The sun was rising by the time Hawkstar returned to camp. He had spent the bulk of the hours since his declaration walking the territories, questioning his decision. It was too late to change anything now, yet the physical reaction his body was having suggested that he’d been hasty nonetheless. His heart was clenching and unclenching, and his legs shook. His stomach was flipping over itself, and his blood pounded in his ears as well.
Eventually he had decided it couldn’t matter now. He was still angry, as were many who had known and loved Lightwing. And Ospreyshadow was not alone in wanting his children with him. The ensuing battle would decide many things.
Hawkstar nodded to Briarstep and a few other Warriors, many of whom bore questioning looks regarding his all-nighter outside of camp. He did not see his mate, yet, but knew Chanterellefrost would also want answers. He knew of one easy way to get across the news to everyone, so he began the ascent up the rickety old tree that overlooked the camp.
“If all cats old enough to catch their own prey will please gather beneath the hightree for a Clan meeting!” He yowled, his voice carrying far across the ravine camp. Heads poked out of dens, and a crowd began to form beneath him. Silent, but for a few grumblings of the cold weather.
“I appreciate you all assembling at this time, and I wish I had better news for you all.” He meowed bitterly.
“We have all grieved for the loss of Lightwing. He was friendly, kind, and deserved a long life ending in retirement. And we have all stood by as Ospreyshadow’s kits have no doubt passed milestone after milestone of growth, and as their father he has been present for none of them.”
“It is for this reason that last night I met with Juncostar to discuss the situation. He still refuses to see reason, so I have decided that we are presented with no other option. Three days from now, we will battle ShadowClan for the right to the kits, and in Lightwing’s name, at the pointed stones. Those who wish to enlist, step forward. I will choose Warriors myself if necessary, but I would prefer volunteers of course.”
Hawkstar gritted his teeth as he was assaulted by a wall of protests from his Clan. He’d expected a fair amount of dissent, war was no pleasurable pastime. But an ugly necessity, a tool brought out when it was needed. And he believed some things were worth fighting for.
“I understand that fighting is no one’s first choice. It is hardly my own, but the alternative is to allow this to set future precedence for matters of half-Clan births. If we back down, it will strengthen future claims of dams over the sire of any litter. I have no wish to see the future of kits whose mother is gone left to chance. How will we know they are cared for? I imagine they will be assigned a milk-mother, but who is to say that will fill the role of a parent?” He shook his head, wondering if it was even worthwhile to attempt to demonstrate his thought process. The knee-jerk reaction he’d received did not leave much room for debate.
“If we avoid all conflict out of fear, we risk the other Clans taking advantage of that. I intend to put no cats at risk who are unable, or unwilling, to serve this Clan’s interests. No kit will be harmed, this I promise. Or I’ll end it then and there.” He gave a flick of his tail, feeling weary and isolated.
“Many thanks, Sablefire. I will retire to my den to consider who else to choose for the battle, if no one else wishes to volunteer. At this point, we cannot back down. It is best that we meet them at the appointed location, to spare our camp the fighting.”
With that, he leapt from his perch in one fluid motion. The snow absorbed his fall, but he did not pause as he stalked back around the tree to his den. He stopped only to glance over Peachblossom and Figheart.
“If either of you have any outstanding concerns, I’ll be in my den. But I do not intend to have a screaming match, so if that’s what you want you best not come.” He jerked his head toward Briarstep, indicating his Deputy to join him as he vanished into the cavern beneath the roots.
- Briarstep -
"Note this is why Hawkstar is asking for volunteers, rather than forcing warriors to step forward. I'll fight because I believe in what we're doing," he mewed, giving Hazelface a pointed look. Her pregnancy had grown noticeable, and he didn't fault the prickly she-cat for wanting to avoid a battle. But, resolve burned within his belly. He strode forward, trying to hide his shaking paws as he stood beneath the meeting tree. The Lightwing's last moments were burned into his mind as Briarstep called out to his clanmates. "We'll win this battle and have revenge. I don't think anyone will argue against punishing Shadowclan for taking Lightwing's life. They are the ones who carried this fight too far. This is bigger than blood-ties and kits."
Figheart Medicine Cat of ThunderClan
Figheart had been overseeing the sick felines in his den, watching cats sleep on and off while the occasional coughing fit wracking their chests. He sought to their needs, tansy for the cough, catmint for those who seemed to be slowly slipping into greencough. This was the hardest time for medicine cats, any herbs used now could likely be all they have for the entire season. What if they ran out? They needed more water. Figheart shook off the dark thoughts wracking his brain and grabbed a few spare pieces of moss to lay out in the snow. As his head peeked out of the den, Hawkstar decided to call a meeting. He dropped the moss into a patch of snow and followed behind his mentor. He stood beside her, his stance glowering over many of the cats in the group. His breath caught as Hawkstar made his announcement. Did this tom think he led this clan alone? Without the guidance of his medicine cats? He steeled himself against his mate, comforted by her presence. A roar of meows erupted, their yowls echoing agains the cold stone caves they lived in. "Hawkstar, this is unreasonable. We know nothing about what the mother wanted for the kits. They were born in ShadowClan, maybe thats where StarClan wanted them to be. The mother is ShadowClan, she actually carried them to term, had to deal with being pregnant. If she didn't tell Ospereyshadow about the kits before, how can we assume she wanted him to know at all?" He spoke, his voice wavering. It was scary to speak against the leader. What if he was punished? He turned to watch Peachblossom go, almost seeming to give up. Thank StarClan for Hazelface. His expression softened as his mate spoke up, he turned to her with awe. She seemed to agree with him that the kits didn't belong here. A warm feeling sprouted in his chest, his pride growing. He turned back to his leader. "If something goes wrong, we could lose more than warriors, we could lose one of the kits! Any casualty will be our fault and StarClan won't forgive that, and ShadowClan definitely never will. The safety of the clan is more important than Ospereyshadow seeing his kits before their first gathering." And with that he stopped and let others speak.
🌱
H A Z E L F A C E
The gray molly was resting in the nursery, like she was supposed to be. As much as she wanted to go about her usual life- going on patrols, hunting, tending to the Clan, her mate, Figheart, had been adamant on her taking it easy. She was sour about it at first, feeling like her worth to her Clan was tied into what she could give, but then she lightened up. At the end of the day, he was right. She needed to ensure that her kits grew up healthy and safe and she had to do her part to stay in the nursery to make sure that happened.
She was alerted to a Clan meeting by the call of Hawkstar, urging her to leave her nest and join the Clan gathering beneath him. She immediately sought out Figheart, who stood beside his mentor, Peachblossom. Hazelface ducked her head in respect to the cream molly as she huddled next to her mate for warmth.
Her attention turned to the black tom standing on his perch above them. The news he shared with them made her gut both drop with anxiety and boil in anger. It seemed as well that she was not the only one upset by this news, as Peachblossom spoke up almost immediately, very loudly voicing her distress towards Hawkstar. When she was done, Hazelface joined in. “What about the kits we already have?” She demanded, her tail curling protectively over her swollen stomach, “Can we really afford to thin our resources like this? Should we risk more than we can take, we’re the ones that suffer in the end! My kits don’t deserve to suffer over this foolish decision.”
Bunnypaw
Bunnypaw had been sunning herself outside of the elders' den where she had been keeping some of the clans' elders company when Hawkstar padded back into the camp. His nightly abscence had unnerved her- the older apprentice often noticed when cats disappeared and reappeared in camp. After all, she didn't have a lot of training or patrolling to do.
Her hunch that something was up was quickly answered as Hawkstar summoned the clan. The little calico sat up, padding over to sit closer to her mother, Peachblossom. Glancing over at the medicine cat, she felt her heart start hammering as Hawkstar announced war on Shadowclan. Her mind instantly went to her siblings in Shadowclan, and she frowned deeply, her brows knitting together in concern.
How was this right? The little she-cat tried to imagine if Snarlingbadger had been in Shadowclan, if her mother had died, she would know that she would want to stay in Thunderclan. It was her home, regardless of how much she loved her father, she couldn't change what she felt in her heart. Why should these kits be so cruelly taken away from their home? From what she understood, they had only met their father for the first time when he had pushed into the nursery to lay claim to them.
A father like that, in her eyes, didn't deserve to have his kits in his home clan. Barging into another clan's nursery was the biggest mistake he could have ever made. Peachblossom's anger caused Bunnypaw to flinch, but she knew her mother was right, he should have at least consulted her!
Her mother disappeared back toward her den, and Bunnypaw's tail puffed up with anxiety. And yet, she glared defiantly up at Hawkstar, her mother's anger passing to her. Hawkstar was stupid, she had never been more sure of anything in her life.
"Why shouldn't those kits get a choice in where they live?!" She called, voice wavering with emotion. "Why is it any of our right to take them from their home!"
She took a breath, and flattened her ears.
"Would you like if your kits were taken from their home by someone else just because they're kin?!" She heard a growl coming from Eaglepaw, who sat near the front of the crowd- but she didn't care. Bunnypaw, who had never even dreamed of speaking up in a clan meeting until now, turned around and hurried after her mother, tail drooping and dragging through the dust.
She didn't want to think of the trauma those kits would have when they got older.
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Eaglepaw
Eaglepaw was always one of the first cats to any meeting called by his father. He was one of Hawkstar's biggest supporters, being absolutely blind-sighted into following every single decision he made. "I'll go!" He called as Hawkstar asked cats to join him in the battle for the kits.
Eaglepaw didn't even care about the kits, for all he cared the kits could stay with Shadowclan. But it was more about proving to his father that he was powerful, and brave. He wanted to be the first of his littermates to be made a warrior, and he was determined to make it happen. Bunnypaw's comment, however, made his ears flatten as he growled to himself.
How could she say something like that?
Hearing the call of the leader sent the young molly out from her nest. Having been with the clan for truly only a few moons the molly owed quite a lot to the leader for welcoming her despite where her origin lie. Ears flickering slightly as she heard the mention of a battle agaisnt the neighboring clan. Sablefire never truly believed in fighting seeing it cause nothing but issues and unfortunate passing to those who weren't lucky. Even with her time as a medicine cat apprentice to her ventures out and about in search for her former mentor she continued to feel that same way. Yet when it came to her close friend and his kits she believed that they had a right to see the kits. If Juncostar couldn't see reasonings into letting the tom see his children then what purpose was it to sing the song when there was no one to really listen? Letting out a soft sigh she turned her gaze over to Ospreyshadow. She'd stay beside them no matter what the situation was. She knew her skills weren't the greatest but was willing to spend day and night to get slightly better in time for the battle. Taking a deep breath she stepped forward and dipped her head toward the leader, "I'd like to voulenteer. Ospreyshadow has the right to see his children and if Juncostar isn't willing to hear you out then what else could you do? You can only bark up the same tree so many time before it becomes a waste of time...." She softly called up a small smile tugging the corner of her maw her tail slightly twitching.
Peachblossom
Peachblossom had awaited the return of her leader patiently outside of her den, she knew her friend was speaking with Juncostar, however this time she was not invited for the trip. In truth she spent the time pouting, she could help him if he left her, she knew more about leading Thunderclan than anyone else did, seeing four leaders in her short life time gave her all the experience she needed. Upon Hawkstars return the molly scrambled to her paws, making her way over to the tree that held her leader, her ears perked as he addressed the clan.
Peachblossom felt bad for Ospreyshadow not having the chance to be in his kits life, he didnt choose not to be in their life, he didn’t even know they were born Peachblossom hoped his children would understand when they were older and not resent the tom. Her ears flattened swiftly against her skull when Hawkstar announced their declaration of war, the blood in her paws boiling as she looked up at the tom, teeth bared. “You declared war on Shadowclan without even seeking my council!” True this was Hawkstars decision at the end of the day but it was not uncommon to seek guidance from your healer before such a drastic decision.
“You’re a fool, Hawkstar! The winter nights grow continuously colder now is not the time for a fight.”
Peachblossoms eyes gaze turn briefly looking at the felines who sat behind her, some voice their encouragement of the irrational tom, others voicing their disapproval. War brings out the worst in a lot of personalities, she feared entering a war now would cause a rift between the clan. She had to try and set things right.
Turning back to her leader, slow breaths to help calm her nerves before speaking once more. “You know I want those kits with their father but it is you who fails to see reason. Our food is running thin, our warriors are coming to us constantly with colds, my herb supply is dwindling more each day. Do you really want your youngest kits fighting over something that can be handled with reason! Let me speak with Juncostar, he and I have an understanding.” Peachblossom had faith that Hawkstar wouldn't let her clan down, she had hoped he’d be everything she needed him to be. Peachblossom had hoped and needed him to be…Kass.
Overrun with emotions Peachblossom’s tearful gaze met his once more, she didn't want to let Thunderclan see her cry, not now of all times. Shaking her head in disapprovement Peachblossom turned away from Hawkstar, slowly making her way towards her Medicine cats den, “I will do my job, but I will not support your foolish ways.”
“I chose you to run our clan, not to run it into an early grave.”