Rigged Jury [open]

Rookpaw scoffed at Tavora as she ignored the tom's words. Seeing his clanmates speak up against Tavora, Rookpaw knew that the she-cat wouldn't even dare to listen to them. "It's no use," the tom said snarkily. "Tavora thinks too lowly of us for one of us to even have a chance of reasoning with her." The black tuxedo snarled at the Asylum cat. All this time, he hoped for Asylum and ShadowClan to live together, as equals. However, as the days went on, it was more and more obvious that this kind of peace would never happen. And since Iniko's passing, he began to choose ShadowClan over the Asylum more and more.

Tavora and her bursts of anger at Freckleface really helped the tom distance himself from the Asylum. After that moment, he began noticing how most Asylum cats didn't even help clan cats with their hunting, which in turn gave him even more respect for Iniko and Ivory. It seemed like Flintstar was still staying quiet on the matter. If, for some reason, he gave ShadowClan orders to fight back at the Asylum, the black tuxedo would happily oblige. If he told ShadowClan to stay calm, he would also oblige, although not as excitedly. Either way, he felt that Tavora crossed the line - again. And because of that, he wanted her to take some damage.

At the moment, he was staying with his words, but claws were still an option.

Flintstar remained silent as Tavora claimed to want no ill-will, explaining the cause of this meeting. His mind swimmed with the long-winded words as she slowly got to her point, blinking as he tried to focus and understand it all. Something about how ShadowClan didn't respect how Asylum trained their cats, about how medicine cats weren't trained to fight and warriors weren't trained to heal. It...Was a lot, and Flintstar was very unsure what this entire thing had to do with the cause of this meeting. That was until she called forth a cat - Murkystrike. He blinked, eyes falling to the she-cat. What had she done? He didn't know Murkystrike well but she seemed a nice enough cat - what could she have done to call this trial? So, he listened only for his lips to curl in the smallest frown as the young warrior stepped forward...

And explained how she had taught one of the Asylum cats how to hunt. How to fight. ...That was her crime? Murkystrike seemed...Confused herself as how she had caused an issue with this, and Flintstar felt much the same way. He straightened up, trying to make sense of what the issue here was. He opened his mouth, ready to say something but Rookpaw spoke up in a passionate speech to defend the ShadowClan she-cat. The leader closed his mouth as he tried to follow along Rookpaw's defense, grasping the basic that it was questioning how this was not a good thing. But then Tavora spoke up, another long speech. The leader was almost ready to zone out when he caught a glimpse of movement, turning his head as Tavora leaned toward him and addressed him.

She brought up Thornstar, speaking fondly of the previous leader before she turned the focus onto her own history - of...Burntstag. The name meant nothing to the tom - but perhaps that was her entire point. He listened as she spoke, bringing up her grandfather's ideal of rules being set by living cats, not StarClan. The leader titled his head a little, eyes narrowing as Tavora turned and made it clear that ShadowClan could either join or remain a prisoner... Before she placed Murkystrike under arrest. There was barely any time to react as the she-cat rejected Tavora's claim of breaking Asylum's laws...Before she was set upon and dragged from the camp.

The leader jumped to his paws but already Murkystrike was being pulled from the camp and yowls of displeasure echoed from his Clanmates. The leader felt his heart hammer in his chest, a rare feeling taking over him as he swallowed, the voices of his Clanmates ringing in his ears. His eyes however were fixed on Tavora, claws digging into the ground as he realized he had to make a choice. He... He took in a deep breath, ears twitching as he gave her a level stare. "ShadowClan, stand down," he growled softly beneath his breath - still loud enough that his Clanmates would hear. It wasn't like the night this all started - they hadn't awoken with claws at their throat...But still, this was a battle they could not win. He wasn't going to risk any more cats. She was the messenger - no cats were hurt by her claw...And besides, he had always hated the idea of waging a war to cost innocent cats when there were only a few to blame.

"I will not ask you to hold your tongues, but no bloodshed will happen in this camp!" He sighed, raising his head to give Tavora a level stare. "Tavora, I respect your choice and hope that you will be...Happy, within Asylum. We will abide by your rules - although, in the future, perhaps it would be more helpful if you...Clarified them." He titled his head. "As Murkystrike's actions were not against what was told to us by Iniko. You cannot expect us to follow the rules that you have not made clear to us," he added carefully. If anything, it was important to know where these lines were... His eyes drifted over to his cats. After all, if they were not to cross them...Perhaps it would be better to know how far one could get.

Ichtaca narrowed her eyes. She did not trust Tavora. Not at all. Someone who would betray those who raised them and join the enemy when those who raised them have done nothing wrong, as far as Ichtaca was aware, was not trustworthy. Her case was different. The Asylum forced her away from her own family, and they plopped her into their lowest rank. She had nothing going for them.

Then, Tavora began to speak again, glaring at Murkystrike. Ichtaca found her fur bristling, though it wasn't particularly noticeable under her rabbit pelt. Anger shone through her eyes. Her instincts stopped her from hissing at Tavora for fear of being noticed. After all, Murkystrike had done nothing wrong. She had simply helped Ichtaca tap into her hidden potential that the Asylum had failed to find. She had helped Ichtaca. She had shown Ichtaca that she could fend for herself.

And besides, Ichtaca already held a special place in her heart for the Asylum. That place was the darkest patch, filled with anger and hate. The Asylum, to Ichtaca, deserved nothing better than that. Murkystrike had nothing to do with her hatred of the place.

Then, Tavora spoke directly to her. Flames of anger blossomed in Ichtaca's heart, and they yelled at her to fight back. And yet, her instinctive fear for her life overpowered her. Even though she hissed quietly, Ichtaca shrank back from the Nightstriker. Her fur fluffed up and her ears were pinned back, her tail was lashing, but her pelt did a good job hiding them from view. The first two, anyways. Her tail could be clearly seen.

Murkystrike and Rookpaw both spoke up. Ichtaca opted to keep quiet, lest her anger for the Asylum turns into a full blaze and she makes things worse, or her instincts take over and she do something like apologise. However, she nodded along with Murkystrike and Rookpaw's words.

The next moment, Tavora was speaking again. Her words were carrying nothing useful, and Ichtaca remained tense and on edge. Then Tavora mentioned a prison, and Ichtaca's eyes widened. No. She isn't going to, right? She can't just do that to her clanmate... Despite her attempts at reasoning, Ichtaca knew this reason is not going to do anything with Tavora. Tavora has already shown herself to not follow the same logic as Ichtaca.

And then, a group of Asylum cats attacked. Ichtaca yowled in surprise-even though she probably shouldn't be, Asylum always did this-and panic. She fought against the tide, scratching everyone within her claws' reach in an attempt to get up-not that her claws had very good reach. By the time she was out, Murkystrike had vanished.

No, no, no! I don't know where in the world this prison is! I can't even go find her! Ichtaca felt tears of frustration coming to her eyes. Everything else that she saw or heard went unacknowledged as her body trembled, fury and despair being the cause of it.

As she forced herself to slowly calm, she turned to ShadowClan. "I'm sorry." She choked out. "For...Murkystrike. For all this." None of it was her fault, but she felt the obligation to apologise for it.