February Gathering 2017

(My cats came and were totally not late)

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Wolfpaw decided with a nod. That must be it. He's probably overwhelmed by the gathering too.., "Well, that's okay. I wouldn't talk to other cats too if I didn't have to." She shrugged and settled down next to Ryepaw. If he didn't want to talk to her, the least she'd do was sit with him. Besides, hopefully, here the other cats would eventually give up bothering her and go elsewhere. As Mudfoot came to join her, she gave him a flick of her ear in acknowledgement, before turning to Frostpaw.

As he began to speak, her blood began to boil. Who told him that? Who knows? No one is supposed to know! Shortly after settling down, she sprang back up into a defensive position, ears flat and a snarl rising in her throat, "I don't know which cat told you that, but you have no right to question my loyalty." Her words were venom and she met his challenging look evenly, as if daring him to continue questioning her. The she-cat's tail lashed behind her. Fear at being found out welled-up inside her, but instead she projected it as anger, not wanting to betray anything.

***

Rippedsky sensed his mate's slight uneasiness in her formality and silently thanked her for being kind to his friend, even if it wasn't her favorite thing. He wrapped his tail around her comfortingly and looked up at the leaders and deputies assembled, waiting for the gathering to begin.

Twistedtail noticed that Cherrymist seemed uneasy talking to her, and smiled apologetically. She followed Rippedsky's gaze towards the leaders and looked to see if they had anything to say.

OOC: Short

Winterpaw wrote:

(My cats came and were totally not late)

same

(Same here)

Stillpaw padded in after her clan when they had come int. The young apprentice with the useless paw trailed at the back as they had came in and had quietly sat by herself.

"Bouncepaw!" Rabbitfoot mewed, turning to see the apprentice with a big smile on her face. "It's good to see you!" With a purr vibrating in her chest, she turned back to Honeydrop, just as excited for the medicine cat and her new apprentice. However, she stopped suddenly as the she-cat motioned to her busted paw. "Oh, yes. We do have cobweb... but that's about it. Herbs have been really hard to find lately, so I don't have anything for the pain," the Skyclan medicine cat meowed, wishing that she could do more for her friend.

When all had gathered, Thrushstar finally decided that it was time for the gathering to start, taking little acknowledgement toward Vixenheart. Stepping up to the edge of the rock, he tried his best to yowl and catch the cats' attention below, but with his lack of voice, it was a lot more difficult than he cared to admit. However, once it was quiet, he proceeded to speak. "Shadowclan has fared well over this moon. Leafbare has... been getting difficult, but it's nothing we can't handle. However, we've been having some trouble with... cats who don't know how to keep their borders." Thrushstar paused for a moment, letting it sink in before continuing, not bothering to look at any of the leaders behind him. "The first incident was with Skyclan. One of their warriors and apprentices decided that borders did not matter to them. They... blatantly crossed into Shadowclan's territory with no regard for borders that have held firm since Skyclan's return. I let them off easy just this once, but if it happens... again, your warriors will not be so lucky, Vixenheart." Finally looking back, the Shadowclan leader glared at the Skyclan deputy, hoping that his message was loud and clear. "Also, a Thunderclan warrior brutally attacked one of our own at the Thunderpath unprovoked, nearly killing Blazeflight. Darkstar, I pray... that there have been consequences for this warrior's actions? Because if there have been none, I will take it upon myself to... make sure that your warrior pays for what she has done," He growled, facing the Thunderclan leader.

Bunny wrote:

"I'm Venompaw, of Shadowclan! Who're you?" she sat down next to her. It would be useful to know people in other clans and besides, she didn't seem too threatening. Yet, anyway, although a lot could change by the time she became a warrior. Still, only a better reason to introduce herself

"I'm Shadepaw from WindClan." the dark pelted, young she-cat replied to the young ShadowClan apprentice. She was just about to say something else when she heard one of the leaders start to speak, so she just said, "Oh I guess it's starting now. Maybe we can talk after the gathering." Then she turned her attention to the leaders standing on the giant rock in the center of the gathering place.

Copperpaw quickly turned his attention to the leaders of the five clans as Thrushstar began speaking. This was his first gathering so he didn't know much about what was going to be said, but he had heard stories about them from some of the other apprentices about what the gatherings were like.

Heat rose in Quailfeather's cheeks as Silentpaw asked the question she had hoped to hear, albeit very loudly. A wide grin split her face as she twined her tail with the tom's. "Of course I will," she purred, nuzzling his cheek. This was the happiest moment of her entire life.

Frostpaw flinched as Wolfpaw leapt up and snarled at him. He knew she was partly right, there was no reason to believe the random apprentice had been telling the truth. But she was being too defensive. He snapped back, "Well, no cat would have to question your loyalty if you weren't so antisocial with your own Clan all the time."

Cherrymist's fur bristled besides Rippedsky at Thrushstat's words, but she kept her maw shut, not without effort. Outrage bubbled in her head. "He acts like a kit." he muttered, wondering at the same time about the fight between ShadowClan and ThunderClan.

Venompaw nodded, acknowledging her, before directing her gaze to the leaders. Hearing her leader speak she frowned. Blatantly not sticking to their borders was breaking the warrior code, and if there had been no consequences then, well, she didn't know. What she did know was that the whole idea made anger build up in her chest. No, she wouldn't let it slide. As soon as she became a warrior she'd teach these imbeciles the meaning of being a clan cat.
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Markedpaw heard Thrushstar's words and unsheathed her claws, kneading at the dirt. Someone from their own clan? What had happened? Why had they hurt them so badly? Were they sure the cat was from Thunderclan? Yes, they were, but she thought it was ridiculous that Thrushstar was completely blaming it on their warrior, surely there was a reason behind their attack?

"Aren't the gatherings for meeting cats from other clans? Or have I heard wrong?" She glared at Frostpaw with a hiss, trying to be a little quieter now that the leaders had started speaking, "I'm as much Shadowclan as any other cat. You have no right to accuse me of anything." Her eyes blazed furiously. Of all things to happen at my first gathering... Wolfpaw held herself back from looking around for her father. Now was definitely not the time with Frostpaw questioning her. Maybe after. The apprentice glanced up at her mentor for some back up. Frostpaw was his apprentice too.

"Fine!" Frostpaw spat, "if you want to go be best friends with every other Clan go for it!" He pointedly turned his back on her and stalked a few tail-lengths away to listen to the leader talk. He felt a twinge of guilt, Wolfpaw hadn't actually done anything to deserve accusation. She was so moody with everyone all the time though, and she had made it pretty clear she didn't want to spend time with her own Clan as much as the others. I might have taken that a little personally Frostpaw thought, annoyed at both Wolfpaw and himself.

Bouncepaw nuzzled Rabbitfoot, but only in a friendly manner. His eyes glowed. "H-Hello," he squeaked politely, yet so softly that it was barely perceptible. The RiverClan medicine cat apprentice bowed his head, as if he viewed Rabbitfoot on a whole new tier now that she was a fully-fledged medicine cat. And rightfully so! Rabbitfoot had indeed advanced a rank.

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Blacktwig flinched at Thrushstar's mention. He knew he couldn't be blamed for it, but he knew who it actually was, since Thrushstar had dared mention the gender of the miscreant. Said gender was Emberheart's, and he checked over his shoulder to see if her expression changed.