Quarter Moon Meeting [May 2024]

Sunflare knew by now that a meeting called on the quarter-moon was nothing to get worked up about. The cinnamon tom lazed outside the nursery, casting a glance in Leopardstar’s general direction. The past days had been odd for him. As Emberkit’s only remaining parent, Sunflare had found himself practically becoming a queen, spending most of his spare time in the nursery.

Sablestrike followed the flow of the clan as they assembled below the Jaggedrock, finding his place beside Sunflare. The tom sat neatly at his former apprentice's side, fighting the urge to speak with the widower and offer his condolences. Willowpaw found his way to Sablestrike's side, taking a seat and mirroring his father's position. The deputy hadn't noticed until Willowpaw edged his way closer to his side to they point where there pelts touched.

Swiftheart walked out of the warrior den. She glanced around briefly deciding where she wanted to be in this meeting. Recently - her entire life was an act - an illusion put on to keep hidden the secret of her friend and medicine cat. Ever spare minute it felt like she was acting to be Sable's mate and the mother to his kits.

And while she was his friend the mate part was all just made up to cover the truth.

It was becoming more and more exhausting to the point that when she could avoid him for some amount of time she would jsut to give them both a break from being under what felt like a massive microscope where one slip up could bring Heather's world crashing down around her.

That was the last thing Swiftheart wanted - her friend did not deserve to be punished just because she wanted to feel love.

She squeezed her eyes shut trying not to look at Sablestrike she needed a little time away from him - so she walked over the other direction - towards her good friend Pineblossom and settle in next to her.

She felt like she was lying to everyone even though deep in her heart she knew it was for the right reason. She had seen first paw what happened when a high rank was discovered to be in a forbiden affair when her own brother had been drug through the mud of it all. Her Heather deserved no such fate.

She leaned into Pineblossom slightly and closed her eyes feeling so trapped by it all.

Dont you dare cry right now! her inner voice snapped at her.

She managed that much as she gave her friend a little hug

While he loathed listening to Leopardstar rattle on, Nettleweaver hated not knowing what transpired around him even more so. With a pointed sigh he snaked his way over to the gathering cats, ears pointed backwards. His gaze lingered a moment on Swiftheart, her head hanging between her paws. For a moment he felt pity for her, but it was short lived, quickly turning to scorn. What did she have to be sad about? She still had a family and friends, he had nothing! His own mentor, hadn’t even bothered to check in with him. Lilyvalley had returned and the cat he at one point was suppose to depend on had abandoned him. It was no wonder her eldest son was estranged too. Speaking of, Nettleweaver was glad Quillsplash and Juniperpaw had returned, it gave him some hope that his friends would return, but with everyday that passed that light began to fade. With sparse choice for company, he eventually settled beside the older warrior, giving him a friendly nod. Before now they had barely interacted, but given the dire circumstances, Quillsplash was the closest thing he had to a friend in his own clan.

Once enough cats had gathered, Leopardstar began the procession. It was a request he hadn’t expected, the white warrior doubted the spotted leader would ever be open to criticism, but if she wished to be enlightened… “I have something to say.” announced Nettleeaver, lifting his head to meet her eyes “We have lost so many cats over this last moon, my friends among them, our numbers are low and we have no friends across the borders. I worry that we are too isolated, maybe we should make some friends. If you need volunteers, Leopardstar, Sablestrike…” he turned to look at the deputy too “I would be happy to pay a visit to any of our potential allies.” he stepped back, happy with his piece. Perhaps it would show the clan that he was more than what they must all think of him. He did care for them, in his own way. Well, most of them.

Sunflare stood, anxiety creeping into his face.
“I agree that an alliance could prove beneficial, however there’s a small catch. If we ally ourselves to RiverClan, ThunderClan, or SkyClan, we may make at least one enemy on the way since there’s bad blood between them. That leaves… WindClan. Which brings its own problems.

Oh, and congratulations, Lilyvalley.”

It was Heatherberry who stepped forward next, single eye locked onto Leopardstar as she addressed ShadowClan's leader with a simple nod of the head. "While I believe history has proven to repeat itself in regards to allies falling apart, I do think keeping watch to see just who we could attempt to reach out to for help if - StarClan forbid - the time comes where ShadowClan needs aid is a good idea. We should never make assumptions that a Clan going through hard times means that they will remain passive towards their helpers." She paused for a moment, trying to think of her next words carefully. "But before any thoughts of joining paws with another Clan, we need a council of trusted warriors to first confide in before that. Cats who will be on call during urgent matters. Cats who are not afraid to speak their piece... And who are respectful of others opinions and can have civil discussions in times of unrest." She thought back to the disaster that had been the meeting just before the tragic loss of Moondancer and Batswarm; something like that could never happened again. She refused to remain quiet as she had then.

Her cyclops gaze swept across the cats around her before continuing, "We have lost all but one council member over the last few moons in tragedy, leaving only Pineblossom left. I feel enough time to mourn has passed..." A single twitch of an ear escaped her as the image of Echomists brutal death swept through her thoughts. "I propose adding two experienced warriors to start with; more later when the clan grows in numbers once again."
She nodded to Lilyvalley, a smile on her face. "Congratulations, on your pregnancy, Lilyvalley."