hello hello hello!
hope you all enjoy this chapter - quite a lot happens!
i'm in a semi-decent mood whilst writing this (my football team didn't lose, though we did concede a 90th minute equalizer.) so this should be less angsty than last chapter!
qotd: do you like musicals?
my answer: i went through a hamilton phase ™ and grew to love a bunch of musicals from that. i haven't seen any for like a year tho :(
review Replies:
Mintflight0245: i am very sorry i don't know what came over me but i'm glad you liked the chapter!
Honeyferns: she really does just need some love :(
Duskspiral: i've always wanted to play the drums that's super cool! also if you take animation best of luck :)
without any further ado, here's the chapter.
Moonscar hadn't spoken a word to Sheepfur in six moons.
She'd seen him, of course. It was impossible to avoid gatherings, and she'd been dragged along to three so far with Emberlight. She'd seen Sheepfur, tucked away next to the bush she had been beginning to think of as their bush, looking sorry for himself. His fur seemed lank, and unkept. But on the positive side, he could walk. Moonscar had seen him limp over to greet Berryfoot. And there hadn't been any announcements about a Windclan warrior becoming an elder early, so Moonscar assumed that he was still a warrior. That was something, at least.
But they hadn't spoken. There had been a moment, at the last gathering Moonscar had attended, where he'd stared at her throughout the gathering, and had padded up to her at the end, his mouth hanging open. Moonscar had felt herself being drawn towards him, but she resisted. She had to. She had to cut away those feelings. Quash them down until they weren't there.
Clan life was busy enough without that added distraction. Saddening, really. There had been an awful bout of greencough, four moons ago, that had ripped through the clan. Moonscar wanted to cry when she thought of the cats she'd lost. Lilyflower, already weakened by her earlier sickness. (Emberlight's hunch was right.) Ravenwing, the aging medicine cat struck down by the illness she was trying to heal. And finally, Snowflight, the elder finally letting go after so many seasons. Thunderclan had suffered other losses as well, but those had been the ones to stick with her the most. She mourned them every day.
Thunderclan had finally appeared to recover from that first bout of greencough, but Foxstar had started coughing. Coughing, and sputtering. Alone in her den, until Bearheart had burst in, trying to comfort his leader. Foxstar had stopped fairly quickly after that. (Moonscar suspected she had lost a life.) But Bearheart had picked up that dreadful, never-ending cough, and no cat wanted to go near him. Not even Daffodilheart, Thunderclan's only medicine cat. (Apparently there was a kit who showed an interest, which was a small comfort.)
It was early mourning when the coughing stopped, and silence finally settled over the camp. The silence, after so many days of endless suffering, was deafening. Hawkclaw, who had jolted away when Moonscar had, dipped her head. "He walks with Starclan now." She had said, and Moonscar had nodded solemnly.
That took her to now. When the day had broken, four senior warriors had hauled Bearheart's body out of the medicine cat's den. (Moonscar tried to remember if he'd been that small and frail in life. She couldn't remember.) They'd placed his body in the middle of the clearing, and looked expectantly up at Foxstar. The deputy did have to be named before moonhigh, and even if it was only morning, there was a deep worry rooted in the camp now. There was almost an expectation to get it over with as soon as possible. The ginger she-cat had taken one look at her deputy's body, and had padded back inside of her den, her lip curled. Moonscar didn't blame her. All four warriors had been expecting her to name them as deputy, and whilst they were excellent senior warriors, they weren't deputy material.
Flintfur was entirely too reckless to be deputy. He cared deeply for the clan, but Thunderclan would be destined for a lifetime of needless battles with him as leader. He was more suited to handling border patrols. Pebblepelt got on well with the younger warriors and apprentices because of her kittish nature, but she was immature. She would be much better suited for mentorship. Moonscar knew Smokeshadow well, and as much as he wanted deputyship, he wasn't suited for it at all. He would definitely accidentally offend the other clans at gatherings, and that wasn't needed right now. And Nightlark wouldn't say boo to a mouse. Thunderclan territory would be gone within the moon if Nightlark was leader.
Moonscar couldn't work out who Foxstar would pick as leader though. She thought perhaps Hawkclaw or Sparrowthorn- they were Bearheart's kits after all. The clan would like that sort of thing. Carrying on the legacy.
Suddenly, Foxstar slipped out of her den. She padded silently down to Bearheart's body, and pushed her nose into his fur. Moonscar thought she saw her murmur something to him, but she couldn't see what.
Foxstar raised her head, and took in her clan. She cleared her throat, and the clan stopped what they were doing. Moonscar walked over to where the clan was gathering, and sat down. This wasn't one of Thunderclan's usual meetings, but none of this day had felt normal. She supposed it made sense, in a way.
"Thunderclan, listen to me." Foxstar said, and Moonscar held back a gasp. The leader sounded so utterly empty of emotion, her voice on the verge of breaking. She wasn't in the right mood to be making a choice in deputy. The deputy would be the next cat to lead Thunderclan, after all. It was no secret that Foxstar didn't have many lives yet, and she was an old leader as it was.
"I say these words before Starclan, so Bearheart may hear and approve of my choice." Foxstar said, her voice quiet. She seemed less emotionless, now. She was just sad, Moonscar guessed. Sad, and utterly fed up of being a leader. Fed up of being responsible for so many cats, so many lives.
Foxstar paused. (If Moonscar knew any better, she'd say it was for dramatic effect.) She nodded her head, once, as if she was making a decision. "The new deputy of Thunderclan is Moonscar." She announced, her voice twisting at the end with bitterness.
Moonscar stared at her in shock. Around her, she could hear the clan reacting to the news, but she couldn't quite take it in. Why had Foxstar chosen her? She didn't even like her.
When the ugly truth hit her, she snarled. It's just another power trip. She realised. Foxstar didn't actually want her to be deputy. She wanted her to fail.
Moonscar smirked. She wasn't getting that. She was going to be the best deputy the forest had ever seen, and after that she would be the best leader. She would be Moonstar, the respected-but-feared leader of Thunderclan.
Well, she'd better start now. And the road to leadership did not start by offending the current leader. She dipped her head to Foxstar, before turning to face the clan. Everyone seemed to be reacting differently. The four senior warriors looked like they were about to start squawking with outrage, Sparrowthorn and Hawkclaw were honest-to-Starclan sulking, and Emberlight was smiling up at her. Before she could stop herself, and force herself to twist her face back into a mask, she grinned back.
"I would just like to say thank you, to Foxstar." Moonscar began. "You've trusted me to look after Thunderclan, and I won't let you down." She added. That last bit wouldn't mean anything to the rest of the clan, but she knew that Foxstar had recognised the challenge in her words. Foxstar's green eyes narrowed, and her tail lashed.
"I'm sure you won't." Foxstar murmured, half to herself. She pushed her head back into Bearheart's cold body and the clan slowly dispersed. The meeting was over.
about half-way through this chapter, i found out there had been a terrorist incident in my town. if the writing seems a tad off, that's why.
i'm alright, and all my friends are safe, it's just utterly horrifying to see something you're so familiar with taunted like that. my heart goes out to the victims and their families. :(