private PLAY DATE &. counsel meeting

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

the counsel is notably smaller with two cats missing but... they cannot afford to sit and grief the loss of the medicine cat's apprentice, and a lead warrior. frostbite needed time to heal, to focus on himself and the young kits of his that were still alive. he needs to focus on that. magpiepaw was... gone. missing. he might as well have been dead, even if chilledstar hopes he isn't but then again... maybe that would be better than being with a twoleg. there is no telling what twolegs would do to magpiepaw. they can only hope that if he is with one, that he's happy. and safe. they shake their head, no longer wanting to thinking about it. they needed to focus on the issue at hand.

frogs. there was too many of them. with them came less herbs. with them came more predators and more danger. at first it was good but now, it was entirely out of paw. they needed to do something and they needed to do something yesterday.

"suggestions on what to do about the frogs."

they ask the cats sitting in their den, and though they're listening, they're still just out of it. losing a couple lives is weighing a lot more heavily than it would have if it was just one. they still haven't even told starlingheart that they've lost two, but now wasn't the time. they'd deal with it later. they needed to get rid of these damned frogs.

———————---***ALL OF MY FEELINGS ARE GONE***———————---​

I LEFT 'EM ALL ON THE FLOOR✧ MAN WHO'S TO BLAME IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME NO MORE

•  
• — black feline with a white marking across their face, a white chin, a white right front paw, and blue eyes. chilledstar is covered in scars, the most prominent ones being the one across their face, and the one across their neck.
  — 45 moons old; ages the 3rd every month
  — they / them pronouns
  — aromantic / homosexual ; currently not looking / looking
  — child of JAGGED and RAVEN
  — shadowclan ; loyal to shadowclan ; other info if applicable
  — mildly difficult to befriend ; trusts barely anyone; trusts no one outside of shadowclan
  — "speech", thoughts, attacking
  — peaceful powerplay allowed

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[smogstar]

Enthralled by the fickle nature of what could be, Smogmaw tends to bide his time exploring endless hypothetical pathways. Schemes and theories often circulate through his mind which either excites him, appals him, or makes him dismally frustrated.

Pre-promotion, this stemmed solely from obsession. As deputy, the temptation becomes more so a defensive measure against detrimental outcomes for both himself and his Clan. Preparing for possibilities make the inevitable more calculable and predictable, allowing room for a greater degree of control. Alas, this in itself is an optimistic notion; no hypothetical scenarios could have foreseen what this past moon has brought upon the swamplands.

Magpiepaw is gone, possibly forever. Starlingheart must pick out the shrewdest young cat amongst them and instruct another apprentice tirelessly without pause. The Carrionplace rats had themselves a feast at Sweetpaw's expense. Frostbite has undergone familial plight that he'd never wish to experience. And the frogs, those infernal frogs, somehow elevated themselves from prey to an existential peril.

Smogmaw can't even circle around with his head held high and make a quip about how they never should've hoped the frog boom was a positive sign. This ongoing sequence of absurdity is both frustratingly chaotic and depressingly unpredictable. Their only recourse is to act equally as capricious—a brazen answer to a brazen circumstance.

The deputy retains a blank expression as the council meeting starts to unfold at a leisurely pace. Amber eyes seek Chilledstar through their den's shade, unwavering, on standby for further instruction or suggestions of their own. Silence reigns. Brows wrinkle at this, but he does not interpret it as a shortage in initiative or ideas. They're requesting counsel on how to address the clan's most prominent issue, and they will weigh each proposed strategy before taking a verdict.

To him, the most straightforward solution appears to be the most sensible in this situation. The silver tufts along his chest puff out as he clears his throat, announcing: "The frogs in our territory have never been so high in number. They impact the herbs that grow in the swamp, and Starlingheart's supply will take a hard knock, if it hasn't already." He projects his gaze onto the medicine cat for but a fleeting second. In the long term, this puts any possible kitting, infection, illness, or injury at an immediate risk. "We cannot coexist with the frogs, not the way they are right now. We ought'a thin out and root out the surplus as much as we can, and we need to start doing so as soon as possible."

He is stating the obvious, painfully so, but it must be declared explicitly to set the brainstorming on this course. Let there be no haze or confusion as to what needs to be done. The severity should serve as an incentive for swift action. "Kill them and destroy the eggs. That's my suggestion. We can take apprentices out into the territory and have them hunt for tadpoles as well. It won't fully remove the issue, but slowing their growth will help even things out."

If this course of action is not taken, they might as well wait until Leaf-bare when the frogs starve and wither to prepare for the next seasonal cycle.​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

It's wrong, he thinks, that as the council sits here, dwindled in numbers, those who have gone or those that Sharpshadow has thought fit for the position. Magpiepaw had always been weird enough to be a Medicine Cat. Frostbite had an air of responsibility that few have ever matched within ShadowClan's ranks. They should both be here. Not him, whom no one wanted to listen to. Not Forestshade, who no one should listen to.

She stares at the empty space where Frostbite should be. They move, to make such a space less apparent, but it's there, even if none of them were talking about it. Today, they're here to talk about frogs. Who would've thought ShadowClan would be sitting around, complaining about Too much prey! For once in their lives— and most likely, never again.

Get rid of them, was the obvious answer. But they were basically doing that already and keeping their bellies full in the process. It didn't seem to deter them too much. Maybe the next step was to start making the elders and Medicine Cat hunt; hell, get the kits started early so the extra claws would finally let them cut the population down. Maybe they should simply demand that cats be hungrier and get busier.

Eggs. Right. Frogs didn't just... come from nowhere, no matter how much it seemed like it. " It's about as good of a suggestion as we'll get, " Sharpshadow agrees, shuffling her paws. " You're an egg expert... or something, aren't you? M-maybe you can show the clan where they most often pop up. " She clears her throat, feeling weird at the prospect of telling Smogmaw to do anything.​