With soft morning light falling bright and golden across charred black lands with as much kindness as burnished fur and seaglass eyes, Sunstar stares upon the tallrock. There is no hiding that is where his gaze lingers. Not from the first instance he set his sights there to the long breaths that pass since then. In and out, exhale and inhale, over and over, he stares with intent uncertainty. A sense of knowing unknowing, as if searching for the word to something in another language. How would a dog speak of a rock? Of blood, and bone, and terrible wounds? (If he asked the beast how he had tasted, would the answer be, worth everything? It had fled into the flames. Does its grave mark some charred part of their territory WindClan has not yet explored?) Shakily, he exhales.
And in a choice much like an admission of guilt, he does not climb the rock. The warrior turns where he stands at its base and roars to his clan: "Gather beneath the Tall Rock for a clan meeting!" It is the loudest he has been since Snakehiss, if not even earlier, and there is a subtle soreness to the words and his throat both. From here he can meet their eyes. Stare directly at those who question him, internally or without. His cold eyes harden. "I warn you first of Snakehiss, and the traitor he has made himself to be. He claims that StarClan puts any failure of mine upon this clan; upon himself, and his kittens. That this world, blanketed again by ash and soot, is my weakness, and your foolishness."
Cold, steely eyes sweep his clanmates. "StarClan sent a warning that this would come. That darkness would shadow our clan once more, but that we would endure it. That WindClan would prevail! If you stand with Snakehiss, if you doubt the warriors who fight and die at your side, then go. You will not be mourned, just as he will not be mourned. He was given his chance and he cast it aside. I can only hope that none of you are so foolish as to do the same." He is not one that can plead his case with tearful desperation, or sway them from the brink with such gentle camaraderie. Once he had been a friend to them. Now he stood as a leader, someone blessed, untouchable, and worthy of their trust, yes, but so too the face of their critique. Should they fail, it will be on his shoulders. Should his clan turn their backs on him, it will be of his own doing too.
He sighs. Before his clan, Sunstar's eyes close and open β his mouth follows the same cycle a half-moment later, and his eyes are fixed upon Featherpaw, of all his kits. The one most like his lost child in color. His son is dead. Named in final moments, perhaps resting among the stars. At least he had the time to prove himself; at least his final moments had been with his clan. But there is no escape from the memory of Bearflight's final breaths wasted on wails and apologies both. He was in pain. There was nothing he could do about it. Eyes squeezed tight, mouth painfully opened, "Iβ"
And then, nothing.
He exhales a breath. "Featherpaw. Rivepaw. Sunlitpaw. Lavenderpaw." Each name said slowly, with weighted clarity. "I, Sunstar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon these apprentices. They have trained to understand your code, and our way of life. Now, I commend them to you as warriors in turn. @FEATHERPAW @rivepaw @sunlitpaw @LAVENDERPAW, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan," he hesitates, weighted, "even at the cost of your own life?"
And in a choice much like an admission of guilt, he does not climb the rock. The warrior turns where he stands at its base and roars to his clan: "Gather beneath the Tall Rock for a clan meeting!" It is the loudest he has been since Snakehiss, if not even earlier, and there is a subtle soreness to the words and his throat both. From here he can meet their eyes. Stare directly at those who question him, internally or without. His cold eyes harden. "I warn you first of Snakehiss, and the traitor he has made himself to be. He claims that StarClan puts any failure of mine upon this clan; upon himself, and his kittens. That this world, blanketed again by ash and soot, is my weakness, and your foolishness."
Cold, steely eyes sweep his clanmates. "StarClan sent a warning that this would come. That darkness would shadow our clan once more, but that we would endure it. That WindClan would prevail! If you stand with Snakehiss, if you doubt the warriors who fight and die at your side, then go. You will not be mourned, just as he will not be mourned. He was given his chance and he cast it aside. I can only hope that none of you are so foolish as to do the same." He is not one that can plead his case with tearful desperation, or sway them from the brink with such gentle camaraderie. Once he had been a friend to them. Now he stood as a leader, someone blessed, untouchable, and worthy of their trust, yes, but so too the face of their critique. Should they fail, it will be on his shoulders. Should his clan turn their backs on him, it will be of his own doing too.
He sighs. Before his clan, Sunstar's eyes close and open β his mouth follows the same cycle a half-moment later, and his eyes are fixed upon Featherpaw, of all his kits. The one most like his lost child in color. His son is dead. Named in final moments, perhaps resting among the stars. At least he had the time to prove himself; at least his final moments had been with his clan. But there is no escape from the memory of Bearflight's final breaths wasted on wails and apologies both. He was in pain. There was nothing he could do about it. Eyes squeezed tight, mouth painfully opened, "Iβ"
And then, nothing.
He exhales a breath. "Featherpaw. Rivepaw. Sunlitpaw. Lavenderpaw." Each name said slowly, with weighted clarity. "I, Sunstar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon these apprentices. They have trained to understand your code, and our way of life. Now, I commend them to you as warriors in turn. @FEATHERPAW @rivepaw @sunlitpaw @LAVENDERPAW, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your clan," he hesitates, weighted, "even at the cost of your own life?"
β ππ'π π πππππ ππ
ππππππ
πππ ββ±β±
πππ ππππππππ γ 04.17.2024 γ
π€α¨
-
OOC. this meeting is canonically late for sun! and it takes place a day ish after snake's exile. i counted my shoutouts at the beginning of the month when i was planning my meeting, so i'm so sorry if someone hit my quota but isn't on here! if you feel that you've been missed, hit me up! you deserve to be recognized! <3
BIG SHOUTOUTS to @SCORCHSTREAK @Bluepool @RATTLEHEART @Periwinklebreeze. @WOLFSONG @cottonpaw @SNAKEHISS (lmaoooo) @slateheart @DIMMINGSUN @Firefang @SNOWGLARE @SOOTSPOT @BLUEFROST @FEATHERPAW @CELANDINEPAW @PINKPAW @downypaw @Grasskit @Frightkit @Lakekit. @Brackenkit @ferretkit -
SUNSTAR. WINDCLAN LEADER. β β β β β β β β β
βββ AMAB HE - HIM - HIS β±β± 4+ YEARS OLD.NPC,. MATE TO WOLFSONG; FATHER TO ONE LITTER WITH HIM. MENTORING RIVEPAW.
TH β±β± A LARGE, SCARRED CHOCOLATE AND WHITE ROSETTE TABBY TOM WITH SEAGLASS EYES -
"speech"