January Gathering 2020

As had been the case for the past few moons, RiverClan was the first of the five clans to arrive. Torrentstar swept the empty clearing with his pale gaze, a cynical snarl twisting at his muzzle. The white rug StarClan had laid out across Fourtrees was still unblemished by pawsteps. Here we are again... Even without turning around, he could sense his clanmates stirring restlessly behind him. Gazes lingered hesitantly on the back of his head, stirring his dark-striped fur. He released a sigh, one of both exasperation and weariness. The RiverClan patrol this time was truly a pitiful sight. Apprentices aside, there were only a pawful of warriors. It was clear to anyone with half an eye that the island-dwellers had not been doing well. Leaf bare had always been rough, but their numbers had last dipped so low―at least, not in the tabby leader's lifetime. How many moons had it been since he had taken over leadership...? He had already stopped keeping count. Feathery tail sweeping low, just hovering above the ground, the tom headed for the Great Rock.

Honeytongue padded after her father in silence, her paws dragging through the snow that had build up in the clearing. There was no eager frolicking in the white wonderland, she barely had the energy to muster up a look of happiness. It was still so hard to wrap her mind around the death of Mudfrost, another cat she had loved who had left. They always left...She only had a pawful of those now and she couldn't deny the fear that rose in her throat at that thought - that they would suffer the same fate. That they would... She was to be the light for her Clan, to be strong but...How could she be strong for a Clan that felt like it barely existed now?

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she threw those doubts away. She...Had to focus on the here and now. It was a Gathering! She would be able to see her friends...A-At least they hadn't left her...Right? Her tail swished, a soft sigh escaping her as she sat down, wincing at the cold snow that clung to her flank, curling her tail around her in an effort to keep the warmth in. She...She hoped that whoever talked to her wouldn't ask her how she was doing. She knew she would have to lie, to pretend that things were fine for her. To be strong. ...She wasn't looking forward to it.

The moor seemed quieter as leafbare grew mediocre. Half of the clan had faced the snow and the chill before, and this season grew to resemble any other. It was a welcome change from the past events WindClan had faced. Finchstar found himself glad for the serenity and harmony that now lingered around camp. It did not come without sickness, however. The leader rubbed his nose with a paw as he fought of the coming whitecough. A rattle had begun to form in his throat, but it could not stop his smile. His friends followed behind him, splitting the snow with light paws. It seemed RiverClan had already made an appearance, Torrentstar on his way to the Great Rock.

"Torrentstar." Finchstar purred, flicking his tail in a greeting. "I do hope RiverClan is fairing well. How are you?" While waiting for a response, the tom let his golden eyes drift across the snow-laden clearing, watching as his clanmates merged with those of RiverClan. He blinked and wondered what the future would bring, imagining that their reactions could hold such decency. Shuffling his paws, Finchstar returned to gaze to Torrentstar, allowing a cool grin to slide across his face. "Shall we?" Finchstar leapt onto the Great Rock and smiled. Tonight would be a fine night.

Snow clung tightly to the silver deputy's pelt as she padded into the larger clearing, fluffing out her fur against the cold night air. Only a pawstep or two behind Torrentstar, she could hear the slight murmuring of her Clanmates behind her, the voices of the pawful of warriors chattering behind her. She let a soft sigh escape her, watching the small puff of steam dissipate into the air before continuing towards the great rock. She assumed her place beneath it, far off to the side so she hopefully wouldn't need to conversate with the rest of the deputies beyond the usual pleasantries that they shared.

Silently, she let her feathery tail sweep over her paws as she watched her Clanmates disperse, WindClan filing in behind her own. She was just ready to get the night over with so that she could continue her regular everyday duties as she usually did. She was tired, and yearned for the comfort of her nest, despite the absence of sleep.

As he padded into Fourtrees a tail-length behind Finchstar, Raventail decided he’d never fully appreciated how reassuring it was to enter a Gathering with a full Clan at his back. Last moon, he’d been too exhausted to care. All he remembered from that night was news of the war and of Leaftwirl. Tonight…to be honest, he was still preoccupied. With Dappleshine in the nursery, it was hard not to be. Unfortunately, short of feigning a sudden, aggressive bout of greencough (which Aspenheart would see through in an instant), there wasn’t much a deputy could do to justify missing a Gathering. Dappleshine knew how these things were supposed to go—as did Barleytuft, who’d chosen to stay home with her—but Raventail very much didn’t. What if something went wrong? What if the kits came early? What if the kits came while he was here? Granted, they wouldn’t be able to see or hear him for several sunups, and they probably wouldn’t remember, and he would make it up to them a thousand times over anyway, but—

Raventail inhaled. Held his breath. Let it out, slowly. Barleytuft would be there, along with plenty of other WindClanners who knew about kitting, herbs, or both. There was nothing to fear. WindClan and Finchstar needed him here physically and mentally. He’d have time to worry on the walk home. The dark tom strode to the base of the Great Rock and sat in his usual place, still alight with nervous energy. RiverClan had already arrived. On another night, Raventail might have dragged Ivybrook into conversation; tonight, he merely nodded, meowed a quiet ”Hey, Ivybrook,” and resumed looking outward over the clearing.

ooc: raventail is reserved for mossbloom

---

With every moon he spent sitting on the wrong side of Fourtrees (was it truly the wrong side, even now?), the ball of tension sitting in Lightfang’s stomach seemed to shrink. Only the pattern of his stripes and the silvery scars on his throat marked him beyond a doubt as Lightfang; if anyone had recognized him at the last Gathering, they hadn’t cared enough to point him out. WindClan’s crowd lacked the tension he’d felt so often while sitting among his fellow SkyClanners. Though he wouldn’t dare call himself relaxed, these nights were, inexplicably, getting easier.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was easy. But staying back in camp wasn’t an option. He had an apprentice to guide, for one thing. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Lightfang brushed his tail against said apprentice’s—Ferretpaw’s—side to get his attention. ”Remember, you can go anywhere within this clearing,” he meowed. Personally, he’d never strayed too far from SkyClan’s cluster of cats, and he kept to himself just as much as a WindClan resident, but he knew most cats tended to scatter throughout the crowd. Before everything, his own siblings had done that. ”Just be careful what you say.” He’d gone over the basics, which boiled down to don’t discuss the tunnels and don’t say anything Finchstar wouldn’t, on the walk there. With a flick of an ear, the pale tabby sat, tail curled around him as usual.

ooc: lightfang is open to talk!

Spiderpaw stepped into Fourtrees with a hesitant air about him. He wasn't scared; that would imply that there was something to be scared of in the first place, a notion he refused to entertain. No, he was simply overwhelmed. By his newfound role as a future medicine cat, by the death of a fellow RiverClan cat, even by just the amount of new scents and sounds in Fourtrees. Back in RiverClan, there was a kind of simplicity to it all. The gentle roar of the river as it flows through the forest, the splashing of water on rocks. The scents were the same, like the fish and pine trees were working in harmony to unite as that signature RiverClan smell. It clung to him even now, setting him apart from the WindClan cats in this oh-so foreign setting. Here, everything seemed far too big. The four oaks surrounding them, the amount of cats, the booming alarm calls of the many birds roused from their contentment by the arrival of the two Clans.It was almost too much for the comparably little tom.

Yet still he strode into the clearing, feigning conficence. He watched Torrentstar and Finchstar take their place upon the Great Rock, acting as reminders to both Clans that not everything was alien. They were still the same cats they had been before and would be after this Gathering. Spiderpaw smiled at the thought.

Olivepaw followed Finchstar and Raventail into the snow-covered clearing, genuinely excited at the prospect of seeing so many new cats. She noticed that WindClan wasn't the first clan here, and looked around, trying to get her bearings and figure out who to talk to. Suddenly, the idea was daunting. She forced her paws to keep moving, and looked around for her brother and the other WindClan apprentices. She was sure that the Gathering wouldn't be as overwhelming with them by her side.

Ferretpaw could barely believe that he was actually at a gathering. He felt so grown up, despite the fact that he was scarcely out of the nursery. He was at Fourtrees, surrounded by cats from... Well, for now it seemed to just be RiverClan but soon enough it would be all of the Clans. It was a little strange to be mingled with the other Clan, and Ferretpaw was excited to hear the leaders share their news. Of course, until then he could socialize!

The young tom nodded at Lightfang's directions. "I remember, thank you Lightfang."

He glanced around for anyone that looked closer to his own age to talk to, and his gaze rested on Spiderpaw. He looked young and unsure of himself enough that Ferretpaw figured he was a pretty new apprentice as well. The WindClan apprentice made eye contact with his sister, and flicked his tail to signal Olivepaw to join him.

"Hello!" he chirped, strolling up to Spiderpaw, "I'm Ferretpaw. What's your name?"

Relieved to have a cue, she followed Ferretpaw over to the RiverClan apprentice. It was always nice to have her brother by her side.

"I'm Olivepaw! Nice to meet you!"

Spotlake padded into the clearing behind the other Windclan cats. Her first gathering as a warrior. It was so exciting. Windclan was actully one of the first clans here. That mean't she could pick a good spot instead of weaving through a crowd of cats.

She glanced around until she found a spot close to the front. She padded towards it and sat down. Spotlake scanned the clearing for a cat to talk to as she weaved her tail around her paws.

OOC: Spotlake is open to talk to.

Spiderpaw jumped a bit, not having seen Ferretpaw before he spoke, but smiled albeit nervously and turned to face him. "Uh, hi Ferretpaw! I'm Spiderpaw." deciding he would get it out of the way now, he added "Before you ask, no I don't have mange or greencough or something. My pelt is just kinda thin I guess. Sorry if you weren't going to ask anyway, just in case you were wondering though." He spoke fast, a bit uncomfortable, but happy to have someone to talk to his age. He never really hit it off with anyone from RiverClan, possibly on account of the fact that there weren't many cats to hit it off with in the first place.

Looking to Olivepaw as she joined the other WindClan apprentice, he greeted her and introduced himself again. Then, he attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what's WindClan like? Do you swim?" He cocked his head a bit at that last part. He'd always been told that the other Clans didn't swim, but it was hard for him to picture Clan life without it despite his relative ineptitude at it.

Olivepaw cocked her head to the side at Spiderpaw’s spiel about his thin pelt. She hadn’t noticed, and didn’t plan on mentioning it. With a shrug, she thought about swimming question. She tried to imagine swimming, and couldn’t grasp the idea of it, though she knew RiverClan cats did. The idea of willingly getting a wet pelt mystified her.

”No, we don’t swim. We run! It’s so nice to feel the wind blowing through your fur as you tear across the moors. There are no trees to dodge around, so you can run as fast as you want!”

Goldengale padded into the clearing of Fourtrees along with WindClan, feeling more confident in her steps. As she had practiced more and more, becoming more steady on her paws, she had found herself losing control of them less. Of course, it still happened more often than the proud she-cat would ever admit, in fact she had just had an episode earlier that day, needing to wait for the feeling to return slowly to her paws, but not a soul knew.

If Aspenheart found out, he would never have let her leave the medicine den, let alone camp to go to Fourtrees. So, she had stayed quiet. She was certain her father and brother were picking up on the extent of the issues she was facing, but she didn't want to be left behind... She wouldn't be left behind. She couldn't let them down, not like that. Choosing a spot at the edge of the clearing, she laid out comfortably on the ground. This way if her paws lost feeling, she'd already be on the ground and it wouldn't be noticeable. Looking around, she searched the crowd for Clovertwist, he was around here somewhere, wasn't he? Barleytuft had stayed back with the previously RiverClan cat... She still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that whole situation, but at least Raventail seemed happy.

OOC: Goldengale is available to talk to!

Crowpaw bounded into the clearing after his mother, tail twitching in earnest. Gatherings were exciting, and he was sure he would find someone to talk to! Odd eyes bright, he scanned the crowd, clearly looking for an interesting cat to speak with. Maybe he’d find another Clan apprentice, and they could have a little harmless fun.

Crowpaw is open for conversation! And also open for a little mischief-making