compare and contrast [c]

The moment he had seen Leopardstar retreat into the leader's den, Sablestrike had taken it as an invitation for them to speak. He was quick to follow her into the den, only taking a few moments to stick one of the more senior warriors on guard duty. Just as expected, Leopardstar had been waiting for him in that dark den. "Of course, I'm not as trusting of those four." Sablestrike moved deeper into the den, placing himself in front of his leader as he continued. "Honestly, I can't believe you not only told them they could stay, but you offered them our camp!"

Sablestrike kept the volume of his voice low, but allowed for his feeling to melt into his words. The distrust, the confusion, the anger, all of it dripped from every single word. "I thought you were a smarter cat than that. They admitted to following us from as far as the lakes, and your first instinct was to invite them to our camp? Stars, I thought you had our best interests at heart, but here you are inviting four potentially dangerous cats into the heart of our camp! How can I trust you to make decisions for this clan when you're just as reckless as-" Me? Nightstalker? He didn't need to say anything. Leopardstar already knew what he wanted to say. "What did it gain us, a few extra paws? I'm going to have to assign warriors to keep watch over them at all hours of the day, since I'm pretty sure they're not nocturnal. We're going to lose just as many paws as we gained." Which was not something he had considered when agreeing to take in the strange rogues.

"There's one thing I really need to ask you, though. Does my opinion mean so little to you that you ask for it as an afterthought? We couldn't afford a few minutes to speak on the matter before you offered to let them stay?" Beyond his own feelings of betrayal, the thoughtlessness showed a lack of care for those she had sworn to protect. Finally finished for the moment, Sablestrike let his tail twitch restlessly behind him. He wasn't finished with her yet, but he would let her speak before piling on more.

The deputy's eyes rolled as Leopardstar started to speak. She said she valued his opinion, but when it came to action she didn't seem to interested in it. "I don't need you to name them, as if I'd forget any of their names." Or faces, for that matter. Each one of those cats was a member of Shadowclan he had let down in one way or another. Even if he and Burdockroot had never gotten along she was still one of his clanmates. Part of him still wished to see her waltz into camp alive and well, though those hopes weren't shared with the other two. For Crowspirit he had failed to track the rogues that had taken her life, and Echomist, well... There was nothing I could have done for him. Each of those cats never got to return home, neither alive nor dead.

Sablestrike kept himself quiet as the molly continued, listing off a rebuttal to ever point he had made. To her credit she did have a few good points he hadn't thought of, but she didn't completely quell his concerns. "We all just returned to the forest, Leopardstar. We wouldn't need to dedicate a full patrol for the borders, the other clan's camps are most likely just as damaged as ours. Two cats would suffice for that, and we've been managing just fine on food until now. Besides, we're back in our territory. Herb gathering is much easier when your medicine cat knows where to look, which means quicker recovery for those that are still sick." Their help really wasn't needed, at least not to him. "And don't say four, only three of them are capable. Do you really expect that pregnant one to do anything useful? She'll be stuck to the nursery for a while, sucking up resources."

"If it's too good to be true then it has to be. They followed us from as far as the lakes for star's sake! Whose to say they weren't just waiting for a moment that they could pop in and make themselves look good? Whose to say they weren't planning for something like this? It just all feels too convenient to me." Not that their help had been needed as Shadowclan's warriors had the situation under control, but it was clearly enough to sway Leopardstar to their side.

As for inviting them into Shadowclan's camp, Sablestrike couldn't refute that. If they were to house the rogues then sending them to a different plot of land on Shadowclan's territory was a terrible idea, at least this way they could keep an eye on them and lose less of their workforce. The only alternative would be to send them off towards a different clan, but Leopardstar didn't need to hear his opinion on that, it was already clear. "What would you like to learn from them? How to find good nesting places while on the run, or how to beg for Twoleg scraps? I fail to see what those four could teach us."

"Don't worry though, you've taught me a lot. Without you I never would have known to invite strangers to our camp." Sablestrike sighed. He didn't want to be stuck on this subject for long. Leopardstar had already made her choice, and he had agreed to keeping them in the camp. They couldn't just kick the rogues out now, that would invite their wrath. "Without you, I wouldn't know to throw myself head-first into certain death, either." The tom's intensity picked up once more. He had refrained from speaking to her about her recklessness at the lakes while Leopardstar was healing, but now that they were home... "What exactly was your plan, Leopardstar? Echomist sacrificed himself to allow all of us to get away unscathed, but you tossed one of your lives aside in an attempt to squander the chance he gave us." He understood why, stars if he were ever in the same position Sablestrike knew he'd do the same, but he also wasn't Shadowclan's leader yet.