April's Gathering 2018

The snow was finally gone. Sprouts of green grass littered the area surrounding the Great Oaks where snow used to be, but the rains that usually came with Newleaf didn't discriminate. The night was quiet, all except the gentle buzz of the soft rain hitting the tops of the large trees, which was an assurance that something was not right. The moon peeked out from behind the sparse clouds that were scattered around the sky, but all else was dull.

Blizzardstar was the first leader to arrive to Fourtrees with her clan behind her. And dear StarClan, did they look radically different.

The no longer looked like walking skeletons, with head low and wounded egos. Now they walked with pride, their coats pristine and the famous bulk the cats of said clan were famous for finally showing. Newleaf had been beyond kind to her clan, with their fresh-kill pile always full and medicine den overflowing with fresh herbs, and Blizzardstar was grateful to no end with StarClan for granting them such a marvelous blessing after such though times.

The she-cat quickly took her spot on top of the Great Rock, her long fluffy coat moving graciously as she did. She looked and even felt stronger than she could ever remember.

Minkpaw followed after Blizzardstar at a distance. She thought she would have been a warrior by now but she wasn't. Leopardclaw was always busy so she couldn't go on her moonstone trip. Which was fine. She knew the situation with Riverclan and some of the other clans wasn't the best. Both leader and deputy had other concerns then her trip to the moonstone. She could wait. The apprentice eventually dispersed from her clan and settled down in the clearing.

ooc: Can a Riverclan cat who knew Specklefang, mistake Minkpaw for her please?

Standing at the top of the ravine, the black and white tom hesitated. He almost forgot it was his duty to signal for them to join the others. Thunderclan smell lingered, faintly. That was it. Rippedsky took a deep breath. His expression was neutral, and stoic, as blue eyes scanned the one clan lingering below. After a moment, he flicked his tail for Skyclan and rushed down at their head. The new leader slowed. His eyes looked straight at the rock ahead and did not spare a glance at any of the warriors or apprentices milling about.

Once he stopped at the base, his paws froze. For a short time, he had stood there, but never as the true leader. Finally, he sprang up. Paws slipped slightly but almost instantly he regained his balance. Rippedsky settled down next to Blizzardstar. The tom spared her a slow and stiff nod. None of him longed to speak right now. Any thoughts of conversation died in his throat. Instead, he stared blankly into the still rather empty clearing. It too, as much as the rain that bogged down his fur, represented how he felt in the moment.
_
Eaglepaw strode in and sat in the center, right next to Sootpaw. Riverclan wasn't here yet. That was good.
_
Mumblefoot followed after Poplartooth, next to Drizzlepaw, but stopped short when he realized they would not be sitting together today.

ooc: may edit later, am busy and lazy

Blossomheart followed the deputy- no, leader now- into the gathering.

Featherheart padded behind Blizzardstar into fourtrees slowly. His paws felt heavy, his limbs tired, but he had wanted to come to the gathering. He had to see if Flickerpaw was alright. He was dissappointed to see that she wasn't there, that Riverclan itself had yet to appear. He lowered his gaze and sat down beside Eaglepaw. He didn't want to seem weak.

The pain that lanced through his leg and abdomen made it hard though. He glanced at the Skyclan cats gathering, hoping not to see the silver tom from before. Though most of his clanmate's pelts glowed with health, his was still dull with weakness from his injury.

-----

Marshpaw stepped into the gathering confidently and sat down near the front of highrock. He glanced over at the black and white tom that sat nearby, and smiled at him before he noted the somber mood. He frowned and blinked thoughtfully as the larger black and white tom leapt onto highrock where the black fluffy tom used to be. Oh.
"So, How has your clan been?" He asked Mumblefoot softly. It wouldn't be good to make an assumption. Perhaps it was merely a sickness, or the leader simply had another thing to worry about... was there danger to the forest?

wisteriapool ♪

Wisteriapool padded silently into Fourtrees, and she felt relieved to know that ThunderClan was the first Clan to arrive. There wouldn't be dozens and dozens of eyes watching her and her Clanmates as they padded in. The ginger-and-white warrior settled down towards the back of the crowd and glanced over to see which Clan was arriving, next. It was SkyClan. Maybe Wisteriapool would've felt a tad better if WindClan had arrived second, not one of their enemy's allies. She managed to remain calm and keep the fur on the back of her neck lowered. Well, she managed to do that until she saw the cat that padded up towards the deputy spot underneath the Great Rock. She recognized him almost immediately: Poplarpaw. Well, considering that he was a deputy now, he probably had a warrior name, but Wisteriapool didn't know what it was. She didn't want to know. It bothered her that this tom was the supposedly new deputy of SkyClan. It could've been any other cat, why Poplartooth? Her breathing became rough and uneven as she scrambled over to Featherheart and sat down beside him.
"I-is that? Why is he-? Fea-Featherheart..." She began, inhaling and exhaling awkwardly.
She couldn't finish her sentence, so all she did was flick her tail towards Poplartooth in alarm and fear.

poplartooth ⚜

Poplartooth followed directly behind Rippedsky as the black-and-white tom led SkyClan into Fourtrees. The tom didn't feel any different. Was he supposed to feel different? All he felt now was tired and weary. Weren't new deputies supposed to feel fresh and powerful? Shrugging his shoulders, the tom paused to settle down amongst SkyClan and beside Mumblefoot and Drizzlepaw. However, he suddenly remembered that he wasn't supposed to sit here, anymore. He quickly made his way over towards the Great Rock and settled down underneath it. Only ThunderClan and SkyClan were here so far. That made it easier to look at each and every cat that was currently in the clearing. His green gaze lingered on a ginger-and-white she-cat who seemed to be panicking over on ThunderClan's side. It couldn't have been that she-cat that he and Sedgestrike had fought back when they were apprentices, right? Why was she freaking out? Was it because of him? The fluffy tom narrowed his eyes in Wisteriapool's direction. He wasn't trying to intimidate her on purpose, but seeing her just brought back unpleasant memories.

Tail dragging heavily with each reluctant step taken, Elmcloud mindlessly trailed behind his Clanmates. After everything that had happened, socializing with the other Clans seemed incredibly painful. Wandering into the Gathering hollow, and accidentally tripping over several stray tails in the process, it took all of his strength to simply bite back a sigh. Skirting the outsides of the small group, Elmcloud settled himself a respectable distance away from the crowd.

~Ivyshade~

Ivyshade followed Blizzardstar into Fourtrees.

~Hazelpaw~

Hazelpaw padded into the clearing ahead of her father. She had expected to come here and boast to the other apprentices about how great of a warrior she would one day be.. but she didn’t have as much energy today. In fact she barely said a word on the way which was very very odd for her.

~Russetpelt~

Russetpelt padded after his daughter as she already ran ahead of him. He sighed. He wondered how the other clans would take what had happened... it was a tough time for SkyClan, Russetpelt was still in shock. He had never experienced a leader’s death until now. But here was new a new leader and deputy. SkyClan would recover quick. Surely..

HONEYPAW

The journey toward Fourtrees -- Honeypaw's first -- was quiet and somber. For so many cats traveling as a group, she found it surprisingly... uneventful. She padded alongside her clanmates at a reasonable pace, growing bored with it quickly -- Sedgestrike had gotten her used to much harsher exercise, even up in the trees. With the slight throbbing in her foreleg, a reminder of recent events, Honeypaw kept the pace with a sigh.

When they arrived at Fourtrees, however -- leaping down from the branches -- Honeypaw couldn't help a gasp. Sedgestrike hadn't taken her here, yet -- but it was amazing! The new apprentice padded in with her jaw a little slack... only to remind herself that there were other clans here! She couldn't embarrass herself!

Jutting her head high, she cast a narrow glare at the kittpet clan, as her mentor called it -- Thunderclan. She got the gist of what this was -- a time to show the other clans that Skyclan was strong! And capable, clearly. Form stiff from more than just her healing bruises, Honeypaw made sure to keep herself on the Skyclan side of the clearing. As much as possible.

She was just settling down among the midst of her clanmates, however, when a heavy paw stepped over her tail!

"Hey! Watch it!" Honeypaw snapped, hissing -- her tail was already sore from being knocked around by that filthy beast! "Cats are sitting here, you know!"

She turned to snarl more at the tail-tripping offender -- only to see that it was one of her clanmates.

"Elmcloud?" she mewed, flicking her ear. It didn't seem like the Skyclan warrior had noticed her. He settled down a distance away from the group of cats. She didn't know him all that well -- all she remembered was that etch of grief on his face, as he lay over Crowstar's...

She gulped. She remembered the spike of pain in her heart, as she saw him grieving for his father... almost the way Honeypaw had for her mother, when she'd been a kit, hardly understanding what the pain was. It's almost a faint memory, now.

The apprentice shook her head of the feeling, about to forget about it and sit back down... but then another cat suddenly took her seat! How rude!

With a sharp breath, Honeypaw -- for once -- let it go... and found herself padding towards the quiet, grieving warrior.

Who obviously wanted to be left alone.

But Honeypaw wasn't known for giving cats what they wanted. Even warriors. Though to be fair, Sedgestrike's tolerance of her back-talk probably didn't encourage proper respect...

While her thin frame was certainly hidden under her massive amounts of fur, Darkflight still did not appear as healthy as her Clanmates. Her eyes and pelt were dull, and she had sprouted more silver hairs around her muzzle and eyes. She wasn't all that old, right? Surely not. Her gaze followed Blizzardstar up the rock, her own paws almost feeling the roughness of the stone beneath them. She looked happy. The three-legged she-cat moved to the outskirts of the clearing, not because she wanted to be away from the other Clans, but simply because her joints were aching. The former leader certainly looked like an elder, and acted the part, yet she couldn't bear to ask the large she-cat on the Great Rock for the official ceremony. It would mean she'd given up.

Her faded yellow eyes focused on a few of the SkyClan cats, noting their somber expressions, as well as the new deputy. "Oh, Crowstar..." As a leader, she hadn't been particularly close with the tom, but the revelation still sent an icicle into her heart. Her forlorn murmuring was barely audible. "You will be sorely missed." Darkflight tucked her tail around her crouched body, waiting for the other clans to arrive and to receive the terrible news.

-

One of the heartbroken SkyClan cats coming into the clearing was Firpaw, uninjured, unlike many of her Clanmates. It wasn't common to see her at a Gathering, given she couldn't hear what was going on, however the thought of not coming with SkyClan to Fourtrees on the night that her leader's death was to be announced was simply unbearable. Disrespectful. Whilst still in the line of cats entering the clearing, she noticed Elmcloud breaking away. 'He can't just sit by himself,' She thought, beginning to follow him a ways behind. Once the tom had seated himself, she slowed her pace and waited a moment before actually coming close to the warrior. While she might have actually been older, he was still a more experienced and respected member of the clan, so she would treat him accordingly.

However, a younger denmate beat her to it. She shook her head and moved back into the main part of the clearing. 'He'll probably want someone who can listen, anyway.' Still, the look in his eyes still unsettled her. A part of her could remember feeling like him; Pansyface's death had left her in turmoil. She'd been like a mother to her. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but not in anger. Lanky, peach-splashed limbs folded under her chest and she watched the edges of the trees for the other clans yet to arrive.

Once again, Violetfall dutifully followed Blizzardstar into the Gathering.The ground felt fresh beneath her paws, with no snow to cover it. She took a seat among her Clanmates, staring in turn at the tom who had taken Crowstar's seat. She was curious as to what had happened in SkyClan, but she knew she would have to wait until the leaders took turns talking.

Palepaw bounced into the Gathering, trotting energetically behind his Clanmates, scanning the clearing which he had only hear of up until now. Bathed in the moonlight, it was even more beautiful than he had imagined. A quick look sideways revealed the second Clan to arrive, SkyClan. The tabby tom glared at the cat leading them shyly, confused by the look of exhaustion on the faces of each and every one of them. Settling by Violetfall's side, he tilted his head, keeping the strangers into view from the corner of his pale blue eyes.

"They look awfully down. Are they always like this?" the apprentice inquired, digging absent-mindedly at the grass at his paws as they all awaited the other Clans to come.

~~

Keeping close to his Clanmates, tail down and ears flat against his head, Quietpaw rushed in, almost overtaking the new "leader" and his deputy. He was unsure that he wanted to be there at all, but it mattered that he stayed present in a time when it felt so easy to simply drift away.

Sparkpaw walked into the Gathering behind Thunderclan. He hoped this gathering would more exciting then the last.

OOC: Sparkpaw is free to talk to.