development A BLOOD MOON WAY UP IN THE SKY // DEMOTION

[Ternstar.]

SCORPION STING,
I DON'T WANNA BLEED​

---

ternstar & 27 moons & female & she/her & leader of shadowclan

---

★★★★★★★★★

—— ─ ─ As the moon rises slowly overhead, the sky strangly clear, Shadowclan remains awake well into the night.

Its not too unusual, to see cats going about their business by only the moons light. Of all five clans, only they stalk the marshes in the darkness, hunting and patroling at all hours. Shadowclans territory is the smallest, the harshest, the emptiest. They need every advantage they can get.

What is strange, however, is the scene that lingers within camp — raised voices that start from within the Leaders den, as once more the leader and deputy bicker. " We are going to starve to death. "

Her voice is flat, despite its volume — pained and weary. Her own stomach feels tied in knots, the fear of eating the wrong thing keeping her from eating anything at all. Worse still fare their clanmates, cooped up in Marbleleafs den. " We should have fought harder for that territory. Look what your retreat has cost us. " she says, directing her ire upon her deputy.

In truth, she isn't angry at Sharpsahdow. Not really. Its the situation itself she hates, this stars awful curse that leaves her seething. Sharpshadow isn't to blame for shadowclans misfortune. But Ternstar cannot yell at starcaln, lest she draw more of their ire. And she's certainly not going to take the blame herself, when it feels as though her deputy — her whole council, for that matter — are working against her.

─ actions & " speech " & 'thoughts / qoutes'​

---

( TELL ME THAT I'M NOT LOST )

---

. ݁₊ ⊹ Ternstar is a massive blue-silver tabby she-cat with an all white head and striking vibrant blue eyes. She is far from the kindest of cats, often cold and aloof - with a notable soft-spot for kits, and a rather dark streak for mischief. She is supposedly mates with Wormwatcher, and is parent to Rainbowpaw, Cornflowerpaw, and Ivorypaw. She is gifted in battle, and still maintains all nine of her star-given lives. ​

// @SHARPSHADOW

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

This is pointless, really, Ternstar snapping her teeth at him instead of dwelling on solutions. Sharpshadow wouldn't pretend a leader couldn't be frustrated, or anything... But is it something they should be? Like this, anyway? Smogstar and Mirestar— their voices level, gazes steady— had answered this with a resounding no. Whatever impassive face Chilledstar had wore, irritation always shone through them clear as day. It was an ugly look, really.

Sharpshadow isn't sure what he prefers. Was it the stoicism seen from ShadowClan for moons now? Or was it whatever this is— not even a lack of care, but the stuff being given in all the wrong places? Ternstar couldn't even spare her the privellege of sounding angry. She must think herself a RiverClanner, with the way she acts. Ternstar isn't any better than him for not sounding angry. No better for the narrow of her eyes being level, and her coat not looking like a rat's nest.

"We should have fought harder for that territory?" she parrots, the grind of her fangs making the words gritted. "If you gave a rat's tail, you would've sent more cats, Ternstar!" It's probably be the world's most pointless question, to ask if Ternstar understands how completely stupid she sounds right now. Flamestar had practically lined the entire forest with every one of her warriors, just about. Hell, she'd probably flaunted her numbers at that past gathering to make the point, clear as day.

"Aren't you the Leader?" No matter how watered-down the title was... Everyone still had to listen to the queen plucked straight from the nursery, just because she wore a star by her name. "If you really wanted to— If everyone was completely fine on the battlefield like you and Swansong think—" Sharpshadow rolls his shoulder, feels the dull ache of where ThunderClan claws had dug in with viciousness. "You could've said: "ShadowClan, ignore my idiot deputy! Keep fighting!" and I would've died for that strip of land you were going to lose anyway. Whatever!" She would have to, because as insane as it is, Ternstar is ShadowClan's leader, and he is ShadowClan.

 

[Ternstar.]

SCORPION STING,
I DON'T WANNA BLEED​

---

ternstar & 27 moons & female & she/her & leader of shadowclan

---

★★★★★★★★★

—— ─ ─ " And you were supposed to be my deputy. " she says, staring at Sharpshadow. " You treat your position like it is a burden you do not wish to bear. Like it is some impossible task to even try. " she cannot help but to make comparisons — " You argue against my every choice without even asking why. You accuse me of wanting Shadowclan to fail — of not doing what is best. And yet you cower away from your own role. You act as though each daily task is some impossible choice for you, and yet claim every decision I make is the wrong one. Amberhaze put more thought into patrols, more effort into keeping our clanmates foolish behavior to a minimum, in a single day of responsibility then I have seen from you in these past moons. " She would not trust him as her deputy, paranoid and fearful as he is... and yet, perhaps she should've. Perhaps anyone would have been a better choice, then a cat who seems to want to wear the title without any of the consequences.

" Shadowclan needs a deputy who actually cares. " she says, voice cold. And then she is spinning on her heel, storming from the maw of her den. She pays no mind to the crowd already milling about — shadowclan is full of gossips after all, and the latest of the night patrols have still yet to leave. " Shadowclan! Gather for an emergency meeting. "

She does not expect the kits and queens to rise at her words, not unless they already lie awake and sleepless, but she waits for most of the rest to gather. " I say these words before Starclan. Since the burden has proven to much to bear, Sharpshadow will no longer be Shadowclans deputy. " it is no longer anger that burns in her eyes, but disappointment. Despite everything, she truly had expected more from her. More effort, more care, more trust, more understanding — just... more.

She leaps down from her perch, shoving past her former deputy with only a breif pause, looking him in the eyes. " I expect you to return to your regular lead warrior duties in the morning... unless that, too, is beyond you. " she says bitterly, uncaring of her reply — and then she is gone, vanishing drom the camp without so much as waiting around for her clans reaction.

She can't do this - not tonight, not when her clan is starving and her own mind and belly feel as though they are writhing with maggots at every turn.

─ actions & " speech " & 'thoughts / qoutes'​

---

( TELL ME THAT I'M NOT LOST )

---

. ݁₊ ⊹ Ternstar is a massive blue-silver tabby she-cat with an all white head and striking vibrant blue eyes. She is far from the kindest of cats, often cold and aloof - with a notable soft-spot for kits, and a rather dark streak for mischief. She is supposedly mates with Wormwatcher, and is parent to Rainbowpaw, Cornflowerpaw, and Ivorypaw. She is gifted in battle, and still maintains all nine of her star-given lives. ​

 

[Halfsun]

Halfsun had been lingering near the edge of camp when the shouting started.

She'd heard raised voices before—ShadowClan wasn't exactly known for hushed arguments—but this was different. Sharpshadow and Ternstar had fought before, yes, but this was colder. Sharper. Less like a disagreement and more like the beginning of something breaking.

By the time the emergency meeting was called, she had already taken a few slow steps toward the Clanrock, her paws heavy with dread. Her tail lashed once behind her, then fell still. The look in Ternstar's eyes as she leapt up told her all she needed to know—Sharpshadow was about to be humiliated, and the rest of them were expected to stand there and accept it.

"Since the burden has proven too much to bear…" The words clung in the air like fog, bitter and cloying, and Halfsun felt her jaw tighten until her teeth ached. Her ears flicked back, and she didn't move even as the murmur of the crowd began to ripple around her. She didn't look at anyone else. Just Sharpshadow.

Her old mentor stood where the title of deputy used to sit heavy on his shoulders—and now it was gone, cast off like it hadn't meant anything at all. It was infuriating. It was heartbreaking. And Halfsun hated the way her chest ached with it.

She took a step forward, slowly, deliberately, letting the rest of the Clan mutter and whisper around her like background noise. Her gaze flicked up, catching Sharpshadow's just for a moment. There was no pity in it—Sharpshadow would hate that. But there was a quiet sort of loyalty burning in her eyes, stubborn and steady as it always had been.

"What?"

It wasn't loud. It wasn't angry. But it cut through the noise like a claw through fog—sharp, clean, incredulous. One word that held everything she didn't know how to say yet: disbelief, frustration, refusal to accept the way this had been done.

She didn't move to leave, didn't turn her back. She just stood there nearby, head slightly turned to the side, like she might just bite the next cat who dared to whisper something smug or snide.

( ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ) smile for me when you set me free

• 
  
  
• 
  HALFSUN SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO APPLEJAW, ASHENFALL, SWANSONG, GARLICHEART, AND LAURELGRIN ; MENTORING LAVENDERPAW
  

  A tall and well-toned she cat with a long half-and half pelt, one side being a dark blue tabby and the other a bright cream, split by a pool of white at her center and travelling up her face like flames she is fire and ice simultaneously swirling into one. Her eyes are a mismatched shade of blue, with one being bright like the daytime sky and the other dark like the depths of the river.

  ✦ Difficult in battle + a skilled fighter
  

 

[MARBLELEAF]

MARBLELEAF

SHE / THEY ◆ SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT

It is not unusual to catch the leader and the deputy convening privately; in ShadowClan, it is not even necessarily unusual for them to shout at one another. But the nature of the conversation is not lost on Marbleleaf—not is it on Halfsun, it seems, who lingers on the periphery, her blue eyes creased in thought. She herself feels only frustration at the cats who are meant to lead them. Fighting among ourselves, while our Clanmates sicken and die. While our territory is trying to kill us all. That'll definitely help things, she thinks poisonously; her own eyes narrow into cautious slits as Ternstar bursts from her den and rigidly scales the Clanrock.

Marbleleaf comes to sit beside Halfsun, annoyed. "I don't have time for this," she hisses under her breath. She needs to be tending to the growing number of bodies littering her den, not listening to Ternstar scold her deputy publicly. But the silver-pelted leader does worse than just berate Sharpshadow; she looks out at her Clan, her expression like ice, and she tells them that he is her deputy no longer.

Halfsun's response is a single, sharp, "What?" Marbleleaf stares almost resentfully at Ternstar, and then her gaze flicks to Sharpshadow, wherever she has fallen in this tattered puzzle and its missing pieces.

"Is this the time to be squabbling? To be acting without a deputy?" She forces the bite to leave her voice, knowing Ternstar will react poorly to open criticism, regardless where it has come from… but she can't hold it back. Her frustration has boiled over. "I—" And then she stops, realizing her words are fruitless. Ternstar has made up her mind.

She exhales, struggling to keep her composure. There is not much of it left.

"I have things to do." Angrily, she rises to her paws and whisks away from the warriors who gather. Any moment, another of them could collapse—and she needs to make sure she has, at the very least, an empty bed to damn them to.

ooc:

out, unless stopped

accordion

Marbleleaf is the ShadowClan medicine cat. She is thin, with a short fawn tabby pelt; the base color is a dull, almost-gray slate, and the whorling classic stripes are deeper shades of wet sand. She has white facial markings, chest, and paws, an angular face and build, and moss-colored eyes.

Lilacfur x Siltcloud / sibling to Sycamorebloom / mate to none / parent to none
mentored by Starlingheart / mentoring none
14 moons old as of 03/01/2025

penned by Marquette

 

[Swansong]

They could care less for the squabbling of clanmates, even it is their leader's voice that rings through the clearing. She speaks true, even as her words drip with venom. Sharpshadow hardly seems fit for deputy, hardly seems to want the role at all. And yet, Ternstar thrust her into this position and aired out her grievances in front of all the clan. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and they lie with perked ears to listen.

They are slow moving to come to the meeting, tail dragging across the ground. They know, before she speaks. They are to lose another deputy - though this one more mercifully than all the last. She would not be surprised if Sharpshadow was found missing in the morning; his only hope now is that the stars will spare their wrath where Ternstar did not.

Tufted ears press back slightly as the leader scolds her former deputy like a kit. She has a good head for leadership, but it seems tact does not come with it. They sigh softly, let the sharp words of their clanmates wash over them. There is no dismissal, no proper end to this meeting - and so they raise their clarion voice, head lolling slowly in questioning. "Will... a successor be chosen...?" They ask, gaze drifting between leader and disgraced deputy. They cannot afford to let the clan grind to a halt, Ternstar must know that.

⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆

SWANSONGㅤ BIOGRAPHY ㅤ/ ㅤTOYHOU.SE
★ demigirl ( she / they ) ㅤ& lesbian, mate to poppyglow (npc'd)
★ㅤ 23 moons old & ages realistically, every 17th of the month
★ㅤ warrior of shadowclan for 11 moons
★ ㅤhalfshade x smogstar ㅤ& littermate to applejaw, ashenfall, garlicheart
★ㅤ ㅤmentored agaterain, swallowflutter & mentored by skunktail, sabletuft
★ㅤ penned by saturnid & ㅤmessage saturnids on discord for plots!

"SPEECH"

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

He flattens his ears against the bite of Ternstar's words. The leader turns up her nose, and Sharpshadow wonders how someone could fluff with this confidence so quickly. Chilledstar had stood at Pitchstar's side before everything. Even Smogstar— deputy for as long as most would remember— tripped and fell the moment the seat of Leader was his. Wasn't Ternstar afraid? Wasn't she scared of letting ShadowClan down? Of letting herself down? Wasn't she afraid of— someway, somehow, stars forbid— reaching lows ShadowClan has never seen before, lacking the experience that she did?

Of course, he's not sure why he's bothering to ask questions he already knows the answer to.

A grimace of confusion further twists Sharpshadow's face. The twitch of her ears is neurotic; pricked one moment, fully taking in every word that doesn't make sense, and flat the next, veering away from the very same. Her maw catches on questions, on retorts. Smogstar gave him his spine, and it's anything but cowardice that keeps her speechless amidst Ternstar's rant. All that she wants to say muddies into a ball of feeling, and it's what makes her spine sharp. It's there in the widening of her eyes, wet with disbelief. Her words curl in on themselves, forming a simple, sincere sound. "What?"

Ternstar doesn't know what it means to be a coward, does she? Sharpshadow is a lot of things, not one of them good, really. But he has never been a coward. She's never been someone that doesn't try. The weight of those two ThunderClanners was nothing like this, the accusations tearing into her stomach now. Was Sharpshadow overzealous? Too... too full of herself to not let Ternstar make her own calls? Or was she a coward, and was she too lazy to try? Even Ternstar doesn't seem to know, and why would Sharpshadow trip over her paws for someone like that? The topic of ThunderClan land is lost the moment it's mentioned, thrown away in favor of something Ternstar can't possibly believe in. This was never about the land, it was about him being unwilling to mold himself to her.

And he wishes- he wishes it had been Smogstar. She wishes it had been someone she believed in, no matter how badly he annoyed her, and if Smogstar could have extended that belief to her in turn... maybe she wouldn't be whatever coward Ternstar believes she is. Instead, it's her that she stands beside, the molly's teeth in her neck, dredged from the same pond scum she had been.

Sharpshadow didn't want this, this... mimicry of a deputy's place, a spot beside Clanrock that spelled the story of her imminent demise, disappearance, whatever... But she wasn't a fox-heart. If she's what Ternstar says, she wouldn't bother arguing with her. The day's patrols would never be done. All of what she's done, all of what she's been doing since Chilledstar, since Granitepelt. The message hidden beneath his many murders: not suspicion, but attentiveness. Why would she have bothered to listen? Why does she bother?

It isn't that he believes her when she says he doesn't try. It's that Ternstar tells him this, and that Ternstar is their future. StarClan had deemed it so.

His prey eyes have never really left him, and he looks at ShadowClan's leader with them now, round and damp with tears of frustration. The grind of his teeth grates on his own ears. And what has she ever done besides care? Sharpshadow stands, speechless. What could she possibly say to someone so determined to see her this way?

ShadowClan's leader is not his, just as ShadowClan's deputy had not been Ternstar's. He is the bedraggled shadow of the molly as he slips from the leader's den. As a warrior of ShadowClan, he's made to prick his ears and lift his head... She closes her eyes in the face of the inevitable. And it dawns on him that things will always be this way. She will never be what anyone wants, no matter how hard she tries.

She opens her eyes to Halfsun's meow, and she thinks she might be trying to convince her otherwise, for a moment. However Sharpshadow could have managed that, she hasn't a clue. The now-warrior looks to Halfsun, then to Marbleleaf. His nose turns to the ground, and at Swansong's question, his stomach rolls.

It's needlessly cruel, how Ternstar shoves past her, and with his eyes fixed forward, Sharpshadow doesn't have the stomach to reply. The moon hangs nearly full in the sky. It doesn't keep him from pushing past camp's walls, in the end.

ooc:

Out