January Gathering 2014

Ashpaw blinked in surprise. Drawing his paws closer to his body, he mumbled an apology before he even knew who it was. When she glared it him, he realized who the she-cat was: Ravenpaw. A stupid, nervous half-smile crept on to his usually blank face. It said, 'Well hello. I have no idea how to respond to your unexpected appearance. It would be weird if I already knew you, so i'll just be quiet.

'Ooc.- I think you're talking to Deer so..

Ic- The brown tom turned his head slightly towards the Thunderclan apprentice. "I am Deerpaw. You?" With a flick of his black-capped tail, he flicked down a patch of rioting fur between his shoulders. Tucking his tail back around his paws for warmth, he was actually glad for once that he was somewhat bigger than some of his Clanmates.

The newly-named Swiftnose trotted into the Gathering, right behind Spottedfeather, and sat beside Ravenpaw. He had wanted to stay with the injured ThunderClan leader at camp, but she insisted that he go to make ThunderClan seem as strong as possible.

Sunpaw followed closely at his heel, her eyes narrowed and shifting back and forth. There was no way she could turn her back to any of these cats. Swiftnose urged her to make friends and leave the medicine cats be, so she walked away in search of Adderpaw.

Ooc: Not late at all //shot

Ic: Adderpaw padded after Flamepaw, but lost him in the crowd as Fourtrees quickly filled with cats. So he simply sat down where he could have a decent view of the Great Rock and waited patiently, bored.

Stormpaw darted into the gathering, looking around excitedly. She had a large scar hidden underneath her belly fur from a recently-healed wound due to a badger attack, though her spunky personality was unfazed. She looked around for someone to talk to. Meeting other cats were always fun...As long as they weren't Thunderclan. She didn't like Thunderclan.

Redpaw padded into the gathering, glaring at a few of the cats who he may have recognized from border patrols and such; or maybe he just hated the other clans, which he in fact did hate them. The grumpy apprentice sighed and sat down, still annoyed from a while back when he had got caught having a simple conversation with an old friend who left Shadowclan a while ago.

Hailpaw tried to follow close behind Stormpaw as long as she could, wide-eyed as she looked left and right at all the cats. Starting to get nervous fast, she looked for someone she knew, someone from her clan. Relief washed over her as she spotted Ashpaw, was seemed to be conversing with another cat. She figured she could pad over to say hello, but she was suddenly embarrassed of what could happen. Shaking her head, she sat nearby and smiled. "Hi Ashpaw! I-is that a friend of yours?" She called, rather quietly. Could she even be heard over all the talking? She had sat farther away than expected as well, not to mention her 'call' was a simple, shy mew as she normally did. It wasn't loud at all, dang it.

Bristlefang followed his clan slowly. He as slightly anxious for his first time as a warrior at a gathering. The warrior remembered the time when he was so small that he couldn't get through the crowd properly. Now the new apprentices had to watch our for him.

Splotchpaw followed closely behind Mousepaw. But when her friends started to chat to the other apprentices, she slipped away to the back of the crowd. Her injuries causing slight pain as she walked. Her dark blue eyes watched the happenings with a shy eye.

The ShadowClan leader only gave the other leaders a glance and a nod. However her eyes rested on the new leader a milli-second longer then the others. Deciding to let another leader start, Nightstar took a few pawsteps back.

Snow-eye quickly spotted Bristlefang, her eyes shining at the instant. She didn't want to call out, and all, but there was one thing she could do - try to signal him. Then again, her pure white fur would probably be easy to spot against all the other pelts, and she didn't want to accidently signal a different cat... So, she just sat there, stayed still, and hoped he'd see her.
 
When Ravenpaw realized it was Ashpaw, her first thought was to claw his ears off. Then, after a bit of rethinking, and after seeing how nervous he seemed, she seemed to relax a bit before one of his clanmates came back. That did it, too many cats. When that happened, the medicine cat apprentice got up from her spot, gave a quick bow to Ashpaw, and a glance that said, 'Meet me tomorrow by Sunningrocks...', but it was maybe too quick to even notice. Not acknowledging the other she-cat, she went over to where the medicine cats usually sat together.

Spottedfeather noticed all the murmering and glances up at the Great Rock. She back up slightly, hoping that another leader would start instead of her. "Are we ready?" she murmered to the rest.

Cloudpaw sat near the Great Rock, able to see their eyes and hear the murmured words. Not that he cared, really. He just sat where ever wasn't being taken up by other cats. He realized he should be excited like other apprentices, but he didn't see the big deal. Yeah, a bunch of other clans either boosting or complaining about their problems, all the while shooting thinly concealed glares at one another. How fun.

The white tom gave a silent nod of acknowledgement. "Oh. Hi Hailpaw. Erm.. yeah.", he said, drifting off. His eyes were beginning to close, he was about to fall asleep when the leaders on the Great Rock began to murmur. Shaking himself to wake up, he gazed up at the leaders. Looking at a certain apprentice in the corner of his eye, he gave a little unintended smile.

Noticing that none of the other leaders were going to step up, Mapleclaw let out a soft sign and took a few pawsteps forward. "I will start this meeting!" There was a few moments of silence as she waited for the gathered cats to calm down, before she cleared her throat and started to speak. "RiverClan is doing well, although we have faced very hard losses. About a moon ago, our camp was flooded and a few cats didn't make it. And not long after that..." She swallowed hard, before going on. "We've also lost Reedstar. The details...The details are not something I wish to go into. I have yet to gain my lives as we hoped that Reedstar would perhaps survive his fate, but we have heard no news..." However, after she finished, her eyes took on a cold look as she scanned over the cats gathered below her and stopped to glare at the leaders behind her. "But, mark my words, RiverClan is still strong. These losses won't stop us from protecting our territory, and we will not take any cats that dare try to see this as a moment of weakness and use it. We are stronger, and shall always be that way. We have gained warriors and apprentices, and we will keep on growing." And with that, she took a step backwards and sat down, waiting for another leader to step forward. Her eyes stayed cold as she kept scanning the crowd and the leaders, daring anybody to dare say a word or even just make eye-contact with her.

Like everyone else, Falconfang was shocked at what Mapleclaw had said, but not for the same reasons. Lost him? How could they have lost him when the deputy had so easily found him on WindClan territory. He found it hard to believe that Reedstar could've gotten lost and just drifted into another clan's territory. Something was up here. Still, didn't RiverClan deserve to know that their leader was still alive and - assumedly - heading back to the clan? Could something have held him up enough that he hadn't been able to reach RiverClan before this Gathering?

He had to say something, he knew that. How could he hold this information to himself? Still, he had never spoken up before at a Gathering. After moons and moons of these meetings, he barely recalled anyone doing such a thing. Swallowing down his nerves, he turned towards the Great Rock and spoke, hoping to eliminate any trepidation in his voice. "I've seen him," he began, feeling very conscious of the fact that, with any chatter dying down, his voice was echoing across the clearing, but he couldn't stop now. "I found Reedstar in the old SkyClan territory, and he should be returning to RiverClan as we speak." Truth be told, he hadn't seen Reedstar since the two had walked to the Thunderpath, but he had to assume that the leader could get back safely. The clan would be joyous for the return of their leader, wouldn't they? Still, Falconfang had a suspicious feeling that Reedstar would need to defend himself, and the deputy only hoped that he hadn't hurt the leader's path back to RiverClan.

Nightstar watched the back of Mapleclaw's head, frowning as she told the news of Reedstar's passing. Narrowing her eyes as the deputy refused to say anything of the leader's death. Adjusting her stance, Nightstar got ready to go up next, but was halted when the WindClan deputy spoke out. 'So Reedstar is still alive. It's strange that he hasn't come back to RiverClan...' The leader glanced down at the tom. "If you don't mind my asking, Falconfang. How long ago was this encounter?" Why wouldn't Reedstar go back to his clan? Wouldn't they be glad that he was safe?

Falconfang looked up to meet the eyes of the ShadowClan leader, curious as to why Nightstar would be concerned over Reedstar's whereabouts. Last he remembered, ShadowClan was not particularly fond of RiverClan or WindClan after the battle that nearly happened not that long ago. Plus, he knew - and she probably knew too - that Reedstar would've gone through ShadowClan's territory to return to his clan. Whether he was allowed to or not, perhaps Nightstar was bristling for a fight. He would have to be evasive without being completely untruthful. "It was only a few sunrises ago," he mewed, not breaking their gaze. While he didn't care much for Reedstar's mandates after the non-battle, they were still allies, and he didn't need to reveal everything. It was good enough that Reedstar was still alive and that RiverClan should soon welcome him back.

Nightstar frowned deeply at the news. Her icy eyes glanced over at the RiverClan deputy. "It wouldn't take a few sun rises to return to his land. Even if he didn't cross through ShadowClan land, he should have returned to his territory." 'There has to be a reason. Was he looking in every clan's territory to look into their prey conditions?' The leader mentally shook her head. Something seemed off. "Now that you know that your leader is alive, there is no reason to keep secret the circumstance of his so called passing, Mapleclaw." Nightstar had her head turned toward the deputy, openly challenging her to talk.

Hailpaw and Stormpaw perked up, surprised.

Redpaw grinned. This was getting interesting. Oh, sneaky little Mapleclaw...What secrets are you hiding?

Adderpaw narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Ooc: Lazy posts

Mistypaw stared in disbelief at Falconfang. He had to be lying! Mapleclaw had said something completely different. That is impossible! Mapleclaw wouldn't lie! Why is Falconfang saying this?