February Gathering 2017

Rainwhisper padded in after his mother and brother, taking a seat beside his two younger brothers he greeted them with a meow.

Coldbreeze was hot on his trail, despite her name. She took a seat beside her best friend.

Shadowglow followed after the two quietly taking a seat next to them.

Badgerstrike followed after them taking a seat.

Umberpaw followed her grandfather in wonder. "Wow! Grampa this is so cool!!" She meowed to Blacktwig.

Being the last Clan to appear at the Gathering wasn't a very good title to have, but Vixenheart was still just glad that she was able to get SkyClan there without them being too terribly late. Of course, she expected that there would be some stares, and there were as she padded into Fourtrees with SkyClan following close behind. The deputy's pawsteps were quick as she headed over to the Great Rock, before leaping on top of it without difficulty. Vixenheart gave a respectful nod to each of the cats on the Great Rock, trying to shrug off any embarrassment she felt at being there last. The deputy spot for SkyClan down below the Great Rock would be empty once again, and Vixenheart couldn't help but think that some of the other cats were starting to add the adjective 'weak' to SkyClan's title. She would have to take it on without regrets to prove that her Clan wasn't weak, even if their leader couldn't make it.

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Halfdawn padded into Fourtrees with ThunderClan, with a simple and neutral smile on her muzzle. This would be her second Gathering as a warrior, so it wasn't nearly as big as her first time. She sat down with her Clan, looking around at the Clans that were there.
We're here...so is ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan...where is...
And that's when SkyClan arrived.
Halfdawn didn't shoot them any glances when SkyClan came in last, she just shrugged, looking away and back up to the cats on the Great Rock with admiration sparkling in her amber eyes. They all looked so powerful up there together.

Rippedsky followed the rest of Skyclan in, quickly realizing they were the last ones there. Thankfully hat meant the gathering would be started soon. A cold chill ran up his spine. Having a short coat didn't help much during leaf-bare. He glanced over at the highrock and realized that Fishstar was also missing. At least we're not the only ones, He thought to himself. The young warrior was worried about his leader and the fact he wasn't well enough to make the gathering only made things worse.

His eyes scanned the assembled cats and he went off to go look for Twistedpaw and Sprucethorn. The two Windclan cats had been some of his closest friends when he was in Windclan, and being in separate clans hadn't changed that, despite the fact they only saw each other at gatherings. He found Twistedpaw first and padded over, holding back the urge to run. The more serious tom was not one to be acting like an excited kit.

"Hey, Twistedpaw! How's Windclan life?" He purred, settling in next to the she-cat, unaware of her name change.

***

Eagleheart strode in, keeping his chest out and head high, despite the discomfort that prickled his pelt. Ever since his run in with the Shadowclan leader and deputy, he'd been even more wary around other clan cats. He looked around for his kits that were in Shadowclan, picking out bother Puddlepaw and Wolfpaw. Wolfpaw seemed to be talking to some Windclan cats and he had no desire to mingle with other clans unless necessary. Instead, he decided to try and talk to his other daughter.

He strode over towards the medicine cats, looking out of place. His large, muscular frame was a stark contrast to those of the medicine cats. Eagleheart's amber eyes glinted as he meowed deeply and dipped his head to the group, "Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

Then just to Puddlepaw, "It's good to see you, Puddlepaw. How is your training coming along?" The warrior had never expected one of his kits to grow up as a medicine cat. In fact, he had hoped that they would all become fine warriors. But Wolfpaw and Hollypaw were shaping up nicely. He was still proud of his smallest daughter. She wouldn't be following in his pawsteps, but she still had the potential to become one of the greatest healers the forest had ever seen. He counted on it. While waiting for an answer, his eyes swept the clearing, hoping not to see Hazeflight. Since they had broken off their relationship, things had become incredibly hostile between the two and he was looking forward to seeing her if she was here.

Smokeface moved in with RiverClan for what he acknowledged as his fifth Gathering. He purred lowly as he entered the moonwashed clearing, looking around for familiar faces. Dipping his head, Smokeface joined Tawnystorm and Frogjaw, his closest friend and a cat he had come to respect.  "Am I interrupting something...?" he grinned in the she-cat's ear teasingly. When he had been young, he had loved Tawnystorm fiercely, but she had never become his mate, despite his biggest wish. Now they stayed the closest of friends, and Smokeface wndered why he felt like this was the right path all along.

~~

Jaypaw padded in with WindClan, her water-blue eyes looking around with a smile. Seeing all of the cats gathered together without ripping eachother's ears off was nice. Beetlepaw had told her a story of the battle between WindClan and RiverClan, about the blood that had spilled the camp floor and how it had lapped in waves at the nursery entrance where himself, Yarrowkit, Mottlekit and many others had been kept. THe thought brought a shiver up her spine as she glanced at the RiverClan cats. Even if the battle had been stopped many moons ago, before she was born, she could feel ghostly snarls echo from the fish-smelling Clan. Yelping slightly, she hurried with her Clan, taking a seat besides Sandybreeze, looking at the former queen with an encouraging smile. "How are you, Sandybreeze?" she asked her Clanmate.

~~

Beetlepaw brushed his tail one last time to Jaypaw's flank before they departed opposite ways. He trotted towards the usual gathering spot for the medicine cats, and he smiled when he noticed a new cats, looking younger than him, already there. Before he could get the chance to speak some reasuring words, a warrior carrying the distinctive scent of SkyClan interrupted the medicine cats from their conversations. The catnarrowed his eyes with a tinge of annoyance, but said nothing more as he turned to speak to Cloudstone, the medicine cat of RiverClan and his apprentice, Bouncepaw. "Everything going smoothly, I trust? I hope the rumours of Fishstar's disease are not true." he meowed, looking with a small smile at the other two cats. "I mannaged to get my paws on some chickweed, but I'm afraid I don't know whether I can spre much, if you need it. But I'm in dire need of comfrey." he meowed, thinking of Mottlheart's terrible injuries from the eagle. He had only agreed to leave for the Gathering to ask for more herbs, if the other Clans had to spare.

~~

Pinewhisker padded in with ThunderClan, looking around with keen eyes into the night. HIs daughters' first Gathering! He smiled as he peeked around for Mossfoot. Finally, he spotted her next to another WindClan warrior, which he quickly made his way up to, smiling politely. As he got closer, he noticed the other she-cat with an apprentice, and he wondered whethe she was her mentor. He dipped his head to the two cats, introducing himself. "Hello, I'm Pinewhisker of ThunderClan. Mossfoot, glad you could make it. Do you have any exciting news? I know I have." he purred, eager to announce the apprenticeship of his three kits, as well as his own new apprentice, Stillpaw. He looked around for her, wondering whether Darkstar had allowed the three-legged cat at the Gathering of tonight.

~~

Cherrymist padded in with SkyClan, the last Clan to arrive, and she felt a bit of disorientation at all of the scents that touched her nostrils. The she-cat followed Rippesky, finding him the only cat close to her that she knew well. She sat down besides him, her head tilted down towards her paws. "Is it okay if I join you...?" she asked him in a low voice, wondering whether her pressence would make the former WindCaln warrior feel awkward besides the cats he once shared Clan with. ON the other side, she was excited to find out whether Rippedsky would introduce her as anything more that his Clanmate. Not that she was feeling in need of reassurance, it was just that she felt like they had both drawn quite close to eachother in the passing time. The reminder was her own swollen belly. It was probably going to be the last gathering that Crowstar allowed her to go before she gave birth to her in Rippesky's litter.

(BOOM yesss cherryist speech colour mass change because i was getting tired of that eye-bleeding blue)

Webtail trotted in with SkyClan. He spotted a few of his clanmates, giving Rippedsky and Cherrymist a bittersweet smile before he began the usual movements of gatherings, padding over to his mother for the few talks they had. She seemed busy at the moment...

Rip RippedxWeb)

Lightningstrike purred as he quickly met with his mate and son. He dipped his head to both of them and grinned. "Long time no see!"

Venompaw had entered the gathering with Shadowclan, but stared around at all the cats in awed silence. She'd not seen cats from other clans before, and the whole thing astounded her. When Thunderclan and Skyclan arrived, she didn't know anyone else here so instead sat in the back, nervously twitching her tail but doing her best to look nonchalant. In reality, she knew she should introduce herself, but couldn't help feeling like making friends with these other cats was a wrong move, in case they ever met in battle someday
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Markedpaw padded into the gathering behind her father, looking around in wonder at all the other cats. She knew nobody else, and having stuck with her father since they left camp she couldn't see either of her sisters or her mother anywhere. Only when Pinewhisker went to talk to another cat did she excitedly disappear into the crowd, but finding nobody to talk to she had to return, to scared to speak to anyone unfamiliar. Rushing over to her father, she sat down next to him and meowed quietly
"I think I should stay with you. I don't know anybody..." She trailed off, before looking at the other warrior. She didn't know them but bowed her head respectfully "I'm Markedpaw, sorry for interrupting your conversation" she sounded convincing, even though she wasn't really as sorry as she made out to be

Puddlepaw grimaced as her father arrived, scooting yet closer to Honeydrop so their golden-grey pelts met. Right now, her mentor was her best friend besides Wolfpaw, and it was comforting to have her beside her, especially at times like this.

She and Eagleheart…had a strange type of relationship. The small young cat sided with her mother more, disliking the tom for the way he drew himself up, conducted himself. Kneading her claws into the ground, she spoke, teeth nearly grating together. I thought this was only for me and the medicine cats! He always ruins everything. She desperately wanted to partake in the fluffy black tom's words—she even understood some of them!

"You too," she managed. Liar. "Training's coming…great. It's, er, really fun." Well, that isn't exactly a lie. Uncomfortably, she glanced down at her paws.

Starclan willing, let the Gathering start soon.

•••

Owltalon, flaunting his new name, glanced around disdainfully. Of course, hidden behind a proud gaze was a grin that made fun of himself. The patched tom moved forward, aqua eyes sparkling with glee. His second Gathering only—apprenticeship had gone quick for him.

Moving through the crowd of meandering cats, the new warrior caught sight of a small, grey-white tom, seemingly damaged. His jaw was deformed—and something was wrong with his leg…and beside him and another tom that had wandered over, he spotted a pretty grey she-cat, muscular but slim. He wandered over, swagger in his step, an obvious stupid Don't touch this look plastered on his face.

"Hello," he coughed, trying to appear good looking. His ego was out of control. "My love for you," he tried, "Is like  Addergaze's fur. It just keeps growing."

Frostpaw padded into the clearing full of cats, less uncomfortable than his first gathering. Still he didn't know many cats, and so he sat down in a group of apprentices to listen to their gossip. He boasted "I caught an owl during my assessment, I'll be a warrior in no time!" As he listened to the other apprentices compete with their accomplishments, he gazed around the clearing. Eventually their talk turned to rumor. Frostpaw had spotted Wolfpaw across the clear, and was about to bound over to her when he heard her name spoken by one of the apprentices. Hesitating he listened to the cat, who said that Wolfpaw was actually half-Clan. Not only that, but her loyalties did not lie with ShadowClan. Frostpaw was shocked, he walked away from he group. Should he believe the word of some apprentice from another Clan? He decided that he would need to go talk to Wolfpaw, and walked over to her. "Hey, Wolfpaw can I talk to you for a bit?"
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Turtlepaw rushed down into the hollow for her first gathering. She couldn't wait to see the cats she would soon be fighting. She stopped in a circle of apprentices, who were exchanging stories of battle and hunting accomplishments. She couldn't help but feel jealous rage at the older apprentices, if she was older she would have cool stories too.

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Deadpaw walked slowly into the clearing, hiding among his Clan. His mentor leaped onto the great rock, and he felt a flash of pride at having such a great mentor. However, he was feeling scared that cats of other Clans would stare and make fun of his dead eye. He sat down at the edge of the clearing and began to wait for the leaders to speak.

Blizzardshine padded into the clearing behind Darkstar with her usual smile, looking around at the gathered cats and even greeting one or two she had met on the past. It wasn’t unusual for her to be so social even with the clans that could’ve tension against ThunderClan. It simply wasn’t on her nature to be.

She took her spot on the spot reserved for the deputies under the great rock, though she was the one nearest to the border of such so any cat that wanted to get close and chat for a bit could do so without any obstacle.

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Moonlight walked into the clearing, looking at the starts absentmindedly as she did, reason why she didn’t notice SkyClan was the last clan to arrive, or at least not right away. Many things were going through her head lately, and with the slowly rise on the temperature her thought weren’t just focused on just the cold and how much she wished she could have her mate’s long pelt instead of the short one she was born with.

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Nightheart took a deep breath before coming out from the shadows and joining her clan near the Great Rock, her eyes scanning the whole place in an attempt to find her sister between the RiverClan cats, as well as her kits. She had met Lightpaw before, but she still wanted to meet the rest of her family on the rival clan…though she tried to not make public such fact, both because of the promise made long ago and to not expose the mixed origins of Thistleblaze’s kits to not add unnecessary tension in their younger lives.

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Sootwhisper silently took his spot near the borders of the clearing under the shade of a tree, not comfortable around so many cats just like always. His mind slowly went through his thoughts and couldn’t help but wonder what kind of news the clans would have this time.

Pansypaw padded down the slope with the rest of SkyClan, but she quickly broke off from the rest of the group.  SkyClan was the last to arrive, but she didn't really care.  That just meant that Bouncepaw was already here.  Dark green eyes sparkling in anticipation, she weved her way through the crowd until she caught sight of a familiar white and ginger pelt.  He was sitting among the other medicine cats, so she hesitated to approach.  Watching, she noticed the Eagleheart with talking with the small group as well.  That's odd....

She longed to join the group, but a pang of guilt struck her heart.  If anyone caught on to the fact me and Bouncepaw are in love, we would both get in trouble.  It's not worth the risk, not at a Gathering.  Sighing sadly, she looked around to see if there was anyone else she knew nearby.

~~~

Leopardpaw's golden eyes narrowed defensively when he noticed a black she-cat, scenting of WindClan, approaching him.  "Why're you sitting here all lonely?" Her question rubbed the spotted tom the wrong way, and he shifted his position, turning away a bit from the 'nosy' she-cat.  "None of your business WindClanner." His mumbled remark had a hostile undertone, and his eyes flashed with the anxiety of a cornered animal.  He had never met a cat from another clan, so this was a strange new experience to him.  It seemed he had kept a few of his roguish ways.

Upon the arrival of Lichenpaw, Leopardpaw seemed to relax a tiny bit.  The she-cat had always been able to put him in a good mood.  In the days since Grasswhisker had died though, the young tom had not spoken to Lichenpaw.  Though she was now his closest friend, he had become paranoid that he would lose her too; but now he met her gaze for a quick flash, trying to find support in this situation.

Bouncepaw saw Pansypaw attempting to weave her way towards him. A purr threatened to escape his throat, but he swilled it. He simply gave her a brief greeting, no trace of love in his blank, amber eyes. He felt his fur prickle. Turn back! Look, look, she's waiting... a little voice in Bouncepaw's head said. His muscles felt taut, but he stayed by Cloudstone's side. He smiled at Puddlepaw, as she nervously introduced herself. I'm not the youngest anymore! thought Bouncepaw, a kit-like triumph reigning over his body. Cloudstone's voice beckoned him. "Mhm," he hummed quietly.

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Fallowstripe smiled at Finchpaw. "You'll be announced," she sang. She wouldn't miss this if it meant StarClan coming down and granting her with nine lives. "Just be patient." Fallowstripe stretched her muzzle forwards to muss Finchpaw's fur, ignoring the smug look that Smokepelt, the deputy of WindClan, wore on his face.

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Vipertail raced in with SkyClan, flushing with embarrassment. Well, not the last, she thought hopefully. She saw Pansypaw, her cousin, staring longingly across the clearing, and gave her a playful flick of her tail. "Hey," she purred. "How are ya?" Vipertail primped her fluffy fur.

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Blacktwig saw Squirreltuft. He doubted she'd still remember anything, but her gaze was almost locked onto him at some point. He recalled when she was a kit, and his mind contorted in surprise. I'm old, dear StarClan! he thought, looking away. But a curiosity stirred inside of him; Mottledwing hadn't been here in a while. Where was she? Not dead... right? Not lost...

Ashstar nodded at Thrushstar and gave Darkstar a slightly apologetic smile. She still hadn't forgotten the whole fiasco with Rockpaw. She blinked as Vixenheart jumped onto the Great Rock instead of Crowstar. Where was the SkyClan leader? Oh well- hopefully this she-cat had a sense of common courtesy.

Shimmerheart blinked in surprise as a RiverClan cat walked up to her. "Um, hello," she responded, shaking out her black fur. "My name's Shimmerheart, what's yours?" She didn't know what had possessed the warrior to come over and chat with a lonely old elder, but she thanked StarClan that she had. She purred as her son came over, rubbing happily against his fur. Thoughts of Webtail had gotten her through these difficult past moons.

"Silentstrike," Quailfeather mused. "Y'know, I think I like that. We'll, hopefully your ceremony will be soon! I can't wait till we can be warriors together. I'm sure you'll love it." She smiled at the tom, watching as ShadowClan, ThunderClan and finally SkyClan flooded in. She nodded at the ThunderClan warrior that cake walking up.

Shellwater let out a small laugh at Brindlewhisker's statement. "I'm not so young myself, anymore," she meowed self-deprecatingly. "Do you have kits, yourself? You sound like you know a lot about them." She nodded at yet another WindClan warrior that walked up. Great StarClan, but this was odd.

Breezewhisker came in with SkyClan and sat down, not in the mood for conversation. Rippedsky had been everyone's favorite cat lately, and nearly all his Clanmates were becoming insufferable.

Amberpelt was relieved that the elder didn't seem to mind her company - she would of felt foolish if she had walked all the way over here just to chat with one of their crabby elders that tended to pop up every once in a while. Not that she blamed them for being crabby or anything like that. She dipped her head in greetings to the SkyClan tom that came up, slightly confused as the elder brushed against the tom in clear joy at his presence. It was clear the two knew each other but found herself unsure of why a ShadowClan elder would be so happy to see a SkyClan tom...But she didn't dare act lest she seem rude. Blinking as the elder gave Amberpelt her name, the RiverClan warrior smiled back as she sat down. "My name is Amberpelt," she responded, before glancing at the Highrock - as all the Clans were now present - only to see that Crowstar was missing and instead his deputy instead had taken his spot. Not only was Fishstar sick, but Crowstar as well? Surprise rippled down Amberpelt's coat but she simply raised an eyebrow in silence. This could turn out to be a rather gathering, she mused softly to her herself.

Twistedtail had almost jumped out of her fur when Rippedsky sneaked up on her. Jumping almost vertically, she felt her ears grow hot when she realized it was just Rippedsky. Flattening her fur down, she flicked her whiskers and pretended she purposely jumped a fox-length into the air. "It's Twistedtail now, Rippedsky," she purred, "And life in Windclan is actually good again. No more battles, and I assure you I won't be running away any time soon," she teased, relaxing next to her best friend.

As Vixenheart led Skyclan into the clearing, Rabbitfoot glanced around. It was her very first gathering as a true medicine cat and all she cared about was either seeing Honeydrop or Mudfoot to tell them the good news. Maybe even Mottleheart if she got lucky. It was funny how all of the cats she seemed to be so close with were cats in other clans. However, as medicine cat, she didn't feel like it mattered much. She just knew that Antdrop was proud of her and she held onto that dearly. Padding in, the first cat she caught in her sights was Honeydrop. Nearly darting at the Shadowclan medicine cat, she stopped just short of running into her friend. "Honeydrop! Honeydrop guess what! I'm a full medicine cat now!" she purred. "Oceanlight gave me the name Rabbitfoot. I-It's kind of a really cool name." The more the thought about what she was saying, the less she was suddenly excited. She hadn't realized that she was bragging rather loudly to her friend, but it was just so cool! She still hadn't gotten used to her name, but maybe now that others outside of Skyclan knew, she would feel like it fit her.