The Arrival of River

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

When they finally set out on their way, Willowstar had led the group through RiverClan's territory. She had kept a subtle eye out to watch for Twoleg traps, but made sure not to appear too wary or distracted. She didn't see any more traps with her own eyes, so she was sure there weren't any more. That was, unless the Twolegs decided to come back and replace the one Puddlepelt had gotten caught in.

When they reached the border, she let the two WindClan cats take the lead, with herself not far behind. The open moors were unfamiliar to her and it was best for the cats who explored the territory daily to lead. Soon they reached the dip in the moor that Willowstar recognized as the camp. Sheltered by gorse and other shrubs it was protected from the wind but the plants didn't provide much defense in case of attack. The RiverClan leader recalled stories of how easily other Clans had invaded WindClan's territory and camp with hardly any difficulty. Seeing the camp up close, she assumed that the stories were true. WindClan's was a camp not suited for defense.

Willowstar stepped through the entrance of the camp and looked around in search of Ravenstar. He should be around somewhere, after all he had to be expecting them. Perhaps in his den, since she didn't see him among the cats in the clearing. She was eager to get to Fourtrees and didn't want to wait around for long.

Heathertail had been quiet most of the way, resisting the urge to chat with her friend. Being carefully watched by the RiverClan cats made her a little uneasy. This was a serious mission, not a Gathering, so she stayed close by Firepool all the way to camp. She wondered how it would all turn out, how angry ShadowClan would be. She wondered whether this was a good idea at all. But worrying wouldn't help her find the answers and wouldn't get anything done. She stayed focused on the task until they returned to camp.

"Well, this is WindClan's camp," Heathertail said to Gingertail once they were safely in her home. "Have you ever been in it before? I don't think you have..." She glanced at the RiverClan cats again, hoping they didn't have anything against them talking for a little while.

Dustfur emerged from the warriors' den, glad to see it was light out and the sun wasn't blocked by clouds. He expected the day to be another nice one, warm weather that would get hotter in the middle of the day but cool off by sundown. What he didn't expect was to see a large group of RiverClan cats in camp, with Willowstar and Patchclaw among them. The warrior was also shocked to see his sister among the cats and his eyes widened in recognition when he saw Gingertail too. Heathertail must have seen him standing there because she waved her tail to him, inviting him over.

Dustfur hesitated and padded slowly over, skirting the edge of camp until he came closer. Whatever was going on he felt uneasy about it. Maybe they could explain what was going on. "Hi, Gingertail," he mewed quietly. "W-what's going on?" he asked both of them, keeping his gaze away from Willowstar, who was no doubt eying them suspiciously.

((*Nudge nudge* >3))

[Kitty]

Following the group of cats through the unfamiliar territory, the ginger she-cat was on the look out for anything new to her. She spotted a rabbit off in the distance, on top of a hill, its white tail bobbing as it hopped. After noticing the approaching group of cats, though, it promptly disappeared into a nearby burrow. They didn't get many bunnies in RiverClan like that, so Gingertail watched in fascination until the rabbit was no longer visible.

Finally, the group of RiverClan and WindClan cats reached the WindClan camp. WindClan territory seemed so...big. Her green eyes looked around the camp. There were dens, just like the ones in RiverClan, except they weren't made of reeds. A mew told her which den was the nursery. Cats playfighting outside of one led Gingertail to believe that that den was the apprentice den. A couple warriors were sitting outside was she expected to be the warrior den. She heard the meows of kits and elderly cats coming from the den she suspected was the elders den. A faint scent of herbs reached her from one den. That had to be the medicine den. Which left the only other den in the camp to b Ravenstar's.

"No, I've never been here before," Gingertail meowed, redirecting her attention to her WindClan friend that she'd walked all the way here beside. She'd all but forgotten her.

Her attention was distracted shortly later with the appearance of another cat, though. The RiverClan warrior recognized the tom newcomer immediately. She'd met him on the border a couple days ago. "Oh, Dustfur!" she trilled happily, ignoring her RiverClan comrades who were no doubt shooting her suspicious glances and thinking that she w being awfully friendly with a pair of cats from another Clan. "We're here to take two of Rivermist's kits."

Cindertail had followed the cats through WindClan territory, sticking to Leopardfang's side the whole way. It wasn't her first time inside WindClan borders - great StarClan, no! - but she'd never been inside the camp before. Ah well, there was a first time for eveything, right? First time for a mate, first time in WindClan's camp...why was it that all the firsts were happening so late in her life?

She stuck with the group of RiverClan cats, eyeing the WindClan ones warily. For all she knew they could have brought them here simply to ambush them. But WindClan cats weren't ShadowClan; they couldn't pull offa stunt like that. They were most likely telling Cindertail and her Clanmates the truth; they really did want to give them two of the kits, even if their sole purpose was to keep ShadowClan from having as many.

[Ki]

Leopardfang had stayed close to his mate the whole way. His ears remained perked and eyes scanning the landscape. He'd been close to the WindClan border before, maybe even darted across it as a willful apprentice. But he'd never been to the camp. Never had he imagined he would ever, for that matter. It wasn't much; a dip in the ground surrounded by gorse. As far as he could tell it would protect them from the wind, but not much else. Leopardfang looked at his mate, wanting to make sure she stayed near. If this was a trick he didn't want to lose her. While he doubted that this was some sort of ambush, you could never be too certain.

Leopardfang blinked at Gingertail. She was being awfully friendly....but the warrior code didn't forbid them from being nice towards other Clans. So long as you were loyal to your own Clan, at least. All the same. He'd never been interested in being friends with cats outside of RiverClan and he wasn't going to start caring now.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

For a moment Dustfur only blinked and tried to figure out what he'd really just heard. "What?" Wait, when was this decided? He knew today was the day Rivermist would be giving four of her kits to ShadowClan, but now RiverClan was getting two as well? Why, and who decided on this?

"But... what's happening? Does Rivermist know? Or ShadowClan?" he couldn't believe that the queen would agree to giving up more of her kits, not after seeing how upset she had been the morning after the Gathering.

"I don't know if she knows. Ravenstar had us go to RiverClan and tell them the kits were being split four ways." Heathertail shrugged, although regret was evident in her eyes. Now her conscience was catching up with her. She knew Rivermist would be terribly upset to lose two more kits and know that half of them were going to completely strange Clans. She glanced quickly toward the nursery as if she expected Rivermist to be coming out right then.

[nightstorm]

Strange scents reached Rivermist's scent glands, and she looked up from where her head had been resting on her paws. A high-pitched voice rang out. "We're here to take two of Rivermist's kits!"

What? Already?

Rivermist felt her heart beginning to race, at the prospect of saying goodbye to not four, but six of her kits. She glanced quickly down at her kits, then back up towards the nursery entrance, and she steeled herself and stood. The silver tabby slid out of the nursery, her eyes wary, as she took in the strange RiverClan visitors. Her eyes were carefully expressionless, as she studied the newcomers. Two of her kits' future Clanmates, she realized bitterly.

"Has Ravenstar said which two kits you will be taking back with you?" she said coolly, hatred briefly flashing in her gaze. Her pelt bristled slightly with tension, and Rivermist wanted nothing more than to claw out their fur, to protect her kits. But she couldn't...Ravenstar had already made a promise. May StarClan curse him, she thought. Separating kits from their mother like this...

[Kitty]

The perplexion was obvious on Gingertail's face as dustfur exclaimed, What?!" Had the WindClan cats not known that RiverClan was taking two of their kits? Her question was answered soon after by Heathertail's response to Dustfur. "I thought you all knew about this?" she asked, confusion in her voice as her head tilted to the side. "Were you not told about it, Duster?" Her green eyes blinked when she noticed Rivermist standing not too far off. "Please tell me Rivermist knows...." she meowed, her voice trailing off as she saw the hatred glint briefly in the WindClan queen's eyes. Best to let Willowstar and Patchclaw deal with this one.

LIstening idly to Gingertail's conversation with two of the WindClan cats (why that she-cat was talking with them so cheerfully, Cindertail didn't know, but it wasn't up to her to judge), Cindertail was somewhat shocked to hear that that WindClan tom didn't know that Ravenstar had decided to give RiverClan two of Rivermist's kits. Her eyes narrowed in confusion, and she cast a glance at her mate. "Didn't expect that," she muttered in a low voice. "I thought that the WindClan cats knew we were coming?"

Rivermist obviously did, though. She didn't waste any time in coming over to the group and demanding to know which kits RiverClan was getting. Cindertail thought it was a bit rude - they didn't even know yet! - but Rivermist was those kits' mother. She had every right to know where they were going. "I'm afraid your leader hasn't told us that yet," she meowed calmly to the WindClan she-cat.

[hedgie]

Patchclaw slipped her way into the Windclan camp far behind the rest of the patrol, her pelt still fluffed up in some places, making the pint-sized she-cat look ever more out of place. She sliiped bettween her clanmates and Windclan cats alike to reach Willowstar.

Patchclaw sat down, acting as if she and Willowstar were the only two there, and set down to grooming herself, tongue rasping over her pelt to smooth away rough patches and a few bits of dirt. Her eyes were half closed as she ceased the activity, looking up as if she had just realized she wasn't alone. She opened her eyes wide and then closed them half-way again, giving this alien Clan her normal freezing glare. She scootched closer to Willowstar, and sighed.

"Sorry I'm late and all. We were running here and I wasn't looking and I, um..." She groaned. "I fell in a ditch and it took me a while to get out. what have I missed? Where's Ravenstar?"

She sighed again. "Did anything even happen yet?"

FAIL POST I'M SORRY. JUST TRYING TO KEEP THE PLOT MOVING! -dies-

[Ki]

"Apparently not." Leopardfang mewed quietly. He cast an appraising look at Rivermist. She was proof that no good could come of taking mates from another Clan. By taking on Foxfur as her mate she'd doomed herself, her mate, and her poor kits to future pain. He was suddenly grateful to be purely RiverClan, and to have a pure RiverClan mate. Their relationship would cause no turmoil, no pain for anyone. It would only create future RiverClan warriors and bring happiness to both himseld and Cindertail.

That was how it was meant to be, at least.

Leopardfang let his mate answer Rivermist, who was clearly not pleased at all. He saw the flicker of hatred in her eyes as she addressed their patrol. It was her own fault. Her fault and Foxfur's. They'd been foolish enough to take on mates outside of their Clan. Even if it was love, it was foolish. But he couldn't judge her too harshly. She was still rather young. Young cats did foolish things. Why, when he and Cindertail were apprentices they'd went exploring. In ThunderClan territory.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

After Ravenstar had informed Rivermist of the new plans, which had been a long and difficult process, the tom had returned to his den to sit in front of it and wait for his patrols to return. The queen hadn't been happy, of course... he wouldn't have expected otherwise. But it wasn't her choice anymore, although her choice was the one that had caused it. She might despise him as a mother for robbing her of two more kits, but it was her own fault for all the circumstances that led up to that point. If she was so torn from leaving her kits, then she should have moved to ShadowClan as soon as she found out she was pregnant. It would have been immensely bad news for WindClan, but at least it would have saved them the trouble.

Eventually sound at the camp entrance alerted him to the presence of a returning patrol, and he looked up to see Firepool and Heathertail leading Willowstar and four other cats into the camp. Good, she had come, and what's more, she had brought firepower. It was unlikely that they would need a large patrol, but it would be useful to have when they met ShadowClan, just so they could drive their point home and leave no room for argument. As soon as the patrol entered, Firepool broke away and padded over to Ravenstar, dipping his head respectfully and then giving his report.

"Willowstar is here, as you can see, Ravenstar," the lanky tom said. "I'm sorry, she brought a few more cats than was really necessary..."

"That isn't a problem," Ravenstar replied, getting to his paws. "It will be good to let ShadowClan know that we won't take no for an answer. Now, all we need is for our other patrol to show up, and we can be on our way. But first... I must greet our guests." Flicking his tail dismissively at Firepool, the small tom padded over towards the RiverClan patrol and nodded briefly to Willowstar. "I see you decided to take me up on my offer," he said by way of greeting. "Rivermist, do you know which kits of yours you are willing to send to RiverClan, or is that going to be my decision?"

[nightstorm]

Rivermist's eyes flashed with anger again, as Cindertail addressed her, but she said no more, only coolly sat, and waited. When Ravenstar appeared, she glanced in his direction, but that was all. She ignored him otherwise, at least until he spoke to her directly.

"I haven't made a decision yet, Ravenstar," she said, almost mockingly, but not quite. Her tone kept a small amount of respect, but she still bristled angrily. "I figured that since most of the deciding has been done for me, it would be done yet again. I figured you had already decided. Anyways, I don't play favorites. As I said before, I would rather not choose which kits to send away, and which to keep." Not that it mattered. They all hated her anyways.

"Let me know when you decide, then," she continued, before standing and turning her back on the patrol, disappearing into the nursery. She couldn't bear to listen to the decision-making, and her cool, supposedly emotionless front would not last. She felt like putting her paws over her muzzle and shutting the world out. Forever.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Willowstar watched with interest when she saw Rivermist come from the nursery. The queen didn't look at all surprised to see them, and that could only be a good thing. It meant she was prepared for this and wouldn't object. Things would only get more complicated if Ravenstar had not made sure she agreed to giving away more of her kits. Willowstar then saw the WindClan leader approaching them and returned his nod.

However things were not going to go perfectly. She turned her attention to Rivermist to hear if she decided which kits would be coming to RiverClan. But Rivermist gave a rather snappy response, stating that she was unwilling to discuss which kits will go. Willowstar was taken aback as Rivermist coldly turned her back and headed again for the nursery, no doubt shocking mostly everyone there. She turned her disbelieving gaze to Ravenstar.

"Perhaps I could get a look at the kits myself? Or maybe it would be best to settle things with ShadowClan first and then pick." She didn't feel the need to decide about the kits immediately any more, not when Ravenstar would most likely be fuming over the blatant disrespect Rivermist had shown him. She would prefer to head out again as quickly as possible to meet up with ShadowClan but she would leave the decision of when to leave to Ravenstar.

Dustfur shook his head. He hadn't been told about this, and he guessed most of the other WindClan cats didn't either, aside from those sent out by Ravenstar. When he saw Rivermist and Ravenstar come over and start talking, he only stared in surprise at Rivermist's reaction and her heading back to the nursery. Where had that come from? He glanced over at Heathertail and saw that she had the same expression of shock. That was unexpected. He waited to see how the leaders would handle this, staying quiet as always.

[Kitty]

"Obviously," the RiverClan she-cat agreed, observing Rivermist quietly. The poor WindClan she-cat, she wasn't happy at all. Although, if she hadn't taken a ShadowClan mate, nothing like this would have happened. If she'd stayed in her own Clan, chosen a WindClan tom instead, then none of this would have happened. She could live happily with her mate and her kits would remain in their birth Clan and they would never have to go through a tradegy like this. Rivermist had brought it all upon herself.

"Yes, perhaps Willowstar should look at the kits. She would know which ones would be most suited for life in RiverClan," Cindertail agreed. "Although it might also be easier to get the whole mess sorted out before we started dividing up the kits." ThunderClan would be there, too, right? Maybe there was a kit that would be okay for RiverClan but would suit ThunderClan much better. RiverClan would need kits that had strong legs for swimming and thick pelts that could protect them from water. Considering the kits had the blood of each Clan flowing in them, it was possible that these RiverClan traits stuck out more in some than in others.

Ah well. Cindertail was just glad that she wasn't the poor she-cat going through this pain, the pain of losing six of her kits all at once. She'd done the right thing and taken a mate in RiverClan, one that she loved very much. If only Rivermist had done the same.

"Wow," the ginger she-cat muttered to her WindClan friends, observing a furious Rivermist talking to her leader. She was clealy very upset about the loss of her kits. Did she blame Ravenstar or something? Well, apparently she did. Maybe it was his fault, though. It was probably his idea to split the kits up even further. Although the whole fiasco could trace back to Foxfur, with his demanding of four of the kits at the Gathering. If he hadn't done that, Ravenstar wouldn't have divided them up even more to keep ShadowClan from gaining even more kits.

"She's...really angry, huh?" Gingertail observed quietly, watching the WindClan queen stalk off and disappear into the nursery. "I mean, she has a right to be, but isn't this her fault? If she hadn't taken a mate from another Clan, this wouldn't have happened. Right?"

((And yet, Gingertail's doing the same thing for the plot...xD;)

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Ravenstar's gaze hardened as Rivermist snapped at him, but he resisted the urge to hurl any words back at her. It might be pleasing to teach her not to take out her anger on him, but ultimately it would lose him more than it was worth. Instead he simply nodded and said calmly, "You needn't wait any longer for me to decide. Go and fetch Sandkit and Swiftkit; they will be coming with us to Fourtrees, and we should go as soon as possible. Specklestar will be angry enough as it is, there's no need to provoke her further."

Flicking his tail in dismissal, the small tom waited for Rivermist to return with her two kits while he remained with Willowstar. "If ThunderClan has not arrived when Rivermist returns with her kits, then we will be leaving without them. Assuming that they agree to my proposition, there is no need for them to be at Fourtrees today. Specklestar won't be expecting a confrontation, so our two patrols should be sufficient to deter any thoughts of attack." With that said, Ravenstar began to consider who to bring with them to Fourtrees.

Rivermist would likely want to see her kits off, but he decided to bring at least two other cats as well, simply to make up for ThunderClan's absence and add intimidation value. Streamfur could remain here and take care of camp in case Ashstar arrived while they were gone. After a moment's consideration, he decided that Dustfur, Skytail, and Lightningfang could accompany them. That would be a large patrol, and in combination with RiverClan's five cats they would be a group far too large to be bargained with.

[nightstorm]

[My apologies to Sandkit and Swiftkit for dragging them away from the nice game of mossball they were planning....And to Cai and Yellow for powerplaying. But Spore threatened to eat me if I didn't post.... 0.o]

Her kits weren't in the nursery. At least, Sandkit and Swiftkit weren't. With a sigh, Rivermist took one more glance around, then reexited the nursery. Without a single look towards the waiting patrol, she padded across the clearing, her tail flicking irritably. Finally, she reached the elders' den, where she had suspected her kits were attempting to forget their troubles. Sure enough, they were just beginning a game of mossball.

Rivermist dipped her head respectfully to the elders, and spoke in a quiet voice, "Ravenstar wants you two. Now." Her voice trembled a bit with grief, but she managed to keep composed, as she nudged her two kits Sandkit and Swiftkit away from the elders' den and towards the clearing.

"Here they are, Ravenstar," she said coolly, sitting behind her kits with her tail wrapped protectively around her. Her fur lightly brushed her kits, but they were sure to move away. They hated her now. Though she wanted nothing more than to curl around them and nuzzle them, and shut out the world, they wanted nothing more than to never hear about her again. "Specklestar is waiting then? Very well." She said nothing more, only sat and waited, as Ravenstar continued making plans about which kits would go to which Clan. As if they were nothing more than pieces of freshkill to be shared in times of hunger, she thought bitterly. The silver queen trembled slightly, her sorrow making her head spin.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

((It's alright. It's quicker to get the plot going that way.))

Sandkit let out a squeal as a piece of moss suddenly hit her in the face and another whizzed past her ear. After the past couple days of uncertainty and weirdness surrounding her parents and rumors of she and her litter mates going to ShadowClan, it was a relief to relax and play a game with the elders. Morningfrost had declined the offer to play, but Sandkit didn't mind because she was having enough fun with Leopardtail and Swiftkit. She crouched down in a clumsy hunting pounce and was about to chase after the mossball when she heard her mother's voice at the entrance of the den. Sitting upright, with shreds of moss falling off of her ginger pelt, Sandkit gave Rivermist a confused look. Ravenstar wanted to see them? For what? More curious and excited than wary, she flashed Swiftkit a wide-eyed look and scampered out of the elders' den behind Rivermist.

When they came to the clearing she noticed the strange scents in the air. Something was different. The scents were weird, just like the other night when the loners had come into camp. The strangers smelled different from WindClan but also different from the loners. Her green eyes looked over the cats, wondering if they were loners too or cats from another Clan. Uncertain now, Sandkit moved closer to Rivermist, lightly brushing against her and Swiftkit. Why was Ravenstar going to see them with strange cats around?

She was uncertain until she heard the queen speak again. "Specklestar? Wait, she's the leader of ShadowClan, isn't she?" Sandkit's eyes grew wide and she whipped around to look at her mother. "We are going to ShadowClan, aren't we? Why? Why can't we stay here?" Her voice held shock and disbelief, and even a tiny hint of anger as she realized what was going on. She moved away from Rivermist to stare defiantly at her, then gave a questioning glance at Ravenstar. Had he been in on this too? What was going on?

Willowstar nodded in agreement with Ravenstar after Rivermist left to get the kits. Exactly what she had been thinking. RiverClan and WindClan combined should be able to convince Specklestar that she shouldn't fight for the kits. She was still getting two and it would be pointless to fight two strong Clans for two more. Shortly after Rivermist left, she reappeared with two young kits. Willowstar looked them over, wondering if they would be fit to live in RiverClan. Until Rivermist mentioned Specklestar. So those two would be going to ShadowClan? Watching the loudmouthed ginger kit and her dark-furred brother, she suspected that those two would be good ShadowClan cats. Which ones of the litter would be suitable RiverClan cats, she wondered?