A Lilac Underneath A Willow Tree

Lilacpaw was surprised at the amount of injured cats that had come back after the Gathering. Weren't Gatherings supposed to be peaceful? And so she ran to the least intimidating cat present - Willowpaw, wasn't that her name? "What happened?" she asked, her eyes wide. What had happened at Fourtrees under the light of the full moon? ...Was StarClan not watching anymore? She'd heard stories of how they would express disapproval if blood was shed during a Gathering...

Willowpaw opened her eyes blearily. "Ugh..."
Shaking herself she slowly stood up, gingerly testing her legs. Once satisfied that she was able to stand and tentatively took a step forward, looking around. She noted that the cats who were taken- her mentor, Leopardstar, Olivepaw, and all the others -had returned. So they had won.
A young apprentice trotted up to her and she blinked, sitting down. It was a long story, but Willowpaw didn't feel like she'd be able to tell it.
"Mist was Dark Forest... it fought us. Swoop... was a traitor."

"Mist...?" she asked, curious. The same mist that had been stealing cats away? She didn't know the cats that had been taken, but she saw cats she had never met among her returning Clanmates. Almost everyone looked worse for wear, and it was because of the Dark Forest...? Who was Swoop? Wasn't the Dark Forest just a story told to kits to give them nightmares? "You fought the Dark Forest?"

Willowpaw chuckled at the younger apprentice's face. "I sure did- well, just one cat. But she was huge and every claw swipe felt like twenty."
She grinned. "It appeared out of nowhere at the gathering and this one cat- Swoop of something-or-other -commanded it. Then this gigantic cat -Smoketooth? Smokefang? -appeared and took away our leaders. Leopardstar, Rippedsky, Blizzardstar, Ashstar and Fishstar too."
Somehow, being with this cat made her feel... lighter. Roaringblaze and Ryeheart were fun, but it was nice to sit and relax instead of planning pranks and wrestling.

Lilacpaw stared in awe. "You're amazing," she declared without a moment's hesitation. "It took Leopardstar?" The leader seemed... Undefeatable. It had taken all of the leaders, but she didn't know much about any of them, and so her concern was for her leader alone. "This is one Gathering I'm glad to have missed," she commented. She doubted she would be able to cope with the nightmares that were sure to follow such an event.

Amazing
Willowpaw stretched- she felt better already.
"Yeah. I jumped at Swoop, up on the rocks." She mewed casually, flicking her tail.
"Then Smoketooth clawed at me- bam!" She swept a paw through the air, claws out. "And sent me flying through the air. I landed a good four or five foxlengths away, but I'm alright. I did plenty of damage to that... that... that piece of foxdung"

She tilted her head at Lilacpaw's incredulous comment. "Yeah, I was surprised too." She admitted. "But my mentor can hold his own,"

She got to her feet, ignoring her recently-bandaged wounds.
"Hey, how about we go hunting? I'm feeling better and you look like you could use some action."

"I'd love to, if you're sure you're up for it," Lilacpaw nodded. She didn't feel as intimidated as she typically did around other cats, and talking to Willowpaw wasn't a struggle at all. "Though I hope we don't run into too much action," she added, eyeing Willowpaw's wounds.

OOC: I'll make a hunting topic~
IC:
"Great!" Willowpaw purred, turning and padding towards the camp entrance, looking over her shoulder to make sure Lilacpaw was following.