July's Gathering 2017

Waspstep followed his mate into the gathering. The Shadowclan warrior didn't really want to be here but he was being sort of clingy to his mate Blazeflight. The brown warrior sat down next his mate his pelt brushing against hers somewhat.

Curlypaw padded into the gathering with the rest of ShadowClan. Though she forced herself into a serious expression, on the inside she was super excited.
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Shrewpaw listened to Blizzarstar, and was surprised when she said Reedpaw had been taken. He had kind of just assumed that he had been avoiding him after the big fight that they had. Well, now the mist was his problem too. It had taken his best friend, and now he would face it. If only they knew more about it, then they could attack it.

Laurelpaw's ears swiveled around when she heard someone, a young tom it sounded like, speak to her, and the white speckled she-cat half-turned her head to gaze at him, yellowish-green eyes glowing with annoyance.  Before her stood a ginger tom with bright green eyes, ShadowClan scent coming off of him in waves.  Wrinkling her nose a bit, the young she-cat tried not to let out an aggravated hiss; couldn't this cat see she wanted to be left alone?  Still, she didn't want to cause unnecessary conflict.  With great effort, she flicked her tail in a half-hearted greeting and grimaced.  "I'm Laurelpaw of WindClan.  You're welcome to sit with me, if you want.  I don't know how great of a conversation I'll hold right now though...."  Sneaking a scathing glare towards Stoneheart, she tried her best to perk up; Gatherings were meant to be fun!

---

Ryeheart nodded, a charming smile adorning his furry face.  "Yep!  It's Ryeheart now."  With a purr, the fluffy ginger tabby took a seat next to the RiverClan warrior, just close enough that their fur brushed a tiny bit.  Smiling, he couldn't help but feel a familiar green gaze watching him like a hawk, but he didn't turn to address it.  I know what you're thinking Darkpaw....that's never going to happen!  Tilting his head a bit in a curiously playful manner, he purred a casual question to the beautiful white-furred she-cat.  "So, how have you been?  I haven't seen you for a few Gatherings....are you-  is RiverClan doing well?"

---

Leopardclaw listened proudly as Blizzardstar announced the promotion of his two youngest kits, Ochidpaw and Birdpaw, and his former apprentice Hawkswoop.  When his name was mentioned though, he humbly nodded to the clans when their gazes shifted to him, anxiousness burning under his pelt.  He had never liked to be the center of so many cats attention.  Though he knew it was coming, when the Mist's grave deeds were mentioned the spotted deputy couldn't hold back a deeply depressed sigh, closing his hazel eyes until the leader's address was done.  The reminder of his lost kits wasn't helping his nerves, and in the moment his paws itched to race away from the crowds and their pitying looks; but he stayed where he was, gazing out over the five clans with a blankly serious gaze.

Ryeheart huh? "Well nice to know you have your full name Ryeheart. We are on the same level now." The white she-cat replied, keeping her voice down now that the gathering as started. She listened in for a moment. She knew cats had gone missing but a mist was taking them? She need to confirm with some of her own clan mates later.

"Oh Riverclan is fine, I just stayed behind to guard the camp these last couple of times. Someone has to do it so it was me." She didn't mean to worry the tom if he was worried about her.

Frogjaw yawned as he followed closely behind Ivyfall into the gathering. The messy tom looked proud as always about his affiliation with RiverClan, even though his place as a warrior was coming to an end. His jaw ached something fierce from the cold, but he endured till the dangers of the forest were over. He had to, for his kits.

Ivyfall looked tired too, her eyes betraying a nervousness that was borne from so many disappearances without a solid explanation. She'd run the breadth and width of their territory, but no sign of Otterleap or Swiftheart was found. It was distressing, to say the least.

Dewtuft held no issues, being a WindClanner. He was more interested in chatting up a sweet she-cat or playing hard to get to other clan cats. His green gaze swept the gathering looking for a quarry.

Violetpaw shuffled in with a hesitance that came from a newly named apprentice. She trusted that her father or Leopardstar would protect her if danger appeared, but after the disappearances, she was uncertain.

Bubblemist turned to Dandeliondapple. "Do you think father will talk about Crowstar." She whispered so it was only loud enough for her sister to hear.

Daylight flicked his tail proudly as his mother called his name but then frowned at the mention of dissapearing cats.

Copperpaw padded towards Lizardpaw and sat down and gave him a smile. "Hey Lizardpaw." She meowed softly.

Goldenpaw frowned and exchanged a glance with Dawnpaw at the mention of missing cats.

Ryeheart nodded, faint relief in his icy blueish-green eyes as he flashed Lightdrop a friendly smile.  "That's good to hear."  His ears swiveling to the side a bit as the meeting commenced, Ryeheart turned his attention towards the great rock, his fluffy tail beginning to bristle a little bit as the newly-named Blizzardstar announced her news about this mysterious 'mist'.  I've never heard of that before, is it even possible?  I mean, it's just mist!  We deal with it all the time in ShadowClan!  

Still, the news that this emerging threat had taken so many cats away from their families seemed to strike a chord inside of him, and the young warrior's tail began to lash, accidentally hitting Lightdrop on the leg.  Glancing down at his unsheathed paws for a moment, he soon turned his face towards his RiverClan friend, narrowed eyes shining with surprising passion and....a bit of sadness.  "That is so cruel!  Such young cats being taken away before their parents and friends eyes.....it's terrible!"  Turning back towards the Great Rock, his eyes seemed to harden with a bit of determination as he let out a low growl.  "I hope they decide to do something."

Lichenfang had followed Thunderclan in when they had entered. Though the former queen only wanted to stay at camp she decided to come anyways. She sat down quietly by herself if only for a moment. The she cats thoughts were else if only for a moment.

Orchidpaw had followed her mother in the silvery Gray spotted tabby eager for her first gathering though her gaze paused spotting her mother alone but was distracted briefly by some other cats

Cinderfrost wasn't too far behind the last few cats of Thunderclan. She was glad to be back with her clan and this would be her first gathering as a warrior.

Heathershade padded quietly into the clearing with Windclan.

Birdpaw had come with her mother and sister but was lagging behind. She was looking around at everything with awe as it was her first gathering. As she walked she noticed her mother sitting alone she was saddened but she soon caught up with her sister staying by her but her thoughts were on her mother.

Snakegaze felt an uneasy shiver crawl through his pelt at the mention of the mist. From what he'd been hearing from the bundles of cats around him, and from Blizzardshine's - no, Blizzardstar's, now - report, cats from all of the Clans had been experiencing disappearances..

Among those cats was Swiftheart, his adoptive sister.

His eyes traveled up to where Fishstar sat up on the Great Rock, stone-faced and still. She truly was an unreadable cat. Even having known her from kithood, the warrior still found it very hard to detect what she was feeling at any given time. These days, she was very reserved - too reserved. She expressed herself, yes, but as far as he knew, she confided in no one - not even Ivyfall. He figured that it hurt her that Swiftheart had now been missing for so long, but she did a very good job of hiding it. If Fishstar had not made Swiftheart's disappearance public at the last Gathering, no one would have had any clue that she'd been distressed.

He sighed heftily and took to glaring at the back of his brother's head, who was making a ridiculous sneering face at a group of WindClan cats.

What a family.

---

It was always a little surprising when a leader was succeeded, but Fishstar couldn't exactly say she was struck to find out that Blizzardstar had ascended ranks. Unlike Spottedstar, Fishstar had barely known Darkstar. The RiverClan leader had clashed with Spottedstar countless times, both at Gatherings and within their respective territories. She'd driven Spottedstar out of ThunderClan's territory along with Crowstar as repayment for attacking RiverClan's camp. Darkstar, though? She wasn't sure she'd even even had a proper argument with her..

Hold on - What was that? A 'mist'?

Fishstar's gaze fell on the new ThunderClan leader, face contorting with sudden alarm as she went about her speech to the rest of the gathered cats. Four cats? Four cats from across the river had gone missing because of this phenomenon? The she-cat could feel the fur on her spine bristling involuntarily. Something had not been not only in RiverClan for the past two moons, but everywhere. Fires? Cats going missing left and right? A mysterious, chilly mist blanketing various territories at random?

Now that Fishstar thought back, it'd been an uncharacteristically cold morning for Greenleaf when Swiftheart had last wandered out of RiverClan's camp..

Before she could delve too deep into her thoughts, however, Fishstar snapped back into the present when Blizzardstar's speech ended. She sat for a moment with her mouth slightly ajar, as if processing the fact that she was, indeed, still sitting on the Great Rock in the middle of the Gathering. The silver tabby blinked rapidly to wash the dryness of her eyes away, forcing herself to swallow her bewilderment for the time being.

"As.." She had to pause again to collect her thoughts, and recall everything that had happened over the course of the last few sunrises. "As per usual, we've been keeping ourselves busy with a bountiful group of kits and new apprentices this moon. Tinypaw, Jaypaw, and Willowpaw have been appointed new warriors of RiverClan, and are now Tinytip, Jaystream, and Willowpetal. Our territory has recovered swiftly from the fire damage, thanks to the streams that run freely through our territory.."

She found herself tapering off and narrowing her eyes in thought. She'd meant to address the issue of missing cats after all the leaders had spoken their pieces, but it was gnawing at her too incessantly. She swiveled her head around to look at the other four leaders. "How many of you have had to deal with this mist.. Or cats disappearing under unknown circumstances? In the last moon we've lost two Clanmates - a warrior and an apprentice - and they've yet to return to us."

Flamestrike's eyes cast a glance over the clearing. There were so many cats here tonight. It had been a while since he had felt overwhelmed by the mass of a mix of clan cats pressing together underneath the moonlight. However, tonight, he had his kits to consider as well. That was probably what increased his interest and sharpened his senses. Firepaw stayed close to his side as Gingerpaw went off to go mingle with cats outside of Shadowclan. Personally, the orange warrior had nothing against the other clans, unless they messed with his own. He had friends in the other groups and was glad that it appeared Gingerpaw had a desire to do the same. His other kit didn't seem to share that goal, despite also being a fairly friendly and social tom. He was about to turn and say something, but stopped cold as his eyes landed on a familiar figure. Bear.

His blood ran cold at the sight of the brown pelt. It felt like his nightmares had bled into reality. After a moment, the warrior realized his mistake. This wasn't the vicious rogue that had stained his claws with scarlet. No, this was something else. Barkkit! Or Barkpaw, now, he supposed. At the realization and after getting past the initial shock, excitement caused his heart to leap. The kit was still alive. Another clan had taken him in. A wave of relief washed over him. Flamestrike had pushed away the frustration moons ago, after the kits were born. But now he was beyond relieved to see his brother's offspring. The orange tom flicked his tail for Firepaw to settle down and meowed a quick promise that he would be back soon. It took everything in him to not gallop through the clearing and push past all the assembled cats.

"Do... do you know who I am?" He breathed as soon as he stood before the brown apprentice. His green eyes bore into the much younger cat's, pleading for recognition. There was a hint of desperation to his voice, but it was matched with both joy and relief. It had been so long since he had seen Barkpaw. For so long it had been at the back of his head that his kin was dead. Flamestrike's heart raced as he waited for Barkpaw to say something. Even if the answer was not what he expected, he had full intentions of briefly talking to his brother's kit. There was no way he would abandon the apprentice. Barkpaw was as much family as his own children.

***

"How is my favorite Skyclan apprentice?" Slatethroat meowed as he brushed past Bubblemist. They spoken briefly at the last gathering and he recognized her almost instantly. He had broken off from his apprentices to give them a bit of space at their first gathering. However, his green eyes were constantly scanning the clearing for Dovepaw. He had no intentions of letting her entirely out of his site. A strange protective instinct blossomed in his chest. Once more, the grey and white warrior pushed away the desire to race to his apprentice's side. Instead, the flirtatious tom focused on the pretty she-cat in front of him. Never would he break the clan code, or betray Windclan, but he could appreciate what Starclan had blessed another clan with.

His tail flicked against her pelt in a sign of mild affection. It was nothing too condemning, but enough to hopefully catch Bubblemist's attention. He decided to settled down next to her. The warrior was close enough, but not so that their fur brushed up against once another. Since Windclan had nothing against Skyclan, other than the whole problem of their traitorous deputy which was before his time and didn't bother him much, he had no issues with speaking to a Skyclan cat. Besides, Windclan was far superior anyways and he was comfortable with that fact. Besides, Bubblemist wasn't a Riverclan cat. After a pause, he spoke up once more, "How are things treating you among the trees?"

***
There were so many cats here tonight. A weary Sagepaw noted that much as she picked her way through the crowd. After Beetlewing's untimely disappearance a couple moons ago, she had been the only medicine cat in Windclan. It had quickly drained her. The job itself was not hard nor was she bad at it, but the world of crushing loneliness had only grown worse. Slatethroat still wouldn''t speak to her. No cat, neither warrior or medicine cat, could understand where she was right now. Her other clan counterparts all longed for the life they lived, or were at least content. Warriors were set on a far different path than her. A light frown worried itself onto her maw as she padded dutifully to her place with the others. She said nothing but forced a tiny smile to each of the other clan's medicine cats.

That's when she noticed something was off. At first, her eyes glanced down to stare at the earth. But something was wrong. There were no Thunderclan medicine cats here. A nagging sensation tugged at her stomach. As the leaders began to speak and share clan news, they all mentioned missing cats. The topic had been brushed over at the last gathering, but today she seemed to notice it now. There was something happening here. She wasn't quite sure if the others quite caught the severity of it. So far, it appeared no clan had discussed it much or put much into searching for the missing. Oh, Starclan, what is happening here? All internal and dismal thoughts were replaced with confusion and intrigue. Suddenly, her eyes rested on the large brown tom that sat among the deputies. Sometimes she forgot about the strange cats that had settled into the forest. Mostly they were Skyclan's problem. But now, she wondered, What do you have to do with all of this?

***
Coyotepaw followed his mentor into the gathering, but had no desire to stay by the young warrior's side. He would much rather be with his brother. His amber eyes quickly found Barkpaw and followed after. Anxiety gnawed at his stomach. Being among so many cats still felt wrong, especially ones he didn't know. In the city, cats had always meant trouble. Shaking that feeling was tough, even back in camp. There seemed too be hundreds of cats here. It was certainly more than he had ever seen in his entire life. For a brief moment, he hoped to find Wolffang's familiar pelt among the gathered cats. But it was quickly crushed as he failed to pick it out of the assembled crowd. Besides, she would never be found among the clans.

He settled down next to his older brother and neatly wrapped his tail over his front paws. Coyotepaw ran his tongue over his ruffled chest fur to smooth it out. The apprentice had no desire to let the other clans know how out of place he felt. Sitting up straight, the tabby tom continued to take in his surroundings without a word. On top of an imposing boulder cat sat five cats. He could only assume that each one was a representative of the clans. Blizzardstar was among them. The kind, fluffy white she-cat looked so regal against the grey stone. All of the others seemed used to their place on the rock. This must be how every gathering went. Soon, the speakers had begun to yowl and share news. Missing cats? His tiny ears pricked at the shared statements and he listened intently, once more pushing away the anxiety to focus.

***
Time seemed to fly by as the leaders stepped forwards to speak. Once more, they mentioned the missing cats. Crowstar... The dull ache in his chest returned as he once again found himself missing his dear friend and mentor. His black and white tail lay flat against the cold stone. Once Fishstar finished, it seemed like the right time to say something. Rippedsky pushed back a sigh and stepped forwards. His tail dragged limply across the stone, but he managed to continue to stand tall in front of the five assembled clans. For a brief second he ran through all of the ceremonies of the past moon. Thankfully, there were quite a few names to announce. However, his blood ran cold at the idea of finally sharing of Crowstar's disappearance. Will they cause problems? Will the clan appear weak? Would Fishstar aid us if Windclan tried to take the territory?

He ignored the racing flurry of thoughts and finally spoke up, voice clearly ringing out and hiding any hint of doubts, "The past moon has been filled with training and plentiful prey for Skyclan. Bubblemist, Dandeliondapple, Duskflower, and Swanpetal have all been named warrior since the last gathering. Both Firpaw and Blackpaw had begun their warrior training as well." The Skyclan deputy paused for a second as his eyes scanned the clearing. His deep blue eyes shot a quick sideways glace at Ashstar. He could not believe he was about to share this at a gathering. Putting on a much more somber, and honestly so, face, Rippedsky continued, "I would like to report that Crowstar is among the missing. I plan to go to highstones and ask Starclan for guidance in these times. On behalf of all my clan, I ask for peace with all the clans until the return of our missing leader." With a nod to the other cats on the rock, he stepped back and settled down for someone to respond.

"Oh Slatethroat! Hello. The trees are nice thank you very much, and as my father just said I'm Bubblemist now." He laughed and gave the tom a smile. "Hows Windclan treating you? Any missing cats from your clan?" She asked taking on a serious tone at the mention of missing cats. This was becoming a real problem.

Ashstar nodded to Leopardstar as he arrived, seeing a stormcloud on his face and wondering whether he faced the same problems that she had lately. She also dipped her head to Fishstar when she came, but did not even acknowledge Rippedsky's presence. Trying to get her thoughts in order was hard enough without that traitor being there. Finally, the Gathering began. The ThunderClan she-cat started it off- announcing that Darkstar had retired. Wait- retired? Now, that was unexpected. The dark brown she-cat had been one of the newest leaders, along with herself and Leopardstar. It was not a good start to the night. However, she couldn't say that Blizzardshine was not fit to lead. The she-cat was one of the few that Ashstar could honestly say had a good head on her shoulders that sat here on the Great Rock. However, it added another weight to her mind that so many ThunderClan cats, including even their medicine cat apprentice, had been taken by the Mist as well- and that the strange Mist even killed a cat. It was worrying, to say the least. The gray-furred she-cat felt an unearthly chill travel farther down her spine as Fishstar announced more missing cats from her Clan as well. But the worst news by far came from the black-and-white coward who spoke next. Gone? Crowstar is... gone? The fur on her back prickled as SkyClan's deputy announced that their leader was missing. Though she disliked the mouse-brained tom, she had to admit that it was worrying. As much of a fool as he was, he was a better leader than Rippedsky.

It was her turn to speak now. Ashstar stood up and took a deep breath. She needed to get the Clan update out of the way first. "WindClan is doing well. We have plenty of prey, and our Clan is growing larger by the minute. We have many new apprentices- Dovepaw, Pigeonpaw, Dawnpaw, Goldenpaw, Stormpaw, Sootpaw, Hollowpaw, and Dustpaw- and some new warriors, Nectarleap and Stoneheart. The nursery is full of kits, and our territory has almost completely recovered from the fire's damage. I am saddened to hear of Darkstar's retirement, but I know that Blizzardstar will be a great leader." She dipped her head to the fluffy white she-cat. Then the leader's spring green eyes narrowed. "I also have some bad news to report. One of my warriors, Raccoonfang, has also been stolen by this... Mist. Her father was there and witnessed the whole ordeal. And, Rippedsky, I wouldn't go to StarClan for advice about this. After my warrior disappeared, I went to Highstones and consulted them. They... they don't know what this Mist is. They cannot see it. They cannot do anything about it. All they know is that four cats have already been killed by it." Ashstar's voice grew quiet and fierce. "If any of you have other knowledge or information about this Mist, I hope we can work together on eradicating this problem from the forest. I am determined to get my Clanmate back, and I'm sure you want to retrieve your warriors and apprentices as well. Until this problem is solved, I hope that our Clans can be at peace with one another." Still not looking at the SkyClan deputy, the WindClan leader sat down, ready for Leopardstar to finish the Gathering.

Lightdrop nodded in agreement with Ryeheart. "It seems this mist issue is effecting all of the clans." She said softly. She hadn't seen the mist itself. It was weird to hear it could take cats.. what was it twelve of them? And kill them too.. "I'm sure they will do something about it or start to take steps to fix it.." When Lightdrop heard the mention of Starclan not knowing, her heart dropped a little bit. If they didn't know then what was it? Could it be the dark forest she heard stories about? Or was it something else?

Dogpaw was sitting with the rest of Thunderclan and heard Lightdrop. Effecting all of the clans? This is a bad omen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emberpaw was so excited, this was her first gathering, but the news of the mist dampened her mood. What will happen now?She thought as she listened.