December Gathering 2016

Blacktwig greeted Swiftheart with a mere glance. It held no hostility, but a tint of grief. There was much tension between RiverClan and WindClan at the moment, and with the last time they were together, Blacktwig feared more skirmishes. Faux happiness was still etched onto his face. His splotchy fur and fake normal expression were ornamentations to his dull gaze.

Thistleblaze followed behind Fishstar to the gathering area. She didn't eve glance at the Windclan cats not wanting to even get herself riled up at the moment. Tonight one of her kits was at the gathering with her and she needed to make a good impression on Lightpaw.

Lightpaw followed silently behind her mother, unsure of the tension in the air, but more unsure about the crowd of cats. It scared her somewhat. Like these cats should hate her or something, but she couldn't place the feeling. She shook it off, placing her odd colored eyes on her leader, waiting for the gathering to start.


Crowstar looked around at the leaders, dipping his head to Darkstar once she had arrived and then to Fishstar. It had seemed everyone was here and they could get started.. Well this should be fun.. He had taken in some warriors and apprentices and he couldn't wait to see what the other leader's said about that, if they had even noticed that they were here at all.

The black fluffy leader stood and let out a yowl, earning the silence of the crowd of cats and then began to speak. "Skyclan is thriving despite Leaf-bare. Our clan is large and full of newly named warriors and many newly named apprentices. We have plenty of prey despite the cold weather, and we hope that the other clans are thriving just as well in this harsh season." Crowstar said glancing to Darkstar and Thrushstar for a small moment before looking over to Fishstar, ignoring Ashstar completely. The skyclan leader stepped back, allowing the other leaders to speak.

Blacktwig noticed that Crowstar had ignored Ashstar entirely, and suspected that something large must be going on for him to do that. He looked at Mottledpaw, whose nonexistent eyebrows were raised with growing suspense. He sat taller, noting to himself that his daughter was growing into a fine young she-cat.

Sunblaze was disappionted that Crowstar didn't name all the warriors.

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Leafstream was the same as Sunblaze disappointed.

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Duskstorm listened intently for any news of RiverClan and Smokepelt.

Sootwhisper padded silently behind RiverClan, not even looking at the WindClan cats as he padded towards the shady spot he liked to occupy, as it was far enough to avoid unwanted interaction with the other cats yet close enough to listen to the leaders when they spoke. He couldn’t hold back a soft snort when his eyes landed on Ashstar, though he was careful to not make his disgust towards the gray leader be so evident.

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Nightheart looked at the RiverClan cats as they padded in, though unlike most cats of her clan she couldn’t show any signs of being actually mad at them, too many thoughts and concerns running across her head at the time to actually be able to focus on the tension between the two clans. Her eyes, however, quickly scanned the arriving cats and it wasn’t until she spotted her sister between them that she could release a deep sigh she didn’t know she had been holding. At least she was fine…

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Blizzardshine quickly went to take her spot between the deputies as soon as Fishstar arrived with her clan, knowing that they would start the gathering really soon and not wanting to miss a thing. She wasn’t only carrying her usual curiosity, but also that curiosity born by the fresh wounds on WindClan and now on some cats of RiverClan, as well as the tension between the two.

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Moonlight looked up at the leaders as soon as Crowstar started to talk, wanting to hear what they had to tell and if Crowstar was going to mention the exiled cats they had taken into the clan. When he didn’t she felt a mix of confusion and relief, as even if she thought it should be mentioned, she was glad that it would only make the tension between the clans grow even more, something this gathering simply didn’t need.

Hazeflight caught Eagleheart's small grin and twitched her tail in acknowledgment.
OOC:Shortness

Blacktwig glanced over at Hazeflight, wondering how she could be alright with the obvious rivalry that sat inside of Crowstar and Ashstar's eyes like the pit of a peach. Even the thought made him feel uneasy. It was disheartening that the two clans had to be like this, as it went from an overly-ambitious, bloodthirsty descendant of Ashstar, to complete hatred for each other. Perhaps he blamed Ashstar for the existence of Lionfur? She never meant to conceive a murderer, and she must feel betrayed due to Lionfur's treachery. Compassion was the strongest of the tools of the trade, but it was absent from this moment. Swallowed up by anger and fear. Blacktwig felt a knot in his throat, and hoped that it would dissolve.

Twistedpaw quickly sat down as the Skyclan leader started, twitching her crooked tail nervously.
OOC: Short

Cloudstone made his way to where the medicine cats usually sat and immediately sat down. He was exhausted from the constant need to care for his Clanmates' wounds from the battle, and the fact that the flood wasn't that long ago, in addition to Leafbare, wasn't helping his situation.  Warriors could be so bull-headed sometimes! The recent disappearance of his apprentice Flintpaw only filled his heart with more dread. He'd only been in his den for a short time, but he felt his absence strongly. Was this what mothers felt when they'd lost a kitten? His dark brown gaze flickered between the other medicine cats, noticing that Cindercloud wasn't among them. Their numbers had diminished further than he'd thought.

The large tom leaned forward towards the apprentice that smelled of Windclan. "I'll try and help you as much as I can, okay? I'm Cloudstone." He sighed. "I'm awfully sorry for what Riverclan has done to Windclan." He then turned his head upwards to listen to the leaders.


Darkstar glanced at the other leaders for a moment before she shifted forwards. "Thunderclan is also faring well. We have many new kits and apprentices, and the snow has not been thick enough to scare off the prey." She decided it best not to mention her absence at the last Gathering, nor her illness. She would not make her clan seem weak. "However." Her eyes turned cold. "Two apprentices, Sleekpaw and Dawnpaw, have been exiled for attacking their fellow Clanmates and the suspected killing of a kit. I suggest that you treat them as you would any other rouge, but they are both unreasonably violent and unstable. They are no longer welcome in the forest as long as I am concerned." Her fluffy tail flicked and she hopped back. Once she was done speaking, her face relaxed back into its distant, yet vaguely benevolent position.

"Really?" SUnblaze whispered in Leafstream's ear. "Would they do that?"

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Leafstream rolled his eyes. "They do whatever they want to do."

Webtail listened, feeling dread pool up. 'Owlstrike, if you're meddling with them I will personally rip your fur off. Stay out of trouble..' his neck fur rose slightly but, he forced it to settle down, looking from leader to leader for any reaction that would give him hope that the young tom had not caused more trouble. 

Blacktwig looked up at Darkstar. She was probably the cat that he had admired most. When he was a gullible yet courageous apprentice, he had taken part in the freedom of the dark-furred leader. Now, here she was, addressing two vicious cats that couldn't have been born when he had freed Darkstar. He additionally took note of the other mentions. The news about new kits was very good. The population of ThunderClan was steadily rising, and they had to be one of the strongest of the clans at the moment. Between them, there were no hostile engagements between ThunderClan and any other clan as far as he knew.

He noticed the benevolent look on Darkstar's face. He relaxed a little, as that was a clear sign of good news. Awe was a suitable word to describe how Blacktwig felt, each time Darkstar bravely stepped up to announce to the entire gathering of cats. The worrying news of Sleekpaw and Dawnpaw stayed to the back of his mind, as they were only two small problems in a field of commendable achievements. He looked at Mottledpaw to check on her. The apprentice's gaze was wandering around the lanes of cats.

He waited for the other leaders to announce their news. Their say was significantly more interesting than Darkstar's - not for the fact that Darkstar was a boring cat, Blacktwig believed she was full of flavour, but because the news had not yet been heard to the ThunderClanner's ears quite yet. It was always a calmingly different display when other leader's spoke about their clans' conditions. He looked at Webtail anxiously. He seemed to be eyeing Owlstrike in a weird way.

Blacktwig attempted to ignore this. He focused more on the other leaders, forming a more-or-less perfect circle around the base of the four great oaks. He suddenly remembered the frightening scenery of the Dark Forest gathering, how much bloodshed had taken place. He shook it off, looking at all of the leaders.

Ashstar stood up after Crowstar and Darkstar, ignoring the SkyClan leader in turn but nodding politely to Darkstar, calm and cool on the outside even though she wasn't inside. "WindClan has done surprisingly well this leaf-bare," she called out across the clearing, looking at all the cats. "There is plenty of food in our territory, despite the snow. We have many new apprentices- Deerpaw, Stagpaw, Shinepaw, Mintpaw, Cloudpaw, Pebblepaw, Greenpaw, Mottlepaw, and Icepaw. We also have new warriors- Hazefur, Willowwhisker, Thistlefall, Duskstorm and Pantherlily. Willowwhisker is currently in the nursery, which is filling up with kits."

The acknowledgements thus out of the way, WindClan's leader got down to business. "Despite my best efforts to negotiate, RiverClan invaded WindClan's camp and attacked us, brutally wounding most of my Clanmates at the onset of leaf-bare. And with Cindercloud gone, Beetlepaw has his paws full caring for wounded cats. Fishstar broke my deputy's jaw, and he is at camp tonight recovering. Though we are of course hurting heavily from this long-dreaded, unjustified bloodshed, we will continue to protect our territory from invaders and we are not weakened. Though many of us may be damaged,  WindClan still stands strong and if any of you think this is an opening to mess with us, you're wrong." Ashstar glared into Fishstar's eyes before brushing her aside as if the RiverClan she-cat wasn't standing on the Great Rock.

She took a deep breath and continued, finding the tom she was about to speak of in the crowd. "After the battle, one of our apprentices, Rippedpaw, ran out because of the fight. He is a coward and his loyalties cannot be trusted, as proved by his actions. I advise any other Clans to think twice before taking him in." She stared challengingly at Crowstar for a moment before looking back into the crowd.

"All that said, WindClan truly hopes to avoid any further confrontations, but will not hesitate to defend our Clanmates. We stay as close to StarClan and the code as ever, and wish you all the same prosperity that we hope to acquire these next moons." Ashstar bowed her head and sat back down, eyes calmly nudging the leaders to continue with the Gathering. Her spring green eyes held a challenge when they met those of Fishstar, the she-cat who had wronged their Clan the most, daring her to call what they had done to WindClan justice.

Fracturedhawk narrowed his eyes, hiding a scowl the best he could as the WindClan leader began to speak. No wonder this Ripplepaw character had left, WindClan was weak, and nothing could say otherwise considering their miserable loss at the battle.

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Poplarpaw paused as he and Minnowpaw approached the group of apprentices, his attention being torn away from communication with others as the WindClan leader began to speak.