November's Gathering 2017

The cold moon hung full in the night sky, it's chilling light highlighting the bare branches of the four great oaks. Winds rattled twigs off their perch, sending a shower of speckles falling like false snow.

Crowstar let out a small sigh as he lead Skyclan into the gathering. He wasn't looking forward to this leaf-bare but he would push through it like he has before. The Skyclan leader lead his clan into the gathering not really looking forward to what the others had to say. He just wanted to get back home and not have to deal with it anymore.

Foxhunter followed his new leader as a warrior... not as just a prey-hunter. The clearing was still empty so the serious tom sat down next to his clanmates and waited for the other clans to come. Even if had been already in these gatherings, it felt different now that he was a warrior of Skyclan and not a Tribe cat. He finally felt like he belonged here, among the clan cats. He felt at home again.

Ivystar was next to follow, the silver tabby brushing past Crowstar without saying a word in greeting, hopping up to take her place to the side. When a twig fell on her back, she shook it off with annoyance before huffing. It was her first gathering as leader, though after taking the position for Fishstar as she'd fallen ill several times, it hardly felt like a first. There was no nerves, just mild annoyance that other clans weren't all here yet.

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Otterleap followed behind Ivystar, the tom didn't really share Ivystar's dislike of SkyClan so didn't mind sitting near where SkyClan was milling. He wasn't a fan of the tribe still, but SkyClan cats had traditionally been their allies so he dipped his head in greeting to a couple of them.

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Minnowpaw followed behind her grandfather, eyes wide open as she looked over at all the cats that were gathered. There were so many, and it was only SkyClan and RiverClan at this point. She hardly could believe that there were more cats to come.

Jaystream followed his mother with a lot of thoughts and emotions flooding his mind. Fear, insecurities, doubts... This was his very first time entering into a Gathering as Riverclan deputy. He had to sit under the Great Rock among the other deputies. What was he going to do? What was he going to say? Would they like him? Or they would hate him? He closed his eyes, trying to show a calm expression but his paws slightly trembled as he padded toward the Great Rock in the moment Ivystar jumped to the rocks with Crowstar by her side. Starclan... please help him... He prayed sitting nervously.

He was too young... too new on this. But... he had to do this. He was the deputy so he should take the responsibility of his rank. Even if he didn't ask for this, Riverclan now trusted on him. The gray tabby tom had to be strong and overcome his anxious fears. There was no place for that here. His green looked up at the Riverclan leader and he smiled a bit. Even if they weren't as close as he wanted, the deputy admired her strength and power. One day... he would be as confident and strong as her. He had to.

Willowflight padded into the clearing with his fellow tree-hugging clan-mates, disgruntled by the bodies of cats pushing him around as he waded through the thicket of pelts and paws sticking out here and there to accidentally trip him. 'Fox-dung,' he inwardly swore with annoyance as he got tripped yet again, just wanting to find a place to sit down and not get run over by bumbling mouse-brains. He tried not to think about his father Rippedsky left back at home sick instead of attending this starclan-forsaken gathering like he should be. Willowflight refused to believe that his dad's time to go to Starclan was coming up-

The grumpy warrior resolutely pushed that thought out of his mind. He sat down and refused to think, watching everyone with irritation lighting up his angry blue eyes. He was not having a good day.

(wow i had a whole post typed on mobile and it got deleted.. hah love my life!!!)

Cloudroar, Willowflight’s equally as, if not grumpier brother, padded swiftly behind the tom. His usual sour mood was now much worse with all the emotional stress that was piled on the blind tom. He had even less patience for his apprentices or clanmates now that his father was so ill. The only cats who would brighten his mood, if even just a little, we’re his siblings and daughter. They always had and would be his light (hah no pun intended), and they always had a place in his heart, even if he was a bit prickly on the outside.

Carefully making his way through the crowd of cats, he found a spot next to his brother. Curling his tail around his white paws, he turned his blind gaze on his tabby sibling. “I don’t know why we even come to these anymore.” he huffed in annoyance, tail tip flicking.

Lakepaw padded into the gathering, his bright amber gaze wide in awe. There’s so many cats! He thought in wonder, his eager gaze taking in every cat in his eyes could each. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do now that he was there, so he began looking for his friend, Snowpaw. Maybe she’d know what was the thing to do.

Padding into the clearing behind his father, Tinylegs made his way over to where he assumed the other deputies were, near the base of Four Trees. This was his first gathering as anything more than a warrior, so the little tom was a bit nervous being so close to the leaders and their deputies, but he shook away the nerves. 'The last thing I want to do is look nervous,' the little white and grey tom reminded himself.

Arriving at the base of the large trees, he gave a nod and smile to the RiverClan cat whom he didn't exactly know and sat down, wrapping his long tail around his short legs. "Hello! I noticed Ivyfall is up on the tree, did something happen to Fishstar?" the cheery, tiny tom asked with a smile, looking up to the grey tabby.

Ashstar was the third to enter the clearing, all of WindClan trailing behind her; a sea of so many gray pelts seemed to flood the area that already smelled of SkyClan and RiverClan. It was harder than usual for her to focus after Sageleaf's betrayal, but she didn't let the stress show on her stone-calm features. Offering a nod to Ivyfall, who was on the rock again, and Crowstar, she settled down on the Great Rock, eyes taking in the sights. She was surprised to see not one, but two new cats in the deputies' area- a RiverClan tom, and one from SkyClan as well. Was Fishstar dead? Was Rippedsky dead? Dared she hope? The WindClan leader refrained from asking questions- they still had to wait for Magpiestar and Blizzardstar.

Quailfeather was there as well, taking in the familiar sights and smells. As a senior warrior, she was no stranger to Gatherings, but she was glad to see an influx of cats despite leaf-bare's swift approach. Hopefully, all the Clans could stay peaceful in this hardest time of the year. Her thin pelt didn't offer much protection against the cold, unlike her grandmother Ashstar's, and she shivered as she sat down on the frosty grass among her Clanmates.

Her first Gathering! Snowpaw padded in next to her sister Minnowpaw, green eyes wide at all the sights. She had thought that RiverClan was big, but there were so many cats! She hadn't known the forest held that many. It was kind of overwhelming, and she saw a few cats trying to shrink down from the swarm of living, furry beings, but being around so many others made her feel happy and excited. Ever the extrovert, the fluffy white apprentice kept on walking, looking around at the cats from two other Clans- WindClan were the thin gray ones, probably, and weren't those other ones SkyClan? Or maybe ThunderClan? Well, they smelled like trees, so they were probably one or the other. Snowpaw ran up to her friend Lakepaw, who was looking rather alone, and nudged him with her shoulder. "So, what do you think?" she asked breathlessly, a sparkle in her large, bright eyes. "Is it like you thought it'd be? I can't believe there are so many cats!"

Blizzardstar had to constantly shake her fur since they had left camp to get rid of all the small twigs before they could get tangled between her long white coat. While she wasn’t a at whose pelt’s looks were top priority she wanted to at least be presentable when she arrived to the gathering. While she was happy to see Crowstar and Ashstar on the clearing, she felt a wave of confusion and worry when she noticed Ivyfall on top of the Great Rock…and an unknown cat from her clan in the deputy spot…could it be…

She shook her head, she couldn’t jump into conclusions like that. She would wait for Ivyfall to speak and then she would allow her mind to run wild.

With that thought in mind she quickly took her spot between the leaders with a polite greeting, allowing the worries that flooded her mind to take over…like the lack of prey in her clan and the fact that she was standing right beside the deputy, maybe even leader now, of the clan she would need to talk later on regarding Sunningrocks. She would keep her mouth shut about that matter for the time being though, as she still had some things to consider before trying to start a negotiation.

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Moonlight followed her clan into the clearing with a huge smile, which only got bigger when she saw how her mate took his spot between the deputies. It was just temporary, everyone in the clan knew that, but it didn’t made her pride be any smaller. Many thought that a cat with such short legs wouldn’t ever do anything relevant, that he wouldn’t even survive in SkyClan, now he had proven them all wrong. Not even the cold would be able to take away the smile off the she-cat’s muzzle that night.

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Hawkstrike followed the rest of SkyClan into the clearing before taking a nice spot near the Great rock to be able to hear whatever the leaders had to say. He had caught word of Leopardstar’s death and he seriously wanted to make sure that it was a confirmed thing. Oh, if it was he was going to be so happy…

Vixenpaw followed Ivystar into the clearing, eyes wide as she looked around at her surroundings. So this is what a Gathering looks like! She realised with a jolt that she had been born here.
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Shimmerpaw walked into Fourtrees with an uncaring look on her face. It was just a bunch of trees. She sat next to Buzzardpaw.
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Buzzardpaw bounded energetically into Fourtrees, the fact that he would usually be asleep right now irrelevant. He looked in all directions and took in every detail.
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Dovepaw strode elegantly behind her Clanmates, faking indifference but in reality very excited about the prospect of a Gathering.

Oceanlight followed Crowstar into Fourtrees. She looked around for other cats, but only saw SkyClan. 'SkyClan's first, huh? she thought. She sat down at where the medicine cats usually gather.

Head low, Echo also followed Crowstar into the clearing. She was scared of what the other clans would say about her origins because of the... incident... with Swoop and the Dark Forest. Forcing herself full of pride, she lifted her head back up. She'd tell any cat who questions her loyalty to StarClan and the forest that they are wrong, like a warrior cat would. She sat down in some random place in the clearing.

Swiftheart followed after Ivystar, ears flat against her head, with Fishstar and all... Her death had quite an impact on the warrior. Fishstar wasn't just her leader, though that would still make her sad, she was also her mother, which made the sadness ten times worse. She sat down, not acknowledging any greetings from others.

Flowerpaw nervously followed her Clanmates into the clearing. This was her first Gathering, and she felt worried that she would mess something up.

Heatherpaw stuck close to her Clanmates -- specifically Reedheart and Emberpaw -- when they arrived at the Gathering with the rest of ThunderClan. She felt herself becoming overwhelmed by the sheer mass of cats in the clearing, and she instantly felt sick to her stomach. Oh, how she wished she had stayed back in camp...

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Fernpaw pushed her way through the crowd of WindClan cats with excitement, eyes wide as she scanned the clearing and all the cats from the other four Clans. She kneaded the ground impatiently before calling out loudly, "Quailfeather! Can I explore and say hi to the other apprentices? Pleeeeease?"

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Sweetpaw rather tentatively padded into the clearing, staring at the ground not as a result of shyness, but rather to make sure she didn't step in any mud and ruin her beautifully-groomed pale brown paws. She was glad she lived by the river in RiverClan territory; the forest was absolutely filthy!

Padding into the clearing near the back of WindClan, Smokepelt sat down around the edge of the crowd and wrapped his tail around his paws, watching as cats slowly filtered into the gathering area. Nothing had really been going on within the clan lately that he knew of, besides him having saved Mistpaw and the usual Leaffall gloominess, which the former deputy guessed was nice. Looking to the large trees, he wasn't surprised to see Ivyfall up in Fishstar's place. 'Probably just sick again,' he thought to himself, but looking to where the deputies sat, he was surprised to see a small white and grey cat. He'd seen this cat around before... Tinylegs was it? But he wondering why Rippedsky wasn't there instead. Had the deputy fallen ill as well? If so, putting a cat of that size and stature seemed like an odd idea on Crowstar's part.