Betrayal. [Open]

[*-*Riku*-*]

Oceanwave pushed her way through the entrance tunnel with her catch, her tail still lashing back and forth as she headed to the fresh-kill pile and dropped the squirrel. She immediately took the vole for herself and went over to where a group of queens were enjoying a sunhigh meal. A few of them glanced at how furious Oceanwave looked and asked her what had happened.

Tearing at the vole and devouring it in a few famished gulps, she turned to them and in a low whisper, revealed everything Echostar had told her. "... You know this means that she's broken the warrior code, don't you? She wouldn't need Infinitystrike to lie for her if the real father was a tom of FernClan." She spat in disgust at the thought of this and the queens took up the rumor. Before long, the news that Echostar had lied to her Clan had spread throughout the entire camp.

Oceanwave felt a sort of cruel satisfaction at the thought that not a single warrior in FernClan trusted their leader anymore. No loyal FernClan warrior would choose a mate from another clan, lie about it to her Clan mates' faces, and take advantage of Infinitystrike's affection for her own benefit. By the time Echostar returned with the rest of the patrol, the whole camp was in an uproar.

Oceanwave gave Echostar a smug smirk, as if to say "So there!" and then disappeared inside the warriors den to sleep, obviously not interested in helping her leader calm down the rest of the clan as they yowled their protests and demanded to know who the real father was.

[Jaysong :D]

Ehostar entered the camp along with Infinitystrike and realized Oceanwave had spread the news. She couldn't help but think well,so what? She was quite uncaring about the spread of her secret,she knew it would happen sometime.

The clan was all talking in hushed whispers,some shooting her glares,others looking confused,and some understanding. Echostar knew what would happen. The clan would devide into sides, against their leader and loyal to their leader.

Walking through the camp,Echostar kept her head held high. She knew the only thing she had done was lied,but frankly it didn't involve any of them. She had stayed loyal to her clan,as loyal as she would have been without the secret. She wasn't ashamed of being in love.

She saw Oceanwave's smirk and smiled in return. She wanted her to know that she had not gotten to her. No matter what happened, she wanted to remain the better cat,the one who continued to be kind though Oceanwave had tried to ruin her life. Fact of the matter was, Echostar still had everything she cared about;Infinitystrike,her mate,and her kits.

[*-*Riku*-*]

Silentshadow came into the camp, flicking her tail from side to side as she noticed the camp was in uproar. Most of the cats were glaring at Echostar with mistrust and only three cats were remaining calm and seemed to understand. That was- herself, Infinitystrike, and Cloudpelt. The rest of the Clan gave Echostar a wide berth as she approached, several of them hissed at her. "You are not our leader anymore!" One of them spat from the back of the crowd. "Yeah, why should we follow a traitor?" Yowled another. "No Loyal clan cat would choose a mate from another clan!" another one hissed. Indeed, except for Silentshadow, Infinitystrike and Cloudpelt, the whole clan seemed to be preparing to drive Echostar out of the camp right then and there.

Silentshadow realized with a jolt, just what exactly Oceanwave had accomplished. The whole clan was in uproar, no cat trusted their leader anymore, which means Echostar's leadership of FernClan had become rotten from the inside out in the course of one morning. None of the FernClan warriors would take her at her word anymore, which meant FernClan would be in chaos, the cats would rebel repeatedly, not following her orders because they could no longer trust her, and eventually she'd be driven out of her own territory. It was a cruel sentence that had the potential to destroy FernClan, and Echostar would have her work cut out for her, just to try molding these shattered cats into a clan again.

[Jaysong :D]

Mintpaw and Amberpaw came out of the apprentice den. They weren't surprised about the news,they had known about their real father. They also knew that they weren't Echostar's only children. They had a brother with there father in Blazeclan. They wished he was there with them,but their father had wanted to keep one of his kits in his own clan.

Mintpaw was worried about her mother. She didn't know who had told all this,but she did know she wanted to shred them. She knew Echostar could do it though. What would happen to Amberkit and herself? Would they have to leave the clan? Maybe if they had to Echostar would take them to Blazeclan. She didn't think they would need to though. Mintkit was sure her mother could pull the clan back together.





Echostar turned into her den,motioning for the cats following her to go with her. They needed to discuss this.

[Flamey]

Infinitystrike entered the camp, his breath catching at the sight of the uproar which Oceanwave had caused. How could she have done such a thing? She should have known that FernClan would fall apart, loyalties divided, before she revealed Echostar's secret. He still had confidence though that Echostar would be able to settle things down. "Quiet! You should know that Echostar's loyalties lie with FernClan!" he yowled at his clanmates, tail lashing agressively, eyes daring them to make a move. He knew that he stood no chance against all of them, but he would fight if it came to that. He turned around, following Echostar into the den, but not without one last look at their clanmetes

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[*-*Riku*-*]

Silentshadow looked at Infinitystrike, wondering what he intended to accomplish by facing the crowd by himself. She watched as immediately the shattered cats turned on him. The Black She-cat watched as her mother came out of the warriors den to confirm her own thoughts. "How do you know? What if the father's clan attacks us or steals our prey? Will Echostar falter in battle? How can we trust a leader that won't defend our territory from an invader she may or may not be in love with?" She hissed. "And as long as she refuses to take responsibility for her actions, as far as I'm concerned, FernClan no longer has a leader. None of the cats here want to follow a disloyal FernClan cat. I don't care if she fell in love. The warrior code says we're not allowed to have divided loyalties. The point is, she lied to us and she broke the warrior code." Oceanwave spat, bristling.

Silentshadow understood her mother. She had always had an Ironclad belief in DreamClan and she was bitterly against anything that broke the warrior code. Silentshadow's tail tip twitched repeatedly, flicking back and forth as she watched the scene play out, seated near the warriors den.

[Jaysong :D]

Echostar paused to hear what Oceanwave had to say. "I would fight them just as I would any other clan. Has anyone ever found me disloyal in any way before this? I have been a completely deticated leader before this,why would the fact that you all know change the way I lead?"she challenged. Oceanwave spoke again,and Echostar dipped her head in acceptance. "Very well then. However,you must understand that now in my eyes,you are no longer a warrior of Fernclan."

[*-*Riku*-*]

Oceanwave didn't have time to bristle before the other cats drew closer to her with snarls of defiance. It was clear they all felt the same way as Oceanwave, as one the whole clan bristled and hissed. "If she's not a warrior of FernClan, we aren't either!" One snarled, there were yowls of agreement all around and Oceanwave had unsheathed her claws. "Why don't you try to make me, traitor?" She spat back, a growl in her throat.

The other cats surrounding her nodded. Some of them yowled out their own challenges. "Why don't you go join the clan who fathered your kits, traitor!" Oceanwave let them continue for a moment before she raised her tail to speak. "If I'm not a warrior of FernClan, there is no FernClan anymore! I have never done anything to betray my clan as you have done. YOU'RE the one that broke the warrior code, so YOU should be driven out!" She hissed, her tail lashing and her ears flattened against her head. More yowls of agreement followed her words.

[Jaysong :D]

Echostar listened to the uproar of the clan,though she saw some of them understood her piont and remained silent.She was surprised to see that a lot more than she had thought were on her side. "Go ahead and drive me out then. But,keep in mind that Fernclan will fall apart without a leader."

OOC:Sorry It's so short,I'm up to my eyeballs in schoolwork,I'm just glad I was able to post at all.

[*-*Riku*-*]

[OOC: I had an idea. What if Echostar left the clan for long enough to travel to Dream Falls and consulted DreamClan about what's going on, and she could meet Riku?]