[ti]Private[/ti]The Story of Tonight

[M'Lady]

Ivyclan was in tatters, with their leader gone and five deputies scrambling to make up for the sudden and devastating loss. Among the chaos, a single she-cat stood among the middle of camp, her golden gaze forever looking out for the clan which she raised in this new and unfamiliar world. It was hers, it would always be hers, and so Starclan had decided there was no one better to sort out the mess that was left in the hierarchy. The busy work soon slowed down, and the camp was quiet with kits ushered into the nursery and warriors dragging their paws. In the silence, the lovely smoky queen regarded each of her prospects. 

Foxfall didn't need to be deputy right now. He'd gone through enough, and the poor warrior that she named deserved a rest. 

Mudjaw was proud, one of her loyal knights. But he had his family, and didn't need to be worn down as Rookstar was. 

Firechaser, would be an interesting choice. He was experienced, but rather traditional. Ivyclan needed the imagination of those open to new ideas. 


Her gaze settled on two cats, two that she'd known their entire lives. Her eyes flickered over them, and for the first time in all of her death, Owleyes allowed herself to be seen by two warriors instead of just the kits. She strode up to the first one, a mother, a young warrior that she had called up to the High Ledge and named before all of Ivyclan. The queen had her head bent. Because of exhaustion, or mourning, she couldn't quite tell. The smoky she-cat walked up to her, and sat before her with a smile. In her soft voice, she greeted. 

"Sweet Heronflight, don't tell me that your love for adventure is gone?" When she looked up, she would see a young warrior sitting before her. If it hadn't been for her voice, it would be easy to mistake her for her newly named daughter, who looked to be about the same age. But where Pranceflight's voice was harsh and seldom used, this one was coated with golden honey that provided warmth to all those that heard it. 

"I need your help, warrior of mine. I've watched my clan fall into pieces, and even the kits can feel the darkness encroaching upon us. Come to the Moonstone, and allow me to name you Heronstar before all of Starclan. Be the guiding light for Ivyclan, and burn bright alongside your deputy." At this last word, she turned her head to another she-cat that was bound to notice them, in this empty clearing. Dustytuft had also caught her eye from the beginning. While she didn't have the shine that the younger warriors carried, she would provide stability to the clan that had known nothing but during her absence. 

"Dustytuft," She purred, catching the she-cat's attention if she hadn't already noticed. "Join my warrior of adventure here, yes? Lead my clan with the pride of lions, the strength of tigers! Ivyclan is a brilliant legacy that hasn't stopped burning yet!" Her words were as rousing as always, and she turned her soft gaze back to Heronflight for one last word. 

"The first thing you shall do as leader, is declare that I have named Twitchpaw with all the honor of Starclan. Give him a kind mentor, yes? He is a favorite of mine." She smiled again and then studied the two warriors with a bright and warming gaze, a cheery laugh escaping the exuberant young warrior. "If you'll excuse me, my sweet warriors, I have a few kits that are expecting me." And then the she-cat turned to head towards the nursery, vanishing from their sight as she took a single pawstep. 

Ivyclan was quiet again, but the silence was different this time. 

There was hope there, too. 

[Broadwaykat]

To say that the last few days had been a trial on all of them was an understatement. You would think, with five relatively competent deputies the work would run smoother, but no. There was a definite air of tension in the clan, growing steadily as the hours since Rookstar's unexpected passing stretched onwards. They were leaderless, with small fights and worried expressions being passed around as easily as one would share prey. 

It wasn't the clan that she had grown up in, that was for sure. Even these last couple of tumultuous moons hadn't lead to...this. It disturbed Dustytuft to her very core to see the friends and family she had made brought low by those recent events. But as was natural, she did her best to throw her paws in and try to be helpful. 

"Listen, I understand you're worried...but really if you just grabbed a couple of others to go with you - it's a border patrol, not a war party. Rookstar would want us to keep an eye on the boundaries just as..." She trailed off as something strange caught the corner of her vision - a flash of dark fur that seemed to strangely hold some sort of light at the same time. For all her years, she could not describe what she saw exactly; and it was enough to have her attention wandering. 

The fur was, as natural, attached to a figure - but was strange was that it seemed to glide through the crowd as if the milling, worried cats had little to no effect on where their direction was taking them. Dustytuft would have shaken it off had it not be for it's strange movement, the way it attracted her eyes, or the simple fact that no one else in the clan seemed to be bothered despite the fact they came very close to brushing against, or indeed right through them. Cats seemed to part from her path without any real knowledge that they seemed to be doing so. 

Curious...She found herself drawn to following them - unlike the figure, gaining a few odd looks herself from the sudden shift in her attention. The fur along the ridge of her spin half-raised as she contemplated the strangeness and what it could mean - she wasn't particularly spiritual, but any clan cat knew the stories of Starclan, the half-legends that their ancestors walked amongst them. But rarely had she seen it with her eyes and she hadn't put two and two together to say for sure that that was, indeed, what she was seeing. 

But the longer it stayed, the more solid it seemed to grow - and eventually it approached Heronflight and began speaking to her. Dustytuft was taken aback by the sound, the familiarity - and for the first time in a long time she felt like she was a kit again once that voice finally registered as to who it was. 

"Owlstar!" She whispered, half in awe, half in joy of seeing their former leader - not broken and bloody as she had been, but whole and healthy. "Or...Owleyes?" Oh, she had so many questions - had she been watching them? Would they be alright? How was Rookstar? For as frustrating as the tom might have been in his last few moons of life, he was still young, and pitying, and as deserving of Starclan as anyone for all his recent faults. 

But Owlstar...eyes...wasn't there fore simple pleasantries, it seemed, as Dustytuft couldn't help but step back ever so slightly as the ghostly she-cat turned her attention to her. There was business and it had to...deal with them. Dustytuft had to remind herself not to let her jaw gape idiotically as she faced their former leader, and received...a deputyship.

Not that she hadn't been proud before, of course. She would have done anything for her clan. But to go from being apart of five, to be chosen as...one. Over the strong Mudjaw or the experienced Firechaser. It was...flabbergasting, to say the least. 

But at the same time...how could she say no?

"Of course, Owleyes," She answered, finally answering to the she-cat by her warrior name, as she realized she really was no longer their leader. Even Rookstar, had he appeared, would not be a leader. It was Heronflight...or rather, the soon to be Heronstar.

Her eyes for the first time were drawn to the younger she-cat - the relatively new mother, with her surprise mate drawn from another clan. She was...right. A good choice, if a little unexpected, just as she herself was.

"Heronflight...or...Heronstar, allow me to the the first to give my congratulations." She inclined her head, suppressing the urge to give her a comforting, motherly nudge. "You'll do fine."

But still, so many questions she had. She wanted to hear Owleye's comforting voice again - here her gossip from those they had lost. She wanted to make sure that Rookstar (heart?) had made it safely to Starclan, comforted by his mother, encouraged that for all his mistakes he was finding some sort of peace in their afterlife. 

Though when she turned around, Owleyes had disappeared as mysteriously as she had come.