take it all [leader meeting]

[LYNX ♥]

so here they all were, kissing her toes, like they should have been all along. hell, they were lucky she didn't throw them out, leave them to die in the marsh that had engulfed the valley all but entirely. they deserved it for all the respect they had given her, but no she figured that they were in just as bad of a situation grovelling for the prey that scampered across her territory, begging for a home here under her pines and frosty blue sky. pyrestar let a smirk curl rather deviously across her maw. oh how sweet was this? she wanted to relish the moment for a lifetime, but knew that duty was clawing at her conscience, and decided to tuck away the victorious feeling to wallow in it another time. at the present, she knew they ought to figure out some sort of plan of action, because there wasn't a chance she'd let them eat all of her prey until every last one of them starved.

oh no, her clan came first before these assholes.

determination bringing force to her pawsteps, the stocky little female stepped out of her den into the disgustingly crowded clearing she once called home, and narrowed her icy topaz gaze. somewhere in the midst of this controlled chaos was voidstar and havocstar, both of whose attention she required. after all, if they thought they could plop their scummy kin down in her camp without even a word of thanks or some ground rules laid down they were dead wrong, and she was fair prepared to hunt them down. thankfully, the scrubby brown pelt of fellow leader havocstar flashed between a group of cats before her, and she darted forth, barking his name rather shortly. "havocstar!" the calico snapped, "a word please? in my den? and bring voidstar if you would. I'm pretty sure there are some, er, things to be discussed." let him think her rude, as if he didn't already. the zephyrclan leader's opinion meant little to her at this point, where her clan held all of the advantage. oh, good starclan, it was too great! if only she could shove this in voidstar's face a little more, the furball. it was her turn to be smug now.

having addressed at least one leader, she gave one more sweeping glance about the mess of her camp without a single flash of the long ebony pelt she sought, and decided she had better retreat back into her den before she was stricken with claustrophobia or something.

yeah, it was best just to wait for the others to show up, she decided, weaving back through the cats with a few snips and snarls here and there, and arriving at the mouth of the rotten-log-den. she stepped inside and curled up there, chin on her forepaws. after all, she had to keep an eye on these strangers in her very camp. ugh, she was torn between disgust and an overwhelming sense of victory, and decided that she oughtn't indulge either emotion before talking the situation over with the others, noting to herself to bring up the absense of a fourth leader, much to her suspicion.

[Dusk]

LIE AWAKE IN ED AT NIGHT
• AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE •
DO YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT?

watch me carefully
my thoughts are still my own
if i speak, it's likely important

This was madness. The camp. The cats. The flooding. the current tensions. All of it. Madness. Not once in his fifty-some moons had the leader of Zephyrclan expected to find himself on another's territory in such a fashion. Battling it out for prey - though he detested the thought of mindless fighting - perhaps, but never in such desperation as his beloved moor was sent awash as the lake rose and consumed all like some never satisfied monster. How did one fight water? It didn't hunger, it didn't feel pain. It was invincible, and there had been little for him to do but stand and watch the camp drown as his clan took shelter closer and closer to the rise of Vertigoclan territory. The leader blamed himself. He should have seen this coming sooner. Thought something of it when the prey seemed scarcer; when his warriors were continually seeking out the medicine cat to treat waterlogged paws, and when he would wake to find his pelt damp from water pooling beneath the High Hill. He had blamed the rain. Such showers were regular at this time of year. Perhaps not as heavy. Just as constant, however. Now it was too late, Zephyrclan was gone. His only - wretched - solace was that his was not the only clan suffering in such a fashion.

He'd met with Voidstar, though only briefly to exchange a few short words as to how Tempestclan and Zephyrclan were to accommodate themselves in the limited space without inter-clan rivalries causing too much stress. He'd even managed a moment with Fawndance of Celestialclan, who had danced around the subject of Hollowstar's whereabouts when he'd inquired. The aging medicine cat had looked as horrid as he felt, and Havocstar felt a tug of sympathy for the fawn-coloured feline. She was too old to be managing an entire clan in the absence of either leader or deputy. He, at least, was lucky enough to have Infernochaser at his side to help keep things in some semblance of control. And it was she whom he spoke with at the moment, looking more disheveled than usual having lacked a chance to groom back his already "wild" fur. "I want the warriors kept furthest from the others as possible. They're the one's most likely to start a fight, but keep an eye on our apprentices as well. The queens I'm least -" He broke off, ears pressing back for a moment against his head as a harsh voice snapped out his name. "I'll trust you to take initiative where needed." He dismissed his deputy with a tight smile, and turned, groaning inwardly, to face the approaching manx. She was short and snide and it took all the older tom's reserves of patience to keep an impassive face when his nerves were already so frayed. "Of course. We'll be there momentarily," he spoke with the barest civility possible, breathing out a relieved sigh as Pyrestar proceeded to thrust her way once more between the throng.

Pompous little wretch! He felt a thrill of anger run through him even as he slipped his smallish frame through the crowd in search of the Tempestclan leader. The she-cat was a shrewd player, and was going to squeeze every drop of life out of them before she was satisfied. If she expected him to meekly accept whatever terms she dished out, though, the calico was painfully incorrect. Havocstar finally spotted the dark-furred Voidstar near towards the edge of the masses, observing with a cool detachedness. Well, at least he wouldn't be interrupting anything. The tabby cleared his throat before speaking. Voidstar? If now's a good time, Pyrestar would like us to meet in her den." A touch of ruefulness entered his tone. The leader had hoped to avoid the coming conversation for a while longer, until he was more sure of his footing. As it were, he could manage. After waiting for his fellow to begin moving, the smaller cat turned. "Tempestclan is managing well, I hope? He gave a grunt as he squeezed past a milling group, might as well try to form bonds where possible. They would be together for some time.

TAGGED ! for who?
WORDS ! how many?
LYRICS ! a beautiful lie by 30 seconds to mars
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! blah blah

[MiNTY♥]

hear us now, clear and true, wretches and kings we come for you

His gaze was fixed on nothing, expect what could have been. Voidstar was still trying to understand how well he would be able to work with his deputy after what had happened between them. It wasn’t as if he was intentionally trying to make things awkward between them. When he got hurt he got defensive and distant and it would remain so for a long time. Hopefully she would just do whatever he asked without questions and then he could avoid having to talk to her much and everything would be much simpler. Although, everything would be even simpler if he had not let his feelings cloud his judgement in the first place. Yet since he was leader every cat should do as he asked without question but typically there had to be an exception, Longshadow. If he caused any more trouble than he already had to deal with he would grab him by the scruff and drag him out of Tempestclan. Voidstar did not have time for the tom’s petty complaining as he lay around doing nothing as he had much more important matters to deal with.

For now he had to comfort his clam as much as possible in their make shift home, but he felt like more of a nurse looking after naughty kits who were constantly looking to start fights. It was fair to say he had the largest number of hostile cats to handle but no clan was happy with this situation and with a large group of very stressed out cats the last thing he wanted to deal with was one of his warriors not being able to keep their mouth shut. If they didn’t he could only fear that Tempestclan would not be able to work alongside the other clans for support and whether he liked it or not that was what he had to do. Nature was the most powerful force he knew and if it wanted to throw them out then it would just as a tree would get rid of its dead leaves when they were no longer needed. The clans would simply be left to fall until finally they would hit rock bottom.

His name was called and he spun around, looking alarmed but weary. ”It’s never a good time to have to meet with her.” He growled quietly. Dragging himself to his paws he walked over to meet with Havocstar then the two tom cats padded to Pyrestar’s den. He had to force his paws to move forward one step at a time for he simply did not want to have to deal with her gloating for the moment. He settled on the thought that if she was being annoying he would ask Havocstar to leave with him and they could set up two clans in a much nicer area than this, it wasn’t as if they needed the expert knowledge of the younger, less experienced leader who liked to think she was better than the two of them. ”As well as can be expected, we have had an influx of mouths to feed and it’s proving to be a problem. And zephyrclan?” He asked. Following their brief conversation they approached Pyrestar’s den. He sighed and announced himself before entering. ”I believe my presence was requested.” He stated, finding it awkward to stand comfortably in her den which resulted in him sitting down despite the fact he did not actually want to.

ANCK SU NAMUN OF CAUTION!

[LYNX ♥]

what a nice guy. ugh, sometimes it made her sick. how had lynxstar learned to be so diplomatic, so at peace with the annoyances others brought? magic, probably. pyrestar sure as hell couldn't figure it out, but she wasn't trying that hard either. let them think her rude, foolish, irritating, it didn't hurt her. she liked to think it gave her an advantage, really. when she became cunning and observant and sly they wouldn't expect it, because all they sought from her was sass and brute force. well she was just a complete package, wasn't she? pyrestar snorted, lifting her head as she saw havocstar once more, this time trailed by the large, fluffy dark form of voidstar behind him.

"beautiful day, isn't it?" she smiled a bit mockingly as her way of greeting tempestclan's leader. "yeah, I requested your presense, I guess. obviously some things need going over here." she dipped her head to the zephyrclan leader when he came, and invited them both to lay with a dip of her head. they both looked a bit haggard, but who didn't? she decided to go ahead and say her part, since no one else was jumping at the chance. "now, we all know how very hospitable I've been, so I don't think I really need to rehash that much. although I wouldn't really mind a word of thanks from either of you, it's really a miracle I let you all come in and take over my territory without a word of complaint, huh? I'm like a saint." her sharp golden gaze glittered with something like humor, as she, too, knew the irony of her statement. would they thank her? would they just glare? she decided she didn't care that much, now that she had her chance to gloat, she wanted to move on to what needed to be discussed.

"but that's not why I wanted to talk to you guys obviously. basically, my land has proved to have enough prey to support my clan. not mine and three others, and if your lands weren't in such a, um, disasterous state, I'm pretty sure you'd say the same about yours." she looked at them both meaningfully and went on, "the preys gonna run out, and this many cats can't live in such a confined space anyway, cuz sooner or later someone's gonna get sick and it's gonna spread like wildfire. what are we doing? I say we leave, but obviously that's easier said than done. and where would we go?" she shrugged, and met each tom's gaze once more, her stump of a tail twitching.

"I'm open to suggestions. also, what happened to hallowstar? have either of you been able to find out?" it was truly a concern, because a clan of cats without a leader meant chaos, and chaos was really the last thing any of them needed. it was thankful that celestialclan was rarely a bunch of bloodthirsty heathens at least, but they needed some authority figure, or they could get out of paw.

[/justify]

[Dusk]

LIE AWAKE IN ED AT NIGHT
• AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE •
DO YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT?

watch me carefully
my thoughts are still my own
if i speak, it's likely important

Although he said nothing of it, the tom was glad to see that Voidstar did not appear to plan on taking after Pyrestar's... "charming" way of treating others. But then, of the current three leaders the long-furred cat had been in charge of a clan longest. No doubt his hierarchical seniority had led to certain lessons in diplomacy in strained times. Neither of them seemed eager to join the calico if their trudging was anything to go by. They had to face this sooner or later, and they might as well rip out the thorn now before it festered. "I fear food may grow to be the largest problem if this situation persists," he admitted as they neared the den. Zephyrclan is... managing." He spoke after a moment of torn contemplation. Loyalties to Zephyrclan obviously made him wish to exaggerate the strength of his extended family, but as matters were now was the time to be frank. Besides, he doubted any cat would plan on overturning an entire clan anytime soon. He let the conversation trail off as they closed the remaining distance and he padded in with a brooding look darkening his face. He had tried to plan out he would be saying in the short time between retrieving Voidstar and seeing Pyrestar once more, but thus far he had drawn a complete blank in the matter. The case was an odd one, and didn't lend itself to planning.

He cocked his head slightly as the calico greeted Voidstar with her trademark sarcasm, and deigned not to lay himself down when the offer was opened; instead he chose to sit, striped tail curling neatly around his paws as he glanced about. "Cozy," he murmured. The she-cat seemed to be relishing this moment of power, savoring it like the juiciest morsel of prey. And it was this idea that gave Havocstar the sudden violent urge to slap the sardonic look off her face as she spoke so magnanimously. Even so he curbed his tongue and kept still, now was not the time to take any sort of offense. It wasn't that in grated his nerves to be indebted to another cat, only that he was indebted to a cat who was not easily sated and apparently knew not an ounce of humility. "Don't tell me you're foolish enough to believe that, should you have failed to allow us in, that Vertigoclan - although strong - would have been a formidable enough force to withstand three ousted clans? You're ambitious, Pyrestar, not idiotic and I'd like to continue believing so." There was no threat or anger in his tone, just a bare statement. He was walking a fine line here, and could just as easily doom his clan as knock the younger off her high-horse.

'Of course that's not why you brought us here.' He resisted the instinct to roll his eyes. What was she going to suggest? That they wait out the rains and hope their lands drain within a few weeks? No, that would be ridiculous, there might not be enough prey to last many weeks even if it was the height of summer. They would have to head out for at least sometime. "Where would we go, indeed," he looked down in thought. "Doubtless, we cannot remain in one place for long. The only place nearby that's somewhat hospitable would be Trenton, and I don't believe that's the best option." He shifted his saffron gaze upwards, pausing for input from either leader. "As for Hollowstar..." Havocstar shrugged, wishing Fawndance had been a bit more open when he'd asked earlier. "Fawndance and Panaceaheart are the only hierarchy present. It may be safest to assume neither Falconflight nor Hollowstar will be joining Celestialclan here."

TAGGED ! for who?
WORDS ! how many?
LYRICS ! a beautiful lie by 30 seconds to mars
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! blah blah

[MiNTY♥]

hear us now, clear and true, wretches and kings we come for you

”Maybe so, and I may have granted you that thanks had you not so boldly requested it.” He replied with an unpleasant smile. Good things came to those who waited and Pyrestar was anything but patient. He appreciated what she was doing but really if she wanted the clans to remain there was no choice. It would be fairly straight forward for a clan to survive elsewhere, keeping them together was the hard part and he knew it wouldn’t feel right if there was only one clan. There would be fewer challenges and opportunities for taunting others which he would admittedly miss.

Decisions would have to be made and fast, there was no time for any petty arguing as much as he would have liked to press the patience of the bobtail even further, as Havocstar attempted to. His unimpressed glare swept from one to the other. Voidstar was very aware that they each had their own ideas of how to run things and that there was likely to be some disagreements. ”I am sure everyone has realised that the food is going to run out.” He added in. It was the most obvious problem that they had to face and it was showing in the clans causing their bones to stick out at angles only seen in leaf bare. ”We don’t have enough time to send cats out to look for a new home, by the time they returned we would all have perished – well not quite all but you get the picture it would be more like a pile of bones than a forest. We just need to leave. I think we could afford to send a patrol ahead to check for the next best place to rest so we have a target area to meet before moving on. That would ensure we had a safe place to sleep at night – although obviously a few cats will always need to be on watch. Some of the cats are more panicked than others and I feel that we need to reassure them as much as possible. The question is who should we send to look for a resting place? I would say just pack up and go but we cannot take kits and elders into unknown land as I doubt they would survive.” He explained, voicing thoughts that had been in his head for quite a while now. It was evident that he had not come up with all of this on the spot but he hoped the other leaders would see the sense in his plans. In any other situation this could have been a ridiculous plan but it was the best he could come up with in the middle of a catastrophic situation. ”Whatever we do we are not able to wait, we must act immediately and from what both of you have said I get the impression you feel the same way.”

”As for Hallowstar, he is evidentially not around and we simply cannot entrust the running of Celestialclan to their medicine cats. Yes, they may be very skilled in the area of herbs but they do not have the skills to run a clan which makes them difficult to control, unless we can converse with a senior warrior of theirs who would be willing to report to us? Either that or we just accept them as part of the group.” The situation in the other clan only made things harder for the three leaders that spoke now in Pyrestar’s den. It wasn’t as though they could just leave the fourth clan behind but there was nobody to take charge of someone and why on earth would they accept the instructions given to them by the leader of another clan?

ANCK SU NAMUN OF CAUTION!

[LYNX ♥]

well it didn't particularly surprise her, their utter lack of gratitude, but she had hoped they would at least appreciate her jab at humor. alas, dry, crotchety toms. what was a girl to do? she wanted terribly to snap at havocstar, tell him the what-for, when she had climbed to the top like she had while leadership had simply fallen into his lap- he didn't deserve to treat her like a naughty kit in her moment of shining, but to hell with him. voidstar's disapproval, at least, was justified, but she wasn't about to lean down and praise his kingly paws either. they both thought far too highly of themselves, in her opinion. after all, they each ranked the same, and no one had a place to berate another. but she was young and female and too fiesty for their tastes, obviously. she tossed her head- their loss. however, as things were turning out, it seemed they would be seeing a lot of each other in the coming moons if they really did move. they would have to move together, make decisions as one, and support their clans as a whole, not individually. sounded utterly horrible. she narrowed her eyes at zephyrclan's leader and murmured an icy, "I don't believe it's your place to hint at any idiocy of mine," and cast voidstar only a sharp glare before letting the matter go. no she hadn't expected a real thanks, but they continued to rub her the wrong way nevertheless. regardless, it was time for business, they could all see that.

"I think you're right," she meowed curtly, twitching her whiskers after tempestclan's furball of a leader had a chance to speak. forming a group of scouts would be a useful tool for the leaders, in order to scope out any possible future places to camp at. "we could pick two cats apiece and put them together as a scouting group. maybe a young cat with the most stamina and our most strategic senior warrior. that way the group combined would be fairly intelligent and agile. the key, I think, is for them to be quick, but we can't have a bunch of idiot apprentices checking out possible future homes for us either." pyrestar shrugged, looking between the two toms out into her camp, where the sun seemed to be seeping away once more, melting into a hazy cloud-cover that could only mean one thing: rain. the calico sighed rather heavily, laying her ears back. "but yeah I don't think waiting is an option. especially if the rains keep up as they seem to do. at this rate, we'll drown before we starve, and neither of those options sound particularly appealing." she spat, scowling at the roof of her den, as though glaring into starclan's eyes. "I wish those in the stars would tell us what they had planned for us, and especially what to do with celestialclan. actually," she paused, mulling her idea over. it was a stretch, and sounded none too appealing to her, but it seemed like a plausible option, something to save the cats.

"you're going to wanna claw me for saying this, but I think we need to work together. I mean the three of us. like... a council. if you two plan on leading three separate clans in one big group, you're going to have more fights on your paws than you can count. I think you both know that," the calico shrugged again, looking from one tom to the other, "if we lead them together, like one big clan, and do our best to cooperate with one another, defend either others kits, feed each others elders, and so on, I think we'll have more survivors in the end than if we let this tension continue. that way celestialclan's leftovers will be included. obviously there will be a little rebellion from, say, a tempestclan cat trying to take orders from me, but if they understand that we, and our deputies, are doing our best to keep them alive then it just might work." she admitted to herself that she was a little intimidated by the idea of merging the clans together like that, and having to be in constant agreement with these two unsavory fellows, but what choice did they have? they couldn't travel seperate and expect to arrive at the same place, but they couldn't be in harmony under three different leaderships. biting her lip, the vertigoclan leader waited for their certain disagreement.

[Dusk]

LIE AWAKE IN ED AT NIGHT
• AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE •
DO YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT?

watch me carefully
my thoughts are still my own
if i speak, it's likely important

The tom saw the need for this meeting, even if he just wanted to be among his own warriors at that moment. It was essential to the survival of their clans. The clock was ticking and wasn't just about to slow down for three busy-body leaders to hash it out attempting to assert their foremost interest. The rains had stopped, but the roiling gray skies hinted that this reprieve was only temporary. It would be storming again soon enough. And when it did... The tom suppressed a shudder and pinned all his focus on the task at hand. It was time he set aside his feelings, he realized. It might sting to sit through Pyrestar gloating in her own way, but now wasn't the time to act like some sullen apprentice assigned to the Elders for a moon. With a calming breath he set aside any personal motivations. Clan before himself. Even if that might mean a hit to his pride. He turned his gaze over to watch and listen as Voidstar gave his eloquent two cents. It would seem that the dark pelted tom had thought this out at least somewhat, and Havocstar was impressed with what he was hearing. "I think this is a given, but, we should be sure to choose cats that aren't exactly the most fiery personalities. If they'll be working together the last thing we need is for them to be rendered useless due to internal conflict." With a grimace he shifted to follow the calico's glare into her camp. "How long would you say we have until the water reaches even here? One week, two? We're on an incredibly short schedule for such drastic change. Not that I can say I disagree with what either of you have said." He added quickly.

As Vertigoclan's leader laid out her ideas. He found he was holding his breath, the shadow of such an idea as one massive clan was nearly overwhelming. No cat was trained for such a thing. Was it unheard of? No. And yet... The tom let out his held breathe, scraping unhappily at the ground with one paw. "It's a dubious suggestion indeed. But... we have little choice now do we?" A grim ghost of a smile formed as he looked to the others for affirmation, shrugging slightly. Put bluntly, there is going to be mingling between our clans no matter what. During the journey they will be in close vicinity, was the point of holding up boundaries?" Part of the tom knew he should have been objecting to the idea, but all the same he'd never been one to observe clan traditions.

TAGGED ! for who?
WORDS ! how many?
LYRICS ! a beautiful lie by 30 seconds to mars
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! short and crappy. sorry

[MiNTY♥]

hear us now, clear and true, wretches and kings we come for you

Voidstar quickly went through a list of the warriors that he did have in his head. Of course there were some less provocative cats in his clan, but generally speaking they stood out less and he was not sure he trusted their judgement. ”Not necessarily, just so long as they understand the importance of the task that is resting on their shoulders and is willing to put aside their differences for the moment to ensure the safety of their clan.”” He added, hoping to think of a warrior who was not feisty, but not too nice either. Personally he thought it would be easier just to send the clan deputies as they had been chosen for their ideal qualities but apparently neither of the others had been thinking along the same lines.

”If the water reaches here we have to move uphill, but I highly doubt that our team of scouts will take longer than half a moon to return to us with news. I had in mind the timescale of a week? There is surely something within two and a half days travel.” He replied while twitching his tail. Personally he felt he could travel a large distance in such a time and a group of highly capable warriors who were specially selected to do the job should be able to do the same without any problems. Hunting may be a little different in a strange territory but with the different skills from each clan he would be very surprised if they could come up with nothing. However, as soon as Starclan were mentioned the dark tom cat narrowed his eyes. ”It is Starclan’s fault that we have been left in this mess. Did they ever send us a sign to tell us that the conditions would be so insufferable that we would be thrown out of our homes? No. Have they given us any indication of where to go from here? No. Excuse me if I have offended your faith but they have been incredibly unhelpful and I see no reason why we should rely on them when we are capable of coming up with our own solution.” He replied with a sharp tone. As a leader he did have to have some belief in the warrior ancestors, and he did, but he relied more on thoughts and ideas that were not conveyed though dreams.

The next idea placed before them also did not please him. ”I am happy to ensure the weak are well cared for and I would ask any of my warriors to ensure they look out for any kits and elders that they come across. I will also tell my clan to be more tolerant of others given the situation. However, if we merge then before we know it they will all be sharing nests and grooming each other and they won’t want to be separated again. If we make the journey how will we know that our clan aren’t sneaking off to meet up with their new found friends?” He questioned, not overly fond of the idea of blurring the boundaries between clans.

ANCK SU NAMUN OF CAUTION!

[LYNX ♥]

she sighed. probably for the millionth time- after all, dealing with two cats with unreasonable egos similar to one's own could never be expected to be easy. and it sure wasn't, it was a battle. one step forward, two steps back, it felt like. at least they could all agree on leaving, because from the vibes she had been picking up from all the mousebrains swarming her precious camp, some idiots thought they were just gonna wait out the water or something. but then, they weren't leaders, and they didn't understand the perils of sitting around doing absolutely nothing about the problems at hand. so, as she thought about it, it made a little bit of sense to pyrestar, the brainless train of thought that some chose to take for their strategies. regardless, it would simply not do. thankfully, both havocstar and voidstar were on board with a quest for a new home, and using scouts to do so was a brilliant idea. despite the fact that it wasn't hers, she was willing to admit as much. "I've got an idea in mind for my scouts. I'll consult them today, and I guess you two should figure yours out by moonhigh and we'll send them off tomorrow at dawn. I want to get moving."

she bobbed her head at voidstar, but shrugged at the same time. "yes and no. I doubt the flood will actually reach the mountain top, which is where we practically are. nature doesn't just do that, despite celestialclan's similar elevation. the only reason their home was ruined was because of all the streams and stuff in their territory which overflowed. vertigoclan will get soaked, but not ruined. we only have one stream and one pond, both have already overflowed and we're fine. I'm more worried about food, fights, and disease. more than I need out, I need all of you out." she meowed, sounding rather sensible as her irritating-child facade began to slip in this time of urgency. with her chance to gloat long past, there was no use being combative for the sake of it anymore. "so in reality, our time scheme is what we make of it. I wanna be out as soon as possible though." pyrestar sighed, again.

stress. good starclan, what stress. and speaking of starclan, she could only nod helplessly at voidstar's short tirade. she didn't want to admit it in front of the other two leaders, but despite her success in reaching nine lives from their warrior ancestors, her faith was seriously slipping. the black furball was right. where were the starry cats, and what good were they if they wouldn't help now, of all times? the bobtail frowned slightly, but didn't acknowledge her agreement. instead, she moved on.

"oh grow up, voidstar. havocstar's right, the boundaries are gonna come down no matter what you do. sorry if your special purebloods don't like it." she snapped, rolling her eyes impatiently. "and for the record, if you think the clans are gonna go back to the way they were a moon ago by the end of this journey, you're living in a world I'm not familiar with. we're all cats here, are we not? also, I'd like to add that if you think you're gonna make decisions independent from me an' havocstar while we're all living together, then you're probably wrong." she knew she sounded harsh, but he was being delusional, and the more she thought about it, the less of a choice she saw.

[/justify]

[Dusk]

LIE AWAKE IN ED AT NIGHT
• AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE •
DO YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT?

watch me carefully
my thoughts are still my own
if i speak, it's likely important

It took some effort withhold the grimace which so desperately wanted to make itself apparent on Havocstar's face. He didn't mind Voidstar, in fact, with the most years under his belt as a leader the tabby quite admired him, but the ebony-furred fighter did have some high standards. It was easy to overestimate oneself and therefore one’s clan as well, especially when fueled by the ambition typically required to reach the status of leadership. Now the tom wondered if that was perhaps what Voidstar was doing. They didn't have time to be too conservative, nor did they have a chance to make foolish mistakes by rushing into things. He kept any comments about his thoughts on the other male’s overconfidence well-curbed. Restraint was something well practiced and useful to the aged tabby, even if it made him a bit more of a muted personality compared to the other two in the den. He dipped his chin in a nod of acknowledgement to Pyrestar. "I'll be certain to choose two good candidates from Zephyrclan." Part of him was loathe to force any of his cats onto a journey with limited protection, but, in fairness, the group would be large and he trusted in the capability of the two warriors who first came to mind. Oh how he wished for Stormtrick! His old friend would have been a much needed comfort in these times.

He noted the change in the calico's demeanor with some internal warmth. Now they were down to business, good. His brow furrowed as he listened to the back and forthing in the conversation, yellow eyes coolly flitting from feline to feline. As the topic of Starclan rose, he coughed, forcing his way in. "Actually, that's something I've been wondering about. What have your respective medicine cats been able to offer as to this situation? It's oddly out of character for there to have not been the slightest warning isn't it?" The tom was guilty of not having spoken much to Toxicwinter. It wasn't that the ex-rogue's services were unappreciated, only that the leader had never often felt the need to speak with him.

"How would you propose keeping the clans to themselves, if you so wished?" He added thoughtfully to Pyrestar's argument against maintaining the current clan structure. "Self discipline? Such things only work so well and you know from clan histories that even with clearly defined territories cats mingle. Imagine attempting such a feat with everyone so close." Havocstar didn't mean to antagonize; only he felt the need to press dropping the ideas of clans as they once knew them. The only other result he could see was something near total anarchy.

TAGGED ! for who?
WORDS ! how many?
LYRICS ! a beautiful lie by 30 seconds to mars
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! short. cruddy. where'd yah go muse?

[MiNTY♥]

hear us now, clear and true, wretches and kings we come for you

Ooc// um…since when was Vertigoclan near the mountain top? I have always been under the impression it was at the base of a mountain and part of their territory was mountainous.

He agreed with the other two and nodded. ”Yes I will consult them as soon as possible and we can tell them to assemble here at dawn?” He suggested. He knew that he wanted to send Hailghost as he had the most experience after himself and Dreamfeather, but he also knew that the older tom could be a little difficult to deal with at times. However, since Celestialclan would not be there to provoke him and he was very skilled which would hopefully show in a difficult situation. He knew that if he sent Cherrytaint that she would keep him in order, but she had to keep an eye on how Crowshroud was reacting to being with his old clan plus she was still a new warrior. Voidstar wanted someone with a good balance, someone with experience but a good personality which should hopefully allow them to keep Hailghost from getting into too much trouble. Another tom entered his mind, he was not the obvious choice but he was also a very good choice and it was decided that he would trust Tidalhaunt to go on this patrol.

”You make it sound as though you wish to stay. I don’t mean to be bold but that is just my observation from what you have said. I can tell you that my clan will leave as soon as we have further knowledge, and since you seem so confident in your territory you may remain behind should you wish to.” He replied, inwardly hoping that he would get rid of her but not losing his head and saying such things outright despite how much she was pissing him off already by acting like she was Starclan’s gift just because her territory was the only one that had not flooded. ”I don’t know Havocstar, I don’t have a medicine cat so that would make it a challenge to understand the point of view of one. But personally Dreamfeather and I have never put too much faith in the ancestors and there is a solution out there that does not involve them.” He replied. Starclan certainly were not apparent in his clan and he had never actually gone to them for help with anything in particular. They were just there, they were the distant kin you never spoke to but creepily enough seemed to know your life story.

Right that was it. Voidstar snapped, leaped to his feet and rounded on Pyrestar. ”Listen young lady, you better learn how leaders act in situations like this otherwise Havocstar and I will be making decisions without you. We certainly could have figured out whatever you have contributed to this conversation on our own. You may have thought that when you stepped up to take Lynxstar’s place that you were ready just because you have had however many moons of experience to build on your skills but you have missed out one clear factor. You were never a deputy and you never closely observed how a leader would have handled a difficult situation. Lynxstar would never have acted like the brat that you are being now. She knew how to speak with other authorities among maybe other skills learned while being a deputy. So why don’t you take a reality check, learn how a leader acts and then get back to us. Perhaps working with Havocstar and I would be good for you because then you might learn the real meaning of being a leader. And in regards to pureblood? Well perhaps you should keep track of your cats because Crowshroud certainly put that out the window after he joined, but he fits in nicely.” He growled, stepping closer to her with each new point. Turning away he returned to the spot he had started off in and Havocstar spoke. ”See Pyrestar? That is how one leader should address another, by calmly trying to talk through the disagreement.” He hissed sharply and turned to face the other tom cat. ”I just feel like travelling as one big group is a recipe for disaster as it is harder to keep track of cats and help many sick ones as opposed to just one or two in any single clan. I feel like we could rest together at night allowing for more guards to be present and where we can also help each other out if we have endured difficulties during the day. However, I think it would be easier to travels the same path in our respective clans as each clan will listen to their own leader and it is easier to see if anyone is having trouble.” He replied to Havocstar, explaining his previous remark in more detail. Maybe he would address Pyrestar like that too when she started acting like a leader.

ANCK SU NAMUN OF CAUTION!

[LYNX ♥]

//I'm sorry, I guess it was never really clarified but I've always visualized vc toward the top of the mountain, not the bottom. regardless, shall we just assume both cc and vc are too elevated to be flooded by much besides streams?
----

well at least that was settled, and despite the rigid manner in which the topics were being thrown across the board and torn apart, it seemed as though the three powerful cats were making some sort of progress in their rocky dicussion. she was glad of that, for despite the fact that she would be dealing with these two far more often than she would have liked for the next who-knew-how-long, it would be quite a nice feeling to throw them out of their den when she was finished with them, for at the moment, feeling all of the sudden exhausted from the fluster of activity around her home, diplomacy couldn't have mattered less. let them scrounge up their own damn nests, it wasn't like they would do any better for she and her clan if she were in the same situation. pyrestar blinked when the next topic was addressed, the fact that scouts would be used for the upcoming journey thoroughly agreed upon. she still wasn't sure about who she would be asking to go, but she thought that perhaps the smooth and confident torrentwake would do quite nicely, she figured he could master the skill of being diplomatic, and perhaps in addition she could send reflectedrain. after all, she'd never truly made up for choosing flamingarrow over him as her deputy, and his youth and inexperience would be a nice counterbalance to the other cats in the group. glaring at the two toms in her den, she desperately hoped they wouldn't pick the two toughest, most combative assholes they could muster up.

at once, havocstar and voidstar were both addressing the issue of starclan already brought up, and in reply to zephyrclan's leader she bobbed her head a bit reluctantly. "I had a dream involving water, and I know arcticlight had one too, at the last half-moon gathering. not good dreams either. it's unfair to say starclan have been completely silent, but it's not really selfish of me to wish they'd be a little more helpful, cuz really, we have to figure this out completely by ourselves? I'd like to go to them for help but hell, the cavern's flooded." she muttered, feeling rather mutinous about starclan at the moment, though truly her faith was not shaken, she was merely feeling bitter about the fact that no further warning had been dealt. honestly, how could starclan be so distant like this? did they want the clans to perish or what? the calico she-cat couldn't help but feel that there couldn't be a more ridiculous situation to be engimatic in than this one.

she wished to scold starclan like a naughty kit, when suddenly she found herself being told off like one instead. taken aback, the stocky female sat back and listened to voidstar's tirade, unsure of how to react. as usual, she spat whatever rolled onto her tongue, "well isn't that nice," she remarked, "being condescended to by someone throwing a tantrum. hm." her deep tones formed a nasty sneer, uncaring of how she came off to them, obviously. "and who are you to tell me how to act? lemme remind you, both, that we are all of the same rank here. you wanna scold me? screw off. I lead a clan just the same, just as good, as yours. my opinion is just as valid as yours, mr. good manners, regardless of how much you dont want to hear it. anyway, yes of course. don't address the points I've made. just tell me off like a child, sure, good plan voidstar." she snarled, hackles raised defiantly, "that's just so grown up of you, don't you think? answer me! how are you gonna keep your damn borders up, keep your clan separate, while sleeping in the same dens?" her paws were shaking, and she closed her eyes, willing her temper to melt, though it didn't. how dare he address her in the very same manner he scolded her about? his holier-than-thou attitude made her skin crawl, as she stared defiantly into his brilliant green eyes, daring him to talk to her like that again. didn't he know by now she didn't take that shit kindly?

"and obviously I don't wanna stay here, I'm just saying there isn't so much of a hurry as you two are insisting on. I'm telling you that this land is safe while we gather our bearings, yeah?" pyrestar snapped, blood still boiling while she continued to mull over his explosion, too far uncalled for for the she-cat to contain herself over. how could he be so big-headed? she wanted to claw one of his freakin satin ears for that little tantrum. instead, she clenched her just and turned her smoldering topaz gaze on havocstar, hoping he'd have something a bit more reasonable to say.

[/justify]

[Dusk]

LIE AWAKE IN ED AT NIGHT
• AND THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE •
DO YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT?

watch me carefully
my thoughts are still my own
if i speak, it's likely important

He shut out the argument taking place between the two other leaders for a moment, it felt as though it was something he really shouldn't get involved in, 'lest he bring down upon himself the wrath of two fearsome clan leaders. Call him meek, call him cautious, but not cowardly. He preferred to think himself shrewd. Careful, like most Zephyrclan warriors, and knowing when to pick a battle versus when it would be more intelligent to withdraw. Live to fight another day, though perhaps not in such a literal sense for the situation at hand. Havocstar needed a proper moment of silence for himself, a chance to think upon and digest this influx of information and ideas. Scouts... scouts. Blackpanther was a trustworthy warrior, perhaps a bit moody at times but he could be trusted well enough to keep his head around strangers if the right personality was sent alongside to balance the tom out. Silentsnow, perhaps, or Duneshade, though the spidery-limbed warrior had been rather short-tempered as of late. Silentsnow was a better choice.

"They've never seemed to care much about imposing themselves physically, now have they," he mused, half-curious, half-rueful at the unfortunate thought. Warnings were sent aplenty, though oft also cryptically, and messages were often the best warning they received. Not once in all his fifty-some moons, though, had he observed something he might refer to as a miracle. Some miraculous turning of a tree that threatened to crush a cat, a mysterious withdrawal of a fire as occasionally formed in the blazing summer months: nothing. Only visions and words. "Maybe they can't. Maybe they just like to see us struggle to handle this without outside assistance." He broke off with a shake of his head. "Now isn't the time for pondering on the ways of our ancestors, though." Philosophy was an interesting topic, but one best saved for another day. There were far more important matters to be dealt with.

Dark tabby fur bristled on his hackles slightly as he listened to the spiteful back and forth going on between the younger cats. He cast his ochre gaze half-towards his paws, unable to help but feel this was something better saved for a non-formal meeting. It couldn't be helped, though, the barbed words were known to him no matter how he might try to be conveniently deaf. The striped head shot up sharply as he realized Voidstar had broken from his tirade to address the elder tom instead. "I - ah..." he cleared his throat, intensely aware of having two angry sets of eyes turned upon him. The anger might not have been meant for him, but the energy was apparent all the same. "Both of you make valid points. Voidstar, you're clearly correct in voicing worries of chaos through such a dissolving of clan structure. However, you might recall this isn't the first time the clans have melded together. Admittedly, the last time it wasn't all four clans and us being short a leader. That must be considered. On another note, travelling separately may slow progress, then again it might not. One can hypothesize all they want, but until we enact such a plan we cannot hope to see the results."

He took a sharp breath, mind cool and calculating, the strategist. This is what he'd been known for as a simple warrior. Seeing and thinking: foresight. Havocstar twisted his head to meet the sparking, harsh glare of Pyrestar, the earlier discomfort melting away. Pyrestar's points are legitimate as well - if spoken in a caustic manner. Perhaps we feel to rushed, too biased to escape this territory considering it's not ours. We aren't looking before we leap." A chuckle rumbled the the smallish cat's throat in spite of the tension in the air. "But, Pyrestar you said so yourself that Vertigoclan, while not in danger of immediate or total flooding, has only so much prey. The longer we sit the less we eat. The less we eat the weaker we grow. If we don't move fast enough then we'll eventually we'll be too weak to move at all."

A glance over one shoulder made the tom realized that, in all the heated discussion, the hour was beginning to grow late. The sun was creeping steadily along its way to meet the horizon. "Let's take a synopsis. An advance group is agreeable on all sides. That should be sent out with haste. The land can only support us for so long. I'd suggest we send out our medicine cats to pick what they can and dry the herbs so they're good for travel, and we be prepared to notice a sharp drop in prey. It's agreed that the clan structure will likely be thrown into a tumult, though how tumultuous remains to be agreed upon. That seems to be a topic that would be better discussed when there are cooler heads all around. Now then, it's getting late and my clan needs me." The leader stepped back towards the entrance of the den, dipping his head to each leader in turn. "Should you see fit, continue the discussion, though I'd suggest taking a breather. It seems there might be some unresolved issues that don't involve me. You both know where to find me, I certainly won't be running off anytime soon. I bid you good evening." With a final half-bow, the tom turned and made his way back out into the open air. It was something of a relief to be out of that tense den.

TAGGED ! for who?
WORDS ! how many?
LYRICS ! a beautiful lie by 30 seconds to mars
TEMPLATE ! PANIC! ITS LAUZ @ CAUTION
NOTES ! havoc out.