{Book 1 of the Times of Turbulence arc.}
(Art, story, and characters by me. Setting and original series by Erin Hunter.)
FOREVER UNFINISHED, I HAVE BETTER PROJECTS!
Highwings, a new and happy warrior of ShadowClan, finds that she comes into the scen...
"Scatterstar, we have our chance, and you're not taking it," Murmuringsoil told her angrily, his tail lashing.
Shrouded by the darkness of her own den, the lichen in the entrance blocking out much of the world's illumination, Scatterstar growled to the floor, "The other Clans' conflict is not our own."
"Imagine how much more powerful we would be if we controlled even a portion of RiverClan's territory!" Murmuringsoil insisted. "We could divide up their territory with the other Clans, and their plentiful fish could be ours! We wouldn't have to worry about leaf-bare anymore; not with their supply!"
"Destroying an entire Clan for the sake of power and good leaf-bares?" Scatterstar's yellow eyes raised up to pierce into the deputy's amber ones. They were so bright and full in the darkness, and so vividly shocked and angered, Murmuringsoil averted his gaze to glare at the wall, despite how stubborn and hotheaded he usually was. "I thought you were better than that, Murmuringsoil."
"The other Clans certainly aren't," he remarked, forcing his eyes back to hers. "If they are doing it, why shouldn't we?"
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"It doesn't matter how many Clans are participating; that doesn't mean ShadowClan has an obligation to join in," Scatterstar snarled.
"The only thing you can argue for is some faraway sense of 'morality,'" he huffed, hissing out the word "morality" as though it was made of poison. "We have a chance to help our Clan. What reason do we have to not take it?"
"There shall be four Clans," Scatterstar ordered. "It is against morality to take down RiverClan for the simple, selfish reason of elevating our own Clan. We won't stoop down to ThunderClan's level."
"Against whose morality?" Murmuringsoil challenged, stepping toward the leader. His claws were automatically unsheathed out of rage. "We have left StarClan behind us, Scatterstar, we have no one telling us not to do this. The only reason you're not doing it is because you're weak and a coward."
"We may not have StarClan, but we have empathy," Scatterstar snapped, whirling to look at her deputy face-to-face and baring her teeth at him, making him step back. "Those RiverClan warriors have families and lives. They are not beneath you."
"Says who?!" her deputy challenged her.
"Says me," Scatterstar puffed. "We don't need invisible ancestors to tell us to be decently-behaved cats. We are noble, proud, and moral, with or without StarClan."
Murmuringsoil's tail fluffed up angrily. "See, this is why I and others think you should've just stayed in the nursery," he snapped. "After your kits died, you should've just had more. You can't be a leader without raising at least one good family."
The leader was caught wholly off-guard. Scatterstar blinked rapidly at him and just stuttered, "Murmuringsoil, that is not appropriate." She attempted to defend herself, but was not firm in her statement, as she had been thrown off by the sudden topic change.
