Delegation (Open)

Nightstar padded into Windclan camp with Coyotegrin in the lead. Shadowclans leader was grateful that he didn't have to let Windclan on his lands, the paranoia that they'd take the chance to learn and memorize where his camp was to lay waste to it, and this whole discussion would have been a trap of its own. But thankfully, Shrikestar had shown goodwill and offered to have their meeting at his camp. But it was safe to say that Nightstar was still paranoid, and on the edge of his toes, he had left his deputy behind in the camp, knowing that if his life was to end they'd take all his lives and maybe even Leopardsuns, and he wasn't going to let Shadowclan be without leadership.

But they weren't stupid, Shadowclan was one of the top dogs of the forest, and a small clan like Windclan would be extinguished in a few nights' time if he were not to come back. He had to remind himself that even alone, he was a force to be reckoned with, and there would be an unsurmountable amount of consequences. Nightstar's eyes were narrowed, but it was to be expected, it was not often that he was out during the day, even less under the cover of trees with the sun beating down on his black back. He turned to Coyotegrin, "Get me into Shrikestars den soon. I can't take this light. I will wait here until everyone is ready to discuss." He growled lowly, though it was not intended at her by any means. He wasn't aware of how bad it was being in an environment so adverse to his own. He was trying his best not to show it, but the brightness of it all was certainly something.

Nightstar plopped his bottom in the middle of the camp, looking narrowly at the emerging Windclan cats. That was fine, let them wonder why he was there, his business wasn't exactly with them for the time being.

Silverwing stared at Nightstar in awe as he wandered into camp. He was of course lead by Coyotegrin, but his presence in Windclan at all gave her a bad feeling, and if he was here to personally tell Shrikestar about their meeting at the border... No, he couldn't be that petty. Still, even if he was "welcome", he was still trespassing. She inched closer to him, remaining a couple fox-lengths away. Her eyes bore into him, watching every muscle movement with an intense hate. He was an evil cat, and if made even the slightest misstep she wouldn't hesitate to put him down.

The small talk on the way to camp with Nightstar was nothing more than just required pleasentries. The warrior was smart enough to know that she should take him an indirect route to the camp, so she took the long way with a few extra turns. On the way back, she would take him another way. As soon as they made it to camp, he snapped an order at her to get Shrikestar immediately in a growl. She paused, staring him down for a brief moment with a look of disgust. She wasn't his warrior. It tempted her to make an eloquent show of how slow she was moving to the den but she decided against it. Instead, she trotted over the rock that housed Shrikestar. "Shrikestar? He's here." She called, before taking a step back and glancing back to Nightstar. Silver wing was aggressively moving in on the elder and she sighed. "Silverwing, cool it! Go hunting if you can't be polite." The senior warrior scolded from afar in a loud voice. Silverwing better not mess this up with ShadowClan- she had no idea how important this would be to their small clan.

Brackenwing had just approached the fresh-kill pile when movement from the camp entrance and a scent that most definitely was not Windclan drew her attention. She turned on instinct, claws digging into the grass at the sight of a dark-furred intruder. One, she realized, she unfortunately recognized. Shadowclan's leader approaching them, escorted by none other than Coyotegrin... Something was up. Why in Starclan's name are you here? She thought, eyes narrowing as she watched the Shadowclan leader sit and ask for Shrikestar. Perhaps not all was as well as had appeared when Shadowclan had finally returned to their territory? He had mentioned predators the last time they spoke, before the conversation had been derailed.

Green eyes shifted towards Coyotegrin briefly in question, but Brackenwing said nothing. Silverwing was approaching, because of course she was, and Brackenwing sighed internally. She hoped very much that there wouldn't be a repeat of their first meeting with Nightstar,. Before she could say anything, Coyotegrin did however, and she couldn't help the way her whiskers twitched in smug amusement as her sort-of-friend-sort-of-headache was told to go hunt. Brackenwing wasn't... overly fond of the Shadowclan leader by any means, but would sit a short distance away to watch. Just in case.

Although he'd expected Nightstar's arrival, seeing the tom in camp still managed to send a shiver down Smallbean's spine. Maybe it was something about his cold exposition, or maybe the way he had the audacity to growl orders at Windclan warriors. The deputy frowned. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was still thinking about his first impression.

Nervously hanging around the edge of camp, he eyed the Shadowclan leader carefully. He should say something- maybe have another interaction besides his one failed introduction. Sighing, he slowly padded towards the taller tom. "Hey... Nighstar. Good afternoon." He started, albeit shakily. "Um, if there's anything that I can do to make you more comfortable while you're here, let me know. Shrikestar um..." He gazed back toward the leader's den. "Shrikestar should be here soon."

Shrikestar was resting in his den: not asleep, but not moving much. It was a hot day, and he needed to conserve his energy for what lay ahead. Which, of course, was not far off. He watched as Coyotegrin padded towards his den, with the simple words: He's here. Of course, there could be no other 'he' but Nightstar. Shrikestar nodded, getting up and padding out of his den. He made his way towards Nightstar, dipping his head in greeting. "Nightstar," he mewed. "Good to see you made it. Shall we convene in my den?" He had a feeling that a ShadowClan cat would not be doing well under the bright open sky, a sky that was very important to the WindClan faithful. Ah well, not everyone could be as understanding of StarClan's love.

Coyotegrin followed Shrikestar from his den to where Nightstar still sat, waiting. As the leader came to a stop, Coyotegrin closed the distance and stood by his side, Smallbean on the other. She said nothing, but she threw a good glare to Silverwing for good measure.

Nightstar watched the interactions of the Windclan cats with great interest until Smallbean came up to speak to him, "I will be fine." he meowed simply, his attention was grabbed before he could say much more when Shrikestar finally emerged from his den. It was about time. "Of course." Nightstar meowed simply, his eyes still narrowed and squinted as he got to his paws a little too quickly. Nightstar felt like his back was ablaze at this point, as he made his way to Shrikestar and his den, dipping into the cool shade with a slight sigh of relief. "I mean no disrespect, but I'd like it if we got down to business. I've got a clan worrying about me, after all." The younger leader dipped his head, taking a seat near the den entrance. While he had no hope to escape the fastest cats on the territory, he'd still give it a shot if it meant this deal going south. "I'm sure you know already how much Shadowclan has to offer, so I'd like to hear what Windclan is willing to put forth." Make it worth my time, you'd all be in for a bad time if I was your enemy.

Smallbean stayed silent after receiving a response from the Shadowclan leader. The deputy couldn't tell if it was just a simple answer or if Nightstar just wasn't in the mood to talk. Either way, he couldn't blame him, he was there for business after all, not for idle conversation.

Quickly afterwards, Shrikestar approached and Smallbean took a step backwards, placing himself beside his leader. Shrikestar and Nightstar exchanged greetings and padded toward the leader's den, Smallbean following behind, leaving distance between himself and the duo. As they entered the den, he stood outside, still within earshot. He figured he'd only enter if he was invited, but he wanted to stay close by in case something went wrong.

Coyotegrin followed as the leaders turned and trailed behind with Smallbean in focused silence. She didn't hesitate to enter the den until she saw Smallbean stop at the entrance. She too, then stopped but not for the same reason. The molly shot the deputy a quizzical look and then motioned with her head to join. She sure as StarClan wasn't going to miss this, and he shouldn't either. After that, she joined the two leaders and settled in next to Shrikestar and curled her tail around her paws.

"Of course," Shrikestar nodded, knowing well that ShadowClan was a clan full of strong cats. They were always a growing clan, and they had skills within the darkness that no other clan hoped to have. They would be a powerful ally indeed. That wasn't to sell WindClan short, of course. For a clan of their size, having every advantage was quite necessary. There was one thing that no other clan knew, and perhaps would be of interest to Nightstar. "What would you say if I told you we had the ability to strategically place ourselves within the territories of multiple clans without having to cross their scent markers?"

Nightstar's ear flicked, his gaze sharpening as Shrikestars statement intrigued him. A way to cross borders without crossing scent markers? That sounded interesting, something like that left unchecked could be dangerous. But if Shrikestar was offering and he was, or he wouldn't be bringing it up, it could be truly advantageous for Shadowclan. "I would say I'd like to hear more of what you have to say, Shrikestar. You have my interest." the tom mewed, his tail flicking idly as he waited for the tom to continue speaking.

Smallbean returned Coyotegrin's expression with an equally confused one that quickly turned conflicted. It didn't feel right to him to step into the leader's den, or to be present during this conversation, but Coyotegrin was going... Giving in with a heavy sigh, he followed the warrior into the den, taking Shrikestar's other side. Each time the other leader spoke, his eyes passed between them, analyzing the expressions of both cats. Luckily, Nightstar seemed to be interested in becoming Windclan's ally... for now, at least.

"Wha- Polite? But he-" Silverwing couldn't believe what she was hearing, why was Coyotegrin defending this... Villain?! Something wasn't right about this, she wasn't gonna just leave camp while he was still here, so she sat down where she was. She wouldn't be polite to him, that was out of the question, but she supposed she could stomach him. For now. Silently, she watched them, keeping a close eye on the Shadowclan leader. As they began to move, Silverwing readied herself to follow them, but was cut short by Coyotegrin. She really was on Nightstar's side! No matter, all she had to do was wait for them to disappear inside the den, and as they did, Silverwing stalked up to the entrance, careful to stay quiet as she did. Why were they talking about invading other clans? No, more importantly why were they saying anything about this to Nightstar? There was no way Shrikestar would do invade the other clans, and the was no way he would team up with Shadowclan! This had to be a plan of sorts, maybe they had lured Nightstar here to take all nine of his lives at once! There was no way he was getting out of Windclan alive, not when he was so deep in their camp. Nice plan, Shrikestar!