Murderers in Riverclan V.3 [welcome back!]

[shimmerstream]

Mothkit rolled his eyes, "Of course I’m alright mom." He'd only ever fallen in the river once, not a big deal in his mind. His attention was drawn to the warrior's den. "Um, what’s all the screaming?" He asked, confused.

(Breezefire)

[SpiritKitty]

Votes
Breezefire |||
Rosebriar ||
Three more votes needed to initiate exile.

[ubiquitous.]

brokengaze - molly - deputy - tags: pumpkinmask, firefeather


brokengaze was about to get up to wake the warriors, but rosebriar beat her to it and was already halfway inside the den. the deputy's mouth curved into a small smile as she watched her daughter go; she was proud that rosebriar involved herself into these duties, even though she didn't have to as medicine cat.
the she-cat's little moment of warmth and happiness didn't last long; at the sound of rosebriar's shriek, brokengaze immediately leapt to her paws and started towards the warriors' den, fur bristled. what could have possibly happened in there? rosebriar exited the den as brokengaze arrived, but she passed her and continued into the den.
she couldn't see the problem at first, but something was definitely off. then, her eye settled on blastclaws' body, laying eerily still in its nest, and she let out a low groan of realization and grief. "I- how did this happen..?" she murmured to no one in particular, staring blankly at the tom. he was too young, too healthy to have died of any natural cause, so how was he dead? blinking in bewilderment, she turned to pumpkinmask and firefeather. "help me get his body out, we'll need to mourn."

{ going with majority and voting breezefire }

[flightoftheowl]

Minnowstar saw movement out of the corner of her eye as she spoke to her warriors- it was Mosskit, who pretended interest for only a few moments before suddenly interrupting, demanding to be allowed to come. A brief smile flashed across her face- that reminded her of one of her sisters, from when they were both still kits. Rosebriar went over to him with a smile, gently licking his head, and the leader had to wonder if she wished she could have kits. Hm. No, probably not- kits in general lend themselves to being doted on, after all, she thought. Then before Brokengaze could even make a move, the medicine cat entered the warrior's den to wake the warriors. How very enterprising. If she weren't so timid, she might make a good warrior, especially with those sharp claws of hers. But even as she pondered this, a strangled shriek issued from the warrior's den, causing the slight gray she-cat to take a step back, startled, her hair instantly rising. That sounded like... Rosebriar? But why did she cry out? Cinderpaw pressed forward into the warrior's den urgently, followed by Brokengaze after a moment, and as Minnowstar came close close behind, she saw the other warriors rising from their nests, concerned as well, speaking in frightened voices. "Make some room," the leader said curtly, attempting to shoulder her way through her mostly-larger-than-her warriors. The den was getting quite crowded with all the cats who had come in to see what was wrong. "What's all the fuss abo-" And then she saw him. Her mate, Blastclaws, was lying on his back now- and his eyes were staring unseeingly at the ceiling. The worst part? His throat had clearly been crushed!

The gray she-cat stood frozen for a moment, staring wide-eyed down at where Blastclaws lay. Then a violent shudder ran through her body, equal parts horror and nausea at seeing his throat flattened like that. Perhaps they weren't the closest of mates... but... Minnowstar clamped her teeth tightly shut, swallowing down a pathetic wail that the sentimental part of her heart wanted her to vocalize. No, no, no, she thought, mind in a whirl of horror, disbelief, and grief. No! But why him? What happened? Who did this? The leader forced her muscles to be still; she forced herself to compose her face as best she could, though it took a humongous effort and she wasn't sure she'd fully succeeded. I need... to take charge... but... Blastclaws...! "...How did this happen?" the leader said slowly, her voice rough with all of the emotions she was trying to push down. "No one... saw anything?" But... doesn't that mean it had to happen... from within the den?

But Brokengaze was right. "I... I will do my best to aid you," Minnowstar said, even though the last thing she wanted to do was feel Blastclaws gone cold, even though she knew she wasn't particularly strong or the best cat for this. She had to prove that she was still the leader, still strong. She couldn't show how she was crumbling inside. She stepped forward and grabbed her mate's scruff in her teeth- to be this close to his scent, his soft fur, and yet feel it cold, entwined with the smell of death, made her choke back tears. No! No! No tears! NEVER tears. And with the help of Brokengaze, they brought him into the clearing, Minnowstar struggling mightily but trying her best to hide it. I am strong. I am! I must be! But that mantra rang hollow. All she wanted to do was bury her face in his fur and cry. To apologize that she had been so cold, when she should have appreciated him while she had him. I suppose father was right, the small she-cat thought bitterly. She gently touched her face to his, softly shut his eyes with a paw. Attachments really do breed weakness. I... I feel as though I am about to crumble. I am about to fall to pieces in front of my clan. And I don't know how to stop it.

Starclan keep his soul safe. And tell him... Tell him I loved him. I truly did, always.

(Hmm... I'm going to vote Brokengaze, honestly. Nothing personal! ;-;)

[moya]

pumpkinmask

She shook her head, clearing it. "you're right, brokengaze." she helped carry him into the clearing, feeling a pang of sadness as she watched her leader mourn.

((voting breezefire))

[hxneystorm]

|:| cinderpaw | apprentice | molly | tags ;; pretty much everyone who's awake tbh |:|

xxxxthe waver was clear in her mew as she stumbled forward after her mother entered the den, a pathetic little sound leaving her throat as she watched the shudder run down her mother's spine, and even though it was barely noticeable, how she seemed absolutely broken under her hard exterior. she watched, her usually stone-strong body beginning to tremble when blastclaw's body was taken away.

xxxxcinderpaw bit back a wail she didn't even know was coming, her ears flat. she looked to her sleeping sister for guidance, but found nothing in those tranquil turquoise eyes. her nose twitched when she rose to her paws, the scent of death following the body as she pursued minnorstar- she wouldn't let her go through this alone. she couldn't.

xxxxbreath hitching, she stared down at her blastclaw's stiff body, feeling extremely uneasy at the way his usually vibrant yellow eyes were so dazed, so unfocused, looking without seeing but staring into space. even though neither of her parents weren't particularly the best or most attentive paternal figures out there, cinderpaw still cared for both of them deeply. and to see both minnowstar and blastclaws, usually so strong, like this, it made her honestly feel weak inside. she simply hung her head, biting back tears when her already half cloudy gaze clouded over with tears.

[✧Mahou Shoujo✧]

Rosebriar pads after the leader, anxiously padding figure eights around the cats. Her pretty much non existent tail wiggled up and down rapidly, and she kept softly whimperin, wondering why she couldn't have done anything. She felt awful, like she failed her clan. She looked at minnowstar, remembering that they had a relationship, and mumbled "it.. Its okay to cry. you guys were mates, its only natural..

(I just want to throw out there, with my only experience of crushed tracheas, its not super obvious honestly. Thats why I had rosebriar not really be too sure what happened, also because I dont imagine its something she's ever seen before)

[web.]

The young tom had quickly retreated back to his nest. He had heard his name being called, but he just curled himself into a tight ball trying to block out the sounds. Screams, cries, wails, fear.. everything hurt his head. He sat there for a long time, waiting for the noises to silence. He knew he wasn't supposed to react like this to loud sounds, as he and Rosebriar were working on his anxiety, but he couldn't help it.
As the noise died down, the tom left the den. The putrid smell of death hung in the air, and he quickly realized what had happened. Someone died.
The young tom sharply turned to retrieve several lavender flowers, holding them carefully in his jaws as he moved towards the center of camp. Through the strong scent of the lavender he couldn't tell who the cats before him were, so he set the lavender down beside the body. As soon as he lifted his head he recognized the scent of Cinderpaw, whose scent reminded him of the scent of the moon-pool. "Cinderpaw," he mewed, his voice somewhat hoarse after his anxiety attack. "I'm sorry for your loss..", he recognized Blastclaw's scent as he spoke, and he bit his tongue before continuing, "..he runs among the stars now."
(Breezefire)

[ubiquitous.]

brokengaze - molly - deputy - tags: rosebriar


brokengaze stood back from the grieving she-cats. it was their time to mourn, and she didn't want to interrupt that. she watched minnowstar, heart aching for the leader. she was amazed at how collected she was keeping herself, and knew that she must be acting strong for the clan. she's a great leader. the deputy thought. she remembered when her mate had died, some time ago. his death hadn't been so tragic, and she had still been crushed by it. she couldn't even fathom the strength it was taking for minnowstar to keep herself together for the clan.
her attention was pulled away from the mourning cats when she saw rosebriar pacing around them, and she carefully padded over to her daughter, flicking her gently on the shoulder with her tail. "there's nothing you could have done, rosebriar," she murmured softly to the medicine cat, guessing that that must be what was running through her mind. but thoughts of guilt and questions began clouding her own mind.she couldn't have helped him, but what about me? he was in the warriors' den, right there... how could I have missed that?

[SpiritKitty]

Votes
Breezefire |||||
Rosebriar ||
Brokengaze |
Stand by for exile