowanpaw off back into his own territory with maybe a few claw marks to remember you by...but no.  You killed him.  You killed a newly-named apprentice, who probably had minimal battle training and was still learning the rules of the borders...and now you speak of him as if he were just another piece of fresh-kill that felled beneath your claws.  This is not what ThunderClan stands for, and this is not in the oath you swore when you received your name.  Yet, that isn't even the most disgusting part of what you did."

Leopardstar's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, and his long sharpened claws emerged from their sheaths.

"You let your own mother take the fall for your idiocy."

His voice had lowered into a venomous growl, and he took a step closer to the brown tabby she-cat.  "...do you have any idea...of what I would give in order to have a mother like Specklefang in my life?!  She loved her children and clan more than life itself, and she stuck by her beliefs and morals until the very end.  She was willing to die for you Sharptooh...so here's something to keep in mind as we go forward..."  A very dark expression swept over Leopardstar's features as if all the coldness of the most bitter of leaf-bares had come to rest in his eyes.  "The only reason I'm here in ThunderClan standing before you right now...is because my mother thought me such a burden upon her life that she left me to die in the woods; so, forgive me if I'm not very sympathetic to your self-induced tradgedy."

For a moment, Leopardstar began to pace again.  "Let's be honest with ourselves here; this was an act of revenge on both sides.  RiverClan didn't like Blizzardshine asking for territory, so they attacked us without mercy.  Wheather you realized it or not, Rowanpaw and Fawnsong's deaths were acts of revenge for Thistlepaw.  Ivystar came here seeking vengeance for her lost clanmates - rightfully so, I might add - and Flickerpaw, along with Specklefang, fessed up, taking the consequences.  Here's the thing with revenge though Sharptooth; you have to be brave enough to stand up for what you've done...because the only one to blame for what you've done is yourself.  You failed at that, and as a result, lost a cat who you should have cherished...and now you've done the same thing.  You hid the truth for so long that StarClan decided to take matters into their own paws...and transfer the knowledge to RiverClan!  Let me say Sharptooth, that I am not pleased to have learned about all of this from our rival.  You're just lucky that Jaystar decided to leave the final decision in my paws instead of subjecting you to the same fate as your mother...but from the sound of things, that almost seems like what you wanted."

He had stopped pacing and was standing closer to Sharptooth, looking her eye-to-eye with such an intense glare that any kit who saw it within a ten-mile radius was probably running for cover.  "You want me to kill you, right?  To send you to the Dark Forest, where you supposedly belong...you really are a coward."  His lips drawn back in a snarl, he continued in a tone that could've seared solid stone.  "Are you really going to give in that easily?  Roll over onto your belly and wait for the inevitable to occur?  If this is the result of the values I instill in my apprentices, I probably shouldn't be mentoring.  What are you Sharptooth, a warrior or a kittypet?!  Though the future may look bleak from where you're standing, I'm at a higher position, and I assure you I have seen cats rise back up from even lower reputations than you have, and turn back into cats once again worthy of respect.  You want to go to the Dark Forest, do you?  What, so you want to share tongues with Smokefang and Rockthorn?!  I know full well that you were raised on tales of their cruel deeds, in a world shaped by their revolting choices...is that the mark you want to make on the clans as well?  A murderer who gave up when the going got tough?  Even Rockthorn, as slimy as he was, didn't go down without a fight.  His battle though was against good cats...you don't have to fight like that."

At this point, the two cats were almost nose to nose; and to both of their surprise, Leopardstar rested his tail on Sharptooth's shoulder.

"Sharptooth...I know that you're still a good cat.  You may have forgotten what it's felt like to be innocent, and you may never feel that purity again...but you can still grow.  Just like the forest rose from the ashes of the Great Fire, so can you revive your life.  Don't give up on yourself Sharptooth...because I know you can do better than that.  You can be better than this...you can learn to overcome your past and make a new future, a new life for yourself...but it can't be here."  Leopardstar's tail slid limply to the ground as he stepped back, gazing at the younger she-cat with an unreadable expression.  "I will not lie to you.  The only way Jaystar would agree to leave our camp is if I promised to fulfill one of two options for you.  Exile...or death."  Leopardstar blinked as if still stunned by the reality set before him.  "Either way...in a matter of minutes you will leave this clan...but where you go is up to you.  I have stated my case...now you must choose."

"Death, and imprisonment to the Dark Forest, where there is no redemption or release from your sins...or exile, a chance at a new start, time to rebuild your broken life and someday, maybe see your family again...to make them proud."

Leopardstar returned to his place beside Marshstorm, curling his tail over his paws.  He remained silent.  He almost couldn't believe that he was giving her a chance...but he knew it was the right thing to do.  Just as he had once done for Wolffang, he must do now.  It was out of his paws.

Marshstorm listened in a solemn silence. Ready still to attack as needed as Sharptooth began to speak. As he listened however, his posture changed slightly, head lowered and gaze held to hers carefully despite his urge to look up, look away from the she-cat who had lied and lost everything.

This cat who had given up.

His ears flicked as Leopardstar took over. The anger in those green eyes unmistakeable as Marshstorm stayed back from stopping his approach towards Sharptooth as he spoke. His muscles ready to spring, but his heart deep and sinking.

What had led to this? He knew scant smatterings and rumours of the fight with RiverClan, but he had only come in just after it. Not seeing more than a glimpse of Flickerpaw as he flicked his tail and thought slowly over his own words when Leopardstar returned.

"I believed you were a good mother." He began slowly, his thoughts turned towards the many kits she had. Very few of them had survived to this point, but their survival rates were low as it was it seemed. "Now... I'm not sure what to believe. I want to think you lied because your kits needed you... but that is no excuse to have not told your leader. That's no excuse to blatantly allow the death of an innocent." He gestured to Leopardstar with his tail. "You must trust in your leader... this has shown that you are unwilling to do that. I cannot in good conscience vouch for you to stay, but I will not pursue your death either."

He stepped forward and paused to take a deep breath.
"You've lost yourself, Sharptooth. I think, you've given up. Too soon and too early. There is still plenty of things you can do... things outside of the clan. Things to learn and see that you can't even imagine, and perhaps after seeing all these things, you'll remember why it was a Warrior you always wanted to be, and maybe" he paused carefully. "Perhaps someday, Starclan will see and reward your efforts, should you choose to take up that path."

With a firm nod, he stepped back to glance at Leopardstar, then settled down beside him uneasily. Would the other tom approve? He wasn't sure, but it had felt right.

"You let your own mother take the fall for your idiocy."
Sharptooth blinked, shocked as she felt the waves of anger radiating from Leopardstar. She fought the urge to shrink back as he attacked her, landing blow after blow with frightening determination.  But didn't she deserve this? She had given up, after all. This was what she deserved. She hated herself. She hated every fiber of her being. But just hating yourself didn't fix things. The she-cat shrunk down, her ears flattening as if she could block out Leopardstar's sharp words. But of course, that didn't work. They found their way in, shards of truth that burrowed deep into her fur. Pricking her skin and digging deeper, piercing her heart, her soul, what shreds of determination she had left after her time in the Elder's den.

Sharptooth had been prepared for scorn. She had been prepared for hatred. But the one thing that left the she-cat completely defenseless was the next thing the spotted golden tom said.
"The only reason I'm here in ThunderClan standing before you right now... is because my mother thought me such a burden upon her life that she left me to die in the woods."
Sharptooth visibly winced at the pain and darkness that swelled up within the tall golden tom's hazel eyes. Moons of pain, moons of regret. More hurt than Sharptooth had ever experienced.
She thought herself weak. Now she knew that she was much, much more than that. Leopardstar had borne the weight of the leafbare even more than she had. He had suffered the death of children and friends, just as she had. But he had never, ever resorted to violence. The sick self-hatred swirling within her made the short-legged she-cat want to vomit.
"Let's be honest. This is an act of revenge on both sides." That was something Sharptooth hadn't been able to admit to herself. She had been acting on base instinct, trying to deal as much damage to Riverclan as possible without considering the truth. They were cats, just like her. They thought and breathed and felt and died, loved and hurt and lost. And just like her, they had been fighting under their leader.
It was all so much bigger than she had imagined.
Sharptooth shivered as the long-legged tom stopped his pacing, wheeling about and staring deep into her eyes with a look that burned worse than fire. She dropped her gaze.
She was coward, no better than a heartless rogue. She had let her mother, her dear mother, die for her. She hadn't done anything to stop it. She had taken the life of an apprentice without thought or mercy. Her pelt stung at her next thought. This was her own doing. It wasn't Riverclan's fault, or the harshness of Leafbare, of Leopardstar's mentoring, or Specklefang's actions. This was entirely her doing.
Was that the way she wanted to be remembered?
Leopardstar's words had torn down all the walls she had built over the moons since the apprentice's death. She was left as weak and defenseless as a newborn kit, wailing as the ice-cold wind settled over them for the first time. She had spent so long in the dark; quiet and safe, living a lie that she had spun to protect herself. Now, exposed in the brilliant light, she could barely process what was happening around her, let alone the emotions that had begun to stir once more in her.

Leopardstar spun, his nose nearly meeting her own. She looked up, meeting his gaze once again. So much pain, so much darkness... but beneath it all, a shred of light. Of hope. It reminded her painfully of her apprentice ceremony. She had been so pure, so young. What had changed since then?
Then... oh Starclan, then... he stopped. Sharptooth felt her heart thud in her chest. Leopardstar's kindness burned so, so much more than his hatred. She shuddered again when he rested his tail on her shoulder, trying to shrug it away but failing it miserably.
"I know that you're still a good cat."
no. No. NO. She wasn't good, she wasn't right, she wasn't okay. This wasn't okay. "You may have forgotten what it's felt like to be innocent, and you may never feel that purity again...but you can still grow." It burned, stung, cut worse than anything she had ever felt. The fact that he believed, truly believed everything he was saying made her want to wail.
"You can be better than this...you can learn to overcome your past and make a new future, a new life for yourself...but it can't be here."
In the silence that stretched between them as Leopardstar stepped back, Sharptooth shook. It was all coming down, crashing around her. The fire, the frost, the fighting, the screams, the fear, the lies, all at once.
Sharptooth broke. And in the silence, she finally uttered a sound.
Sharptooth was crying. It started softly at first, a quiet shaking breath, the glimpse of a tear on her pain-stricken face. And then, suddenly, the agony of the situation caught up with her, and she began to sob. Her mother was gone. She had killed, killed an apprentice. No more than a baby. His life had been as vivid as her own, and he had died. His parents, oh his parents, they waited up that night, wondering when he would be coming home. They had led the first search patrols, calling his name in the stillness of night.
They had found his body. The fluffy warrior let out a wail of agony. What Leopardstar had said had started a chain reaction, and she felt her heart being flooded with light. Blinding, burning, crushing brightness.
Remorse. Kindness. Love. She hadn't truly felt them in so long.

Sharptooth cried until she could no longer muster the energy. She was empty, completely drained.
She looked up, meeting Leopardstar's gaze- filled with so much emotion, wise beyond their years. Her mentor, a tom she had held in the highest regard. He had been like a father to her, comforting her when she was hurt and scolding her when she was foolish.
"You can be better than this... you can learn to overcome your past and make a new future, a new life for yourself... but it can't be here."
She could start over, begin again. Lead a life of simplicity and peace. She could defend the innocent, protect the weak and fight for all that is good and bright. Her future was in her paws. She had to power to change, to grow, to heal once again. Life was precious. Her time spent as a warrior of Thunderclan had taught her that. If she cherished life, grew and continued through the pain... She could find redemption, she could earn forgiveness. She could fix herself.
She could make her mama proud.

She sat taller, straightening her spine and meeting Marshstorm's eyes with her own. Everything the tom did reminded her of Coyotefang, from the way he held himself to the way his words flowed, smooth as a river. She had trusted Coyotefang with her life and her secrets, spilling every thought that crossed her mind openly and honestly.
"You've lost yourself, Sharptooth." That much was true. She had lost herself.
But she could be found. There was a life waiting for her outside the forest. She knew that she would never again be able to wander the wooded land that she had cherished since birth. And that stung. But she knew there was a world past that, countless forests to walk through and countless cats in need of change. Cats like her.
Sharptooth took a steadying breath. She shifted her paws underneath her, drawing herself to her full height. The darkness was gone, and she was slowly, ever so slowly, getting used to the light.


"Leopardstar..." She spoke without hesitation, but the raw emotion in her voice was clear. "Thank you." And she meant it. With everything she had, she meant it. He had been strong enough to turn the tide, wake her up and clear away the darkness.
"I choose... I choose exile." She spoke loud and clear, summoning strength she didn't know she still possessed. "I choose remorse, hope, love." She took another breath. "And I choose the light."

Leopardstar listened in a solemn - but approving - silence as Marshstorm said his piece, and as the murky brown tabby settled down once again by his side the golden-pelted leader offered him a brief nod, meeting his gaze out of the corner of his eye for a heartbeat before turning back to Sharptooth.  He did not speak as the she-cat was absorbed by fierce emotion, but every sob that fought its way out of her chest seared his heart like burning embers.  She had fallen so far, lost so much...but his own words still rang in his ears.  She could recover from this.  He knew she had the strength and willpower to go forward, to forge a new purpose for herself outside the clans...to win her life back.  As the brown tabby she-cat's sobs ceased to nothing and she lifted herself up, Leopardstar met her gaze firmly, expression forcibly emotionless.  Even before she spoke though, he knew the answer; he had seen that face before.

"...I choose the light."

Leopardstar closed his hazel eyes and nodded deeply, an unknowable measure of tension being released from every muscle in his lithe body.  "You have chosen well, young one."  With a determined speed, he rose to his paws and padded forward to stand in front of the cat who had once been one of his warriors...about to become a rogue.  "Sharptooth, from this moment forward you are no longer a member of ThunderClan.  Your title of a warrior is hereby revoked, and if you are found on ThunderClan territory after sunset tonight my clan has the authority to chase you from our land."  For a moment he paused, seemingly debating on something, before asking in a slightly strained voice; "Are you willing to leave of your own accord, or shall I escort you to the border?"

Tension faded from Marshstorm's body at the approving glance. His posture calm and quiet as he watched while Sharptooth considered her options. The choice to live was a good one. He could see so much potential still left in her young life. His white tail tip twitched briefly as a thought occurred to him.

Once she had answered Leopardstar's question, he padded forward a single pace. No threat to it, instead his amber eyes were dark with concern.
"I will offer you a word of warning." He meowed calmly, a flash of teeth and claw rang in his memory. "Be careful of the cats in two leg place. Rogues and kitty pets they may be, some of them can sound as tempting as a mouse in leafbare, but hold the venom of an adder."

He stepped back once more with a polite dip to his head.
"May you find StarClan's light once more."

Sharptooth's strength didn't waver when Leopardstar approached, nodding determinedly as he spoke. She couldn't break now. Not after everything.
She forced the three words out of her mouth, struggling to keep her voice smooth. "I'll leave myself." One last chance to say goodbye to her forest, her home, a piece of her soul.
The fluffy she-cat turned to Marshstorm as the tom approached, dipping her head. He had moons of experience surviving in Twolegplace, and although she wasn't certain where she'd end up, she figured any advice from such a wise tom would prove useful someday. She blinked respectfully. "Thank you."

The she-cat stood awkwardly for a moment, shifting from one paw to the other before ducking her head and turning to leave. Leopardstar would most likely announce his decision- her decision -soon. She didn't want to be around when that happened, but she knew she couldn't leave without saying a few parting words to her closest clanmates. If Leopardstar even allows me to stay that long. She cast a dreary glance outside the den, noting dismally that it was nearly sunset already.
Taking a small breath, the once-proud warrior of Thunderclan took a step over the threshold and into a new, dangerous life.

OOC: should we open the topic, or just have Sharp leave?

(occ: for the sake of getting this done, let's just end it here and if you want to IC have Sharp talk to some people maybe make a separate short topic for it?)

Leopardstar nodded, his hazel gaze dropping down to his paws as the strength of passion began to drain from his body, leaving him feeling strangely empty and sad.  What a waste this was...such a great warrior, a loyal clanmate, a caring mother...forced to find a new life due to her mistakes.  As much as he mourned what could've been though, fury still smoldered deep within his belly, and as his former apprentice turned away he couldn't help the way his claws dug into the loose soil.  How could any sane cat survive the loss of someone they love so deeply...while living with the fact that they had been the one to doom them to death?  I've only seen heartlessness like that once before...and I hope never again.  

"Goodbye, Sharptooth."  His voice was strained and overflowing with tension as if someone was squeezing the words out of him, but as he gazed up at her retreating back he meowed in a whispered tone; "...may StarClan light your path."  He was silent for many minutes.  It was just he and Marshstorm, alone in the stone den, the shadows seemingly pressing in towards them.  Leopardstar blankly gazed at his paws, clearly deep in thoughts that couldn't quite take shape.  After a while though, he stirred and rose to his paws.  

"Come, we have an annoucement to make."