November's Gathering 2017

Otterleap gave Minnowpaw a little nudge towards her fellow apprentices. He had something very important in mind. "Go spend time with them, no one will harm you here."

Only once she'd left, he turned to Splashwillow to ask a very important question. "Which ones are Sparkwillow's kits? Do you know?"

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Behind Magpiestar, came a bicoloured cat. She was dainty, smaller than most warriors but she carried herself with quiet seriousness that made it difficult to view her as anything other than a trained warrior. Violetshine was proud of her new name, her new position. No longer an apprentice to be coddled, but a fully fledged warrior that could protect her clan. It was the greatest honour. She knew that because of her unknown parentage, she would have to work harder than others to earn her clan's trust, but to think she'd done it. Whoever her mother was, she hoped that she saw her and felt proud of how far she'd come.

-

Though Dewtuft was sorely tempted to sit near his mate, he settled for sitting near his daughters, and giving them all an affection swipe of his tongue. Licking their fur to look shiny, he couldn't have them look shabby in front of these foxhearts. He pulled Silverpaw close, giving her ears a good clean too.

-

With all the clan's gathered here, Ivystar took the initiative to begin the gathering. Inhaling deeply before letting it out, she forced herself to calm before she took a step forward speak. It was hard trying to think of the best way to say it, how did Magpiestar tell the clans all those moons ago? She hadn't been paying attention then, uninterested in the fate of Tigerstar or whatever the ShadowClan leader's name was. Now she was regretting it, it was a hard topic to break, though she doubted any cat not in RiverClan would actually care, they'd probably murmur some pointless words about Fishstar being missed or having respected her in the past. All lies, but no one wanted to risk the moon being covered with StarClan's displeasure for angering another clan with honesty.

"Cats of the five clans, I come to you with unfortunate news. I'm sure it will not surprise any of you to hear that Fishstar had been ill these past few moons from her absences. However last moon, she passed and took her place among our ancestors. It was a swift, painless passing. RiverClan celebrates the rich life she has lived and the strong legacy she's left behind." Her voice did not waver, and no emotions were shown to the masses. They'd all had their time to grieve, she'd deliberately avoid mentioning Fishstar's passing last time to avoid seeming vulnerable when they were all still reeling from her death. Now, stating the former leader's passing barely affected her, death came to all of them, and Fishstar had lived a full life. Her main issue now was imposing strength, making sure none of them thought that RiverClan was vulnerable because of this.

After giving the masses a moment of silence to pretend to mourn, she continued on with business as usual. "RiverClan is now under my rule, I've received my nine lives and have chosen Jaystream, as my deputy. We flourish as always, with many new apprentices. Ashpaw, Duckpaw, Duskpaw, Sweetpaw and Wolfpaw. Splashwillow's litter are almost ready to all be apprenticed, and Lilypaw is soon to be warrior. Which is why I warn all non-RiverClanners to heed our border markings well. All trespassers will be punished with extreme prejudice, I will not tolerate anyone crossing our territory anymore than Fishstar did. May StarClan keep us all alive and well through this Leafbare."

With her concluding statement, she stepped back from the spotlight to allow another leader to speak.

Swiftheart's ears flattened again at the mention of Fishstar. It wasn't long before she returned to normal.

Oceanlight dipped her head in respect for the fallen leader.

So did my other characters.

Vixenpaw smiled at what looked like her clone and replied. "Hi, I'm Vixenpaw! I'm from RiverClan."

Jaystream nodded friendly at the Shadowclan deputy friendly before the Gathering started with Ivyfall talking first. He listened to her quietly, already knowing the news she had to say. The tom lowered his head respectfully but did not grieve. It had been some time since her death and all the clan already mourned her death. Now it was time to accept the new era coming: Ivystar's leadership.

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Foxhunter heard the words of the Riverclan new leader and stayed emotionless. He didn't care too much for her actually but he didn't hate her either. He was just indifferent to her.

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Firestone approached the clearing following Magpiestar. But, unlike other times, he walked away from his clan searching for a sandy colored she-cat in Thunderclan. His green eyes finally found his objective and he approached the two apprentices with a friendly smile. He flicked his tail friendly, ignoring Reedheart a bit, as he sat down while the Riverclan leader started her speech. "Hi! I'm Firestone, from Shadowclan." Since he heard the chat between the two she-cat before he joined them, the Shadowclan cat took the opportunity to take that to join them. "Well, Fernpaw, right? I can say that Heatherpaw is actually a good fighter, indeed. She even fought a Shadowclan warrior all by her own! Isn't that right, Reedheart?" He purred looking at the other warrior giving him a fake smile that no one would ever notice.

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Cedarstorm, who was following Magpiestar into the gathering, looked at the new Riverclan leader quietly and bowed her head respectfully when she heard the news of Fishstar's death.

Sweetpaw didn't know how to feel. She took pride as she was announced to all five Clans as a newly appointed apprentice, but at the same time she mourned the death of Fishstar just as every other RiverClan cat did. Of course she wasn't born around the time the magnificent she-cat led her Clan in a healthy state, but she still heavily respected all she had done for each and every RiverClan cat before sickness rendered her unfit to continue her duties.

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Scorchpaw huffed, unimpressed at the tragic news of the leader's passing. She probably deserved to die. She did leave behind an even weaker Clan after all.

~~~~~

Heatherpaw whimpered softly at the sight of the same ShadowClan warrior who beat Reedheart during the Thunderpath skirmish. She was quick to slip behind Reedheart, lightly trembling.

"Ooo, you didn't tell me how amazing a fighter you were, Heatherpaw!" Fernpaw squeaked. "Now I wouldn't want to meet you in battle, either!"

Heatherpaw didn't reply, just stared down nervously at the ground.

Flowerpaw looked startled. The leader of RiverClan? Dead? She personally never knew Fishstar, but it shocked her to hear of any cat's passing, even if they were from another Clan. She tried to sit down, shaking miserably. She hoped no cat would notice her, because she was too nervous to speak.

FrostFeather looked down at the news she knew that darkpaw probably knew. She looked at darkpaw and saw that she was also looking down. She went over to her and licked her. "im so srry darkpaw." she said in sympathy.

Daisypaw and spottedpaw didn't know about this news. They looked to see that FrostFeather and Rosepaw where giving there sympathy to darkpaw.

Rosepaw also went over to give sympathy.

Darkpaw liked that her friends cared but she will always remember fishstar the one who made her apprentice. "thx guys I'm ok." she said and looked back at the meeting.

Lilacfall was saddened to hear of the RiverClan leader's passing, but moreso she was concerned - it seemed that no leader lived especially long anymore. She could only hope that the trend stopped now.
~
Featherpaw was taken aback by the news of the RiverClan leader's death, though she wasn't sure how to react - she had never even seen Fishstar, after all.
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Emberpaw just felt sorry for the RiverClan cats.
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Swanpaw sat, emotionless, as Ivystar delivered the news. It wasn't that she didn't care, but... She couldn't seem weak in front of all the other Clans.

Crowfur had come in with Shadowclan. He was shocked about the news of Fishstar's death. He bowed his head in respect and sadness.
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Lilypaw said nothing but held sadness in her eyes. Another family member had gone from her life. She felt alone.
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Silentpaw kept quiet but paid his respects with a bow of his head.
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Birdflight was speechless. She could never believe another leader was gone.
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Swiftstep let out a sigh but kept words to himself.

All my cats were sad and paid their respects but I’m in class so no detailed post.

All my cats were respectful and saddened about the news of Fishstar.

(Will edit later!~)

Violetpaw was shocked to hear about the change of leadership in RiverClan. She ducked her head respectfully, like most of the other cats. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her sister sitting a few fox-lengths away. She padded quietly over to Flowerpaw and pressed her pelt to her sister's. "Hey, Flowerpaw," she whispered softly. "How are you?"

Ravenpaw stared at the ground, trying to blink away the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She hadn't ever known Fishstar, but any death was enough to upset her.

Tansypaw's eyes widened. A Clan leader? Dead? She lowered her head, copying her Clanmates. Somehow, she got the feeling that this wasn't how Gatherings normally went.

"Oh, I'm great," Flowerpaw stammered, flinching.

Mudfoot followed ShadowClan into the clearing and sat near the front of the crowd, watching at his mate joined the other deputies. Looking up to the leader, he listened as the newly announced Ivystar spoke.

"Oh, are you nervous? Don't be," Violetpaw reassured her sympathetically. "I'll sit with you. I don't really know what to do either. It's kind of exciting though,
isn't it?" Violetpaw deliberately avoided mentioning Fishstar, suspecting that her death was part of the reason for Flowerpaw's discomfort.