The Rise of a Storm [OPEN WIDE]

The leader heard the news before the body was delivered to his camp. A patrol found Meadowpaw and they sent one of their group to tell him privately what they had found. During the time his clanmates tried to carry the poor apprentice back to the camp, Jaystar had time to think, to mourn and to... be angry. Again, Thunderclan's scent was all over the crime scene. He was naive enough to believe that maybe, Leopardstar would have changed his ways in how he trains his clan but he was wrong. Now, another one of his apprentices had died... in Thunderclan's land.

Hailsong suddenly entered his den, her face shocked and tired by the recent events. She looked into her father's eyes and nodded, giving the confirmation that it was time to step up and inform his clan about another tragic death. The large tom stood up slowly, hiding his exposed ribs from her daughter. Each day it was harder for him to stand up and eat but he didn't want to worry anyone. Following the calico's she-cat guide, the tom walked out the cave and he climbed alone the Willow Branch. Many times he was there for good announcements, such as ceremonies. But today... Riverclan was going to mourn the death of an apprentice who didn't deserve to die without becoming a warrior.

When Hailsong sat down next to the numb body of Meadowpaw, the leader couldn't help but look at her. His warrior did a good job cleaning her white fur in the river but the wounds were still too much pain for him to see. The little she-cat must have suffered so much... and it was probably Thunderclan's fault. Clenching his teeth and gathering all the force he had left, the leader raised his feathery tail and let out a loud yowl. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the willow branch for a clan meeting!" He waited patiently for his cats to gather around and even gave him time to look over the lifeless body of the female apprentice. Once a good bunch of his warriors and apprentices were around, he cleared his throat and continued. "Riverclan... I come here with sad and tragic news to all of you. Today, one of the patrols had found Meadowpaw dead... she is now with her parents in Starclan and I just hope they have received her well. She... She didn't deserve to die so young... she was a young she-cat who was near to becoming a warrior and tonight I will hold a silent vigil after her burial, praying that our ancestors are giving her a proper treatment." The silvery leader lowered his head, closing his eyes as a moment of silence for the gone she-cat. Riverclan had lost a young, bright soul today.

However... he couldn't start crumbling apart. The tom lifted up his head once more but behind the pain of his eyes, there was anger too. "However, that's not all. Our clanmates found Meadowpaw in Thunderclan's lands, away from her home. Though she holds wounds larger than a cat can inflict, we must not ignore that she has Thunderclan's scent all over the place." He let out a small snarl and lashed his tail to one side. "Riverclan! This is not the first time Thunderclan has taken our clanmate's life or health! Meadowpaw is just their most recent victim of a long list... Rowanpaw, Adderfeather, Icepaw and Fawnsong. They are now all dead but all of them were brutally wounded by Thunderclan's cats. I've always asked for justice to all of their deaths and this will be not the exception... However, I'm done with letting Thunderclan cats maim and wound our own for their own pleasure. Since today, we will reinforce our borders and as your leader, I command you to have no mercy when you encounter a Thunderclan's cat in our land, just like they have shown none to our own. Leopardstar and his warriors will see that they can no longer take advantage of us! We, as Riverclan cats, will remain strong and all the cats in the forest will know that they can't mess up with us any longer! For Meadowpaw... I will make them pay for what they did."

Dappleshine emerged from the warriors den, where she had been replacing her old nest with new moss and feathers, looking forward to sinking into it later. Her eyes fell on the torn and mangled body of Meadowpaw first and she gasped involuntarily before turning her head up to Jaystar looking for an explanation. She moved closer, settling down warily, although her eyes sought out her new apprentice, fear for him and Magpiepaw and all the others welling in her throat. For something that severe to have happened... There must have been something terrible out there.

She did not have to wait long for Jaystar to call the meeting to order and explain the situation, and her head lowered with grief. Meadowpaw was always so kind and friendly, she didn't deserve this in the slightest... The fur along her back rose though as Jaystar seemed to point his claws to ThunderClan, and she looked up at him shocked before casting a look back to the body of the poor she-cat, so small and tattered in death. No cat could have made those wounds, at least no cat she had ever met or heard of... And the patrol had reported that they found her in ThunderClan, so didn't it make sense that there was ThunderClan smell? She just didn't see how it all lined up to be ThunderClan's fault, even if they had done several things recently. All the ThunderClan cats she had met on the way home had been friendly enough, so why the sudden change?

She blinked up at her leader, torn between wanting to voice her opinion and wanting to lay low and not tread on any tails. The entire clan was in mourning, it was natural for tensions to be running high... But to point claws at a clan who may not have any idea what happened, depending on where the patrol had found Meadowpaw? Her eyes shadowed with doubt and concern, along with fear and grief, and she closed them for a moment, taking a long, steadying breath. "Jaystar, those wounds don't look like they came from any cat I've ever met or heard legends of... With the flood, many predators have returned, including the eagle we fought a few sunhighs ago. Was there signs of anything like that? If she was over the border in ThunderClan territory, it's only natural for their scent to be there, but I'm sure she must have had a reason for crossing the border... Maybe we should try to go speak with Leopardstar and ThunderClan to see if they know anything, or are aware that anything happened within their borders? If a cat of theirs was somehow involved, or happened to witness what happened, maybe they'll step forward with any information they have." She swallowed hard, her voice wavering for a moment. "I agree that we should watch our borders closely, and ensure that those who do cross it uninvited know that they are not to do so, but wouldn't we be guilty of ThunderClan's crimes if we repay the favor by refusing to show mercy on their own?"

Adderpaw watched the announcement from off a little ways, sitting by himself. He lashed his tail anxiously as he looked down at Meadowpaw's body. It was terrible, and he felt awful it had happened, but he felt no shock. The world was out to kill you, he thought, and the moment you put down your guard...

He looked up, lightly confused at the blaming of ThunderClan. The wounds on the body were clearly not from a cat. Now, Adderpaw wouldn't put it past ThunderClan-- or any clan, really-- to see a gravely injured cat and leave them, for fear of running into the thing that caused the wounds, but that was, well, just instinct, he thought.

He shifted uncomfortably in his place as Jaystar finished speaking. Tightening borders could never hurt, but the whole mood of vengeance, that...

He heard Dappleshine begin speaking, and looked over at her, listening to her speak thoughtfully. When she was finished, he looked down a moment. He wasn't particularly concerned with being guilty of ThunderClan's crimes, but he also had no taste for a "show no mercy" policy, or for making ThunderClan "pay". He was young, but he knew that kind of talk could open up a path that ended with a lot of his clanmates dead, and that could very well include himself. And he certainly wasn't interested in letting that happen.

He normally wouldn't say anything in a situation like this, but since someone else had already spoken...


"Jaystar, um, if I may--" he began very softly "I know I'm just an apprentice, but, uh-- I think Dappleshine is right. If we just jump straight to a no-mercy standpoint, uh" he looked around anxiously, then started again even quieter than before "Well, it's just...it might just lead to even more cats getting hurt, or worse," he finished, silently thinking about how he wanted to at least make it past apprenticeship intact.

”Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the willow branch for a clan meeting!”

Heronflight padded out of the warrior den, beckoning his son Larkfeather to follow.  He knew, after many moons of listening to how Jaystar called for clan meetings, this wasn’t your usual apprentice ceremony.  The gray tabby then spotted Meadowpaw’s lifeless body.  The experienced warrior listened to Jaystar’s speech.  Although a cat couldn’t have killed Meadowpaw... ThunderClan is to blame?  The gray tabby was confused at what Jaystar announced.  When he heard Dappleshine and Adderpaw tell Jaystar their thoughts, Heronflight thought he had to join as well.  ”Jaystar, I have to agree with Dappleshine here.  You said it yourself, the wound was too big for a cat to cause.  Perhaps Meadowpaw wandered into ThunderClan territory and got killed by a predator.  We just don’t know, and we shouldn’t get ourselves into a war because somecat was accused of doing something that they did not do,” the gray tabby told Jaystar.  ”If anything, we need to think about it until we can make a decision based on facts.”  When he finished his miniature speech, he flashed back to the time when he was an apprentice, dominated by his rebellious side.  Now is different, he thought.  He knew he had facts to back him up this time, instead of just immature delusions.

(Larkfeather was also there and listened to everything)

The tom looked at the young warrior but he couldn't be really angry at her. It was natural for her to be against what he said and she had a young, kind heart that couldn't be ignored. She spoke with both kindness and rationality, attributes that Jaystar di not ignore. The leader nodded at her words and gave her a complacent, tired smile. "You resemble your mother so much, dear Dappleshine... and I understand your concerns. I understand everyone's concerns and I hear you all." He purred kindly to the she-cat, his apprentice and his former apprentice, Heronflight (who had learned how to express his opinion in a more mature way than in the past).

However, his expression and stance soon changed a bit, turning back to his more strict, severe self. "Despite what all of you said, you're too young too, Dappleshine and Adderpaw. Your kindness and benefit of the doubt are admirable yet you have no idea of all what Thunderclan has done during our story. Death... maiming... they even neglected home to Gingerstripe, your father, when he was exiled from his former clan. Thunderclan claims to be an inclusive, kind clan who wants nothing but friends but his cats' actions... says otherwise." He mewed remembering every cat's face who decided to wound his clanmates: the eyes of Wildstrike when he was about to kill him in Thunderclan's camp, Sharptooth, the she-cat who let her mother die instead of her, Reedheart, the tom who took Adderfeather's eyes out of rage and now... Hailpaw, who is soon to be punished by her actions. All of them, Thunderclan cats under the command of Leopardstar. His cats seem to forget all the wrongs they had done but he didn't.

Jaystar took a deep breath, and finally, decided on a neutral resolution for both his most pacifist clanamtes and the ones who stood by his side on showing the other clans that Riverclan was not weak. "After hearing all of you, I've decided to bring this subject to Leopardstar at the next Gathering if he doesn't send a warrior explaining what happened, asking the questions Dappleshine has suggested. However, I won't back down on what I said and believe. Thunderclan has taken advantage of us for too long and we must show them that we're done with their nonsense. We have to show them that Riverclan is not a clan they can take advantage of. So, after this whole situation is cleared up, I command you all as your leader to befriend no ThunderClanner or it would be seen as treason. When you see one of them crossing our border, you won't be asking why. You will simply chase them out as the Warrior Code says. I will double the patrols on the Sunningrocks and reinforce our borders with them." Jaystar looked down a bit to Meadowpaw's body and he couldn't hold a tear. Quickly, he cleared his face with one paw and faced his clan again.

"Though the wounds belong to no living cat we know about, there was no reason for he to be wandering in Thunderclan's territory so far away from her homeland. From what I know her, she wasn't the type of cat that would break the rules for fun so it is not normal that Meadowpaw would have gotten there because she wanted to take a stroll out of Riverclan's territory. It was no eagle, as not feathers were found and it would be unlikely a bird like that would drop their prey and not come back to it. So yeah, I hope you can agree on me with this that the whole situation is too suspicious, considering our past with Thunderclan. Now, if you excuse me... I will share tongues with Meadowpaw one last time..." Jumping off the branch, he gave an end to the small gathering and he walked towards the white-furred corpse. The large tom laid down and closed his eyes, praying for her soul to be welcomed into Starclan. Tonight... a new star will show up in the silverpelt... a young, bright one that should have stayed with them a little longer...

There was a strange tension presiding over RiverClan camp, one that could only indicate some ominous development. Scorchclaw felt it as soon as he had crossed the stream surrounding the island. Instinctively, his tufted ears drew back, and a frown creased his muzzle. Something had happened―something bad. What had taken place in his absence? His pelt prickled with sharp unease. From where he stood at the entrance to the camp, he could see a large group of his clanmates gathered together. Soft murmurs drifted in the wind, tinged with a disturbing mix of emotions. The large tabby pressed forward to investigate. Driven by a sense of foreboding, he almost forgot about the two slender fish he held in his mouth. The other members of his hunting patrol lingered behind him, visibly just as apprehensive as he was. He set the fresh-kill down and demanded, "What is going on?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the crowd parted before him. Meadowpaw's torn and bloodied body lay there, reflected within his pale green gaze. For a moment,the shock rendered him wordless. She had been only a few days away from her warrior ceremony. It did not take long for the image to sink in. As soon as it did, he clenched his jaws with an unbridled fury. Who―no―what had dared to do this? The answers came almost immediately, for Jaystar had already ascended the Willow Branch and now began to speak.

Scorchclaw directed his line of sight to the RiverClan leader and listened. At the mention of ThunderClan, his expression stiffened. The fur along his shoulders lifted slightly. Why was ThunderClan involved so often in these matters? He was not even surprised by this point. Grief and indignation for the lost life surged through his body like a current, and he lowered his head in mourning. Why had Meadowpaw died so young? Such was the way of life; he had been through enough to understand that cruel reality, but he would never be able to accept it. Jaystar was right. Reparations had to be made. However, as he listened to the voices of his clanmates, he also agreed with them. Was he angry? Of course he was. The raw emotions raging within him screamed that ThunderClan was undoubtedly at fault. But he had decided never to let them cloud his judgment again. At the thought of how he had lost self-control back at the lake, he was flooded with shame. Never again. He was about to voice his own thoughts when Jaystar spoke up for the second time. The large deputy knew from the leader's tone that he had made the final decision. He met Jaystar's gaze expressionlessly and nodded once.

He was in support.

To jump into war was the last thing Scorchclaw wanted. After all the lives that had already been lost, he did not one to see anyone else die―especially if they were someone truly important to him. He had cats that he thought of as family now. He had bonds with his clanmates. But taking a passive approach to this situation would also be foolish. Jaystar had made the right compromise, as Scorchclaw had expected that he would. The silver tabby was still RiverClan's leader, after all. It would seem that there was no need for the deputy to speak up here, unless his clanmates showed further opposition. Scorchclaw stepped forward to join the other tom by Meadowpaw's side, touching his nose gently to the dead apprentice's forehead.

"Rest well, young one." He murmured.