The Silver Forest

This part of ShadowClan's territory is covered in silver birch and trembling aspen trees. On nights of the full moon the white bark is lit up brightly by the moon's rays. Deer love this place in greenleaf as it has the tastiest grass, and the air is rife with bird song and other animals going about their business. In leafbare the trees all shed their leaves and it becomes almost like a ghost forest. The deer come here then when there is nothing else to eat and strip the bark from the trees.

Padding up he found that the mist had cleared up a little in the silver forest, looking around rather pleased that he could see more now, Dragonsteel stretched out his muscled powerful body before lifting his nose to the wind and sniffing out something worth hunting. A big boy he could probably take down a young deer on his own if he was careful about it, he followed his nose tracking a few game trails searching for something that should do. Ignoring the rabbits as they wouldn't feed many wolves he picked up on the scent of what smelt like a doe and her growing offspring from spring, licking his chops at the idea of digging his teeth into venison the wolf crouched down and carefully began stalking the smell. Keeping his eyes out for the doe and her fawn, the mist worked to his advantage as he was grey and thus could blend into the mist better, biding his time he nearly missed the correct moment and so landed a little lower than he would have liked. Snarling as he was kicked when the youngster took flight he managed to dig his teeth deeper into the leg ignoring the pain in his gut where it'd kicked him. Reluctant to let go he eventually did when he was certain that it wouldn't be able to out run him, landing on four paws he powered himself forward aiming to get infront of it as best as he could. Leaping up once more and landing with his forepaws on its shoulders he grabbed it by the back of its neck then dropped down using his heavy weight to sharply twist the fawns neck and snapped it enough to kill the youngster. Quite pleased with his catch he licked the blood from his muzzle panting a little, he wasn't the fastest but he was strong enough to use it to his advantage, this should keep the clan fed for a fair while.

Catching his breath when Minkfur appeared, the green-yellow eyed wolf blinked at her, somewhat surprised to see that she'd turned up here. Dipping his head politely when she complimented his catch, the grey wolf stared at her when she explained what had gone on Surely Blackwidow isn't stupid enough to challenge him after what happened with Cheshiregrin? He'll try to kill her, I know it he had a duty to stop Nightstar from doing anything truly stupid and so sighed quietly meeting her concerned gaze with his usual calm one "I'll stop him, help me bring this fawn back to camp, I wont let him kill her" somewhat gruff but calm and confident enough to at least hopefully persuade the brown and black she wolf that he had it all under control. Already his brain was putting together what he should say to cut through the leaders fury, lifting the fawn by grabbing its neck as best he could he waited until Minkfur had her teeth dug into another part of it before he began moving maneuvering the corpse between the pair of them with skilled ease. His mind running over everything that had happened, he had guessed that it would likely have come to this, although he hadn't thought it would have had to be this soon. If Nightstar was attacking Blackwidow then Jesterpup would be there egging him on, pausing to release the fawn a moment he spoke to Minkfur "When I go talk to Nightstar, Grab that infernal Jesterpup and throw him in the nursery to keep him from escalating the situation. The evil little shit" it was the first time he'd verbally spoken his dislike and mistrust of the red and black pup. Picking up the deer again he continued moving, Nightstar he could manipulate to use some sort of logic, Jesterpup however was uncontrollable a type of Chaotic evil he'd seen many a time in the fighting ring. There was only one kind of cure for evil psychopaths like that, death, snorting to himself the muscled warrior kept going forward fine tuning what he'd say until he had a paragraph of words and an action plan. At least the deer in his and Minkfur's jaws would cool Nightstar off a little.

~Shadowclan Camp~

Moving forward the male slowed down to a relaxed walk as he reached the silver forest and glanced about, merely 24 hours ago Nightstar had announced that he was to be deputy and now he was suddenly leader? It was rather difficult to comprehend, however the hunting excursion with Minkfur offered some relief to the changes that had suddenly occurred, there was some deer somewhere up ahead of him but that was secondary. Glancing back at the brown and black wolf he met her gaze and absently flicked his ears hearing a stick snap somewhere to their left, checking it wasn't anything to be wary of he returned his attention to Minkfur and spoke "Tell me, what happened to Bramblerose?" she was acting, broken strange and hadn't even seemed to care that she'd been given an apprentice. He sighed softly to himself, he'd have to ask for details about Blackwidow as well, after the way she'd marched straight to the medicine den without talking to him first had severely annoyed him. Although he supposed he could overlook it since she'd been badly wounded, lowering his head to run his tongue over the impressive scar on his chest the male huffed to himself before his gaze found the younger wolf again. He ceased in his walking all together to focus his attention on what the other one had to say, cool, calm and deliberate he already had ideas on how he was going to increase shadowclan territory without having to fight pointless battles against other clans. None of the clans trusted Shadowclan, so they would gang up four against one if something happened, so the surprisingly cunning male had other plans that were about to be implemented. For now he needed to become the leader the clan needed and that meant earning their faith and trust, even though for some it'd always be out of duty than any real loyalty to him.

Listening carefully as Minkfur explained that she and Thrusheart had followed Brambleroses’s scent his features showed no sign of the unhappiness that flickered inside of him when he found out that the fearsome shadowclan warrior had fallen in love with a Thunderclan wolf. Understanding now why the red female was so broken when Minkfur informed him that the male had been shot and killed right infront of her. He was unsure if he should reassign Antpaw to someone else then mentally shook his head no, having an apprentice to keep an eye on and train should hopefully keep her busy and from wallowing too much. For now he shelved those thoughts, Bramblerose would at least learn her lesson about breaking the warrior code, however he’d always had doubts about this code – yes it was honourable but it was highly impractical however he was more than able to get around it and use it to his own ends. He still wanted to get more dogs and wolves from the fighting ring to join, ideally killian but that rogue would never join so he’d have to settle for others. Even with Blackwidow returning he was confident that Minkfur was the best choice of deputy for the clan, the yellow eyed female was young but she had good intentions although he hoped he might be able to teach her that sometimes strangers were a positive influence. Val for example, although fighting might not be her best ability, she was sly and cunning enough to use her looks against others, White Demon spoke for himself although he pitied any wolf that challenged him especially if they were a male as at the end of the fight they’d find themselves unable to pass on their genetics. Realizing that Minkfur was probably not that pleased with him about Jesterpaw the grey wolf decided that he would explain his thoughts behind her since she was his deputy after all “I suppose you’ve got questions about the red and black menace then? It’s quite simple, you’re the only wolf apart from myself in the clan that I trust handle the evil little brat.” Apart from himself, he was quite wary about letting Jesterpaw to go to anyone else for a good reason, she’d keep ontop of him and make sure he didn’t get too twisted.

The steel grey wolf nodded his thoughts flicking through the various things that needed to be done, “As for more territory, it is foolish to consider taking any from Thunderclan or Sunclan, the other four clans would simply gang up on us and its something that’s been done before, no we need a new angle and to work smarter not harder. I believe it is in our best interest to scout the local loner territories and pick out the ones with the best prey that can help us during leaf bare” continuing to walk along quietly enjoying the moment away from the constant drama of camp. That was the issue with these packs there was always so much drama it was highly unnecessary, however he’d always kept that to himself. His yellow green eyes darted over to the brown and black form of his deputy, she was pleasant company at the very least and opinionated enough to not be a walk over which was a bonus. “You dislike White Demon” It wasn’t a question, he sounded a little amused although often times it was difficult to tell when he was and when he wasn’t “He hails from the fighting ring I came from, any dog or wolf that survives that place is an asset to the clan, it’s a place where you fight or you die there is no inbetween. He’s long learnt to use his size to his advantage and is a cunning little bastard. He’s called the stone-snatcher for a reason” grimly amused as he remembered several fights where the small fluffy white dog had taken down opponents plenty of others had died to. His small angry French ways worked, which was why he’d recommended that the late Nightstar allow him to join in the first place, Dragonstar smirked to himself a brief moment then asked “Before we begin properly hunting do you have any questions?” he wasn’t sure how much time they’d end up with no one else around to discuss things and so he took advantage of the time now to query and see if there was anything on her mind. After hunting he’d get her to put together a patrol to go scouting through several loner territories to find any that’d be an asset to his clan, fully aware that he’d become a hypocrite as a year or so ago he’d been on stormclan territory pissed off that they’d taken the best territories including the bramble tangle he was so fond of. However now things were different, he had a pack of wolves and a single dog to feed and protect, if that meant a few disgruntled loners than so be it. Running over the ones he was aware of, there were several that would be suitable prey wise however the territory also had to be close to Shadowclan territory otherwise what was the point?

Glancing about with an acute gaze he took in Minkfurs reply with satisfaction, indeed most of her reactions to his words proved to him that she had been the correct choice. White Demon would indeed have to prove himself but the curly white dog was more than used to that, it'd take little effort for him to prove himself he was quite sure however. A single fight with a male and the dog would have the proof he needed to prove himself worthy to the clan, licking the old scar over his chest he considered the question about why he'd picked her. "I'm a firm believer in balance, I'm an older wolf so a young deputy with a spine and fresh ideas balances well. Whereas Nightstar in his young inexperienced state was smart for him to pick an older more wiser deputy to balance out his own naivety and paranoia" spotting the black wolf with its silver eyes the same moment his deputy did the silver male's stance changed surprisingly quickly. Going from relaxed to leaning towards threatening, ears perked sharply forward and his tail lifting in a signal of dominance, a dark deep rumbling growl emitted forth from his chest. Green-Yellow eyes studied the male, he was small and lean to the point of being skinny, he couldn't pick up any scent coming from the creature either. There was something... not natural about the stranger and the cunning grin plastered on his face caused his hackles to rise further adding to the dominant posture Dragonstar carried himself as.

His gaze remained on the shadowy male as he was circled, his first instinct was to break out of the circle the male was forming around them which he did, narrowing his eyes sharply as the stranger sat down and spoke. He announced that the mist harboured strangers and that he should take care of the pup as she wouldn't last long, then added as an afterthought that the big powerful fighter wouldn't either. His words caused Dragonstars to lips to curl into a sneer, laughing softly he announced confidently and almost wisely "Nobody lives forever silver-eyes, I won't last long in the scheme of things, and Neither will Minkfur or any other wolf, what is the life of a wolf to a tree that lives many wolf lifespans without perishing?" The sneer faded and he was back to his usual self although with some added bristling, there was something about this wolf that danced down his spine, that yelled in his ear do not trust this one as far as you can spit. "Although I am Curious Silver-eyes, what strangers in the mist? Are they to do with the whispy shadows that murdered Nightstar?" he stepped forward holding himself confidently and with slightly less dominance than he had before wanting answers from the sly wolf and getting the hint that he wouldn't say anything if he felt bullied. His thickening fur that was preparing itself for the winter ahead was still bristling with mistrust for the stranger, Dragonstar awaited the small thin males words with baited breath.

His ears were perked forward and focused on the other wolf, yellow-green eyes fixed on the silvery grey ones, stepping out of the circle again he was quickly putting together how this stranger worked. The words he gushed reminded him of how White Demon rakked up his prey before he took them down, he didn't seem interested in fighting however more in getting an reaction out of them both which he'd gotten with minkfur. Dragonstar wasn't as easily rattled however, and instead began to get sick of the cryptic words, either say something or leave, lunging forward with the intent to snap out at the wolf out of a desire to get him to leave than any real rattledness at the silver eyed ones words. His lips were drawn back to reveal sharp white teeth although his eyes remained logical and calculating revealing briefly just how dangerous the big calm seeming brute could be.