The War is Over and We Are Beginning (OPEN / CLAN MEETING / POST-BATTLE TOPIC)

Bushpaw returned unscathed. Her emotionless expression was cleverly disguised as shock as she walked into camp, and without a word she marched into the apprentice den. That day had been a failure.
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Swoopnose, on the other paw, was the opposite. Scorch marks littered his gray fur, and a few coughs escaped his throat as he limped in, one leg at a strange angle. Soot-filled cuts still bled with every step, causing him to wince in pain. He wasn't sure what had been worse. Getting all clawed up by Snowdrop, or slammed into the flaming ground by Lichenmask. As his bad leg toppled out from beneath him, he decided the second one was far worse. It had been odd. At one moment, he had felt himself hitting the flaming ground with such impact that the pain only lasted a moment before he blacked out. When he had awoke, parts of his fur were burnt half off, but the fire was gone and the sun was up. The huge rush of adrenaline the fight had given him died down as he started following his clan back, replaced by complete fear. Not about who had died, or even if they had won. No, he was terrified by the fact that nobody seemed to have noticed him. Other limping cats were receiving help, but nobody seemed to realize his charred form barely managing to keep them in view. By the time he reached camp, his body was trembling from more than just exhaustion. Collapsing near the warriors den, he remembered how they didn't have a medicine cat. Moaning, he waited for whatever Leopardstar had to say.

As he waited for all the cats - battle-weary and untouched alike - to emerge from their dens into the returning golden sunlight, he watched the many familiar faces below as they moved across the sandy clearing to greet and help their comrades; Marshstorm burdened under the weight of his mate Duststorm, the blood slowly dripping from where her left ear once was making his stomach churn.  The children of his dear friend Blizzardshine assisting their injured sibling sent a swell of warmth through his scorched body; Gladepaw had fought bravely despite her youth, as well as Pricklepaw.  They would all make amazing warriors...though he hoped they would never again have to face such a horrifically bloody battle.  This prayer extended to all his clanmates, and his conviction grew even deeper as he caught sight of Violetfall, gazing up at him with a deep concern shining through her pale green eyes.  Pantherpaw had also been in the battle, her smoky gray pelt thankfully untouched; as he scanned the camp for Birdflight though his hazel eyes caught upon Lichenfang, her bum leg stretched out beside her, scarred calico pelt gleaming in the rising dawn.  His heart seemed to drop into his belly; he didn't want her to see their daughter maimed.  He didn't want to hear her mournful cries at the sight of that empty eye socket...he didn't want her to know that in his fear of knowing the truth about her heritage, he had allowed Lichenmask to almost gain the high ground.  All of this though, she would know soon enough, whether he wanted it that way or not.  She needed to know...and he would tell her face to face.

"Cats of ThunderClan, as I'm sure you have probably guessed, the clans were victorious in the battle against Lichenmask and his band of traitors.  The sun and moon have been returned to us, as well as the stars.  Though I will not lie to you...this battle was one of the most savage I have ever had to partake in.  The exiles fought to kill, so the clans were forced to reciprocate.  The enemy's ranks were decimated swiftly, and to my knowledge, there were no survivors."  He paused, realizing that he had skipped over an important aspect...one that he was not particularly keen to relive.  "At the start of the battle, Lichenmask called all five leaders to join him upon the Great Rock.  It was clearly a challenge, but we willingly took it.  Unfourtantly, as he had once displayed in the slaying of Littlestar, Lichenmask demonstrated power that no living cat could have accomplished with their own two paws.  While we were gathered on the Great Rock, Lichenmask seemed to call lightning down from the stormy sky, which struck the earth beneath us, surrounding the Great Rock in a flaming inferno.  Then..."  His voice faltered for a moment before he cleared his throat awkwardly to continue.  "...then, he struck a blow to my neck, taking the first of my nine lives.  My body fell into the flames..."  He was about to mention that Brindlestar had also fallen alongside him, but hesitated; he didn't know for sure if she had lost a life in the process, and he didn't want any questions to be asked that he could not properly answer.

"Once I revived, my pelt had been severely burned, and over the course of the battle the flames touched many others as well."  He gestured around with his tail at the other cats who sported blackened marks upon their bodies, before he went on.  "In the end though, Lichenmask was killed by a fallen tree branch.  The bodies of all the exiles - including Snowdrop and Beetlemask - still lay at Fourtrees.  They will be disposed of once we have had time to rest and tend to our injured."  He fell silent for a moment.  Was there anything else he needed to say?  "...To all of you who fought valiantly tonight, I thank you for your bravery, your loyalty, your strength, and your skill.  I am ever grateful that each of you who left this camp hours ago has returned with your lives; the other clans were not so lucky.  This battle was a stain upon the honor of the forest...and the honor of StarClan.  Though blood was spilled, blood was also saved and preserved, so that it may live on into the bright future on the horizon.  Do not forget those who were lost tonight...on both sides.  They are in equal parts a warning...and a triumph."

After his severe words ceased, a slight smile managed to drift onto Leopardstar's haggard face.  "Because of our lack of a medicine cat, we will have to rely on each other to find remedies for our wounds. I hope that, very soon, we will receive a sign of who will be ThunderClan's next medicine cat...once that time comes, voyages to the Moonstone will once again commence. Lean on each other, and I know we will get through this dour time, and come out stronger, as ThunderClan always has."  He dismissed the clan with a bow of his head but did not leap off of the Highrock.  He could tend to his wounds later; for now, he wanted to watch over the clan he had sworn to protect.

Just then, Mintwhisker scurried into Thunderclan camp. Thanks to Skyclan's small size, she had managed to help everyone in a short amount of time, and had plenty of herbs to spare. It would be cruel to withhold medicine from those who needed it, especially since they weren't far from her own territory.
"Leopardstar-!" Her shrill cry was cut off abruptly when she noticed that the golden tabby tom had called a clan meeting. She flushed with embarrassment and lingered awkwardly near the bracken entrance tunnel before clearing her throat and stepping forward. "Thunderclan!" She began, her tail-tip twitching as the cats turned to look at her. She cleared her throat before plowing on with her speech. "My name is Mintwhisker, and I'm the current Medicine Cat of Skyclan. Since Thunderclan currently doesn't have a Medicine Cat of their own, I would be glad to use my herbs and healing skills to assist your clan in recovering after the battle."
The taupe tabby glanced around, clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention. Then, deciding that it would be best if she got to work, she quickly rearranged the herb bundles she had carried. "Please, if you're injured, step forward!" She mewed.

Leopardstar's black-tipped ears instantly swiveled around at the sound of his name called by an unfamiliar voice and turned to see the SkyClan medicine cat, Mintwhisker, racing into camp.  For a heartbeat, he felt anxiety pulse within his chest; is SkyClan in trouble?  As she went on though, that fear very quickly turned to overwhelming relief.  A genuine smile on his maw, the leader leaped off of his perch - wincing at the pain in his burned flank - and approached the young she-cat as she began to lay out her herbs, the earthy scents bringing reassurance.  "Greetings, your generosity is greatly appreciated.  If you need any help, I can send one of our uninjured apprentices to assist you, and you're welcome to take from Mapleleaf's old stock if the need calls for it."  He bowed his head graciously before twisting around to see where Dustcloud and Birdflight had ended up; they seemed to be the most heavily injured.  His burns stung viciously, but he knew he could wait a while before being treated.  Others couldn't.

"Ohh, you're awake?" Hailpaw asked dryly. Her bright yellow gaze stared down into one almost exactly the same. "Great hero of the forest, Gladepaw, you had better thank me for dragging your ass all the way back here. It wasn't easy, I can tell you that." A small smirk adorned her maw. Ever since she had been thrown against a tree, Gladepaw had babbling about being the one to kill Lichenmask. Perhaps the damage had reduced her already doubtful intelligence, or perhaps she really was that disillusioned. Whatever it was, Hailpaw wasn't going to let a golden opportunity to tease her littermate slip away. If it were not for the fact that she had been concerned about Gladepaw having permanent brain damage and had been trying to take her to the medicine cats, she would have split her sides laughing earlier. Now they were finally back at camp, and she was quite sure that the other she-cat was fine.

Through the group of weary, ragged warriors slipped Ridgepaw. Upon catching sight of the calico safe and sound, Hailpaw couldn't help sighing in relief. "Did ya have fun camp-sitting?" She joked, accepting her sister's gesture of affection. While her tone was laced with amusement, she was completely grateful that Leopardstar had left Ridgepaw behind. By now, dawn was beginning to creep into ravine. For the first time in ages, the sky was lightening. The storm clouds had cleared away, and the forest had been washed by the rain. Sunlight was faintly glinting off the leftover raindrops. Hailpaw took in the sight of the camp at that moment, and her eyes stretched wide. This was a sight that she remembered from her days as a kit. The rising sun was exactly as it had been in the past. Gladepaw seemed to have been saying something for a while now, but she had shut out her sister's voice. All of a sudden, the word "weakling" reached her ears. Reacting at incredible speed, Hailpaw's gaze whipped back to Gladepaw. "What did you just call me?" Her tone was light, but it held a dangerous undercurrent. "Weak? Me? Oh dear, did Lichenmask mess with your memory? I'm not the one who was slapped with an apprentice to the face and thrown against a tree. Do you not see that I'm uninjured? The Exiles weren't able to even touch me!"

When Gladepaw finally snapped out of her daze, Hailpaw had the feeling that other she-cat would die of embarrassment. For the sake of her future mental health, Gladepaw had better shut up. Fortunately or unfortunately, she didn't, and Hailpaw didn't bother stopping her. Hailpaw had never been the smartest of cats herself, but the Gladepaw right now was being so dumb that she hurt Hailpaw's dumb. The young she-cat could barely hold back the chuckles that shook her frame. "You do realize that you're going to regret this?" With a wide smirk, she pushed her littermate back down on the ground. "I'll just say this now, but I'm never going to forget about this, even if you beg and plead."

At Ridgepaw's question, Hailpaw's ears perked up. "Yeah! He didn't seem to be in good shape, but he should be fine. Have you seen his claws? I bet he did a ton of damage!" Where was he now, though? She scanned the gathered cats inquisitively. "Oh, there's Pricklepaw. That poofy ginger mound of fur in the center of camp, you see that?" Before the young she-cat could continue on, Leopardstar began to speak, effectively cutting her off. Her expression morphing into one of solemnity, she sat listening quietly. So he had lost a life. The knowledge prickled like an uncomfortable sensation between her toes. What if he had lost them all like Littlestar had? Well, Marshstorm would simply become the leader then. But ThunderClan would have lost a good cat. As expected, he said nothing about Gladepaw.

"So." Hailpaw teased, prodding the prone she-cat, "You saved us all, hmm? While you were unconscious at the base of tree, you used your StarClan-given powers to knock off a branch halfway across the clearing and killed Lichenmask. I feel so honored to have been born your littermate." She was aware of Mintwhisker's arrival, but messing with Gladepaw took precedence. It was great that SkyClan was willing to help them. Now they didn't have to worry about their lack of medicine cats.

"You didn't have to pick me up, I'd of been fine, see?" meowed Gladepaw, grinning lopsidedly. Despite the initial stupidity she was presenting, she was beginning to become painfully aware, of her throbbing headache. It drummed against her skull, irritably, and she began to scowl. Although, she was more focused now on Leopardstar than her siblings, she kept an ear pointed in their direction, in case they said anything of remote interest to her.

"Yes, Hailpaw, I did call you a weakling. And rather clearly, you are injured seeing as
your hearing isn't working properly." she grumbled turning round and bapping her sibling on her head. Midnee would add more dumb Gladepaw, but she felt that making dumb tik toks was more important.

Marshstorm listened as Leopardstar began to speak. A sense of dread growing in his stomach at every word as he remembered the fierce battle. His lungs still burned from smoke, but that had been nothing in comparison to what Leopardstar had directly confronted. His ears flattened at the mention of the unfathomable power that Lichenmask seemed to wield. There had been far too much lightning, and the forces that threw cats clear across four trees strengthened the unnatural occurances further. Still, StarClan wouldn't do this to the clans... would they? He stamped out the doubt as quickly as it surfaced. StarClan wouldn't. The Dark forest however, would thrive on thier temporary hesitance. On their disillusions and mistrust. He straightened his shoulders as he listened to the rest of what Leopardstar had to say. A solemn blink was his acknowledgement to the lost life. There wasn't anything that could change it now, but he would have to guard Leopardstar more closely to ensure that no more were lost.

He refused to think about losing any cats who were close to him. On that thought, he looked at Dustcloud. His precious mate who was certainly in horrible shape, but he had no idea where to begin treating her. He looked around for Mapleleaf but the new voice cut into his searching. Relief flooded his pelt as Mintwhisker explained why she was there, and he padded forward with a pointed look at Dustcloud and Birdflight, who also bore grevious and horrid wounds from the battle.
"Mintwhisker, please... these two are unconcious and badly wounded." He meowed urgently, hoping that no cat minded him nudging them before them. At the same time however, it was all too clear, they needed to be first. He cringed to see his mate's leg so unnaturally bent.

Mintwhisker looked up as Thunderclan's deputy approached. "O-Of course," She mewed, turning her attention to...

"Oh my Starclan. L-Let's see here..." The young Medicine Cat was greeted by the sight of two heavily wounded warriors, one of them younger than the other. The short-legged Skyclanner turned her attention to the younger one first, struggling to see past the dreadful mangled mess of blood and fur on her face. She shook herself, clearing the mess of tissue as gently as she could to reveal...
Mintwhisker could barely keep herself from gagging. The Thunderclanner's eye was... destroyed. And the skin around it was bare and bleeding. "Right." Time to concentrate. Mintwhisker flicked her tail, grabbing one of the nearby bundles of herbs. "Celandine... Maybe I could save it, but... I don't think there's much of a possibility that she'll ever be able to see, at least clearly, with that eye ever again." Working briskly, she chewed it and trickled the juice as carefully as possible into her eye. "Does she have any family? I... I don't know if it's better to remove it or not... It could potentially get infected if it isn't removed, but... there's also a small chance she'd be able to see again if I treat it carefully." She flicked her tail, looking down at the she-cat. "For now... Chevril, Cobwebs... I'll put a patch over it, but we'll need to make the decision soon." Mintwhisker glanced back up at Marshstorm while she chewed a stalk of Goldenrod before applying it to the she-cat's remaining wounds carefully.

"And now..." Mintwhisker brushed her tail gently over the she-cat before turning towards the silver tabby. "Oh... Oh my..." She was in very poor shape. Mintwhisker would have to work quickly. Working her soft paws around the she-cat's body, the taupe tabby Medicine Cat struggled to find every injury the warrior had sustained. Her left ear was completely torn off, her head was swollen and bleeding, two of her ribs were clearly snapped, her back paw twisted and possibly dislocated, and her front right leg was severely broken, possibly shattered. Her skin was also burnt and blistering in at least three different places.
"The other she-cat can wait for now. You! I need your help." She gestured towards the silver tabby. As soon as she was in a stable enough condition, she would need to be moved to the Medicine Cat den- a feat that Mintwhisker couldn't do alone.

"Stinging nettle... comfrey... set that aside..." Her tail twitched as she talked herself through the steps, sorting and setting aside bundles of herbs rapidly. "Cobwebs, bindweed, hey, you, go find me two sticks! Longer than her leg, go!" As the cat scrambled past her she turned towards the many broken bones the she-cat possessed. "Sorry, sorry, sorry..." She murmured, placing her paws onto the twisted back paw first. With a quick twist and a series of pops, the dislocated paw was back in place. She immediately grabbed the last remaining bundle of cobwebs, binding it into place as swiftly as possible.
"Next..." She carefully applied pressure to the ribs, feeling them shift beneath her. It was a clean break... luckily, they hadn't shifted too much. Wincing, she gave the she-cat's side a quick push, feeling the two bones pop back into place. "Can't bind... oh, please don't tell me..." She tapped her paws on the ground as the silver she-cat suddenly took a deep breath, letting out a sigh of relief. "Didn't puncture the lungs, thank Starclan..."
She turned her attention towards the tabby's head, continuing her running commentary as she tore through her swiftly diminishing herb supply. "Where are the nettles? Ah..." She chewed the leaves furiously, struggling not to retch at their taste. "Here we are..." She carefully applied it to the she-cat's head wound along with a mixture of oak leaves, marigold, and horsetail. "Cowebs, cowebs..." Looking around, the taupe tabby spotted a small bundle caught in the bramble tunnel entrance to camp. She scurried towards it immediately, snatching it and half-running back to the warrior's side. "Same as before..." She muttered, recreating the mixture she had made for the gash in her head. "And now..." She gently wound the cobwebs around both the head wound and the missing ear.

"We've gotta move her now," She mewed, louder than her earlier commentary. "And where are those sticks?!"

Harepaw watched the returning parade of cats as they reentered the camp and gathered around the Great Rock. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't jealous; he hadn't been picked to go fight. At the same time, their bloodied bodies and dismal expressions convinced him that he was lucky to have missed out. Harepaw could smell the burnt fur and blood off of their pelts and shivered despite the warmth of the new light. For that, he was grateful. He knew StarClan's real loyal followers would be revealed, but it was a shame it was so deadly. He glanced at his own unsoiled paws. Harepaw was pretty useless, wasn't he? What kind of cat old enough to be a warrior was held back from a fight?

He shuffled in place, ashamed, as he listened to his courageous leader talk about the battle and the lives put at risk. It was good none of his clanmates died, but they all seemed pretty traumatized. Harepaw looked around for Bearpaw or Hazelpaw to see if they'd fought and returned with terrible injuries. To his concern, he couldn't find Bearpaw among the crowd and was distracted from the rest of Leopardstar's speech.

(occ: Aspen injured Bird's eye beyond saving btw, it basically got totally ripped out)

Leopardstar listened to Mintwhisker's dire report of Birdflight's injuries, his ears flattening farther with every word.  "I-I'm her father...do whatever you think is best Mintwhisker...just...don't let her suffer, please..."  He wanted to protest when the she-cat stated that his daughter could wait; her eye is gone!  How is that not the most urgent case here!?  As he caught sight of Dustcloud though, he realized she was right.  The golden spotted tom let out a low murmur of sympathy as she went to work on the senior warrior's many injured limbs, and settled down to sit beside his calico-pelted daughter, resting his tail gently on her back.  Everything's going to be okay...relax.  She knows what she's doing.

Everything was dark. Where was she anyway? The warrior couldn't tell. The only things Birdflight remembered was going to the battle, getting attacked by a Shadowclan exile, Dustcloud, losing her eye... Oh... That. The calico she-cat struggled to awaken from the dark surroundings binding her. She let out a groan as she forced her now dull green eye open. She felt a body press against her's. Voices were coming from all directions. "W-wha?" she asked in a quiet voice. She attempted to get up but having been in darkness for who knows how long, the light around her caused a wave of dizziness wash over her. She settled down and began to slowly look around her.

Every step was as arduous as the last. The apprentice marched along with the clan, silently, helping where needed and staying close to his kin. Bearpaw's coat was covered in a barrage of scratches but nothing too deadly. Blows from the exile cat had left him reeling and eventually knocked him into a brief unconsciousness mostly due to the unnatural pain that came from the heavy blows. Not long before they reached the camp, a near the rear stumbled and he fell back to attempt to help them the final few steps. A nice, warm nest would be waiting for all of them as soon as they returned. Letting out a low breath, the massive tabby pushed through the gorse, clenching his teeth as it snagged his fur and aggravated his wounds. Once he was through, the tom cast a glance over the cats ahead as he looked to seek out his kin.

Bearpaw padded over to Harepaw as soon as he caught sight of the tom. His kin was safe and he was glad to see his friend in better shape than everyone else. Seeing Thunderclan still strong was a comfort to him. His head-butted into the shoulder of younger cat and be pulled back to let out a low greeting, "The battle was long. I'm glad you're here and camp as well." Paws stumbled only slightly due to exhaustion. He had intended to say more, possibly. The bulky apprentice was not known for his manner of speech. But something interrupted him as he turned around, and Bearpaw's blood instantly ran cold. Staring back at him was the bloodied, gaping eye-socket of Birdflight. An image of Aspenpaw flashed through his mind and he fell back, running into Harepaw by accident. His face was unreadable but his eyes betrayed the terror as he drank in the unspeakable horror.

After recovering from his daze, Bearpaw stumbled silently towards the warrior. He stared at her for a moment, parting his maw slightly to drink in the scents. It was unmistakable at that moment who had inflicted such a horrible wound on her. His claws unsheathed into the earth and gripped it tightly in his claws as if to ground himself. No. No. No. Finally, he whispered lowly, not expecting a response, "Who did this? He did... to a Thunderclan cat. This was meant for me." Why else would a cat have so cruelly ripped an eye from a socket? When Bearpaw's wild blows had torn the asset from his opponent's face, the image had haunted him. But he knew that the reasoning was defending the clan from an intruder. He had not considered the consequences of his wild blows. A shudder ran down his spine. His clanmate has suffered this terrible fate because of him, and there was nothing he could do.

Marshstorm nodded solemnly at Mintwhisker's prognosis of Birdflight. His heart ached for the young she-cat, and for Leopardstar who was clearly very aggrieved from it. He nudged his friend and leader, lending him a brief comforting shoulder until she looked at Dustcloud. The moment she needed help, he sprung into action. He didn't now herbs, but what he could do was help move her and gather sticks. He rushed off in a flurry of dark fur to do exactly that. His eyes scanned the camp and even the training area until he found a few that seemed like suitable candidates.

In the end, only a couple pieces fit through the camp entrance. His jaws ached as they stretched around the thick limbs in his jaws. He set them down by Mintwhisker's paws and tried to help her place them onto the legs enough to get Dustcloud ready to move. Her pelt reeked of the herbs, but it didn't matter as he pressed his forehead to hers in a brief moment.
"Forgive me love, this might hurt." The whispered words were meant as comfort as he prepared to move her. His large heavy body able to take on most of her weight, but the struggle laid in not jarring her injuries too badly.