July's Gathering 2018

Sedgestrike's green eyes narrowed at Goldeneye. He listened to her tirade with a grimace on his muzzle, a bit of shame in his eyes, but his proud stance remained. Even as she mentioned killing him, about the various methods the medicine cats could employ to do it. He stepped back as she stepped forward, his paw raised with claws unsheathed, ready to rake them across the she-cat's face as she spun away. He snarled as Mintwhisker followed her. His ears flat with disdain, anger and that little bit of shame.

He looked up at Tinystar and spat viciously at the tiny tom.
"I'll never accept you as my leader. Not some cat as tiny and weak as you." He growled "You wouldn't stand a second against me." The silver tom's lips parted to boast some more until a rough shove from behind knocked him off balance. He turned to the cat with a vicious snarl. "and YOU! What are you? A Warrior or a cowardly RiverClan cat?" He asked, his eyes narrowing in Goldeneye's direction for a moment, then paused and actually looked at the cat.

His own daughter looked at him with a whimper. A single dark grey paw raised from nudging him, then abruptly pulled away. Her head lowered almost to the ground as she slunk off to hide behind one of the other warriors. Sedgestrike blinked, then padded towards her a step, before he huffed and glared up at Tinystar. It was his fault. Just like it had been Poplarstar's before him.

Midnee's cats were v annoyed at the ruckus, but in the end sat down with their dudes.

OOC: i am big lazy butt and will edit later. Cats are open for socialising.

Rookpaw could hear a soft voice beside her. Her yellow eyes, torn to slits at the arguing, turned to a sandy tabby tom. She could feel a retort rising in her throat, but something stopped her from releasing it. His tone was polite and quiet. The WindClan cat was no threat to her. She gave a sigh, sweeping her tail across the ground before wrapping around her paws. From the scent of it, the cat causing the disturbance was a SkyClan warrior. "No," she answered finally, "but it seems that SkyClan doesn't know how to control their warriors." The cats seemed to be at an uproar at the presence of SkyClan's leader. Rookpaw had to admit, the tom was... tiny. How could a stubby-legged cat ever be a true leader? His reign won't last long, she assured herself.

Rare was the day that Brindlestar was ever truly in a good mood, but this evening seemed to display a rare side of contentment on her behalf- until the latest series of petty yowling broke out. Exchanging a bemused and partially vexed glance towards her fellow Leaders, her attention once more returned towards the provocative Sedgestrike. Whatever thorn was lodged within the base of this tom's tail had been bothering him since the moment that WindClan arrived, and it was clear that it would continue to bother him for an undisclosed amount of time. Although she wouldn't dare admit it aloud, she had somewhat been looking forward to chatting with Leopardstar or Littlestar for a brief moment, but this rancorous SkyClanner was making such a feat quite difficult. Growing quite fed up with the constant jeering and hissing that arose from various different cats now, her ears fell flat against her skull as she glowered.

"Silence!" Brindlestar's voice eventually rose above the clamor, sharply edged with a vehement snarl as she glared down upon Sedgestrike, hardly bothering to conceal the seething disappointment and irritation she felt towards the irksome SkyClanner. It was appalling to think that the apparently newly named Tinystar would merely sit idle in the face of such blatant disrespect, especially in such a public setting. How revolting. Parting from her place beside Leopardstar, the pale-furred molly took an agitated step forward towards the unoccupied edge of the Great Rock, tail giving perturbed lashes as she scowled down at the throng of cats below. "This is the Gathering, not the Nursery- or have you lot of squabbling kits forgotten such?"

"Now, shall we begin this Gathering? Or would you like to keep provoking StarClan's wrath?" Brindlestar's rhetoric question was laced with fervent exasperation, her features still heavily twisted with outright annoyance. Without missing a beat, and hurriedly stifling any further chances of more pointless arguing, she was quick to launch into her previously arranged report over her Clan's well being over the past moon. "Despite the dreadful heat of Greenleaf, WindClan fares quite well. We've welcomed Mothpaw, Rockpaw, Littlepaw, Barleypaw, and Darkpaw as newly-named Apprentices within the Clan, and we've named Foxspirit and Hickorysmoke as our two newest Warriors." Shifting slightly as she relayed the series of names, the scarred molly inhaled a short breath before continuing, "We've experienced quite a bit of Twoleg activity along the Thunderpath this past moon, so I would implore interacting with the Thunderpaths unless absolutely necessary." Tail giving a leisurely twitch, the brindled Leader inhale a quiet breath as her report dwindled to a halt. Stepping away from the edge of the Great Rock, Brindlestar allowed a proper amount of space so that the next speaker could step forward.

Mistyrain felt immediately calmer when Swiftstep sat down next to her. "I don't know, I'm fine now," she replied. "It's just, my first Gathering as deputy, you know?" To herself, she added, as a warrior, too. This, however, she didn't say. She didn't want SkyClan to appear weak... especially with Tinystar up on the Great Rock. She smiled brightly at the WindClan deputy, desperately hoping that her first impression wouldn't stick with him. Her smile sagged a bit as Scorchclaw introduced himself, but she decided to ignore his probing gaze.

.....

Fallowpaw entered Fourtrees not far behind Littlestar. It was her first Gathering, and she was ready to see what the other Clans were like. She stopped, in turn, taking a few moments to gaze up at the Great rock, where a tiny cat with a light-colored pelt seemed to have taken the place of one of the leaders. She made a face somewhere between a grimace and a scowl, a little bit confused. "Wha..." It made so little sense, she couldn't even come up with a witty remark. "Why is the little cat up there?" she asked no one in particular, still scowling fiercely. Leaders were supposed to be strong, and powerful, not tiny. She shook her head, moving on to take a seat near a few apprentices from another Clan.

.....

Poppycloud entered with WindClan, taking her place among several of her Clanmates. SkyClan's leader seemed to have changed yet again, but that was no surprise considering how many times it had happened in the past few moons. Whether this would affect her at all, she highly doubted, so she didn't give the change much thought as she quietly observed the Gathering as it proceeded.

(OOC: oof sc dep y u so late)

Scorchfang took his place next to the other four deputies, nodding respectfully at each of them in turn. As per usual, they all looked annoyed, frustrated, haunted, and just ready to go home. How come he seemed to be the only deputy without any heavy weight on his shoulders? Well, aside from having to take care of his Clan and knowing that his firstborn son is a merciless killer who keeps picking off apprentices and warriors one by one. Okay, now that he thought about it, he felt just as ready to go home. He couldn’t help but feel that he himself doomed the Clans to have to deal with Shadefang’s fury.

He noticed that Tinylegs wasn’t sitting next to them this time, but was rather sitting up on the Great Rock as Tinystar. So this new she-cat must be SkyClan’s newest deputy. She looked nervous, too, and incredibly young, almost as if she was made deputy not one moon ago. Sure, he was appointed deputy when he was a very young warrior himself, and Marshstorm even younger, but she looked to have just finished her training a few days ago. Did she even have an apprentice?

He turned to her and offered as kind a smile as he could manage. ”Greetings. You have no need to worry, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”

Somewhat surprised from Brindlestar’s sudden yowl for silence, Tinystar slightly jumped in his pelt. It was evident that all that was happening had started to get on the WindClan leader’s nerve, and a guilty feeling settled in his stomach when he realized that he should’ve taken care of his disrespectful clanmates sooner. ’Off to a great start,’ he thought to himself. Waiting for Brindlestar to finish, he presumed that speaking next would be best, seeing as though some of the leaders might need to respond to what he was going to say, so, letting out a small sigh, Tinystar stepped up, wishing he didn’t have to start his addressing in such a manor. If times were normal, he would’ve just ignored what Sedgestrike and the other crude remarks that other cats had said, but he was leader now and knew that he couldn’t make it seem as though he couldn’t control nor properly deal with his clanmates, even though he didn’t want to speak in such a way and wished it hadn’t come to this…

Stepping forward, the abnormally short leader took a deep breath with a slight frown on his muzzle as he quickly prepared himself, praying to StarClan that he said the right thing. "First off, in response to the out of turn comments made towards me and my clan, I will be dealing with the warrior(s) who chose to speak out when we get back to camp, and while I didn’t want to begin my leadership this way, rest assured, their ignorant comments will not be ignored," he huffed, his pale blue eyes casting a glance towards Brindlestar and down to the crowd, practically boring into Sedgestrike’s pelt. "Yes, I am small, and yes, I’m not the most intimidating cat in the forest, but what should I need to be intimidating for? To strike fear into the hearts of my clanmates and others? That’s not what a leader should have to do in order to lead their clan, or to even be respected, so my stature and nature, even as the leader of SkyClan, should not be an issue, and if any of you believe it is, then that’s your problem, for it is what it is." After the gathering, he would surely have a word with Sedgestrike and anyone else who questioned his authority, but for now, he had other, more important news to announce. ’I’ll also have to thank those who spoke for me,’ he reminded himself, truly greatful for all of the support he’d gotten.

"On a separate note, it is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Poplarstar. Him, like Rippedstar, was presumed to be killed by dogs, and I will be leading a patrol to take care of the growing threat that they carry so that we may deal with those beasts once and for all," the stout tom mewed, his head low and voice soft, but after a few moments, he lifted his head and stood up a little straighter as he looked up to the bright moon before looking back down at the gathered cats bellow. They may have lost several leaders all in the course of several moons, and yes, it was tough on everyone, but that didn’t mean that all of the past leaders would want them to mourn forever.

"SkyClan has lost several great leaders in the span of only a few moons, but I promise my clanmates and every-cat here that I will continue to uphold their visions and wishes that they had for SkyClan. The new deputy is Mistyrain, whom after deciding to stay with SkyClan, I trust to lead at my side," Tinystar mewed, giving his damp pelt a shake and paused for a moment more before continuing. "And through these… misfortunes, SkyClan is still growing and prospering. Prey is plentiful and we’re happy to report an influx of kits, apprentices and warriors. Beepaw, Wasppaw, Laurelpaw, Swanpaw, and Wrenpaw have received their apprentice names, and Acornfall, Spiderpounce, Lionclaw, Mosstail, and Silentwhisper have found their place within the clan as warriors," the small tom spoke, a smile growing on his muzzle as he thought about his clan growing stronger with each passing day. His clan, what a weird concept.

"As far as the alliances between SkyClan and other clans… SkyClan will no longer be in an alliance with RiverClan and ShadowClan, and will be neutral among the five clans. I will not have my clan become entangled in possible wars or ill endeavors, so we will have no standing alliances, but also no enemies, unless you choose to make us so," he concluded, his smile transforming into a somewhat more straight expression. Turning his head in the direction of JayStar and then Littlestar, he gave both leaders a curt nod, hoping they didn’t take his decision personally, for he only had the best intentions for him and his clanmates.

Finished with speaking, Tinystar took a step back and sat among the wall of leaders as he waited for the next cat to speak. Hopefully, he said everything correctly, didn’t offend any-cat, and retained his clan’s reputation, well, whatever their previous "reputation" happened to be, in which he assumed it wasn’t a very good one. (lmao what even is our standing reputation among the clans cause idk man ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

~~~~~

“Yes, I’m from WindClan. I haven’t heard much of ThunderClan, how are things there?” Rockpaws asked Daypaw, excitement bubbling through his pelt. He was talking with a cat from a different clan, how interesting was that?

The tom watched the strange scenario with tired eyes. At first, he looked how the short leader tried to climb. He didn’t laugh. He didn’t find it ridiculous. Just sad... sad to know that another Skyclan leader was dead and that his deputy had to take the command of a clan so fast. Of course, Tinystar was older and probably wiser than him but his body wasn’t an advantage against the rest of the leaders. He wondered what would happen to Skyclan now...

He glanced at the loud Skyclan warrior, emotionless. He reminded him of Shade and the thought of that made him shiver. That was why he kept his attention on him, being distracted only by the incoming leaders. The leader smiled when his son bravely spoke to the Skyclan leader. He was a good cat and that made him proud. Cinderfall was turning into a good warrior.

However, when the tom unsheathed his claws in front of Goldeneye, his smile dissapeared and he lost it. His fur bristled and the destroyed tom stood up abruptly, almost about to jump off the rock to defend the medicine cat. But that was when a calico fur rushed to Goldeneye’s side.

Hailsong barely glanced at her father and nodded at him as she ran to her adoptive mother. With a hiss, the Riverclan warrior stepped between her clanmate and the Skyclan warrior. She lifted her bristled tail and showed her teeth, ready to defend her mother from Sedgestrike. ”If you dare to lay a claw on her I’ll make you go to the Dark Forest sooner, scum!” She spat but it seemed, for her relief, that the warrior had lost the interest in the she-cat. Hailsong sighed but stayed by her mother’s side with an eye locked on Sedgestrike.

On the other side, Jaystar watched this with relief. It was good to know that he wouldn’t be the only that would protect his friend in great danger. He glanced at Tinystar, calmer than before but with serious, slightly annoyed eyes. ”I like you, Tinystar, since we met as deputies but please control your warrior before he makes something that he would regret. If my medicine cat is killed, I won’t stop until I get justice. And believe me, I would hate to go to those limits.” He said softly only to the short leader before stepping forward to make his announcement.

He looked at his clanmates briefly before opening his mouth, knowing that he won’t be telling good news. ”Even if Riverclan has plenty of food this last moon, we’ve have faced dark times. Shade’s threat is a reality and I would like to warn every clan about him. He’s a murderer and needs to be killed soon.” The tom didn’t said another thing about the current attacks that his clanmates had received. Riverclan has to stand proud and strong. He couldn’t show weakness. Jaystar hardened his expression and spoke clear, just like his mother before him. ”We lost one of our apprentices, Blackpaw, but we’ve welcomed several of kits into apprentice-hood: Muddypaw, Bluepaw, Stonepaw, Nightpaw, Weaselpaw, Creampaw, Frostpaw and Larkpaw.”

Now that the formal announcements were made, the tall leader turned his body to face the new leader. He was disappointed of the tom’s election. Now that his clan was weaker due to the continuous change of leadership, they needed aid more than anyone and Riverclan could use their help too if needed. It seemed that Crowstar was the wisest leader since his death and he didn’t think that with bad intentions. ”I’m not happy to hear your decision and it’s a shame that you don’t want to keep the alliance that your former leader, Crowstar, chose for the well-being of your clan but I’ll respect it. From this day on, Riverclan will no longer help Skyclan with food, herbs or warriors. The alliance is over.” He said firmly to all the clans. It didn’t matter too much. Of course, Skyclan has shared herbs with them when it was needed but apart from that, they weren’t actually a good source of aid for his clan. Riverclan was strong enough now to survive alone.

Mapleleaf had been watching from her place within the Medicine cats. She was about to jump to Mintwhisker's defense when Sedgestrike was going too far but Goldeneye beat her to it. The Thunderclanner felt good inside knowing all the medicine cats had each other's backs. She then turned to listen to the leaders speak.

Ears twisting to a display of complete attention, Lichenpaw settled himself into a comfortable stature that allowed to lounge idly, yet comfortably, while the Gathering actually began. Twisting over to look at Thornpaw once more, he gave the WindClanner a curious gaze from deep within fiery amber eyes. He liked this tom's attitude, however crass it might be. "Just 'nother testament to the fact that all the Clans are truly a mess." The words were softened with a hint of something akin to depreciation, although the bitterness was still evident. Continuing to gaze over at the dark-furred tom, Lichenpaw gave Thornpaw another odd gaze. "Don't you wish there was something we could do about it?"

Heronflight, Wrenbreeze, and Larkpaw walked behind Jaystar, proud of their clan.  Heronflight soon spotted a brown tabby she-cat with SkyClan and walked up to her.  ”Hello, I’m Heronflight.  What’s your name?”  He asked the brown she-cat.

~

Acornfall followed Tinystar, the new leader of SkyClan.  Soon after she sat down, a gray tabby tom walked up to her.  ”Me?  Oh, I’m Acornfall,” she replied.  

~

Wrenbreeze walked up to Acornfall as well.  ”Hello, Acornfall.  I'm Wrenbreeze."  The she-cat looked up to the Great Rock, where a new deputy was standing with Tinyl- well, probably Tinystar now.  "Who’s the new SkyClan deputy now?” she asked.

~

Larkpaw bounced to his parents, playing with his paws.  He wondered what would happen to RiverClan's alliance with the other clans.

~

Acornfall replied with a smile.  ”Mistyfall is our new deputy.  I trust Tinystar’s decision, but I don’t know why he would announce a newly appointed warrior as deputy.”

~

Wait, WHAT!?  Wrenbreeze was shocked that Tinystar would appoint a newly-made warrior as deputy. I guess that Tinystar got his leader name, then.

Thornpaw rolled his shoulders, turning away from the five leaders and settling his blue-green eyes on the tom next to him. His large ears twitched as the apprentice spoke, and he grunted in affirmation. This cat was so... relaxed. He spoke casually about the clans, and despite being an apprentice there was a tangible feeling of self-assurance about the tom. Something told Thornpaw that this was a cat he wanted to be friends with if he wanted to rise to a position of power within the clans. As Lichenpaw continued to speak, the fluffy tom's excitement grew. Are you kidding? I'd love to find a way to... clean up all the impurity that's sullied Windclan's once-noble blood. Did you know that Brindlestar actually made a Skyclan cat a full warrior?" He scoffed, stretching into a more comfortable position. "But..." Thornpaw frowned, the reality of the situation suddenly clear. Brindlestar was a leader, for Starclan's sake! And this stranger wasn't even in his clan. He was just as untrustworthy as the Skyclanner currently residing in his camp.
"What could we do?"  His voice was low, his hopes lower. Clearly, Lichenpaw hadn't thought this through. No, this was just another hero-type, ready to change the world without a plan or a means to achieve his goals. Thornpaw shifted away from the tom, turning his attention towards the leaders once more. "We're just two apprentices from two different clans."

Littlestar watched with an annoyed gaze and an irritated flick of her tail as several cats bickered among themselves. It wasn't really the bickering that irritated her though, it was the words that were spat from one tom's mouth.

"I'll never accept you as my leader. Not some cat as tiny and weak as you."

Such a hateful tom. I wonder how he got that way. She thought with a sad sort of pity. What did he think he had to prove? What a big strong warrior he was? She scoffed inwardly at the thought. Yeah, right. She was going to step up and stop the nonsense unfolding before her, but Brindlestar beat her to it. She listened appreciatively as the WindClan leader put an end to the quarreling and continued onto her clan report. Tinystar rose to speak next, and she perked her ears with interest. She hoped the small tom would put Sedgestrike in his place and prove his authority, and in her opinion, he did just that. He handled it with courage and confidence. As he moved on to and from the normal gathering stuff and into his next statement, she had to hide her shock. She didn't let any emotion seep through her neutral mask, but she did give Tinystar an encouraging smile as he took his place beside her and the others.

Soon, it was Jaystar who spoke, and then it was hers. The small she-cat rose to stand at the front of the rock before she let her voice carry out across the clearing. I would just like to start off by saying that stature in no way determines strength or weakness. Her blue gaze moved across the clearing until it bore into Sedgestrike. "Now, I give my deepest condolences to your clan on the loss of Poplarstar. His reign was too short." She meowed solemnly, bowing her head slightly. "I am sad to hear your removal from our alliance, Tinystar. I can't say that I'm not shocked, but I understand and respect your wishes. ShadowClan and SkyClan are no longer in an alliance." She meowed in what she hoped was a polite and diplomatic voice. She understood completely where he was coming from, and though she was sad to have lost an ally, she held no grudge or anger towards the decision. "ShadowClan is still doing well and growing steadily this Greenleaf. We have two new warriors among us: Daisyflame and Wildstrike. We also have several new apprentices: Rookpaw, Aspenpaw, Pumapaw, and Fallowpaw. Our nursery is full with kits and prey is running nicely." She spoke the news clearly and calmly before stepping back to join the other leaders.

Having finished his conversation with Daypaw, Rockpaw said his fairwells and looked around, wondering who to speak to next. Soon enough, his gaze fell upon a RiverClan apprentice (Lichenpaw), a clan cat who he had yet to speak with, so padding over to the tom, he gave a nod of greeting. "Hello, I'm Rockpaw of WindClan, who might you be?" the fluffy tom mewed with a smile.

Overhearing a young RiverClan tom speaking, with a few other apprentices jumping in, Snowpaw decided she wanted to add her two cents to the conversation as well. She padded over to the gathering cats, her tail flicking irritably. ”My denmate Beetlepaw and I are both old enough to become warriors — this should’ve been our debut night as warriors — but Leopardstar felt that we weren’t ready. What would a rogue know about whether an apprentice was ready or not anyway? If he were a true ThunderClan cat, we’d have been warriors moons ago! Why should we let impure cats control us when they don’t even know what it means to be a true Clan cat?”