December Gathering 2016

Moonlight beamed through the skeletal branches of the Great Oaks, turning the blanket of snow in the clearing silver. The Great Rock jutted out from the center, crusted in ice, white piles resting on its jagged shoulders. The depths of leaf-bare were here at last.

Ashstar led her bedraggled, weary Clan into Fourtrees, noting with satisfaction that they were the first Clan there. White frost graced the four large oak trees, and her gray paws passed swiftly across the snow's smooth, cold surface. A lot was on her mind, but at the front was both her worry for her mutilated Clan facing the hunger and danger of leaf-bare, and most of all her anger at Fishstar the Fish-brain and the rest of RiverClan. She leapt onto the Great Rock, her face the epitomy of calm and relaxation, but her mind a turmoil of anger, concern, and a thirst for the satisfying of injustice. The RiverClan "leader" would soon see how little effect her unwarranted and bloodthirsty attack had had on the spirits of WindClan.

Willowwhisker padded in with the rest of Winclan, hoping for a peaceful gathering.

Brindlepaw followed after Ashstar as the grey she-cat lead Windclan into the hollow, her eyes bright with excitement- this would be her first Gathering! Her pale blue eyes scanned the frost-riddled landscape with wonder; enjoying how the moonlight glinted off of the ice. Noting how Windclan was the only clan that had arrived so far, the young she-cat settled down in a crouch to watch the slopes in hopes of spotting another clan approaching. "If the other Clans don't get here soon, we'll all freeze to death." Brindlepaw grumbled, fluffing out her thick fur and wrapping her tail around her as she settled down to wait.

Following behind the clan at a much slower pace was Cedarfur. As tired and exhausted he was, he managed to keep up, determined to go to this particular gathering. Because of recent events that he'd rather not think about, Smokepelt was stuck in the medicine cat den, his injuries slowly but surely healing. After what seemed like ages to the elder, they made it to Fourtrees and to his surprise were the first ones there. Finding a spot near the edge of the clearing, the abnormally tall tom sat down, letting out a sigh of relief. Finally he could relax. His injuries and painful back were becoming too much for him and although he wouldn't show his friends and family the pain he was in, part of him wished it would all just end already.

Wincing from the pain of his still healing wounds, the tom tried to keep his held high although between the snow and his injuries, it felt like a thousand bees were stinging his paws. Looking around with his ears flat on his head and lashing his tail back and forth, he wondered when RiverClan would come. Although they'd been defeated by those fish eating scum and the battle was over, anger still burned through his veins at the thought of them storming through the camp. Who did they think they were, StarClan?

Thistlefall followed in behind his mate, Willowwhisker, in silence. He was worried about rising tension, especially between his clan, WindClan, and RiverClan. Those ridiculous fish-eaters, he thought with a thrash of his tail, taking a seat under the four looming oak trees.

<<>>

Hazepaw quietly padded into the clearing, glancing around for a familiar face. She was pretty disappointed to hear that Smokepelt wouldn't be here for her first gathering.

Mottlepaw followed after his mentor and his Clan on silent paws, relieved to see that they were the first ones there but it also sent a small pain of sadness through him. He was hoping to see Rockpaw again, despite having only met once he had found the tom...Amusing and was hoping to see him again. He could only hope that Rockpaw would arrive with the rest of ThunderClan. But he did dread the arrival of RiverClan and did his best to sit in the middle of all of his Clanmates, his gaze flickering toward the direction where those fish-breaths would be arriving from.

Nightheart padded into the clearing with her head and tail held high. Yes, she was still tired and her body still ached lightly after the battle they had against RiverClan, but she wasn’t going to show it, she had to prove to the rest of the clans that even after defeat, WindClan was as strong as always if not even more. However, her eyes reflected a deep sadness even if she wanted to hide it, as the only wound that was still open and bleeding wasn’t one the rest of the cats could see. After learning the truth about Lionfur and his betrayal she had lost most of that spark of cheerfulness that had managed to survive until then. She was just so confused, and for the first time she wondered if she could trust the one she had loved so much for this long.

Without thinking it twice, Nightheart sat at Cedarfur’s side, her dark pelt contrasting against the white snow that covered everything around them, making her look even darker than she really was. Her eyes raised and looked around, wondering which clan would come next, and even if she knew she should be angry at RiverClan like the rest of her clanmates, she just wanted to see Thistleblaze between them, maybe share a couple of words with her sister…

Swiftheart padded into the clearing of Fourtrees behind his leader. His deep green eyes flashed around the clearing to see if any other clan had arrived before them, but it seemed they were there first. He looked around for a spot to sit before just sitting down somewhere random, fluffing his grey pelt out against the cold snowy air. He glanced around one more time wondering when the other clans would get there, specifically ThunderClan. It felt like forever since he had seen his mate, Mistywater, and he hoped to see her tonight.

Crowstar walked into the gathering his clan following behind him. The Skyclan leader could see that the Windclan leader was already there and scowled to himself. After what he heard from Rippedpaw he didn't trust Ashstar that much anymore. Choosing her son over her clan? What kind of leader did that? She risked lives for the life of a code breaker. Not that he could say much, but he was on his way back to Starclan she was driving herself from it.

The Black fluffy leader jumped onto the Great Rock, and sat down remaining silent, not nodding to the Windclan leader or saying anything to her. He patiently waited on the rest of the clans to arrive.

---

Rowanberry followed his leader into the gathering, unknowing of the tension that Crowstar had with the Windclan leader. The leader never spoke to his clan about what happened between Riverclan and Windclan. Rowanberry sat down among the other cats, nodded polity to them, being friendly as always.

Fawnsplash padded in quietly behind her leader, tail tip flicking as she noticed WindClan was already there. It felt great to stretch her legs after moons in the nursery taking care of her kits, but they were all apprentices now. It was kind of bittersweet. They were growing so fast. She purred quietly to herself as she thought of them, glancing around for Breezewhisker. She wasn't sure if he came tonight or not so she sat down, fluffy tail wrapped neatly around her paws, and waited for the others to arrive.

Next to arrive was Shadowclan with Thrushstar in the lead. When he walked into the clearing, the look of Crowstar and Ashstar sitting on the rock sent solemn vibes through the leader. Something had most certainly happened, but what? With a quick roll of his eyes, the old leader figured he would hear about it later and leaped onto the Great rock to take his place with a little bit of trouble. This trip was definitely getting harder and harder for him to make as he aged. How had he managed it this long already? "Greetings," he mewed to both of them neutrally.

Rabbitpaw followed Crowstar skittishly as they entered the clearing. News of the battle between Windclan and Riverclan had spread and in all honesty, the medicine cat apprentice did not want to get stuck in the middle of it if they were to break out in a fight here too. It already happened at the last gathering which was breaking all kinds of rules of Starclan. So instead of getting mixed up with it, she eagerly looked around for her Shadowclan buddies, whether it be Honeypaw or Mudfoot. She was anxious to see them both and wanted to talk to someone pretty badly about what had been happening.

Waspstep followed his leader into the gathering not saying a word, he still didn't like Thrushstar all that much especially after how crazy he seemed. He didn't like the fact that he exiled those good warriors, he didn't believe in what Thrushstar had to say, but he stayed with Shadowclan because that was his home. Besides it wouldn't be long before Thrushstar went to join Starclan.

Larkpaw followed silently and slowly behind Thrushstar, her eyes taking in the site of the Fourtrees. It had been so long since she had last been here and as she gazed up at the rock she was surprised to find that she only recognized Thrushstar among the three leaders - the she-cat not ringing a bell in her mind while the tom at least looked somewhat familiar to her. At least two leader had past in her time away? She gasped in surprise but it quickly wore off when she recalled how long she was away. She sat down admits her Clanmates, glancing around at the other two Clans as she took in the scents. WindClan and SkyClan, huh? She recognized the two scents of the bordering Clans and she wondered where the other two were.

Smokepaw happily bounded after his Clanmates, excited to see his first gathering. He tasted the air as they arrived, noting that they were the third to arrive. He thought about looking for an apprentice of another Clan to sit by but something told him that there was tension in the air coming from the WindClan cats and so he simply decided to sit with his Clanmates, taking a seat next to Larkpaw. He glanced at the much older apprentice, taking note of her shocked expression. It had been moons since she had last been here - longer then he had been alive! He couldn't blame her but he was left wondering what was running though her mind at this moment as she gawked up at the three leaders.