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.”