An Important Conversation

[Raccoonstar]

Racoonstar slept, his dreams of nothingness filling the space around him, when a black wall of darkness shocked him into the woken world. That was how his dreams ended nowadays. He knew he had something on his mind. The harsh leaf-bare had ended, making way for new-leaf and finally green-leaf. But the queens still had not kitted, and soon the only apprentice left would be a warrior. He needed to talk to Moonfire about this, see if, for some reason, Moonfire would know the answer. He padded towards the deputy and beckoned her inside. "Moonfire," he stated. "I need to know. The queens have still not kitted. Do you have any solutions? If this lack of kits continues, we will have no apprentices, which means no warriors! Do you have any suggestions?" He waited impatiently for Moonfire's reply.

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]MOONFIRE[/shadow][/glow]

"Raccoonstar, you were right before, the queens will kit, give them a chance. I do not think we will have much trouble from FrostClan, i have gotten a report that most of their cats are sick. IvyClan maybe not, they are recovering from the fight with FrostClan. CloudClan, will be the worst trouble, but then again, they haven't kitten in moons either," she sighed, "all the clans are weak, and it isn't even leaf-bare yet.."
She straightened herself up, "sooner or later some cats will decided to love, give them time," her ears felt red again.
Then it struck her that she couldn't have kits. Duh! How could she be so mousebrained, she now wished that Raccoonstar chose someone else first, before he chose her. Then she could help her clan more...or else she would have to retire....NO! She would not dwell on those thoughts!
"Worst comes to worst, Raccoonstar," she meowed, not showing the slightest emotion of what she had just decided and how she felt, "We can take an outsider, it has happened before..."

[Raccoonstar]

"Has it? Do tell," Raccoonstar said, curious at what Moonfire would say. "

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]MOONFIRE[/shadow][/glow]

"Well, not many cats remember him, he was Leafpool's father. It started with a young flame colored cat named Rusty. He was a kittypet, but he had warrior blood in him. One day, he was hunting on a clan's terriory, a clan long ago forgotten, and he was caught by their leader, the leader took interest in him, and he was invited to stay within that clan. Warriors shunned him, he was alone almost. He had 2 loyal friends, one Graystripe and another, a name forgotten.
"He was in a prophacy, something like...FIre and fire alone will save the clan...something like that. He was named Firepaw in favor of his flame colored pelt. He grew up to become a leader, he was famous, no one every shunned him again, well, his clan didn't....
"His kits were Squirrleflight and the famous Leafpool, the one who dishonored all of the medicine cats.
And so it is said, even kittypets can become great, if you choose the right one that is," and with that, she finished her tale.
She felt like an elder. She hoped she would never have to tell stories like that again!
"Not many cats know that tale, i was fortunate to hear it before Larkstone died."
she trailed off.
"As to show," she repeated, "Any cat can be brave and loyal, you just have to seek the right one..."

[Raccoonstar]

"Hmmm..." Raccoonstar went on. "Kittypets maybe not, but a loner possibly. As you said, we have to seek the right one. Firestar, is it? He is an incredible example. We must find more like him or risk losing most of the Clan. I suggest a small patrol to look for other cats at the borders that go outside of our Clan but not into other Clans. Firestar's name will be remembered for a long time if we find a worthy cat. Send a small patrol, maybe two warriors, to look. I will join them, just as the leader from the Forgotten Clan did." He waited for the patrol to be called, and sat patiently, his soul at rest for the first time in moons. He would find this worthy cat if it was the last thing he did. It might be the only way to save SnakeClan.

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]MOONFIRE[/shadow][/glow]

"Wait, Raccoonstar, we can not just go and take a kit from it's family, or abduct it, if that's what your thinking. Be patient, I will send out a regular hunting patrol, to hunt along the twoleg border, if we find a stray cat hunting, I will ask them to leave it alone. Later, could send Eveningpaw, maybe to spy on them?" she suggested, "We might not be as lucky however," she reasoned, "Firestar was part of a prophecy. I think that you should allow kittypets too, besides, Firestar was a kittypet!"
She didn't want to tell Raccoonstar what to do, she hoped it didn't sound like that, it was just a mindful suggestion.
She kept a calm face though as she waited for Raccoonstar to reply. She hoped he didn't get the wrong idea.

[Raccoonstar]

"Moonfire. I had no plans on abduction of any sort. If we get a chance to talk with the stray, I will talk to the cat one on one and see if the cat chooses to join or to stay. I will respect his or her's decision. Though your idea is a good one. If Eveningpaw continues to see the cat hunting on our territory, I will come over and talk, like I said. If the cat leaves while Eveningpaw is spying, the cat will be left alone unless it hunts again in our territory. The cat will be left directly alone. If I do get any prophecies from StarClan about a cat not from this Clan, I will keep a cautious eye on any new cats we see. Only if a Clan cat is directly attacked will it attack back." Raccoonstar calmly said, his eyes wistful. "I hope I do get something from StarClan, I haven't heard from them in a while and I need information now more than ever. Now please send out a hunting patrol. They prey is low and I want my Clan to be well-fed. Tomorrow, we will start your new plan. Once you have done that, get some rest. It's late and I don't want a tired deputy. Don't stay up all night listening to elder's tales!" Racconstar joked as he padded past Moonfire into his warm den. He dreamed for the first time in moons. He dreamed of a well-fed Clan by his side, with more than enough apprentices, and all were joyous and adventurous, just the way he liked them.

[- - -evening ||]

[glow=red,2,300][shadow=red,left,300]MOONFIRE[/shadow][/glow]

"Yes, Raccoonstar," she meowed nodding her head.
As she walked out of his den, she spotted Thunderheart sitting byhimself, beside the elders' den. "You should get some rest, she meowed, "You've had a long day!"
As she sat by the fresh kill pile to take a juicy vole, she was aware of Thunderheart watching her. Selfconciously, she took a bit into her vole.

*continue at "SnakeClan Camp"*