July's Gathering 2017

The mist felt like it was sucking the life out of Leopardstar through his pelt, its cold tendrils wrapping around him after it had dealt with Fishstar in the way it saw fit. Panicked, the ShadowClan leader backed away from the edge of the Great Rock, but his resistance was useless as mist bundled up beneath him and bucked him from the Rock with an unbelievable amount of force. One moment he was flying through the air and the next he was awake on the ground, his neck twinging in pain like he'd never felt before and cats swarming to his and other leaders' sides. He couldn't see clearly through the fog, but there was sounds of panic and fear echoing through the forest and he could see vague silhouettes moving erratically. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" He hissed at the cats trying to help, getting up to his paws and whipping his head around wildly in search of his last remaining kits.

Shrikepaw knew that these accusations meant a lot to Shadowleaf, but there was little he could do to support the she-cat except give her a sympathetic glance. The leaders had no right to accuse the Tribe for something no one understood! Although he was getting furious with the particularly rude leaders, he still kept his maw shut and instead let out an inaudible hiss of frustration. His attention was caught by the seeping white fog at his paws, which slowly rose to cover the area and obstructed his view. One thing he could see, however, was the faint outline of three of the leaders being booted off the Great Rock like they were kittens. Worried for his own safety and his clanmates' safety as well, the silver tom glanced around in a panic and pressed close to Shadowleaf. What would happen now?

Lionpaw's tail lashed in indignation as the leaders continued to interrogate Teller of the Pointed Stones, although the Tribe tom was glad that Ripped Skies was not joining in. Slightly frustrated that the SkyClan deputy was not standing up for the Tribe cats either, Lionpaw stood to his paws to make his way to the front when he heard screeches of fear and gasps of panic. The unnatural mist that everyone had been dreading was among them! The apprentice, filled with fear for his Tribemates and for the leaders being pushed off the rock, took a few small steps forward and called for his mother. "Mother! Swoop! Where are you? I can't find you!" He called, his voice raised in audible fear. Even if the mist was looking after the Tribe, as the Clan cats had alleged, he didn't want to burn bridges with the cats that were threatening to run them out. The cream tom jumped in surprise when he felt a pelt brush against his own, and he turned to meet Dandeliondapple's fearful gaze. "Dandelion, I don't... I don't know what this is. You don't believe them, do you? That we did this?" He asked, eyes wide and pleading.

His attention was grabbed by the yowls of Blizzardstar on the Great Rock. He watched in horror as it neared the foreign leader, his tail bushing and mouth hanging open. He didn't know this spotted she-cat, and he had already caused trouble with her Clan, but he couldn't let any more cats get hurt or the Tribe would take the fall! Almost without thinking, Lionpaw bolted from Dandeliondapple's side without waiting for her response. He dashed through the clearing, winding agilely through the crowd of cats without so much as brushing against one, and scaled the Great Rock in a single, powerful bound with strength only a true SkyClan cat could possess. He landed in front of Blizzardstar and his back arched aggressively, giving a warning hiss to the mist that was approaching the leader with malicious intent. "You've caused enough harm, demon!"

The mist seemed to recoil back at Lionpaw's appearance, hesitating for a small moment before moving forward once again. The mist not stopping it's assault. There was a slight shimmer again and cut marks appeared on Lionpaw. Amber eyes appeared once again as it continued to attack the apprentice leaving claw marks, and bite marks on the apprentice being relentless in it's attack. Once it was satisfied with how much damage it did to the apprentice, it grabbed the warrior sized tom by the scruff before tossing him off the rock. Leaving the badly damaged, and scarred apprentice to lay bleeding on the ground.

Now it could back to it's original job. The mist turn it's attention back to the two remaining cats on the rock once again ready to strike at the two of them.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Dandeliondapple yowled, charging towards the rock and staring straight up at the mist, also taking time to position herself over Lionpaw. "AND LEAVE MY FATHER ALONE!"

Pigeonpaw was easily able to see another cat, who he had watched easily scale the side of the enormous boulder and confront the Mist, thrown off as if a giant monstrous cat grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him off. He stared in horror at the cream tom's battered body landing with a huff next to him. This beast had horrific strength! But it seemed to pause a little from whatever it was doing to attack the apprentice. Maybe if he...

There wasn't any actual thought in it. He simply scrambled up the rock with his destination being the mist. The way up wasn't as heroic or graceful as the first cat, though. His short frame made it harder to leap up as high and the dew covered rock was as slippery as ice. But after many moments struggling up the rock face he collapsed in an exhausted heap at the top. But at sight of the swirling fog put him back in a serious mood. Scrambling back into a standing position he launched himself at the edge of the Mist, slicing his claws through the air. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything, as his unsheathed paws just fell through, but it still gave him a sense of satisfaction. "Come on!" he taunted the monstrous being, "Or are you too scared? Stop hiding under all that fog, you foxhearted coward!"

Flowerpetal, who had been sulking at the back of the group, looked up as a figure fell from the rock.
Without really thinking, she rushed towards him. "Oh... OH! Are you alright? Uhh..."
She looked around desprately, her eyes landing on a pure white tom- a medicine cat, either from Windclan or Riverclan, she couldn't tell. "H-hey! Help us!"

Her eyes landed on other cats who had begun to scale the rock.
The change that came over the little she-cat was rather dramatic- her stance, which was usually slouched, was one of the bigger changes. Her back was straight and her head was high.
Her fur was fluffed up so she was twice her size, and her eyes shone like beacons out of her face.

She scrambled up the rock, taking her place beside the gray tom. "Stay away from her!" She screeched. "You foul... foul piece of Foxddung."

"Answer me, Stoneteller! What is going on?" Storm bit back a snarl as he stared at his healer, still waiting for an answer as he stared at the panicking cats that rushed toward their fallen leaders. As he let his gaze scan the gathering, he spotted a familiar pelt dart toward the rock. "Lion?" he gasped as the apprentice scrambled up there and disappeared into the fog. "Lion!" he yowled as he turned away from Stoneteller, searching in panic for any sign of his younger Tribemate. The heartbeats passed slowly in agony until he saw the broken form of Lionpaw tossed from the rock, crashing into the ground coated with blood.

"Lionpaw!" His breath left him all that once as the warrior...No, the Cave-Guard stared at the bloodied form of the single kit that had survived the journey. That had survived the Sharptooth. For a second, Storm saw another figure in the place of the apprentice. A sleek, broken form of a she-cat - his bones shattered from a great fall. His breath caught in his throat, forming a lump before his eyes narrowed sharply as he spun and snarled at Stoneteller. "WHAT IN THE STARS NAME IS THIS STONETELLER!?" he roared, anger rising up in him as he struggled against the panic and rage that threaten to consumed him. "What. Is. Going. On."

He didn't wait for an answer, he spun on his heels and darted across the clearing toward the broken form of Lionpaw. "No, no, no, no..." he muttered over and over as he reached the apprentice, reaching down to cradle his head the best that he could. "Oceanlight! Rabbitfoot!" he cried into the air, hoping that either one of the SkyClan medicine cats would come. He had made a promise. He couldn't lose a Tribemate now - not after everything.


Everything was noise to Lionspark. The moment the familiar chill ran down her spine, Lionspark had frozen still. She didn't breathe, her breath catching in her throat as it rolled past her toward the great rock. Poppypaw. The memory of the apprentice being lost in the Mist only to be left a cold corpse flooded back into the warrior's mind as her legs began to shake. "N-No..." She wasn't even sure if she said those words out loud as finally air escaped into her lungs as she bit back a wail. "I-I'm...I'm sorry Poppypaw," she whimpered, the memories far to real as her failings haunted her and she collapsed to the ground, throwing her paws over her muzzle.

The mist recoiled slightly from the two new cats. Fine if they wanted to be as mouse brained as the other tom then they would suffer from the same punishment. With ease the mist clawed up the two cats in front of it, leaving deep wounds and gashes. As soon as it had begun the two were tossed off the rock joining Lionpaw in a bloody mess.

The mist turned back to Blizzardstar and Rippedsky. Each receiving some damage from claws before being shoved off the rock like the rest of the leaders.

Once the Mist was happy that there was no one left on the rock, it still had one cat left to take care of that directly challenged it. The mist slipped down the rock towards Dandeliondapple. The mist moved and the Skyclan she cat received deep cuts across the face, and on her front legs.

Screech of the Startled Eagle had spent the majority of the Gathering lurking on the outskirts as he usually did, only paying the slightest mind to the polite chattering that had unfolded around him. He had initially searched for the familiar faces of the 'apprentices' he had met on occasion, but he soon gave up and resolved to huddle off to the side and simply wait out the Gathering instead. He wasn't very good at socializing with the other cats here anyways- he always messed up their strange names. The meeting continued as what he perceived as 'normal' at first, but once the subject of the Mist came up, it seemed that everything immediately collapsed into a whirlpool of unfounded anger. What was happening? Why did the Clans think they were responsible?

Screech felt his fur prickle uncomfortably as the Leaders one by one seemingly turned on Stoneteller, throwing heinous accusations at the Tribe Healer- what were they talking about? The young To-Be felt sick as the Leaders snapped at Stoneteller, but his confused muddle of varying emotions further dissolved into chaos once the Mist came rolling in. He could only watch helplessly as the body of fog lashed violently at the Leaders one by one until only Rippedsky and Blizzardstar were left. His eyes were the size of the moon as Lion's Eye-er Lionpaw leaped up onto the Great Rock in an attempt to protect the two remaining Leaders, but once Lion's Eye went sailing away from the Great Rock, he quickly rose to his paws and darted after Storm, feeling panic rise in his chest at the thought of one of his remaining Tribemates becoming injured. "Are you alright?!" Screech managed to heave out the panicky, airy question

Nectarleap heard Laurelpaw´s cry. He hadn't heard her that scared in a long time. "Laurelpaw! I'm right here!" He called out to her. Somehow he managed to ignore the distressed cries of all the other cats and focus on his best friend.
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Shrewpaw was getting agitated. Why was the mist attacking all the other cats that challenged it but not him? "Face me, you stupid cloud of fog!" he cried out, not at all unnerved by the other cat´s fates.

Blazeflight shivered in horror.  This strange mist that had been he buzz of the clans lately...  It was...  It was here! She watched,  stuck in shock as two cat climbed up the rock,  only to be thrown off,  just like the other cats that were up there. Now she could think to do nothing but rush to Leopardstar. She got up,  but was soon interrupted by the call that Leopardstar was fine. She turned back around,  but where was Waspstep?! She was just beside him a second ago... She began to panic,  wanting nothing but to be back at camp, asleep in her nest."Waspstep? Where are you?!"

What in Starclan's name was going on?! One second, the gathering was going just as it always had, and the next Maplecloud couldn't see a thing! She backed up slowly,  trying to see the whole of the mist, but it just seemed impossible.  She could however,  she the dreadful fall that Blizzardstar and Rippedsky had just taken.  Now,  she was running past cats here and there,  being able to see hardly anything through the thick tendrils of mist around her.  She took a breath as she found Blizzardstar in front of her. Blizzardstar we not only the Clan leader,  but one of her dearest friends.  She walked slowly up to her,  hoping she hadn't lost a life. "Bl-Blizzardstar, are you o-okay?" She asked shakily.

He didn't know what to make of this. The mist had killed, taken, and injured too many cats, and it seemed that amount would double because of this gathering. Silentsrike's large form sat next to Quailfeather, not wanting to stray to far from her in case... In case the mist attacked them. "What in the name of Silverpelt... " He muttered,  broken off as Ashstar fell from the rock.  He wanted to rush to the leader so badly,  but so many cats were already there... What could he do?  "Sagepaw! Is she still a 'paw? We need your help!" He yowled,  rushing towards the place where the medicine cats sat.

Pigeonpaw turned around to look as another cat, her color distorted from the heavy fog, leaped up next to him. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one standing up to it, and he felt a burst of determination. The Mist seemed to recoil at its attackers, and Pigeonpaw thought that maybe if he kept it up it would be weakened enough for the leaders inside to escape. He could be crowned a hero for this! But before he could even raise a gray paw, it attacked.

In a flash, the foggy gas seemed to solidify into powerful claws briefly- or at least, that was the only thing that seemed to just partially make sense to him- thrust out and scored him across the bridge of his nose. He immediately realized he underestimated the power of this beast. It quickly continued on with more and more blows, and Pigeonpaw felt fangs bite into his legs, claws lash out at his sides, and wounds open all over his body before he even had time to react.

And then suddenly, somehow, he found himself flying through the air.

He landed with an oof next to another cat on the ground. He didn't bother checking to see who it was, the groans of pain and blood were enough to tell it was the golden cat from earlier. The pain hadn't set in yet- he was still in shock. Pigeonpaw just blankly stared into all the mist and fog with an icy numbness. Barely on the brink of consciousness, he didn't even respond to seeing the other cat shortly after him thrown through the air and landing close to him.

It was peaceful. Serene, even. Staring into the light gray fog, watching it swirl and dissipate back into formless clouds was mesmerizing. All the sound seemed to fade from his folded ears. Everything was simply a daze.

Then all the pain came. All of a sudden a giant wave of agony seemed to wash over him. He couldn't breathe, his throat was closed up in pain. He instinctively curled into a ball, but more daggers of pain came as it stretched the wounds over his back. When he cocked his head to look at his body, he could see that his cinder gray fur was now stained a dark red in places from wounds. He wasn't able to look long, though, as blood started to drip into his eyes from a cut on his head and he had to lie back down. "P-p-please... help m-me..." he choked out. "Someone... p-please..."

Birdpaw had been, in anger and fury, clawing and spitting at the mist. She boldly declared for it to release her siblings. She was blindly trying to headbutt and bite the mist. Her eyes were wild and the mist made her mouth appear to be foaming. She wasn't scared, she was far from it. Her anger and sadness fueled her outbursts. "Hide behind that worthless blanket of mist you pathetic and weak thing!!!! If you ever show yourself, I guarantee you'll be begging for mercy!!!"

Her fur was bristled and her teeth bared. She wasn't going to let the mist get away with all that it has done. At the corner of her eyes she could see the mist throwing cats and injuring them. The mist was cruel and had no guilt. It tormented them and broke families to pieces. She wanted to bring justice and help until the very end.
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Swiftpaw had been unleashing fury upon the untouchable mist. He blocked Emberpaw from its grasp and tried to fight it off as best as he could. He had seen many cats getting injured and getting thrown by the mist. He kept his distance and made sure to help other apprentices that were injured. His main priority was to keep his friend safe.

Both Shrewpaw and Birdpaw were knocked out by the mist. They both were covered in wounds and other things leaving them in a bloody mess. Now stop fighting the mist, it's just gonna knock out your children, and get you no where. Didn't you learn that from the other number of tries?

Lichenfang watched eyes wide. She stayed back that was until the mist attacked her youngest kit Birdpaw. She yowled ears pinning back and she pushed through the crowd of cats"coward!! Why don't you face us without that mist"She hissed launching at the cold mist claws swipping at hit hoping to score her claws through something.

Orchidpaw watched for a moment before she joined her mother.

OOC: It was kind of Shrewpaw´s intention to be attacked by the mist (don't ask me why, I have no control over my characters)

IC: Shrewpaw felt something like claws across his body, leaving deeper scars than he had gotten when he fought a badger. Just the same as the last time, though he felt pain, his mind didn't register that pain was hurting him. That was why, even when he was severely injured and lying on the ground, he still didn't feel scared, or even a need to get his wounds checked. He just felt annoyance, and more than anything else, anger fueled by that annoyance. He found himself to injured to speak, which just annoyed him further. He started trying to stand up, but to no avail.
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Curlypaw was terrified. She tried to act tough at first, standing up straight and looking like she would attack if needed, but she ended up shriking into a tiny ball. Everyone was getting injured, some of them probably killed, by the mist, so she wasn't stupid enough to go do that too. But when cats that werent on gretrock started being attacked, the gray apprentice feared for her life. She stood up slightly, the bolted for Cedarpaw, head low.