Seeking Refuge and Revolution (OPEN)

When the first of the ShadowClan cats arrived upon RiverClan's island, Scorchclaw was already waiting for them. Sparkfrost had returned to camp just a little while ago, and the pale-furred warrior had appropriately informed the clan of their visitors. At a glance, the RiverClan deputy took in the sight of the sopping, bedraggled group of cats accompanied by Dappleshine and Wasppaw―a rather sorry scene. The ShadowClan cats' discomfort was evident. The other clans had never been particularly fond of water, after all. But there was surely more to it. His pale-green eyes narrowed. Stepping forward to face Scorchstar, he greeted the allied leader with a respectful dip of his head. "Greetings, Scorchstar." His tone was cold, yet courteous enough. "Jaystar will be here in a moment; I ask that you all have patience." His guarded demeanor made it hard to tell precisely what was going through his mind. One who saw the hard glint in his eyes, however, should have been able to guess that he was not exactly overjoyed to see these outsiders. And that guess would have been accurate.

Scorchclaw had a good enough idea of what these ShadowClan cats were doing here. In fact, he had more or less been expecting them ever since last night. At least half of the clan seemed to have turn up, and there were even kits present. Among the various cats, his gaze settled upon one familiar, scarred face―Thornbriar, the she-cat who had nursed Dewshine's litter. Barely a day had passed since the last Gathering, and no cat had forgotten Burntstag's arrogant declaration. The fluffy calico had claimed to have chased Scorchstar and his followers out of the territory. It was far too likely that the loyalists would turn to life as rogues, which had left them only a few options. One of them had been to seek shelter with their allied clan, and that was what Scorchclaw had expected them to do. While he had his own thoughts on the situation, Jaystar would be the one making the decisions. He would only share his views if he deemed it truly necessary.

The attention of the RiverClan cats seemed to be gradually drawn towards the camp's entrance. Whispered conversations started up, fragments of voices reaching Scorchclaw's ears.

Upon closer proximity, the brown tabby noticed the wound on Scorchstar's head. Blood stained the other tom's dark fur; he did not look well. Turning slightly so that his gaze fell upon the entrance of the Medicine Den, the RiverClan deputy searched for a glimpse of Mistlepaw. Did they have enough herbs to treat an ally's wounds...? "Wasppaw." He meowed to his apprentice, "Please call for Mistlepaw." Then, once more looking towards Scorchstar, he asked, "Do you have a medicine cat with you, Scorchstar?"

Heronflight saw Scorchstar and the rest of his loyal warriors walk into RiverClan camp. The gray tabby knew why they were here; it was obvious from the last gathering. Burntstag drove them away from their home, and Scorchstar had to lead his cats somewhere safe. If Heronflight was in the black leader’s paws, the gray tabby would have tried to reach his allies as well. He knew that Jaystar would not drive them away, because the silver tom had always been a sensible cat. However, Heronflight wondered if Burntstag and his followers could be driven away themselves with RiverClan’s help.

~

Larkfeather was at first puzzled to why there were ShadowClan cats in RiverClan camp, before realizing that Burntstag drove them away from their home. He didn’t go to the gathering, as he had a bad sickness that day, but he heard from his dad that Burntstag and his followers turned their backs on StarClan. They don’t deserve to call themselves a clan, he thought. ShadowClan, however, the warrior would welcome, and he hoped that Jaystar would do the same.

The leader was informed of the arrival of the Shadowclan warriors before they made their entrance into the camp. Just like his deputy, Jaystar was actually hoping to see them around. After the disturbing events of the past Gathering, the Riverclan leader was praying Scorchstar and his cats could arrive at his camp safe and sound. Now, it was that day.

A few moments after the brown deputy had welcomed the Shadowclan leader, the silver tabby tom left his den and walked slowly to the entrance. A bunch of warriors, kits and apprentices were gathering around the wet Shadowclan cats who seemed pretty tired, some even sick. He stood up next to Scorchclaw's side and couldn't help a distressed, sympathetic expression when he met the other leaders' eyes: the eyes of a tom who had been kicked away from his home, forced to live away. "Oh, my...! I'm so... sorry for what has happened, Scorchstar. _We heard the news from Burnstag the last Gathering. Please, don't lose more time here. Hailsong, Mistlepaw and Larkfeather, go and guide queens, kits, wounded and sick to the medicine cat den." He ordered. Before making a full announcement, the most urgent matters had to be attended. These cats clearly needed help and as their ally, it was his duty and promise to help them in this time of need.

He approached the dark-furred leader, nodding at him. "There's no explaining to do and no questions to be asked. You are welcome to stay here with your clan as long as your healthy warriors and apprentices can help us out with prey and herbs. We will have enough time to talk about what it needs to do about... those group of rogues and traitors of Starclan. For now, help your clanmates. In the night, we will talk in my den with my deputy and medicine cat. I hope you can bring yours too if they are still with you." He mewed.

Heaving a soft, relieved sigh at the RiverClan deputy's stoic yet ultimately welcoming approach, Scorchstar dipped his head to him. "Thank you, Scorchclaw. I do apologize if our arrival comes as an inconvenience to you or your Clan." At his question, he turned his head to look back at the spitting image of himself, his youngest daughter. "Mothpaw is currently training to become ShadowClan's next medicine cat. She hasn't had any access to proper herbs ever since our ... our exile." Stars, how weak and pathetic a leader he must have appeared to be in the eyes of the surrounding cats, whether they respected the alliance between the two Clans or not.

Then Jaystar approached them, and Scorchstar felt even more relief flooding through his exhausted, drenched, and aching body, almost feeling like he would collapse right then and there. He lowered his head so far down he nearly brushed the sandy ground of RiverClan's camp with his muzzle, trying to showcase his immense gratitude to the kind cats. "ShadowClan will never forget this. Thank you so very much, Jaystar, Scorchclaw." He lifted his head back up. "Yes, I would like to discuss what happens next with you all tonight. My daughter Mothpaw, as I had said before, is training to become our next medicine cat, so this discussion would give her some experience. Wildstrike will be present as well." At least, he hope his younger brother would. He didn't exactly know if once again being in the presence of his former mate Coldgaze would distract him or not.

Mothpaw's ears pricked up slightly at the mention of her name; even moreso when it was followed with her father wanting her present when the two leaders talked about the future of ShadowClan. Despite her reservations and her lingering feelings that fell somewhere between sadness and a small amount of anger - Scorchstar had willingly left behind her brother, willingly left behind her sister... (As had she, whether she'd wanted to or not.) But he was still her father; and along with Poppyheart and Wildstrike (and Thornbriar, though there was no blood to tie them together), he was all of the family she had left. And, more than that... She wanted to know what came next. What was the future of ShadowClan? Now that they were here, and StagClan had taken their territory, was there a ShadowClan left to have a future...?


Maybe not, but... They'd survived the flood, hadn't they? And countless things that came before, stories she'd heard whispers of as a kit; hanging on the elder's every word... Cats sent by StarClan or turning their backs on them, any threat posed to the Clans... They had, ultimately, survived.  And she had, however reluctantly, turned her back on part of her family for the sake of ShadowClan's future. So they would have a future. They had to, because if they didn't, what was the point of all this...?

Salmonpaw had did it. Barley. After Scorchstar's words of encouragement had brought him across the river. On the other side, he shook all the water from his sleek pelt as fast as he could. He was shivering- from the water or his fear he didn't know. But he worldessly, for once, followed Daisyflame and his father to the RiverClan camp. Flashes seared through his head of the dark abyss of water. He could still feel the current tugging at his fur, dragging him down. He was almost not present when the RiverClan cats approached him to bring him the medicine den... But he was jolted awake as a particular cat approached the group [Hailsong]. Why... Did he recognize her?


OoC: and i oop

The travel across the river had been fairly calm, all of the ShadowClan cats crossing safely. With the kits on their collective backs, Scorchstar and Dappleshine had made easy work of crossing, in light of his injury. Once they had made it safely across, she met Poppyheart's gaze and nodded lightly to him, gently setting the kits back on the ground from the leader's back. Upon arrival at camp, it was clear that Sparkfrost had delivered the message, as Scorchclaw was waiting patiently for them. Jaystar wasn't far behind, and as she passed the deputy she touched her nose to his shoulder briefly before melting into the surrounding crowd to listen to Jaystar's decision. It was no surprise that he allowed their allies to stay within their camp, and she smiled as she sought out Thornbriar's pelt among the ShadowClan cats. They would finally have the chance to talk and get caught up, and the she-cat couldn't wait to tell Thornbriar everything.

Ivypaw had been lazing away in a small dry spot in the middle of camp, having just gotten off of her first patrol of the day. She'd been hoping to get a bit of rest in before her second one, but she hadn't been lying down for five minutes before ShadowClan came bustling into camp. When her eyes flickered open, she was met with an odd site that was unfamiliar to her. Kits, Queens, apprentices, and warriors alike all stood uncomfortably at the entrance, and she locked eyes with a few of them as she looked around in amazement. She hadn't been in attendance at the last Gathering, but she'd heard from her Clanmates what had happened in ShadowClan since they had last heard from them. She listened in on what the two leaders were speaking about, trying to think of any ways she might be able to help. In order to feed and care for their ally, RiverClan would have to hunt extra hard and find twice as many herbs as they had before. She made a silent promise to herself to work harder than she ever had, sympathetic eyes glancing occasionally towards the exiled ShadowClan cats. Trying her best to stay out of the way of the medicine cats, Ivypaw carried freshkill straight from the pile to the cats who likely had not eaten in a while, doing her best to contribute in a time of need.

Marshpaw followed his clanmates into the RiverClan camp, still bewildered by everything that had occurred. He was barely an apprentice, and already thrown into so much turmoil. But he didn't want to dwell on it; that wouldn't do him or his clanmates any good. He tried to focus on a positive, any positive...well, he was going to get an in-depth look at another clan's way of life, that wasn't an opportunity one got everyday, right...? And...and here was an opportunity for him to prove himself, prove his strength in a tough situation! He could find a way to be useful to his clan. He wanted desperately to be useful to them. He needed to be.

--

Adderpaw watched the ShadowClan refugees with a wary gaze. He had enough concerns about the reliability and motives of cats he knew pretty well, and now here was an entire group of new cats he’d either only seen once before or not at all. He felt a little like he had at his first gathering, with the influx of strange faces, faces he hadn’t yet totally learned to read, faces that could be thinking everything and capable of anything. And even aside from that, who knew what trouble the group who drove them out might bring? Adderpaw felt bad for not wanting the ShadowClanners here; he knew taking them in was the right thing to do, but he couldn't help that their presence here put him on edge-- well, more on edge than usual. He retreated back to his corner, not feeling in the right place to engage with any of the new cats, or really anyone for that matter.

The she-cat left the nursery after calming the kits down with these recent events. The scent of wet ShadowClanners could be scent everywhere in camp and Hailsong already knew what this was about considering the past Gathering. It came as no surprise to her when her father welcomed the Shadowclan loyalist into their camp but she couldn't care less about it. She wasn't really fond of any other clan rather than Riverclan but she did honour the loyalty that had to remain between two allies.

The dilute calico made her wat through the crowd and looked over the wet, weakened Shadowclan cats who were not used to water like them. Unlike Riverclan cats, their pelts were soaked and it would be hard for them to dry completely. She nodded at her father's command, ready to guide all the young or wounded to the nursery and medicine cat den. However, something caught her attention. A ghost from the past, maybe? She looked from the corner of her green eyes a familiar, small shape. The she-cat turned her face to look at him and she let out a surprised gasp. "Salmonkit...?" She mewed quietly. For a few seconds, she thought she might be dreaming. That her mind was playing tricks on her. But the resemblance was striking. "What is your name...?" The she-cat asked the young grey tabby tom who was with the others ShadowClanners walking to the medicine cat den.

The grey apprentice stared at the RiverClan warrior in shock and discomfort. "M... My name is S...Salmonpaw." No matter how hard he searched his brain, he couldn't figure out why he knew this warrior. He had not left ShadowClan territory since he was a kit.

Ooc: mobile