BlazeClan Camp - Torrent of Sorrow

[Mistytail]

StormClan, PineClan, PetalClan, and BlazeClan have, up until this season of greenleaf, been living relatively peacefully. But this particular greenleaf is hot and dry, with little rain to nourish the plants and animals. Will the Clans have to resort to stealing to feed themselves - or worse? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, it's that time of year again in Twolegplace - time for kits six moons and older to see The Cutter. Some will go contentedly, but others might go to drastic measures to avoid such a fate. Will the loners and rogues of the alleys take kindly to strangers? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Let the action begin!

[Mistytail]

Gingerflight looked around the nursery nervously, digging her paws into the earth. Most of her denmates were asleep, but she just couldn't. She was so hungry, and tried very hard not to complain - all of BlazeClan was hungry. This was the worst greenleaf they'd ever experienced, and it caused her to worry. Would they be able to feed themselves at all? Would she have food for her kits when they finally came? She cursed herself, she should have waited to mate, this was a horrible time for kits to be born. She should have waited...

[Spike]

Swiftstar padded around the camp, poking her head in each of the dens as she passed them. This was a daily routine for her, at sunrise and nightfall. She liked to know that her Clan was all right. She wanted to see that everyone was accounted for, everyone was safe, and everyone was doing well. Some call in paranoia, the way she tended to hover over BlazeClan. She called it caution. For as lighthearted as the leader tended to be, she still had a job to do. Protect the Clan.

The warriors, she was pleased to see, were all in the process of waking each other. The elders were sound asleep. The apprentices were playing-fighting each other- she paused briefly to pull apart two particularly aggressive ones- and the queens were all asleep.

As she was readying to return to her den, Swiftstar found another cat's eyes in the nursery. Okay, most of the queens were asleep.

"Gingerflight?" Swiftstar whispered. It wasn't that she recognized the cat's specific eyes, exactly. It was that she recognized the feelings in them. The worry, normal for most expectant mothers, intensified by the lack of knowledge of the kits' father. The fear, the nerves- both motherly traits- and most distinctly the regret that the dulled the light in the queen's eyes. "Gingerflight?" she called again.

[Mistytail]

"O-oh, Swiftstar!" Gingerflight meowed, shaking as if woken up from a dream. "Hello," she said with a dip of her head. "How is everything today?"

[Spike]

"There hasn't really been enough day to tell," Swiftstar meowed. She took a step into the nursery so that she might see Gingerflight better. "Are you all right?" she asked.

[Mistytail]

"M-me?" Gingerflight asked. "Well, I'm fine, really," she meowed, trying to sound nonchalant. "I think the little rascals are nudging me that they want to come out sometime soon, but..." The thought trailed off and her eyes glazed over.

[Spike]

Swiftstar perked up, keeping her gaze steady on the pregnant cat before her. She watched for a moment, noting the sudden change in demeanor, the flicker in the other she-cat's eyes.

"Are you sure?" she asked, genuinely concerned. Something wasn't right, she could feel it.

[Mistytail]

Gingerflight snapped back to reality. "W-well, it's just..." She hesitated before responding. "I-I don't mean to be rude, Swiftstar, but prey has always been scarce for BlazeClan, and with the dryness of this greenleaf, I'm..." The queen nervously shook some moss from the top of her head before looking up. "I'm afraid I won't be able to feed my kits."

[Spike]

Swiftstar sighed heavily. She should have expected such an answer. Surely all of the expecting mothers felt this way. She closed her eyes briefly, wondering what she might be able to say to calm Gingerflight's nerves. She knew the truth- the Clan was in danger of starvation this greenleaf. The weather was working against them, keeping water scarce and prey out of reach. In truth, Swiftstar wasn't sure herself if BlazeClan would make it through.

But she couldn't let any of the others know she thought this way. She was their leader. She was supposed to take care of them, make sure they were all okay. So she put on her best brave face, hoping Gingerflight couldn't see the uncertainty in her eyes, and said, "It's going to okay. We'll find a way."

[Mistytail]

Gingerflight was motionless for a few seconds, then dipped her head and sighed. "I suppose you're right. I should trust you more, Swiftstar. And StarClan. They wouldn't let us all die out." Would they? Gingerflight thought to herself. From all the stories she remembered hearing as a kit and apprentice, Blazestar was considered a rough, mean sort of cat, and none of the other leaders had liked him very much. Was that why they were given such poor territory, and tested harder than all of the other Clans? Maybe, the elders had said, but it also showed how strong BlazeClan cats were. They were able to grin and bear pain. They always had.

[Spike]

Swiftstar nodded her head.

"Yes," she meowed. "Exactly right."

She stood abruptly, shaking the moss off of her legs. The sun's rays were staring to stream into the den and it wouldn't be long until the other queens started to stir awake.

"Well," she said. "Now I've got to go find that ole deputy of mine."

She dipped her head towards the other cat as a means of farewell. "And trust me, Gingerflight. Things will start to look up."

I hope.

[Mistytail]

((...Shit, we don't have a BC deputy XDDD))

[Spike]

((Yeaaah that basically means that Swiftstar's just gonna mosey on along and not be heard from until she finds him or her/someone decides to be the deputy XD))

[Mistytail]

((DAMMIT MORE CHARACTERS ARE NEEDED XDDD))