February Gathering 2017

Emberheart (because she was totally there the entire time) gritted her teeth as Thrushstar spoke, kneading her claws into the dirt. She didn't want to be the reason her clan fell into war with Shadowclan, but she was not about to admit that she'd been wrong; the leader probably would hold it against her, anyway, she thought, frowning to herself. It had been wrong of her, had been done in a fit of anger. But it was not only her fault—insults had been exchanged from both sides. Blazeflight had fought her, and she fought back. Albeit, maybe the russet she-cat had gone overboard, but that was the chance a cat took when wrestling with her.

She kept her expression neutral, staring straight ahead.

•••

Amberpaw shook out her brown pelt tipped with russet and white, bounding to her father and sister, unsure where else to go. As the Gathering begun and Thrushstar spoke, she flattened her ears and gulped, glancing to her family. Who did it? Surely they had a reason, right?! I bet that other warrior must've done something bad, too.

With his attention on Thrushstar, Mudfoot didn't realize his apprentices were bickering until he saw Frostpaw stalk away, his fur bristling. Snapping his head back to Wolfpaw who didn't seem like she was in a very good mood, the tom wondered what had gone on between them. Getting up from where he sat, the ShadowClan warrior nudged Wolfpaw off from the spot where she laid and pushed the side of her rump with his head so that they wouldn't be so close to the WindClan cats.

Walking a few steps, he sat down in a small clearing that no cat occupied and looked to his apprentice. "What in StarClan's name happened?" he asked her, worry in his eyes as he looked to Wolfpaw.

"He somehow knew, Mudfoot! And he told me I was disloyal," Her fur still bristled from the encounter, but she started calming down a bit now that he was gone. Wolfpaw dug her paws into the earth, trying to let her anger dissipate.

Pineeye soon sat down next to his mate, affectionately curling his tail around her. This sort of soft side was never shown to his apprentices, or even his kits, just Ghostpelt. He watched with mild interest as two Shadowclan apprentices argued with each other, although he was only able to catch words such as "blood" and "loyalty". But apparently, it wasn't interesting enough for him, so he moved his amber gaze to the leaders.


Cloudstone gave the newly named medicine cat a congratulatory smile. "I hope that you'll spend many moons with us under that name, Rabbitfoot." Dark eyes moved to his apprentice, Bouncepaw, and the tom gave an amused huff. The young cat never ceased to make him laugh.


At first she tensed at the touch, but soon Spiderfur was able to relax beside Wildfang. She was still conflicted, however, seeing that some Shadowclan cats were beginning to doubt each other's loyalty. She leaned her head towards him, and while barely turning to look at him, she murmured, "Are you okay? Are you eating well?" The little she-cat wasn't sure if she should look for herself to see how Leafbare-thin he was.


Darkstar turned to head towards Thrushstar while he spoke, a somewhat troubled look flashing in her sunshine yellow eyes for a moment. His words were hostile and accusatory, and she could understand why. From Blacktwig's account of the event, trusting that he was unbiased, several insults had been flung between a Shadowclan patrol and one of her own; two warriors, Blazestrike and Emberheart, ended up tussling. In the heat of battle, her own warrior Emberheart, had broken several ribs of the Shadowclan warrior, not to mention taking off part of her tail. It was unexpected of her, to say the least. The she-cat kept her usually expressive face blank, which was honestly a bit unsettling to look at to those that knew her. "I assure you that she will be punished so that she may know the severity of her actions. However, at the moment I am determining what best course of action to take. So please, do not take this moment as a lack of respect." There was a small awkward pause as she turned to face the cats below. Starclan, how could she switch from that to basic "kits made apprentices" and "apprentices made warriors"? Well, she had to. So she would.

"Thunderclan has been growing well, despite this particularly chilly moon. There are many new apprentices, Leopardpaw, Goosepaw, Cypresspaw, Markedpaw, Snakepaw, and Amberpaw. Two apprentices have also been made warriors, Jaysong and Maplecloud. Hopefully many more will come as the seasons change." Her gaze moved to Ashstar. "I thank you for returning one of our apprentices back home, although I do wish that it hadn't been necessary to begin with."

Hazeflight, whom was being very antisocial, took a seat. Her fur prickled slightly at the mention of the attack however she kept a straight face. The silver she-cat saw Eagleheart utter some words to Piddlepaw then leave, a small snark escaped her maw, but she shook her head ridding herself of them thoughts.

-

Hollypaw looked around confused. She didn't know anyone, how was she suppose to not get lost?! Gatherings were ridiculous, in her opinion. Couldn't the leaders do any of this on their own, instead of dragging apprentices like her into the Leafbare cold?

Hollypaw gazed around, ice blue eyes surveying the packed clearing. where was Addergaze or anyone for that matter? Looked like she'd have to find someone new to talk to. Not that she wanted to.

Reluctantly, she pushed her way through the mass of cats till she found a huddle of apprentices. "Hey... Don't mind if I join you? I don't want to, but it is better than being a total lost soul." she meowed rather bitterly.

-

Driftpaw lifted her head, she knew what Darkstar was talking about. A smile crossed her dusty features.

-

Ospreypaw glanced around quickly. Trying to find someone he knew. Eventually he spotted Finchpaw and with a large smile bounded up to her.

"Hey, so how's it been, Finchpaw?" he purred eyes shining.

-

Sprucethorn quickly made his way over to his usual group. He dipped his head curtly in greeting.

Owltalon frowned as others arrived and she fought, disappointed that her attention in him had faltered. Leaping in front of her with what he assumed was an appealing grin, he added, "What would such a pretty she-cat like yourself be named? I would say 'Starclan bless you,' but it looks like you're already blessed."

His eyes twinkled as he sauntered closer, closer, the young tom thinking too highly of himself to admit that his actions were foolish.

•••

Puddlepaw breathed a sigh of relief as the Gathering began, disappointed and fiercely annoyed that her father had ruined it for her. She hadn't even gotten to speak to any of the other apprentices! Maybe afterwards, though, she decided, fur on her spine relaxing as she glanced toward the medicine group behind her then back towards the leaders.

Wish medicine cats could make announcements. That'd be cool.

"Listen here, mouse-brain, you're not even in my clan. And if you were, I probably still wouldn't go for you," Wolfpaw's ears flattened firmly against her head. Why are toms so stupid? She thought to herself, glaring at Owltalon. One more comment and I swear I going to rip his ears off. Despite Mudfoot being so close by, the she-cat wanted to fight her own battles. If Owltalon kept being a problem, neither the fact it was a gathering, nor the fact her mentor was nearby would stop her.

Snakegaze and Stormheart, who ended up arriving a little bit late due to a nasty bickering session about frog-catching, finally entered Fourtrees in the middle of Darkstar's speech. Snakegaze, thoroughly sick of his brother's ego, hissed and sat behind a group of SkyClan cats. Stormheart scoffed and joined RiverClan at their respective place beneath the Great Rock, turning his attention up to the speaker.

---

Ravenfeather, who was totally there the entire time, sat quietly by herself, staring absentmindedly at the grass in front of her. She hated Gatherings, and never understood why she always had to participate in them. So many cats. So many eyes to judge her. Too many.

The new warrior looked offended, staring at her with one ear down and the other up. "But…everyone wants me," he responded, befuddled for a second.

Shaking his head, the tom decided that one more line might just seduce her. Throwing the lazy grin back on, he shuffled beside the apprentice so that the tis of their fur touched, adding, "I'm feline fine now that I've seen you, sweetheart. And I'm sure you feel the same way."

Ashstar blinked in slight surprise as Darkstar mentioned her returning Rockpaw. She stood up, ready to speak- now was as good a time as any. "I wish the same, Darkstar, and I thank you in turn for understanding my intentions and respecting my Clan. I am also sorry to hear of your problems, Thrushstar." Remember that WindClan is still here for backup. Ruffling out her fur, she turned to her Clan's developments. "Thanks to the warmer weather, our prey has been coming back faster than ever. The nursery is full to bursting with kits, and we have made several new apprentices: Gustpaw, Silentpaw, Rabbitpaw, Wrenpaw and Ryepaw. We've also seen a recent influx of warriors: Kindleblaze, Furzethroat, Twistedtail, Cloudrunner, and Quailfeather. WindClan continues to prosper, and I reiterate that our only wish is for peace." She stepped back to let the other leaders, or deputies in their cases, give their spiels.

Venompaw felt the tension decrease slightly, and felt glad somewhat that the leader was taking so much time to think of a valid punishment for her warrior. It was proof of responsible leadership, even though she hated to admit it. Listening to the Thunderclan leader, she frowned. Too many new apprentices for her liking, even though there was no current battle with Thunderclan, she couldn't help thinking that in future it would be harmful to her clan for Thunderclan to have s many ell-trained warriors, it would only add to the difficulty of battle
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Markedpaw raised her head proudly as her name was said to every cat at the gathering, proud to be an apprentice of Thunderclan and loving even the small amount of attention it brought her. Still, it just made her that more determined to be a strong warrior before long. Soon, she'd hear her warrior name said in another gathering, told to everyone there. everyone would know who she was. She wanted to be the strongest warrior there was

Finchpaw had been listening to the leaders intently, but turned her head when she heard a familiar voice. Smiling, she purred "Hi Ospreypaw!" Patting her tail on the ground next to her, she shifted to give the tom space to sit down.

Leaning over, she whispered a question in Ospreypaw's ear; "Isn't Thrushstar crazy? How long has he been leader?"

Poplarstripe nodded his own agreement, this would only be his second gathering and even with already experiencing the chaos, it was still hard to believe there were so many cats living among them and nearby.

The young tom then smiled, "you just wait, with the other two clans, it's going to get crowded." He mewed, looking up. As if his words had summoned the two other clans, Darkstar and Thrushstar entered the moonlit clearing. He looked back toward Acornpaw, watching her face for a reaction.

<<>>

Hazefur lent over to give the little tom a comforting lick on the head, "oh hush, you'll be fine, attending a gathering is one of the many experiences apprentices die for. It's always great meeting young cats from the other clans." She mewed, attempting to calm Ryepaw and show him the bright side to things. She knew he didn't want to come along, thank StarClan her mate, Smokepelt had convinced him.

"Okay, I'm over this," Wolfpaw decided finally, unsheathing her claws. She turned to face the newly appointed Skyclan warrior with a snarl, her face dangerously close to his, "I told you to leave me alone, you daft furball!" Her yowl rang louder than she expected. The Shadowclan apprentice didn't care though. Between Frostpaw's accusations, Owltalon's persistence, and her already aggravated nature, she was over it. So much for a good first gathering, She thought darkly to herself as her front paw connected with the tom's face.

Wolfpaw used front paw strike on Owltalon, using 10 stamina and dealing 6 damage.

Wolfpaw
20/20
70/80

Owltalon
34/40
120/120

Twistedtail lurched around as she heard yowling and the sickening sound of claws meeting a cat's face. "Wait, whats happening?" she gasped as she saw the apprentice attacking the older warrior.