divided [closed]

"Come in, Swanmist."

The little leader meowed as soon as he sensed her presence at the entrance to the den. Stoatstar had barely gotten used to his name, let alone the isolating den. It was quiet, calm, and condemning. The emptiness meant this thoughts bounced off the walls and rattled through his mind, without so much as the snore of another cat to interrupt them. Overall, the strangest part of it all, was that none of this felt it belonged to him. Some nights he would pad in and almost expect to see Minkstar lounging in the nest. For that reason, he'd moved his own next to a new location, collected the moss himself and patched together something comfortable enough.

At some point Mottlepaw had left prey for him. The slender squirrel had been picked at, just about halfway - it would easily last the entire day at this rate. By the time the she-cat had finally joined him, he'd abandoned attempting to eat all together. It was an odd thing to be accustomed to hunger at this point, and the gnawing worry of his clan's wellbeing outweighed his own. Orange eyes glanced up to meet the she-cat and he rose to sit back on his haunches and regard her. The pair of them had never really spoken before, not that there was much conversation to be had. But the leader had decided it was time. Her kits were training to be Thunderclan warriors. While the circumstances were odd, something he'd never entirely reconcile with, and seemed to stem mostly from their mother... the fact remained that the kin was close.

"You can sit, stand, whatever." Stoatstar shrugged, pushing the squirrel towards her. Admittedly, it was a difficult thing to do. He would have rather shared prey with a cat who hadn't come to them, needlessly begging for prey that wasn't theirs to have. However, Minkstar had declared them to be part of the clan and that they were now. That was why Swanmist was before him now. If they were going to be here, he wanted to make the best of it, "Your kits have been doing well in training. They seem eager to learn."

One ear flicked. It was natural to expect a response in conversation, but that wouldn't be the case here. Stoatstar had no problem talking and only paused a moment before continuing, "They look up to you, they trust you. It's a good thing for kin to have that. But I also need to know they are going to be loyal to the clan, that you will be loyal to the clan. It's no secret that I didn't want you here but Minkstar's word was law and you're my clanmates now. They have my protection as leader, even if there are cats who disagree. I will do whatever I can to make it a reality that they are Thunderclan. I need you to do that as well, I need you to help your kits understand that Thunderclan is their home and their loyalty because they'll listen to you. I want to see them do well, that's all." His tail flickered and he gazed over her once again, looking for some form of reaction in her body language.

Swanmist was, in all honesty, fine with not talking with anyone. The other cats might stare and call her a fishbrain (she found that insult hurt so much more when you think fish are going to bring death to your... old... clan), but she wasn't completely unhappy. Leafbare would be hard, but... It was going to get easier, right? There'd be more prey around when it gets warmer and she would feel the fullest she had ever been...

Don't get your hopes up... She thought to herself. It's just wishful thinking, everyone in Thunderclan hates you. She didn't like that thought very much, even if she knew a little bit inside it was true. Better off dead, picky eater, the fish bring nothing, you're just paranoid. Sometimes she imagined those thoughts coming out of her own kit's mouths, she wished she didn't.

It was a bit of surprise when Stoatstar wanted to talk to her. Maybe it's because she was used to leaders not being as close to their clanmates, they always seemed distant and more important to her. Nervously, she made her way towards the den, hesitating outside. Do I have to speak to him?

She jumped a little when the leader called her in, she padded in slowly. It was rather.. Small. But the leader's den was made for one cat, right? So it made sense. Swanmist nodded at the brown tom's words before deciding to sit down. She was small, sitting down made her feel smaller, a part of her liked it that way. She looked down at the squirrel that was pushed in front of her. I don't deserve this. She told herself, after all, that's what most of Thunderclan said. It was their prey. It was their home. She didn't consider herself a Thunderclan warrior yet, she felt like she was out of place, but at the same time, she was more comfortable. She pushed the squirrel back, almost signing for 'not hungry' but he wouldn't understand that, would he? Even if she did sign it, even if he did understand, she'd just be lying, anyway, her appearance made her hunger clear enough, even if she didn't want to admit it.

Smiles came from the edges of her mouth. That's good. Thunderclan was more accepting of them from the start, is it because I'm older? She forced her mind to stop wandering, stop thinking about how Thunderclan thought of her. Her ears were facing forwards, paying attention to what Stoatstar had to stay. They did trust her, of course they did, they had no reason not to. Not now, anyway. And they would be loyal, she would be loyal, but no Thunderclan cat understood that. I'm Thunderclan, now, though. The leader said it himself, even though he clearly didn't like. I'm not sure I like it either. She looked away for a second, after Stoatstar finished. Her yellow eyes drifting away from Stoatstar. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Stoatstar and nodded. Her smile had faded into a neutral expression. I'll do my best.

His eyes narrowed as the she-cat pushed the prey back to him and the leader opted to wait to gauge the rest of her reaction before speaking. Stoatstar scanned her facial features. Every twitch of her pelt, flicker of sight, movement of an ear... everything. He was the type who payed attention to things and judged others accordingly. Although he was silent about it, the leader had always had a habit of making judgements of others, ones that were terribly hard to change. In a way, he had already made up his mind about Swanmist. But it would do him no good to act on these thoughts unless it was beneficial.

As she glanced away his tail flickered. What would he see when those eyes returned to meet his? And then they did. Agreement, determination. The smile had melted away into a more serious expression, one of understanding. Good. Stoatstar nodded in return a few times. Gaze falling on the prey once more and then fixing her with an even stare, "You won't do your kits or clan any good if you end up dead from hunger. We're all lean right now, true, but I'd rather have each cat's belly lined than nothing at all. That's part of how you earn your place in Thunderclan, be alive to take it. Besides, it's not fish."

Although he was annoyed with the she-cat, and her apparent lack of making positive decision, it was the truth. Additionally, any chance to make a subtle jab at the strange ways of Riverclan was not to be missed. As ridiculous as he found it that a cat would refuse any prey while starving, the stench of fish had always repulsed him, so maybe that was their middle ground. Thankfully, Swanmist and the kits had begun to lose the scent of their former clan. It was odd to constantly smell something not quite Thunderclan but it was here in the midst of their clan and with the rogues as well. That would all change with time. He waited silently for her to take the prey. Waiting without filling the air with his words was uncomfortable but what more was there to be said?