Ravenstar
Shadowclan Leader
The Shadowclan Leader’s golden gaze remained narrowed, moving swiftly across the forest. A small grumble escaped Ravenstar, Silkweb had been leading a patrol within the swamps, but they stopped abruptly when a discovery had been made. Dahliapetal had quickly arrived at camp frantically looking for him. While they were still adjusting to their new surroundings, Ravenstar knew that Shadowclan wasn’t completely alone in their new home.. But what caused this situation? How deadly is this one creature?
The scent of Shadowclan felines hit his nose as Ravenstar arrived at the scene of the crime. Grunting softly at the Shadowclan patrol, he made his way towards the deceased deer’s body. A couple of members were observing the body while others were keeping watch of the area. Silkweb’s dark amber gaze remaining on the deer before looming towards her older brother before scowling towards him
“You’re late.” Silkweb said, no he wasn’t. The black and gray molly wanted to give him a hard time. The black tom let out a soft snort before observing the deer. It was an adult, male. The bottom of the body was completely shredded while the middle was dismantled. It was almost headless. Arching his eyebrows for a moment, he was observing the wounds that could possibly give away the predictor. Wolf? Possibly. Bear? Possibly. Aspenwood had remained in camp with the senior warriors to overlook the camp.
It had been a couple of moons since Ryefield’s disappearance.
Ravenstar knew that Shadowclan was waiting for him to name a new deputy, but the leader was being stubborn in refusing to name one. Ryefield was too determined, she would make it back to home. Of course, he knew that a couple of warriors would become ambitious enough to start proving themselves capable of deputy position, but Ravenstar wasn’t looking.. Until Ryefield came back or Starclan gave him a sign of a new deputy, the topic was never on his mind.
A couple of felines from the patrol approached him, looking at the body before looking at him. They were at the shore lines of the swamp.. Water a couple of feet away from them. Ravenstar looked over at the patrol before grunting softly, shaking his head. He couldn’t quite figure it out yet, but it was a large animal who did it “What do you guys think?” Ravenstar’s deep voice said quietly, you could barely miss it. But he knew that his patrol heard him. He needed some theories, something that could help start putting pieces together in order for Shadowclan to understand whatever they’re dealing with.
Woolypaw
Shadowclan Medicine Cat Apprentice FINAL POST FOR PART 1 OF THE PLOT Woolypaw jumped slightly as she felt Starlingwish’s gentle touch on her shoulder, but her body softened and relaxed a bit as she looked up at her clanmate. His reassurance helped her find the confidence to stop trembling as the rest of the patrol assessed the situation. She leaned her face closer for a brief moment to look at the deer’s wound, realizing that Starlingwish was right. A bear certainly wouldn’t attack that way, and there would be that familiar scent of bear musk lingering in the air. She regretted her decision to get a closer look as she flinched at the overwhelming stench of decay, taking a few pawsteps back. Woolypaw tried to consider what kind of predator attacks from below. Her concentration was broken by Tigertuft’s bold meowing, her ears twitching a bit at the noise before looking back to the carcass. Both Starlingwish and Tigertuft made fair points, but Woolypaw struggled to understand how all of it fit together. Her thoughts swirled around her mind like a whirlpool until Ravenstar’s voice cut through them. She listened to her leader intently, nodding affirmatively as she turned to lead the team towards the scene of the mysterious print.
That night…
Woolypaw’s tail twitched restlessly as she laid curled up in her nest. The medicine den was completely silent other than the sound of the two medicine cats’ soft breathing. As Woolypaw felt the familiar weight of sleep, something else stirred in her mind. In a vivid dreamlike state, she found herself standing in front of the print once again, only this time it was eerily cold around her. The swampland stretched out in front of her, covered in a thick fog that she had to strain her eyes to see through. The water was black and murky, and almost looked like it was bubbling. Suddenly, as Woolypaw stared out into the mist, she caught the glint of something glittering above the water. Her fur stood up as she realized what she was looking at--eyes.
Woolypaw tried to move her feet, but they seemed to be sunken deep into the mud beneath her. A sense of panic washed over her and the sharp emotion quickly jerked her awake, but not before a small voice seemed to whisper in the back of her mind: “Beware the water.”
Ravenstar
Shadowclan Leader
His golden gaze remained on the deceased deer’s body, before looking over at Woolypaw and grunted slightly but nodding, acknowledging her.. The Shadowclan Apprentice was certainly gaining more confidence, growing more stronger into her role as Waspsight’s apprentice. In a way, Ravenstar had wished that Woolypaw had trained within warriorship, she would have been such a good warrior.. Of course he would have mentored her as well.
Looking over at Starlingwish, the tom had certainly made very good points. It wasn’t until his eyebrows furrowed when the young warrior had mentioned that it appeared the creature had struck from below. Looking down slightly, Ravenstar had wondered if the creature would strike from below soil. Scanning the area, he released a small sigh. There weren't any signs of tracking or any struggle within the ground, so that was out of the question. Tigertuff’s also brought a couple of points too, it was a sloppy killer.
Gazing over at Starlingwish, he nodded towards the tom “If it strikes from below.. We can eliminate the ground..” Ravenstar said, tapping his paw against the ground. Scanning around the area, the black tom scanned the body of water. It was a bit more murky compared to their last swamp in the old territories.. Who knew what could be there. Looking towards the younger tom, he nodded “I want you to create a team, do some research on whatever you can find on the body.. I need you to stay alert, don’t stay around the area for too long.. The killer is still out there.” Ravenstar said, his gaze went towards the water.
“Woolypaw, I need you to show us where the print is at, maybe we can figure out the first step there.” The tom said, before following after Woolypaw. The Shadowclan leader knew that he would get some feedback from the senior warrirors about putting a newly named warrior in charge of this task force.. But he had a lot of confidence in the younger warriors, after all.. He was extremely young when becoming leader. “Tigertuff, I need you as well in this task force.. You will certainly bring a lot as well.” He said, knowing Starlingwish needed help too.
T I G E R T U F T
Young Warrior of ShadowClan
Tigertuft, as usual, was busy pushing her way to the front of the group, blue eyes wide and focused as she took in the torn-up deer the others were gathered around. "Wow!" The molly found her own tabbied fur fluffing as she leaned forward, prodding the corpse with a mud-soaked paw. "What a mess! Didn't even try to make it a clean kill." Her tail lashed once behind her, dark ears twitching as she settled back onto her haunches, cringing at the way the mud squelched into her fur. "Whatever did it must be stupid," she declared boldly, puffing out her chest as though this was the brightest thing anyone had said this entire time. "It didn't even eat the whole thing! What a waste." And then, just in case anyone was doubting her commitment as a warrior of ShadowClan, she added, just slightly quieter. "I would never waste a kill like that." Tigertuft's blue eyes flicked between the other gathered cats, head tilting slightly. Although she would never admit it, she was impressed by the information they'd already accumulated. Clearly, she had a thing or two to learn about the creatures in their area. Still, she'd provided valuable information too! Satisfied with that thought, she (finally) fell silent, gaze flitting over to Ravenstar.
Starlingwish
Warrior of Shadowclan
Starlingwish’s pale, multicolored fur bristled as he crouched beside the mangled deer, his mismatched eyes narrowing at the jagged tears in its flesh. The metallic tang of stale blood thickened the air, mingling with the swamp’s rot. His claws flexed uneasily into the mud—this was no ordinary predator’s work.
His eyes flicked between the carcass and Woolypaw’s trembling form. The tip of his tail brushed her damp shoulder, light as a moth’s wing, and there was a flicker of warmth in his gaze before he straightened.
As he turned back towards the torn animal, his ears flattened, betraying the dread that coiled deep in his chest. He edged closer, nose twitching, and bent down to study the marks raking the deer’s flank. The gashes were too deep for a fox, too messy for a wolf—predators he’d seen tear through prey before.
“Not a bear,” he murmured, more to himself than the others, his voice barely rising above the croak of distant frogs. “Their claw marks look.. different. These are thicker—hooked, almost.” His tail swept nervously over the damp earth as he glanced toward where Woolypaw had fled from. “Whatever made that print… it’s something that strikes from below. See how the belly’s torn upward?” he pointed out, glancing at Ravenstar for his input.
WOOLYPAW Shadowclan Medicine Cat Apprentice Woolypaw sat comfortably in front of a small puddle of rainwater, her pelt still damp from the morning’s light drizzle. Her head was dipped low as she lapped up the fresh water, tired from her trek across the territory. She still needed to get more acquainted with the new terrain, so her wise mentor had suggested she head out on her own for the first time. The two had explored the territory together to the point where Woolypaw was apparently deemed to be able to handle it. She had stopped by this puddle after finding a good amount of coltsfoot in the marshy ground that blended the forest into the swamp. Woolypaw was instructed to not travel too far and to not stay out past sunhigh, as she was more vulnerable on her own and she wasn’t trained in combat. The apprentice wanted to return home with her little bundle, but she was hoping to find some comfrey root growing in the freshly moistened soil. She knew it was needed because one of the elders had twisted their claw after insisting that they could clear out their own nest. The poor old cat had learned the hard way, but Woolypaw was determined to help soothe their pain by bringing home the herb that would help them.
As she lifted her head slightly, satisfied with her puddle-based refreshment, she noticed an imprint in the soil ahead of her. It was faint and faded, and there was no scent lingering around it--but still, it looked like a footprint to her. It wasn’t like any she’d ever seen before-- bigger than a cat or even a badger, but differently shaped with four long…toes? Claws? Woolypaw felt a sense of dread wash over her as she slowly backed away from the print, her fluffy pelt bristling as she swiftly turned her back on the huge unsightly impression. Too ready to make her escape, she completely forgot her supply of coltsfoot, scrambling to run back the way she came.
Woolypaw’s little heart was racing as she darted along the edge of the swampy shorelines, catching the familiar scent of a Shadowclan patrol nearby. She could also make out the strong scent of decay, skidding to a halt as she caught sight of Ravenstar and the others. Her pupils turned round in fear and her ears flattened as she realized what everyone was looking at— a bloody corpse of a huge animal. She’d never seen one up close, but this was probably a deer. Another strange tingle took over her senses and Woolypaw felt a disturbing sense of dread wash over her.
Woolypaw stumbled to regain her composure as she realized that she was disrupting a serious moment, it seemed the patrol was already investigating what could have done this. Could it have been the same entity that left the long toed print just a few treelengths away?
“Ravenstar..” she breathed in relief as she dipped her head. “I saw something!” was all she was able to squeak out at first, before shaking her head and hurrying to continue.
“This dead thing, this deer, it may have been killed by…something bigger than a normal cat…” She gulped. “And I only say that because— because just over there, down the way a few treelengths, there was a— a pawprint.” Her stammering suddenly stopped as she found her courage again to articulate the events. “Only it wasn’t a pawprint, it was much bigger, and longer. And scarier, it was daunting. Ravenstar, I…” She looked up at him. “I didn’t stay long enough to investigate further, but something is telling me that this is more dangerous than we know…” She mewed softly, the small burst of confidence having subsided. She rarely ever talked this much in long segments. But of course, this was important— something was telling her it could be life or death for Shadowclan.