[Deleted]

REDSTAR

Leader of LightningClan

Redstar was having a good dream. It was the same dream she'd used to have as a young apprentice, where she's been in a meadow of wildflowers, green-leaf in full flood, and she was chasing a butterfly. It was a very kitish dream, but that didn't bother the red-yellow tabby she-cat.
It was nice to escape from your responsibilities every once in a while and playing in the wildflower meadow, under the bask of the sun, she felt all pressures lifted from her shoulders. Waking up to dawn creeping in through the cracks in the den wall. Redstar slowly stretched, letting life flood into her weary limbs before even attempting to leave the den.
With the driving out StoneClan still a fresh memory in her mind, she still doubted whether she had made the right decision. Deep down, Redstar knew that it was the right decision for her clan at least, but certainly not StoneClan. Well, they're not my problem, it's up to Hawkstar to lead them.
Flicking a scrap of moss from behind her ear, she padded out of her den and into the main part of LightningClan's camp. Although they were being hit rather hard by the drought, Redstar was confident that they would survive. They would live to see Leaf-fall, but all the same, she hated seeing her clanmates moping around, their need for water growing more desperate each day.
Sure, they had water, just not enough. Redstar had managed to set up a sort of order for the watering of her clan. First the elders, kits and queens drunk, plus any sick or injured cats and then the rest of the clan.
Redstar herself drunk last, not wanting to take any water until her clan's thirst was quenched, or at least satisfied for the moment. Ler's hope the streams don't dry up.

The slender reddish tabby sat for a moment, basking in the pale dawn sunlight. Perhaps a border patrol will clear my mind? Her keen amber eyes sought out the gathering dawn patrol in the LightningClan camp. She smiled to herself upon spotting a cluster of pelts, waiting by the camp entrance for the signal from the patrol leader that they could leave.
Padding over she dipped her head to the waiting cats, "Good morning," she mewed politely, flicking her tail as she spoke, "Mind if I join you?"

[Deleted]

~~Galebird~~


With the heavy heat of the day, the senior warrior was glad that her light colored pelt didn't attract the sun like it did most cats. Sitting calmly near the entrance of Lightningclan's camp, the white she-cat had her tail wrapped around her small, nimble paws as she waited for the rest of the patrol to gather so they could find water at the least. Her dry tongue ran around her less than wet mouth as her amber eyes spotted her leader pad towards them with an obvious question on her mind. Her ears flickered as the red-yellow tabby's voice reached her.

Galebird's amber eyes lit up with faint amusement as Redstar's question rang out in the dry air. With a flick of her pale tail, her maw opened to respond as the patrol leader. "Of course." Her voice was soft, despite the crack of dryness. The senior she-cat turned her eyes towards the other cats of her partol before returning those bright amber orbs towards Redstar. "Would you like to lead?" She asked polietly, obviously much nicer than her aggressive brother Sharpfang, who was still healing from his wounds that had been caused due to the battle against Stoneclan.

At the thought of the Stoneclan battle, the she-cat's ears twitched hesitantly. She hadn't nessisarly been in the battle, but she had been on the back lines, waiting to help if Redstar had given the signal. Her impatiant brother on the other hand, was suppose to be inline with her, but darted forwards to meet claw to claw with Hawkstar's little she-cat. Blinking back the battle fresh memories of her foolish brother, Galebird's attention returned to Redstar, awaiting the Lightningclan leader's anwser.

[Deleted]

REDSTAR

Leader of LightningClan

It was Galebird, the senior warrior, who answered the LightningClan leader's question with a soft, "Of course." Redstar smiled politely, dipping her head to the she-cat gratefully, amber eyes flooding with warmth and gentleness.
"Thank you," she meowed gratefully, meeting Galebird's bright amber gaze. She sat upon her haunches, briefly smoothing down her chest fur, which had somehow managed to get all ruffled, despite Redstar never being much of a restless sleeper. Quickly finishing up the job, the red-yellow tabby she-cat's amber gaze briefly flickered over Galebird, then the rest of the patrol. They look of a decent strength, she noted to herself.
"Would you like to lead?" Galebird's question drew the red-yellow tabby leader from her thoughts and she found herself staring blankly at the senior warrior for a moment before she finally took in what she'd just said.
"Oh, no, no," Redstar replied humbly, taking a step back and shrinking a little, "I'm just tagging along, just pretend I'm not here," she meowed with a warm smile. Redstar wasn't in the mood to lead a patrol, she just wanted to be freed of her responsibilities for a moment, just a moment.
It would feel strange to have someone bossing her around for once, instead of vice versa. She sat opposite Galebird, not quite meeting the senior warrior's amber eyes, awaiting further instruction, tail curled around her paws protectively.

[Deleted]

~~Galebird~~

The white senior warrior nodded her head and once the last member of the patrol had gathered around, she flicked her tail to moved them out of the Lightningclan camp. Her amber eyes caught the amber eyes of her sour faced brother, Sharpfang as he stayed behind with still healing injuries. One past the barrier of the entrance, the white she-cat's paws lead them out onto the barren moorlands where the faint scent of rabbit hopped around their noses. She'd have to remember to come back later to see if any were out and about.

Galebird's amber eyes glanced around, thankful that her white pelt sheilded her from some of the blaring sun's heat that baked the ground underpaw, which was cracked from lack of water. She was leading her patrol down into their new territory, receintly gained from chasing Stoneclan out. Her small, white paws noticed the change from rough moorland grasses to rocky outskirts as they entered their new land.

The wind here was just as strong and battering as the wind on Lightningclan territory, the only difference was the terrain on which they stood. "What do we plan to do with this new territory?" Galebird asked, turning her sharp amber eyes towards Redstar as she awaited an anwser from her trusted Lightingclan leader.

[Deleted]

REDSTAR

Leader of LightningClan

Once each member of the patrol had gathered, they set off. Redstar fell in alongside the patrol leader, savouring the feeling of the warm sun’s rays reaching down and touching her pelt. This was her favourite time of the day; it was warm, but not too hot. Neither was it cold, it was the perfect temperature.
The weather also seemed to be nicest at dawn, though right now, the LightningClan was hoping for a break in this spell of sunshine. Just a little rain? Please, StarClan, my clan need water. The red-yellow tabby she-cat hated being helpless, her clan was crumbling around her and there was nothing she could do about it.
Redstar couldn’t remember the last day she hadn’t been thirsty. Late leaf-bare perhaps? But even then, life in LightningClan hadn’t been all that great, with the great freeze and such.
The tabby LightningClanner sighed, she felt like a hopeless leader. Sometimes Redstar wondered if there would ever come a time of no drought, and no cold. Just peace. Good weather, but enough rain, lots of prey.

The thought of water made the red-yellow tabby she-cat’s senses tingle. Cool, refreshing rain. If only… She tried to focus her mind on other thoughts, such as the scent of rabbit that reached her nostrils. Scenting the air, Redstar realised that it was quite faint, she must’ve not noticed it until then.
It was only when the red-yellow tabby felt cool stone underpaw that she realised they had crossed onto their recently won territory. It still felt strange calling this territory, LightningClan’s, for it was far from what the rest of her clan’s territory was like, the territory they’d adapted to.
In fact, it might as well have been the surface of another planet as Redstar and her clan had no idea how to make use of it. LightningClan’s hunting techniques were no use up here, they had to adapt new methods and there was little water. Why did we fight for it in the first place? So much blood spilled… she shook her head at the thought.

"What do we plan to do with this new territory?”
Galebird’s question came as a surprise to the red-yellow tabby she-cat. What do we plan on doing with this new territory? she asked herself. And the truth was, Redstar didn’t know.
“Well, we can use it for hunting,”the LightningClanner meowed feebly, “We’ll have to adapt our techniques and such. I thought we could try collecting water from up here,” she flicked her tail in the direction of the Sky Creeks was it? That was where the LightningClan leader stopped. In all honesty, Redstar didn’t know what else they could use the territory for.
Perhaps they could take apprentices training up here for experience? Yes, that was an idea. I must tell Firesky when we get back to camp.

[Deleted]

~~Galebird~~

Amber eyes watched their leader as she anwsered the white she-cat question, though it seemed as if she sounded like she questioned the anwser she gave to the senior warrior. Turning her head to look back around the rocky terain that now belonged to Lightningclan, the she-cat scanned the dry area. Even if they could train their apprentices in such a different territory, how long would it be before this dry land's water completly disapeared. Then what would they have to do. Invaid Treeclan? Invaid Rainclan? This fight had solved nothing, Lightningclan would still suffer in the end. Would they not?

Turning back towards Redstar, Galebird narrowed her amber pools as she went to speak again. "We will see if Lightningclan can adapt to the rocky terain, I suppose." She spoke, as she started to walk forwards into the new territory. Her paw pads were tough due to the sharp grasses of the moor, but she was not expecting the pointy and sharp rocks that ripped into the pads on which she stepped. She gave a slight hiss to stop, raising a paw to lick up scarlet dropplets. "It will take everyone time to get used to this."

Lashing her tail, Galebird turned back to her patrol, seeing that the other Lightingclanners were experiencing the same issues as she currently was. Could her clanmates learn to survive on such a different terrain. Could they hunt here, live here? The warrioress let out a sigh, she'd talk to her leader about this later, where there wern't younger warriors around. Being a senior warrior, it was her job to consult her leader, talk to Redstar and give her opition about things such as this. Give an extra paw, a different view on the world, such things helped the leader and Lightningclan.

[Deleted]

REDSTAR

Leader of LightningClan

Redstar savoured the feeling of the sun on her pelt, letting the warmth ripple through her. Amber eyes glowing in the morning sunlight, she cast her gaze to their surroundings. They were venturing deeper into their recently gained territory, the familiar grasslands and hills of LightningClan dropping away behind them.
Compared to the heat of the sun on her yellow tabby pelt, the cold stone under-paw was a stark contrast. The LightningClan leader’s paw pads were soft, well adapted to the grasses of LightningClan territory, so even though they had been walking a short time on their new territory, her paws were already beginning to ache.
"We will see if Lightningclan can adapt to the rocky terain, I suppose."
The slender tabby she-cat gave a nod in response to Galebird’s words, “We must adapt, it’s Green-leaf now, what happens when Leaf-bare arrives?”her honey amber gaze rested on the patrol leader for a moment, “Yes, we must adapt if we are to survive.”

Although Leaf-bare was still very far away, Redstar was always one step ahead of the seasons. She was leader of LightningClan, she had to ensure they were prepared for anything.
"It will take everyone time to get used to this.”
The yellow-red tabby noticed a few drops of scarlet red coming from one of Galebird’s paws. Inclining her head, her honey amber eyes clouded with concern, “Is your paw ok?”
She glanced over her shoulder to see how the rest of the patrol were coping. They also seemed to be a suffering a bit on the new terrain, several grumbling about sore paws.
Something sparkling in the morning light caught the eyes of the red-orange tabby she-cat. Redstar’s gaze wandered over to the source of the light, finding it to be a small puddle.
Nodding to it, the LightningClan leader meowed to Galebird, “You could wash your paws there?” she suggested, tilting her head a little to avoid having to squint against the sun.

[Deleted]

Galebird
The Voice Of Reason
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take

---

Hobbling over to where her leader was standing, the pale coated she-cat placed her sore paw into the rather warm pool of water, hoping to wash the scarlet blood and most of the pain away. Despite the heat, the swishing motion of the liquid was starting work it's magic on the pad of her paw. After a moment, the snow white she-cat lowered herself onto her rump, taking a seat next to the small water puddle, pulling her now wet paw out and gently placing it on the ground.

There was a sigh that left Galebird's throat before she turned her unreadable but ever strong amber orbs onto Redstar. Her mind was racing and her voice was begging to be heard, the senior warrior was good with keeping her tongue in check, especially when talking to higher positioned cats, and she felt like now was a good time. Turning her head over her shoulder, the senior warrior captured her patrol cats with her liquid amber before speaking. "Head back to the moors and start hunting. Redstar and I will finish up out here."

The cats seemed to brighten up with relief before taking their leave from the rocky terrain. Galebird waited until they were out of earshot before she turned her attention back to her leader. Amber met amber in a calm gaze as the white she-cat decided to speak. "Redstar, I know how hard it is for you, wanting the best for Lightningclan." And before Redstar could respond with a the obvious: You don't know, you aren't the leader, Galebird continued.

"I may not be leader, or deputy for that fact, but being a senior warrior, I watch your struggles. I can see it in your eyes, the way you walk, the way you talk." Galebird narrowed her eyes at Redstar, she watched the way her shoulders slightly droop, though most likely not on purpose, being a leader was hard, and several older cats knew that, from watching their own leader. The white she-cat wasn't about to lecture Redstar however, more of intervene?

"Our cats are thirsty, this drought is hard, but you aren't alone. All of your senior warriors are here, we will help make sure the clan survives." Galebird nodded towards the unfamiliar territory of Stoneclan, because she would refuse to call it Lightninclan any time soon. "Did we really need to sacrifice all the blood that was spilt to gain such unprofitable land, less water and prey live here than on our territory." Amber returned to amber as Galebird locked gazes with Redstar.

She was showing her true colors, Galebird was not afraid of Redstar, nor the consequences that came when speaking her mind. Was that not her job? Was it not the job of every senior warrior, to speak to their leader and tell them their thoughts? "I only say this in the best interests of Lightningclan. You are not completely sure about this territory or the battle... are you?"

---

On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand