December's Gathering 2017

Bonestrike followed Littlebrook into the gathering. Not really paying any mind to any tension in the area. He was well aware of them if they were there, but being the friendly tom he was, he just couldn't help ignore it. The pure white tom padded away from the Shadowclan cats a little bit before deciding to sit down closer to other clans. The Shadowclan tom, despite his intimidating look and size was really friendly. A certain black and white tom was next to Bonestrike. "It's very cold isn't it?" The tom said to Mumblepaw.

Tansypaw followed her Clan into the Gathering, not nearly as excited as she had been last time, but still wanting to meet some cats from other Clans. She sat down in the snow near where some other apprentices were conversing.

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Hazelpaw sat shivering behind a group of apprentices, hoping no one would notice her. I hope they start soon, she thought. She couldn't take much more of this.

Stormpaw flicked his tail and sat down, just after the RiverClan apprentice. He paused before replying; while he trusted that Duckpaw wouldn't use the information, he still had to be careful. "WindClan is faring well this leafbare" he started. "As with all the Clans, there has been quite some snow. It covers the moors where we hunt, but we have been catching our prey rather well, all things considered." Stormpaw looked back towards the other apprentice, not knowing what to say anymore.

Stonepaw, this being the shy tom's first gathering, lingered near his parents, Batfang and Tinytip. He cast a wary look around the snowy clearing full of so many cats from the five clans. A dapple-colored tom from the group of Skyclan cats caught Stonepaw's eye. The strange tom's gaze seemed to be focused on his parents. Stonepaw flattened his ears, uncomfortable at the other cat's intense rather unfriendly attention to his kin.

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Nightpaw walked confidently beside her clanmates, her disgust for anyone and everyone not ShadowClan suspended for a brief moment as she gazed around the crowded clearing with awe. So many cats! Cats that stink of not ShadowClan... yuck! The young she-cat spotted her brother Newtpaw mingling with apprentices from another Clan. She slowly walked after him as he bounded ahead, unsure of what else to do.

Listening to Jaystream, the tom purred in delight. He always enjoyed hearing that other clans were doing well in the harsh seasons, so to learn that RiverClan was doing fine this winter brought the little tom joy. "We're doing fine as well," Tinylegs mewed with a smile. Hearing pawsteps approach, he turned to see the other deputies approach and gave a curt nod to them as they sat down.

~~~~~

Entering the gathering, Mudfoot watched as Littlebrook made her way to the other deputies and sat down near the center of the crowd, waiting patiently for one of the leaders to begin to speak.

Lilacfall watched Nightpaw and Newtpaw for a moment, but after seeing that they seemed like they'd be alright she momentarily turned her attention to the gathering leaders and deputies. She wasn't in the mood to socialize much, instead preferring to watch everything in the clearing.

The young cat contained an angry hiss when he finally saw a new cat sitting next to his father: a Riverclan apprentice that looked like him and that weak she-cat. Their son... and his half-brother. How dare he to abandon his mother and his family to create a new one without caring for his other kits? The hate inside Pantherpaw’s heart grew stronger and darker than before. That tom would pay for everything he had done to him.
However... That was not going to happen today. Instead... he could actually meet this gray-furred tom and be sure of who he was so he could made him part of his vengeance. Standing up, Pantherpaw left his clan and walked toward the younger cat with a smirk. ”Hello there. I’m Pantherpaw. I couldn’t help to notice that you were looking at me so I guessed that maybe you wanted to talk. What’s your name?” He mewed with a friendly tone that his his true purposes.

Stonepaw pricked his ears in surprise as the other tom who he had been eyeing suspiciously confidently padded his way up to him. "Oh, umm... I-I'm Stonepaw. There are so many cats here. This is my first Gathering... Uh, h-how about you?" The grey tom rambled with a bit of a stutter, suddenly nervous and caught off guard by the other apprentices friendly attitude. Perhaps Stonepaw had misjudged the apprentice. After all, he had been raised to be naturally wary of cats from other Clans, but the Gathering was a place to put aside those differences for one night and make some friends.

The Skyclan cat couldn’t help smiling satisfied by the reaction of the younger cat. Just as his mother he is a weak little kit who can barely stand on his paws. It’s going to be so easy to get rid of him in the future with the rest of his disgusting family... He thought to himself as he sat down, making himself comfortable and being sure that Stonepaw’s parents wouldn’t see him so easily. ”This is my second Gathering so I’m not nervous at all. I mean, nothing really interesting happens so I don’t expect too much. You’re a new apprentice, right? Don’t worry, here cat’s usually don’t fight each other so you can have a good time trying to know other clan cats, even if they’re not from Riverclan. Are you coming here with someone else? A friend? You mentor? Or maybe... your family?” The tom flicked his long tail when he said that last word, obviously referring to his parents: Batfang and that little Riverclan she-cat.

"I followed my parents, Batfang and Tinytip, into the Gathering," the younger cat replied, put at ease by Pantherpaw's advice and cheerful tone. He also took a seat on the cold earth, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws. "I haven't been an apprentice for very long," he admitted. "I still have a lot to learn from my mentor, Sootwhisper. How about you? How's your training going in SkyClan?"

Graypaw only sat with her fellow SkyClan Clanmates for a little while before getting bored. Was she just supposed to sit there and wait for the leaders to start droning on? She'd heard some other cats saying that the Gathering was a great place to make friends. If she really wanted to have any friends- she was barely on first-name terms with the other apprentices in her Clan- she had probably better start now. Though at first she had determined to go talk to one of the strange fish-smelling cats to their left, to get some variety, the gray tabby found herself drawn towards the cats who had come from the north of Fourtrees- the ones who had walked atop the snow, like her. Her bright blue eyes caught sight of a dark brown tom sitting by an older cat, looking directly at her. As her eyes locked onto his, she immediately stumbled on a rock beneath her and fell face-forward onto the powdery snow. "Oof!" After lying spread-eagled on the ground for a split second, Graypaw got up, face burning hot with embarrassment. Why was she always so clumsy? Had the tom seen her fall? Ugh, now how would she make friends? Well, she'd just have to shake it off. Climbing out of the shallow Graypaw-shaped hole she'd made, the SkyClan apprentice crossed the relatively short distance between her and the other tom. Oh, StarClan, he looked even cuter up close... why was she doing this again? She'd just embarrass herself. Before she could get cold feet (pun not intended), the tabby blurted out an introduction. "Hi, I'm Graypaw. I'm from SkyClan. What's yours?" Oh, StarClan, kill me now.[/color]

Duckpaw slowly inhaled. Obviously, Stormpaw had the same intentions as she did when it came to sharing news: be careful. The brown apprentice was still a bit anxious about the fact that she had shared Clan news. What if she had said too much? What if she had too little, so what if Stormpaw thought that RiverClan was hiding something? The she-cat unsheathed her hooked claws and sank them into the dirt, but she tried not to draw anymore attention to herself. Duckpaw lifted her head and met the WindClan apprentice's gaze once again.
"That's nice to hear. N-not about the snow part; at least nothing too terrible is going on."
Duckpaw paused, searching her mind for something else to say.
"C'mon, you stupid mousebrain, think of something." The RiverClan cat hissed at herself, however, it was loud enough to be heard.

Stormpaw smiled, meeting the RiverClan apprentice's gaze. He thought he saw a subtle motion, of Duckpaw unsheathing her claws, but he thought nothing of it. Probably just nerves. However, his attention was caught when she hissed the words 'Stupid mousebrain'. Stormpaw thought she was speaking to him, and his tone changed to delicate and threatening, only slightly though. "I'm sorry , what did you say ?"

Badgerpaw couldn't help a small smile touch his face as he watched the gray she-cat fall. Was he that surprising to her or something? Maybe she was drawn to him as he was to her? Or at least curious about each other? His attention turned away from Graypaw for a moment as Nightheart sat by him. "Yeah everything's fine.. Just cold." He said to his mother.

His attention turned back to the gray she-cat to find her approaching him. Graypaw? Of Skyclan? Oh so she was apart of those Tree climbers that he heard so much about. "I'm Badgerpaw, of Windclan." The apprentice said, not really knowing what else to say. He was an apprentice of few words.

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Viperpaw looked up at her father, as he stayed by her side. She wished she would have gotten him as a mentor but it was nice to get some space. Her blue eyes looked up at him as he looked at her, but his attention turned somewhere else for a moment.

"What are you looking at father?" All she could see was a bunch of cats, she couldn't figure out exactly what he was looking at or who he nodded to. The blue gray she-cat didn't really understand. Where was Silverfang too?

The tail-less apprentice's eyes fixed on the snow dotted ground. Once a pure white, the clearing had been disturbed by many paws. Cats continued to filter into the clearing, one after the other. All the black and white tom wanted to do was sprint back to camp and curl up in the den to sleep. If only that was an option. His claws kneaded the ground uncomfortably. It felt like he was surrounded by ever cat in the forest, which was almost true, and entirely unnerving. Whiteheart said something, but it was left entirely unheard by her son. It wasn't until another voice, seemingly directed at him, spoke up. 'It's very cold,
isn't it? Brown-orange eyes shot up to land on a massive, white warrior. What did a giant Shadowclanner want with a scrap like him? A shiver ran down his spine and not from the cold.

"I-I guess." He agreed softly, stammering slightly. Cats were supposed to talk to each other at gatherings, right? Maybe this was just how it was supposed to work. It was possible the terrifying, white giant of a cat could just be extending a friendly paw. After a moment of silence, with an unspoken encouragement from his mother, Mumblepaw spoke up once more, "Who are you?"