HIGH POSITION AUDITIONS 6/5

name: ruststar
clan: windclan
rank: leader
age: 40 moons

brief personality: caustic, opinionated, emotionally strong, short-tempered, frigid, unforgiving, confrontational

brief history: born to kestrelclaw and her mate thrushpelt in a litter of three, rustkit looked most similar to her father. her sister, dovekit, was second born and her brother, wheatkit, was first born. rustpaw was known for being a bit of a harridan growing up and was more than a handful for her mentor. despite her contentious personality, she was exceptional at hunting and excelled at the martial arts. as an adult, she was frequently relied upon to form the backbone of raiding and hunting parties, along with older, more experienced warriors, despite her small stature. she earned her warrior name, rustfang, after helping to kill a badger that had attacked a younger apprentice while the young tom was hunting. she was chosen as the clan's deputy for her aggression and fighting prowess, as the aging storkstar was unwilling to fight as he grew more frail with age. when storkstar passed on, rustfang became ruststar and began a regime aimed at pushing back against the displacement of windclan's borders and the fact that the other clans had not contributed as much of their own territories to skyclan's intrusive niche. 


PROMPT

ivyleaf had always been something of a nuisance, even if unintentionally so, and her sudden quietude made ruststar leery with suspicion. she'd allowed the lack of usual behavior to run its course for several days before having a little chat with her — which really meant ruststar had bluntly asked what the hell had gotten her sorry rump down — and she'd been even more irked when the shecat's behavior hadn't returned to normal. a quick, grumpy complaint at her deputy had garnered no further knowledge about why she was acting weird. it rankled ruststar for moons, but when the shecat began to slip out at night to destinations unknown, she'd finally been given reason enough to send a svelte tabby slinking after ivyleaf on one of her nightly wanderings. 

the reason for her disappearance boiled ruststar's blood so hot that she leaped, screeching and spitting, upon a new skyclan apprentice and chased them twenty yards back across their border during the evening patrol. the impending condescension from the skyclan leader weighed little upon her as she seethed over having a traitor in their midst. when the dust had settled two sunrises later, with warriors both foreign and familiar bleeding all around her, the final cat to find themselves accosted was ivyleaf. ruststar waited no longer to pounce; the windclan warrior found herself beneath unsheathed claws as ruststar yowled to the rest of the clan, "this witch is the one responsible! she sold her own kin to their fangs and briarwing witnessed it!" 

ivyleaf shows no remorse, even two days later as ruststar and willowblaze escort her to a private meeting place to discuss her punishment and her motivations. laying on the edge of the cliffs with the gulls crying in the background, overlaid by the lapping of the waves, it could almost have been a pleasant day. instead, ruststar's tail flickered and curled repetitively behind her and her narrowed eyes never seemed to leave ivyleaf. "I would never betray my clan," she murmured softly, trying once again to play the innocent. ruststar was through with her games— she'd lost two warriors, one to death and the other to the elder's den, and no amount of scrubbing would wash the blame from ivyleaf's paws. 

still, she rose and smiled coolly at the younger she-cat, gesturing in one fluid motion for her to join ruststar in a slow pace across the grassy cliffs. their walk was brief, and ruststar was quick to latch onto the new warrior's nape before, through some feat of adrenaline-fueled strength and sheer hatred, flinging her off the side of the cliff. ivyleaf did not simply sail into the abyss as ruststar had intended, but twisted and found minimal purchase on the stone— and on ruststar herself. the terror in ivyleaf's eyes, the wheezed, "I'm so sorry," that would have saved her from death came too late. ruststar shrugged her shoulder and those clutching claws dislodged as gravity revealed its heartlessness. welts oozed blood from where ivyleaf had tried to find purchase on ruststar's muzzle and the little she-cat's neck ached from the strain, but she remained even as icyleaf flipped once, twice, in midair before crumpling on unforgiving stone. a muted thud accompanied her final resting place upon the sandy shore. "leave her body for the gulls," she told willowblaze. "they looked hungry, anyway."

permission granted by aubergine for the mentions of willowblaze!