October's Activity Reward Claim is up! See your clan's OOC board to post in the claim thread.
LEADER OF SKYCLAN
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The first winter winds had begun to show their dreary faces. Cold and nearly breathtaking, they moaned and drug their wintry claws between the changing trees at the heart of the forest. Where the pine needles of Hawkstar's kingdom were a lush green and undisturbed by the colder elements, the leaves here turned an ashy brown and now littered the forest floor beneath her feet. She could feel the crunch of dead leaves beneath her paws, and she could smell that earthen musk that whisked across her whiskers with every crackling step.
Leaf-bare was fast approaching, and for maybe the first time, Hawkstar was truly glad to now that there were kittypets in SkyClan's ranks that could house the full-time warriors in the case that their newly claimed territory proved to be a barren wasteland in the true winter months.
Bunching her muscles into a hunter's stance, Hawkstar leapt up to the Greatrock was ease, hardened paws barely scraping the side of the stone, an unnoticed process in the wake of her growing anxiety. To be so close to the other clan leaders was truly a curse. Suffering the closeness and touchiness of her own clanmates was one thing, it was another vexation entirely to be forced to sit civilly by Juniperstar and her colleagues. Her forest-born colleagues with their own StarClan and own codes of personal honor that decorated their darkened pelts. Yes, it was that gnawing idea that she was alone in her own theocracy that fueled the urge to tug at the hair just beyond her peach-fuzz shoulder again. But, then again, was the Gathering of all five clans not the perfect excuse to pull the others to a StarClan she knew: a StarClan that had faith in her?
The idea is tempting, if even for just a fleeting moment: "SkyClan fares well these past few moons. Our warriors are strong and our apprentices flourish under the tutelage of my most devoted mentors. I am pleased to announce that two of my warriors have elected to join my council: Quailstep and Brightnose, and our nursery is full and lively with another litter on the way. SkyClan is truly blessed in this time," She grits her teeth behind a plasticky, corporate smile. These cats have no need to know that Rain's coming litter worried her more than it excited her, especially with how uncertain the coming season was.
"There have been bear and dog sightings at the furthest reaches of our territory," the pointed king continues, and she is careful to pick and place each word precisely, so as not to let on to SkyClan's weakness so easily. Their lost warriors, their breach of safety, the devastating toll that the death of Duskpool left behind. An entire lineage swept away by despair in the blink of an eye ... she looks forward, and pretends to ignore Flowercloud's slumped shoulders beneath her. "these animals will no doubt be as much of a threat to any of you as they were to us. I advise caution wandering out too far without a full patrol or buddy system."
There is a hint of her own threat under her cool tone: a rendezvous into SkyClan territory would no longer be treated as a minor infraction. To trespass was to meet a foe as vicious and fearsome as the evoked ideas of dogs and bears. After the attacks on Cinderpaw, Chrysalisgaze, and Rosebelly leading to bruises, fatal wounds, and laterally death, Hawkstar's patience had long since run out. SkyClan would not allow itself to be a punching bag to these forest-born ravagers. Hawkstar would not allow it.
"But luckily, there is nothing else we need to share. That's all from SkyClan."
// please wait for the leaders to post before replying !
