June's Gathering 2017

The big dappled tom followed his father to the place where the gathering was about to get started. He was anxious and excited about his first gathering and he couldn't in anything else all the day.
When his green eyes gazed the fourtrees, he stopped for a second, looking the clearing already full of cats of Shadowclan and Windclan. The moonlight shone all the place with a beatifyl silver color and Firepaw stepped forward, admiring the beauty of the place. "This is awesome! And the trees are huge here! Are those the rocks where the leaders talk, Flamestrike?" He asked, looking back at his mentor and father.
The young tom also noticed that his brother was already making new friends easily. Maybe he would try to meet new cats later but now he wanted to learn everything he could about the gatherings.

Dandelionpaw whisked into the clearing with the rest of SkyClan. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder at everything around her. A Gathering! She closed her eyes and let the various scents bathe her, swamping her nose with... ShadowClan! WindClan! Whoa! However, she did not yet scent ThunderClan or RiverClan. Basking in the moonlight, she noticed the apprentice-pack and scampered over to them, eager to say hello. As she approached, her heart became tangled with tendrils of anxiety. What if they didn't like her? What if they were mean? Oh, goodness... She shook her head. No! If she was going to be a warrior someday, she had to be brave like one too! She sauntered up to them and took a deep breath.

Just as Gingerpaw and Slatethroat introduced themselves, she quickly blurted out before her fear could get the best of her, "I'm Dandelionpaw!"

Rowanpaw was totally here the entire time and was sitting around smirking at all these non-shadowclan peasants

Ashstar's head turned as SkyClan came in, prepared for the sight of Crowstar- but that was not who jumped on the Great Rock. Rippedsky, the coward and traitor, the tom who had abandoned his Clan. The tom who had somehow convinced Crowstar to make him deputy. Had the SkyClan leader died? Was this presumptuous, smug-faced kit the leader now?! StarClan forbid! The thought was horrifying. As the former WindClan tom leapt onto the stone, the gray-furred she-cats hackles raised. Undisguised, her lips curled into a snarl as his blue eyes met her green ones. She barely kept her claws sheathed, the urge to tear his cowardly pelt to shreds suddenly overwhelming. She had never forgotten when, for his own selfish reasons, the idiot had abandoned his Clan in its greatest time of need. This traitor was not welcome anywhere near her and the real leaders, and the WindClan she-cat would make sure he knew it.

Gingerpaw nodded at the apprentice, who smelled of SkyClan. His face spread wide in an eager grin, wanting to make her feel comfortable. She wasn't too different from him, after all- except, she was a pretty she-cat. "Dandelionpaw? You're SkyClan, right? Nice to meet you! Is this your first Gathering, too?" His jaw dropped slightly as a large, muscly warrior walked over to them. Though the way he carried himself suggested he was a newly appointed warrior, barely out if his apprenticehood, his size made the tabby tom think otherwise. Slatethroat, huh? The gray warrior smelled like rabbits and the open moor- WindClan- and bore a strange resemblance to the light gray she-cat on the Great Rock. Was this tom related to the leader? Green eyes bright with awe at Slatethroat's stature, the ShadowClan apprentice stammered a greeting. "Um, h-hi."

Heathershade had followed Windclan in quietly

Morningpaw and Nettlepaw padded in with their Clans, ShadowClan and WindClan, and sat down with the cats that they belonged to because I'm lazy right now and will edit this later.

Badgerpaw followed ShadowClan into the Gathering, staying near the front of the Clan cats as he looked up to Leopardstar's strength. The tom felt grateful to be chosen to go to his first Gathering. Of course I was chosen! he thought with pride, assuming that despite being a young apprentice, he believed that he was already the strongest ShadowClan warrior that ever existed. Upon entering Fourtrees, he was surprised to see that no other Clan had made their appearance, until the disgusting scents of WindClan and SkyClan emerged into the Gathering. Staying near ShadowClan, he had no interest to talk with opposing Clans as he searched for his mentor Duneclaw.

Fishstar was the third leader to enter Fourtrees.. Or, rather, the second. Rippedsky was seated in Crowstar's usual spot. It was too bad he wasn't present. Fishstar had been keen on staying updated on these 'Tribe' cats he'd taken in. Her eyes flitted across the intermixed grouping of SkyClan and the Tribe. Their scents were beginning to blend, she noticed. Well, they've settled in cozily, haven't they? She narrowed her eyes and then directed her attention to the Great Rock, which she promptly bounded up onto.

She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. RiverClan and SkyClan had been friends for many moons now, but she hadn't a shred of trust for these outsiders. A fire had spontaneously sprung up in RiverClan's territory, which to her memory, had never experienced a fire before. ThunderClan had also experienced a fire, which had done double the damage to them. To top it all off, Fishstar's daughter - one of her only two kits left in this world - had disappeared without a word to anyone. This had all happened in the span of one moon, right after the Tribe had arrived.

Something was definitely not right. She'd felt it since they'd first shown their faces, and she felt it more strongly now than ever.

Fishstar settled down closest to Rippedsky, her jaw and shoulders tense.

---

Stormheart and Snakegaze followed closely behind Fishstar. It had been an eventful moon - especially for Stormheart. He eyed the WindClan cats with an unbridled disgust he passed by them, some of whom he'd engaged in a border skirmish a couple of sunrises ago. He still couldn't get the foul taste of their blood out of his mouth. Foul cats tasted foul too, he supposed.

---

With all her heart, Moth that Floats on the Breeze wished that she could have stayed behind at SkyClan's camp. The overpowering stench of the other Clans was making her stomach turn. She grimaced visibly as she entered the clearing of Fourtrees, curling her lip back. It was hard enough to get even remotely used to living with one Clan, never mind all five of them.. In fact, she hadn't really warmed up to SkyClan at all. The longer the Tribe mingled with Crowstar's Clanmates, the more she found herself wishing Stoneteller had led the Tribe in theopposite direction of the forest. They way these cats lived, talked, fought.. It was archaic, and strange, and just.. wrong. She ended up sitting down a short length away from Storm the Lights the Clouds, who seemed to share her desire for distance between the Clan cats and the Tribe cats, to some extent. "I don't care what the leaders have to say, and I don't care what's happened in the other Clans. I have no reason to be here," she murmured distastefully, half to herself and half to her Tribemate.

Wildpaw and Quickpaw watched as RiverClan and SkyClan entered the Gathering, led by their leaders, even if Rippedsky wasn't officially the leader. Both apprentices wondered absentmindedly what had happened to Crowstar, but didn't put much thought into it. Leaders got sick too, just like everyone else, they agreed on.

---

Wildstorm entered the Gathering close to Rippedsky as they headed down to the clearing. He was a little nervous to be back, wondering if anyone would recognize him. 'Probably not,' he thought. 'Nobody in the clan did.' Still, he was anxious about this being his first Gathering in many moons. What kind of stuff would be revealed tonight? Would Rippedsky openly admit that Crowstar was missing? He doubted it, but there was always that possibility.

Amberpelt had almost a bound in her step as she followed Fishstar to the Gathering, her eyes flickering across the clearing as she spotted three of the five Clans had already arrived before them. Just ThunderClan to go. Her eyes flickered up at the leaders as she started to weave her way through the crowd gracefully, being careful not to step on any paws or brush against anybody as she realized that two things had changed. One, Leopardstar was finally back on the rock. It was his first Gathering as leader, wasn't it? Her eyes glimmered with amusement at that fact but it quickly died as she spotted...

Oh, what was his name? Rippedsky? Yes, that sounded about right. Rippedsky was sitting up there. Crowstar still had plenty of lives didn't he? Certainly the tom wasn't leader already? Finding a small peaceful spot, she sat down as she flickered an ear in interest in what was going to be said. So many things had happened to the RiverClan in the last moon. Missing cats and the whole fire incident...Had other things happened to the other Clans? Well, other then ThunderClan. Amberpelt was keenly aware of the fire that had destroyed their entire forest.


Storm glanced to the side as he heard pawsteps, his shoulders tensing for all but a moment until he spotted the familiar pelt of Moth settle down not far from him. He watched her with a curious look, quickly catching on to how tense she was as his ears perked, catching her grumble. He simply blinked at that as he shifted sightly, allowing himself to scoot just the slightest bit closer to his Tribemate. "I'm certain you could have stayed in the camp if you wanted," he responded softly but he did understand where she was coming from.

While he was doing his best to understand the ways of SkyClan, he found himself angered at the strange rules and customs that surrounded them. Things were so much simpler back in the mountains - there was no other 'Clans' to fight over territory and prey with. It was simply companionship with your other Tribemates as they survived under the guidance of the Tribe of Endless Stars. Part of him wanted to demand that Stoneteller bring them back to where they could be themselves but he feared what danger still lurked in those mountains... "But of course I suppose I wouldn't want to stay in the camp alone while the rest of the Tribe came...With any luck, this Gathering will be a swift one."

Blazeflight bounded into the gathering with a pep in her step, excited to see what was going on with the tribe. As she sat among the cats around her, there were two things she noticed, other than Leopardstar finally being on the rock. One, Crowstar was missing, which was odd. Had Rippedsky become Rippedstar already? That couldn't be. Two, there were way more cats at the gathering than usual.

Gustpuddle also entered quite quickly, her more or less fluffy tail flowing behind her as she finally took a seat next to a Riverclan warrior... Amberpelt? She looked up to the Greatrock, noticing that Crowstar had been replaced by Rippedsky. "Hey, I'm Gustpuddle, you?" She said to the cat next to her. She knew that there had been issues with Riverclan in the past, but why not try to make some new friends?

Brackenberry slowly filed in after the rest of Windclan, his tabby fur neatly groomed down. This was his first Gathering as a warrior, and it wasn't as enthralling as he thought It'd be. He'd only ever been to one gathering, and there weren't nearly as many cats there as there was last time. It had to be the tribe. He thought, self-consciousness starting to show through in his movements. He found a spot relatively by himself, if he was going to do any talking, he wouldn't be the one to start the conversation.

Silentstrike padded into the gathering, thrill and adrenaline coursing through his veins like nothing he'd ever felt before, except for when he was with Quailfeather or his kits. The recent fire along with the mist had been so rattling and surprising, and right along with the tribe's arrival, life had been pretty busy lately. As he sat beside one of the tribe cats, (Moth that floats on the Breeze) nodding towards her and with a small,"Hello, I'm Silentstrike, and you are?" he looked towards the Greatrock, noticing Crowstars absence.

Roaringpaw trailed behind his mentor Honeydrop, sitting by his fellow medicine cats with little enthusiasm. His mind was still swirling with grief and anger at his mother Ambernose's death. He wanted to talk to her so badly- she could have answers about why she died and his sister Echopaw's behavior. Since Ambernose is a part of Starclan, could he go talk to her? Medicine cat apprentices can do that, right? Thinking hard about this, Roaringpaw frowned in concentration.

Willowpaw was surprised that he had been allowed to go the gathering. But of course it's not as if he's grateful or anything of that matter. The gray and black striped tom with white paws eyed his father Rippedsky suspiciously, sitting down with fur bristling at the Skyclan deputy's frustratingly mysterious decision. Before he could get wrapped in irritation however, a familiar scent that Willowpaw had only known from Skyclan's border wafted into his nose. It was the marsh cats-Shadowclan.

Questions arose in his mind with sudden intensity. Who's their leader? What are they like? And what do the other clan cats smell like? Who's their leaders? Forgetting about his father for a moment, Willowpaw looked at the leaders standing on the rock, blue eyes gleaming with the intention to figure these things out.

Nutpaw walked into fourtrees with the rest of RiverClan, excited for another gathering. She had made up her mind to go talk to other clans instead of hiding with her friends in her own clan this time.

Darkpaw walked with her sister, as always behind her clanmates and Ryepaw, after the drama she didn't want to talk to him 'Stupid tom!' The she-cat growled on her mind, Darkpaw's claws were unsheathed and her ears flattened,  also her tail on Blackpaw's flank, when they entered in the Fourtrees .

She gave a quick nod to Roaringpaw, and every Shadowclan apprentice, then sat with Blackpaw in the darkest spot they've founded.

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Blackpaw had been so silent and angry at Silentstorm 'I'd though he loved me....' Blackpaw cried on the inside then gazed his former lover but remembered Darkpaw's pain, she pressed against her, feeling warmth and not alone.

Behind Rippedsky walked two cats. First was Rabbitfoot, taking her usual spot next to the other medicine cats. It was always nice seeing them again, especially Honeydrop after everything that had happened.

Next to walk in was Stoneteller, wondering how this... 'gathering' worked. It was strange to see that all of the clans in the forest gathered once a moon to talk about what was going on. It made sense that Starclan required it, but the looks on the leader's faces told him that no one was happy to be here. If it made them upset, why did they still do it? Not really knowing where to sit, the Healer walked up to the Great Rock and sat down at the foot of it, glancing around to see only a few other cats sitting where he was. He figured that it had to be something to do with those who were second in charge, but there he sat anyway. Besides, he was still leader in a way, right?