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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 21:09:00 GMT -5
Patchstar, you're a fool.
The heavyset tom was lying on the sunning rocks his daughter often watched the sunrise from; his head was on his paws and every so often he gave a gloomy sigh. The black-and-white leader was very aware of the way cats were now avoiding his gaze, or, failing that, glaring straight at him with something akin to disgust.
So he'd been a bit rough with Silverstripe and those stupid rogues. It wasn't any less than either of them deserved; he just didn't understand what was so wrong about it. He didn't need the scrawny apprentices -- just as well to kill them off -- and Silverstripe was becoming more and more of a threat to his leadership, along with the mutters of some other discontented cats.
Patchstar sighed again and shifted further onto his side; his back paws were falling asleep. Father never had this kind of trouble, he thought morosely, Father was so strong he could frighten off anyone who looked at him sideways. I shouldn't be leader right now, it should have been one of my siblings. Maybe if I wasn't leader Shimmersoul would still be alive...
His ears twitched suddenly and his eyes widened; there it was for the third time that day, a dim echo of ghostly chuckle, faintly menacing and mocking as if he was the butt of some secret joke. Pat was getting used to it, though -- for the first time he didn't jump or demand to know who was laughing at him.
I wonder if it's possible to find out who's doing this to me without looking mad.
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 21:32:30 GMT -5
Longwhisker had decided that today would be a good day for sunning herself. After all the drama with Ghost and Canary what she need most was to relax. However when she arrived at her favorite sunning spot in camp she found that her leader, Patchstar, had beat her to the spot. For a moment she wondered if it would be passive-aggressive to avoid him, and she finally decided that it would.
She padded over to her leader and lay down about a tail length away from the black and white tom. "So Patchstar" she spoke in a raspy voice, hoarse with age, "Do you have any more plans for violence in camp that I should know about that, or did you actually learn something from the incident earlier today?"
She then let out a small chuckle as if it was all a joke. To be honest she wasn't sure that it was appropriate to say something like that to her leader, but if she was on the topic of being honest she didn't really care either. That's what happens when a leader makes stupid decisions, she decided, he loses the respect of his clan. |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 21:37:01 GMT -5
"So Patchstar. Do you have any more plans for violence in camp that I should know about that, or did you actually learn something from the incident earlier today?"
The tom did give a start at these words; he'd fallen into a half doze, preoccupied by his thoughts, and hadn't seen Longwhisker come up. He looked up at the elder, and his eyes narrowed.
Come, now. No need to be an idiot. It was frightening, that he couldn't tell if the thought was his own or his mysterious aggressor. But the advice was sound; rather than give an imperious retort, Patchstar yawned widely and pointedly turned his back on the she-cat.
"Be nice to your leader, Longwhisker." The words were snide, rather than self-important -- Patchstar wasn't giving orders, he was just plain being rude. "He's the one who tells cats to give you elders food, after all."
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 21:48:23 GMT -5
Longwhisker twitched her whiskers, "I'll keep that in mind." She didn't mention the fact that the clan didn't seem to keen on listening to his orders these days, she didn't want to agrivate him any farther.
"But honestly, what were you thinking? That Silverstripe would just kill them and everything would be just puppy dogs and rainbows and life would go on as usual? You lead a clan of cats who are all into this compassion thing."
Okay, Longwhisker thought, that probably did agrivate him more, but someone had to say it. |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 21:52:47 GMT -5
Patchstar's eyes widened in shock at Longwhisker's words, then narrowed again. But she'd caught him in a thoughtful mood, and his expression was one of concentration, rather than anger -- the elder's words had confused him.
"Compassion," he echoed, rather blankly, then shook his head in disgust. "Compassion is not a matter of concern, Longwhisker. I don't understand it myself, and I don't expect it to matter when it comes to my orders. All my cats should bother themselves with is what I say; I am leader, and my orders are for the best of the Clan. Anything I say transcends the warrior code."
He sounded rather petulant.
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 22:05:06 GMT -5
Longwhisker sighed, would anyone ever get through to this cat? He clearly did not understand what she was trying to tell him.
"Warriors don't blindly follow orders Patchstar, like it or not there are some things cats are more commited to then you, some of them do this thing where instead of following orders they follow their hearts, I never really got how that benefitted them, but they do it none the less. You have to accpet that sometimes being a leader doesn't mean giving orders that you think are right, it means giving orders that the clan thinks is right."
Longwhisker didn't really expect any of this to have an impact on Patchstar, she was probably just wasting her breath. But she said it anyway, hoping that some of her words would make it through his thick skull. |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 22:10:44 GMT -5
The younger tom was pulling away from Longwhisker; the look he gave her was wary, uncertain and almost -- frightened.
"I can kill them," he said awkwardly. "I can have them killed, or exiled. They follow me or they die. It's how the Clan has always been, as long as -- as long as we've been here. They'll die if they follow anything other than me."
He sounded a lot less certain than he would have if having that same conversation a day before. The episode with Silverstripe and the loners had clearly unsettled Patchstar -- he was realizing for the first time how alienated much of the Clan was.
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 22:19:00 GMT -5
Longwhisker stared at Patchstar with a look of pure shock. Was this actually how he thought? Just kill anyone who opposes him? Apparantly he had not understood a word she said.
"No, Patchstar, what will you do when you have killed every warrior in the clan for disagreeing with you? What will you do then? Killing isn't the answer to everything, killing should be a last resort, I mean the very, very last resort. Understand? If you want your warriors to respect you, you have to respect them, you have to listen to them. You can't just kill them."
Longwhisker was starting to get impatient. Our leader is a mouse-brain! A stupid, violent mouse-brain! She couldn't help but wonder how long the clan could survive if Patchstar couldn't get past this killing thing. |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 22:23:34 GMT -5
At last, they were on ground Patchstar understood. The tom shook his head authoritatively.
"They're not all going to want to die," he replied confidently, almost cheerfully; "it's the way my father governed, and his father before him. If you make enough of a display with one or two cats, the rest of the rebels back off, and it's all very well. Of course, you're also supposed to..." he faltered, "you're also supposed to show favor with some random cats, so other cats work hard and try for it. I'm not very good at that."
That is what I have Darktalon for. No, all three of them. Moonwhisker for daily duties, Darktalon for politics, and Starredmyst for the occasional compassionate softy like Longwhisker's talking about. They haven't been doing as well as they should have lately.
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 22:31:53 GMT -5
Longwhisker seriously felt like screaming at Patchstar. She had no clue how to respond to that. Okay, so he's not a mouse-brain, he's an evil genius, I'm not sure which one I prefer.
"That's not a leader Patchstar, that's a dictator, and dictators aren't good. The clan doens't need a dictator, we need a good, strong leader."
Longwhisker didn't like where this conversation was heading. Does he hhonestly think that killing can solve anything? Is just a cold-blooded killer? The thought sent a shiver up her spine, she only hoped that Patchstar hadn't noticed. |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 15, 2008 22:36:24 GMT -5
Patchstar laughed at Longwhisker's words, as if at a joke, but the laugh was uneasy, and his eyes were darting from cat to cat in the camp around him.
"It hasn't mattered what the Clan needs in a long time," he answered, offhandedly, but with an undercurrent of worry. "Not since my ancestor who brought the Clan here; the Clan supported him then, so it must have been right then. Maybe my brother would have been a better choice for leader -- you remember my brothers and my sister? They were cleverer than I am -- but my father chose me, so I'm here today. And I'm in a position to do as I like."
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Post by xradx on Feb 15, 2008 22:42:30 GMT -5
"You can do whatever you want, but doesn't mean you should."
Longwhisker was struggling to keep the worry out of her voice. She had never realized how disturbed her leader really was. Was he really cabaple of leading the clan?
"It's kind of like how your warriors don't always obey their orders but they should, well if you want them to obey your orders you should give them reasonable orders, not just tell them whatever you like."
Longwhisker hoped that this analogy would get through to him, but she doubted it. Oh Starclan, what will happen if he continues to rule us like this? |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 16, 2008 7:55:13 GMT -5
Patchstar was uneasy. This discussion was getting out of paw -- had been out of paw from the moment he'd begun to divulge his secrets with the older she-cat. He didn't want to hear this; he only half understood what she was saying, and the half he understood gave him a bad feeling. Abruptly, the leader rolled over onto one side, putting his back toward the other Clan member.
"If you say so, Longwhisker." The words were neutral, mildly dismissive; a emotionless response to bring a sharp end to the argument. "I'll, ah, think about what you said."
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Post by xradx on Feb 16, 2008 11:38:52 GMT -5
Longwhisker let out another sigh. There seemed to be a lot of those today.
"So will you actually think about iit or are you just saying that to put my mind at ease?"
She thought the second one was definately more likely, but she didn't say that out loud. At least he's pretending to care. That's something, right? |
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Post by ♫.Starredmyst on Feb 16, 2008 12:25:55 GMT -5
"Of course I'll think about it."
Patchstar cast the elder a narrow-eyed look, and stood, stretching. "I need to -- ah -- speak with Moonwhisker," he added shortly, the first excuse he could think of flying out of his mouth. "There have been reports of a badger attack and we need to send out a patrol to make sure it was frightened off."
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