Forbidding Foreboding (IMPORTANT CLAN MEETING)

It had taken Scorchstar many, many, many days to finally come to a conclusion of his own question: should he forbid cats from hunting at Carrionplace? It was true that the rat-infested Twoleg site was alive with, well, rats, and the place would usually keep ShadowClan fed well throughout leaf-bare. However, it still came with the risk of disease, and with how low herbal supplies are for medicine cats during this frosty season, it was quite obvious Morningpaw wouldn't be able to spare what little resources she had for something that could be so easily prevented.

So much has happened to his Clan already. First, his son Spiderkit died before he could even be apprenticed, then his two youngest daughters Silentpaw and Mothpaw went missing, then his deputy Froststone fell ill with whitecough, and finally one of his older sons Poppyheart mysteriously disappeared after a RiverClan attack at Fourtrees. The prophecy Morningpaw had delivered to him was coming true; his Clan was slowly dying, his beloved Clanmates being picked off one by one by fate. Hopefully, by preventing anymore illness by Carrionplace, he could save his Clan yet.

After weighing the pros and the cons, Scorchstar finally made his decision, and he was ready to announce it.

He just hoped the rest of his Clanmates would take this well.

Slipping out of the leader's den underneath the large oak tree and leaping up onto the Jaggedrock, he yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Jaggedrock for a Clan meeting!"

---

Asterspark was miserable. It had been a few moons since he had lost the love of his life, Sparkfeather, and just a few sunrises ago he had found out his only full brother went missing. Poppyheart had been attacked at Fourtrees -- by a RiverClanner no less, who he thought was supposed to be ShadowClan's ally -- and he felt himself falling further and further in the depths of depression.

He had lost his two best friends in the entire world. Nothing could make him happy now. What point was there really to continue on? Death was inevitable, they all were just prolonging the pain and suffering until then.

He wasn't as grumpy anymore as he used to be when Sparkfeather died. His actions had already shifted a wedge between himself and his beloved littermate, and he disappeared. He'd never even be able to apologize and make amends. So he decided to be as 'nice' as possible to all his other Clanmates. Sure, it came cross as lazy and carefree, and he'd laze about from time to time, but at least he wasn't being hostile. He didn't want to feel the unbearable guilt and regret of a cat remembering him last as being an insufferable prick.

He owed that to Poppyheart at least.

Stars, he missed his brother so much.

Hearing his father's call from outside the warriors' den, Asterspark toyed with the thought of skipping the ceremony altogether and just lay in his nest to continue drowning in his own misery. Then he thought better about it. It may be important.

With a soft huff of breath, the blueish-gray warrior rose himself up onto his paws and padded out of the den to meet with the rest of the assembling cats.

Frog had received her warrior name very recently, but that didn't stop her from exercising every bit of freedom that being fully named gave her. The gray she-cat had spent the morning hunting alone - and then napping - on ShadowClan's territory. She had been fairly successful, finding a nice fat dove as well as a mouse. She likely could have found more if her former mentor had ever taught her to hunt in snow properly, but Frog couldn't be bothered by that anymore. She was a warrior; what did it matter what Asterspark did or didn' teach her now? Clearly she knew enough for Scorchstar.

The warrior was just returning to camp when her leader's voice rang through the clearing. Frog quickly rushed her catches to the fresh-kill pile to drop them off before she returned to sit in front of Scorchstar, wondering what meeting he intended to call. Did it have to do with Poppyheart's disappearance? Would he break the alliance with RiverClan? The gray she-cat curled her tail around her paws, green eyes focused on Scorchstar.

Redwing felt like a ghost of her former self. Her recently stabilized life had been turned upside down, and she was left with no semblance of order anywhere in it... Just mere days after discovering that she loved him, her mate had been taken from her by some RiverClan cat. Whether he was dead or just injured somewhere, she didn't know; however, it was hard to hold out hope that he would return. First Sparkpaw's death and Aster's park's estrangement, then her apprentice's disappearance, and now Poppyheart... When would it end?

The young warrior was not in good shape as she emerged into the sunlight, not paying attention to where she sat under the Jaggedrock. In her blind distress, she didn't even notice that she had instinctively settled by Asterspark, despite the fact that they hadn't talked for a while. Her vision was blurry as she stared unblinkingly at Scorchstar, already wishing that the meeting was over.

Crowfur slowly made his way over to where the other cats were gathering. The warrior was on his last limbs in terms of energy. He barely had any anymore. It was as if it had been stripped from him, little by little, as each of his kits died. The tom looked slightly older than what he actually was. Depression made him so. The dark-furred tom sat down and looked up at where his brother stood. At least he still had other remaining family like his mate, father, and brothers. He also had his grandkits and his sister-in-law. Those thoughts allowed him to relax. He felt better.

As Wildstrike heard how his brother called for a clan meeting he got up from were he had been sitting outside the warriors den and made his way over towards the Jaggedrock, he looked around before he padded over to Thornbriar and sat down by her side, he smiled quickly at her "Hey there, how are you doing today?" he asked her as he waited for the other cats to gather around the Jaggedrock and for Scorchstar to begin.



Minnowcall pricked her ears as she heard her mate. She padded out of the warriors den and walked over towards the Jaggedrock and sat down, she looked up at the dark tabby tom with a smile.

Ravenpaw padded into the clearing, her ears pricked. So much had happened lately, with her older brother going missing, her younger brother's death, and her two little sisters' disappearances. There had been so much loss in the family, and she could imagine the grief her older brother and father had been going through. Unconsciously, she edged toward Hollowpaw, the one cat she had to talk to. His presence alone calmed her. Pressing into his thick winter pelt, she waited for her father to speak.

Firestone was growing older and he knew it. Moons had passed and now he wasn't the same energetic and passionate tom he used to be. His mate was dead, his brother now lived in Riverclan, his parents... well, he didn't like to think about them too much. All he had left was his precious daughter with Violetshine. The large, senior warrior padded calmly to the meeting place and settled down next to Redwing. He greeted her with a gentle, loving nuzzle, knowing how much pain she was enduring these days. Hopefully, Scorchstar would come out with good news.

Though the two of them seldom interacted, Burntpaw knew of the relationship between him and Crowfur. Seeing the older tom's evident sadness, the apprentice padded towards him as the clans gathered together. The calico settled back on his haunches and flicked his feathery tail against the black-furred warrior's back. Turning his head up towards the clan leader in anticipation of his speech, "Do you think this is a ceremony? I didn't think there was any cat who was going to become a warrior soon." There was genuine curiosity in his voice. Usually, the deputy, or the absentee deputy, was the one to do ceremonies for the younger cats. Scorchstar normally stood when it was time for there to be a warrior. Could he be naming a new deputy? With Froststone gone, in the midst of leaf-bare no less, Shadowclan had been reliant on their leader and the senior warriors. He supposed they would know momentarily.

Hearing his leader's call, Daisyflame made his way to the front of the crowd, his amber eyes locked on his best friend above. What ever the tom had to say, it must've been on some urgency, for any-cat could sense the tension in Scorchstar's tone. Unfortunately, while part of him wanted to be optimistic, he knew that such news probably wasn't the case, and so he sat in silence, waiting for the leader to begin. Of course, while he still considered the leader to be his best friend, a small glimpse of anger burned deep down inside of him, seeing as though he hadn't been named even temporary deputy, yet again. Of all the cats in the clan, he was an obvious choice and now that Scorchstar had chosen Wildstrike instead of him, it'd left the tom even more confused. Maybe he'd have a talk with him about it later, but for now, he needed to keep a level head and support his friend, no matter what emotions kindled inside of him.

Morningpaw watched on apart from the rest of her clan with a frown in place. She was sitting at the entrance of her den. She could tell how badly the prophecy affected Scorchstar. He looked undeniably stressed and the medicine cat could only blame herself. Despite that, she did what she had to. It was her duty to have passed on the knowledge given to her by Starclan to her leader. She just hoped Scorchstar could save the clan from the foreboding future and chaos.

Mapleshine had enjoyed eating some fresh-kill when Scorchestar called for a clan meeting. Mapleshine padded over to the jagged rock curious what this was going to be all about. She sat down at the end of the now formed crowd not feeling like going up in front. She silently listed the things that could be of in her head but non felt like they could be right. Scorchestar looked shaken like he knew something the rest did not, whatever it was it must be really bad to give the leader such a look.

Seeing as all of his Clanmates have assembled beneath him at the foot of Jaggedrock, Scorchstar took in and exhaled away a deep breath before delivering his announcement. "Cats of ShadowClan, as you all know, leaf-bare is a difficult time where prey is scarce and herbs needed to treat injuries and illnesses are very hard to come by in the frosty cold. Carrionplace would be used as a sort of last resort to find prey and bring it back as fresh-kill for the Clan, in spite of the diseases the rats that inhabit the land carry. I remember what it was like to go hungry for several sunrises when I myself was a warrior, but even then it was much easier to handle than the sickness I would risk catching upon eating tainted rats from Carrionplace, especially with little to no herbs at the medicine cat's disposal. It would be dangerous to risk unnecessary illness during such a vulnerable time for the Clan.

"With that being said, I hereby decree that for the remaining of leaf-bare, any and all hunting by Carrionplace is strictly forbidden," he announced. "Any cats seen hunting by Carrionplace or bringing back prey from Carrionplace, especially rats, will be punished accordingly, and the prey will be buried by the marshes so that predators will not be lured to our camp. We cannot risk falling ill during this difficult season." He glanced at each and every face of his fellow Clanmates, seeming to dare even one of them to object. He knew the decision was a risky one all things considered, but he also knew in his heart that it was the best thing he could do for his Clan, prophesied to fall. He needed to do all he could to make sure this prophecy did not come true at all costs.

---

Asterspark blinked in surprise at his father's new law. He knew just as well as anyone else in the Clan that the prey by Carrionplace could very well be laced with disease that could get a cat really sick -- perhaps even fatally. Still, it was important for a Clan to keep up its strength with food, and ShadowClan heavily relied on the Twoleg rubbish place for food during leaf-bare, as there would always be something to find. This must not have been an easy decision for Scorchstar to make, he concluded.

It was only then that he realized his former friend and his missing brother's love interest Redwing had settled down next to him. Perhaps it was instinct that she sat next to him. After all, before the whole fiasco of him and Poppyheart having that falling out -- and before the death of Sparkfeather -- he and the pretty molly were very close friends. He knew how much she was hurting. He truly did. He was still hurting over the death of his own love interest, and that had been many moons ago.

Rather awkwardly, Asterspark shuffled closer and closer to Redwing until his pelt touched hers, and he turned his head to try and catch her eye. When she did look at him, he offered her a smile. A small, half-hearted, very saddened smile, but a smile nonetheless. I won't let you suffer alone, Redwing. I will share your heartache.

Redwing leaned gratefully into her father's consoling embrace as she listened to her leader. She hadn't seen him recently, but was glad for her only family member's presence and support. The dark red warrior was surprised by the new command as well, but the emotion didn't show itself on her face. She saw its logical connotations and her leader's reasoning, and that was enough for her... though memories of hunting with her father in Carrionplace and the fact that it was leaf-bare weighed hard on her mind. But the she-cat nodded in tired acquiescence, licked her father's shoulder respectfully, and turned to leave. She couldn't rely on Firestone to make her feel safe like she did as a kit; she was grown up now, and probably should return to her warrior duties.

It was then that she noticed Asterspark looking at her- which woke her up with a jolt of surprise, as she'd barely registered his presence. But she'd still sat next to him, maybe in her instinctive need for comfort. When her slightly dulled green eyes met his mismatched gaze, she saw understanding in his gaze. After Sparkfeather's death, she'd been saddened, but hadn't truly understood her friend's pain... until now. The sorrowing half-smile on his muzzle told her that he knew exactly what she was feeling. And she wouldn't have wished this torture on anyone else, even though he'd lied to Poppyheart, and knowing that he must be feeling it twice as hard he cause now his brother was gone, too...

The normally happy she-cat's emotions became too much for her, and her agonized green eyes filled up with tears. Not thinking, she buried her face in Asterspark's blue-furred chest, sobbing silently, not caring that she was in front of the whole Clan. She'd been ignoring her old friend this whole time, not knowing the pain he was in, and now they both had to feel the consequences of Poppyheart's loss. "I'm so sorry, Asterspark..." StarClan truly had a cruel sense of humor.

Frog watched her leader curiously, glancing around occasionally as the rest of the Clan quickly gathered to his summons. She could just feel Thornbriar giving her judgemental stares, and for no reason! The newly named warrior had stayed out of the other she-cat's way since receiving her warrior name. She's just not worth my energy, Frog thought - more often than necessary. Frog sighed with frustration and impatience at the imagined hostility from her Clanmate, but Scorchstar's voice soon rang out over the camp. Frog was quickly distracted from her dark and vengeful thoughts as her leader mentioned the Carrionplace.

Frog, personally, enjoyed hunting there. The rubbish was easy to hide in, even if it smelled awful, and the prey there was slow since it wasn't used to bold predators such as herself. She knew better than to go there herself as an apprentice, but maybe as a warrior...

And then she slowly began to realize what Scorchstar was saying. It culminated with, "I hereby decree that for the remaining of leaf-bare, any and all hunting by Carrionplace is strictly forbidden." Frog's jaw dropped open, her gray face openly shocked and angry. The newly named warrior shut her mouth quickly, seething with anger, but how could she protest? Not many days ago, Scorchstar had asked her to do her Clan proud. If she doubted him in front of everyone, would that make him proud? Doubtful. The gray she-cat instead remained silent, though she clawed at the ground and her tail twitched with irritation.