February’s Gathering 2018

Softpaw blinked warily at the interaction between the two she-cats. He had no idea what had passed between the two... was he supposed to continue the conversation like nothing had happened? Was he supposed to leave? "E-erm... my warrior name?" He decided to go with the first option. "U-um... I've n-never though about it. P-perhaps Softtail? Softsong? E-er, those are stupid names, nevermind." He stammered nervously.

"On the contrary, I'd say both names suit you," Heatherpetal purred, acting as if the exchange with the ShadowClan cat never happened. "Your tail looks so very bushy and fluffy, and your voice is soft yet sweet. Well, whatever your name will be, I'm sure it'll suit you just fine."

Softpaw blushed, looking down at the ground. "T-thank you. T-that... that means a lot to me." Softpaw looked up with a shy smile on his face. Finally starting to feel comfortable around Heatherpetal, he settled down next to her. "So... w-who was that she-cat you were talking to? N-not the rude one, the..." He glanced over at the she-cat in question, to try to give a description of her. "The... the red a-and black one?"

(OOC: He's talking about Emberheart)

Heatherpetal looked behind her at the flame-colored tabby she-cat, and a purr rumbled in her throat. "Who, Emberheart? She's ThunderClan, too. She's my mate."

"Y-your... mate?" Softpaw looked absolutely dumbfounded. "But... you're both she-cats! You can't be m-mates with each other!" Suddenly, some images came to mind: grey-striped fur flecked with snow; stunning blue eyes meeting his own; a soft smile full of white teeth. Softpaw felt his blood rush to his face, and he ducked his head. "Y-you... can't be mates with a cat of the same gender... can you?"

The she-cat looked very uncomfortable herself, almost offended, seeming to take his exclamation the wrong way. Her voice grew a little terse when she spoke. "Er, yeah, you can. It isn't very common, but it can still happen. I didn't know you had a problem with that."

"Easy there, friend." Leafstorm heaved the Shadowclanner off of his shoulder, an easy smile on his muzzle. "You don't want to go starting fights- are you alright?" The fluffy tom's expression became one of concern as he looked down at the red tom. Something about his expression seemed very familiar- he had seen that hollow look among his clanmates before. Looking to ease the Shadowclan cat's obvious discomfort and change the subject, the tall warrior introduced himself. "Name's Leafstorm, from Thunderclan." He mewed, sitting down.

OOC: heckin trash

"N-no, no!" Softpaw quickly amended, realizing how he must have sounded. "I-I didn't mean it like that at all! I..." Softpaw quickly glanced around, making sure there were no other Windclan cats around to hear him. "I've been... having feelings. For another tom in my clan. I didn't think... I mean, I didn't know..." His voice drifted off into a whisper. "I didn't k-know it was acceptable. I thought my feelings were... w-wrong."

The tom curled his tail around his body, his fur bristling with anger. Heatherpetal only brought him more pain and anger to his already broken soul. The ShadowClanner had lost hope in his own kind... he had lost the naive trust he had with other cats. After all, all the cats that were close to him and that he loved, somehow lied to him or betrayed him. Flamestrike lied about his mother... Littlebrook pretended to be the cat that gave birth to him when she wasn't... Honeydrop left him and his brother and acted like she wasn't their mother... Buttercup never told him about his bloody past... and Gingerstripe... his best friend... never told him that he murdered the former medicine cat. Everyone who was important to him kept the truth away from the tom and that angered him more than he could even imagine. Was there really nobody he could trust anymore?

"Watch yourself, ThunderClanner. We do not take kindly to those that bother our own."

Violetshine...

His green darkened eyes suddenly focused once again on the sandy-coloured she-cat and there he saw Violetshine pushing her with her shoulder. Was she... protecting him? In his empty eyes, a short glimpse of hope appeared and in his heart... not everything seemed hollow anymore. Firestone was not alone... thanks to the black and white she-cat. At least... he could trust her. She was the only cat that hadn't betrayed him. She was... honest.

When he was about to stand to follow her, another tom appeared by his side. The Thunderclan smell filled his nose and the ShadowClanner looked at him with narrowed and sceptical eyes. "Sorry, but I'm not the one who goes to another cat just to provoke him. Tell your clanmate to mind her own business. I'm done with her dumb attitude and her stupid excuses." He snapped back with a soft growl. He couldn't trust anybody and he wouldn't trust this ThunderClanner. Not anymore. For the first time, he wouldn't be the loud and social cat he was. Life had taught him that opening to others was dangerous... because others could harm you back. At the end, they would probably end up hurting you with lies and betrayals. He had enough of that.

"Firestone of Shadowclan. Sorry, Leafstorm, but I don't think you will be interested in being with me. Right now, I'm not in my best mood and I honestly don't need to talk to another ThunderClanner." Once he said that, he suddenly remembered Specklefang, his only friend from another clan. The large she-cat didn't betray him either and, since their last chat in the Thunderpath, he hadn't been able to see her anymore. "But, before you leave, can you tell me, do you know Specklefang, one of your clanmates? We have talked before and... I was worried about her. How is she?"

Leafstorm swallowed, the remains of his grin fading completely. "She is... was, my mate. She... she was poisoned by Ivystar. Forced to eat Deathberries." His voice became hollow as he spoke, his expression growing darker as he remembered that day. He quickly snapped out of it, though, after casting a worried glance at Heatherpetal. He couldn't afford to be dragged down by grief- at least, not yet. "If my clanmates seem rather... well, some are taking this better than others. Specklefang was a great warrior and a true leader, and she will be missed for moons to come." He sighed, his tufted ears twitching. "Both she and my daughter Thistlepaw have been murdered by Riverclan warriors, and all for a patch of territory that means life and death for our clan- but you'd hardly be interested in Thunderclan's affairs. How do you know Specklefang? Do you know anyone else from our clan?"

Sedgepaw arrived at the gathering at last. His silver tabby pelt flecked with snow and twigs until he shook them out. He glared at Rippedsky. Sometimes it felt like his mentor was deliberately making things hard on him. He huffed, then strode forward boldly. His eye catching sight of an orange pelt he had seen before. He turned his glare towards Featherpaw and glanced around for Wisteriapaw before marching himself over to where the tom sat alone.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't that cat from Kittypet clan." He sneered as he prodded Featherpaw on the chest with an arrogant expression. "What's tinge matter, two legs not feeding you?"

Featherpaw had come to the gathering in silence. He kept his tail curled close and stayed away from the other clans. Unfortunatley, this also singled him out. He didn't even notice Sedgepaw until the tom was poking him. The words slowly sinking in as Featherpaw hissed back.
"Go back to your clan." He growled as he brushed Sedgepaw off, then stood with a challenging glare. "Before I make you."

~Ivypaw~

Ivypaw glanced around, trying to spot someone to talk too. There were Frostfeather Rosepaw and them, but she wanted to talk to some cats she had never met before, which she never liked doing, but she needed too. She spotted a young blue-gray tabby she had never seen before. (Me Rainpaw) She padded over to chat with him. "Hello, my name is Ivypaw, I'm from ThunderClan.
I'll be a warrior probably by the next time you see me." She sort of regretting adding that fact she would be a warrior soon when greeting a new cat. She just knew she looked the age of a newly appointed warrior, and wanted to clarify that she wasn't a new apprentice.

~Rainpaw~

Rainpaw sat alone, not wanting to talk. But to his annoyance a she-cat seemed to want to talk. "H-Hello, er, Iv-Ivypaw. M-M-M-My name is-is Rainp-paw," He replied, looking at his paws. Please do not question my stuttering, please do not question my stuttering!

Sunpaw frowned when the cat he had greeted began talking to another cat. Hrmm... perhaps he hadn't been loud enough. This gathering was off to a bad start. He quickly walked away from the two conversing cats looking for another cat to talk to so that he could try again. He quickly spotted an intimidating-looking apprentice sitting near the edge of the crowd. (Condorpaw, LittleBrother). However, Sunpaw was never one to be frightened away from making a new friend, so he plopped himself down next to the other tom. "Hello there!" He mewed in greeting. "I am Sunpaw from Thunderclan. What's your name?"

Foxpaw arrived to the gathering. Her first one. She was telling herself not to care about the other cats around her so she wouldn't get nervous. She went on forward and took a seat beneath her clan leader, Magpiestar. She found her mentor Firestone and stalked towards him. "Hello Firestone." she greeted politely, "So this is a gathering?" Foxpaw looked at the other cats gathering then turned up to make herself look at the full moon before saying anything else.

The last remnant of hope that was left in the flame-furred tom faded in the moment the brown tabby warrior spoke. Specklefang... was dead... The next words of the tom by his side weren't heard by Firestone, who seemed to fall in a complete darkness. His green eyes looked down at his paws and he trembled, containing a cry. Why everyone he cared for was dying or leaving him? Why did she have to die? For the first time, the tom felt alone and hopeless even if he was surrounded by dozens of cats. No one else mattered... he was there, broken and alone, consumed with his own sadness and sorrow. Silent tears came out of his eyes, mourning the death of one of his only friends. The thought of not being able to see her again... of not talking one more time with Specklefang... was devastating.

The warrior barely understood the last questions of the ThunderClanner. Not lifting his head to answer him, the ShadowClanner stood up slowly and shaking. "We used to meet at the Thunderpath to just talk... she was... my friend..." He whispered in a broken voice. "Specklefang... was the only ThunderClanner that was friendly to me... despite if I was from a different clan. Heatherpetal and Reedheart... those clanmates of yours only showed me hate and despise while she never did. I'm sorry... I... can't talk to you anymore..." The large tom slowly managed to walk away from Leafstorm, leaving the tom with his own clanmates. There was nothing left for him in Thunderclan... only the memory of one of his dearest friends...

With heavy steps, he walked to the only cat he knew that would never betray him and that would allow him to be by her side. Settling down next to Violetshine, the tom leaned her body on her and he hid his face in her fur, trying to contain his cries. "I... I'm sorry Violetshine... but I can't handle this anymore alone..." He whispered, curling his fluffy tail around his paws, trembling. He felt weak and pathetic, unable to stop the misery that surrounded his life. This wasn't the life he dreamed when he was an apprentice... he wasn't the mighty and unbeatable warrior he always wanted to be. He was only a broken tom who lost the trust in his family... who lost his best friends thanks to death.

And then, a feminine and young voice drove him away from his dark thoughts. Separating his face from Violetshine, he looked down at his apprentice, Foxpaw. The tom somehow remembered his old self, young, naive and full of happy dreams. When did he change so much? When did he lose his focus, his goals, his hope? Why couldn't he be a happy apprentice again, just like Foxpaw? Oh, he wished so much to return to those days when he was happy by the side of his brother, being the son of the deputy and Flamestrike, an admirable warrior who always resembled everything he believed. Those sweet memories still flew inside his mind and they kept that small spark of happiness alive inside his heart. Somehow, Firestone managed to smile at the orange she-cat. She didn't deserve to be involved in his own problems. "Yes, Foxpaw. This a Gathering. A place where you can meet cats from other clans. Why don't you go and have fun with some of them?" He offered with a fake happy smile.