April's Gathering 2018

Torrentpaw bounded into the gathering, a little excited as it was his first time. He was hoping to see his friend, Willowpaw again! Maybe even make new friends, if that was the case. But as he padded along with his clan, he noticed that everything was already beginning. He quickly moved to try and sit next to his other friend, Hailsong, only to find her with another tom. Torrentpaw winced and pinned his ears back as he scurried back over to his sister, a look of pure hurt dawning on his features. He pushed past her and sat down near the back, forcing his gaze to look at the leaders perched on the rock.

~

As Tawnypaw padded into the gathering, a dull ache formed in her head. All the scents were a bit too overwhelming. The brown and gray speckled cat huffed and looked around for a place to sit, only to see her brother already beginning to separate from her. Was she that bad of a sister her own brother didn't want to be near her?

She took that back soon enough; he came back in a hurry, with a downcast look on his face. The young apprentice frowned and pressed her pelt to his comfortingly, even though she wasn't sure what had happened. "If it left Torrentpaw this upset, it must've been pretty bad," Tawnypaw thought to herself as she followed him to a spot he had chosen.

~

Ashpaw glanced over his shoulder to see Riverclan striding into the Gathering. Great; more cats. Nervousness causing his pelt to prickle, the gray and white tabby turned his focus to the leaders make their announcements.

Nutfur walked in after RiverClan. She knew her first gathering in a long time should be special, but she couldn't help but feel pessimistic purely due to the clans state right now. What if a fight broke out? Settling down by herself, she looked up at Greatrock.
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Nectarleap is there feeling normal because this is before his fam died.
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Curlyfeather padded over to Cedarstorm, hoping for her sister to interpret everything that the leaders were saying for her.
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Swoopnose walked over to where SkyClan was sitting, purpose in his stride. He would find his lookalike, well, hopefully.

Spotfur walked in, spotting Swanpaw and Thornpaw. He winced. He had insulted them both at low times. He had been wanting to apologize, but Thornpaw was pre-occupied. Instead, he decided to go find another cat. (Spotfur is open to talk to!)
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Cinderfall walked into the gathering, searching for Fernpaw. All she had wanted to do was make friends. He now understood what she had been doing. He himself had been unintentionally mean. He found her near a black and white cat. He approached nervously. How would they react? "Hi...." He said. "Fernpaw?"

smokewish

smokewish was there behind Ivystar and was in a mood because of her eye.

robinsong

robinsong was just chilling with tc

dappledpaw

dappledpaw was also there

ripplepaw

ripplepaw was there and thinking about dogs





ooc: will edit later

”Congratulations on earning your name, Acornpelt. The name really rolls off the tongue quite nicely,” Dawnpetal purred. ”Everything in ThunderClan territory is finally starting to grow back. However, we have noticed more indications of a fox in our territory than usual — probably more than just one. I’m sure Blizzardstar will address the other Clans and tell them to keep a lookout. Your Clan should, too, even if we don’t share borders.”

~~~~~

Scorchfang forced himself to keep his gaze with Ivystar when she stared at him with those unblinking eyes. So Silverfang had told her who this Shadepaw’s father really was after all. But why was Ivystar looking at him so... accusingly? Surely the RiverClan warrior kept her promise in keeping his identity as the true father to Shadepaw a secret.

His gaze shifted over to Jaystream as he sat next to him and nodded to him respectfully. Hopefully he didn’t suspect anything as well. ...No, that would be too much to hope for. After all, he is RiverClan’s deputy.

~~~~~

Shadefang stalked into the Gathering after Ivystar, his amber eyes narrowed and head lowered, looking almost as if he were about to attack anyone who talked to him wrong. He didn’t want to be here tonight. He just wanted to stay at home and sleep.

~~~~~

Fernpaw turned as someone spoke her name. Her eyes widened when she spotted the RiverClan cat who had attacked her on her own territory just for having a conversation with him. She narrowed her eyes, but she kept the sourness out of her voice for now. Gatherings were no place to fight after all. ”Cinderpaw? What do you want?”

Cinderfall wanted to avert his eyes, but he couldn't. "Cinderfall now." He paused. "I want to say that I'm sorry. I realize now that you didn't mean to insult my clan, but my Clan is a sensitive spot. I'd do anything for them, and I'm sure if somecat said your clan was a bully, you'd want to attack them too. And I was already in a bad mood from some gross prey," He admitted. Hopefully Fernpaw understood.

Viperstorm followed Ivystar into the gathering not really paying any mind to the other cats that have gathered. The blue gray warrior didn't really want to be here, but she wasn't going to turn down Ivystar. The warrior found her spot and settled down for a decent long night. She dipped her head in respect to Crowstar's death. Hopefully the leader would find peace in Starclan.

Fernpaw’s tail twitched. Then she smiled. But her smile wasn’t the kind and innocent smile she gave him the first day they met. Instead, it was fake. ”Oh! I completely understand, Cinderfall! Yeah, the next time I eat a stale rabbit I’ll just attack my mentor! Or maybe I’ll just slash my claws through the throat of an innocent lost kit because they think I smell weird!” Her voice was loud, sarcastic, and harsh as she spoke. When she finished, she glared at him again. ”Do you think a simple apology would fix all that? No! So what makes you think you can apologize to me for attacking me on my land and traumatizing me just because I said something you didn’t like?”

Cinderfall frowned and flicked his tail. "Attacking a clanmate and killing innocent kits is nothing to joke about! Those are against the Warrior Code! I did not traumatize you, may I just say! Battles are a normal part of life. As I keep trying to explain to you, I'm passionate about my clan. You literally told me that my home, my family, my friends, that they're all wrong and bad. How would you react if you were in a bad mood and then someone reminded you that there are plenty of bad Windclan cats? I know quite a few stories. Windclan once tried to take over the Forest. Windclan cats maimed and killed plenty of cats! So don't act like Riverclan is a terrible clan and should be driven out or something! We're not bullies!"

Ashstar offered the other leaders quick, shallow nods as they arrived, then turned her attention to the next cat to speak as he almost immediately began the Gathering. Rippedsky. At the former report's announcements, her fears were confirmed- Crowstar was dead, and now the tom who had abandoned her Clan would become leader. Though she hasn't exactly liked Crowstar- the tom had made many foolish decisions, such as siding with the Dark Forest, taking in Rippedsky, allying with RiverClan- she had had some respect for him as a leader. But this former WindClan tom, representing the rogue-filled Clan and directly opposing her, along with Littlestar and Ivystar? She... was not ready to deal with this. Though her open hostility to the traitor had long since faded, she didn't respect him any farther than she could throw him. And now, to have him be a leader.... A long blink over troubled green eyes was all that showed the she-cat's tumultuous inner emotions at Rippedsky's announcement.

The WindClan leader nodded in obligatory courtesy and slight interest as the tom finished- what would be possibly have to talk about?- then took her turn to step up. She sighed. "I offer my.... condolences to SkyClan," she began politely, and not completely untruthfully. "I hope that you recover soon from the dog attack." Slightly less truthful... they were allied with those murdering RiverClan fox-hearts, after all. That out of the way, she got down to the normal business. "WindClan has recovered well, since last moon. The prey is abundant, moreso since we recived our lands, and herbs are beginning to grow. We have some new warriors- Falconbreeze, Acornpelt, Shadefall, Dovestream and Silverstreak. We also have some new apprentices, Cranepaw, Fernpaw and Graypaw. Our Clan is as strong as ever, and we will not tolerate any trespassers or any injury done to our Clanmates. As she had spoken, the constant bickering and whispering of the apprentices below caught her annoyed attention. They had just received news of a leader's death, and all they could do was bicker and gossip? Had they no respect whatsoever? "I would also like to remind cats of all clans," she added sharply with a controlled frustration, voice almost a yowl, cutting across the blathering noise, "that it would do you all well to pay attention when leaders are speaking. Their news just might be important."

Ashstar then stepped back, letting another leader speak.

--

Graypaw watched curiously at Ashstar's reaction to to Rippedsky's presence on the Great Rock. Since the tom had left her Clan, she didn't seem all that friendly towards him. That reminded her, she'd only heard the deputy's side of the story, not the WindClan leader's. However, her mind was quickly off of those thoughts when Rippedsky spoke. Crowstar.... dead?

If her jaw dropped or her eyes stared, she wasn't aware of it. All she knew was that there was a peculiar buzzing in her ears. The mouth of the tom on the Great Rock kept moving, but no sound was coming out. She just kept sitting there in dumb incomprehension, because Crowstar couldn't be dead, he couldn't, that was impossible. Crowstar couldn't be dead. He was a leader, they weren't allowed to die. But would Rippedsky lie about this?.... How could it be true? The former SkyClan she-cat hadn't seen him since she left, she'd never even said goodbye, she'd been too busy with her new happy life... What if she'd somehow caused his death? What if she could have been able to save him, with her WindClan speed? What if she'd stayed? What if... she'd chosen wrong? Tears welled up in her stunned blue eyes. With a wail of grief, the tabby apprentice turned to Badgerthorn, who was sitting by her, and buried her face in his fur, weeping.

”If you aren’t really bullies, then stop acting like one!” Fernpaw growled. ”I’m sorry you weren’t having a good day, but that didn’t give you the right to attack me. I didn’t mean to offend you. I would never do that! I hate that all of us are enemies with each other! We’re all cats! Not one of us is different from the other! It doesn’t make sense!” Her gaze fell, sadness suddenly dimming her eyes, which were practically glowing with rage prior. ”It doesn’t make sense. Why can’t we just get along instead of fight all the time?” She sighed, then looked back up at Cinderfall. ”I wanna forgive you... But you really hurt me. I just don’t think I’m ready for an apology yet.”

Cinderfall sighed. "That's just the problem. We are different. Riverclan swims, lives by the water, and eats fish. We are graceful and powerful. Windclan is speedy and lives on the hills, eating rabbits. You are quick and peaceful. Thunderclan lives in the undergrowth, catching squirrels and mice, and they are loyal and kind. Shadowclan is stealthy and fierce, living in the dark marsh and pines, eating frogs. Skyclan is strong and live in the trees, catching birds with their high jumping. See, we're all different for a reason. And since we have different territories, that means we have to be enemies." He blinked and looked down as she said the last part. So he couldn't make things better after all. "I understand. I just didn't want to have you being so unhappy because of a mistake I made, y'know?" He turned and padded away. He'd had the chance to make a friend back then, and instead, he made an enemy.

Emberheart felt a sort of distant sadness at the news of Crowstar's death. He wasn't a cat she had ever even seen outside of Gatherings, but the thought that he would never stand upon the Great Rock again brought her the same sadness the loss of familiarity always carried with it. Still, she found herself listening intently to whatever the other leaders had to say. There would be time to mourn the loss of yet another thing that had been a factor since... Actually, after a moment's thought, she realized Crowstar had been the leader of SkyClan since she first came to the forest.

~

Featherlight, too, felt a sense of loss. Change, she supposed, was inevitable... But to come so suddenly? It was certainly unexpected, at least. Though SkyClan may have been allied with RiverClan, she considered the SkyClan medicine cat apprentice a friend, and had to wonder how all of this was affecting her - poor Mintpaw. She could only ponder what changes would follow - what kind of a leader would Rippedstar be, in place of Crowstar? How the change of leadership would affect the forest, well. She supposed she could only guess at that. She could also only guess as to whether any changes would come to her own Clan, and what kind of changes they might be.

Stormpaw skipped into the gathering, his summer-yellow eyes wide with excitement.

Robinpaw ran into the gathering behind his brother Stormpaw. He separated and sat down, hoping somebody would come and talk to him.

Softpaw sat lengths from anyone. Too shy to talk.
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Nighthawk was currently sitting alone after arriving with Thunderclan. She just waited patiently.
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Mallowbrook was listening to the nearby conversations. She really didn't like to talk but she loved to listen. She had arrived with Skyclan.