Murderers in Riverclan V.3 [welcome back!]

[recklessgod]

Frecklepaw - In camp - Tags: open

Frecklepaw nodded to Flipbeetle and watched the pair leave. He turned, sitting down to look around the camp. It seemed so empty suddenly His eyes flashed back towards the camp entrance as he heard a commotion, and he braved for some sort of attack.

(voting daydream)

[hxneystorm]

daydream: |||
abstaining: |

4/9 votes.

votes will be closing tomorrow at rollover.

[hxneystorm]

votes are closed. daydream for exile.

[hxneystorm]

ＲＩＶＥＲＣＬＡＮ

whispers of confusion had been spiralling around the camp after the bodies of koisplash and pinefrost were brought back from the river- a puncture wound, a bite mark on the throat of pinefrost and a few recent scratches littering his pelt indicated there was a fight, a struggle, at least, but there was nothing visible on koisplash’s calico pelt that could say the same for her. was it murder, sabotauge, or an accident? the clan couldn’t tell.

“riverclan,” cranestar had called, the cats of her clan gathered beneath the rock where she was perched, “as most of you know, koisplash and pinefrost were found dead by the riverbank by patrols this morning.” a few murmurs had followed, but by now, the news of the pair’s death had made its way around camp.

“riverclan scent had been found along the bank where the bodies had been discovered, but that isn’t clear enough to tell us what happened. two of our clanmates are dead, and we need to get to the bottom of this.”

before she could continue, however, the odd-eyed leader was cut off by a cry in the crowd.

“this can’t have been an accident, cranestar, there must of been some kind of foul play.” daydream spoke, his fawn-coloured tail hooked as he gave a glance over his shoulder at the yet-to-be-buried bodies, “with her leg, koisplash shouldn’t have been able to take on pinefrost and kill him without being injured herself, and yet she ended up dead in the river with no visible injuries.”

spiderpaw nodded in agreement, and shifted his paws. mallardpaw's amber gaze, glossed over with tears, darted to the bodies. hawkgaze's tail was pulled in close to his body, shoulders tense. cranestar looked grim at the confirmations of her suspicions, and even more so when a hushed chatter began to float through the air.

"it was must have been a murder then!"
"what do you say we do, cranestar?"
"given the scent..."
"...but who would..."

"silence!"

the surrounding cats fell quiet at the yell of their leader, their attention pulled towards the molly on the rock. "we will cast a vote. the cat with the most votes will be deemed guilty and exiled from the clan."

the silence remained for a few moments longer. nobody wished to exile one of their clanmates out of a clan so already so small that it was struggling to hold it's ground. uneasiness filled the air, and cranestar's eyes locked with daydream's, the tom shying under her gaze. a few more eyes went the medicine cat's way.

"i believe it was daydream- he could had killed them out of jealousy that they were better warriors than he was."

it was cranestar that spoke up first, flipbeetle hesitating a moment before she nodded in agreement. spiderpaw looked over at the two mollies in shock, taking a defensive step towards his mentor, his ears low. the hairs on the back of daydream's neck began to bristle as frecklepaw voiced her agreement, and spiderpaw felt the tom's muscles stiffen beside him when she continued to speak. "he left his warrior training, didn't he? he must always have been jealous of pinefrost, that's why he took his brother under his wing to prove himself better."

"it wasn't me!" the tom's fur bristled as he straightened his posture, his gaze growing cold as he stared up at the snowy leader, ears pinned to the side of his head, "i would never do such a thing! i'm your medicine cat-" he tensed, "i'm here to heal, not hurt!"

"i'm not voting. i- i can't send a cat to exile without being 100% certain," spiderpaw paused, and shot a look towards daydream, "especially if they're my mentor. i can't. i won't lose him too."

the other cats in the clearing were silent. there were no more votes.

"daydream," cranestar mewed, her odd-coloured eyes unreadable as she stared down at the tom, "you are hereby banished from riverclan for the murder of koisplash and pinefrost. if you are seen on our territory again, we will not hesitate to kill you."

"no, please- you can't exile me! i'm your medicine cat!"

with a stiff nod from cranestar, flipbeetle stepped towards the cream coloured tom, and he stepped backwards in retaliation. "don't make this hard for us," she whispered, "please leave."

hurt flickered over daydream's features as he looked to his apprentice for help, only to find the red tom kneading his paws, clearly distraught. he had just lost his brother- he didn't know what to do. "spiderpaw, before i go," the older tom spoke up, shooting a sharp look at cranestar, who had stiffened as he spoke, before he looked back at his apprentice.

"i, daydream, medicine cat of riverclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. he has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help, he will serve his clan in my place." flipbeetle stepped closer, trying to usher him away, and cause as little commotion as she could, as spiderpaw and the surrounding cats watched on in an uneasy silence. "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?"

"daydream-" cranestar attempted to interject. flipbeetle gave him a light nudge, but he stood firm, defiance in his eyes.

spiderpaw choked. he was making this harder than it had to be, and it hurt. "...i do, daydream. but please, i-"

"then by the powers of starclan, i give you your true name as a medicine cat. spiderpaw, from this moment you will be known as spiderleaf. save this clan where i obviously cannot."

and, with that, the exiled had turned away, and walked out of camp without a further word.

an innocent cat has been exiled! have you made the right decision?
spiderpaw is now spiderleaf, and flipbeetle has been appointed deputy.

xxxLeader --
xxxxxx↳ cranestar // molly // BrightDays

xxxDeputy --
xxxxxx↳ pinefrost // tom // montmorency
xxxxxx↳ flipbeetle // molly // sylveonsweetie987

xxxMedicine Cats --
xxxxxx↳ daydream // tom // Tainted~Wings
xxxxxx↳ spiderpaw // tom // Midnightkitkat

xxxWarriors --
xxxxxx↳ koisplash // molly // ✧Mahou Shoujo✧

xxxApprentices --
xxxxxx↳ frecklepaw // tom // recklessgod
xxxxxxxx↳mentor: flipbeetle
xxxxxx↳ mallardpaw // molly // patchyyy
xxxxxxxx↳mentor: koisplash cranestar

xxxElders
xxxxxx↳ hawkgaze // tom // crutchie_

round info: here
discord: here

toms: 05
mollies: 04
total: 09


----


families + relationships:
xxx- hawkgaze + ???
xxxxxpinefrost, spiderleaf
xxx- pinefrost + ???
xxxxxmallardpaw
xxx- ??? + ???
xxxxxkoisplash, frecklepaw

[hxneystorm]

ＲＩＶＥＲＣＬＡＮ

“...save this clan where i obviously cannot."

those were the final words spoken by daydream after the exile, and they seemed to hang in the air long after the tom had left the camp. hawkgaze’s brow furrowed as he laid in his nest, faded blue eyes turned to the night sky that peered through the mouth of the den, his ears pulled close to his head. which one of those glittering droplets of light was pinefrost? koisplash?

the old tabby was worried, almost uncharacteristically so- his eldest son had been murdered days ago, his grandaughter now without her father, his youngest son without his mentor his mentor. he knew spiderleaf admired his brother, and treasured their moments together, and looked up to daydream as if he was family himself. and with the amount of times hawkgaze had walked into the den to see the two medicine cats sorting through herbs and whatever else they were required to do, he almost believed it, too. but, he thought to himself with a twitch of his ear, something had gone wrong. terribly wrong.

there was something in his gut that told him that it wasn't daydream, but he couldn't quite put his tongue on it. it was a twisting, uncomfortable feeling that had him watching the backs of his clanmates in an attempt to ensure their safety. and it seemed to have worked- no storm had gathered overhead in the days after the exile. nothing overly suspicious. nobody acting with a paw out of line. forcing his body to relax, the old tom shut his eyes. he knew worrying would do nothing for the new day. he'd check on them all once the morning sun arose once again.

silence filled the den, broken only by the sounds of the river that surrounded the camp. the familiar sounds lulled the tom into the claws of sleep, not knowing that it would be the last time he'd ever do so.

the killer had been waiting, observing the den, waiting for the elder to shut his eyes. they had waited until his breath had fallen into a slow, easy rhythm, and for quiet snores to leave his body before they had snuck in, their ears low. they swallowed, gaze drifting over the sleeping tom’s frame, their paws feeling like they were made of stone.

heavy.
regretful.

they didn't want the elder to suffer.
he'd lost enough so far, they had thought. he'd be happy and healthy in starclan, with pinefrost, his family, and mate, and all the clanmates he had lost to the years.

the killer shifted their position until they were standing over the tom, and forced their weight into his neck, one paw pressing the tom’s face into the very nest that he lay on. his breath staggered as he stirred, half blind eyes doing nothing to assist in registering what was going on as a few gasps left his throat, trying to drag air back into his lungs. the killer flinched, startled by the movement, their body weight shifting over his windpipe to offer a particularly harsh shove into the moss, and hawkgaze gave a choked wheeze, his body taking its final breath.

they stared down at the tom, their paws remaining frozen in their position over the elder's neck, pulse thudding in their ears as the muscles in their shoulders tensed. they stepped off after a moment and knelt down beside hawkgaze's body, nosing him into a position to make it appear that he had simply passed in his sleep.

peaceful and calm, like the night that filled the sky.

the sky that would have one extra star shining brightly after tonight.

your guard has been killed, riverclan! what will you do now?

xxxLeader --
xxxxxx↳ cranestar // molly // BrightDays

xxxDeputy --
xxxxxx↳ pinefrost // tom // montmorency
xxxxxx↳ flipbeetle // molly // sylveonsweetie987

xxxMedicine Cats --
xxxxxx↳ daydream // tom // Tainted~Wings
xxxxxx↳ spiderleaf // tom // Midnightkitkat

xxxWarriors --
xxxxxx↳ koisplash // molly // ✧Mahou Shoujo✧

xxxApprentices --
xxxxxx↳ frecklepaw // tom // recklessgod
xxxxxxxx↳mentor: flipbeetle
xxxxxx↳ mallardpaw // molly // patchyyy
xxxxxxxx↳mentor: koisplash cranestar

xxxElders
xxxxxx↳ hawkgaze // tom // crutchie_

round info: here
discord: here

toms: 05
mollies: 04
total: 09


----


families + relationships:
xxx- hawkgaze + ???
xxxxxpinefrost, spiderleaf
xxx- pinefrost + ???
xxxxxmallardpaw
xxx- ??? + ???
xxxxxkoisplash, frecklepaw

[DaisieGames]

Cranestar awoke in her den, letting out a gasp of breath. "Just a dream," the leader murmured, yawning. Getting to her paws, she walked out of her den, and noticed Flipbeetle was still asleep. "Not much we can do anyhow, " Cranestar murmured , wondering what to do. Deciding to go talk to Hawkgaze, she walked over to the Elder's den, stopping when she saw the elder still. "Spiderleaf!" she called out, fearful of what was happening to her clan.

[Midnightkitkat]

Spiderleaf
tom | medicine cat | tags: Cranestar

Waking in a tangle of limbs from the shout Spiderleaf had froze. Unsure if Cranestars yell had been real or just another product of his nightmares. Flailing around until he made it out of the den, worry clinging to his pelt. Looking around in confusion when he couldn't see her in the main camp, "Cranestar? Is everything alright? Where-?"

[HyperfixationStation]

Sorry but bump

[hxneystorm]

in an attempt to kickstart this round again, i'm opening up votes.

[Midnightkitkat]

Spiderleaf
tom | medicine cat | tags: Cranestar
Vote: Frecklepaw(?)

It took him a moment to find where her scent was coming from strongest. Entering the elders den immediately "Cranestar why did you.." there was Cranestar alright, but also Hawkgaze. Who seemed to be sleeping if it wasn't for the faint smell of death.