The meeting [Private between Acro, Legit and Mid]

[Deleted]

((The IC meeting Thrushfall mentioned in the Dec. ceremony and annoucement. Tags: [Acro.], Legit, and Midnight.))

Thrushfall had just done the ceremony.

He wondered if he should done this, or should not. A small but serious meeting between the two senior warriors, who both have a close bond with Ratstar, and the medicine cats. He was sitting under the Moonrock to wait for them. He wanted to know more and dicuss about Ratstar, perhaps also share all the things on his mind.

He waited and sighed.

[[Acro.]]

Fallowmist emerged out of the shadows behind the Moonrock, his dark yellow eyes intense as they locked onto the Deputy. With his head down and ears forward, he strode to sit to one side of Thrushfall, nodding to the other tom before scanning the crowd for the others who were summoned. His sharp gaze, again, landed on his apprentice, but quickly moved on, finding Sandstrike at the edge of the crowd. A flash of empathy shone behind his normally impassable eyes, smothered moments later by his usual, stoic front. Sandstrike was clearly in bad shape... With his eyes still out in the crowd, Fallowmist took a moment to speak to Thrushfall before the others arrived. "The Ceremonies were good for the Clan," he remarked, voice low and even. He could see Thrushfall's uncertainty, and he wanted the Deputy to know he had made the right decision during a very hard time.

At the edge of the gathered cats, a long-legged, cinnamon warrior sat hunched over, his normally blazing eyes dull and distant, his breathing deep and haggard. He barely heard his name being called--he just kept replaying that conversation over and over again in his mind...

He was hardly listening anymore.

"... blood... fur... smelled like her..."

He latched onto those words.

Smelled like her.

Smelled like her

...like her.


What he wouldn't give to smell her again.


The lean warrior drifted through the crowd, making his slow way toward the Deputy and others...

[Legit]

Sparrowleaf stumbled out of the den he shared with Mintpaw, his fur slightly ruffled as if he had just awoken and dragged himself out of his nest. His amber eyes were dull, but, truly, the young medicine cat hadn't slept since the night before. This was one reason he didn't physically attend the ceremonies Thrushfall had announced, but his mind was still subconsciously there. He had heard Thrushfall's words but didn't fully register them until his own name had been spoken. His mind was too occupied with thoughts... secrets... worries...

Dreams...

His shortened-tail would've been dragging in the sand if it could reach it, but it was still dangling lifelessly all the same. Not until the light brown tom reached Fallowmist and Thrushfall did his attitude somewhat return to normal. Although, this wasn't the usual optimistic and friendly Sparrowleaf. This was the kind that meant business. The kind that was as serious as stone ((OOC: I couldn't think of any good similes for seriousness. =[)) and did not mean to joke around, as what they were about to speak of were very important matters.

Sparrowleaf greeted the Clan's deputy and Ratstar's brother with a respectful nod of his head and slowly made his way to the Moonrock, sitting down beneath it with his back pressed against the stone. His mind still buzzed with thoughts, and although the regular glow was beginning to once again appear in his eyes, they were distant. I need to prepare what I'm going to say... What I'm going to tell them... What secrets I'm going to reveal...

[Deleted]

Thrushfall acknowledged Fallowmist as the older warrior approved his move of having the ceremony. Then he spotted Sparrowleaf and Sandstrike in the crowd of cats, both padding slowly toward him and each having a serious look on their face. He dipped his head to them as they came to his side. He could saw Mintpaw, too. Yet the she has not arrived yet. Before he announced this, he hesitated to choose Mintpaw in this serious meeting, yet he thought of the intelligent young she-cat might think of something the senior warriors haven’t even thought about.

He cleared his throat and spoke. “Fallowmist, Sandstrike and Sparrowleaf, thanks for coming. Let’s begin as soon as Mintpaw arrives.”

[[Acro.]]

ooc:// I'm just going to re-tag everyone, in case this has vanished from your Participated box =) No pressure, guys--I just don't want to drag this on for another month xD Tags! Legit @darkshadow Midnight


Fallowmist's dark eyes narrowed onto Sparrowleaf, watching as the other tom made his way toward the Moonrock and leaned against it. It looked like he had just woken up, and something was lingering in his eyes... but Fallowmist said nothing, and simply nodded respectively to the Medicine Cat. Second to his curiosity over the nature of the meeting, the lean warrior was preoccupied with keeping one, scrutinizing eye on Sandstrike as he approached. The other warrior had been volatile since Ratstar's... disappearance. And, because the cinnamon warrior had just heard news of the patrols before the Ceremonies, Fallowmist felt it would be an ideal time for Sandstrike to have another dangerous meltdown.

The tom in question, Sandstrike, came up silently on Thrushfall's other side, giving no indication that he had heard, or was listening, to anything the Deputy was saying. He only knew he had been called to a meeting--other than that, Sandstrike was only focusing on keeping himself together. Small tremors ran up and down his dulled pelt, and his tail twitched erratically. He kept his head down, unwilling, or unable, to meet anyone's eyes.

[Deleted]

Ooc: Thanks, Acro! I almost forgot this.

Thrushfall looked around. He hadn't seen Mintpaw yet, but he decided to start. Mintpaw can join in any time. He thought. "Let's get started." He started cautiously. "As I said, we found traces of Ratstar's fur and scent in the snow near the Pond of Truce. but that's not all of it. I... I didn't give away all the things we saw."

Quickly, Thrushfall spoke about what happened, about the fox and… about everything. The bloody image reappeared in his mind, and he shivered. Then, after his speech, he stopped, the dizzying silence surrounded him, and his ears buzzed. “Do… you have any… thoughts about it?” He croaked, breaking the silence once more, and glanced at the three other toms.

Ooc: I’m too lazy to type out what Thrush should be saying. This (click for the link) can give you an idea, Legit. And I guess Acro and Mid still remember, right?

[Legit]

(Oh, that. XD Heh, I've been keeping up with it while you guys were posting.)

Sparrowleaf listened intently to Thrushfall as he described what else his patrol had found when they had gone out searching for clues to Ratstar's whereabouts. He stayed silent the whole time, only indicating that he really was listening from the occasional twitch of an ear during interesting parts of the story or a deep rumble resonating from his throat as if he was pondering over what the deputy had just said. When the tom had finished speaking, Sparrowleaf glanced up at the moon, its mysterious light reflecting off the medicine cat's round eyes, and said: "It sounds like the discovery of the fox and blood was a very traumatizing experience for every member of the patrol."

Especially poor Patchpaw, his mind cut in. I'll need to get him some thyme and a poppy seed if the event still bothers him.

"None of us can be certain of what's happened to Ratstar," Sparrowleaf continued after a brief moment's pause, "but I may have something to add to bring a little more clarity to the situation... or more confusion, depending on how you choose to take it."

The medicine cat stopped speaking, hoping to grab the attention of the other toms as if he was an elder telling a tale to a couple curious kits, and then swiveled his head to address the others face-to-face. "Last night," he began, "I had a dream. I don't know if it was sent to me by StarClan or if just that my worries for Ratstar had taken to images in my mind, but it was definitely a... dream. In that dream, I was sitting on the beach at moonhigh, listening to the gentle crash of the waves as they lapped at the sand. but then, out of no where, a rat runs past me. It wasn't being chased by any monstrous birds either, it was just running along the beach like it was normal for it to do so. I watched it for what felt like moons, its path gradually curving deeper into SunsetClan territory. It maybe even seemed as if it was running towards the camp... but that could be highly debatable... My mind was probably just playing tricks on me..."

"Most importantly, what do you guys think of this dream, under all these circumstances?"

[[Acro.]]

ooc:// I was holdin' out for Mid... but this really needs to be move toward being resolved, SO I'M JUST GONNA GO ON, THEN. PIP-CHEERIO.


As Sparrowleaf spoke, Fallowmist kept his dark eyes narrowed onto him. The image of the rat, scurrying across the sands... toward camp... Now, Fallowmist wasn't exactly one for far-fetched speculation or clinging to false prophecies (heck, he hardly clung to any prophecy, though that wasn't to say he had no faith in StarClan), but he couldn't deny the... inherent comfort that came along with Sparrowleaf's story. "You say you can't be sure if this dream of yours was prophetic," he began, addressing the Medicine Cat with his low, quieter voice that always somehow demanded to be heard. "If it had been... wouldn't a cat of StarClan have presented itself to you?" Fallowmist wanted to believe Sparrowleaf's vision had been a sort of premonition... but the skeptic in him kept his hope at a safe distance.

Beside the lean warrior, Sandstrike was shuddering with deep inhales, which were becoming more and more frantic. A spark of energy had stirred within him during Sparrowleaf's story--an energy he had not tasted for days. The tom's eyes, though still clouded, regained some of their typical fire, and, for the first time, he was able to focus on his clanmate--on Sparrowleaf. "You're saying..." he rasped, voice dull from deprivation. "...she's alive?" Perhaps a bit of a leap for him to make such a conclusion... but the warrior was as desperate as ever.