[ti]Open[/ti]Winds of Change

[gingersnapsdacat]

    Heronflight picked herself up off of the ground, shooting an annoyed glare in the direction of MothClan's sub-deputy.
"I have every right to be here as you do, flea-brain. At least I am truly one of the deputies." She growled under her breath, quiet enough so that only the cats around her could maybe pick up what she said. She did not want to start a fight, even if she was very annoyed. 
    "We... we come in peace."
Suddenly, her head whipped up, ears pricked forwards in surprise. Was that...the tribe?? 

    Weedpelt was ecstatic. These cats...they came from far away...they looked kind of like him...Could they be related to the father he never knew? Maybe one of these cats was his uncle, or his aunt! Maybe he had cousins! He had to tell his sister! And his plants! 

    Flufftail tried to keep her focus on the leader's, but she was very aware that there was another cat watching her. Of course, she did not mind at all, as she was often stealing glances at Cloverwing herself. Suddenly, her focus was ripped from the pretty MistClan she-cat as she saw the approaching group of strange cats. She had been far too young to understand what had really happened during the battle with the tribe, but from what little she understood, it had been nasty. 

Daisypetals smiled back at Lilydawn, appreciating her understanding. It was good to know that he was not entirely alone in the craziness of suddenly losing a mentor. But suddenly, the crowd was quiet, and he glanced up. RootClan is here..

    He watched helplessly as the newcomers walked through. Among them, he could recognize his own adoptive son, Half-paw, who he had only just recently discovered to be alive. The leader of RootClan stepped forwards, and thousands of questions flowed through Daisypetals mind, like a river threatening to spill over the bank.
How would the leaders react? Do they know? Is there going to be bloodshed? Is Murkdusk going to attack Half-paw again? 
He thought that all the leaders had been told, but maybe they hadn't. Bearstar was keeping rather calm, but even she looked a little bit apprehensive. He glanced around, wondering if one of the others would have any idea of what to do. Lilydawn looked like she was barely containing her discomfort, and Cedarleap was not even here yet. That meant that the duty of speaking for StarClan fell to him.
    He stood up, moving to stand beside Lilydawn. His fluffy tail gently touched her back, hoping that it would provide her some comfort. The fluffy medicine cat stayed in this position, listening to his leader's calm and commanding voice. 
"-carefully."
    Daisypetals took a deep breath. It was now or never. 
"Um...if I may interrupt?" he spoke up, trying to get the attention of the leaders. He glanced at BearStar, trying to draw what strength he could from her calm demeanor. "We, um...the other Medicine cats and I, we have spoken to StarClan. They told us about the newcomers, and..they are welcome here." 

OOC: Leaders LupTacco  Mama Miss Tactical Ava

[Broadwaykat]

By the way her fur had risen along the crest of her spine, Dustytuft was fairly certain that she looked rather more hedgehog than cat - she certainly felt prickly enough staring down at the other deputies, those cats who were defensive of everything. She cast a cautious eye at the cloud-filled night sky, waiting for the cover to bring an end to their gathering or some other bloody problem.

Little did she know that Rookstar's choice of deputies would be the least of their worries that night; as a strange scent brought her attention to something else. She had been one of the few that had stayed behind in camp when the war against the tribe had begun; protecting their camp. But even then, she recognized them; she recognized their oddly cool scent, even through the distance of time. 

Her eyes now darted to their leader, knowing full well his current feelings on outsiders. Would he be one of the others to call them out for their arrival? Should they?

----

Thoroughly ready to sulk through the rest of the meeting, Martentooth hung back until the strange cats made their appearance. He felt his hackles raise even though he was not truly old enough to remember or recognize the strife they had brought to their lands; acting reflexively on how the other older, more hostile cats in his clan and others reacted. He hissed; ready to drive them off, only to be reminded that he'd already been scolded once that night. If he acted out now, he was not sure that Rookstar could take away his warrior name, but he didn't want to find out if the leader would try.

He settled instead for keeping his claws out, raising one claw against the rocky surface as if to sharpen it. A silent warning as he waited for one single, solitary whisker to be put out of place.

----

Why was he here? Why had he agreed to come? Hawkspring had no idea, but he had no idea that where they were going there would be so many cats about. And they all looked so strange; with rounded features rather than the noble long ones that he had. Well, for the most part. He spotted one or two cats who could have been similar to him. But STARS! Why did they have to be so many of them.

He was chosen, he thought, for this first gathering as he had little to no history with these clanners. He had barely known of their conflict, only through stories - a sort of cautionary tale told by his mother and father. He knew they were dangerous, but feeling the overwhelming feel of animosity around him made the young warrior shrink back upon himself.

Why did he have the feeling that anycat around them would gladly rip his pelt off? What had he done to them?

---

Despite his new position as a Medicine Cat, Shadowfall found that old methods died hard in this life. He felt his dark fur bristling as he took in the hostile looks around them. How many of these cats had his blood on their claws? How many did his claws hold. Just because he was meant to devote himself to saving lives now, didn't mean that he hadn't taken them in the past - so far be it for him to feel like there was no animosity between them now.

He was there to support Screechstar; half feeling that the tom's prepared speech about peace and togetherness was just as likely to get all their throat's cut as to have them be welcomed into the fold with open paws. His hopefullness was what their new clan needed, yes - but it didn't make him any less wary. In the crowd, he looked out and saw many more hostile faces than welcoming ones.

So much for a fraughtless new life. 

But looking among those gathered, he spotted two of the cats who stepped forward. Here were cats he had seen in his dream travels; one of whom a ridiculous mass of fur that hid any sort of muscle or leanness that Shadowfall felt was proper in any sort of feral cat. Still, the familiarity of the cats made him pause - not to mention the fact that he indeed stepped forward to speak up for them.

He wasn't...grateful, per say. But there was an odd feeling of respect there. Even if he was practically a walking bush of fur. 

"Indeed. We have heard the call of our ancestors telling us how we must adapt if we wish to survive. Far be it from us to ignore them..." Of course...there was the fact that he trusted those gathered angry cats to follow their ancestors when their anger was up about as much as he trusted a cornered dog not to attack.

---

With another leader's warning ringing in his head, Duskypetal remained silent; but that didn't mean he didn't like what was going on around him. His lips pulled back in a silent snarl as he tried to face all the strange cats around him; imperceptibly moving his body in a way that he was subconsciously protecting Briarsong beside him. Even if he knew she didn't need protecting, it just came instinctively to him; if his apprentice had been sitting within paws' distance of him, he would have done the same for Roundpaw.