Rise Summer Event: Dark Skies | Path 2

[Shadowflight13]

Writing prompt 5 is now closed.
The art prompt will remain open for the rest of the event.

[Shadowflight13]

»»———— • ————««

Your frayed nerves are slightly soothed at getting to wake the next morning on your own time; not getting shook awake by excited healers or rogues sneaking into your camp. It's undercut with the constant dread that's been constantly present the last few weeks but you suppose you'll take what you can get. You stretch, pushing your paws out in front of you in a languid movement. You move back upright with a shake before making your way out of your den.

You're greeted by relative calm, cat's bustling about on their various duties. It's quieter than usual, but you chalk that up to the ever-present stress everyone's been feeling recently. At least no one is actively in trouble. You make your way towards your healer, inclining your head in hello. "Any more dreams recently?"

They shake their head, eyes locked on the activity in camp instead of you. "They've fallen quiet. I imagine we won't hear from them again unless something happens."

You almost hiss at the bad luck in those words, not wanting to chance it with how everything's going currently. You fluff your fur slightly instead, unease prickling your skin, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." You can't shake the feeling that the floodgates had opened though, and that you only had more trouble on the way. Time would tell.

---------

You're proven right in a dismally short amount of time, and you can't help the dark amusement that twists in your gut at the irony. You're coming back from a hunt, having gone out to relax with your clanmates, when one of your warriors rush up to you. They're clearly panicked, fur bristled and eyes wide. You motion for them to breath, trying to get them to at least calm enough to tell you whats wrong.

"The healer's fallen ill," they finally rush out, "they can't get to their paws. They said to tell you to move everyone healthy out of camp because it's been in the air too long here."

You can only stare in shock for a moment, ears flattening. They had at least been keeping it at bay. With them fallen sick, it was going to progress much faster. But, you understood the warning. The best you could do now was keep who you could healthy. You nod, shooing them off to collect everyone. Your deputy seems to be helping, so you take the chance to make your way to the healer's den. You're hardly stepping into it when a cat's backing you out of it.

It's another of the sick cats, reprimand clear in their gaze. It's broken by the coughing fit that overcomes them, but they're only hindered for a moment. "You don't need to go in there. We're trying to keep it quarantined. Some of the warriors in there are still fit enough to work; we'll help how we can. We'll try to keep you updated on everyone, even with you out of camp."

You don't like it, but you can see the sense in it. After a moment you concede, dipping your head and backing off. You watch as they duck back into the den, coughing the whole way. You can only hope this is resolved quickly. You don't need to lose any more clanmates.

With a sigh you turn from the den, moving to comfort everyone as they mill about. You'll have to leave camp, then; find somewhere else to stay while this plague continues. Once everyone's gathered you come to stand at the front of the group. "This sickness is progressing much faster than we anticipated. For now, we'll leave camp. We need to try to quarantine those who are sick before it spreads even further. The warriors still capable of doing so are helping here. We'll find our answer soon, all we must do is continue to have hope."

A murmur ripples through the group. You can understand their hesitance to leave, to break your traditions. But, right now, you just want to keep everyone alive. You turn and plunge out of camp, motioning for everyone to follow. A pawful of tail-lengths away you let your deputy take the point, knowing they'll get everyone where they need to be safely. You let yourself fall to the back of the group, stopping to gaze at your camp. If this isn't resolved quickly you may never be able to move back to it. To lose that heritage... it would be just as devastating as the loss of life. Clans revolved around tradition.

Sighing, you turn to head after your group, taking note of the dismal state of the territory around you. It seems your clan isn't the only thing suffering from sickness. Many of the plants have shriveled leaves, and the usual loud chatter of creatures is silent. It looks like the entire ecosystem is dying. You can only pray you'll find a solution before everything is affected.

The track is made in relative silence, everyone stuck in their own heads. Even the apprentices and kits are quiet, seeming to understand the gravity of the situation. You can only turn your own to your ancestors, hoping they offer you some kind of insight in the coming days.

-------

Your pleading is rewarded, if you could call it that, by yet another dream. Not that it's any more help than the last. You're beginning to doubt your ancestors wishes to help you. It seems like every answer they provide just brings about more questions. It comes to haunt you, your ancestors perhaps understanding of your healer's state.

You're greeted by an almost completely dark atmosphere, and when you begin to look around your startled by the dark figure hovering over something to your side. They seem to be draining the life from it, and you're shocked to see whatever it is practically waste away as you watch. You feel a jolt of fear when the figure suddenly whips around towards you, and you're shocked to register it as a cat. It raises to it's paws, and before you can act it lunges towards you, teeth and claws glinting in a light you can't see.

You jolt awake right before they reach you, breathing fast and heart racing. The entire thing leaves you vaguely panicked, the orange eyes flashing in your vision right before you woke practically burned into your eyes. Shakily, you get to your paws, knowing you'll get no more sleep that night. Not knowing who to turn to for this in the middle of the night, you resort to speaking your feelings aloud, hoping it'll help offer some insight. If this cat had a deal with spirits, they could just as easily turn them loose to run wild. Once ties of control were cut there was no telling of the consequence. "I'll head to tell Hecate tomorrow. For now, all we can do is alert our warriors of the new description. Lets hope whatever this cat is dabbling in doesn't overtake them before we can take care of it. It's already growing stronger, the last thing we need is it going completely unchecked." You can only hope stopping the cat themself put an end to this and didn't unleash the spirits themselves. You were treading on dangerous territory. Perhaps you could ask the Oracle tomorrow as well. He may have more insight on dealings with spirits. For now, you can only spread the word of the updated description, hoping beyond hope that nothing else major occurred.

»»———— • ————««

Prompt 6: How is your Clan reacting to the absence of their healer? Is anyone trying to pick up the slack? Tell this as a story and show your cats reactions, instead of just telling me or listing them.

Art Prompt 6: Draw your leader's dream OR the Clan's evacuation from the camp. Try to convey the emotions of the cat(s) involved.

»»———— • ————««

End Date: This writing prompt closes at 11:59 pm EST on the 24th. The art prompt does not close.

Code: Select all

[b]Writing Prompt![/b]
Username:
Clan Thread:
Prompt Writing:

Code: Select all

[b]Art Prompt![/b]
Username:
Clan Thread:
Prompt Art:

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Writing Prompt!
Username: TheSongOfTheStars
Clan Thread: x
Prompt Writing:

Grayflight moved in a daze, always just an inch away from tears. This whole ordeal had been grim from the outset, but as the plague moved from a threat to a reality and claimed his youngest brother as one of its first victims, Grayflight found his ability to cope with the stress begin to slip.
And he wasn't the only one loosing his grip.
All around him in the cats in the makeshift camp were in various stages of shock. Wildeyes hadn't wanted to move them to one of the other den grounds they had on their territory, all of them too far to conveniently contact the rouges and though no one said it, least of all Wildeyes, no one wanted to be too far from the ailing cats, lest some sort of cure be discovered.
Grayflight laid down, feeling old, and he pressed his face into his paws, trying to steady his breathing. How many? How many cats had been stricken and were as good as dead?
Firefly, Whisperstorm, Willowsun, Nightlily, Firedark, all were the first names in his mind, the ones he had been the closest to, the ones that had been friends with Graystorm and had become his friends after his reunion with his brother.
And there were others, one he didn't know as well, but they were going to suffer the same fate and it made his heart ache.
"Grayflight," a familiar flat voice that neared a monotone levelness stirred him from his grief "Grayflight are you feeling ill?"
"No, Morningblaze," Grayflight replied, unable to keep his voice from cracking as he raised his head "In my body I am fine."
The calico healer was really the only hope they had left now, the only cat available that had any extensive knowledge of herbs and sicknesses. Come what may, they needed her, they needed her alive.
"You should be resting."
She sat beside him, her keen eyes continuing to examine him as she obviously didn't take him at his word.
"If you fall ill-"
"Then I fall ill," She said simply "I have my apprentice and if she does not survive, then when this is over, Wildeyes will take a young cat to Hollowmoon and he will train them," she paused, then sighed and continued "I know this clan is young by many standards and I know most of you lived a life outside a clan before this, but one thing a clan and the cats in it must learn is a continued survival. In this moment and the following days we may loose many and in the future this will be looked on as a dark time, but we most go on, we go on so that others can go on after us. We are just one generation and if Songclan is to be truly successful, there most be more."
Graystorm smiled, albeit thinly and mournfully "You make it sound very convincing Morningblaze and I fear you are more farseeing and hopeful than I, but look, look around you child, look at our home, can't you see it dying just like half the clan? Just like my brother?"
"If the forest dies, there are other lands, on the other side of the mountains or across the grasslands," Morningblaze sounded pragmatic, but there was a tinge of sadness in her voice.
"I know," he all but whispered "But I have desire to see any of those places, not without my brother."
Art Prompt!
Username: TheSongOfTheStars
Clan Thread: x
Prompt Art:

[NightWolf950]

Writing Prompt!
Username: NightWolf950
Clan Thread: WolfClan
Prompt Writing:

With WolfClan's only medicine cat falling ill to the unknown illness, panic slowly began to set in among the rest of the clan cats. Although Wolfstar remained strong and held things together, when alone the large gray tabby tom let it all out. He knew if the rest of the clan where to see him in such a state it would only make matters worse. The tom paced back and forth in his den, a smaller yet some what large figure sat off to the side their green eyes watching the tabby tom's every movement. Silence was soon broken by the other figure, a clear female voice crisp and clear. "Wolfstar. We must leave Hailshade here... We can travel to the ruins." the she-cat meowed. Her voice feezing the tom in his tracks. It was rare for Wolfstar to allow his emotions bubble over, however with everything seeming to come all at once the tom snapped. "And leave Hailshade alone!?" he hissed, his fur standing up on end. Sparkfeather didn't flinch at the tom's out cry, only letting out a small sigh. "I don't like this either. We have no choice. We risk everyone else getting it. The ruins offer shelter, prey, and a good ways away from the illness." the she-cat meowed. The gray tom let out a small sigh, calming down and flattening his ears a bit. He knew he was in the wrong. With a small nod Wolfstar agreed to evacuate the camp, leaving Hailshade in camp alone.

"We have decided in the best interest of the clan and health of every cat, we will be staying at the ruins while Hailshade will remain here. Hailshade is okay with staying behind and understands it's for the better of the clan. Sparkfeather and I will alternate on visiting her and bring her prey. Everyone else will remain at the ruins until further instructions are given." Wolfstar announced from the High Rock. A few small gasps where heard, but it was clear that it was the best solution until they could find a cure. Although every cat did their best to pick up the slack, Smallfeather was the one to pick up the most. He had been watching Hailshade enough to gather some knowledge about herbs, even listened to Hailshade as she gave him a crash course on simple remedies for most things. The lanky tom gave a small sad smile to the medicine cat before touching her nose. "Don't you dare die while I'm away. Your my best friend Hailshade. Your strong. If any cat can beat this, it's you." Smallfeather meowed softly, gazing into Hailshade's vivid blue eyes. The gray blue tabby let out a small chuckle followed by a small coughing fit before nodding her head slightly. "I promise Smallfeather. Now go." she mewoed, gently nudging the tom away. As the clan slowly filed out of camp towards the ruins, Hailshade sat in camp watching as every cat she cared for left. Smallfeather and Wolfstar both paused for a moment, taking one last look at the she-cat before disappearing out of sight. Once every cat had left, Hailshade returned to her den, letting out a small defeated sigh before sending a silent prayer to StarClan hoping for a cure.

Word Count: 543

[SurgeFire]

Writing Prompt!
Username: SurgeFire
Clan Thread: AsterClan
Prompt Writing:

A pang of fear hit Minkstar like a sharp edge, sinking in and twisting itself around.
They absolutely could not believe this was happening at all. Their tail lashed around in anticipation.

What could he possibly do when their healer was sick? And it was Yarrowleaf, of all cats; a cat they had grown quite close to, and could confide to on their issues; it was an understatement to suggest he was an asset to the Clan...
Selfless.

That was the only thought they had as they looked back, taking one last glimpse at the Clan. It must've been quite hard to have to tell everyone else to leave, right when he was sick himself...

"What are we going to do now?" Iceshiver whispered, walking by their side. "We don't have a healer."
"I don't..." Minkstar sighed, before turning back to the rosette, focusing on the task they now had in front of them. "Is there anyone here with experience, do you know?"
"Off the top of my head," Iceshiver paused to think, before folding back their ears in frustration, "...Applesong's been left behind, and--"
"What about Ne'yah, do you think?"
"Ne'yah's useless. She may have been the healer of that place, but she's not any good at it," Iceshiver huffed. "Trust me."
A tad direct, but... "Then who do you even think..? There's gotta be someone," Minkstar quickly added before the deputy could retort, "..I'll go ask. Just in case, I suppose."


Back at the camp, to say that the mood was dismal was an understatement.
Yarrowleaf could hardly get to his paws, no matter how hard he tried. It was Applesong who decided could pick up the slack; despite his insistence due to her age, she went ahead and did what he could not. It worried him, although he knew the molly was tough; she'd survived a lot, but to what extent?

But still.
He laid his head on the cold ground; it was nighttime, and he still couldn't sleep. He hated coughing and bothering everyone else; but...
Tears make everything worse. Tears make everything worse. Don't you dare... but he couldn't help it; oh, how he missed Dawn and Juniper already. He could only hope the sickness didn't follow the group already, but it hurt so much to see them go...
He could only wonder how the group could cope.


A torbie stepped forward; gaze uncertain, but focused on her target.
"I can assist," was all Falconpool muttered.


Who, who are you really?

[Neah]

Writing prompt 6 is officially closed.

[SurgeFire]

»»———— • ————««

You set off the next day at sunhigh, making quick time to the rogues camp with your new location. You go unchallenged when you eventually slip into their camp, but that doesn't really come as a surprise anymore. Everyone's spread thin; they don't have time to worry about guarding a temporary camp. It takes a few moments for anyone to notice your presence, all of them too busy with their own tasks or thoughts.

Pan notices you first, bounding over with a greeting already spilling out, as happy to see you as always. Apollo isn't far behind him, his own hello, much more subdued but still kind, just as quick to reach your ears.

"Well this is unexpected," Apollo starts, tail curling as he comes to a stop by Pan's side. "What can we help you with?"

"Hecate asked that I come by should we gain any more insight. Is she around?"

Apollo flicks his ear, casting a look over his shoulder, "Yeah, follow me." He nudges Pan's shoulder as a temporary goodbye before turning and flicking his tail in indication for you to follow. "As a warning," he glances over his shoulder, "my sister's been more irritable than usual. She may get short with you but she doesn't mean it. This has been hard on everyone."

You nod, understanding of the position she's in. You both have your groups to look after, and every day that goes by that you don't solve what's happening is another day closer to more cats dying. The responsibility weighs heavily on your mind, as you're sure it does on hers as well.

He leads you to a gap in the walls of their temporary camp and slips through it, leaving you to follow. You spot Hecate on the other side, back facing the camp and tail lashing. She seems ruffled and irritated, and you can sympathize. Apollo stops short, holding out a paw to invite you to continue and giving you a wink before turning and slipping back inside.

"What do you need clan cat?" She sounds tired, despite what her brother had said.

You wince a bit, empathy spiking through you, as you come to sit next to her. "We had another message from our ancestors." Her ear twitches your direction and the wild movement of her tail picks up speed but she gives no other indication of having heard you, so you continue, telling her the details of the dream and what your healer thought it meant consequence wise.

She doesn't respond for a long while, making your fur prickle in discomfort.

"Orange eyes?" She finally looks at you, eyes bright with worry and muzzle drawn in a frown. At your curious look, she drops her gaze again, glaring at the ground. "I don't have... I think I know who they may be talking about but it doesn't make sense."

"Doesn't make sense?" She makes an annoyed noise, but you doubt it's aimed towards you. She seems mad at herself for not being able to figure it out. You wait for her to continue, not wanting to derail her train of thought.

Hecate sits quietly for a long while, brows furrowed and staring, unseeing, at the ground. Her tail lashes furiously all the while. Eventually, she seems to shake herself out of her thoughts and glances up to you. "The... wasting away, as you put it. I mentioned the sisters before, from our city?" She pauses, and you nod. "Their names were Clotho, Lachesis and... Atropos."

You blink as the information registers. "Atropos? Like atrophy?"

She nods, looking back out at the horizon. "Clotho and Lachesis were the two we knew were dead. None of us knew what happened to Atropos."

"You think she'd be doing this?"

Hecate shrugs, ears laying back. "I can't think of any other cat. I don't know why'd she come all this way to bother us but the signs, the meddling with spirits. It sounds like her."

You offer a hesitant nod. You suppose you cant argue with her. You can't think of anyone in your clan who would cause this, and all of Hecate's explaination makes sense. "Do you know what she looks like, then? It'll make it easier to keep an eye out."

She shakes her head, looking sheepish. "They were reclusive, very few ever actually met or saw them." She pauses, gaze moving to meet yours, "I'm sorry." She sighs at your confused look. "We've brought you nothing but trouble since being here. Atropos wouldn't have come if it wasn't for us."

You wave her off, ears twitching, "You couldn't have known. At least we know what we're up against now. We know her name. I'll tell my clan to look out for an unfamiliar cat. She'll probably still smell of he city, and she'll probably be scrawny if she's living on her own."

Hecate nods and you both get to your paws, exchanging farewells as you go your seperate ways, one more quetion answered but even more laid out in its wake. You can only hope you'll find this Atropos soon, whoever she is.

»»———— • ————««

Prompt 7: You told Hecate it was fine that this trouble followed her, but do you really think it is? Whatever this Atropos wants, she's willing to bring your Clan down with her. Do you think it's time to break ties or do you still believe working together is still the answer?

Art Prompt 7: Didn't give you y'all much to work with this time, did I? This go-round, just draw me any scene you'd like from the writing.

Hecate

»»———— • ————««

End Date: This writing prompt closes at 11:59 pm EST on the 21st. The art prompt does not close.

Code: Select all

[b]Writing Prompt![/b]
Username:
Clan Thread:
Prompt Writing:

Code: Select all

[b]Art Prompt![/b]
Username:
Clan Thread:
Prompt Art:

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Writing Prompt!
Username: TheSongOfTheStars
Clan Thread: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=3731932&hilit=Songclan+Dnp
Prompt Writing:

568 words
Wildeyes paced from side of her temporary den to the other, hissing and grumbling to herself. Trying to reconcile herself to this...whole...mess...
It was not at all unusal for city cats to make their way to Songclan's woods. Heck, half of the clan was either city cat, or city cat descended. Sandclaw, Wolfblaze, Greyflight and Greystorm, even Hollowmoon, who wasn't technically part of the clan, but still, he'd practically earned status as an honerary clan member.
Why them? She cast the question despairingly towards the sky.
Would Atropos have come here to plague whoever she could in some sort of twisted blind rage or did she have some truely bizarre fixaction with the rouge group of cats. If they left...would she follow them?
Wildeyes felt a twist of uneasy guilt at the next thought.
If she gave the order to drive out the rouges, would Atropos follow them? Even with half the clan sick and dying, they outnumbered the rouged and Wildeyes knew that many of them would fight desperatly if she even hinted that it might save or just alleviate the suffering of the ill cats.
But what gave her that right?
She had sworn to gaurd and protect Songclan, but did that include harming another group of cats who had as much right to be alive as every cat in Songclan?
But there was another option, maybe less nausiating then attacking a group of sick cats, but still made Wildeyes feel no less unsettled.
She could cut them off, move the entire clan to the other side of the forest...or further.
If they made no contact with the rogues Atropos might forget about them.
IF indeed it was this foreign cat that was the root of their trouble and not some pathogen the city cats themselves had carried here. If it wasn't, then moing further on, out of the diseaaed area, could potentially save the remainder of the clan.
There was a soft scuffle and she turned to find Mousetoes hovering awkwardly behind her.
"What's wrong?" She asked, noting the look on his face, unusually open and vunerable for the prickly young warrior.
For a minute he just looked at, apprehensive and divided. Then something in him seemed to break and tears began gushing down his face.
"Mousetoes?"
He sobbed in reply and tried to say something, but couldn't get it out past his breaking voice.
"Oh Mouse," Wildeyes felt her own voice trembled and curled around the shuddering young tom "Mousetoes, it'll be alright."
"It won't!" He managed to wail and he pushed away from her to glare up at her "They're dying Wildeyes! They're dying and you don't care! You're not doing anything at all!"
"Mousetoes no," Wildeyes fumbled for the right words "Mousetoes I'm trying-"
"No you're not! You're not trying anything! You're just running away like a coward!"
"Mousetoes, do you understand how many cats this is and will affect?" Wildeyes asked lowly, catchimg and holding his gaze "You and me and the clan and the rogues and the entire forest?"
He didn't answer and she went on "I'm to find a way that will fix everything Mouse. Do you understand? I don't...I can't just care about the clan, that's horribly selfish. I have to look out for everyone."
Mousetoes looked torn between outrage and heartbreak.
Wildeyes slung her foreleg across his back and pulled him close and he started sobbing again.

[SurgeFire]

Writing Prompt!
Username: SurgeFire
Clan Thread: AsterClan
Prompt Writing:

"You told Hecate it was fine that this trouble followed her, but do you really think it is? Whatever this Atropos wants, she's willing to bring your Clan down with her. Do you think it's time to break ties or do you still believe working together is still the answer?" (did not count in the word count... of course.)

"They've brought Atropos to us. They've brought her!" Iceshiver snarled, turning on Minkstar. "We can't trust them anymore, not after this..."
"I think you're being far too rash, Iceshiver," Minkstar glared, as they curled their tail over their paws; fur prickling in anxiety, but hiding their woes. "We have to look at this clearly. It's not as if it's their fault."
"It is their fault. Without them, we wouldn't have this destruction in our paws. We wouldn't have had to leave those cats behind! We wouldn't be dealing with a calamity here, Minkstar," Iceshiver continued, lashing out at their leader. They seemed to be lost in the heat of their emotion; Minkstar did understand, and they kept silent.
"I think it's fine, Iceshiver," Minkstar only replied, minding their outburst. "We can't focus on the past. We can't change the past - we can't rewind time - nothing. Blaming them will only lead to nothing, and doing nothing..." they trailed off.
"So we can't hold them accountable for their actions now?" they retorted, "Do we just let criminals off because what they've done was in the past and forgive them? No, we don't." Their pale blue eyes narrowed. "They've done something wrong, so we cut our ties."
"We don't," Minkstar spoke up, getting to their paws. "You seem to forget that I'm the leader, Iceshiver; not you. These cats aren't criminals - they're nothing near it - they just may have brought Atropos to us. And you know what? It's a mistake - a big one - but a mistake, nonetheless."
Iceshiver lashed their tail in anger, but remained silent. "Well. What do you suppose we do now, then?" contrary to their appearance, and their fierce gaze, their words remained calm, almost calculated. Minkstar supposed they were just trying to keep themself together.
Applesong wouldn't have excused this.
Minkstar looked away, brushing off that thought. Though they were taught by her, they weren't Apple. They had no need to escalate this situation further... Iceshiver was just as scared as they were, and the rest of the Clan.
It was only their instinctual reaction, was it?
"We don't break our ties," Minkstar concluded, keeping an even gaze. "We stay together. Staying together is the only way we've been able to survive this far; you know what happened when we prolonged getting together. Whatever happens, we will go through it together."
"Whatever you say, Minkstar," the rosetted tabby turned away, leaving Minkstar in despair. If only Yarrowleaf hadn't had to stay.[412]

[NightWolf950]

Writing Prompt!
Username: NightWolf950
Clan Thread: WolfClan
Prompt Writing:

After the meeting with Hecate, Wolfstar was left even more confused and conflicted on what his next move should be. He could chose to back out and leave Hecate and her group to fend for themselves, but would that really mean WolfClan would be safe. Of should he help out, knowing a certain Bengal tom would have a few choice words for him. Woflstar let out a frustrated sigh, headed back to camp to relieve Sparkfeather. It was his turn to stay and watch over Hailsahde, although the gray blue tabby she-cat protested about having a guard. Hailshade although sick remained strong and did her best to keep fighting for the clan and was finally grateful that their ancestors had visited. As the large gray tabby tom padded into camp he gave a small nod to Sparkfeather as the pair passed one another. Wolfstar padded towards Hailshade's den, taking up his position just barley on the inside to give the she-cat her space. "How did it go?" a feminine voice asked, followed by a few coughs. With a heavy sigh Wolfstar turned and looked at Hailshade, frowning at how week and sickly she looked. If he was to stay united with Hecate he'd be risking losing the clans only medicine cat. "I'm not going to ask again Wolfstar. Whatever it is I can handle it." Hailshade meowed, sitting across from the gray tabby.

Silence fell between the two fro a brief moment before Wolfstar gave a small nod. "It is the third spider sister. She surrived and must have tracked Hecate and her gang here. We have two options Hailsahde, and I fear if we are to stay united we may loose you. However knowing how you stubborn you are, you would want us to help them even if it meant losing your life..." Wolfstar spoke, not meeting the she-cat's gaze. Silence fell once more upon the pair before Hailshade gently cleared her throat to speak. "You're right Wolfstar. I would want you to stay united, help Hecate and see this through the end. Who cares what others think, the decission is yours. How do you feel about this?" Her question caught the tabby tom off guard, leaving him sit there and mull over her question before speaking once more. "If I was to break ties... that she-cat could still come after us in the end. Where as if we stay united we have a greater chance of surviving... All of us do." Wolfstar meowed, glancing up a bit at Hailshade. In her eyes Wolfstar saw pride, receiving a small nod of approval from Hailshade. "United we stand then. I believe this is the right choice Wolfstar. Now rest. We both have a long day ahead of us." she meowed, flicking her tail before standing and padding off to her nest in the back of her den.

Word Count: 477