Home in this Nation We've Made | RiverClan's Deputy 2024

A few days had passed since Perchstar’s death, and Poppyshine knew that she could not put off choosing a new deputy for much longer. She could not fulfill the duty of both leader and deputy, and most certainly not when they still lacked a medicine cat. As much as she would like to cling to what had been the norm for so long, things needed to move on and change. She needed a cat who would aid her and who could be relied upon to no only perform all the duties that were once Poppyshine’s, but also ensure that she was kept in check as a leader. Soon she would have to visit the moonstone and see StarClan for the first time to see if she was accepted as the next leader of RiverClan. There would need to be a cat left in charge, and better for it to be a cat she could entrust as deputy.

Poppyshine left the leader’s den early in the morning. Some cats were already stirring, probably ready to receive their morning duties from her, but rather than taking her usual spot where those duties were given out, she walked past it and stepped up onto the Willow Branch. When she turned to face the camp, her breath caught momentarily. There the spot below here where Perchstar’s body had been laid out just a few nights prior. And now from up here, the camp almost looked different in a way she could not describe. A change in perspective, perhaps.

The moment quickly passed and she cleared her throat. “All RiverClan cats, gather below the Willow Branch for a clan meeting.”

Her clanmates slowly shuffled forward, joining the gathering spot before the Willow Branch. They all looked so tired. Poppyshine was tired too. Grief was a heavy thing to carry, day in and day out. To name a deputy would seal this as being real, just as much as burying her had. And when Poppyshine got her lives…well, that would be that. It would be a new era. That was too dizzying of a thought to entertain, so she tried to put it out of her mind, but doing that was impossible when she was to choose a new deputy.

“My clan,” she began. The words felt overwhelming on her tongue. RiverClan was always her clan in the sense of her family, but now it would be her clan in the sense of her leading it. She wondered not for the first time if her being deputy had truly been the right choice. Being a leader felt so daunting…but again, a thought to leave behind. She couldn’t let her mind be clouded now. “We still grieve the loss of Perchstar, but she is residing comfortably in StarClan. I will be leaving to the Highstones soon to retrieve my lives, but before then, we are in need of a new deputy.”

And there it was. The hardest decision. It was a question that had rolled in her mind for days. Who would be best suited to stand by her side as deputy? RiverClan was abundant with warriors, a fact that she was grateful for, and it left her with many options of cats to choose from. Her eyes scanned their faces, taking each of them in. She did not want a cat that would agree with everything she said, or one who would be too nervous to be truthful to her. In that same vein, she needed a cat that would not be too terribly aggressive. Their standing with other clans was still shaky at best, and she did not want a cat that would ebb away at those shaky standings until they broke entirely. Being deputy was a flexible position. It required heart and loyalty and love and knowledge.

It was also a hard position. Standing where she was now, knowing that whoever she chose may one day become leader and have all these responsibilities on their shoulders as they were on hers…It felt like a cruel choice. But it would have to be done. And if the cat she had in mind would accept it, Poppyshine believed that RiverClan would only continue to flourish, even after she was gone.

“I say this before StarClan so they may approve, and to all of you so you may as well.” Her gaze settled on the cat in question, looking at the ashen cat that sat towards the front. “Cindersky, I ask of you to be the new deputy of RiverClan.”

Cindersky, a young cat not unlike her, who gave so much love. She had proven her love and dedication to her clanmates several times before, including putting her life on the line to save their medicine cat from wolves. Poppyshine knew she could speak her mind as well. Though her blunt words had hurt Perchstar, Poppyshine would welcome that same cutting truthfulness. Poppyshine did not want to become a leader that did not listen to her clan, nor did she want to remain a naive cat. Both would bring risk to RiverClan. Her pride, what there was that she even had, was not worth pain and injury to her clan.

Willowwisp was confident in one thing for certain: she was a good warrior. She was a good warrior who had trained hard under senior warriors. Her mother had taught her everything she could have. With one brother gone, one sister eldered, and her other sister only a new warrior, she felt she had the most knowledge and experience from her mother’s lineage. As she grew, she wanted to fulfill any task that was given to her, and she would take on more if she needed. She had healed Sunpool and Rookflight’s friendship, she got to know her clanmates as best she could. Even in the face of her mother’s death, she kept a strong face just as her mother would have. With her mother now gone, Willowwisp wanted to do absolutely all she could to help her clan. If her mother was worthy of being a leader, then she, too, was worthy of being deputy. She was certain that Poppyshine saw and understood that.

But perhaps she didn’t. Willowwisp’s expression didn’t change when Poppyshine called out another name. Her eyes slid to the side, observing where Cindersky sat. Cindersky…she had been a mess of a warrior ever since the battle with SkyClan. Larkspring had been at her side, nudging her towards recovery the entire time, only for more slips and pitfalls to take place with Littlesplash’s death, and now she wallowed in Perchstar’s death. Was she truly to be

For perhaps the first time Willowwisp felt a new emotion curling in her chest and her eyes quickly peeled away from Cindersky to observe the sands as others chattered around her. It felt spiky and hot, and she did not have the word for it, but it remained all the same: spite, white-hot and frustrated and dripping through her veins.

Larkspring did not much care about who became deputy. So long as it was someone that could properly be relied upon, then any would do. It was a surprise when Cindersky’s name left Poppyshine’s tongue. His eyes widened and he looked at the cat he sat next to. Cindersky had been struggling the past few moons, but it did not mean that he did not have so much to give. She loved RiverClan, a fact that was obvious. She had strong opinions about how things should have happened in the past and she was willing to fight for all of them. It took but a second or Larkspring to think about before it became clear that Cindersky would of course be a fantastic choice.

He nudged Cindersky slightly and whispered in a low voice to only her, “You’ll be a great deputy.”