A problem not easily solved (Open)

OOC: Because of circumstances, the red hand, and this topic take place after the site-wide to clear any time-line discrepancies.

Finding Redice with a Skyclan cat bloodied and wounded was not on Nightstars agenda, and it was less so bringing an enemy warrior no matter how wounded into his clan territory, much less his camp. It was not like he had any choice, because a return trip would kill the Skyclan warrior, and that would dig the muddy hole that Redice had dug them both ever deeper. Nightstar's head swam, desperately looking for a solution that would save them from war, and to keep Redice with them, because just maybe if he could get away with it, the strange tom could be an asset.

But for now, there was a cat to treat, and questions from his clan to answer he was certain. Dear Starclan what was he going to do? Growling lowly, Nightstar turned to Redice. "Go to my den and do not come out." He barked, tucking him away in the leader's den for his safety. Nightstar was quick to grab the Skyclan warrior and drag him to the medicine cat den, his eyes flickering amongst the den until he found his medicine cat, "I'll explain everything later. With answers. For now, just treat him." Nightstar meowed, settling the Skyclan tom within the medicine cat den.

He had to act quick, Skyclan would notice a whole warrior missing and likely find the blood and any scent left to find. Whisking out of the medicine cat den, Nightstar's eyes caught Locustcall's gaze and he was quick to stride up, "Summon the council to my den. Immediately." Nightstar meowed, his tone low and hushed as he turned on his paws and made for his den. Once he could find the object of all of todays problems he meowed, "You will be silent. You will speak to answer questions and that is it. Be short, clear, and precise. Leave any personal biases out of your words should it cost you your life. Do I make myself clear?" His tone was urgent, low, and quick, lest any cat be eavesdropping or any council members be on their way and in earshot.

"When you face your consequences, you will be remorseful, you will own up to your mistakes and gladly face any punishment given to you. Failure to do so will cost you your life. Should you get out of this, we will have a talk." Nightstar snarled before flattening his face and taking his position on his den.

Redice followed Nightstar casually as if nothing had happened. He yawned, having been out all day and the dash of boredom to go with it didn't help. Could he just go to bed now? This was stupid. When Nightstar finally told him to go to the den, Redice just blinked and eyed him coolly. Redice calmly entered the leader's den and sat. Nightstar returned not too long afterward and he snickered at the orders he was given and the threat as well. He began grooming the blood, the mud and all other things off of his fur, the excitement of the day already forgotten. He wondered what he would do to entertain himself tomorrow.

Finally, Nightstar's words hit him and he brought his gaze back to his leader's, expression slightly annoyed. "Consequences? Biases? Concern for my life?" Now Redice straightened up and looked his leader square in the eye. His tone was mildly annoyed, but not truly angry.

"You assume too much, Nightstar. I am one of your warriors but have you ever really took the time to know me? I have no bias. I do not fear consequences. I do not fear death. I do not fear." At least, not much now. As a younger tom he had the emotion here and there, but that was far gone now. He barely remembered what it was like. Now, he just enjoyed watching other cats be afraid.

"I'm not even afraid of you. Now you tell me the rules for this game so I can beat you again, and this time, don't be such a sore loser about it. This is your one chance to make it all clear. I'm listening. What do you really want me to do?" He wasn't giving Nightstar a chance to say that he hadn't lost, because as far as Redice was concerned, he had. Had Nightstar ever brought a cat body back? Redice didn't think so.

Snowfoot was the first of the council to enter Nightstar’s den, her paws shuffling as she sat down. This was the first time the council had been called in, and the circumstances were not fantastic. A half-dead SkyClan cat in the medicine den, and Redice in Nightstar’s den with the victim’s blood and scent permeating his own. The scarred she-cat looked at the leader, trying to remain calm. “Nightstar. I’m guessing this has something to do with the obvious bloodshed. I would like to hope this was a misunderstanding and there has been no codebreaking here.” She shot a look at Redice on the last sentence. The badger in the den had been addressed.

Though she kept herself busy with tasks real and imagined, Leopardsun did her best to remain aware of her surroundings. She didn't miss Nightstar's arrival as she added the finishing touches of reinforcements to the nursery, and suppressed a sigh as she realized the daily busywork would need to be set aside for now. The scent of blood was strong, as was the scent of- SkyClan?

Not more trouble!

Locustcall's curt words were likewise not missed, and she padded over to join Nightstar and the council; catching the tail-end of the conversation. The source of the trouble was evidently Redice. "How did this happen?"

The second that a SkyClan cat was brought back to ShadowClan camp, maimed, Rookfire immediately headed to the medicine den. Large claw and scratch marks covered the cat's fur and belly, and although those types of scars were normal, the sheer multitude of them left him dangerously close to death. Thankfully, the black tuxedo did hear short, shallow breathing - which by itself wasn't great, but it meant that the SkyClan tom was at least alive.

When Locustcall told him to enter the leader's den with the rest of the council, the black tuxedo obliged. As he stepped inside the leader's den, he caught Locustcall's words. Immediately realizing this was about the injured SkyClan cat (and most likely Redice, due to his presence in this meeting), Rookfire added on to Locustcall's statement. "I agree. We should take care to not injure another clan cat this badly."

He turned his gaze towards Redice. He didn't know why, but the ShadowClan warrior... unnerved him. He didn't know how to describe it specifically, but... it felt like something was wrong about him. However, he couldn't exactly campaign to execute him just for the tom looking at him weirdly. He needed to be a fair and unbiased council member. And by what he knew, Redice may have just made a mistake.

Sablestrike watched as the bloody form of a cat not of his clan was dragged into his camp. He couldn't identify what he was feeling in the moment, but he knew that fear was mixed in there somewhere. A fear of what this clan cat's body might mean for the future of his clan. This would no doubt end poorly for Shadowclan. Blessedly, he managed to keep those feeling inside. He wouldn't rush into anything and earn the scorn of his leader again, but he wouldn't sit by as the council was assembled. Locustcall was joining them in Nightstar's den, and if he was allowed to join in on the conversation then surely anyone was allowed.

The black tom slipped into Nightstar's den. He managed to catch what Rookfire had said, but that was about it. "Why," he began calmly, "do we have a half-dead clan cat in our camp?" He had more to say, but if he let himself speak any further it wouldn't be in a calm manner.

Tigershriek had been sitting inside of camp, taking a rare break from his work. There were always menial tasks to do around camp, and he often tried to do a few when he had the time. He didn't have any hobbies, and hardly any friends, so he did the next best thing and proved his worth to his clan as often as he could. Of course, his break would be interrupted by the worst thing possible. He bristled as the scent of blood entered camp, and his muscles were primed to run to some-cat's aid. It was Nightstar though, not bleeding, Redice... and... an outsider.

Redice was told to go to Nightstar's den, and complied. Nightstar said to Burdockroot that questions would be answered later. To be honest, the tom was a bit bewildered, his heart told him to go to his leader, to ask what happened. Yet Nightstar's orders were not for him, they were for the council, for Locustcall. Golden eyes watched his mentor go into the den. Digging his claws into the mud below, as if to anchor himself, Tigershriek watched with bated breath. What in the name of Starclan was going on? The council assembled in the den, and all he could do was watch.

Then Sablestrike went inside, despite Nightstar's order. Through slitted eyes, the warrior watched, jaw set hard, and all he could think was idiot.

"That's exactly what Redice will be telling us. I stumbled upon him with the Skyclan warrior in his jaws." Nightstar responded curtly, which seemed to be all he could mention before Sablestrike padded into the den during a council meeting. Anger swelled within his chest, his fuse already short as he turned to look at his warrior with slitted eyes. Nightstar's scarred maw peeled back to reveal sharp, white teeth, a warning. "Sablestrike." Nightstar growled, his tone dangerous and cold, "Turn around." He ordered, simple and straight to the point, praying that his former apprentice had the sense to take it for what it's worth.

Snowfoot bristled at the sight of her son. He wasn’t on the council, he didn’t have any part in this incident, did he? Her fears were relieved when Nightstar turned him away and she shot Sablestrike a look of disappointment. He was a warrior now, he should know better than this. Hopefully his actions didn’t reflect on her too badly.

Sablestrike's arrival and the others' reactions both made Leopardsun bite back another deep sigh. "Sablestrike. Step outside. Please."

She hoped he had the good sense left in him to listen, but didn't watch for more than a moment. There were more pressing issues to deal with than Sablestrike's poor timing.

"I would very much like to know what happened, as well as what we'll be doing about it. If you brought him to our camp, it's because he couldn't manage the trip back to his own... Someone will need to notify SkyClan, and soon, before they draw their own conclusions. If you'll allow me, Nightstar, I can set out as soon as this meeting comes to a close."

Redice watched as other cats poured inside the leader's den where he was and he stared at them all with an expression of mild annoyance. He didn't care a bit that he was bristled at. Redice opened his mouth to speak after Nightstar made it clear that he wanted him to explain what happened... again... Sablestrike entered next, and Redice closed his mouth again.

"Do kindly clear out." He said in the most pleasant tone of probably anyone here but Leopardsun. Redice gave Sablestrike a toothy grin and a literal sideways look with a tilt of his head. His annoyance and anger was gone immediately.

Once the young warrior would leave the den, Redice would look at Nightstar, his mood suddenly and inexplicably better.

"Alright, is everyone listening? Nightstar told me to go hunt, because I was going out anyway. I took one look at the fresh-kill pile and saw that it was basically full. Clearly that means something new needed to be added or why ask?" Redice stood, now making small, circling steps toward everyone in the den. His expression had lightened considerably, looking each and every warrior in the eye as if he was about to tell a grand story.

"Now I don't want to hurt any feelings here, you are all marvelous hunters! But not one of you has ever brought back a cat body. Not one of you! So most definitely the way to win this hunting game was to bring back something new, something impressive too though! So I went to the Thunderpath, because I know the rules say I can't cross territories when hunting. Fine, fine, I thought!

Lo and behold, the Skyclan cat entered neutral territory where I was allowed to hunt, and hunt him I did. The fight didn't even last that long, not long at all! A good old slice to the guts and he didn't have much left in him, so anyway I thought he died... my mistake. I brought him here and the job wasn't even finished." Now his expression soured a bit and he practically slammed his rump onto the floor in frustration. His ears rotated back about half way and he glared irritated at the floor of the leader's den.

"That's when I got yelled at." He shot Nightstar a look that may as well have been the equivalent of Redice sticking his tongue out at him. The red tom sighed loudly and then looked at everyone again, not reading too much into expressions at this point. He wasn't always correct when he read them anyway.

"Too bad I didn't actually spill the tom's guts. He'd be dead and then I could have used his entrails as rat bait and then I would have caught all of the rats as well as a cat!. Pfft!" He started to laugh like he just told a part way decent joke, his shoulders shaking and his tail quivering. "Imagine that, we'd have something to talk about and there would be one less problem in the forest. Who needs Skyclan anyway?"

Redice stretched his front legs and his stomach growled so loudly it could easily be heard throughout the room. His eyes immediately went to where the fresh-kill pile would be outside of the leader's den.

"My endeavors have left me famished. Nightstar, if you could explain exactly the rules you want me to follow sort of quickly so that I could eat, I'd very much like that." Redice's voice had been fairly calm the entire time. One thing was for sure, he was ready to go out and do his own thing. He'd go... apologize or whatever... later on.