February Gathering 2020

Flintshard stood at the cusp of one of the slopes, staring down at the blissfully empty clearing. ShadowClan stood behind him - Thornstar nowhere in sight as she had been left in the camp. She was in no condition to make the trip, having fallen ill. It had taken much convincing to let the deputy take the burden for the night -  besides, she could use the peace and quiet and the deputy was more than ready to deal with whatever...Feelings the other leaders may have toward ShadowClan. He spared a glance behind him, looking at the cats that had come with him before he nodded his head and led them into the clearing.

His pawsteps where quick, listening to the crunching of the icy ground beneath him until he reached the base of the Great Rock. He came to a halt as he stared up at it, relieved that his leg was healed as he crouched and sprung upwards, managing to made his way into the rock. It was cold and slippery beneath his paws, claws digging into the thin ice in hopes of some sort of grip as he carefully sat down for the first time ever on the rock. He took the moment to glance down at the clearing, wondering how things would sound from up here. It hadn't been pleasant last time, the sounds had been worst with the backing of the great rock behind him - but perhaps being above the noise would be a welcome change for once, even if it would only last until Thornstar was ready to return to her duties.

This was perhaps the first gathering in her life where Mothglow found herself dreading the arrival of the other Clans - and, in particular, her fellow medicine cats. Still, she sat in her usual place and pretended like nothing was wrong, and in the meantime she wondered if the silent stars would choose to remain so - she could only hope, knowing that the tentative peace that bound the Clans together was much like a rapidly fraying thread that threatened to snap at any opportunity, but StarClan had proven unpredictable now, and so anything was possible. Please, she thought to herself, just let us have this one night. One night where we can all pretend nothing is really wrong, and I can feel like the only thing I have to worry about is choosing an apprentice!

Trotting into the gathering behind Flintshard, Tulippaw gazed around in awe. The clearing hadn't yet been filled with the other clans, which created even more excitement for the older apprentice. She couldn't wait to see the other clans and maybe even talk to some of their clanmates, what a night!

OOC: Tulippaw is free to chat~

Gazing at the clearing from just beyond the great oak trees, Ivybrook stood silently, not even her whiskers twitching as she did took in the silence surrounding her. Soon the clearing would be filled with the nonstop chattering as it always did every full moon, something Ivybrook had grown to detest over the moons. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, beckoning her Clanmates to do the same with a flick of her feathery tail. She hadn’t even looked to see if Torrentstar would be attending the gathering, but simply led her Clan from camp to Fourtrees.

The past moon had been filled with dread, along with new obstacles that came along with all but leading the Clan on her own. Naming a new deputy felt pointless, as Torrentstar could be resuming his own duties any sunrise now. The help, however, was much needed. Shaking her head slightly, she slipped around the few ShadowClanners who had already made their appearance, leaping on top of the rock. She managed a curt nod to Flintshard before settling down, not bothering with small talk or pleasantries.

Honeytongue quietly followed after Ivybrook, her head down as she nervously stepped into the clearing proper. It was hard to shake the events of the last one from her memories, the feelings of that night swelling inside of her before she took in a deep breath and continued forward. She knew she could have stayed back at the camp, that nobody would have blamed her for remaining curled up in her nest but... The warning from the last Gathering still lingered as well and she had to see if there was any more news on what StarClan had meant in their final warning. She...She hoped that everybody would be okay. She settled down in the snow, curling her tail around her as she waited for the other Clans to arrive.

Flintshard straightened up slightly as another Clan arrived, quickly realizing that it was RiverClan but there was no sign of the leader. Instead, it was the deputy...Ivybrook, was it? He believed he recalled her being spoken to by an angry she-cat in the last Gathering. It was curious that Torrentstar was nowhere to be seen but RiverClan in whole seemed...Displeased, by the actions of their leader. Perhaps he was lucky that most of ShadowClan seemed at ease by his mother's role in events - minus Asterspark and a couple other cats from what he had heard around the camp. He dipped his head in acknowledgement as Ivybrook joined him, truly a sign that she was leading RiverClan for the night. A huff of pleasure escaped him as she said not a single word in his direction, simply taking her spot. Good, he wasn't eager to make small-talk himself and could respect somebody who wanted not to waste words when it wasn't needed.

OOC: Honeytongue is open, but may not be super talkative due to situation.

It had been a long moon for Oakstar. He led his clan to the ridge over looking the gathering place with some trepidation as he glanced back at his clanmates. His gaze fell to his daughter with a smile, then his mate. Houndheart couldn’t be here, but at least he was in camp and safe, unlike his predecessor. He turned to face the cats below, a flicker of uncertainty in his vision before he pushed it back and lead the way down the clearing with a flick of his tail.

He padded over to the great rock. His amber eyes blinked at Flintshard and Ivybrook who sat there in place of their leaders. That… did not bode well. He frowned, then leapt up onto the rock. Concern for his other two leaders after their transgressions last gathering.

"...Where are Torrentstar… and Thornstar? Are they alright?" He asked in concern as he looked towards each of them.

Cherrypaw followed Oakstar into the clearing, taking her time to absorb all the sights and sounds of the moonlit clearing before it filled up too much further. She glanced over the two Clans that had already arrived, and judging by the scents, were RiverClan and ShadowClan. She tried to memorizes faces, though she likely wouldn't know names, for future reference.
The tension in the air prickled at her fur, and she tried to figure out why, having not known about the events of the previous Gathering. Is it because of the prophecy? Is that why all of the warriors seem to be on edge tonight?
Shaking her head, she tried to find any other apprentices that seemed open for conversation, and her gaze landed on Tulippaw. She approached and greeted her with a grin.
"Hi! I'm Cherrypaw."

(OOC: Cherrypaw is talking to Tulippaw, but she's still open for others to join the conversation!)

Hearing some-cats voice approach, Tulippaw turned to see some-cat standing next to her. With a smile that wide, she looked friendly enough, but even so... was she allowed to trust other clan cats? Neither her father nor any of her clanmates had really prepared her for conversations with other clan memebers... but seeing as though other cats were chatting amongst themselves, she assumed no hard could come of entertaining small talk.

"Hello there, I'm Tulippaw of ShadowClan. Who are you?"

Applepaw padded into the clearing, following his deputy. He looked around, full of awe. His first gathering would certainly be interesting. He looked around, for another apprentice to talk too.

Cedarpaw followed Oakstar into the gathering, sitting close to Smudgepaw. She looked around for other people to interact with.

Daisypaw was nervous. She didn’t want StarClan to reject her in front of all the cats. She was half-clan, and she couldn’t stop looking at the Shadowclan cats, wondering which were her kin.

(All 3 are open to talk)

Goldenpaw followed her deputy and mentor into Fourtrees, completely oblivious to the events that had transpired there just a moon ago. This was her first Gathering, since she'd been stuck in camp for the last one. Finally a chance to go outside camp, to mingle with other cats, to learn about all the goings-on of all the other Clans. She sat down near her brother Tulippaw, looking around for someone to chat with.
OOC: Goldenpaw is open!

Cedarpaw padded up to the Shadowclan apprentice. ”Hello!” She mewed brightly. ”I’m Cedarpaw of Thunderclan.” She introduced herself, wanting to make a new friend. She seemed about the same age as her. My first gathering and I’m already making friends!

Goldenpaw looked at the she-cat that had approached her. "Hi! I'm Goldenpaw, ShadowClan. What's ThunderClan like? Who's your leader? Oh, nevermind, I know. Oakstar. What do you hunt? Do you ever eat frogs? Is there anyone you fancy?" A barrage of questions was thrown at Cedarpaw.

Cedarpaw smiled. This she-cat was pretty similar to her. ”Well, we eat a lot of squirrels, and other land prey like that. Sometimes birds. But no frogs. And ummm...” her voice dropped to a whisper. ”Don’t tell anyone, but I like Smudgepaw.” She blushed. ”What about you? What do you eat? Is there anyone that you like? What about your leader? Thornstar?”

Smudgepaw watched as cedarpaw padded off and wondered if he could be as social as her. He noticed she was talking to a Shadowclan apprentice so he padded up hearing the last of Cedarpaw’s sentence “thornstar?”. He stood next to cedarpaw and just smiled at the apprentice to shy to talk.


(>:3)