December Gathering 2018

Marshstorm's expression darkened at the confirmation. The cold stiff front of Scorchclaw made him tighten his jaw, muscles tensing briefly, then releasing as he knew there was nothing that could be done at the moment.
"My apologies... as Leopardstar said, they will be dealt with." He responded, a deep breath helped to unwind the anger and embarrasement beneath his pelt. The question of 'why' seared into his mind. "Ridgepaw's antics have always been harmless... or so we thought." Her secret forays towards other clan territories had never gone particularly unnoticed. Though he tried hard to keep her in camp, the young she-cat had always been a wanderer like her father... a cold feeling of dread sank into his chest. How long before her antics started a full-blown war. Outright tresspassing was something he tried hard to dissuade her from, but that hadn't stopped her as a kit or as an apprentice.

A thought sprung to mind, simple, yet effective. Hailpaw was strong and confident... the two she-cats were together often. His tail flicked as he considered his options, but the main goal was simple. His heart ached at the idea of seperating kin, but for a short while, perhaps he could ban them from being on the same patrols... with less of her sister's confidence she might be less likely to do reckless things. He resisted the urge to sigh. That, was as unlikely as convincing her not to stray close to the borders. He turned his attention to Swiftstep briefly, but his mind was already back at home, where the accused were nested.

"...What happened to you?" Swanpetal asked, observing Thornpaw's face. It was definitely Thornpaw, between the voice and the face, but she couldn't comprehend why the cat who had seemed so uninterested was approaching her now. But, she supposed, with time came change. Still... "And why are you talking to me? You never seemed in any hurry to do so before." Though once it would have sounded sharp, now it was a genuine question: she just wanted to understand what was going on.

If anything, Swanpetal felt like she was the ghost: a ghost of herself. She was wandering through life pretending everything was fine, but Thornpaw's reappearance was probably the first thing in moons that had genuinely shocked her. Mostly, everything she felt was somewhat dulled, and she simply tried to pretend it wasn't, because hiding in her own grief hadn't done anything for her. But she couldn't say that it was doing much for her now that she was acting like everything was fine, either.

Scorchstar was instantly pulled out of his dreary mood at the arrival of his allied Clan. He offered Jaystar a small smile and listened to what his friend had to say. His ears perked up with interest at the mention of a kit who was related to him. Taking a wild guess, since the kit had made her way to RiverClan first instead of ShadowClan, this kit was probably related to him through Shade. He just hoped this kit Jaystar spoke of didn't have the same ideals or ambitions as his firstborn son.

Before he was able to ask, however, Tinystar decided to initiate the Gathering. A little irritated that his curiosity wouldn't be immediately quelled, he sat up straight and tall as he listened to the Clan leaders give their reports. After Tinystar's and Leopardstar's reports on the well-being of SkyClan and ThunderClan, respectively, Jaystar jumped right into action against ThunderClan after giving his own report. Feeling much like a third wheel, Scorchstar twitched his ears uncomfortably at the heated exchange between RiverClan's and ThunderClan's leaders. Leaf-bare was a terrible time to even consider going to war with another Clan, as every cat knew, but he still decided right then and there that if bad came to worse and RiverClan needed back-up to fight against ThunderClan and their allies, he would lend them ShadowClan's strength.

Thankfully, the aggression between the two leaders quelled, much to Scorchstar's relief, and he allowed Swiftstep an opening for him to give his report on WindClan's well-being in Brindlestar's absence. Even though the WindClan leader severely intimidated him, he still hoped she would recover from her sickness and be well enough to represent WindClan at the next full moon.

Finally, it was his turn to give his report. After Swiftstep stepped back, Scorchstar stood and approached the edge of the Great Rock to speak. "ShadowClan is faring as well as can be expected during leaf-bare. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten cold enough for the prey to prolong their hiding within their warrens, so we are still eating well. We have been blessed with several new apprentices, and we welcome our newly promoted Clanmate Redwing to warriorhood." He decided to remain silent about three of ShadowClan's newest apprentices. If they learned that he was now giving shelter to three of Lichenmask's kits, who knew what they would say or do. It would be best to keep Burntpaw, Slatepaw, and Littlepaw's identities secret for the time being.

Finishing his report, and knowing that the Gathering would soon end now that all five leaders have given their reports on their respective Clan, Scorchstar stepped back to his original spot. He shifted his head to look at Jaystar expectantly, ready to learn what he had to say about this supposed kin he had mentioned.

The leader simply nodded at the Windclan deputy, acknowledging his decision of not making a decision for Brindlestar. He couldn't help but think of Goldeneye when he spoke, wishing that she could have been just like Swifstep at that moment she decided to make a decision for their own clan without telling anyone.

Jaystar sat down and listened to Scorchstar speak with not truly an interesting new to share. It was good to hear, though, that his ally was fairing well. Once the dark tabby returned to his place and looked at him, the Riverclan leader immediately noticed his curiosity about this kit. "I wish we could have more time tonight but the end of the Gathering is approaching. I will meet you here tomorrow at night to discuss and I will bring this kit with me. Despite where she comes from... she's no danger and she actually knows about a rogue group that might threaten our clans, Scorchstar." The tom turned his gaze away for a second, looking over his clanmates. It was time to leave but in a day, he would be back here and finally settled the fate of Lengxue. The silvery warrior dipped his head once he fixed his eyes on Scorchstar once more as a respectful goodbye. "Until we meet again, I wish Starclan light the path of your clan." He purred before standing up on the top of the Great Rock once more.

"With the Gathering over, is time for my clan to leave. I hope to see your answer soon, Leopardstar and my warriors will be waiting for your messenger. Until then, I wish you all a safe return. Riverclan! Let's go home!" Jaystar leapt off the rock and joined his clanmates to lead them one more time back to the camp. They all needed some rest before dawn arrives.

A little disappointed that his curiosity would have to wait to be satisfied until the next day, Scorchstar still respected Jaystar's decision. He nodded back to his ally. "Very well. I will meet you here tomorrow night. May StarClan light your path, Jaystar."

Turning back to his own Clanmates who were scattered among the sea of multicolored pelts, he called, "ShadowClan, we will return home as well. Give your neighbors quick farewells if you must, then we will depart." With that, he leaped down from the Great Rock as well and waited for his Clanmates to assemble around him so they could return back to camp.

Littlepaw flinched, the use of her old name and bickering of her litter-mates drawing her back to a more peaceful time where everything had been alright. But that was gone now, just as the gathering was coming to an end, looking up at her sister sadly she whispered, "I don't want to leave you, Dawnpaw..." green eyes misted over but reluctantly she tucked her head against her sister's chin once more and got to her paws. "I'll see you later... I guess. I'll miss you. Tell Duskpaw I said hi?" Without waiting for an answer because her clan was leaving and she always got nervous when she felt like she'd be left behind, rocketed after them.

Scorchstar was the first cat for her to see, so she pushed past the other clan-cats after him in her haste. "Scorchstar! Sir!" She called, nearly drowning in the sea of cats around her. "Scorchstar, sir, I was wonderin' why-why didn't you mention us? All the other clans' apprentices got announced, so why not us? I-Is it because of who our dad is?" For an apprentice that still lacked in confidence, she made up for in perceptiveness, even if it was just by a little. "Are you scared of what the other clans might do to us if they know we're here? What they'll do to you?" She meowed, though while she started talking strong, it slowly dwindled to an almost intelligible mumble. Littlepaw didn't meet her leader's eyes, way too nervous to even be speaking to a cat higher than her. She was taught and raised to give respect to those higher than her, to not challenge their decisions, or bad things happened... like Canren.

Watching disapprovingly as the leader's jostled among each other, Tinystar stayed silent, not caring to intervene in their usual grudge-help shenanigans. Instead, he waited till everything died down and stood up as Scorchstar spoke. "SkyClan! Let's return home!" the small leader yowled among the crowd and jumped down from Tallrock, where he took place in front of the growing crowd of his clanmates. It was a shame to see such cats, especially leaders, get tangled up in such antics, but if they wanted to act like that, then that was their choice.