Goosedown trots through ThunderClan territory, flanked by Tortoisepaw, Donalbain, and Lennox; the ground was hard underneath their paws, and barren deciduous trees stretched up to the blueish sky.
ThunderClan's newest members had settled in nicely to both the forest and the Clan, despite ample hostility on the part of certain outspoken warriors.
Brambleblossom, of course, and unfortunately Cindercloud had been the worst; the former had done a great deal of appearance-related insulting and the latter was unwilling to accept them as true members of the Clan.
The whole ordeal had driven a rift between Goosedown and his friend, which saddened him.
He had hoped that him and Cindercloud could bond over the experience of fatherhood and get along regardless of their poltical opinions, but things tended not to work out the way Goosedown wanted.
"Goosedown?" Donalbain mews, snapping the speckled black tom out of his thoughts.
"Yeah?" Goosedown replies, glancing back and meeting Tortoisepaw's eager yellow gaze for a moment.
Donalbain clears his throat, twitching one of his ears in what appeared to be hesitation.
"I've been considering something...you see, I'm not feeling very fulfilled in my current role."
Goosedown pauses, ears drooping.
"Don't tell me you're leaving?"
Donalbain bristles, quickly shaking his head.
"Oh- no, rest assured, I don't plan on leaving."
Lennox, seeming not to care about the conversation, draws into himself and gazes absently out at the frost-cloaked forest.
"What I wanted to do," the golden brown tom continues, "-is find a way to continue working in the counseling role I've grown accustomed to.''
Taking a moment to mull this over, Goosedown lights up.
"Well, we do have a mediator role...we just haven't had one since a war that happened seasons ago."
"I'm sure Stormstar is looking for one, and you'd be a great pick."
Donalbain smiles widely, but his enthusiasm quickly withers away.
"That sounds like a lovely idea, but are you sure that ThunderClan will be completely willing to, well..?"
"I don't see why they wouldn't," Tortoisepaw pipes up innocently, grinning nervously in embarrassment as every member of the patrol turns to look at her.
"Even though some of ThunderClan...didn't like the idea of you joining, you're already here so there's not a point in putting up more of a fight."
"True, in theory," Lennox mews to the gray-brown apprentice, "-but those determined to single out anyone who happens to be different err on the irrational side."
"That is true," Donalbain muses quietly, looking a bit crestfallen.
Lennox nudges his brother with his nose, twitching a tufted ear.
"That isn't to say you shouldn't give it a go, Donalbain. I just don't want you to be disappointed."
"I know, Len," the golden brown tom murmurs back, nosing his tortoiseshell brother in reciprocation.
"You'd be a great mediator. And even if Stormstar says no, you can still give counsel unofficially," Goosedown mews, smiling reassuringly at his friend.
"We can ask her about it as soon as we get back."
A bit of Donalbain's smile returns, and the golden brown tom ducks his head.
YOU ARE READING
𝚂𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 || 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 #2
Adventure''The Clans are plagued by darkness, but a seer of truth will bring peace.'' As Wavepaw of RiverClan begins her apprenticeship, the shadows of a scandal that shattered her family push her to uncover the secrets that bind her Clan's past to an uncer...
