All That I Am (OPEN CLAN MEETING!!)

He would lying if he said he'd expected the first response to be... this. Minkstar found himself stiffening slightly as his apprentice spoke up, blinking at his bold, and somewhat haughty declaration. He held back an exasperated sigh, raising his eyes briefly to the sky as the young, astoundingly loyal yet hotheaded tom turned to challenge the rest of the Clan, and the end of his tail flicked uncomfortably. That's not what I said.... Maybe he should have mentioned the part about being raised in RiverClan.

Might have been a good idea.

But all musings flew out of his mind as Admiral whirled, the glint of his claws shining in the light. Oh frogdung- The thump of his paws on the ground announced his leap from the rock, his tail touching the black tom's shoulder warningly. "Admiral, I admire your loyalty, but could you please put the claws away?" He murmured, before raising his voice slightly, eyes flicking over the others. "I doubt anyone will 'kick me out' just for this. They've seen my loyalty to ThunderClan, to my family. And though I was raised in RiverClan, and I share some of its viewpoints and sympathy for it, it holds nothing for me now." His eyes flicked to Admiral. "Any thoughts are appreciated, but I'll deal with any claws involved in them myself."

Mossbloom blinked as Minkstar finally announced what they had gathered them all together for, and she grinned as he revealed what he had so carefully been hiding. Meeting his gaze for a moment, she nodded before laying down and settling in again. There was no need to be concerned further, unless any cat got a burr in their pelt and decided to act mousebrained.

Patchpaw blinked in surprise. Their leader, a cat that she had great respect for from hearing stories and comments from every cat around her since birth, had been born across the river. She pondered for a moment, never thinking much before this moment about such things. After all, she knew there were many cats not born in ThunderClan that lived among the Clan, and they were just as much her Clanmates as any other. Overall, the meeting seemed a bit anti-climatic to the young apprentice, who had no idea the intricacies of politics between the Clans.

"Minkstar!" she called out. After all, this was a meeting, and this was what she had seen result with any other ceremony or meeting she had seen in her short lifetime. "Minkstar!" She fully expected other voices to join with her's.

Origins had never meant much of anything to Stoatfur. For a brief moment, on account of his weary mind, the tom simply blinked up at his leader. Thunderclan has always been very lenient when it came to matters of accepting all cats. He knew the tales of Oakheart - the former leader who had been born into Shadowclan and lived life as a loner; he was also well-aware of his clanmates who'd come from all over. A true Thunderclan-born cat was hard to come by. But the code had also always dictated loyalty to the clan. If every cat was to flee from where they were born, would loyalty even exist? Stoatfur swallowed.

Was this what Minkstar had eluded to when he spoke of matters of trust? Did it go deeper than that? His churning thoughts started up again once more, threatening to overwhelming his sense. Admiral spoke up with an impassioned speech, a reply from the leader, and yowls from one of his former denmates. For a flicker of a second, he thought the squall in his mind had erupted into the real world. The brown and white warrior clenched his teeth, silently willing them to all snap their jaws shut. It was hard enough to contemplate the intricacies of such matters without cats screeching their opinions out without so much as a thought.

He decided it would incredibly foolish to abandon one's clan without reason and was reminded of Kitefire's recent departure. Stoatfur had heard the rumors, of Shrikesong's sister who left the clan for a Riverclan cat. His tail flickered. After the one gathering he'd been to, and the idea of swimming in the river, the concept of being born into Riverclan was incredibly unappealing. But surely they felt the same about the forest clans. Reckoning such a thing was proving to be difficult and he picked at the earth with one claw. Glancing away for a mere moment, the newly named warrior took a deep breath. Trust had to be earned, didn't it? That's what most cats said - that it could eventually be built. Several other clanmates had done so as they immersed themselves in the forest clan.

There came a finite sigh. Stoatfur looked up to study Minkstar's face, looking past the exasperated response to Admiral, seeking something there. His kin had given him no reason to not place some small measures of faith into his paws. An uneasy peace began to settle into his pelt. If this was a tentative first step, he was not sure he liked it, nor that he could do something on a much grander scale. The lithe brown and white tom sought to find his leader's gaze and offered a stiff nod of acceptance, for it was all that he could do for now.

This was nothing new, at least to Dovefrost this was nothing new. The white medicine cat had already known about Minkstar's origins due to the cat mentioning it on the way to his ceremony. The admission had stuck with Dovefrost, but it didn't bother him like it would have others. The white tom had watched the leader grow over time, training under his mate as a warrior, and then serving him as his medicine cat. He knew that there was no one better.

Green eyes flicked out towards the gathered crowd. If any of them didn't like his leader's origins then they would have to deal with the Medicine Cat as well, and maybe angering Starclan if they drove off Minkstar. Their leader was chosen, deemed fit to lead, by Starclan and that is all that mattered.

Badgermask had made it to the meeting only moments before Minkstar started his speech. She plopped down beside Patchpaw and let out a low huff, the sparrow that she'd hunted falling to her paws. What could this be about? Was ThunderClan going to war? Had the Asylum returned? The warrior glanced quickly, distrustfully, to where Stag was sat, but he didn't seem tense or uncomfortable.

And then Minkstar spoke.

Badgermask stiffened, at first, confusion growing on her features as the leader went on. So... her grandfather was a RiverClanner? Or... had been born one, at least? Her ears slicked back, and she stared at him with uncertainty shining in her eyes. Did this change anything? She wasn't sure. Would the other clans use this against them? Badgermask didn't pretend to know the nuances of clan politics... but this didn't change how she felt about Minkstar. He'd done good for ThunderClan so far, and until there was proof otherwise, Badgermask would fight for his right to stay there.

Ah. So it was what he'd been thinking. Even though it seemed like his sole attention was on his father, he kept all his other senses open so he could observe his clanmates' reactions to the news. He sucked in a breath as his father's words came to an end, jittery and apprehensive on what they would say or do.

To his relief, the clan... seemed to unanimously accept Mink and his backstory. However, he could see concern in some eyes but most probably realized that Minkstar was nothing but loyal to his clan and that origins didn't really matter much in terms of clan loyalty or family. Kestrel could certainly appreciate the passion that Admiral displayed, albeit a bit... extravagant and a teeny bit unnecessary. It was commendable though. Dovefrost's reaction was a bit interesting. Had he already been aware of Mink's lineage? Probably. He was the clan's medicine cat. It was probably a silly thing to question.