After Storm's murder

From left to right: Storm, Mist, Despair, Blue and Todd.

Storm: Storm is a lean jet-black tom with smoldering blood-red eyes. He is rather cold-hearted and icily chill when provoked in any manner. Storm has changed quite a bit as he has suffered many betrayals. Now he has no tolerance for trespassers. Mutinous behavior will be severely punished. Kits are no exception to this rule, as Luck had been his charge for a time before turning traitor and causing Storm a handful of grief and ire.

Mist: Shade wished to establish a small faction and lead it against BloodClan. Because of this, he tried to make warriors out of all of his offspring, including Mist. Mist’s slow progress and frailty frustrated and disheartened Shade until eventually, he deemed her a lost cause. Instead, her father chose to focus and develop her littermates’ skills, who proved much more promising than Mist. By the time Mist left Shade’s circle, Shade had completely lost interest in Mist, leaving her care and protection to Storm. She is very kind, a trait her father considered a flaw, and dislikes fighting. Possibly as a result of her father's contempt for her, Mist lacks self-confidence, but is very diligent. Generally, she opts to think carefully before acting, and when she does manage to muster enough self-confidence, she can be surprisingly competent. When Mist discovered Blood’s plans for killing her older brother, Storm, she took decisive action to stop him. However, she failed, arriving far too late to be of any use.

Despair: Despair is prematurely wise and doesn’t speak often. As a kit, the leader of Bloodclan deemed him worthless and a burden to the clan. Because of his strained relationship with Storm, Despair has low self-esteem and thus behaves as a loner would. He doesn’t go out and socialize with other cats and spends most of his time alone. Despair has to deal with considerable self-loathing because he cannot please Bloodclan.

Blue: Blue is a sleek black she-cat with ice-blue eyes that almost seem to become cold, and darker at times. She is very calm, and not easily tempered but she is known as a hot-head, for the things that build inside her and shake from time to time that will make her lash out and take you to the ground, but don't mistake her with this. She still stands up for herself. With a deeper, richer tone in her voice - much different from most she-cats, she can easily be pointed out in a crowd. It's no surprise to see her arrive from the shadows, really. With her stealth skills, it seems as if she almost were one. Blue seems cold at times, and rough, but her honesty and trustworthiness can never be mistaken, though she sometimes gets mixed up in her own opinions like the time she joined a group of cats she barely knew on a quest to turn against BloodClan. She is incredibly sneaky, and almost as fast as the wind.

Todd: Burly, thick where he stands. His bleak coat is all of one rugged texture, his face a mish-mash of angles and sharp lines. Dark stripes contour into eyes that nearly fade into his coat, but are too green, and lead into a scarred snout with whiskers that are too large for it. Todd is a deep-thinker, rarely excited, with no set of guidelines to match is travels. He isn't sure what his values are, which means he has potential to play the villan or the hero in search for them. He doesn't often like others and even less does he respect them. His motives are uncertain, even to him. Born into a litter of six, his mother had raised Todd and his siblings without aid. During his seventh week, a wildfire slid over the forest surrounding their nursing den. His mother scrambled to collect her children, but missed one; Todd. She would not return for him. Under the roots of the tree they had sheltered beneath, the young tom dug until he could breathe charred air, then ran. Since then, he has never accepted help, nor seen his family.

Roleplay:

XTodd: BloodClan had no trees; that alone unnerved him -- not out of some cowardly fear for the open air, but because above he moved more easily. He felt heavy on the floor, like every fiber of muscle pushed him down, where in the branches it was the only way he could get higher. Regardless, his stride was still too confident, head still perched on an erect neck, tail still. He licked his lips, then cringed against the emphasized tang of death in the air. "That's disgusting. What do these idiots eat?" he growled. Bizarrely curious still, he quickened, nearly rounding a high wall, then deciding to scale it last minute, pieces of claw scratching off with the roughness. With next to no emotion, he studied the scene with no sympathy, only understanding. That was the stench. He watched for a moment, the scent dying to make way for another. "He looks important," Todd called.
DespairofBloodclan: Despair, overhearing Todd's comment, leaped to his paws and strode over angrily, pushing his muzzle a whisker length from the tom. "He's the leader, idiot," he snapped, baring his teeth. The fur rose along his shoulders in an aggressive manner. It was obvious this wasn't his normal attribute. Generally, Despair was a quiet cat. However, now he was at the peak of control. The smallest of things threw him off. This must be how Storm felt, he reckoned, his puffed-out chest exhaling quickly.
EchoRinging: Echo gasped. "What?" She said, her eyes flittering upward. She shook out her pelt, sighing. "Now what is BloodClan going to do now? Who will be leader. No cat could replace Storm." She said, whispering slightly. She paced around tiredly, sick at the loss of Storm.
Fearclaw: A fiery ginger and white tom padded in, his aqua blue eyes scanning around.
EchoRinging: Echo leaped in front of him growling. "Who are you, and what are you doing here." She spat, her claws digging into the ground near the tree.
Nightyblaze: Mist padded in silently along Lilacgaze's wall, eyes growing large at the sight of the fallen tomcat. "Storm," she breathed, remorseful. Blood did uphold his vow, Mist thought, recalling. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the fuss and she shrank back in an effort to make herself less noticeable. Death-scent draped the air. Gloomy. Daring to draw close, Mist slid her small forepaws over the edge of the brick wall, her forearms following until her shoulders reached out. Inhaling sharply, she then kicked out with powerful hind paws and landed lightly, almost inaudibly, on the cold, unforgiving cement.
EchoRinging: "hello Mist." she said. "We have a newcomer." She said, nodding to the ginger tom.
Nightyblaze: Her round blue eyes flickered to the entering tom. "You came at a bad time," she said quietly, gaze returning to the deceased tomcat. Oh Storm... Mist then drew her tongue over his bedraggled fur. The least she could do now was prepare him for burial. He would want that.
0XBlueXx: "Everyone, cut it out!" Blue hissed, lifting herself distressedly to her paws while she faced Todd, who Despair and Echo where about to raise their claws too. "No one is leader right now, but we will all have to agree and debate to the smartest decisions of our actions! Mist, Echo, can you burry Storm?" She nodded to the two, not in order, but in questioning. Then she raised her ears intently to the stranger, trusting that Despair wouldn't lash any moves. "I'll talk to this cat."
DespairofBloodclan: Despair reluctantly sheathed his claws. He let out a low chortle, meowing, "Seeing who has the most control here, the question about who's being leader should already have an answer."
0XBlueXx: Blue lowered her ears. "As much as the cats don't want to admit is, Despair, BloodClan is a Clan. And there should either be a BloodClan fighter than has been here awhile to step up, or for the cats to make a vote. But voting might also start a quarrel. In others opinions I'm sure they will want to wait. But I'm completely with you when it comes to replacing Storm immediately in his place for what is best for BloodClan. Your father wouldn't want anyone to wait."
Nightyblaze: Mist glanced up. "A quick exchange of authority is better than a slow one," she offered. "Time will eventually plant greed in cats' minds."
0XBlueXx: Her ears pricked. For not knowing Mist very well, she could read already she was a very smart feline. "Exactly, Mist." Blue nodded. For now, she decided herself that she would take control because in honesty it was because when Storm died, she realized how much she really cared. Echo wasn't very experienced, Mist hadn’t been there for long at all, Despair was still a learner and Magma... Was Magma a good choice? Blue wondered this often even in Storm's past recognition as leader. But she held such a strong grudge for Storm's family. And even when a new leader would arise, Storm's kits and mate would still have much power.
DespairofBloodclan: Ears twitching, Despair nodded, refusing to cast another glance at his father. It was far too painful. The defeat. The frailty. Despair had never known these features of Storm and he wished they never grew so apparent.
0XBlueXx: After this thought, Blue inhaled sharply, letting it out in a low trill. "So for now, we only start by breaking it to everyone that Storm is dead. There will be no retreat to chase down Blood until we are stronger, because we obviously established we aren't." Blue hissed, mainly to herself. "BloodClan was self conceived too much in the past. We need to realize that was our mistake and we will not take our self-esteem for granted next time. Ever. So I suggest first things first, we just make sure no one out of rank for the job will vigorously step up. We will need an influence like Storm had for BloodClan." At least mainly what he was at first. "A while ago when Scourge was leader, he gave BloodClan more strength then it ever had. But he showed BloodClan was evil. Spiteful. Hungry for blood... Power. Sure BloodClan needs more power, but we need a leader with his smarts - Storm's smarts. But with a softer paw. Because BloodClan isn't hungry for blood. Yes, we are a greedy Clan, but a smart one. We just need to be smarter."
Nightyblaze: Hiding the familiarity that glowed in her eyes, Mist stood. She could only feel a fierce responsibility to the Clan. She would help. "That won't be the last you see of that cat," Mist warned. Ears twitching in a nervous manner, she added, "He'll come back." He always does, she thought fretfully. Shade had trained them all to be fighters, killing machines. It was only discernable that Blood would return to play with their minds and emotions. It was just him.
DespairofBloodclan: Despair growled, "Then we better be prepared." He glanced at Blue, gaze softening out of respect. "What should we do?" It was obvious he recognized her as of higher ranking.
0XBlueXx: She nodded. "Exactly. That's why we should duress this. Rushing isn't a bad thing when it comes to keep together what remains of us. So we will strengthen up for Blood, but Blood is not a stupid cat. He will come back, but its not like he will be rummaging through our garbage every day. Right?" She narrowed her ice-blue eyes at Mist and Despair, her own respect for them both. "So we have enough time to choose a leader that will make it clear that BloodClan from now on will officially be a Clan. Despair, you have a lot of power even among your littermates. I'll need your voice, but I need you to influence Poison not to speak much about this." She said, flicking her tail in understanding if he would be angry with her for saying this. "Because a lot of BloodClan doesn't like her."
DespairofBloodclan: He simply nodded. If it was for the best of the Clan, he would not take this as offensive. Poison would need sympathy, he would give it. After all, she was his closest bond.
Nightyblaze: Mist smiled inwardly. Already, I can tell she is formidable. She will keep us together through this, Mist reckoned. They would need it. By scent, she could tell Blood visited alone. He wasn't.
0XBlueXx: She slouched, somewhat relieved but it only sunk back up in her throat as a sudden chill of fears swept down her spine and pulsed in her veins. Blood alone couldn't tease the factors the Clan held. Was he maybe apart of a different force? She fixed her claws through the holes in the cement ground that wore away from age. Looking at them you could see the history BloodClan held. Blood... Furry. She knew it would never end, and she decided she would step up as; not the leader, but a pivot. If she stepped up that far, it would only enrage the rest that she didn't win the respect of. Taking the place as the rank until - or if they decided on someone better, would be the best thing to do. It would be her job to make sure BloodClan had a great and reliable leader, even if it wouldn't be her herself. "The biggest thing now, is figuring out how we can give BloodClan Clan life to keep us together and plot our way through situations. I bet if cats wouldn't have turned their backs on Storm when he tried to make BloodClan more reliable, none of this wouldn't have happened. He tried doing this once, but we will fight harder through it." Blue mewed, flicking her ears. "At least now, we have an argument."
Nightyblaze: "We should start out with some ways that will keep us together. Work from the inside out," Mist thought out loud. "Blood works by severing the ties, that's how he left Shade's army in disarray."
0XBlueXx: She narrowed her ice-blue eyes in concentration. "If Blood knows so much about us, we will learn about what Blood has too. That is, after we get everyone together physically and mentally."
DespairofBloodclan: His eyes narrowed the slightest. She just mentioned his grandfather. Storm had spoken about the tom several times. He was a scourge on the rogues and loners that lived peaceably in twolegplace. If Blood - Despair wrinkled his nose at the name - could outwit Scourge the First's son, he was far worse than even Scourge himself. Despair muttered, "Even the smallest weakness and Blood has us at claw point..."
Nightyblaze: "I can't stress it enough," Mist mewed. "He plays cats with ease. Each BloodClan cat must think as a whole, not for themselves."
0XBlueXx: She curled her tail over her paws and just listened to Mist and Despair wistfully, figuring she'd put together a puzzle by observing herself. Her ears flattened against her jet-black skull, which matched the color along with the rest of her small, slender body. She was only about as large as a learner.