sensitive topics what's down in the dark will be brought to the light // injuries


With all the commotion going on it was no surprise half the clan had turned out to see what was happening. Admittedly, Flycatcher held back a little at first, but once he could see it was clearly something serious he padded over. He looks over Sunnyday and his apprentices with a concerned expression, though his gaze lingered on Sandpaw the longest. The deputy could not keep his eyes off her leg, wondering to himself what sort of beast had done that to her.

Like a few other clanmates, he suspected RiverClan, but quickly puts those thoughts aside when he detects no RiverClan scent clinging to their pelts. When Lichenpaw says that Sunnyday is responsible his brows raise in surprise. Whilst he couldn't call Sunnyday a friend outright, he did like the tom, even if he didn't always agree with his opinions. For instance, his refusal to hunt on Sunningrocks had not gone unnoticed. Despite some difficulties with Sunnyday in the past he hopes the tom might refute the claims made against him. So when Sunnyday does the opposite of that, Flycatcher can only stand there shocked and appalled, his mouth parting with shock before his expression ultimately shifts to one of horror. Howlingstar is understandably angry, growling at him and demanding answers. Sunnyday answers honestly for his part but Flycatcher doubts it will win him any favours. Flycatcher shakes his head. "How could you be so foolish, Sunnyday?" He reprimands sharply. There was more he wanted to say but chose against saying more, feeling as though other clanmates had already said similar words that got the point across just as well.​
 

Sunfreckle feels the knot in his chest tighten, he had hoped for a deep apology, understanding, remorse, but he saw only a cat so caught up in his head over his own moral superiority he could not accept how wrong he had been. Not even this incident, but everything leading up to it. They had lost Emberstar to those dogs, RiverClan had spit in their face when they asked for help so they dealt with it themselves and the least they deserved was the territory the had bled on that was more useful to them than any other cat. That the golden tom called it theft, that he lifted his nose up in refusal to participate in hunting there with this holier than thou attitude. This was not the kindhearted cat he once considered a friend, who had his heart in the right place despite his methods being unorthodox or foolish.
This was someone else. Someone he realized deep to his core he didn't trust. And he hated it. It felt almost like he was staring at Trufflepelt once more, his son's mentor and a once kindly old tom who turned out to have a black heart and daggered claws.
The red tabby is faintly aware of Shallowpaw there suddenly, quiet, morose, eyes cast downward and it takes all of his will not to fold his apprentice into a comforting hold and apologize, to apologize for the way another had failed him, because so many cats had. He wanted to tell him he'd never fail him, he'd be a warrior proper even if Sunfreckle had to fight tooth and claw for them to rise up; but he held his silence for now. It was talk to have later. His tail did loop out once in a gentle brush to the flank in acknowledgement that he was there, but the tabby's silence remained.
There was nothing he could say to what amounted to just excuses. Excuses and defiance.
You did the bare minimum and thought that was enough. Did you warrior duties and expect a reward.
Sunfreckle can't help but feel bitter, sorrowful. It was onl the tightness in his throat that kept him from speaking out. Silent fury over the entire affair. Poor Sandpaw, Poor Lichenpaw. Poor Shallowpaw.
...

So many apprentices hurt.
​
 
( ★ ) No

Lichenpaw answered before Sunnyday had the chance to speak. The apprentice's firm word sparked instant curiosity within her, and she shifted her gaze to him. If Riverclan hadn't attacked them, what had happened? So many possibilities...but nothing she could imagine would prepare her for the young tom's next words.

Sunny -- Sunnyday, um. He did. He attacked -- um, he -- he attacked us...

She couldn't even listen to the entire sentence. Her gaze ignited for the first time in a long time, and she whipped her head around to face Sunnyday. The Lead Warrior slowly rose the fur along her spine, and she stared at the warrior more intensely than she ever had towards another clanmate. Had he really attacked Lichenpaw and Sandpaw? She had considered the older clanmate a friend...maybe Lichenpaw was just making things up.

More clanmates began to gather, and Sunnyday confirmed Lichenpaw's statement. He had attacked them both...he had wanted to give them a taste of battle...to scare them. She couldn't believe her ears. Her nostrils flared, and she sunk her claws into the ground. How dare he hurt the youth that he was in charge of teaching? This was not what the clan was about. "How dare you." The words slipped off her tongue cooler than ice, and her tail would whip back and forth. Her gaze burned into the cream tom...betrayal, hurt, rage, so many emotions glittering behind them.

Howlingstar was equally as angry. She demanded for him to give her a good reason for her to believe he was loyal to the clan. He spoke again, but she was amazed once more at his words. "Those are hardly examples, that's just being a decent warrior." the tabby retorted, feeling her grip start to loosen. "We all chase off intruders...we all help fight foxes...that's just part of being a warrior. We aren't a group of rouges, we are a clan. We have morals, we take care of each other. Emberstar and Howlingstar trusted you with teaching the youth how to become honorable cats, and you attack them? I don't care what excuse you have...there is no excuse for this. Sunnyday...you were once I very close friend of mine...I can't believe you." She pushed her way forward, squaring up her shoulders. "Consider yourself lucky...if you had done this to one of my kits...I would have killed you."

With that, the red tabby would spin around, and storm off. She needed to burn off this anger, before her threat came true.

//out!

AND IC OPINIONS I LOVE SUNNYDAY IM SO SORRY!!! ​
( WHEN I FIND MYSELF ; I'MA BRING IT ON HOME )
 
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The tension crackled like a storm in the air- one that was winding up, rearing its head in the cumulonimbus expanse and waiting to strike them all down. Thus was the danger of anger, of a lack of control... what was it slumbering within these cats that made acting out so easy? That they could not stop for a moment and think before they acted... it had been the folly of the Executioner, and now fault lay at Leggy's paws.

Still, as they argued... Berryheart resigned himself to not intrude on the matter. To scold a warrior was not his place- it was Leggy's superiors, the lead warriors and the deputy and Big Mama, to cast their judgement upon him, and he would not cast forth his opinion when his own duty lay nest-bound in his den. As the truth fled from Freckles' stumbling jaw, confirmed by the perpetrator himself, the only noise that left Berryheart was a small sigh. He shook his head, disapproving. What an unnecessary inconvenience... what a pointless pain to put upon this apprentice.

"It's not broken," he confirmed lowly, inspecting Dune-pelt's leg. There was no impossible bend... no broken skin. It simply looked displaced. Confident enough to offer the apprentice his certainty, he nodded as he spoke, slow and low. "You'll be alright." He had plenty of ways to numb her pain- but the true cure perhaps lay elsewhere. Over the border- someone who had lived longer in prophetic placement than he. ​
PENNED BY PIN ☾​
 
Howlingstar listens to him with one ear flicked forward, the other angled back in agitation. She can feel the fur along her spine lifting as he speaks and she finds herself agreeing with Flamewhisker. What he's describing is just called being a warrior, doing what any cat here would do. But she won't soon forget the claw he drew down his stomach in his mocking of her, nor his admittance here and now that he was angry at his apprentices for not agreeing with him when it came to Sunningrocks. How far he'd gone to prove a point...

"Mentoring is a privilege and an honor, and it is one that I'm stripping you of. Lichenpaw will be given a new mentor, and Sandpaw will be given the same once she's healed." She can hear Berryheart assure her that it's not broken and she can't help but sigh with relief. "You will not run training sessions with apprentices, you won't instruct apprentices, you won't even so much as collect moss with apprentices, do you understand?" She demands, eyes narrowed into slits.​
 

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
"Those are hardly examples, that's just being a decent warrior."
In that moment he longed to argue that surely trying to be a decent a warrior was a sign of loyalty in itself and that any effort made was done in the name of the clan. And hardly examples? Then what even were they in their eyes? Putting his life on the line meant something! If it were nothing at all then why should he or any other bother laying their lives on the line in the first place? Maybe he really didn't belong among them when his worth was hardly anything at all.

That would be an argument for another day though so he chose to hold his tongue. Though he couldn't hide the flash of hurt from his eyes as he let all that Flamewhisker said sink in. The tom lowered his gaze and he trained his focus on that of his forepaws as he continued to wait for Howlingstar's verdict, though the declaration that Sandpaw's leg wasn't broken did make him sit up straight with a look of surprise. However he didn't feel any sense of relief, it only made him feel even more uncertain about the situation, and concerned about whether Berryheart could fix what he had done.

When Howlingstar started to speak he snapped his attention back to her and he heeded her words carefully. The decision was understandable, but he found himself looking in Shallowpaw's direction with a forlorn expression. He could accept having Lichenpaw and Sandpaw removed from his care, but he feared what level of rift would come about because of his actions in regards to his connection to Shallowpaw. Sunnyday drew in an uneasy breath before he looked his leader in the eyes. "I understand."
​
 
There is little else for Crowflower to do than watch. Watch as Sunnyday carries the injured form of Sandpaw, his apprentice, to the medicine cat den. Watch as Sunnyday confesses the entire terrible truth. Watch as he stands silent, chastised, before the clan in its entirety. Oh, what a spectacle this is. It's shameful, really, what Sunnyday has done. It is an undeniable truth that to harm one's apprentice is a foul misdeed. As much as Crowflower wants to believe that, despite what everyone says, the old tomcat has a good heart, she cannot find it within herself to overlook such an act. Training an apprentice is both an honor and a privilege. Apprentices have no choice in their mentor, and they must put their faith and their trust in whichever cat is chosen. To think that Sunnyday wanted to scare his apprentices to prove a point, that he could lose control and hurt them on purpose... Crowflower wants to give the old warrior the benefit of doubt, but even she struggles to accept his actions. Anyway, it is not her forgiveness that Sunnyday must earn.

The skunk-furred molly takes a moment to observe Sunnyday. Keen green eyes took note of the indignant set of his shoulders, how it contrasted with the forlorn twist of his lips and the shame glittering in his eyes. You can be so much more than this, she thinks. Only he can adjust his course before he plummets too far for recovery--if he hasn't fallen too far already. And he has to want to succeed, even if he can never win the forgiveness of the people he's hurt. "We should give Sandpaw some space," Crowflower suggests as the discussion draws to a tense silence. It's a shame they've crowded the poor girl so much already. With a frown, she glances once more at Sunnyday before returning to her duties.​
 
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