Tying Frayed Bonds [Closed]

Flintstar sat a tail-length away from the medicine cat den, tail curled tightly around his paws as he...Waited? No, that wasn't it - the leader wasn't waiting for anything, he was the one that had decided to take a moment to speak with Rookpaw but there was a sense of hesitation that had flooded over him as he had approached the den, causing him to stop so close to the entrance. What was he to say? To do? While his trust in Iniko had started to fray, the tom's death had caused mixed emotions in the tom...Mostly when he knew that Rookpaw had held something for the tom that had acted as his mentor. He stared at his paws, kneading at the ground as he tried to decide on what he would say. ...No, he couldn't plan it out. He gave his head an annoyed shake, pushing himself to his paws. He had no idea what Rookpaw was feeling, how he would react. He hated it, but he would have to deal.

Rookpaw was their medicine cat - he had to make sure a...Bond was there, so to speak. He had kept an eye on Rookpaw's training from a distance but now, perhaps, it was time to be something else in the young tom's life. They would have to work together, it would be important to know where both stood. So, with a deep breath, he stepped forward and pushed himself into the den. "Rookpaw?" he called out as he peered around, a flicker of pain striking him as he almost hoped that he would see a glimpse of his sister or daughter...But no, both were gone. Mothglow with the stars, Cinderpaw....Somewhere. Safe, hopefully. Happy. But no, he had to focus on ShadowClan's present, not the cats he had lost. "I wish to speak to you for a moment."

Rookpaw was busy grooming himself in the medicine den. Due to having the medicine den all to himself, he had space to groom himself in private. It allowed him to look his best before going out of ShadowClan camp. I don't want to look messy when I'm talking to my clanmates, or the Asylum for that matter. His opinion on the Asylum had significantly shifted since Iniko died. Without the calico tom pushing Asylum's ideals, Rookpaw grew more and more distant from them. His retorts against Tavora didn't help his opinion on Asylum either, as he eventually began associating Asylum in general to her instead of Iniko.

The black tuxedo turned his head around at Flintstar's call. The black tuxedo didn't know what ShadowClan's leader wanted to talk about, but he was certainly willing to listen. "Yeah?" he said, finishing grooming himself before walking towards him. "What do you wanna talk about?" He didn't know what Flintstar wanted to talk about, so the black tuxedo sat in front of Flintstar, green eyes and a smug smirk staring into him. "I'm open to talk about anything."

At least, that's what he thought at the moment.

Flintstar stepped in a little more when Rookpaw spoke up, seeming content to share tongues with the leader. He moved to the side, taking a seat not far from the entrance but enough so if a cat needed in, he wasn't blocking the way. He lifted his head, taking in a deep breath to talk before found himself hesitating. He...Wasn't even sure where to start. He stared down at his paws, trying to think of how his other Clanmates would go about this. "...Are you doing okay?" he asked, the question awkward as the leader drew in on himself a little. "Since Iniko's...? I, ah, know you were close with him, with him being your mentor in all. I...Um, thought it would be good to...Check up on you, yes?" he said, tiling his head a little as he found himself hating every moment of this. It felt awkward, forced, but he truly meant it. It wasn't hard to see how ShadowClan felt about Asylum as a whole lately but he wanted to make sure Rookpaw was doing...Well, since Iniko's passing. This was out of his depths but Freckleface had always spoke about how bonding with Clanmates were important. Making sure Rookpaw was doing okay was a good place to start...He hoped.

The leader really hoped he was doing this right.

Rookpaw blinked at Flintstar's comments. "Yeah! I'm doing pretty... well..." The black tuxedo trailed off at the mention of Iniko. It still hurt knowing that he was gone. The black tuxedo wished that he could have saved Iniko's life, but he knew that when he woke up, Iniko was already dead. And I did save Freckleface, he thought. That's what Iniko would have wanted. Shaking out the regret and loss from his head, the black tuxedo turned back to Flintstar.

"You know, I really appreciate you looking out for me, Flintstar," the black-and-white tom said. He didn't have that confident smirk anymore, just a content smile. Of course, Batglow did something similar, but Rookpaw brushed him away. Perhaps that wasn't the right call after all, and maybe Rookpaw needed somecat to lean on, just like he tried to provide to his clanmates. However, he didn't know how he would be able to do something like that. "How are you doing, Flintstar?" he asked. "Are there any problems in ShadowClan that I don't know about?"

Flintstar huffed in relief as Rookpaw admitted to being okay...Or well 'pretty well' but that was good enough for the leader. He didn't know how to comfort cats - he wasn't sure what he would have done if Rookpaw had broken down into tears at the mere mention of Iniko or something. He blinked however as the subject was turned onto him and how ShadowClan was faring in general. That...Actually was a comfort, this was something that the leader was more prepared to handle. He straightened up, sparing a glance toward the entrance. "I'm doing fine. The situation itself is nothing I can't handle, but...ShadowClan itself..." he huffed. "You know this well enough but there is unrest - even I can see that. Accepting Asylum was not easy but I did not have a choice and ShadowClan seemed to understand that. But as this carries on..." he shook his head.

"My - our - warriors are feeling backed into a corner. There is only so much I can say to ease the tensions, I do not want to risk lives in either side if I can help it. I do not like fighting battles and risking lives if needed - mostly when we seem to be out numbered..." There was a long pause as he raised his head, eyes falling onto Rookpaw. "...You were trained by Asylum. If any of our Clanmates give you trouble for this, do not hesitate to inform me. You are one of us, Rookpaw, I will not stand for tension between Clanmates for different views as long as there is no harm in them."

After asking about how ShadowClan is doing, he listened as Flintstar spoke. "That makes sense," he said, letting Flintstar continue. The medicine cat apprentice's confident smirk was back on his face again, and if a cat came in to see him he . Unrest in ShadowClan... he could see that. He was starting to sour on the Asylum himself, so he understood Flintstar's unease. Eventually, the conversation turned back to Rookpaw, and what he should do if he was given trouble due to his mentor being Asylum. Thankfully, nothing like that happened, but it was good to have someone he could talk to after something like that occurred. "Okay, I will," he said, nodding at his leader.

Thoughts ran past his mind. Iniko's death, his second altercation with Tavora, the prophecy he received just a few days ago... His mind flashed back to the words coming out of StarClan's mouth. Those that were once lost can now be found, closer than you think, but still out of reach. What does it mean? Maybe he should ask Flintstar. "I received a prophecy a few days ago, with the words 'Those that were once lost can now be found, closer than you think, but still out of reach'. What do you think it means?" Maybe, by asking Flintstar, the two of them could figure out what this prophecy really meant, or at least get closer than what Rookpaw would be able to do alone.

Flintstar straightened up as Rookpaw spoke up, revealing that he had gotten a prophecy. As the young medicine cat repeated the words, the leader sat back to think on it. 'Those that were once lost can now be found, closer than you think, but still out of reach...' He wasn't much good with prophecies and the like - the tricky language didn't mesh well with how he thought but it seemed straight forward, if vague. Those who were once lost... He blinked, words flooding his mind - the leaders bickering, Ivystar accusing SkyClan of stealing kits from RiverClan. Every leader, including him, admitting to have woken up to missing kits. ...The kits. Were they...? "Well..." he titled his head, ear twitching. "A few moons before Asylum took over, each of the Clans reported kits going missing..." but there was one thing that bothered him about it. Why now? Moons after the kits were gone, why would StarClan tell them about it now? Unless... If it was the kits, were they just arriving? After all, when Timberkit had gone missing, Mothglow hadn't received a message about it until he had returned to the forest.

A huff escaped him, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "I can't say what it means. If its about the kits and they are alive, why now? Did another group take them and is now just arriving? If they are out of reach, what are we to do about it?" he questioned sharply, before he gave his head a violent shake. "I do not like hope, it only raises questions. What are we to do with this...Information? We have no bases, no idea of where to start. I..." he paused, drifting off. Before his eyes landed on Rookpaw. "Wait...How did you get this prophecy?" he questioned, tilting his head. A few days ago...Yes, the half-moon was only a couple moonhighs but... Rookpaw couldn't have left the camp...So how did he get a prophecy?

After telling Flintstar the prophecy, the black tuxedo flicked his tail. Listening to the ShadowClan leader talk about the missing kits, Rookpaw nodded. So 'those that were once lost' must be referring to the missing kits. With this new information, he had a hypothesis on whether the missing kits. "It's possible for it to be that way. And I can definitely see the logic in it." Really, that theory seemed to make a lot of sense in his eyes.

When Flintstar asked about how he got the prophecy in the first place, Rookpaw stared at him dead in the eyes. "In my den. Just like the last prophecy I received." The black tuxedo paused. He realized that he didn't say anything about this prophecy to Flintstar, so he didn't know about StarClan still being able to reach them. "And the last prophecy was just about how StarClan is still here and all, with a separate prophecy given to me about the shifting sands I was on and how I needed to find my stable footing." He did think that he did find his stable footing, which was good. Of course, it wasn't good that he didn't tell Flintstar until just now.

Flintstar simply blinked as Rookpaw simply stated that he had gotten the prophecy in his den - just like the last one. The leader could only give the young medicine cat a look until Rookpaw expanded on the previous prophecy - that StarClan was still there. "So they haven't abandoned us," he breathed, a sense of relief flooding over him. His faith with StarClan had always been...Something. He had believed, but thought they held no power. And then he saw one personally slay his mother - the very cats who ended up giving him his nine lives. But then the rest of StarClan had rallied against those few cats and he had been left conflicted, that being the last he had seen of them when they had helped disband those Righteous Few. Mothglow had obviously spoken to them since but he...He suppose it was not the leader's place to interact with the Stars. And then he had tried not to think of them in this situation, mostly with their lack of a medicine cat until Rookpaw but the fact that they were speaking to him...

Perhaps Iniko had done them a favor. A new medicine cat that, even while trained by Asylum paws, StarClan spoke to.

But then Rookpaw mentioned something about shifting sands, causing the leader to blink. "...Sand? But...The river runs nowhere near us, there is no sand to be found in our territory. Why would you be on it? And there is plenty of places for stable footing even in the mud, why would you really need to search for one?" he questioned, before he shook his head. "Strange...But these prophecies..." he hesitated, glancing towards the entrance of the den as he lowered his voice slightly. "...Did you ever tell Iniko about them? Your connection to StarClan? And the other Clans, do you know if they are truly also under Asylum's paw?"

It didn't take long for Rookpaw to realize that getting prophecies in his medicine den wasn't what normally happened. I guess it's just a way to deliver prophecies during times of crisis, like after the Asylum arrived and banned travel to the Moonstone. The black tom paused. Perhaps that's the best way for us to be able to do something like that. Upon the mention of the river and how ShadowClan wasn't near the sand there, the black tuxedo facepalmed. Don't tell me that Flintstar doesn't understand metaphors.
sorry rook, he doesnt

Sighing exasperatedly, he decided that he probably had to explain the concept to his leader. "It's not literal sand," he said. "It was symbolizing the unstable nature between my allegiance to ShadowClan and the Asylum. I didn't know whose side I was on. That's what 'finding my stable footing' meant." Despite how he didn't want Iniko to die, the calico tom's disappearance did clear up his allegiance problem. "Of course, now I can say for certain that I'm on ShadowClan's side. No doubt in my mind anymore."

"Did you ever tell Iniko about them?"

The black tuxedo paused. "Yeah, I did. At least, I told him that StarClan still exists and could talk to me. I didn't know what he did with that information, however. There is a possibility that it died with him, but I'm not sure." The medicine cat apprentice sighed. "I believe that the other clans are as well, even though I don't have any evidence to prove it." After responding to Flintstar's questions, the medicine cat apprentice spoke. "What are your thoughts on the Asylum, Flintstar?"

Flintstar blinked when Rookpaw started to explain that it wasn't really sand. But....What was the point of that? Why not be straight forward with what you mean? Ugh, it was one of the many things he never understood. Pretending to be something you're not, using words for...Symbolizing things. Perhaps it was the best that he didn't have to deal with them - he preferred when cats would not dance around situations. But still, the so-called meaning of this 'sand' was a bit worrying. "I...See," he said as Rookpaw finished explaining, noting that he was on ShadowClan's side. "I...Do not understand the reason to mask that with talk of...Sand, but I am...Happy that you have found your place here and stand with us," he said with a nod of his head.

There was also the worrying notion that Iniko had known about Rookpaw speaking with StarClan... The fact that they had been forbidden to visit the Moonstone seemed...Intentional. Certainly Asylum had to know of its purpose, but how? But...With any luck, Iniko had taken that knowledge to his grave. He couldn't imagine they would be pleased to learn that StarClan was still speaking to them - why else would they have cut off that route of communication in the first place? He sighed, before blinking as Rookpaw asked on his feelings on Asylum. "...I don't know," he admitted, giving his shoulders a shrug as he titled his head up in thought.

"I did not hesitate at first to agree to their demands - their demands did not seem...Unreasonable, and we had awoken with claws at our throats. They seem to be keeping their word but as the moonhighs past, I am haunted by the question of why. They must want something out of this, more than what they are telling us. My warriors are growing restless being backed in a corner like this. Tensions are rising. I do not know who will strike first but I fear for all their talk of wanting to protect us...They will not hesitate to spill blood the moment we step out of line. All I want is the safety of ShadowClan, but I am starting to fear that it will not be possible as one will give out first and blood will be shed before this is over, one way or another."