MarshClan's newly appointed leader stretched her limbs slowly as a silhouette appeared in the entryway to her den. "Ah, Nightfire, excellent." she purred, sitting up and beckoning the other she-cat into the den. "Do come in, we have a lot to discuss, now that you will be my deputy." she paused to allow that fact to sink in, her bushy tail whisking over the ground as Nightfire pushed through the mossy curtain of the leader's den. "I'm sure you realise by now that Tanglestar's death was a necessary thing, you and I both know that MarshClan needs strong leaders like you and I, if it is to survive in these harsh times."

"The prey shortage is one thing," the newly appointed Cinderstar continued smoothly, "but that StarClan would abandon us at such a critical time and not send us aid or any prophecies of the sort, is deplorable." Her lip curled in distaste. "Not to worry, we don't need StarClan. And my brother won't give us trouble, he growls a lot but he's a spineless coward. He may not agree with what I'm about to propose to you, but he doesn't understand the game of survival like you and I. Cats like us don't need to rely on blind faith..."



The young grey tabby tom sighed heavily as he sat in the entrance of the apprentice's den, watching his Clanmates mill to and fro as they tried to go about their usual duties. As if things hadn't been difficult enough for the Clan, their well-loved leader Tanglestar had recently died in a terrible accident... Only his deputy, Cinderblaze (now their new leader, Cinderstar), and another young warrior, Nightfire, had been present at the time. They had dragged Tanglestar's body back to camp and delivered the terrible news just before moon high. Terrible teeth marks had torn most of his neck and parts of his ribs to pieces,the white gleam of bone easily visible beneath; neither of the she-cats could tell them what creature had made them.

Now, the Clan elders bore the old tom's body out into the swamp to return him to the territory, now that the last cat had paid their respects. Thunderpaw shuddered uncomfortably as he looked at the almost empty fresh-kill pile, spotting his mentor close by. He stood and slunk over to Swiftrunner, speaking quietly.
"Still not much prey, huh? What are we going to do, the Clan will starve!" he looked helplessly towards the camp entrance. "Should we try to hunt again? Or do you want me to practise battle moves?"