Murderers in Riverclan V.2 [Roster Update 10/30]

[catbookdo]

(Voting for Poppykit)

[Simonpet]

"I can only hope that Hollyclaw is safe," sighed Cherrystar. "Sunflight, can you and Mossflight take a patrol each to look for Hollyclaw?" If it turns out that she is alive, the leader thought, she will have to be restricted to camp for a few days. She cannot disappear like this, especially after Swiftcloud's exile. "Please be back before sundown and report to me or Blizzardleap if you can find her."

[invective~directive]

Sunflight

The young warrior got to his feet, nodding. He was shaken by his clanmate's murder, and a terrible discomfort took hold of his heart as he thought of going into the forest where Littlesneeze had died. He truly believed that Mossflight was innocent, and was glad she was coming, but he wasn't convinced that Swiftcloud was guilty. "I'll do my best to find her, Cherrystar." A touch of uncertainty edged his voice, but he would do anything his leader asked, even if he was scared that the murderer was still out there. He stepped towards the camp entrance, wondering if there was any trace of Hollyclaw's scent left.

[Coco Bunny]

(Badgerfrost)

[Tsukỉ]

standby for exile.

[Tsukỉ]

The patrol was sent out again, and much to Cherrystar's devastation, they found Hollyclaw's lifeless body, in gruesome figure. Nobody was sure that it was Hollyclaw after what had been done to her.. she hid the kittens away from the dead body. A kit looked earnestly at the body, before Puddlepounce covered them up. "No, don't look at Hollyclaw." she told her kits, holding a straight face. This could not become a memorable event for them. No happiness, no sadness, or any other strong emotions should be attatched to these string of murders. It couldn't be. "You think it was Swiftcloud?" Minnowpaw meowed to Badgerfrost, who looked at her apprentice and heaved a sigh. "Perhaps." she answered. "Though it's not impossible that the murderer still is within our ranks." she nodded, and Cherrystar had a look of misery. "I can't believe that.." she trailed off, while Blizzardleap came to take her place. "Badgerfrost.." after looking at Hollyclaw's body, her eyes widened and she cringed immediately. "She.. she's dead?" she asked, which was an rhetorical question but if there was some hope this cat was alive, then.. "Of course not." Badgerfrost insisted. "She's long gone. Such trauma to the head.. or lack thereof, could never keep her alive." grimly, the death-scarred medicine cat meowed. She was so numb to it all now. Cats died, and she didn't want Minnowpaw to have to go through the same thing.. but oh, there was no way she wouldn't see.

"Then is it.." Minnowpaw began to meow. "Another exile..?" she questioned, surprisingly deadpan. This had to be an accident. Yes! Of course, an epiphany was on the verge of occuring. It was a sign from StarClan...! "I believe so." Cherrystar put her head down, and her deputy gave the grieving leader some leverage by holding her on her shoulder. She was glazed over with sadness unseen before- in fact, all four cats shared a new time of sadness that was long unseen. This sort of calamity.. Mossflight stared horrified, at the body of her friend. "Hollyclaw's dead?!" Mossflight shouted, and the kits seemed to perk their ears up. One began to cry, and Puddlepounce led them into the nursery, shooting a half-angry, half-'I'm so sorry' look at the she-cat. Mossflight didn't notice, and only clutched her body in her paws. "She's.. she's.. I..-Why? Swiftcloud, it was him, wasn't it?"

"We're not sure." Minnowpaw answered. "What happened to Hollyclaw just now?" Rainshadow chimed in, his eyes darkened with that normal sense of uncouth grumpiness. "Let's see. A br.." he also ducked down when he saw her body, and immediately, his cross demanor went over the fence, and he was quite nervous and apologetic. "I didn't realize that.. oh, StarClan." It was unclear whether or not he was disgusted at the cadaver or being nice for once. "Oh, StarClan." he said, backing off. Blizzardleap and Cherrystar exchanged glances, and the leader initiated it first. "We.. well, this seems like we have no other choice. From the evidence we have-" Badgerfrost looked her straight in the eye- "You mean we need to have another exile?" she asked, discomfort within her every move. The gloss of the snow, paired with her freezing feet.. nothing could save their moods. Even Badgerfrost began itching with that sense of grimness that you only get when you've witnessed death, first-hand. "Yes." A crowd began forming, besides Puddlepounce and her kits. The only two apprentices began gathering, but were quickly blocked by the warriors. "C'mon, what happened to Hollyclaw?" Stormpaw asked curiously, lending his paws out through the gaps between the cats blocking his way. "Hey, Hollyclaw! Did you have a nice trip?" he asked teasingly. Willowpaw giggled, not understanding the situation. "Just.. go away, for your own sake." Mossflight meowed quite sternly, pushing them away with tearful eyes. Stormpaw looked at her rheumy red orbs for a moment- then understood. "Okay." he replied, and poked his companion straight in the rib. "Huh?" Willowpaw protested. "Shes-pstpstpst." Then her countenance contorted into an undeniable horror.

Sunflight was talking to Rainshadow, one of his friends. "H-hey, that's rough, buddy. You saw Hollyclaw's dead.. I mean.." he meowed, pity flashing in every ounce of his body. "You used to like her as an appr-" "No," Rainshadow insisted, cutting his friend off. "No. It's just hard to accept that someone you saw around each day was gone forever. Just like Swiftcloud.. I think he wasn't the killer. And Littlesneeze. I won't ever get their images out of my head." he growled, pushing closer against his friend for some common sense in his emotions. "I'm sorry." Sunflight sighed, synonomously drowning himself in the infectious mood. Mossflight was there in the corner, looking in distress. It was so hard to accept. Shadowstripe and Flypelt were in a discussion themselves, but they seemed equally as depressed as the rest of them. Something about 'was it Swiftcloud'? Really, the whole Clan was now in disbelief about the whole Swiftcloud accusation. Was he really to blame, poor, innocent, Swiftcloud?

Blizzardleap looked at her clan in shame. Why was it RiverClan that had to be plauged with such misfortune? She looked back at her leader, baffled. "Is it really a good idea..?" she questioned. "Yes." Cherrystar answered, bittersweet. Stormpaw and Willowpaw began pounding off towards her direction, but the leader didn't flinch. "Blizzardleap, go tell my warriors to put Hollyclaw's body in the medicine cat's den. We can't have kits or apprentices seeing her." her deputy reluctantly agreed, not wanting to see it herself, either. "Cherrystar..!" Willowpaw frantically shouted, ransacked with emotions unspeakable to her age. "So.. what's going on?" Willowpaw was filled with childish determination, though she knew what happened, just not the details. Stormpaw cocked his head as well, but both kittens had twin expressions of concern. The leader refused to aknowledge them, feeling that it was best that her 'children' not see the terrors that went behind in the Clan. Sadly enough, the whole ordeal could've been prevented... or she told herself.

"Excuse me.. Shadowstripe, Sunflight, Flypelt..?" Blizzardleap awkwardly asked. "I'm terribly sorry, but Cherrystar told me you needed to move Hollyclaw's .. Hollyclaw into the medicine cat's den so that nobody will se.. nobody will know." She chose her words carefully; any peering eye (belonging to a kitten) could read her mouth and conclude that a horrible homicide (or seperate murders) was happening right under their roof. "Alright." Shadowstripe agreed, and he pushed forward, Mossflight with the most anger and Flypelt.. was just in a neutral state, if you didn't consider his trauma from yesterday. Most cats, even Blizzardleap herself, were effected deeply by this. Was there even a killer..? If there was, then why? Why Hollyclaw? Anger began burning up inside her, but she constructed herself.

"Mossflight, I'm so sorry. Hollyclaw was like a sister to you, wasn't she." Shadowstripe whispered as he pulled against Hollyclaw's neck. It tasted metallic. Mossflight averted her eyes, but it was obvious she was hurt. And that Cherrystar was growing old- she couldn't possibly fend off by herself. Flypelt grimaced, smelling the rubbery scent of something. It was a black, jutting piece of smushy something, but it certainly stunk of kittypets and Twolegs. "She was ran over..?" he confessed his realization. "Doesn't matter, actually. It seems the killer hasn't actually brought direct harm to these cats. Or is it not a pattern?" he questioned, and Shadowstripe pulled back, and the three cats moved the body into the medicine cat den.

The exile began as they exited.

Cherrystar yowled Badgerfrost's name. "I believe.. it was Badgerfrost." Following her leader's example; or perhaps in resentment, Puddlepounce called out. "Badgerfrost!" Sunflight couldn't believe that this was really going to happen, but after seeing the situation, he was in for quite a shock. "Badgerfrost." Sneezekit's lone voice echoed in the terrain, "Poppykit! It was her!" But he was hushed quickly by Puddlepounce, who was trying to get her kits away from the crowd. In turn, Poppykit called out Badgerfrost's name. The medicine cat looked in true horror for the first time in her career. "Me.." Badgerfrost clearly phrased this as a statement. It was a lamentation of her Clan's mass betrayal against her. For what..? Helping them out? "I'm sorry, Badgerfrost." Minnowpaw looked at her in disappointment. The snow began to fall again, quickly piling up everywhere; a large pelt of ivory. Time stopped as the cats who didn't believe it was their medicine cat sighed, knowing they could never sway the popular opinion. Shadowstripe approached Badgerfrost, giving her a sad look. "Just come by, Badgerfrost. We're all still here, we believe it wasn't you." he said somberly, not wanting to bid farewell to his trustworthy healer- alongside a few other cats were by him. However, Badgerfrost couldn't get a good look at all- the insults were flying in.

"Murderer!" "Traitor, what are you still doing here?!" "Leave, you filth!" "We trusted you!" "I can't believe our own medicine cat would betray us like this!" The medicine cat looked at her young apprentice, and before she could react, dove right into her. Other cats began to unsheath their claws, but the large she-cat was only embracing her apprentice. "Minnowpaw, I wish for the best of your future. Please, ask the medicine cats of the other Clans to help you. I can't be there anymore." she broke apart, but no tears fell down her cheeks. It was pulling her at the seams, but they were too tightly stitched to be frayed. Minnowpaw nodded, and leaned on her mentor one last time before the medicine cat disappeared through the thickets. "Thank you, RiverClan, for the memories."
----
"I shall announce that Minnowpaw will be our new medicine cat." Cherrystar called forth her Clan. "Minnowpaw.. since Badgerfrost is not here, I shall call forth the power of StarClan for this ceremony. I, Cherrystar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help she will serve her Clan for many moons." She paused, looking at the moon's approval. "Minnowpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?" she waited for an answer, but it was quickly given. "I do." she cheerfully agreed, but the shock was too real. "Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Minnowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Minnowdawn. StarClan honors your loyalty and integrity, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of RiverClan." "Minnowdawn! Minnowdawn! Minnowdawn!"

"And since.. we have suffered a few losses, I must announce that our kits shall become apprentices. Puddlepounce?" The queen was approving, and unblocked the passage to her kits. The four young kittens stared blank-eyed, but excited. It was their big day! "Poppykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Poppypaw. Your mentor will be Flypelt. I hope Flypelt will pass down all he knows on to you." The kit, now apprentice, squealed. "Flypelt, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Tawnystripe, and you have shown yourself to be diligent and steadfast. You will be the mentor of Poppypaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Poppypaw." "Poppypaw! Poppypaw! Poppypaw!" "Ohmigosh, thank you, Cherrystar!" the tiny kit bursted in excitement.

"Cherrystar, I think I'm ready for an apprentice." Minnowdawn interrupted briefly, wanting to replace the hole that was made with Badgerfrost's exile. "Very well then, please, tell me which kit you would like to mentor." The medicine cat whispered her answer to the leader, and Lillykit radiated with a rosy aura.

"Lillykit," A little shake of excitement from the kit later- "-you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lillypaw. Your mentor will be Minnowdawn. I hope Minnowdawn will pass down all she knows on to you." Cherrystar proudly announced. The new mentor and apprentice touched noses, before Lillypaw licked her shoulder. "We will be heading to the Moonpool." Minnowdawn sighed. "Lillypaw! Lillypaw! Lillypaw!"

"Sneezekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sneezepaw. Your mentor will be Rainshadow. I hope Rainshadow will pass down all he knows on to you." The male kit shyly stepped towards his newly appointed mentor. "Erm.. hello!" he whispered lightly. "Rainshadow, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Ashenwillow, and you have shown yourself to be a quick thinker and an excellent fighter. You will be the mentor of Sneezepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Sneezepaw." "Sneezepaw! Sneezepaw! Sneezepaw!"

"Shadekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Shadepaw. Your mentor will be Mossflight. I hope Mossflight will pass down all she knows on to you." Cherrystar finished. "Mossflight, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received training from myself, and you have shown yourself to be agile and positive. You will be the mentor of Shadepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Shadepaw." "Shadepaw! Shadepaw! Shadepaw!"

Blizzardleap and Cherrystar went into their dens, while the new apprentices and mentors socialized with eachother. The remaining warriors, Sunflight and Shadowstripe shrugged and went back into their den. Puddlepounce looked happily at her kits.

----

Badgerfrost ran off to ShadowClan territory, much like Swiftcloud. However, she would not comply. The snow could not keep her hidden. But it wasn't so. ...

Sorry, RiverClan! Your guard is out!

Leader
↬ Cherrystar//Female//Simonpet

Deputy
↬ Blizzardleap//Female//Blazing Reshiram

Medicine Cat
↬ Badgerfrost//Female//I.C.
↬ Minnow//Female//shsl furry

Medicine Cat Apprentice
↬ Lillypaw//She-Kit//BrightDays

Warriors
↬ Flypelt//Male//john laurens.
↬ Rainshadow//Male//seedcakes
↬ Swiftcloud//Male//røsebud
↬ Shadowstripe//Male//wolfhowl2627
↬ Littlesneeze//Male//grr.
↬ Hollyclaw//Female//SpiceCookie
↬ Mossflight//Female//littleswegbunny
↬ Sunflight//Male//-sparkledragon-
↬ Puddlepounce//Female//.galaxy.

Apprentices
↬ Willowpaw//Female//Gᴀʟʟɪғʀᴇʏ Fᴀʟʟs ❥
↬ Stormpaw//Male//ωolfie
↬ Sneezepaw//Tom-Kit//catbookdo
↬ Poppypaw//She-Kit//Coco Bunny
↬ Shadepaw//Male//ChocoTheCoco

males: 6 // females: 10 // total: 16

[Tsukỉ]

Minnowdawn began to rest her face on her tail, while she was tending to Sunflight's accidental scrape. It leaked tiny droplets of blood, and it clearly stung, but Minnowdawn didn't mind it. The real problem was, did he? Obviously not.. but Minnowdawn could use a nap. She woke Lillypaw, who drowsily sprouted up. "Sorry, Lillypaw, do you mind looking after Sunflight? If he turns over in his sleep before I patch his wound with cobwebs, he might open it up a little." she was going to just do it, but this was a testament against Lillypaw to see if she could handle it. She trusted her new apprentice a lot, anyway. But Minnowdawn herself, was being mentored by the ThunderClan medicine cat, Memory. Whenever she visited ThunderClan, she was envious of Moonpaw, the ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice, but Badgerfrost was the only mentor for her. So she felt better in that aspect.

Lillypaw adjusted herself to look after Sunflight, immediately taking action. "Um.." she picked up a herbs she recognized from yesterday's training. She couldn't remember the name just quite yet, but the distinct scent of the yellow flowers (which weren't similar to any other in the pile, the closest being a marigold she knew from her time as a kit, venturing the medicine cat's den.) and chewed them to a pulp. She decided to take a liberty in chewing up another bulby flower, tasting the bitterness and the powdery pollen. Lillypaw spat it out on Sunflight's injury, and covered it with cobwebs. It was a sloppily done job, but considering it was one of her first, it wasn't so bad.

Sneezepaw came into Lillypaw's den, humming as his mentor, Rainshadow, followed in grumpily. "I'm here to check on Sunflight, don't worry." Rainshadow's intimidating stature (for the small Lillypaw) was diminished as he said so. Sneezepaw giggled, but immediately cringed when he saw the sloppy leg-heal-thing his sister did with Sunflight. "Lillypaw, what-are-ya-doin?" he asked, pointing towards the no-longer bleeding injury. "Healing. I'm already good at this, see?" she proudly announced. Rainshadow rolled his eyes, and asked if he could stay over for the time being. Lillypaw agreed, because it was lonely and there should be an excuse for her sibling, Sneezepaw, to join her as well.

"Did you hear that?" the youngest tom's ears began perking. "Hey, Lillypaw, hold on, I think I hear something." he held back a cough, as he swallowed it with discomfort. "Um.. Sneezepaw, hav ah-chee-neyeh-sea- erm, I don't remember, but Minnowdawn showed me that during winter, we'd need to fend off greencough and whitecough as much as possible and recommended me it." (What she meant to say was echinacea.) Sneezepaw went outside, after taking his sister's advice, and eating it. Lillypaw shrugged as her brother left. "Stay safe, Sneezepaw! If you run into Minnowdawn, just tell me!"

Sneezepaw looked outside, trying to look courageous. He heard his sister's cries, but he simply ignored them, putting on a 'brave face'. As he snuck like an amateur, he somehow ended up wandering to the edges of the camp. "Nothing, then." he announced to himself, as he scouted the panaroma. "No- ow!" he flinched, falling towards the ground, flat-bellied- and looked up, seeing a pair of warm eyes against his. "Oh, did I scare you?" the cat asked. "Oh, hello." Sneezepaw meowed. "Hi Minnowdawn, Lillypaw was asking for you." The medicine cat smiled, and it was clear she had some herbs in her mouth. "Thank you, Sneezepaw. Did she dress Sunflight's wound?" she asked, worried. "Ya. Whatever that is, she did like chew up some herbs and spat it all over his leg and covered it up with white stuff, and then she was like 'Oh, I'msoprouddd~!'. It was mega embarassing." he chuckled, and the medicine cat looked sorta uncomfortable. "Um.. okay then..?" Minnowdawn rushed past Sneezepaw, a smile on her face again.

Somehow, even though he found the potential source of the sounds. He still had a chance of exploring, and you know what? Minnowdawn didn't tell him to follow her back, so well, it was free grabs for chances to go out of camp! He ran through the thickets as the thought processed through his head, and then..

He discovered Badgerfrost's dead body. Covered in the white snow, her pelt clearly poking out from it.

His face shrunk into a disgusting frown, that stretched from one side of his chin to the other. His eyes widened, they even hurt to open the as big as he did. "B.. what.." Instant regret at the sight of the snapped, limp body. She was dead, clearly. "Did Badgerfrost.. kill.. her...self? N, no, it can't be, oh my StarClan, was it her?!" he began screaming loudly, and sounds of rumbling pawsteps began. The whiteness. Nobody could hide, and he heard those dreaded shakes. If only he could hide in the snow. That verglas-coated ivory goodness. He was light gray, so he would never be able to hide. He turned around quickly, but fell on his face. He stood up again, to find the killer's true identity. "No.. it was you." he arched his back, but his kitten body didn't allow him to pounce or attack the offender. "Why.. why would you do this?"

The murderer shook their head. "Sneezepaw, we don't have to fight." they insisted, stepping forward. "We're all friends here, remember..?" it was weird that.. they would say something like this, it was. But.. "Why did you do it?" he shrieked. He turned his head. Swiftcloud was standing there too, but his eyes looked dull and his mouth was almost sewn shut. His gaze no longer sparkled. "W-wai, he..'s.." Sneezepaw screamed again, but the murderer tackled him. "Sneezepaw, forget about this. No, join us." they shook the apprentice, his head waving back and forth. "No!" Sneezepaw argued back. "Not over my dead body!" he looked at the horrors that had been done to the strong medicine cat. He could not survive, but he didn't want to become like Swiftcloud. Dulled... dead inside.

"Okay." the killer's face burnt with hurt. They chased Sneezepaw, but quickly caught up with him. Swiftcloud grabbed him by the muzzle, as the killer trailed behind. The apprentice froze up as he saw the extent of the once-bright warrior's corruption. Life wasn't fair.. he closed his eyes, solemn for the losses of his Clanmates. This felt like forever until they reached the carrionplace, which Sneezepaw was thrown overboard to. Swiftcloud's strength was considerably improved than before. Feeling the sinches of rocks digging into his fur, he began to weep. The ground below him began to move, and one by one, squeaking devils from the depths of the Dark Forest began crawling out. They were not mice. They were demons.

The killer turned around, as if feeling so bad as to feel pity for their victim. "Sorry, Sneezepaw." The kit struggled as he tried running towards the two other cats, but they'd already gotten a head start. The rats began attacking him, one by one, the swarm of brown coats like a living tornado around Sneezepaw. This hurt more than the time he fell on his face. This was true pain. He screamed out, but the murderer's footsteps were not heard until the rats were finished, and his body was dumped in WindClan territory.

[if my boi Moonpaw sees this, hi]

Leader
↬ Cherrystar//Female//Simonpet

Deputy
↬ Blizzardleap//Female//Blazing Reshiram

Medicine Cat
↬ Badgerfrost//Female//I.C.
↬ Minnowdawn //Female//shsl furry

Medicine Cat Apprentice
↬ Lillypaw//She-Kit//BrightDays

Warriors
↬ Flypelt//Male//john laurens.
↬ Rainshadow//Male//seedcakes
↬ Swiftcloud//Male//røsebud
↬ Shadowstripe//Male//wolfhowl2627
↬ Littlesneeze//Male//grr.
↬ Hollyclaw//Female//SpiceCookie
↬ Mossflight//Female//littleswegbunny
↬ Sunflight//Male//-sparkledragon-
↬ Puddlepounce//Female//.galaxy.

Apprentices
↬ Willowpaw//Female//Gᴀʟʟɪғʀᴇʏ Fᴀʟʟs ❥
↬ Stormpaw//Male//ωolfie
↬ Sneezepaw//Male//catbookdo
↬ Poppypaw//Female//Coco Bunny
↬ Shadepaw//Male//ChocoTheCoco

males: 5 // females: 10 // total: 15

[eltonn]

Rainshadow yawned, padding out of his den. He was quite proud to finally be given another apprentice, and wanted to get an early start on Sneezepaw's training. The blue tom poked his head into the apprentice's den. "Sneezepaw, wake up." he mewed. No response. Rainshadow narrowed his eyes at the empty nest. "Poppypaw, where is your brother?"

[DaisieGames]

Lillypaw turned as she heard Rainshadow. "He went to look for Minnowdawn for me," she murmured. "I'm suprised he hasn't returned yet," she meowed, worry crossing her face.

[Monomares]

((Sorry I haven't been rping! Been busy))

Shadepaw

Shadepaw flattened his ears at the sound of Rainshadow and Lillypaw talking outside, refusing to get up. He wasn't used to such early mornings, having been made an apprentice only recently. He tucked his nose tightly under his paw and tail, trying to block out the sounds that came with dawn. He'd get up when he was dragged out, he decided, despite knowing he'd be unable to get back to sleep.