Bearer of Bad News

After making sure her clan had settled in to the best of their ability, Murkystar had set out towards the border with SkyClan. Her wounds stung, her body ached, and each pawstep felt like an uphill journey. How she longed to close her eyes, to sleep, but this was important. It had to be done... And if she needed to be the one to do it so the rest of her clan was cared for, then she would do it a hundred times over. Finally she reached Highpine as the sun began to rise, settling on her side of the border and waiting patiently for a patrol to come. The dawn patrol shouldn't be long to appear, perhaps if she was lucky Bloodstar would be among them - if not then she would simply request an audience with him. As she waited, she took the time to gingerly groom the fur around her numerous wounds, hiding the worst of them the best she could despite knowing that it wouldn't do much. She was a proud cat, after all, but her clan's needs came first... And clearly Dawnhawk intended to make an enemy of her clan. Her eyes narrowed at the memory of his blue eyes staring at her from under the pelt of one of her warriors. He would pay for what he did, she would make sure of it. That would be a job for another day, though. Her ears swiveled towards the sound of approaching pawsteps, and she sat up straight, quickly making sure she was definitely on her side of the border before looking in the direction of the approaching cat.

Slightpaw was stalking a bird, his tail lashing in anticipation. suddenly, branches rustled beside him, and the sparrow took flight. the apprentice made one last effort in a leap, but the catch was lost. angry by the loss of his catch, he searched for the source of the noise. his blue eyes met emerald eyes. the newcomer was sitting behind the skyclan border, on the shadowclan side. she held herself with pride, and already the apprentice could tell she was an important cat.

keeping his tone polite, he asked, "May I help you?" his paws shuffled under that intense emerald gaze. It was different from Bloodstar's. the Skyclan leader often showed his emotions through his face, eyes, tail or some part of his body, but this she-cat betrayed nothing.

Murkystar blinked slowly as a tom attempted to catch a sparrow, wincing as he missed it and took notice of her. "I apologize for the part I played in you missing your catch. I hope you find easy hunting." She mewed, dipping her head slightly in apology before raising it to meet the tom's eyes once more. He seemed on the younger side, perhaps an apprentice... Which meant there would likely be warriors accompanying him nearby. "My name is Murkystar, I am the leader of ShadowClan. I need to speak with Bloodstar as soon as possible regarding something urgent. Could you please let him know?" She asked, trying to keep her voice light despite her exhaustion. Her emotions still carefully veiled, she waited patiently for whatever response she received. If he said no... Well, then she'd wait for a different cat to come along.

The scent of blood hit Bloodstar's nose and he was pulled away from his hunting routine in an instant. He cast an alarmed glance at his hunting patrol before he launched himself into the nearest tree. The Skyclan leader bolted from tree to tree along branches as fast and as easily as he did across the land. As he neared the Shadowclan border, the scent of blood grew stronger. In most situations, Bloodstar kept emotions off of his face and out of his body language, a trait passed on from more than just a few generations of stone-faced toms. Even as an apprentice, Bloodstar had been stoic and hard to read.

In more serious situations, especially those that took him by surprise, emotions leaked out, especially anger. As he came racing across trees like a bat out of the dark forest, his eyes landed on the apprentice and then on Murkystar. Bloodstar caught her words in the air... and he immediately allowed his battle-ready state of mind to calm itself.

The 16lb bobcat sized tom landed on the forest floor with a thud, gracefully letting his knees and elbows recoil beneath him before drawing himself up to his full height. Murkystar looked awful... He did spare a disapproving glance at the apprentice, however.

"Were the rules against traveling alone not clear enough for you, Slightpaw?" He growled lowly, but didn't expect an answer right now. There were clearly more pressing matters at hand. The rest of the hunting patrol eventually caught up with Bloodstar, now all waiting in the trees to spring into action.

"What happened, Murkystar?" He asked her calmly, though he was definitely very curious to know what was going on. An injured leader showing up at another clan's borders was never good.

Slightpaw opened his mouth to say something to the older she-cat, but at that moment Bloodstar landed next to him with a loud thud, making the apprentice jump. he wanted to protest that he had been on a patrol with other cats, but was chasing the sparrow, but it made no matter. realizing that the she-cat was actually shadowclan's leader, the apprentice backed away to give the two leaders some space. he was curious to now what had happened, but he would know sooner or later. the tom waited patiently for Bloodstar to dismiss him.

She didn't have to wait for an answer, Bloodstar appearing from above. The only reaction from her was for her green eyes to shift to him as he landed, no sign of surprise on her face. After all, Bloodstar had a good hold of his territory, and clan. Gratefully, he seemed to have a general understanding that she was not here for conflict, which she was grateful for - she was in no condition to fight to be heard. She remained sitting down, a small sigh escaping her through. "Dawnhawk did. Apparently, he has at least one litter of kits now, of which I would say most are apprentice or young warrior age now. According to him, some of my warriors that challenged a rogue that was hunting in our territory ended up killing him, and he ended up being one of these kits. So he brought himself along with a number of other cats, some of which I'm sure were other kits of his due to their similarities, and attempted to attack our camp this morning while we slept. I discovered their presence before they could discover our camp, but the fight was long and difficult, and we have many wounded, especially with Basilbloom gone." He didn't need to know they had lost, so she would carefully leave that information out. "I didn't recognize him, at first - given that he was wearing the pelt of one of our warriors, Burningwing, who he had slaughtered on the way through ShadowClan's territory. If his kits are hunting on clan territory, they must have picked a camp nearby. Given the crude way in which he and the others are using Asylum's teachings and methods, I wouldn't be surprised if they picked somewhere familiar.. But I don't know where that may be. Do you have any ideas? Have you or your clanmates experienced anything similar?"

slightpaw perked his ears at Murkystars words. Dawnhawk? As in the Dawnhawk? As in the tom who had betrayed his clan in every way possible? The white tom was unsure of what he should feel about this bit of news, but he could also tell the conversation was getting more private. slowly backing away, Slightpaw hoped that the falling snow would cover his pelt, and that the two leaders had not noticed him.

he had heard all he needed, and Murkystar had given him a piece of information even she had not realized. he had no idea what to do with it, but he did not need the leaders ruining any future plans, if there was any. his blue eyes flashed as he hurried away, pelt hidden by the falling snow.

The new she brought... he knew it wasn't going to be an invitation to a huge party or anything, but this wasn't what he was expecting. His fur bristled and his claws gouged the earth beneath him. Well... he was definitely still alive and doing well despite the season. His memories of the rogues that attacked and killed him came to mind... so that attack hadn't been random. With that further realization, Bloodstar's ears rotated back against his head and his eyes took on a steely gaze.

"I was attacked on patrol by several rogues too. No warning... they just appeared and began to fight. If they were his too... well... I have a hard time believing those were just random rogues now."

He wasn't going to tell her that he'd lost a life necessarily... unless it became important somehow. "I'm sorry for Shadowclan's loss." He offered condolences, not remembering who Burningwing was. "If he's getting bold enough to seek out and attack camps now... I think this is something that should come up at the next gathering. The other clans need to be warned. I know we're all sick of hearing about Dawnhawk, believe me I'm tired of bringing him up, but to not share this news could prove to be detrimental." Hopefully she would agree, because he was not going to share Shadowclan's news at a gathering. That wasn't his place.

"I can maybe part with some of our herbs and your warriors can do what they will with them, but I need to take careful inventory to see what we can spare." He hoped this would be seen as a token of good faith between Shadowclan and Skyclan, despite the recent border skirmishes.

"As for where Dawnhawk would hole up that is close by, I would assume maybe the Old Twoleg place. He is familiar with it already, having once been forced to live there after a fire destroyed Skyclan territory." His eyes suddenly widened and his heart stopped. Isn't that where the flower patrol went? "I hope our clan members who are away will be alright..." Beechfang was a target for Dawnhawk too... the others he would see as just in the way and stars knew he would kill anyone to get what he wanted without remorse.

Murkystar frowned at the news regarding the attack on Bloodstar. Perhaps the attack on her clan hadn't been solely due to a perceived slight... They had best be more prepared next time. She acknowledged the tom's condolences with a slight appreciative nod, her tail flicking in agreement as he continued. "I agree. I think at this point at least three of the five clans have been significantly impacted by Dawnhawk, perhaps it's only a matter of time now. I doubt RiverClan and ThunderClan will escape his attention for too much longer. Best for us all to be prepared." She mewed, sighing as she began to think of how to bring it all up to so many cats without revealing too much regarding ShadowClan's current state.

"Thank you, anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated. Horsetail and oak leaves are what would help the most given the injuries, but we will accept anything. When we are able, I will return the herbs you so kindly gave us in our time of need." She mewed, blinking up at the other leader. "If it gives you enough time, I will have a patrol of warriors come back to this spot at sunset tonight to collect what you can part with." She offered, motioning with a paw to where she was standing.

Her heart sank as Bloodstar continued, eyes widening and breath catching as he seemed to come to the same realization she had. Her belly seemed to be in her paws, and she stared back at him in silent horror for a heartbeat before shaking her head and clearing her throat, though her voice was still a bit higher than usual. "I.. I'm sure they are. They're all experienced, strong cats, they... They'll be just fine." The tiny voice in her mind whispered of doubts and fears, but she tried to ignore it. "Well Bloodstar, I believe I've done all I came here to do. I will send a patrol at nightfall to collect any herbs you can part with, and I will make sure the clans are aware of Dawnhawk's presence in the area, and the potential issues it could cause each of us. Until next time." She lowered her head respectfully, moving to turn back and head further into her territory.