If three's a crowd, then what's five?

[KingHarry]

Rookstar's ceremonies were late. Again. Was that really surprising, though? He was always late. In fact, perhaps it was time that IvyClan simply shifted the time in which they expected such things to occur. That thought mulled over inside the tom's head as he scrabbled onto the ledge from where he held clan meetings.

"Gather around everyone!" Rookstar called out, completely forgetting to use the traditional words to gather his clan together. "I need to name some warriors!" His unconventional call at least seemed to catch the interest of his clan mates, even if some did look confused as they gathered under the ledge. Rookstar could see his brother, Raccoonmask, looking up at him with an expression that practically screamed 'what are you doing, you utter mousebrain?'. In return, he shot back a look of 'I'm the leader so I do what I want', before turning his attention back to the clan.

"Hello. So, we have three apprentices becoming warriors today. Martenpaw, I have decided that you will be Martentooth. Branchpaw, you shall be Branchpatch. Finally, Flamepaw. From this day, you shall be known as Flamesight." As he spoke, he met the eyes of each apprentice-turned-warrior, giving them a proud look. "I trust that you will all and serve defend your clan well, and that I StarClan will smile favourably on the three of you."

He was proud of all of IvyClan's warriors - even the ones that were not typically 'great'. Everybody in the clan had something to offer, no matter who they were. That was why they didn't need any outsiders (along with other reasons, such as questions of loyalty and the possibility of having too many mouths to feed).

"And now for a more important subject," he then continued to say. "Creeksong has vanished, and thus it seems that we need a new deputy. IvyClan seems to have a history of this kind of thing, though, and so I had an idea last night. You see, if all our deputies keep going missing, then why do we only have one at once? Why not have multiple? That way, when one leaves, there are backups in place already." It was a genius idea if you asked him. Rookstar had no idea why nobody had ever thought of it before, but he was pretty sure that it would catch on.

"Firechaser, you will be my first deputy!" Rookstar proclaimed. "Alongside you, Dustytuft and Heronflight will serve. I am aware that Heronflight recently had kits, but having the other deputies working by her side will allow her time to see to both her children and the clan."

The young leader nodded, certain of his decision. And then another genius idea passed through his mind. "Oh! And Foxfall! He is my brother and I trust him, so he can also be the deputy." And another thought. "And Mudjaw! Owlstar would approve of Mudjaw being appointed too, I think."

And then he was done. "That is all," Rookstar said. "Please go back to whatever you were previously doing."

[bits]

So... their leader was going insane, right? à

Swiftwing was incredibly aware of her brother's absence. As much as she hated him for a number of reasons (so, so many reasons), he was still her brother. The only family left, and his absence left her gutted. So she wasn't looking forward to this clan meeting, she wasn't able to get her emotions sorted out. She was upset he was gone, relieved he wasn't a deputy, and conflicted about her desire to go and find him. She barely listened to the meeting up to the point where... five deputies were announced.

Swiftwing: 404 [error not found]

Well, this was insanity. She was living in an insane place. Could she make a complaint to the medicine cat about this? No? Whatever. Her life was already so weird, this might as well happen.

She didn't stick around. She had a border to follow through.

[LupTacco]

A little nervous hum buzzed in Foxfall's jaw as he followed his clanmates to sit around the leader's perch, folding his tail neatly over his white paws. His shoulders loosened with relief as Rookstar announced the new warriors, looking over at his now-graduated apprentice with gentle pride and encouragement. Flamesight- what a fitting name for the bright-furred tom, he thought. Even if his visions weren't often true, they had to mean something? He seemed observant at least. However, his gentle smile diminished as his brother went on to address the deputy issue, his ears flattening in worry as Rookstar went on to say the dreaded phrase- multiple deputies? "Has he lost his-" Foxfall murmured under his breath in disbelief, freezing up mid-sentence as his own name was called. No no no don't you drag me into this too you, you- impossible man!

"I'm... th-thank you," he mumbled quietly, barely audible even to himself. This should have been a position of honor- being named deputy by his own brother, chosen over so many others. But it was an utter mockery of the ways of the clans, and it struck fear into his heart. He wondered if his first task as 'deputy' shouldn't be to convince Rookstar to decommission him immediately, but given the unpredictable nature of his brother's current mood... "I'll- I'll be available for any concerns, as I'm sure there must be," he spoke a little louder, trying to sit up straight, though his face was taught with a slight grimace and his heart fluttered anxiously. Oh, what have you gone and done to me- to IvyClan-, Rookstar?

[GnawingOnIce]

Timberheart was already in the clearing, having a chat with one of his sons, Hickorypaw, when Rookstar made the very strange announcement. He twitched an ear like he hadn’t heard his leader correctly. He had picked up on Rookstar’s… strangeness but perhaps he assumed it would pass over in time. That clearly wasn’t happening.

Hickorypaw turned to face the black and white leader as he named new warriors. Hickorypaw was iffy about Rookstar as well, he didn’t want his warrior name to be something that didn’t mean anything at all; or more precisely: he didn’t want Rookstar to give him his warrior name. When everyone was done chanting the new warriors’ names, he leaned over to his father and murmured, “Hey, dad… is Rookstar going to give me a bad name?”

Timberheart didn’t know what to say to his son at that. He glanced toward the ground, unsure. No one told him parenthood meant answering these types of questions from your children.

“Uh..” He considered his answer for a moment. Then he made up his mind with a determined gleam in his eye. “No. Not if I have anything to say about it.” That seemed to work, as his son gave him a small smile then turned his attention back to Rookstar.

Timberheart’s jaw might as well have just removed itself completely from his face. StarClan above, What was Owlstar thinking when she made this cat deputy? Having multiple deputies at a time was a terrible idea! How would the patrols be organized in a proper fashion? At this point, he might as well just make the entire Clan his deputy!

He gave a frustrated growl and stomped off to the warriors den. He had had enough of this idiotic cat for the day.

Hickorypaw watched his father go, his eyes widening somewhat at the expression he saw on his face. He wasn’t sure if he ever saw his father so frustrated. He looked around the clearing at cats dispersed. He spotted Leopardpaw among them, and, with much hesitation, padded over to her. The small tom has been previously afraid of her, her presence made him feel smaller than he already was, but he was determined to get past that fear. “Eh, Hi-hi, Leopardpaw,” he started, his voice slightly trembling, “what do you think of Rookstar?”

Tags;; Mama
Notes;; hope it’s alright that Hickory decided to chat with Leopard! He is a brave boy

[Mama]

 The feline padded out of her den at the.. strange clan meeting call, and took a seat along the side near her den. It was as far as she felt like going, with restless nights of her stressing on herb piles, or waiting for a cry of help from one of the expecting queens. Oh, yes, if that didn't make matters worse, there was plenty of kits coming soon. Sometimes she wished that Finchtuft had been her apprentice longer, so she could help more, or that Beetleshade was still here. There was so much she felt she could have learned, experienced, but her mentor rather betray her clan and vanish. Just like her father. Maybe she had to be more careful who she kept as important cats in her life, as they always seemed to turn and stab her in the back.

The meeting went.. a bit choppier then usual, at least for the first part. Some new warriors, fine, fine, as long as they didn't go around making more kits or injuries to themselves. Her eyes turned towards the tom as he continued to speak, and it seemed a new deputy had to be appointed. Hopefully this one could stick around a bit longer, she thought to herself, as her tail quivered impatiently. And... it seemed that Rookstar was once again going to screw things up. Dear Starclan... help them. Why did they think this mousebrain would be fit to become leader? Did they just want to see Ivyclan crash and burn?

Getting to her paws with a hiss, her eyes narrowed. "Rookstar, you're going to send us all in ruins! Never having meetings on time, and now disobeying Starclan by making not just one, but five deputies! You don't even trust me enough to let me near you, you - you mousebrain! We're all going to be cursed, misfortune will haunt us, and it'll be all your fault! Stupid, stupid tom!" The tabby rocked on her feet, stumbling on her side once and spitting as she screeched the words to both him, and the clan. "Maybe this new clan is here to replace us, and you're here to tear Ivyclan down." The she-cat finished, before slinking into her den again.

-------

It was an... awkward thing to react to. First Rookstar declaring all these deputies, the medicine cat freaking out and storming off, and confusion settled in Goldeneyes's mind. Looking to the deputies with a sigh, he got to his paws and padded towards the group.

"Well... uh... congratulations?" The giant feline said with a head turn, looking to the leader. "I'm not sure why we need this many deputies, but maybe it's all for the best."

Deep in the back of his mind, he wasn't too sure about that. First this cat threatened all outsiders, meetings ran late, and everything was disorganized and chaotic. He missed his mother, and he missed the peace. With a final head dip of good luck, the tom turned away to see if he could find his mate and try and combine their brainpower and see what was exactly going on.

------

Cowlily was in panic. All the noise, the nervousness, the sudden changes... She wasn't sure if this would be a place for her, and Stoatstalk's kits. The feline was sitting in the back, and as soon as the meeting was over, the emotional and heavily expecting feline burst into tears. The tears turned into sobbing, as she mumbled worries about what was happening, what she was going to do, and just general panic. Her wavy black and white tail curled tightly around her, and Cowlily pinned her ears against her head.

Would.. would her kits be born into this chaos? Would it be all her fault?

------

Leopardpaw gave a sigh as she saw her own father, who was sitting next to her and mumbling something that was probably along the lines of her warrior name, or his mate, or both, who knows. She wasn't paying attention. What she was focused on, instead, was this crazy new setup Rookstar decided to do. The tortoiseshell took a deep breath, muttering some curses under her breath before pawsteps from another cat caught her attention, and her name getting spoken.

Her head sharply turned to Hickorypaw, a smaller tom who looked.. terrified of her. Leopardpaw's golden, sharp eyes gave a curious blink to him, before flicking back up at where the leader was previously standing. Thoughts ran through her mind for a moment, before glancing back at him.

"I don't like him. He seemed fine as a deputy, but with all his stupid 'outsiders are bad cats' ranting, it makes me uncomfortable. I wasn't born in the clan, I was adopted in. And same with one of my dads. If he decides to.. he could kick us out just because of that."

The words were not like how she usually spoke, instead they were more fearful and serious. She gave a gulp, the intimidating resting look on her face replaced with a sad, confused expression. "I don't know what's up with him, but I don't like the looks of it. What if he refuses to make me a warrior because I wasn't and my father wasn't born in the clan?"

GnawingOnIce

[GnawingOnIce]

Hickorypaw’s ears pricked as she talked. For a moment, he felt guilty he was Clan-born. Suddenly, Leopardpaw was a lot less scary. She was… vulnerable, he thinks, and genuinely afraid. Confused and not able to understand where Rookstar was coming from. His blue eyes widened in sudden sympathy for her.

“I don’t like him either,” he said after a few moments of silence from him, “and don’t worry, I-I’m sure we’ll be able to become warriors together.” the young tom tried his best at a comforting smile.

Tags;; Mama
Notes;; n/a

[Mama]

In the moments of silence, she looked at his expression, shifting her weight before her eyes swept over the ground near his paws. What... What would become of all the former outsiders? If clanborn was such a high title for him... Then maybe she should be happy she wasn't clanborn. Or, maybe she should be upset. Leopardpaw was never good with emotions, playing turned to bullying and not having many friends left her driving away then ones that came close with snarky comments. 


"Yeah... I hope so." The hybrid girl muttered as she looked up towards his eyes, trying to force a smile to not reassure him, but herself. It didn't work. She couldn't force herself to think everything was fine... When it wasn't. 


GnawingOnIce

[Miss Tactical]

Mudjaw lifted his gaze when Rookstar called for a meeting. One that was quite over due but being late seemed to be in this black toms nature. The brown tabby tom picked a spot in the back where he could quickly walk away after. Ceremonies had been odd as of late. He wrapped his tail around his paws, pressing closely to Mumblesong whom was expecting kits once again. He held his head a bit higher ready to be a dad to some young ones once again. His own apprentice Branchpaw received his name and of course he gave the tom a curt nod feeling he trained him well.

Soon however it was time to announce the new deputy. Creeksong had gone missing but they didn’t appear to be in StarClan, but clan life had to go on. He shifted nervously as Firechasers name was called out, he nodded a good choice but soon, Heronflight was also called, and Dustytuft. His amber eyes narrowed into slits as he looked to the sky. HE was your first choice Owlstar….this one is on you….” His whiskers twitched with amusement ever so slightly but then two other names were called Foxfall, rookstars brother an obvious choice too and him??

He looked at Mumblesong for just a moment a look of worry in his eyes. Had the tom gone completely mad? What would happen when Rookstar died? He shifted slightly before stepping up, he would never make StarClan angry by being impolite in a ceremony. Still he was worried about his families future under Rookstars ruling. ”I will serve you Rookstar as best I can. I’m sure I speak for the other ummm 4 deputies that we will be here when you need us. Perhaps…our first order of business should be pushing the borders back on MothClan’s side?” His eyes fell firmly on Finchtuft and Lilydawn before flicking his tail towards Rookstar. Something was certainly wrong, perhaps the two medicine cats could figure it out.

[Broadwaykat]

This was a day that Martenpaw had been waiting for for ages. He didn't mind that it was Rookstar giving him his name: in fact, he was probably one of the only cats of the clan who thought that there was nothing wrong with their intrepid leader. All older cats had various weird habits as far as he was concerned. And if he was willing to overlook the fact that he had been out of commission as an apprentice, well then - he would certainly overlook some weirdness on his part too. 

Standing up there with Branchpaw, he felt ready to take on the world; nothing could bring him down right now. And even his new name; Martentooth, felt right. He was feisty, vicious. He even bared said teeth in a somewhat manic grin, as if it made him look all the more fierce as he stood there and finally felt like he was becoming an adult. Stupid Heronflight had barely taught him anything before she'd gone into the nursery. This was a victory for him, and in some ways, a good memory for Thornflame.

I hope your watching up there, old man. He thought, beaming.

Of course, this would only be the last few moments of their peaceful, normal time. As even Martentooth couldn't shrug off the oddness of the latest turn of events. He looked between his fellow new warriors with a sort of stunned expression. Even the fact that his former second mentor was named didn't register just yet - even though the idea of his mentor being a deputy had always been a dream of his, as if it somehow meant something for him.

"Well...uh...you think that means we gotta chance of being deputies soon, then?"

---

Dustytuft wasn't...worried, per say. She was much too jovial a cat to get worried. But like others in her clan, he had realized that a great change seemed to have overcome Rookstar after Owlstar's demise. It wasn't that she didn't trust the tom - he was doing what he thought was best for all of them, surely. But the truth of the matter was he was making rather large, rash decisions that put their clan on their own rocky ground.

She had had some hope that Creeksong would be able to even things out; he was a stoic sort. But even then, he had disappeared; and it had left them with only Rookstar and a poor beleaguered Lilydawn to guide their paws. And she was, of course worried with training her own apprentices after Beetleshade...Dear, it was all such a jumbled mess it was a wonder anyone could find something to smile about.

But she'd be damned if she wasn't going to try.

This was a ceremony after all, and the newest warriors deserved to have some stability in the clan. Her cheers were hushed only by the anticipation of listening for a new deputy to be named. Surely it could be someone who had stuck around a little longer; perhaps Rookstar's own father, or one of his brothers, or...

Herself?

She wasn't sure what stunned her more - the fact that Rookstar seemed to have gotten into his head to hand out the Deputyship to several cats like it was some sort of reward, or if she had distinctly heard her own name among the group. She flicked her fluted ears back as if a change in positioning would help her discern that she had heard him incorrectly. But no...some of the stunned cats were looking at her, and at the others named. An uneasy rumbled through the crowd. And apparently she was supposed to help quell it.

Her and four other cats whom Rookstar had just tossed a the proverbial badger's paws.

"Oookay then..." She said, doing her best to try and come to terms with what had just happened a fraction before everyone else did. Someone was already throwing a fit - she vaguely registered it as Lilydawn before she stumbled off. Foxfall valiantly trying to make some sense of all this. She supposed she could follow his lead, and quickly tried to catch the eye of her...fellow deputies..

Dear Starclan, that even just sounded wrong.

"Alright, then...uh...I suppose....should someone go after Lilydawn? I could go after Lilydawn..." Of course, as a deputy, she had every right to go off and trying and make sure the poor Medicine Cat was not having some sort of breakdown...but as one of several, she didn't want to seem like she was overstepping them, and...

What exactly had Rookstar thought he was doing?!

Miss Tactical, M'Lady, LupTacco, gingersnapsdacat

[gingersnapsdacat]

Heronflight stepped out of the nursery, eager to stretch her legs and watch the newest warriors receive their names. She had noticed a slight change in the timing of these meetings, but it did not really bother her. A few extra days of apprentice hood would not hurt the incoming warriors. Of course, that was easy for her to say, having become a warrior under the punctual OwlStar. 
"So, we have three apprentices becoming warriors today. ...you will be Martentooth...you shall be Branchpath...you are Flamesight."
Heronflight could not help but feel slightly underwhelmed. The names were nice, really, and they seemed to suit their receivers, but the entire procedure seemed to lack the personality and individuality of previous ceremonies. I guess RookStar just isn't the...chatty kind. Or he could just be worried about Creeksong...Heronflight guessed, shrugging slightly to herself. She began to get to her paws, assuming that the ceremonies were finished. 
""And now for a more important subject,"
Heronflight's head popped back up towards the highledge, surprised to hear RookStar continue. She quickly planted her haunches back on the ground, curious to hear more. 
You see, if all our deputies keep going missing, then why do we only have one at once? Why not have multiple?
The queen stared at her leader, trying to understand what he was getting at. Would there be a line for deputy? It kind of made sense...but was it even allowed? How would the clan know who to listen to? 
"Firechaser, you will be my first deputy! Alongside you, Dustytuft and Heronflight will serve. I am aware that Heronflight recently had kits, but having the other deputies working by her side will allow her time to see to both her children and the clan."
The brown and white she-cat gasped, her eyes wide. She was one of the deputies? She was not sure whether to feel exited or nervous. Obviously she was happy to help lead, and she would do her best to be the deputy that everyone wanted, but she also knew it would be rather difficult to be both deputy and mother at the same time. 

Meanwhile, Heronflight's youngest daughter, Sparrowkit, was sitting at her mother's paws, not at all interested in the ceremony that was taking place. Instead, the kitten was staring intently at a rock. It was not a particularly. special or interesting rock, being grey and dusty like all the other stones that littered IvyClan's camp, but Sparrowkit was entranced. She noticed every little chip, speckle, and line. 
"Heronflight will serve beside you."
The kitten looked up, hearing the name of her mother.
She gets to be a deputy?...neat.
This thought having been finished, she turned back to her pebble, examining every little streak of color. Despite its ordinary appearance, Sparrowpaw could see that there were little dark streaks of grey crossing over the surface, looking like rivers through the forest. 
"Stupid! Stupid tom!"
Once again, the kitten was shaken from her rock watching, spooked by Lilydawn's outburst. 
"Mama...why is she so upset?" the kitten asked, looking up at Heronflight. "Why isn't she happy for you?"
Heronflight glanced down to her daughter, trying to think of a response.
"Not everyone is very happy that there is more than one deputy," she mewed, trying to comfort her daughter.