Get it Together, Now ✪ Council

[Dustystar Dustystar]

✪ Align my Heart, my Body, my Mind​

indent Dustystar leads the group away from camp, towards the small grove of redbud bushes several horse-lengths from camp. The wall of dense, green foliage protects the sensitive conversation from prying eyes and ears. Still, she glances over her shoulder as she enters the brush, to check that they're not being spied on.

indentWhen she's satisfied that they're alone, she follows her council into the redbud. "Thank you all for coming here." She sits, neatly curling her tail around her paws. The humid summer air sticks to Dustystar's lungs. "There's things I'd like to discuss that I think would be best kept private, for now. We're in a rather tight situation right now. And we're without a medicine cat."

indentThe words hang heavy in the air. As much as Dustystar would like to believe Gladebloom will come back to them, Windclan can't wait any longer. There's blood on the wind, and they're left vulnerable without someone to tend to wounds. "We have Meadowpaw, of course. I don't want to put this all on her, though." Meadowpaw, despite her maturity, is still young, recovering from a life changing injury. "She needs to finish her training, not to have the weight of the clan's health on her."

indent"But that leaves us with a problem, doesn't it." Dustystar's brow furrows tightly. "Starclan hasn't been kind enough as to send anyone else a dream, like they did for Gladebloom. I suppose that means it's up to us to choose." Her tail flicks, swatting away gathering gnats. "We don't have many options for cats with herbal knowledge. The only one I can think of." She turns a green eye to her council, waiting for a reaction to her words.
"Is that loner Meadowpaw dragged in. Bengt."

- @nutmegpurr @Merrystalk @Honeyflower @MAREMANE @GOLDENROAR -​

Dustystar - 27 moons - Windclan Leader

 

[Merrystalk Merrystalk]

—————————————— Dreaming along in a pace you'll understand. ✦

Merrystalk wasn't all too shocked at the summoning of the council; the last moon had felt like a flurry of activity, and, well, it had been. The gathering was frankly a nightmare; he was glad to trust his gut and get the clan out of there before it became all-out bloodshed. Then, in the wake of it all, with their medicine cat going missing and so many new cats joining the clan? It felt nigh impossible for him to wrap his head around. But Merry had no choice; it was his role in the clan to keep a steady head about anything thrown at him.

As the council entered the ring of deep green bushes they often used for meetings, the world seemed to muffle all around them, to which the tom let out a small sigh. His expression only hardened as the fox in the coop was addressed. "Aye, Meadowpaw's been havin' a... Tough time tryin' to take on Gladebloom's work in her stead." The tortie's gaze averted, her lashing out at him being all too reminiscent of how he once had to his fellow barncats at her age, lost and scared and needing some semblance of a scapegoat to even have a chance at keeping herself together.

He clicked his tongue, lost in thought. There wasn't anyone else who could help them, maybe they could seek counsel with the Shadowclan medicine cat for hel- "Bengt?" The name slipped from his maw before he could have even processed what Dustystar said. Immediately, he grew a little sheepish as he tried to steady himself, coughing a little to try and make his surprised outburst seem like a slip of the tongue rather than anything. "I mean- Well..." His incredulous expression melted away for a moment as he considered further.

Owlbear had mentioned the tom had helped some with her persistent, as always, cough; he seemed personable enough with the rest of the clan already; he already seemed to have gotten on Hollowmumble's good side, and, well, Meadowpaw trusted him. For his apprehension this whole time, it wasn't towards Bengt but more so the fear of his appearance luring dangerous cats to the clan.

But for all his nights scouting, there was no sign of anyone dangerous. Once there was a time Merry brought cats to the barn without an ounce of judgment, and he was ashamed to realise how much more closed off he had become to the idea of cats joining.

Merry shook his head, more to himself, before looking to Dustystar with a hum and a nod. "Y'Know, the worst that could happen is Starclan disagrees with our decision, but yer right. He's already pullin' his weight 'nd if Meadow trusts him, 'nd so do you? Well, I gotta agree." He sat back on his haunches. It felt weird that Meadowpaw wasn't here herself to agree to discuss the matter, the realisation making his face scrunch a little. "I think it'd be wise to ask Meadow's perspective too, but it's cruel to leave her flounderin' 'nd he seems the only cat fit to fill in what we lost."

— And it's harder than you think,

Telling dreams from one another. —

• 
  Merrystalk
  ✦—Windclan Gale Guard | 30 Moons
  ✦—He/Him
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A skinny, tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes and pelt speckled with hay.
  #9D6E46

 

[HoneyflowerHoneyflower's icon]

Slow Down, Just Breathe

It was a welcome change of pace to leave the nursery despite the somber reason. Sweetnose could watch the kits for a little while, and if something came up where he needed to leave camp she trusted Owlbear to keep an eye on her daughters. The exhausted mother gives a click of her tongue before nodding in agreement with Dustystar. So much had happened in the past moon- very little of it actually good, in her opinion. Perhaps it was wishful thinking on her part that things would calm down and return to...some semblance of normalcy. Or perhaps this was just another facet of clan life she would need to get used to as time moved on.

"I agree that we can't put this all on Meadowpaw to figure out on her own," She starts, a yawn escapes Honeyflower and she shakes herself in an attempt to wake up a little more before continuing. "But Gladebloom was the only other cat from the barn that had more than basic herb knowledge..."

The suggestion of the loner the apprentice had brought in brings a hesitant smile to her face as Merrystalk said his piece. She nods. Of course Meadowpaw's opinion on this mattered. But someone else's opinion mattered just as much. "...He does seem to have more herb knowledge than most, Owlbear can attest to that. But does he want to stay here at all?" The question hangs in the air, letting the weight of it settle between them all. "It's a lot of responsibility to suddenly put on him when he's barely recovered and we don't even know whether he'll want to stay with us or not." She did not think he would be so quick to leave after the hospitality the clan as a whole had shown him, but there was always a chance. She hoped he'd stay, if not for the clan then at least for Meadowpaw.

xxx

All We Have Is All We Need

Tags

Honeyflower

✿—Gale Guard Of WindClan
✿—She/Her
✿—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✿—Dilute Calico Shecat With Green Eyes And A Floppy Ear
#a4e1ba

 

[Dustystar Dustystar]

✪ Align my Heart, my Body, my Mind​

indentDustystar's tail bristles. "I don't want to sound ungrateful," She says, voice clipped. "But if Starclan is so against it, they could've sent us someone else. They may watch us from above, but they aren't the ones with paws on the ground. We need another healer, and we can't go waiting around for one."

indentOnce she's said her piece, her shoulders sag, the tension seeps from her body. "I do agree with the rest of your points though. We don't know if we can trust Bengt, or if he trusts us." For all they know, he could have some family of his own that he's been waiting to run back to as soon as he's well enough. "But if he was going to cause trouble, I think we've given him ample opportunity." They haven't been lax with him, by any means, but they haven't exactly kept him caged up, either. "Trusting is difficult, nowadays. But we've trusted plenty of cats to join us this moon. I don't see why we don't extend the same to Bengt." She's trying to convince herself as much as her council, now. The memory of teeth on her throat is not so easily forgotten. She reminds herself, though, that is opportunity cannot be given up.

indent"Maybe he won't stay, but It can hardly hurt to ask. As for the sudden change of pace... we'll ease him into it." Bitterly, she remembers that she had not even begun her recovery when the responsibility of leadership was thrust upon her. There's no use in letting Bengt suffer the same fate, though.
"But we can't let Meadowpaw take this on herself for much longer."

Dustystar - 27 moons - Windclan Leader