April's Gathering 2017

Ospreypaw bounded into the clearing. He was excited for this gathering, for some reason it felt important and he couldn't shake that feeling off. The tabby tom eagerly scanned the clearing, noting they were the first to arrive for once. It filled Ospreypaw with pride, they had really bounced back and RiverClan was thriving.

With a smile he bounced up to his friends, Nutpaw and Finchpaw. " Hey, Nutpaw. Hey, Finchpaw. You excited for the gathering?" he purred with excitement. He glanced around again taking in all the sights. There was definitely something about this gathering.

"Yeah I'm excited! This is actually the first gathering I've been to, so of course I am excited!" Nut paw answered, eagerly waiting for the other clans to arrive at fourtrees.

Finchpaw waved her tail back at Nutpaw, padding forward to stand by her friend's side.  Lowering herself onto her haunches, the fluffy silver and white tabby began to groom her ears while listening to her friend's excited chatter, trying to quell the storm raging in her mind.  It's okay Finchpaw, there's nothing to be afraid or worried about.  Nothing out of the ordinary is going to happen tonight.  Meanwhile, on the outside she kept an eager eye on Nutpaw and purred when the slightly younger she-cat asked about her experience.  "Oh, it's pretty fun.  You can talk to the other clan's cats, but I would advise you look for other apprentices; some of the warriors don't kindly to younger cats 'pestering' them, or so they say."  With a chuckle, she spun her head around when she heard Ospreypaw's voice, and purred a friendly greeting to her other close friend.  Yellow eyes sparkling, she meowed; "Hey Ospreypaw!  Yea umm...I'm pretty excited!"  At the end her voice sounded forced and fake; truly the scared she-cat just wanted to go home, and get away from the gory memories this place aroused.

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For a moment Laurelpaw noticed the young tom looked confused, and kind of startled.  Managing to tone down her excitement a bit, the small white she-cat sat down and tilted her head to the side curiously, while listening to his introduction.  Smiling, she meowed kindly; "Jaypaw...cool name!  I like it; it's better than being named after a plant."  Her last sentence tinged with sarcasm, Laurelpaw giggled a bit before continuing.  "Yep, I'm from WindClan!  Someday, I'm gonna be the strongest, fastest, most awesome warrior in the whole clan!"  Her head held high, eyes shining with pride, the young molly purred and asked; "You're from RiverClan, I would guess.  What's it like there?  Can you swim?  Fish?"  Not aware she had just bombarded Jaypaw with a ton of questions, she flicked her tail in anticipation for his answer.

Whitestream arrived with other RiverClan cats talking with her half brother Yellowthroat. She was happy that she will be able to be on this gathering, she almost fell that something important will happen.
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Yelllowthroat was pleased that he was going on this gathering as a warrior. With slow steps he was walking next to his half sister.

Jaypaw relaxed and smiled to the curious she-cat. "Yes! I can swim pretty well without much trouble. I'm still learning more about fishing but I can catch some of them easily too. Riverclan is a good clan. The water of the river is always around us and our den and nests are always decorated with beautiful shells and feathers." He meowed to the young apprentice with a kind tone. The tom liked his clan more than anything but he also admired the lifestyles of other clans. "And what about your clan? How is it? This is your first gathering too?" He asked with shiny green eyes of curiosity. The gray tabby tom discovered that other clan cats were not as bad as he thought. Or at least, Laurelpaw was pretty kind.

Nutpaw couldn't help but glance nervously at Finchpaw. She was excited to meet with the other clan cats, that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was that Finchpaw seemed nervous and her excitement seemed forced. Hoping to lighten the mood, Nutpaw asked a question.
"Well, I guess RiverClan is first to arrive. Are we usually the first? The other clans beside WindClan seem to be taking forever," Nutpaw remarked.
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Nectarpaw couldn't sit still anymore. He was just too excited, and needed to do something. Maybe he talk to a RiverClan cat that he had never seen before. He looked around and spotted Laurelpaw talking with a RiverClan apprentice, and decided to go over to them.
"Hi Laurelpaw! I see you already are talking to someone!" Nectarpaw tried to make his words sound dignified in front of another clan, but he couldn't do it. Turning to Jaypaw, he continued "Hi, I'm Nectarpaw. Who are you?"

Swiftheart followed Fishstar into the gathering. She sat down and waited.

Ospreypaw smiled at his friends glad they seemed excited. He was slightly unsure of Finchpaw when she spoke, but decided not to bring it up. He understood she was probably still rather shaken after the last gathering. Ospreypaw laughed at Nutpaw's remark. "No. We're always dead last! WindClan is apparently always first here, but we changed that!" he meowed as he sat down. The tom swiped a paw over his ear and gives his ruffled fur a couple of quick licks.

"Really? I would have thought better of our clan. But we are first this time at least, so let's make the best of it. WindClan is right behind us, but everyone knows WindClan cats are fast," Nutpaw chatted, hoping it didn't sound as if she was talking to much. She hoped Finchpaw was alright, and saw that Ospreypaw seemed to notice something. Was her friend nervous about gatherings? Nutpaw didn't bring it up, knowing it would just make things uncomfortable.

Mottleheart ears were perked as WindClan stepped into the clearing, disappointed when he realized that they were the second to arrive and ThunderClan wasn't there yet. He had been sticking close to Brindlewhisker during the walk to Fourtrees and watched as she moved forward and took her own spot, finding himself conflicted on what to do. While he wanted to join his friend, it was normal for deputies to sit together wasn't it? He felt he would be out of place...But still found himself drawn over to her, sitting near where she had taken her seat, flickering an ear at her in acknowledgement as he glanced up at Fishstar. She wondered how well the leader would take the news that Smokepelt had been demoted...At least there was a good chance that there would be peace between their Clans for the foreseeable future. He was sick of the conflict, the unneeded bloodshed. He shook his head as he studied the clearing, keeping his eyes open for Rockpaw. He was eager to see his friend again.

Without meaning too, Finchpaw began to zone out from the conversation, heart beating a little faster than normal.  Gazing down at her paws, she tried desperately to push away the image that lingered in her mind, of the blood and torn flesh and....  Suddenly, the small silver tabby let out a small whimper, interrupting her friend's conversation.  Whipping her head up, eyes wide and shining with anxiety, she looked from Nutpaw to Ospreypaw worriedly, before emitting a defeated sigh.  "S..sorry guys.  I'm...I'm just not really myself tonight...."  She trailed off, gazing down at her shuffling paws; for some time now she had wished to confess the true extent of her fear to someone, but she was worried that they would judge her...or worse!  What if they tell Fishstar, or Ivyfall, or someone else and they punish me, or demote me!  I don't want to be a burden to the clan....but how can I become a warrior at this point?  What use is a warrior, that's afraid of blood?

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Laurelpaw nodded, listening intently as Jaypaw described his clan's lifestyle in detail. Though she loved WindClan with all her heart, she did think it would be interesting to live by the water. Maybe I could live by it, but swim in it? No way! Though, trying a fish would be fun.... "Wow, that's really cool!" A joking tone in her voice, she purred playfully; "Maybe I'll visit sometime." Laughing, she nodded proudly, and began to think about what she could say about WindClan. "Yea, this is my first Gathering. WindClan is really cool too, the best part is running on the open moor. The wind whipping in your fur, your tail streaming out behind you, there's nothing else like it! Also, rabbit is really tasty! They're really hard to catch though, you have to be super quick and kill them as soon as you can; they can slip between your paws like water. Ooh, I also love when the wild heather blooms! The purple flowers look like a sea of petals in the grass." Purring blissfully, the white she-cat almost didn't notice Necterpaw approach them and introduce himself. Purring back a friendly greeting, she shifted over to make more room for the tom, before glancing back at Jaypaw with a smile.

Ospreypaw smiled. "True, true" he agreed. His eyes darted to Finchpaw who seemed to be looking even more queesy and not herself. It worried the tom deeply and the moment she let out a whimper he felt his paws tremble. What had happened to Finchpaw? Whoever had done this to her would paw! ospreypaw shuffled closer to her hoping his friend was fine.

The meow she let out scared him even more, but at least he had worked out what she was talking about. "It's okay, Finchpaw. Bear is gone and that apprentice ended up being fine. Don't worry Nutpaw and I won't ever let that happen to youm believe me, Finchpaw, I am still shaken by what we saw, but it won't happen again. I won't let it happen again." he meowed reassuringly placing his tail on Finchpaw's shoulders. Ospreypaw looked looked at his friend him amber eyes showing he meant what he said. Finchpaw wouldn't be hurt if he could help it.

Rainstorm padded in behind RiverClan, his yellow-green eyes darting across the growing crowd. It had been many moons since he had seen so many cats collected. Yet, it seemed somewhat boring in comparison to the idea of see her again. His head rose high, searching for her grey and white pelt.

With no luck, his eyes traveled up towards the Great Rock where his aunt sat proudly. A tall grey-she cat joined Fishstar with a quick nod. Of course there were new leaders. But which one was this?

After a moment of observation, a familiar face popped into his mind. Ashwing? The WindClan deputy? So Sablestar had passed away. While his mind pondered the events that must have occured between then and now, the musty tom started towards the base of the rock. As much as he loved interacting with strangers, the tom would not move from his sister's side until a more familiar face came along.

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Magpiewing was utterly surprised his legs hadn't collapsed during ShadowClan's journey to the Fourtrees. How had it come to this? Leopardstar had just recovered from his sprained paw. Everything was great! Order was being restored back to the clan without any more issues.

But it wasn't really. An infection had been brewing inside the tom, waiting until everything seemed fine before striking hard enough to confine the leader to his nest. Since the deputy had been relatively healthy, and already immersed in exploring his new duties, it only made sense to Leopardstar to designate his trusted sidekick in leading the clan. Despite the long discussion the night before about being prepared and trusting one another, Magpiewing walked to the gathering with an anxious twitch in his tail.

H-He wasn't ready to join the leaders. There must have been someone else more qualified than him. Thrushstripe even... if he could climb it anymore. How could he climb onto the Great Rock and present himself in front of the entire forest?

It took an excessive amount of effort, and several backward glances at his clan before he could muster the courage to join Fishstar and Ashstar. The black deputy felt clumsy as his claws scraped across the stone. His heart bang against his chest, adding to the nervousness he already projected. A lump rose in his throat as he nodded to the two grey she-cats.


ooc: sunoo is actually sick so here i am - you can post now shadowclan
save him

Honeydrop came in with ShadowClan, pawsteps unsteady as she crossed the muddy clearing towards the medicine cat spot. She took a shaky inhale of the clear night air, amber eyes flicking between her golden paws and the star-speckled sky above. Rejoining the other medicine cats and coming with her Clan felt right, but also so... wrong. She hadn't seen her friends in so long. She had been gone for quite a while. They'd probably moved on, forgotten about her. First her near-murder, then her kidnapping, then Puddlepaw's disappearance... the ShadowClan she-cat that walked unsteadily towards her colleagues was a different cat than the one who had done the same two moons ago. It's only been two moons? Dear StarClan, it felt like a lifetime. Each pawsteps was increasingly more difficult, like trying to swim through mud, but the golden dappled she-cat grit her teeth and pressed forwards the last few mouse-lengths to the other medicine cats. She sat down shakily, somehow out of breath. "H-h-hey," she stammered quietly to Beetlepaw and Cloudstone, staring down at her feet.

Ashstar blinked as a tom who was neither Thrushstar nor Leopardfang stepped onto the Great Rock. She vaguely remembered his name as Magpiewing. Where was Thrushstar? Or Leopardfang? Had the old ShadowClan leader finally drawn his last breath? Were both toms sick somehow? Were they okay? No, now wasn't the time to ask. She had to let him share when the Gathering started. Startled and a little worried, the gray WindClan leader gave a deep nod to the... deputy?... and turned to watch as his Clan flooded in. Three Clans down, two yet to arrive. Hopefully the other Clans would fake the news she had to share well.

Flamestrike padded in after the newly named clan deputy. As usual, he was silent. But his tail drooped and his head was low. Nightmares of his slain brother had haunted him in his sleep once more. The images plagued him. Discontent shown across the tom's face as he watched happier cats chatter away with their friends and kin. There wouldn't be much of that here for him. He had tried to stay close to Honeydrop, worried about the she-cat's recovery. She had veered off to join the medicine cats. It occurred to him to go see Sparkflower. But the Thunderclan medicine cat wasn't around yet.

Instead, he thought about padding over to join Ospreypaw. The Riverclan tom seemed too wrapped up with other cats. Company was not something Flamestrike wanted. He sighed and headed for an empty place near the edge of the clearing. Hopefully we get this over with quickly... Flamestrike though to himself. All he wanted to do was curl up in his nest. However, he hadn't been able to refuse when Magpiewing asked him to join them. The warrior needed as much support as he could get from the clan's leadership. Especially now that he did not have Leopardstar's trust, simply due to his heritage.