A Gentle Warning [Moonlily]

With Bloodstrike's place in Skyclan official, Wolfblossom had left him with her sister and gone in search on Moonlily. While she was becoming a more frequent sight around camp, he warrior still spent a lot of time outside of it even now, and with Bloodstrike returned... Wolfblossom did not think that would help her. Her reasons for it were valid, but it was better that she know of his return before it was sprung upon her unsuspectingly.

Wolfblossom found her a short distance from camp, tail waving in greeting. "Hey, Moonlily," She mewed, approaching the calico warrior, "Can we talk? It's... Important. You're not in trouble or anything." She added. She'd noticed a few warriors seemed to think the worst when they were called upon by their deputy... Really though, most of the time that wasn't the case.

It was welcoming to be back in Skyclan's territory after having been taken by the two-legs. Sure, it had been a fair bit of time ago now, but it was something that she had been shaken quite deeply from. Moonlily hadn't realized just how vital her clan was to her until after she'd been taken and changed, the scar that was now deep on her belly forever a reminder of what had happened to her. Those memories had dug in deep, much like the claws of the two-legs that had grabbed her.

Thankfully, those memories weren't on her mind as she had been out patrolling the territory. Constant sentry duty was what she had assigned herself to, still finding it odd to lounge inside of the camp's walls. Still, the fluffy molly had made her own progress, conversing more with clanmates inside its walls on a more frequent basis. As she saw Wolfblossom call to her, the she-cat was quick to dip her head with respect, but also let her own tail curl in greeting. "Wolfblossom, hi!" Her head tilted as the deputy requested to talk to her. Moonlily hadn't at first thought anything of it, just that perhaps she had missed a patrol assignment, but the anxiety was quick to swell in her chest the moment that Wolfblossom mentioned she wasn't in trouble. Something told her she might as well have been.

"Of course. I know I'm not in trouble, but is something wrong? Did I miss a patrol?" She'd been once more fully dedicated to her duties once she was back. Always guarding, always on alert. It was shown by her fluffy ears always swiveling. Or at least, one was, while the other was focused on listening to what Wolfblossom had to say.

"No, you haven't missed any patrols... Well, I suppose this will affect assignments, actually. But that is up to you." She spoke, mentally bracing herself for the reaction her next words were very likely to cause. She expected fully that Moonlily would not be comfortable with this.

"I'd rather you find this out from me before being surprised elsewhere. I have no intention of letting my clanmates be blindsided by what I'm about to say." Wolfblossom began. It had taken Moonlily a while to step paw into camp for longer than was absolutely necessary for patrol assignments and ceremonies, and while Wolfblossom would have preferred she stay within Skyclan's walls more often, she understood the reasons for it and would not push. This news was not likely to help the matter... Probably only make it worse, but...

"I'm sure you are aware that Bloodstrike and Beechfang showed up to help when the great shake happened. Neither stuck around, past Beechfang delivering the news about Briarstar being taken after we were at fourtrees. Last night, Bloodstrike approached Birdstar about returning to Skyclan as a warrior. It won't be without restrictions - No gatherings, no patrolling near the river. He knows better than to raise a paw against his clanmates, no matter the circumstances. As deputy I have no tolerance for such behavior and I will be watching closely. He has admitted to his own wrongdoings and has agreed to these restrictions. As for Birdstar and I, it would be cruel to deny an aging warrior of Skyclan blood the right to live out their days as a warrior. He has not caused problems since being exiled, and I don't believe he will as a warrior of Skyclan again, either. He approached us with the full understanding that this is no longer his clan to lead." She continued, "Bloodstrike is in agreement with Birdstar and I that our clanmates be allowed to voice their concerns about this. We will not force those who are uncomfortable to work with Bloodstrike unnecessarily until they are ready to on their own terms. We don't expect a warm welcome for him, least of all from those who were there to witness what happened, nor do we expect everyone to be friendly and act like nothing happened. We only expect civility and that those who have concerns voice them without raising claws." Her eyes never left Moonlily as she finished speaking, waiting quietly for a reaction.

The ball of anxiety that had settled into her chest seemed to bob down to her stomach where it would grow and fester, spurred to life by Wolfblossom's words. As much as she had tried to keep it down, to hide her worries, they began to surface on the large molly's face as her mind darted hundreds of places in an attempt to analyze and figure out just where this conversation was going. Had something happened to Yewfrost? Was her mother found? Did something happen to her apprentice?

All of those anxieties ground to a halt the moment that Wolfblossom said his name. An anchor plummeted itself down into her chest, the flukes digging themselves into her heart. She had a hard enough time keeping herself together at the cutters when she had noticed the raggedy old tom in the same room as her, and even then, most of her nights had been spent in a state of near-consistent panic and inability to do much more than hide in the back corner of the metal cage they had placed her in. At least there had been a soft bedding of some sort for her to lay on, and the twolegs had been keen on fawning over her and making sure all of the mats had been taken out of her pelt. That much had been a saving grace, as well as whatever strange powder they had put in the pellets they dared called 'food' that let her sleep.

She couldn't say anything. For once, perhaps the first time in her life, she truly felt the cold of leafbare seeping into her body. Was it the cold of leafbare, or the freezing harshness of reality? Moonlily couldn't possibly answer that question. At some point, she stopped simply hearing Wolfblossom's words, even as she saw them forming on her lips. A ringing slowly took hold of her hearing, the molly's breathing changing to be more shallow and fearful. For as much as she had seen and fought, as much as she had patrolled Skyclan's borders and chased away trespassers, for all the predators she'd come across... this was different.

Visceral was the only way to describe the way the memory charged into the front of her mind. She'd just finally gotten to the point she could even cross the barrier of camp without feeling her throat closing, without feeling the wound that had been inflicted upon her mother that day. It felt like all of that was now being walked backwards, ripped into shreds with angered claws. Her ears flattened as she tried to blink past the overlay that came with the memory of rushing to her mother, the sensation of Briarstar's blood seeping onto her head. The only thing attaching her to reality was the pounding of her heart in her chest, threatening to leap out and escape all on its own. She couldn't understand why they'd let him back. It didn't make sense to her. To let such a haggared tom with so much on his back... He knows better?! He sliced his own leader's - his mates - my mother's throat! She hadn't heard Wolfblossom's words, but the thought stabbed into her mind with such a force that she couldn't ignore it. It was a scream that she held back - that much she knew better about.

But at the end of the day, it wasn't her choice. Just as she had done in the past, Moonlily would stay outside of camp. Even for patrols, she'd stay as near as she needed to be to listen, to be able to give affirmation she knew her assignments. She'd take separate patrols from him and avoid him as much as possible. The she-cat had no attachment anymore to him, even if by all reason he was her father. Shrinking into herself, all Moonlily could do was knead her claws in and out of the softened earth at her paws. "Okay..." She finally spoke, but it felt like she was fighting for even just that singular word. Her gaze couldn't quite bring itself to meet Wolfblossom's, so it stayed on the ground, watching her own paws. "Please... do not make me patrol with him. Or... or interact with him. If possible. Thank you." Her voice had gone timid. Out of all the bad news to receive, the molly almost wished she was being condemned for something she hadn't actually done. Framed for some type of ill-intented action, whereas instead, this felt much worse.

So much for getting used to being in camp.

Moonlily's reaction was, strangely, more subdued than Wolfblossom had been expecting. No yelling or screaming, no claws in her face, those should have been good things and they were. But watching the younger warrior... Wolfblossom thought that her original hunch that this would be a setback was very much correct. She stepped forward, silently brushing against the younger she-cat. Moonlily's response, when it finally came, was what she had been expecting, right?

"You won't have to, Moonlily. Look at me, please." She'd noticed that the she-cat wouldn't meet her gaze. Wolfblossom would do her best to be accommodating of her wish to remain away from her father. For now. This could not last forever, when two cats were in the same clan. It had taken Moonlily seasons to make what little progress she had, however, and that was going to be set back. A sigh escaped Wolfblossom, and once Moonlily had met her eyes she would begin to speak again. "Your relationship, or lack of, is nobody's business but you and your father. You will not be assigned patrols with him and I will honor that for as long as I can. You are clanmates however, and I cannot promise that you won't run into each other while in the territory on your own accord. I understand that what happened with Briarthorn was... difficult-" Maybe her own view would be different if she had witnessed it, but Bloodstrike had not been fit for leadership then and seemed to recognize it. The least they could do was offer him a second chance within the clan he'd given lives for, "-but you will afford him the bare minimum of civility that any other clanmate would deserve. That doesn't mean you have to speak or patrol with him. Do you understand?"