By sunset, the loners have been subdued. Reluctant as ever, Robinfoot obeys Greystar's orders to treat the toms' injuries under the guise of a truce while simultaneously offering a poppy seed too many. Now an abandoned den houses two sleeping prisoners, and three warriors stand guard outside.
Stonetail wishes she could be one of those warriors, but Greystar has other tasks in mind for her. Against her will, the grey she-cat makes up one of a small council of five that is deliberating the loners' fate from within the spacious hollow log called the Great Timber. Naturally, Greystar heads the meeting, along with Oaknose and Robinfoot. To leave out the deputy and medicine cat in such an important decision would be scandalous at the least. A senior warrior's inclusion is standard practice as well, and so Darkfeather fills the fourth seat in the den. Only Stonetail is present without a traditional cause to be, and according to her mother, it is because she must learn to participate in Clan affairs. Stonetail snorts, but there's no sense in making a scene, so she joins the group and clamps her jaws shut to watch.
"Our options are limited," Greystar announces from her nest. "They want shelter, yet fought our warriors when we denied it to them, still insisting we hide them from a murderer. Apparently, they witnessed him kill someone, and they've been hunted since. But they've already showed extreme hostility, and continue to expect us to be gracious hosts. Personally, I'm of a mind to leave them at the borders with a warning, and if they persist, we won't be nearly so kind in sending them off."
The proposition has Oaknose nodding. "They don't deserve our protection," he adds gruffly, lip curling into a sneer. To his right, Robinfoot displays a very different expression, one of flat ears and wide eyes.
"Those toms are starving," the brown tabby says, tail sweeping around to cover his paws. "We would have to be heartless to turn away cats in need! I think it would be wiser to shelter them until they've regained their strength. That way, we keep the peace, but they don't have to stay. And no blood is spilled."
"Unless the murderer finds them in our camp!" Darkfeather's hackles rise, and Robinfoot shrinks, casting a desperate glance in Stonetail's direction as if seeking defense. "What happens then? How many ShadeClan cats will get hurt because of the business of loners?"
It is then Stonetail lifts her voice, surprising even herself. "We could take them in," she suggests. Four pairs of eyes lock onto her, each one asking the same question: Why?
"Did you not hear what I just said?" Darkfeather hisses. "They'll only put our Clan in danger!"
"They're an asset," Stonetail insists, getting to her feet. Her tongue moves of its own accord. "If a killer is following them, they can tell us what he looks like, and sooner or later we may need to know that. I don't know about you, but if a rogue is going to come through our territory, I'd sure like to know as much as I can about him before he puts a single paw over our borders."
The image of the black tom fighting for his freedom suddenly comes to mind, and Stonetail can't help but continue. "Besides, wouldn't it be good to have someone to fight this rogue? I bet they've seen some action, especially the skinny one. He didn't want to stay down, and we could use that. Even after this murder business is past, warriors like that could give BreezeClan or WillowClan a good fight in a pinch."
"That's two more mouths to feed," Oaknose growls.
"That's two more cats that can hunt," Robinfoot counters, finding the courage to speak once more. He shares a brief, grateful look with Stonetail, who returns it with an added twitch of her whiskers. The sense of triumph does not last long, though, as the small council simply continues to fling counterpoints back and forth with increasing animosity. Only Greystar's intervention brings the hissing and spitting to a halt.
"Enough!" One pale paw slams down, scattering moss, and four heads snap to attention. For a moment, all is silent in the den; no one dares risk interrupting their leader, and Greystar knows it. She surveys them all with her cold green eyes as if daring them to challenge her, and Stonetail pulls her paws closer to her body, reminded of all the moons she spent under such a scornful gaze. Such days put a bitter taste on her tongue, especially now, but once again, the need to please shoots through her veins, while the desire to protest makes her mouth dry.
Easing into her bedding again, Greystar has easy command of her council. "I've heard enough," she says, "and I need some peace to make my decision. Go resume whatever it was you were doing before, and if anything changes with the intruders before I make my choice, alert me. Now leave."
Darkfeather, Oaknose, and Robinfoot all slink out with their heads lowered, but for some reason, Stonetail cannot pull herself away from where she stands. Her throat constricts with the simple act of defiance, and when it releases, the dam breaks.
"You've already decided," she accuses Greystar. "You decided before anyone said a word. It was just for form, but you're still going to have your way. Typical."
"There are still details to consider," Greystar replies evenly, resting her chin on her paws, "and if you're done suggesting I called a meeting to listen to four cats babble, I'll make a suggestion of my own: leave my den."
There is nothing left to be said. Stonetail curls her lip in disgust, and as she leaves, the filthy scraps of moss that tumble towards Greystar's nose are not kicked that way by accident.
»»««
By sundown, Greystar has yet to give her verdict. It seems that the details she was compelled to consider are numerous or complex, or that the final judgment is a heavier one than anticipated. No matter, ShadeClan's leader has taken her time in laying down the fate of the loners, proving nothing is so simple as to be decided before advisors come together, and turning Stonetail's heated claim to dust.
To make matters worse, Thrushpaw has returned, but still has not spoken with anyone save for Robinfoot in passing. Their conversation appeared to be brief, but emphatic, and the medicine cat bounded to his den as if he had been told a particularly large rabbit was waiting there to be his dinner. Thrushpaw, though, padded on with barely a change in demeanor. The last Stonetail saw of her apprentice was her little tabby form tentatively nosing away the vines shielding Greystar's quarters from view.
"Tell me what else could go wrong," she grumbles, tucking her nose under her tail. Beside her, Lakewhisker gives a half-hearted chuckle.
"I think you've imagined every worst-case scenario for the moment. You don't need my help," he assures her, sweeping his tail over the crown of her head, a familiar gesture. Since kithood, in times of need, Stonetail always found solace in Lakewhisker. The old grey tom had been around as long as she could remember, and when Stonetail had found a close companion in his daughter, Streamheart, she had also found a confidant in Lakewhisker. He patiently listened to her troubles, no matter how small, as if she were his own child. It was his steady coaching and benevolent ways that had tempered the worst of Stonetail's aggression, and if she were to wish for a cat to call her father without question, she would inevitably wish for Lakewhisker.
Now, though she is grown and he is on the verge of retirement, he still willingly takes time out of his day to offer her consolation, and so she lifts her head in order to give his shoulder a grateful lick. From there, they sit in silence, watching the sun sink below the pines, casting the camp in a fiery orange glow. Though night is coming, ShadeClan is still very busy. A patrol is returning, the guard on the loners has shifted, and Sageflight's kits are hardly ready to surrender their moss ball in favor of rest.
The peace cannot last, though. A call comes from the crest of the Great Timber, a massive fallen log supported at one end by the only boulder in camp and at the other by the original stump, and Greystar perches at the very edge of it, surveying her camp. "Cats of ShadeClan, I have an announcement to make! Those old enough to catch their own prey should gather round."
Lakewhisker flicks his ears, rising to his paws. "That would be us, Stonetail. My apologies."
She gives her head a small toss and shrugs it aside. It's not his fault Greystar has once again disrupted what little peace her daughter has begun to find, and Stonetail knows the calm wouldn't have lasted long anyways. Something would have found a way to disturb it if Greystar had not.
At the base of the Great Timber, Stonetail sits in the growing shadow of a pine, pressing her paws into the soft blanket of shed needles as she waits. If this Clan meeting is not to give answers, the grey warrior wants no part in it, but there is an overwhelming likelihood that the decision has been made. The impulse to stalk off to her nest slowly subsides; she is interested.
"All of you know that today, two loners barged into our camp, demanding shelter and protection." Greystar paces up and down the edge of the log, tail erect and waving only just with her movements. "After a meeting and much deliberation I have come to the conclusion that these toms are to be given a choice. When they wake, they may leave, but they will be also offered a place in ShadeClan."
A few warriors (namely Darkfeather and Oaknose) burst into angry shouts at this, but a hush soon falls over the camp, and Stonetail finds her jaws gaping wide with surprise. Of all the ideas presented during the council, Greystar has chosen to accept the one her daughter proposed, and Stonetail wonders if perhaps she acted unfairly earlier; maybe there is a hope of working more amiably with Greystar in the future. She listened!
Once the Clan is silent again, Greystar moves on. "Should they accept, they will be under constant surveillance for at least a moon. Additionally, they will require mentors in the Clan ways. For this task, I have chosen two capable warriors who understand every facet of our code so that these loners have the opportunity to learn what it takes to be truly loyal to ShadeClan. Streamheart, Stonetail, your experience will be invaluable in this endeavor."
The illusion of cooperation shatters.