June Gathering 2013

As soon as Sagestar walked into Fourtrees, it was Gingerheart that was right behind her. She was glad to be here again, but something was a little off. Something didn't exactly smell right. It was only when she saw some of the Windclan cats did she really figure out what might have been going on. She wasn't exactly fond of the smell of fire since she had never really experienced it before, but at the same time, it smelled familiar. After thinking about it for a moment, she finally figured it out: it was the smell of smoke. The senior warrior couldn't help but feel for the Windclan cats, but at the same time, she didn't really care. As long as Shadowclan was safe and sound, she was happy.

Right behind his mother entered Thrushpaw as he glanced around the huge trees that covered up the rock in the middle. He had heard stories of what the Gatherings were like but this wasn't even similar. It was so much better! Energy shot through him as he glanced around at all the other cats, wondering who was in what clan while trying to figure out what smell belonged to who. Quickly, he found his way to the small area where apprentices met, hoping that there were others there he could talk to. He always wanted to meet the cats of other clans and this was his only chance. After tonight, it would be another moon before he saw this kind of scene again. Then where would he be? But after a short moment, his eyes finally fell onto his sister before he bounded to her. "Aren't you excited?!" He asked her.

Shadeclaw padded in behind Thrushpaw, tail and chin held high. This was his first gathering as a Warrior, and he was sure looking forward to sitting with the older cats rather than the other apprentices. Taking a seat by another Shadowclan warrior, he looked up at the Great Rock, wondering when the gathering would begin. By now he could recognize the leaders up on the rock quite well, especially Raccoonstar.

Lionstar narrowed his eyes at Sagestar as he arrived. "An arrogant entrance for an arrogant cat. I almost thought you weren't coming." He growled, lashing his tail from side to side. "But now that your here..." He calmed down, looking away. "...Might we start soon? I want to get this over with."

Crowpaw tilted his head, watching the leaders as Sagestar arrived. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, not liking the newcomers' smug attitudes. It's not like they just beat all the clans at something big, so what's with that look they all seemed to have on their faces? Sure, there were a lot of Shadowclan cats coming in...But that wasn't a huge accomplishment or anything, was it?

Nightcloud followed after her Clan, a small smile on her face. Her first gathering as a warrior! She flickered her ear, hearing what Lionstar said. She let out a small snort; rolling her eyes. Ugh; gag her. Why couldn't the leaders at least try to act like each other; it would maybe make a few things go smoothly between them; mostly over SkyClan's territory. She still found it hard to believe that SkyClan was gone; but ShadowClan was huge now, they needed the territory; but she would be lying if she thought that only ShadowClan was growing; it looked like WindClan had a lot of apprentices now also...

Twistedfoot blinked in surprise as he saw Smokefang, quickly throwing a smile onto his face as he dipped his head to the ShadowClan warrior. "Oh, good to meet you, Smokefang. I am Twistedfoot of WindClan, this here is my Clanmate, Shadeheart." As he said his own name; he gently moved his twisted foot so that the ShadowClan warrior could see it. He wasn't going to act shy...well, he wasn't going to act shy tonight at least, Shadeheart needed him to be brave for her. He did like how Smokefang hadn't even mentioned how Shadeheart scars from the fire, figuring that most cats-at least apprentices-would first ask how Shadeheart had gotten so badly scarred, or if they noticed Twistedfoot's foot, how it got twisted. Now like he had a good story for the latter, birth-defect just wasn't very interesting.

Fawnpaw, finally appearing, saw the crowd of cats. Eyes widening, she wondered how many cats there were gathering. She knew that it was all the clans, but this... Fawnpaw never knew there were so many cats in the forest. Unable to tell the difference, the apprentice looked around, sighing. All the mixed clan scents made it difficult for her to find her clan. They were all spread out! How annoying. As she looked around, the apprentice bumped into Crowpaw. "Oww... Fawnpaw muttered as she got up. Then, she gave a bow of apology. Her head hung down, the apprentice nervously said, "S-sorry..."

Mintpaw purred, wondering who she should sit with. Definitely not the apprentice that looked at her strangely. Perhaps Cinderpaw wouldn't mind sitting with her. "Cinderpaw! I hope you don't mind, but may I sit with you?" the silver tabby called, though low enough so that it wouldn't cause a commotion. Froststar would have shredded her fur off if she did such a thing! Seeing Reedheart, she saw some sort of pity or even horror in his eyes. Then Mintpaw saw Shadeheart, understanding why Reedheart had that look in his eyes. Oh, that's really gotta suck. Fire at WindClan or something? Heading over to Cinderpaw, she tried to dismiss the thought of fire and Shadeheart.

Seeing that ShadowClan had arrived, Lavenderpaw felt herself get shoved across the area. Trying to resist, she felt herself get pushed. The moment that wave had settled down, she had found herself way further from where she was originally. Looking around, she saw Twistedfoot and decided to stay over by him and Shadeheart this time, though she wanted to give them their personal space. Besides, she didn't have anyone to sit with and she didn't want to feel lonely. At least she was able to force herself not to assume that he didn't hate her just because he was with Shadeheart. There were many eligible she-cats in WindClan! He could pick any of them - it was his choice after all. As she stopped by Twistedfoot and Shadeheart, she saw the other warrior. Unable to recall who it was, she supposed that they were from a different clan. "Hello, my name would be Lavenderpaw and I'm from WindClan also," the blue and white apprentice mewed, dipping her head in greeting.

Crowpaw cringed as was bumped against, growling lowly. "Watch it!...Whatever, it didn't hurt." He mumbled, then glanced up to see who he was even talking to. Another apprentice, and one not from his clan. He blinked in surprise when she said "ow". She hadn't run into him that hard, or at least not on his end. "Er, did you hurt yourself? Who are you?" He asked, slightly curious. He might as well see if he could talk with some one so he didn't look like a complete outsider to everyone else. After all, everyone else seemed to just be chatting away, so he'd stand out a bit if he just sat in the open by himself.

Shadeclaw spotted Nightcloud nearby. "Hey Nightcloud! Wanna sit by me?" He asked, tilting his head. It seemed she had heard the little harsh greetings going on up on the rock as well, and Shadeclaw wondered if she some how knew why they were so unfriendly. Was being a leader so tough that it brought out the aggressive side of cats when they were around rivals?

Smokefang looked up at the leaders for a second, before turning back to the Windclan warriors, and the apprentice. "It's nice to meet all of you. I just became a warrior a not to long ago.  Also now that I mention it, I don't see as much hostility between Raccoonstar, and Sagestar as last gathering." The shadowclan warrior shifted in her spot, thinkning of the night that the Windclan leader appeared near the border. She glanced down at the twisted foot on Twistedfoot. It didn't really bother her, nor the scars on Shadeheart.

Raccoonstar looked at the Thunderclan leader, "Might as well, it's most likely going to end in a fight anyway." The Windclan leader looked over at the Shadowclan leader. "I see your clan has grown in the last moon, Mine as well. It's nice to see."

Froststar smiled softly and nodded towards Raccoonstar. "Yes, I feel much better, thank you." She turned her attention back to the crowd, and at Lionstar's comment began to wonder where the ShadowClan leader was as well. She turned her head at the sound of his voice ringing through the clearing, rolling her eyes lightly at the tom's dramatic entrance. "Glad to be well." She replied politely. The RiverClan leader glanced over at Lionstar cautiously as he gave Sagestar a reply full of acid. She didn't dare get involved, but she crinkled her nose in distaste at their anger towards each other.
Seeing as all the clans were here, Froststar shrugged. "I'll start." She offered, figuring she might as well get it over with. After all, with tensions as high as they were, she wouldn't be surprised if a fight broke out before the end of the gathering.
"RiverClan has been growing quickly this Greenleaf- there has been a plethora of new kits and apprentices; Cherrypaw, Cinderpaw, Mintpaw, Duckpaw, and Greypaw, as well as Goldenkit, Russetkit, Silverkit, Lightkit, Briarkit and Maplekit. Frostleap has joined the elders. Many new warriors are expected next gathering, and RiverClan is doing extremely well."

"I guess I will go next." Raccoonstar stood from her spot, and spoke out. "Windclan is growing well. We named two new warriors, Twistedfoot, and Shadeheart, and also named a lot of new apprentices, Crowpaw, Mudpaw, Harepaw, Thistlepaw, Rainpaw, Lavenderpaw, Shadepaw, Longpaw, and Lionpaw." The windclan leader paused for a second before continuing her news. "As some of you may know, Windclan was hit by a fire.. but we are recovering, and doing well as you can tell from our ton of apprentices." The gray she-cat gave a sigh before she continued on. "I am afraid to say, our Elder, and former leader, Stormeye, has moved to Starclan." After the Windclan leader finished with her news, she stepped back and sat back down for the other leaders to speak.

Cherrypaw lifted her head proudly as her name was called then lowered it when she was done. She looked around as she sat next to her mentor.

Shadeclaw lowered his head as Stormeye's death was announced. Sure, Windclan wasn't exactly friendly with Shadowclan, but he'd heard nursery stories about how Stormstar was a great leader, and led Windclan against the Deomilities with the other clans. He'd respect his death like any death form within his own clan.

Lionstar stood up after Raccoonstar. "Thunderclan is doing fine, as Greenleaf brings in abundant prey and many new kits, some in which you may even see by the next gathering. We have a new warrior, Duskfur, though he is not here right now at Fourtrees." He finished, backing away.

The tom smirked at ThunderClan's leader, but said nothing, nodding to Raccoonstar again instead. "I'm glad we could assure they all were fed." He mused, staying quiet and staring out into the crowd after that.
Sagestar looked rather surprised at the announcement of Stormeye's death and dipped his head in quiet respect. Although they didn't always get a long, of course, he could admire the older cat - who fought fiercely along side him once. "ShadowClan has been blessed as well." The gray tabby started himself, stepping forward. "We welcome three new warriors: Shadeclaw, Smokefang, and Nightcloud!" He announced to the other clans with pride before continuing, "As well as several new apprentices."
He looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Under StarClan's guidance, WindClan and ShadowClan have come to an agreement, and the former SkyClan territory will be split and shared between our two clans alone." His green gaze shot across the clearing, daring for any objections.

Lionstar growled but said nothing, turning away. He, surprisingly, didn't have any objections. As long as the clans didn't deem them weak, he was fine with that. Thunderclan didn't need the territory, as their numbers were actually dwindling slightly, though of course he would never admit that.
Finally he spoke up. "If I see a single Windclan cat having to pass even a whisker's length into Thunderclan territory, I'll shred them personally. Remember that when you have to travel a bit farther than you're used to just to hunt." He hissed, glaring at Raccoonstar.

"Why would we want to be on your territory? And if you shred any of my warriors you have a war on your hands." Raccoonstar growled glaring at the Thunderclan leader. She wasn't afraid to start a war with Thunderclan. "This gathering is over as far as I know. We will be setting markers in the morning, and if you dare to challenge us then you have made a mistake." Raccoonstar growled again, then turned to jump off the rock, and lead her clan home.

Reedheart bowed his head respectfully at the news of Stormeye's death. He, as Reedheart had known him at least, was an honorable warrior and leader. The forest would be worse off without him.

However, his quaint mourning swiftly transformed into anger at the announcement of the agreement. So he had been right; Raccoonstar was no better than Sagestar. An entire Clan was gone. Missing. No one had caught sight of a single SkyClan cat for moons, and they had not even looked to the stars before they carved it up. Reedheart's hackles raised and a growl began to rumble in his throat as he stood up to object if Froststar wouldn't when the Gathering abruptly ended.

He stared up at the Great Rock, awaiting the word of Froststar.

Shadeheart bowed her head. She already knew of Stormeye's death, but is still made her sad about the news of Twistedfoot's father.