October Gathering 2019

Spottedleap entered the gathering with a sense of apprehension that he hadn't felt since his apprenticeship. It was like his first gathering all over again, except now he was in a place of rank instead of a nobody surrounded by strangers. Plus, his mate had been left behind at camp. She was pregnant and SkyClan didn't want another incident like last moon. The thrill of excitement at being a father was great, but Spottedleap was more concerned with the gathering for the moment. He lingered in the crowd for a few moments, making sure Foxpaw and his conversation group were getting on well, then followed Tinystar to the Great Rock. It was weird to be at the front. Finchstar was there but Raventail was not. Similarly, Ivybrook had not yet made her appearance even though Torrentstar had. He noticed a new she-cat at the base of the rock. Thornbriar's new deputy? Looked like they already had something in common. "Hey. I'm Spottedleap, new deputy of SkyClan." He started awkwardly. Tinystar would explain Mistyrain's death later on.

Dawngaze watched Dacepaw hurry to the front with her gift. Her apprentice's insistence at bringing the rock had been puzzling and even a little bit amusing. RiverClan had strange customs, Dawngaze decided. There was no sense in discouraging such a harmless act. Perhaps she ought to look down on actions that strengthened ties with non-ThunderClan cats, but when she really thought about it, the hardened she-cat realized that she had a bit of a soft spot for the sweet apprentice and had no desire to quash her innocent heart. Torrentstar already did that at the last gathering.

Stormbringer followed her leader into the gathering. She was a warrior now. She had more authority than before at least that is what her mind told her. Was she ever going to use that? Probably not. Of course her pride in being a new warrior was through the roof. She held her head high. Ready to show the gathering groups that she was strong. Her amber gaze landed on the Shadowclan leader, at first the strange looking shape that clung to her pelt but then to her face. Stormbringer couldn't find it in herself to look away. Amber eyes narrowed towards Thornstar, her gaze remaining on the leader. Unknowingly starting a stare down.


Ploverpuddle followed Finchstar at a bit of a distance. The fluffy gray tom could tell his leader was burdened with Raventail's disappearance. All of Windclan was but being the leader Finchstar had to face a lot more issues especially being close to the other leaders. They would be able to tell if there was weakness, not that he thought Finchstar would let it show. Even if he had only been back in Windclan for a couple moons the newly named warrior trusted his leader to get them through this situation they were in.



Flowerpaw followed close by Foxpaw. Her blue eyes keeping an eye on Sagelight. If it wasn't for those two cats she probably wouldn't have come to the gathering. She didn't like the fact that her mentor wasn't here.. She was dead.. The white apprentice would much rather be in camp in her nest but she had to make sure her friends did well at their first gatherings. Maybe Foxpaw would make some new friends. Hopefully Sagelight wasn't too nervous to be on his own..

(Ploverpuddle and Flowerpaw are open for conversation.)

Redwing shouldn't have been surprised when a cat came to talk to her, but she was anyway. She didn't recognize him... but he did smell like SkyClan, and Mistyrain was nowhere to be seen. Was he the new deputy? The tom came up and confirmed her suspicions- Spottedleap. Nice name. He seemed just as nervous as she was, the poor tom, and he was maybe half her age. A pang of sympathy reached her heart, and her tensed muscles relaxed slightly. This tom was nothing to be worried about. "Nice to meet you, Spottedleap," she meowed solemnly, though her face was kind. "I'm Redwing, and I'm ShadowClan's deputy now as you've probably guessed. It feels... weird, doesn't it? Like I'm in someone else's spot and I'm just waiting for them to take it back from me." Her forest-green eyes looked into the tom's, then off into the distance. Poppyheart was sitting in the crowd like normal, with his brother and Thornstar's kits. Poor Rowanpaw looked so alone... What was he even doing? "I don't like it here," she found herself whispering, shivering a little as she felt the eyes of the Gathering on her. Scrutinizing. Judging. Wondering. "I'd rather be with the rest of my Clan..."


Pricklebush glanced at the Greatrock as he padded into the Gathering, and almost stopped in his tracks. Two new deputies? And Thornbriar still up there. Why couldn't the forest have peace and quiet for a few moments? He sighed, shook off his pelt, and sat down with the other medicine cats. He didn't feel much like interacting tonight, just glad that Mossbloom had plenty of cats to talk to. Medicine cats were honestly obsolete at these Gatherings, anyway, except for when a queen randomly kitted or one of the senior medicine cats intervened with a prophecy or something. Maybe, if they were all lucky, nothing of the sort would happen and they could have a regular, boring night. As an apprentice he'd craved conflict and fighting... now, honestly, he just wanted a nap. Peace would be good too, amazing actually, but he'd settle for a nap.

Rowanpaw didn't say much, just dipping her head in greeting. She let Shadepaw do most the talking, Shadepaw was good at that. Not really commenting, but not willing to go away and be a loner by herself, she just lingered, only interrupting to give Shadepaw a nudge when she was giving too much away about their territory. Foxpaw seemed nice, but he was in another clan.

-

Stormpaw followed his father into the gathering, bouncing around as he entered the clearing with glee. He loved coming to gatherings and getting to know everyone, particularly the older warriors in other clans. He loved watching them all, guessing how they fought and what their backstories for all their scars were. He came up with these elaborate stories in his head. If only he could get one to talk to him though.

OOC: Storm and Rowan are both open to getting dragged into a conversation.

Thank StarClan, the tom she had bumped into responded brightly, offering her a grin. Returning it, her own tail flicked behind her as he shuffled slightly, pulling his tail on closer. Fox dung, he had noticed her glance. His air of self-conscious seemed to disappear some as she shared her name, and in that Mossbloom took relief. Laughing at his teasing, she purred. "It is, very nice in fact!" She held still while he leaned forward, sniffing the fur around her cheeks. As her eyes were out of view of his, her eyes traced the scars on his back, narrowing slightly. Those must have been some terrible wounds, when they first happened. She was glad the young tom was alright now, to still be standing after receiving wounds like that... He was a tough one, this tom.

Moments later he sat back, the grin still on his face. It was contagious, really, and for just a few moments Mossbloom felt as though she might be able to enjoy just speaking to a cat at the Gathering. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She teased, playfulness glittering in her green eyes. "After all, if you tell me I smell like Aspenheart I might have to groom for a moon!" She looked towards the base of the rock in the middle of the clearing and paused, watching Aspenheart where he spoke with Sagelight. "Yes, I am. At least, I consider him a friend, he's not very emotionally touchy-feely with that kind of stuff, that I can tell. He doesn't seem to hate me though, so yeah, we're friends in my eyes. Are you?"

---

Dappleshine's gaze remained on the odd shade of green on the wrong side of Thornstar's face. "Hmm.... It is hard not to notice, she's not hurting because of it, is she? Wait, woke up? From what?" Her mind had immediately gone to a normal morning - well, evening, in ShadowClan's case - and the confusion was clear. "New name? What happened?"

Ever so quietly she stepped into the clearing, white paws only little patters over the leaves. Duskpaw had seen Fourtrees before, and yet something else was on her mind tonight. Her sister had been killed by a beast, ripped open by a fox. She had not survived life as Emberheart did, and now she had no stories to tell. What a cruel thing it was, to be killed without reason. It only solidified the terror in Duskpaw's head of all the beasts in the world. Fighting one made for a tale, and yet dying by one ended a life. She gazed up at the leaders, moon framing their shapes. Perhaps that was why stories were so exciting, they were dangerous. The idea would make Duskpaw grin, had she not been determined to now avenge her sister. Tonight she'd need to learn to fight. And the next night, and the night after that. The concept of life itself was a vast one, and yet Duskpaw wanted to achieve Emberheart's immeasurable feat. She wanted to survive, and she wanted to kill those who didn't deserve to. There was a line there, one the cream-gray apprentice wasn't yet experienced enough to draw. All she knew was the worms of the ground and the leaves on the trees. Still, her green eyes remained wide as they swept the clearing. She would live, and tonight, she would learn. Her paws set course toward the thinner warriors on the far side of the rock. Houndpaw and Dacepaw were busy talking to others, but Duskpaw had her own questions to ask. Countless inquiries. The cats on this side of the clearing had lots of scars, ones they didn't have last moon. They looked tired like Beartooth did. Curious, she padded to a tortishell tom whose leg was missing. This part almost made her giggle through her woes. He must have seen many, many battles. "Hello." Duskpaw mewed, tone steady. Without waiting for an invitation, she sat down next to the tom, tail curled around her paws as she stared. "Have you ever fought a beast? Teach me how to kill them please."

ooc: Duskpaw is speaking with aspen's Elmskip

"Considering the last few Gatherings, I doubt she'll explain much," Mothpaw mused. "So it won't matter much if I say anything. Scorchstar..." she started, trailing off. "Well, there were foxes... And, he... Well, Thornstar is leader of ShadowClan now," she explained, still unable to bring herself to state that her father had died. She had been there, she had grieved and moved forward; wasn't it enough? Well, no... There was no forgetting it, she supposed, not when he'd been the leader of ShadowClan all her life... Until now, at least. "If it bothers her then she hasn't let on at all; but knowing her, I doubt she would say anything if it was."

Foxpaw tilted his head as he listened to Shadepaw, taking note of what she was saying. To be fair, he hadn’t actually ever seen the ShadowClan territory and had only been going off of what whispers he had heard from the camp. If it wasn’t as marshy as he had thought, perhaps it wasn’t too strange that cats could prefer that type of territory...But he was more than happy to keep his paws on solid, hard ground.

“You are really interested in these kits, aren’t you?” he noted with a soft smile, giving a soft shake of his head in amusement. “Their names are Basilkit, Amberkit and Silkkit. They are cute little bugs for sure…” he added, before blinking, realizing it might be smart to explain his nickname for them. “...They really seem to like bugs - or at least Basilkit does so I’ve started to refer to her and her siblings as bugs. Certainly are small enough to count...”

------------------------

Flintpaw’s claws dug into the soft ground as he tried to fight off the pounding headache that was steadily growing inside his head. “Mud reached up to their neck - Not sure I want to go back - Lighten up a little - But I think it cannot be… - You ever fought a beast? - Their names are…” It was overwhelming, his brain shifting between picking up different pieces of the conversations that filled the air around him. Being in the middle of the clearing, there was no escape for him...Until he scooted slightly to the side and pressed his face against Lynxscar’s pelt.

“Its loud,” he grumbled, glaring out at every cat around the pair as if they had personally offended him. He didn’t know why is head was hurting, why he seemed to be the only cat that found all the talking to be painful. How could anybody here stand all the chatter, not be overwhelmed? His eyes searched for one cat, a single cat who seemed to be in the same nest as him but there was nothing - everybody looked fine. Why were they fine? Why did it hurt? He didn’t make a sound as he simply looked annoyed as he fought off the headache that made it hard to focus on the conversations he couldn’t escape.

The unexpected nudge from Rowanpaw almost knocked Shadepaw off her paws. "Hey!" She shook her head "so.. they like bugs? Hm..." She made a note to herself that if she had kits in the future help them 'look for bugs' "I expected them to be apprentices by now.. but I haven't been checking up on time so what am I to say?" She giggled to herself.

Mistlepaw padded into the Gathering alongside Riverclan, head high and shoulders squared. She was beginning to recover from the havoc that wreaked her clan and family for the past moon, and finally putting her grief behind her. Her tears did not bring back the dead, and neither did her suffering. She had a duty to perform, and spending her days wallowing inside the medicine den was not apart of it. She had to make their deaths mean something, so she used it as motivation to keep going and fulfill the destiny Starclan had presented before her. 

It had been a while since she had a proper conversation with another cat, so the sole Riverclan medicine cat was more than eager to have one tonight. As she made her way towards the other medicine cats, a cat with long dilute calico fur rushed past her. For a split second, her heart fluttered at the possibility that she had just seen her mother, but then she remembered that she was dead. That cat couldn't have been Hailsong, so who were they? As much as she wanted to find out, she had to find the other healers. With a heavy sigh and a last glance at the direction the cat disappeared, she joined the small congregation of medicine cats. "It's nice to see you guys, again," she meowed, taking a seat beside Mothpaw. 

ooc; mistlepaw is technically reserved for dacepaw, but is open to chat with the medicine cats for a bit <3

~~~

Swallowflight followed closely behind his brothers on their way to the Gathering, but ended up getting separated from them anyway. His recent illness rendered him weaker and slower than his brothers, so he wasn't all that surprised when they disappeared into the crowd. Still, something about being away from them made his fur stand on end. He couldn't quite put his paw on it yet but...he felt strongly that he needed to be by their sides no matter what. That if they got separated, some disaster would occur and they would leave him. So the cream tabby shoved through the crowd despite his body begging him to take a break until he finally spotted the silhouettes of Lightfang and Burningsun. They were an adorable couple...Swallowflight had been rooting for them from the start. He chuckled to himself, muscles relaxing as he padded up to greet them. He stopped dead in his tracks, though, when he saw exactly who they were talking to.

The flame colored pelt and bright amber eyes was what immediately signaled to him that he was only a few tail lengths away from his former-littermate. She had new scars alongside the one across her eye, the scar he gave her. "Good. It stayed," he thought bitterly, hackles raising as he approached. He protectively stood on the opposite side of his younger brother, copper eyes staring daggers into Delta's flank. The words he had said to her all those moons ago still remained: the minute she chose to leave them, she revoked her place in the family. He couldn't admit though that it was nice to see that she was still somewhat safe and sound..

ooc; swallowflight is reserved for cardinalpaw (kade) lightfang (rhindon) burning (stags) and maybe sandblaze (grizz)

Right behind Torrentstar, Ivybrook padded into Fourtrees with a stony look mounted onto her features. She was still having trouble seeing through her left eye, and the cut pulled at her face whenever she moved, even slightly. It had been hardly two sunrises since the fight with the owl and the strange SkyClan tom, and the wound had done nothing but get worse since that time. Shifting her gaze to the base of the Great Rock as she moved toward it, Ivybrook tried her best not to let her expression change as she saw not one, but two new faces. One, she assumed, had to be Thornstar's new deputy, as it was impossible that the bulky she-cat had gone that long without one. The other, she wasn't entirely sure about. There were no leaders missing from atop the Great Rock from the Clans that had already arrived, and so she was left wondering what Clan this spotted tom must be from- until she heard what the two of them were speaking about. "Spottedleap. SkyClan's deputy, you say?" She didn't bother with pleasantries or greetings, and she spared nothing but a curt nod to the ginger furred deputy on her other side. "In your Clan, is there a tom, pale fur, particularly lanky with large ears and thin legs?"

Lynxtail padded slowly into the gathering, his eyes trained on his paws. He couldn't avoid his warrior duties forever.
Still, he almost winced at the familiar sight of the Great Rock. Leopardstar should be there... He quickly returned his gaze towards the leaf-strewn ground, swerving away from his clanmates. It was draining to spend time with most of them. Ferretnose was the only cat who's company he could stand, but he didn't even know if she was here...
The young tom stopped short. He stared up at the Great Rock, his hackles rising unbidden. He used to wait here for Sparkfrost before... before he joined Thunderclan.
Sparkfrost had never attended a gathering as a member of Thunderclan.
Lynxtail briskly wrestled his mind into silence and trotted away from the stone, his tufted ears pinned flat against his head. He sat down near the back of the gathering, apart from everybody else, eager to leave.

Lynxtail is open for conversation!

Cardinalpaw grinned even wider when she found that nearly everyone was there. "Oh, Scorchedbird! These are my brothers! And also Burninglight. Guys, this is Scorchedbird!" For a flying second, she felt happy. And then she opened her eyes. An angry Swallowflight. She refused to let his apparent hated ruin her, though. "Hi, Swallowflight!" She said, her usual happy way. "Been a while, ain't it?" Cardinal twined her tail in Scorchedbird's. "Thornstar's making me go through apprenticeship again, but I guess that's okay. Because I get it now, you know?" She nuzzled her brothers back.

Sandblaze blinked back the tears that threatened his eyes. To see his sister so happy filled him with glee. Maybe now, he could finally rest. But, oh, the secrets he had to tell. In an instant, he decided that Cardinalpaw didn't need to know. At least not tonight. There was cause for celebration. She had found her own way. Why was he not that brave?

And then, of course, she approached Swallowflight. He watched the interaction warily, not willing to jump between some stupid fight. Relations with the other clans were already so strained as it were, and he couldn't bear to watch them snap at each other. Of course, Cardinalpaw's joyousness prevailed. "Swallowflight," Sandblaze said kindly, "I think we should all be very happy to see our flesh and blood alive and well, even if we're apart. She has a mate, and a chance at a new life. Maybe you should talk to her about that."

---

Aspenheart listened quietly, with a sinking feeling filling his gut. Where had that crazy old bat gone? Was she safe? He bit his tongue, remembering a dream he had long ago. It was only a matter of time before she finally snapped. She was nothing like Finchstar, his mentor before the accident. She was tough and silent. It was the kind of teacher he needed in that time. Maybe he was giving her too much credit. She was flawed. Very flawed. He looked at her through the eyes of a young tom desperate for a way out. Now, the shininess of his messiah was dulling. In the end, he'd still pray for her. He shuffled closer at Sagelight's request.

"Sorry," he said gently. "I know she was problematic, and she wasn't always the best for your clan. I hope Mossbloom teaches you well, since she's somewhat a friend of mind. Be better than Mintwhisker, alright, fluff?" He cleared his throat to address the medicine cats sitting near him. "This is Mistystripe, daughter of Barleytuft and Graybriar. She's my apprentice, as commanded by StarClan or whatever. She's doing pretty well. Mistystripe, everybody. Everybody, Mistystripe. Introduction over. Now somebody put me out of my misery before somebody reveals some grand secret for the fourth time in a season."

It was at that moment that he saw Mossbloom speaking to Cloverpaw, and he groaned in anguish at all the embarrassing things he was probably telling her. He knew too much. Aspenheart briefly considered throwing his full body weight at the apprentice to keep him from speaking any further. His ear tips grew hot. Don't tell her about the spiders.

---

Ferretnose was at the tail end of ThunderClan's beeline. Her mind was on Hazelpaw. Speaking with Mossbloom had been a lovely blessing on her mind, but she still felt the melancholy of grief. She had many friends, many trusted cats to speak with, but for the first time she just wanted to be alone. It seemed like Lynxtail had a similar idea.

"May I be alone next to you?" she said, a little smile drifting slowly across her maw as she sat. "I hate times like this. The whole forest is focused on stupid rivalries and my apprentice is dead. The clouds keep moving. The sun still spins. Life goes on." She curled her tail around her large paws. "I miss him too. He was a good leader. He was right to bring you three along. In any case, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. We can just sit and be quiet, if you'd like."

Mistwalker nudged Grayleaf back, letting an ever so slight smile come to his face. "As Oakstar's son and a dignified warrior, it is my duty to set a good expectation for ThunderClan. It is a peaceful night of sharing tongues, not of rowdy playing such as a kit. That is why kits stay in camp." He licked his paw. "However, I may be able to make an exception for the one I love, and as such..." He rubbed his head against Grayleaf, letting his posture droop.