December's Gathering 2017

The night was cold, but clear. The air was still and everything was white. Snow blanketed the ground making any of the cats who came wanting to leave soon and not stick around long. The moon and stars shined brightly above. Tonight would be a good night.

The first leader to arrive was Crowstar leading his clan in, his long fur had bits and pieces of ice on from being out in the snow fall but the long hair tom wasn't really bothered by the cold. His coat protected him really well. Even so he knew his clan didn't like it too much so he prayed to his ancestors that the others would get here soon, and then they could leave soon.

Amberpaw padded in swiftly, her tail high as she looked at the pristine snow with nary a paw step marking it; until Crowstar stuck his big fat paws in it! Huffing the small apprentice ran past the large leader and jumped into the snow, kicking it and rolling whatever she could do to ruin it before her leader could. Once satisfied the apprentice bounced away.

Mintpaw shivered as she padded into the Gathering. It seemed that every step she took, she ended up buried chest-deep in the snow.
Just as she was about to look around, she stepped on a particularly icy patch on the forest floor and skidded a foxlength or so, struggling to stay on her paws. With a small huff, however, she fell face-first into a rather deep pile of snow that had just fallen from a nearby pine tree.
The small apprentice sneezed and poked her head out of the snowdrift unhappily, struggling to get out.

Ivystar was quick to lead RiverClan in after Crowstar. Her short pelt was standing on end for what minimal warmth she could get, as she trudged through the blanket of snow that had her sink with each step. Looking over her shoulder, she meowed to the poor apprentices that were struggled behind her. "Walk behind a warrior, they'll cut through the snow for you."

She tried to keep her strides short enough so the apprentices could take advantage of it. Though the feeling of snow clumping against her undercoat was a little discomforting, she was old enough that the chill wouldn't make her ill. The same couldn't be said for all the younger apprentices.

When the great rock finally loomed over over, she leapt up onto it's slippery surface with claws scrapping to hold her in place. She dip her head to a respectful nod to Crowstar, though it was a little shorter than what would be considered properly polite.

Goldenpaw traveled behind Ivystar, her nose high in the air as she looked down at her paws for the sake of looking regal. Tail high the medicine cat apprentice kept her strides long, she had to dress to impress, this was her first meeting with the other medicine cats and their apprentices. Goldenpaw took a moment of her time to look at the Skyclan apprentices before giving a loud-ish 'harrumph!'. Once by the rock, she sat where she believed the medicine cats sat, looking to Cloudstone with uncertainty.

Cloudroar padded into the gathering, an annoyed huff escaping his maw. He hated snow. It blocked almost all his senses. He couldn’t see for obvious reasons, he could hardly tell if he was going to hit a pocket of snow and fall through, and he hated how it masked smells. Smells were now he mostly got around and now he had to mostly use his hearing, which wasn’t too bad but he still hated it.

Growling as he skid across a small patch of ice, he found himself an okay spot to sit. Shaking out his snow clogged pelt, he settled down to wait for the gathering to begin. Hopefully it’ll be a quick one.

Blizzardstar arrived soon after RiverClan, her white pelt making her hard to tell apart from the snow and her silver rosettes making it even harder to see her between the shadows casted by the bare trees. She was lucky to have her deputy walking right at her side to not get completely lost from sight for those that weren’t close enough to see her without issues. Unlike many cats, she barely felt the cold thanks to her fluffy pelt…she just hoped it would also hide her current state as well.

Prey was seriously scarce in ThunderClan lately and she had bowed to not eat more than the absolutely necessary to let the rest of the clan eat as well. If things kept going like this, there was no way she wouldn’t be able to go through another moon without being forced to either ask for or fight over Sunningrocs to keep her clan for starving, even if she hated the idea of a war.

When she hoped onto the Great Rock she smiled at the two leaders and dipped her head politely as a greeting, trying to not look nervous when her eyes landed on Ivystar. If she wanted to have a chance of getting Sunningrocks without a fight she needed to stay on the RiverClan leader’s good side.

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Moonlight walked into the clearing with a smile, though a bit slow, while she was starting to get used to the cold of Leafbare her short pelt wasn’t making it easy and she could feel all her paws becoming numb from the cold as she walked through the snow.

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Hawkstrike came with the rest of SkyClan, shaking some snow off his chocolate tabby fur. While the cold didn’t affect him as much as a cat with shorter coats it didn’t mean he liked the feeling of ice-cold water touching his skin if any of the snowflakes stuck on his long fur melted with his own body heat.

Specklefang was in the middle of the throng, towering over her clan-mates. The she-cat was in a fair mood, though her relationship with her mother still hadn't improved, she was beyond caring now. There was nothing to re-gain, just a mother that was blind in another way. Her relationship with Leafstorm was on a thin line, her kits were growing up and despite the den, she now shared with some of them, they were off in their own worlds. Sageleaf was dead, Shadowleaf was crippled, everything that could go wrong was going wrong.

Birchpaw practically waddled in the snow, her short legs mixed with her fluffy pelt made navigating in the snow difficult. She tried to bound ahead to a spot that seemed flattened by the paws of others only to end up chin deep in snow that looked deceivingly solid. Her face felt hot with embarrassment as she squirmed out the snow and sat down on a patch that had begun to harden from the chill. The she-cat looked around, folding her ears back to avoid any more snow dampening the inside. She hoped to meet some cool cats this time, maybe even find something fun to do! She skimmed the crowd for Leafstorm. Her father seemed pretty welcoming around cats, he probably had some company.

Ashstar was next in with WindClan following in her wake, walking lightly on the snow instead of slogging through it like the other Clan cats were. Her breath puffed white in the cold night air, and her fluffy gray fur barely managed to keep out the brisk cold. She jumped onto the icy cold rock, trying hard not to slip off. She smiled at Blizzardstar and nodded respectfully to all the other leaders, even Crowstar. With Rippedsky's absence, she felt much better towards the black tom, even if she wasn't entirely comfortable with him- and nor he with her, she would imagine. Always good to be ready for anything. Magpiestar was the only cat left to appear.

Snowpaw entered the clearing behind her fellow RiverClanners, hopping through Ivystar's pawsteps in the snow for which she was named. This would probably be her last Gathering as an apprentice! She stuck with her Clan, sitting down in the middle of them, green eyes still wondering at the beauty of Fourtrees. Leaf-bare certainly looked amazing, despite the troubles it brought with it.

Graypaw followed behind her mentor Moonlight and the rest of SkyClan, falling short to gape at the sights. Fourtrees was huge! There were so many cats! The crisp, clean white snow that lay everywhere gave the clearing an ethereal look, and the full moonlight along with the stars' glow made everything unnaturally beautiful. The gray tabby she-cat noticed with a start that she had fallen behind the group, and ran to keep up with them, reaching them in only a few short seconds. She looked down and saw that while the other cats trod through the snow, she had run on top of it. When a group of cats came in from the northern part, many of them- including the gray she-cat leading them- walked on top of it as well, and the apprentice couldn't help but wonder what that meant, if anything. She sat down in the middle of a giant group of cats, still gazing around with bright blue eyes at all the amazing things she could see. The sparkly snow was so pretty... "Wow..."

OOC: No one talk to Graypaw please, I have plot plans for her ;)

Jaystream followed his mother closely, smirking a bit when he saw how concerned she was with the apprentices. Even if she was usually cold and, sometimes, aggressive, he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that she would always care for the clan in her own way. That's why he followed so devotedly, although he still felt that she didn't love him too much as a son.

He sat down in front of the Great Rock, feeling better than last time but he kept his nervousness. The tom tried to not look around too much because he knew that all those eyes might be too much for him and the deputy didn't want to disappoint his leader.

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The little warrior entered with her apprentice next to her. Although she liked the snow, it was hard for her to walk because of her short height. Tinytip almost jumped to move forward until she reached her clanmates, where she sat down to wait for her mate and her son, Stonepaw. This would be his first Gathering! She remembered how excited she was the first time she went to the Fourtrees.

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The newly appointed warrior followed her leader with serious and emotionless eyes. Even with a new rank, these dumb gatherings were still the same. Only a bunch of cats pretending they didn't hate each other.

Silverfang chose a spot next to the other Riverclan cats, making sure she wasn't so near from Viperpaw but not so far enough to not see her. She made a promise to Thistleblaze and in honour of her mother, she had to take care of her annoying little sister.

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Foxhunter entered the Gathering with Crowstar and he stayed close to his clanmates. Every day it felt more like home and he didn't have regrets about his choice. This was his new life... and he couldn't ask for anything better. Skyclan and all the clans were his new life and he would always be grateful for being part of this even if he didn't deserve it.

Featherpaw padded into the Gathering with a confidence she hadn't possessed just one moon earlier, taking her place next to Goldenpaw. "Hi," she greeted quietly.

Mumblepaw patted into the clearing behind Crowstar with his head low. If he had a tail, it would have been swishing anxiously back and forth. Gatherings were supposed to be a time of peace, but the thought of just sitting in the middle of enemy cats was less than comfortable. He stayed at his mother's side, wishing Rippedsky wasn't sick and could be among them. He felt smaller than normal with everything around them.

The tiny black and white apprentice sat among the Skyclan cats, as close to the center as possible. Mumblepaw had no desire to converse with other cats. He just wanted to go home. Why did Crowstar even bring me? I'm a poor excuse for a Skyclan apprentice... he thought to himself as he gritted his teeth im discomfort.

Smokepaw walked in after her mentor, Tinytip. She shivered in the harsh cold, her stormy grey eyes darting around. This was her first Gathering, and, she had to admit she was nervous.

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Robinpaw bounced into the clearing after her leader. The young ThunderClan apprentice was ready to meet some new cats!

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Stormpaw followed in after the rest of his Clan.

OOC: Apologies for awful post, might edit later if I can be bothered

Ravenpaw shuffled along through Ivystar's tracks in the snow, her short, sleek pelt offering little protection against the icy winds of Leafbare.

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Violetpaw bounded after Blizzardstar, tripping as she raced through the snow. The white world around her was pristine and beautiful, and it was hers to explore. With every step she took her excitement increased.

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Hazelpaw trailed behind her Clanmates with nervous anticipation. What would the Gathering be like? She tried to push her worries aside, but thoughts and questions kept popping back into her head.