development SHE PAINTS HER EYES AS BLACK AS NIGHT \ starclan's warning

[MARBLELEAF]

MARBLELEAF

SHE / THEY ◆ SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT

She'd withdrawn from the Moonstone with the other medicine cats, her mind fuzzy, heavy and gray with the information StarClan has given her. Her body feels stiff, as though she's slept too long, but she can see the sky is just beginning to lighten through the roof of the cavern. Ternstar must know. All of ShadowClan… She pushes herself to her paws, her tail bristling behind her. She mews a quick, rushed goodbye to the other medicine cats, nearly tripping over her own paws as she makes the ascent toward Highstones.

The journey back is a blur. Her head pounds, aching with the warning Starlingheart had given her. The Clan will panic, she thinks; perhaps it would be better to seek Ternstar alone, give her the message without straining ears listening for cues. She imagines the discord, the unsheathed claws, the curses hurled toward their warrior ancestors, and she is, for a moment, convinced.

But…

The land is tainted. Her fur bristles about her neck and shoulders, fear beginning to ice the blood in her veins. Can we not even trust the land StarClan has given us? She heaves a sigh, wondering if any of the prey will be good… if they will have anything to eat at all? Will they have to resort to thievery, to codebreaking, just to keep themselves alive?

Marbleleaf enters camp just as the sun has begun to rise in earnest. She finds Ternstar, thankfully, just-risen, with a calm and measured aquamarine gaze, with no idea of the news her medicine cat will bring her. She gazes about camp, still and at peace in the warming morning air. Her mew is shaky, at first, but as she speaks, it strengthens. "I shared tongues with StarClan last night." Her gaze finds Ternstar's, though she feels the interested glares of her Clanmates beginning to prick at her fur. "Starlingheart came to me. She said…" Their ears twist backward, fixed sideways on their angular skull, "…that the hunter's gifts will continue to rot. That our land is tainted by something StarClan has never seen before."

She anchors herself with her claws, preparing herself for the reactions: fear, outrage, confusion. "Ternstar, I fear our prey is… not safe to eat," she mews, and then she stills, waiting for all of ShadowClan to come to this realization alongside her.

ooc:

mainly addressing @Ternstar. but open to all in camp :)

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 02/01/2025

penned by Marquette

 

[FROZENPAW]

As Marbleleaf returns to camp, Frozenpaw joins his clanmates in gathering around her, golden gaze fixed on the medicine cat as she speaks. He listens in shocked silence, ebony ears flicking backwards against his head as the murmurs already begin to ripple through the clan. The prey is unsafe to eat. He feels choked, then, by a heavy fog of fear and panic. His eyes go round as he searches for Bouncepaw and Snowlark in the crowd.

His first instinct is to analyze, to find some angle that makes this less dire than it seems, but there's no easy answer. The land is tainted. Prey will rot. If Marbleleaf is right, then survival itself has become uncertain. His tail flicks annxiously against the ground as he begins to lose composure, his black-stockinged legs beginning to shake. He glances toward Ternstar to watch for her reaction as unease continues to curl in his chest. If there's no prey, what will we do?

// searching for @BOUNCEPAW and @Snowlark.
​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

Something StarClan's never seen before.

It makes him feel small in a way he isn't ready for. He's seen so little outside of this territory, really... He knew nothing of WindClan or ThunderClan's territories much farther past the thunderpath. RiverClan and SkyClan were more like afterthoughts... strangers he was lucky to see on the night of the full moon, and ones that apparently leg lives very similar to how ShadowClan did. He's seen the mountains... he's the only ShadowClanner left that can say so, and even if he's seen so much that so many never would... he's just an ant really, praying for the word of something higher than him to tell him what to expect; to tell him what to do.

And even they are clueless. Being dead can only grant you so much wisdom, he supposes. She could never be properly angry at StarClan, she realizes, not when they floundered the same way ShadowClan did. Whereas ShadowClan could only continue to hunt, StarClan could only continue to send their jumbled signs, or something...

She's far from the only one leaning into listen. Her frown deepens at the sight of Frozenpaw, a tremble embedding itself into his paws... What terrible luck, to end up in a place where you don't belong, and not even know just what you've gotten into.

Urgency rounds his eyes. Frantic, she looks to Marbleleaf, and in her panic she nearly asks, did they say anything else Obviously not... The tom swallows down his bile. He wouldn't weigh down Marbleleaf with his gaze... She had enough of that already, didn't she? Sharpshadow wouldn't spare the same patience for Ternstar. Urgent, he presses: "What're we going to do?"

 

[Halfsun]

Halfsun had been on her way back from camp's edge when Marbleleaf's voice cut through the morning air like a claw through fog. She paused mid-step, ears pricking toward the medicine cat's words, heart already sinking before she even fully understood why.

"The hunter's gifts will continue to rot. Our land is tainted by something StarClan has never seen before."

The words hit harder than she'd expected. For a moment, she stood still, tail twitching once, sharply. The quiet that followed settled heavy over the clearing—thicker than any fog or snowfall, heavier than any prey she'd ever carried. StarClan didn't speak so plainly unless things were about to get bad.

Her eyes drifted to the fresh-kill pile. It looked the same as it always did, but suddenly, all she could imagine was the stench of rot, the sour slip of meat gone bad between one sunrise and the next. That cold, sour twist in her gut only tightened further when she looked toward the cluster of her clanmates gathered around Marbleleaf.

And then came Sharpshadow's voice, low but urgent—sharper than the hush around them.

"What're we going to do?"

Halfsun turned toward him, ears flicking back slightly. There was something unsettling in hearing that kind of question come from him. Not because it wasn't valid—it was the right question, the only question. But because when your deputy was asking it, it meant there were no easy answers.

She didn't speak, not yet. Her throat felt tight.

What were they going to do?

Hunt anyway? Pray every bite didn't carry sickness? Ignore StarClan's warning and pretend they could outpace it? Her gaze flicked again toward Marbleleaf, then to Ternstar, waiting for her answer with expectant eyes. She hated feeling powerless. Hated that all they could do right now was stand in a circle and listen to omens they didn't understand. Her claws flexed slowly in the dirt, grounding her. The question hung in the air like smoke. What were they going to do? She didn't know. And that was the worst part.

( ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ) 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
  

 

[greystare]

Our land is tainted by something StarClan has never seen before.

She turns her muzzle away from the gathering warriors, lids fanning shut as if the respite of darkness would wash away this news. They had survived Leafbare, to now face this? Dark ears fold back, the perfect plateau of silent horror for a heartbeat.

Marbleleaf is, at the best of times, a creature of quiet voice and gentle paws. Her mentor's apprentice, taught well and now a capable Medicine Cat in her own right ... to think she would need to endure such a horrific warning, to be the one to warn them of it, chills Greystare to her bones.

Luminous eyes raise skyward, as if she would ever find answers in the midmorning sky. Greystare is not blessed like their Medicine Cat, nor would she receive omens like their accursed Leader (a sentiment not exclusive to Ternstar, whom is simply the latest in an unfortunate line of predecessors).

"What have we done ... to incur a curse even StarClan has not seen?" She sobs from her place at the fringes of the group, a mumbled soliloquy of sorrow.

​

 

[Ternstar.]

SCORPION STING,
I DON'T WANNA BLEED​

---

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

---

★★★★★★★★★

—— ─ ─ Ternstar sleeps fitfully - uneasy, on edge. It is not exactly that she fears for Marbleleafs saftey, though she thinks that is a part of it, as it will always e, but more what news she will return with. HAs he truly angered the stars so soon? Are they trying to warn her of something? Or is it something far worse, far less personal and mroe far-reaching then her idle mind can think up on it's own?

She finds out soon enough, rising before the sun has even ascended, eyes snapping to Marblelef the moment she returns.

' The hunter's gifts will continue to rot... Our land is tainted by something StarClan has never seen before. '

Rot. Tainted. Something starclan has never seen before.

For a moment, Ternstar struggles to understand - jaws parting silently, only to close a second later without saying a word. Heart races, thundering in her chest as loud as any storm. If even starclan is stumped, if even in all their wisdom Starclan is helpless, then does Shadowclan even stand a chance? What are they-

' What're we going to do? '

She is jolted from spiraling thoughts by Sharpshadow's voice, and she meets her gaze with her own. " If... if it is our prey - the hunters gift that is the problem... we will have to find something else to eat. " She thinks back to her childhood with a sickening lurch of her stomach, eyes falling upon the clans youngest. Swansongs kits. Snowlarks kits. Stars - Duckshimmer has only just had a litter of her own.

She swallows woodenly, voice raising louder this time, steadier. " Carrionplace - we have found... things there before, not prey but still food. We will have to take what we can. And... " voice falters for another moment, before her gaze hardens, finding Sharpshadows once more. " We will see what we can take from our neighbors. See if it rots the same. "

If it is truly shadowclan's hunters that have been cursed... or just their land. Head turns, focusing upon Marbleleaf once more. " is there any cure? For those who have already fallen ill? " surely, everything has some cure - even yellowcough, as dreaded and dangerous as it'd been. Stars, she'll go on a damn journey herself to find what they need, so long as something helps.

─ 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. ​

 

[Swansong]

Swansong is quiet as the medicine cat brings her warning. Their fate grows crueler by the day, and the coldness of it makes them shake. "Something... even StarClan has not seen..." They repeat the words hollowly, voice soft with disbelief. They think of their last clear dream of the stars, that murky waste lit by nothing but the glow of mushrooms. The spirits of the dead are fading, their voices confused and distant.

She swallows thickly. Who, then, is left to guide them? They stare at Ternstar with an empty expression. She will do well in the famine, they suppose. She has always been a scavenger, eager to feast upon bug-corpses and maggot-food. But - they cannot live like this forever. They cannot keep praying for survival, and nothing more.

"What have we done ... to incur a curse even StarClan has not seen?" Greystare's voice cuts through their thoughts. Their eyes slip shut, a different question on their mind: What can we do to fix it?

⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆

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"