Rise from the Ashes (Past RP) }{ For Spore

[heathclaw]

How has it come to this...

Redfur sat in the WindClan camp in stunned silence. His clanmates stood all around them, some of them nursing wounds, while others rushed to comfort family members. Worse still were the cats who had to deal with the news that their kin were not coming back. He shared their pain. Stoneclaw was gone. I should've convinced him to retire. I should've kept him from going. I should've been there to protect him.

WindClan's medicine cat apprentice had treated his wounds, binding the gash across his chest with a poultice. It stung with every motion, but Redfur's guilt hurt worse. Every other thought brought him back to his father, and how he'd failed to protect him.

Then again he wasn't the only one who'd lost someone important to him. Even Palestar had lost someone very important to her, important to all of them: Crowpelt. Their deputy had fallen in the four trees conflict. According to clan tradition, a new deputy had to be appointed before the next moon high and yet... What would they do now? Had StarClan abandoned them for real?

Redfur refused to believe it. To believe it would be to validate the reason for the conflict in the first place. "ThunderClan... RiverClan... how can I... how... unforgivable." he muttered through clenched teeth. He looked up suddenly to see Palestar approaching him. What could she possibly want with him?

[sporelett]

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[atrb=background,http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/Sporelett/Avatars%20Banners%20and%20Tables/PalestarBG1.png] Palestar's thoughts came as if through a thick fog as she moved slowly through her Clan, seeking to understand the events that had taken place during the night. Many cats had died this night under the cold, unblinking avatar of StarClan. The moon had sat proud and full in the black, cold sky, stars glittering around it like jewels through the trees as cats fought and died in the clearing below. Even when Greyfeather had spoke his concerns to her, that StarClan would not make themselves known to him, or to any other medicine cat, she had hoped that in time they would return with guidance and an explanation for their absence. Now this hope was dead, trampled under dozens of bloody paws along with several of her best warriors. What reason could StarClan have to stand aside while such carnage ripped through the Clans which they had once been a part of? Palestar could think of nothing. Even Greyfeather, who knew StarClan's messengers better than most of the Clan's living cats, had no answer. He told her to wait, and that all would be made known to them when StarClan was ready, but Palestar was beginning to suspect that their ancestors had suffered some disaster, and could no longer spare any time for their living descendants. It was impossible that they should be capable of such cruelty as to ignore what now festered in the forest's four Clans, so she could think of only one alternative — StarClan had deserted them entirely, and the sky that they looked up to for guidance was now nothing more than cold, lifeless points of light. Where was Crowpelt now that he had departed from the lands of living cats? Did he roam empty skies, looking for ancestors who had long-since departed? Had he and the other fallen cats simply disappeared into whatever place Clanless cats went to when they died? Did he watch her still, or had he too vanished like a sigh into the wind? It made no difference in the long run. Her Clan needed to see her appoint a new deputy before the next moonhigh, which meant that her grieving would need to wait. She had a duty to perform, and she already had an idea of who she could ask to fill the space that Crowpelt left behind. "Hello Redfur," Palestar said, approaching the battle-scarred tom. "How are your wounds faring?"

[heathclaw]

Ah. Palestar merely wanted to check on his wounds, then. Good. Performing the duties of a leader, regardless of one's personal pain. Redfur welcomed the temporary distraction. "I could definitely say that I've been better," replied the burly tom, disguising a wince as a sting of pain lanced through him. He had refused to take poppy seeds to dull the pain. He was in no hurry to rush into the troubled dreams that were sure to come to him, he felt that he needed to be up to do what he could to help the clan recover, and besides... pain wasn't all bad. Pain reminded him that he was still alive. "I'm still breathing, so... can't complain, I guess," he said, attempting to convey a shrug while moving as little as possible.

"And yourself?" asked the warrior to his leader. She'd certainly looked worse for wear, but he could see no life-threatening injuries. Then again... the leader was graced with more than one life- for all he knew, Palestar could have lost one life or more in that conflict... assuming that StarClan still honored that promise. He didn't know the intricacies of how a leader's lives worked, or how much StarClan was involved with the whole affair. He could only hope that Palestar had a few back-up lives- WindClan would need their leader more than ever in these coming moons. "Don't push yourself. We're counting on you."

What a weight Palestar carried on her shoulders. Redfur would've never imagined that the young, quiet she-cat apprentice he remembered from his kithood would ever find herself in this position. "Do you need me to help with anything?" Redfur offered, "I feel like I should be doing something. I hate standing here, feeling useless."

[sporelett]

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[atrb=background,http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/Sporelett/Avatars%20Banners%20and%20Tables/PalestarBG1.png] "I have also been better," Palestar admitted drily, settling beside the ginger warrior. "Don't worry on my account, however. StarClan gave me nine lives for a reason, once upon a time. I'm meant to use them somehow." If using them meant sacrificing herself in a bloody conflict that gained nothing for any cat and only wasted lives, she couldn't exactly fault StarClan for that. After all, it hadn't been their ancestors leaping down from the heavens who had started that battle. She just wished that she could spread her lives among her Clan, so that she wouldn't be the only cat to rise from that bloodbath after mortal blows had been dealt. It had been a jarring and cold experience, falling into the black abyss to be greeted with silence and darkness, only to be wrenched back into the moonlit night, gasping for breath as her body burst back into life. StarClan had not been there to greet her this time. Was their intervention even necessary for any part of the process, or did they like to pretend that it was a gift only StarClan could provide? Yet another question that Palestar did not have the answer to. "I did have another reason for wanting to speak with you, Redfur." The words came after a long pause, breaking the silence. "There is something that you can do for me, and I find myself needing to ask of you. You see, after last night, I am without a deputy to help me look after the Clan. I must name a new deputy before tomorrow night, but I worry that there are not many cats who are up to the task. "Redfur, would you be be willing to accept the position?"

[heathclaw]

Redfur gave a short, mirthless laugh at Palestar's reply. What a foolish thought, what a wasteful notion to worrying for his leader. Palestar would be fine. She was made of stern stuff, and there was a reason she was WindClan's leader, after all. As long as Palestar was fine, they would be fine. WindClan could return. He had to believe that.

They stood a while in silence as the wind blew over their ears, each lost in their own private thoughts. Redfur found himself wondering what he would do if he had eight lives to spare beyond his own. Barring losses of life to sickness, he vowed that he would save a clanmate's life with his own, whenever the chance. That was the point of a life spared, after all.

And yet... sometimes the chance was not given. He was reminded again of Crowpelt, and Stoneclaw, and the guilt returned. They had lost so many...

Palestar's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned back to face her. Never be afraid to look them in the eyes. Stoneclaw had always said that.

The impact of Palestar's words took a moment to fully sink in. In that moment, Redfur stood still as a statue, dumbfounded. Him? Deputy? He'd considered it in his ambitious youth, of course, and it had been a goal of Stoneclaw's as well. Just a word, just one yes, and that dream would be fulfilled.

"I am... honored," said Redfur slowly. "But I can't... I can't make this decision right now." Him? Deputy? How could he be worthy of being deputy if he couldn't protect his own kin? "Could you... give me a moment? I swear on the Warrior Code that I will give you my answer in time, but I need to think... Stoneclaw..."

He took a few steps back, and spotted a ginger tom much like himself approaching them, sporting a freshly bound ear wound. Foxtooth... what could he want?

[sporelett]

She hoped that she had not placed too great a burden on Redfur's shoulders when she asked him to be her second. It was a great role to consider, and she didn't expect him to take it lightly. Unsurprised by his request to think the question over, Palestar nodded and got to her paws so that she might give him some privacy.

"There's plenty of time yet before the next moonhigh. Take as long as you need, Redfur."

With that, the slim cat turned and departed back across camp, making for a small group of warriors off to the edge of the clearing. She had cats to speak with whom she had yet to see in person this night, and then there would be a vigil to stand when the patrol returned with the bodies of their fallen. It was going to be a long night for everyone.

ooc: Screw tables. They have lost their novelty for me. xD

Sorry it's so short. Idk what to put. ;-;