Mercuryrose
Shadowclan Deputy
A long sigh escaped the large Maine Coon female, her dark green eyes showing signs of exhaustion. Watching Rosekit, Pythonkit and Leopardkit tumbling around the large nest that Mercuryrose and Widowsting shared. It wasn’t until the Shadowclan deputy gave her children a warning look once Rosekit accidentally kicked Widowsting in the stomach which caused the smaller female to jerk slightly in her sleep. “Clearing, now. Your father should be coming back from patrol any minute.” Mercuryrose said quietly which caused all three kits’ smiles brighten before scrambling towards the entrance to go find Mintstrike. It was silent in the nursery for a moment before Mercuryrose lowered her head for a moment as she was lost in thought at the events that happened yesterday.
Mercuryrose and Juncostar had been leading a patrol within the territory, a border patrol. Despite the tension that Juncostar and Mercuryrose shared within the last few months, they were attempting to be civil for the sake of their clan mates. However, with all the snow that had been appearing.. A rock slide had occurred due to the weight of all the snow on the rocks. While everyone else fled, Silkweb, Mercuryrose’s daughter, had gotten caught in dead vines. After successfully managing to get Silkweb out of the vines, she pushed her daughter out of the way as a huge rock coming towards them. However, she felt the blunt force of Juncostar shoving her away from the path of the rocks which ended up causing him to become crushed as a result. In Juncostar’s last words, he asked for Mercuryrose’s forgiveness for their friendship being damaged.. To which the Shadowclan deputy forgave him.. Juncostar had passed away, not waking up as it appeared the rock slide had taken all 9 lives.
Snapping out of her thoughts while hearing a couple of kits squeaking, she noticed it was Grimrose’s children as they were attempting to climb on Ravenwatcher. Mercuryrose moved to get up but she felt the slight sting that was coming from her wounds from the rock slide. Waspsight had attended to her wounds earlier, before the vigil for Juncostar happened. 24 hours later, here was Mercuryrose in the nursery.. Pondering. The black and rose-gold Maine Coon would now become the leader of Shadowclan, something she wasn’t expecting for an extremely long time. Letting out a small sigh, the large Maine Coon female sat up and moved towards the entrance of the nursery before looking back at Widowsting. A soft look appeared on Mercuryrose’s face when looking towards Widowsting before making her way into camp.
Mercuryrose felt all eyes on her, but she never bothered to glance at anyone. The only one she chose to look at was Mintstrike who was tending to their kits. A small smile appeared on her face. The small Bengal Tom and her had certainly gone through a lot together, he had been there from the moment she became deputy. Leaping onto the large twisted wood that was the High Point, the smooth bark was rubbing smoothly against Mercuryrose.. The deputy almost felt wrong for being up there, Mercuryrose shouldn’t had become leader like this. Perhaps it was the survivor’s guilt that she was suffering from right now. Looking down at her paws, she cleared her throat before looking forward at the clearing “May all those old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Point.. For a clan meeting,” Her booming voice called through the clearing, Mercuryrose’s eyes remained narrowed as she watched everyone starting to make their way towards her.
Her first duty as Shadowclan leader.
Silverscreech piercing yellow gaze watched silently, as the clan cats began gathering in the camp clearing below. It had been many moons since the grey and white striped maine coon had been in Shadowclan territory. Her leaving had been after the death of her mate Fearedjackal. The real downside for her however was not being there for their kits. So many moons had passed, and she had always held the guilt as she traveled far from the clans of being a awful mother. Especially when she was needed most in their lives. Resting her head on her large grey striped paws, she sighed in wondering how her life would have played out if she had stayed in her clan. Now a Loner once more, she didn't feel this was her home any longer. But that didn't matter to her ignoring boundaries after hearing their beloved leader Juncostar passed. Instead, she had snuck into the territory to hear the news and see who their new leader was. "Perhaps...I still care for my clan...but its not worth coming back. The pain Is overwhelming..." She thought.
Listening in on Mercuryrose's speech...even Silverscreech felt sadness for the long departed Leader. "FearedJackal...please keep close company with Juncostar in starclan..."
She remained a little longer, watching the clan members after Mercuryrose's announcement to her visiting the moon pool soon. Unknown to the loner, Silverscreech did not know the new future leader was her granddaughter. The Loner had known her kits would possibly harbor bitterness towards her leaving them behind...but she never forgot them.
Now she had two new kits waiting, deep asleep on the neutral grounds of the clans. Unlike the first time...Silverscreech did not want to abandon these kits also. Their father had fled, leaving her to care for them on her own. The maine coon was now a single mother, worried where her new kits lives would lead.
Mercuryrose
Shadowclan Leader
Watching the felines below her starting to gather, the large Maine Coon had thought about her words carefully. Her dark green eyes looked towards her paws for a moment, thinking about how far she had come in that moment. A kit born from a cross-clan relationship from a Riverclan and Thunderclan warrior who fell in love one night during night at a gathering.. To being taken away from her birth clan as a newborn to her uncle’s army.. To moving to her father’s army once Viper’s disbanded.. Becoming a soldier in the city, to running away and starting over in another clan that wasn’t her birthright. While she was born Riverclan and Thunderclan, they weren’t her home.. Mercuryrose didn’t owe them anything, if anything she resented them for allowing Twilightfoot and Topazfire in the clans for long as they did.. Because without Twilightfoot, everything would have been normal for her.
Shadowclan had given her a home, it gave her a family.
“Juncostar was truly a special feline, one of a kind.” Mercuryrose began, her eyebrows furrowed in that moment as she couldn’t help but think of her best friend. In all honesty, she owed so much to the former Shadowclan leader. He became part of her family “He brought smiles to our faces, even in the most difficult times.. He made everyone feel like they were special and loved individually when his attention was on them.. Juncostar had made everyone felt like they were part of his family, from the youngest kit to the oldest elder.” Mercuryrose said softly, her voice cracking slightly while tears threatened to spill from her eyes.. But the Maine Coon remained strong, she knew Juncostar wouldn’t want her to cry over him.. But to smile and crack a small joke or two. “The one thing that I admired most about him, was his love towards those around him. His love was always unconditional towards anyone he cared about, you never doubted it for a second.. He always saw the best in everyone, and I know that he’ll keep watching over us while being proud of our achievements.”
“From this day forward, Junco Rock will be an important part of Shadowclan culture.. It will always hold a special place in our hearts, and will tell those in the future generations about its history and the name behind it,” Mercuryrose said, her gaze remained on the rock for a moment before letting out a soft sigh “Juncostar is survived by his son, Aspenwood.. While it’s a difficult time for everyone, please remain understanding towards Young Aspenwood.” The Maine Coon said, her gaze returned to her former apprentice. The dark gray tabby was sitting away from everyone, his gaze remained on the ground. The black and rose-gold molly knew her former apprentice like the back of her paw. Aspenwood wasn’t the best at handling emotions, but he needed the support more than ever now. Closing her eyes for a moment, Mercuryrose bit the inside of her cheek before speaking calmly “Waspsight and I will make the journey to the Moonpool when dawn hits, I will receive my nine lives.” Mercuryrose said, narrowing her eyes slightly at the elephant in the room.
She needed to choose a deputy.
“I will choose my deputy upon returning from the Moonpool.. Our alliance with Thunderclan is no more, as I want my leadership to start with a clean slate.” Mercuryrose declared, her claws sinking lightly in the wood. Juncostar may had cared about Hawkstar, but the black tom could fall off a cliff and she wouldn’t bat an eyelash towards him. “While tonight is about grieving, let us remember those we have lost from the past.. Remember them, and keep them in our hearts forever. Their legacy and strength is what keeps Shadowclan thriving.” Mercuryrose said softly before looking towards her eldest son, Ravenclaw who had nodded in agreement. Letting out a small snort, the tall Maine Coon turned away from the crowd and flicked her tail “The meeting is over, please return to your duties “ Was all the new Shadowclan leader said before leaping off the branches and towards the direction of the nursery.
Later on that night..
Mercuryrose was curled up against Widowsting, Mintstrike and their kits. It was silent in the leader’s den. In a couple of more hours, Mercuryrose would wake up when the sun was rising to leave with Waspsight in order to receive her nine lives. The black and rose-gold molly couldn’t sleep, she was slightly nervous about arriving at the Moonpool. Would Starclan accept her as leader? After all the terrible things she had done in the past? Would Juncostar give her a life? A loud screech came from the clearing which caused the large female to quickly jump out of her nest, startling her kits who began squealing. The Shadowclan Leader bolted out of the den and into the clearing, her heart was racing. It was like a dream in that moment in front of her, a horrible nightmare. Looking at the scene in front of her, Mercuryrose’s blood ran cold and heart had dropped.. A haunting tune was softly heard within the clearing, a chilling lullaby.
There was blood everywhere in the clearing.. In the rare times that happened, Mercuryrose was scared.
‘And I heard a voice in the midst of four beasts.. And I looked and behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death.. And Hell followed with him.’ -Johnny Cash
W A S P I G H T
Waspsight's pelt felt weighed down and heavy, so much so that getting out of his nest was difficult with the burden. Of course, logically, he knew that his fur didn't actually have a tangible weight to it and that the heaviness he felt was simply fatigue, grief, or both. His recent visitor, Morningpaw, bounced off with much more energy than he could muster right now.
The calico tom drew a paw over his face and sighed. He knew this Clan meeting was coming. Getting to his paws, Waspsight quietly left his den and went over to join his Clanmates under the high perch where Mercuryrose now stood. As he watched her there, the medicine cat did feel pride for the maine coon feline, as much as he grieved the loss of Juncostar, he knew they would be in good paws moving forward.
His eyes wandered, glancing around the clearing. He glazed over the presence of his Clanmates, searching for something else- someone else, rather. But he couldn't find who he was looking for, whether they were alive or dead. Ever since the night before, he had not seen Juncostar's spirit.
It was unusual for Waspsight to lose contact with a cat after their death, given his gift. The only time it had ever happened to him was when Smokestar's ghost had gotten lost in the afterlife and a part of him wondered if the same thing had happened to Juncostar. Had his possession under the influence of Pantherstorm affected his ghost's ability to find StarClan? Even so, whether a ghost was StarClan or not had never mattered as to his capability of communicating with them. So then, where had Juncostar gone? Why couldn't he find him?
It was eating away at him. It kept him up at night and took his appetite. It had been a while since he had been this...Humbled by death.
Morningpaw poked her head out of the Medicine Cat’s den when the call for assembly reached her ears. It had been the place she’d spent much of her time since her confinement to camp, helping organize herbs and sneak peeks at the resting ‘patient’ on whose account she was in trouble in the first place, a very pretty silver tabby whose name they did not yet know.
Shaking the dust of tiny leaves and other plant fragments from her cream-and-black coat, the freshly named Apprentice bid a hasty farewell to Waspsight and bounded across the clearing in full strides. She was one of few who did. The general mood was still very downtrodden, the loss of such a young Leader so suddenly seemed to have trapped ShadowClan in a state of shocked torpor. It was not as if Morningpaw did not mourn, she did feel greatly for the tragic loss of a life that should have been much longer, but she had been very young for much of Juncostar’s Leadership. Only being brought to ShadowClan when she was three or four months old. The most she’d known about him was his alleged affair with the ThunderClan Leader, Hawkstar. The slim black tom did get around, didn’t he? She reflected.
She was lost in thought halfway through her trek and failed both to slow her ascent, and to look where she was going, so naturally she ran face-forward into someone’s back. She bounced off, hardly weighing a fourth of a stone soaking wet, spitting fur out of her mouth.
“Whoops! Sorry!”