February Gathering 2020

Cherrypaw perked up as Jaypaw approached, hoping that he'd be able to pacify Vixenpaw without the urge to smack their wayward sister. Her ears flattened again and hopes plummeted as Jaypaw's barbed tongue threw yet another rude comment into the fray.
Am I the only one with sense around here? I'm definitely going to smack them both when we get home!
"Jaypaw, can't you just be nice, for the love of StarClan?"
She lashed her tail, now thoroughly embarrassed by not just Vixenpaw, but Jaypaw too.

---

Olivepaw flattened her ears at the barbed comment, but pointedly kept her mouth shut, as to not provoke more comment from either of the two unfriendly arrivals.
At least they're not insulting Driftingpaw anymore...

Sagelight padded into the clearing alongside his dear brother and nephew, steeling himself for the uncomfortable amount of sights and sounds that went on during a Gathering. He really preferred not to go to these but after what happened at the last Gathering, he figured he shouldn't miss this one. The medicine cat looked back towards Honeypaw to make sure she was following him, then headed towards the other medicine cats at the base of the rock. "Hello, everyone!" he greeted with a slight purr to his voice, excited to introduce his new apprentice. He tapped Honeypaw on the shoulder with his tail. "This is my niece Honeypaw, SkyClan's newest medicine cat apprentice! Imagine me, a mentor! It feels like just yesterday I was picking herbs with Mossbloom!"

---

Rookpaw followed the rest of ShadowClan, plodding in next to her sister Tulippaw. They were the first Clan in the clearing, she noted. Good, it meant she wouldn't have to fight for a spot with an apprentice from another Clan. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Naturally she would be better and stronger than them...They probably all smelled bad. The large dark apprentice hung around her more social sister, lurking as her sibling struck up conversations when other Clans began to stream in.


OOC: Rookpaw is open to talk to!

Beepaw squeaked as Vixenpaw collided with the RiveClan tom... Driftinpaw! Yeah, that was his name! It was nearly funny until Vixenpaw began wildly barking in her usual manner. She was an enigma to Beepaw, a cat who generally allowed others to push him hither and fro, content to not get in anybody's way. Vixenpaw had a real knack for getting in cats' way, in comparison. All of a sudden, the group was surrounded by Beepaw's cousins, all chattering over each other. The huge tom whipped around, ears picking up in incoming argument. Oh, brother! Not in front of the other clans! "Awe, Cherrypaw, relax!" he whined, trying in great vain to soothe her rage.

Not to mention the rules of the Gathering, which were eloquently explained to him by Duskrain. Jaypaw and Vixenpaw couldn't be so dumb that they'd try and pick a fight here, could they? "Alright, bat-breaths," Beepaw murmured playfully, shuffling his shoulders a little taller. "Jaypaw, you know how dumb you look trying to start fights at a Gathering? Olivepaw's gonna be a warrior soon, genius. Nettlefire should reassign your mentor if that's how your training is going. Vixenpaw, you don't smell like roses either, anyway!" Beepaw smirked, a devious glint taking precedence on his face as he reveled in his own teasing. There was a deeper fear to be had in his quick shutdown; after the urban legend that had formed around the last Gathering, he wasn't keen on igniting the rage of the stars. Of course, that wasn't something he could just say out loud!

ooc: technically they're his nieces and nephews but cousins sounds a lot better lol

Olivepaw let out a little breath of relief at Beepaw's attempt to de-escalate the situation, and couldn't help but sit up a little straighter when Beepaw mentioned the fact that she was almost a warrior. She nodded along as he mentioned her, a grateful smile appearing despite the tension.

---

Cherrypaw took a deep breath and let it out, trying to quell the irritation inside her. There was no point in squabbling in front of the other Clans, even if her siblings were asking for it.
They still have thistledown for brains, and I'm still definitely gonna smack them when we get back to camp though...

Honeypaw gulped nervously as she entered Fourtrees with her Clan. This would be her first Gathering as a medicine cat apprentice of SkyClan, and while it did fill her with a touch of pride, it mainly made her feel incredibly anxious. What if the rest of the medicine cats didn't like her? What if they didn't think she was worthy of being one of them? What would she do if they rejected her? Would she be able to do anything about it? Would Sagelight? What was she going to--

She suddenly realized with a jolt when she heard Sagelight beginning to speak aloud that she had followed him over to where the other medicine cats were gathered. She whimpered and pressed herself close to her uncle, looking at the other cats nervously. Her eyes locked with Mossbloom the longest, remembering the happiest day of her kithood when she had been allowed to tag along with her and Sagelight while they gathered herbs. Ultimately, she couldn't keep even her gaze for long, staring timidly down at her paws and curling her tail around herself. "H-Hello," she squeaked, near-inaudibly.

Poppypaw had been enjoying the murmur of voices, making a mental note of the names that were spoken. It would be a good idea to get to know those near her age in the other Clans, after all, they had a lot of gatherings together in their future! Of course, they could potentially be fighting one day...But she didn't want to think about that. They all seemed so nice!

Well, they had seemed so nice! Poppypaw's eyes widened as Vixenpaw barreled into Driftingpaw, and her fur began to bristle as the ThunderClan apprentice began to go on a tirade. Not only was she angry at Driftingpaw for no good reason, but she was being utterly cruel. Poppypaw got to her paws, drawing herself as tall as she could make herself. She could distantly hear others putting in their opinions, but there was a rush of blood in her ears as her anger filled her.

"Excuse me? You're the one traipsing in here all high and mighty not paying any attention to your own paws, you knocked my friend over, and you have the audacity to insult him?! If anything stinks, it's your attitude!" She spat.


Ferretpaw caught a whiff of ShadowClan scent and turned, hope rising in his chest. He quickly realized it wasn't Petalpaw, but it was another ShadowClan apprentice. He sighed softly to himself, but figured he was getting no where just wandering about like a lost apprentice at his first gathering. Trotting over to Rookpaw, he offered a friendly smile.

"Hello. I'm Ferretpaw. How's the prey running on your side of the Thunderpath?"

Oakstar turned his head as he saw a flash of orange and white in the corner of his vision. Finchstar. He opened his jaws to greet the other tom, but he was beaten to the punch by the question. He winced in displeasure.
"I’m afraid they did. StarClan… is changing I suppose." Oakstar replied, settled with his tail wrapped around his paws. "I will not throw out my perfectly good cats just because of origins. Perhaps in time, StarClan will realise being separated from their families is punishment enough and let it be."

He turned to the familiar gold and spotted cat that leapt up after Finchstar.
"Greetings Spottedstar. I don’t suppose your medicine cat received the same message, did they?" He asked, looking at the two deputies with them. "Or perhaps either of you?"

Introducing herself to the other apprentices who soon joined her and Cherrypaw, Tulippaw found herself somewhat overwhelmed at the sheer number of cats in the clearing and stayed quiet, enjoying just listening to the conversations around her. It wasn't like the young she-cat to stay quiet for more than a second, but she knew there would be plenty of other times to chat with these cats and didn't want to interrupt their current conversations.

The moon glowed above, its blue-white surface pockmarked with deeper shadows as it cast beams of light down through the branches above, scattering their shadows across the clearing to waver in the gentle breeze. Strom couldn't help smiling as his paws crunched through snow that was more ice, his breath frosting in the cold air. How long has it been? It felt like he was an apprentice again, going to his first gathering, a flutter of nervous excitement in his chest at what would await him. The excitement was certainly there, but the nerves were mostly absent, and less to do with what other cats would think of him, and more to do with what his former Clan would do. If Torrentstar was there....

He shook the thought away as soon as it came, his pelt brushing against Batbite's comfort enough to take any worry out of it. Let him think what he does. He can't control me, and even StarClan won't tear me from my family. Guilt still lay there, though, a remnant of his loyalty towards his old Clan, the loyalty that had driven him to do his best to earn theirs.

Shaking his mind free of it as best he could, he followed the rest of his new Clan through the bushes and out into the gleaming full light of the moonlit clearing, cool blue-white drifts of snow sparkling under it. He took a deep breath, the scent of many different cats rising up to his tongue, an odd feeling of glee mixing with the old twinge at the memory of twolegs once clogging this same place. Even in that one breath, he could detect a few familiar scents blending with new, strange ones, and his eyes automatically flitted to the Great Rock, and the missing form he'd expected to see. Torrentstar isn't here. From the sounds of it, that could have something to do with what had happened at the last gathering, which he still hadn't gotten out of anyone, yet. Thornstar isn't here, either....

His eyes narrowed slightly at that observation as he caught sight of a strange, young tom standing on the Great Rock in her place. Her deputy? He turned his eyes away with a mental shrug, instead focusing on the crowd again, and the base of the rock. Is he.... A grin lit up his face as he spotted a black tom with a white chin sitting there, greeting another deputy.

He bumped Batbite lightly with his shoulder, his ears pricked. "Hey, Bat, look who it is. Wonder if we should go surprise him?"

His gaze wandered slightly from the tom, giving the others a glance as he started down the slope, before his gaze paused on one lone figure off to the side. A familiar grey tom, and one he hadn't spoken to in moons, or really thought of much. A quick glance at Raventail showed the tom still talking to the other deputy, and he hesitated for a moment. Why not?

He switched directions, giving a small tail flick to let Bat know that he was taking a small detour, his paws crunching over what little un-churned snow there was left as he wandered over. "Hey, Aspenheart. Long time no see."

He searched the other's face; there was no need to analyze it to know the other was tired, and perhaps not exactly happy. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea trying to talk to him, but then, Strom had proven expert at putting his tail in the fire more than once. Perhaps it was part of his heritage.

Stremsong’s tufted ears perked up when he heard a voice talking to him, his head turning to look at the approaching tom. He smiled and nodded politely as a greeting “Greetings. If you mean for me, way better than for the past couple moons. If you mean for my clan…I’m afraid I can’t really tell. I was taken away from ThunderClan some time ago and only recently found my way back to the forest, so I’m a bit behind on most things going on at the time” As he spoke, his voice held that charming deep yet melodious tone to it that earned him his warrior name.

While he couldn’t help but hesitate if giving out this information was wise or not, he preferred to be honest and admit he didn’t have much info to give away than to start to make up stories that could cause rumors…especially rumors that could harm the clan in any possible way “What about you…uh, sorry, I think I didn’t catch your name. Mine is Streamsong, by the way”.


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Hawkstrike walked into the gathering alongside the rest of SkyClan, looking around both with pride and distrust. He liked to be back, but even after all those moons away, he couldn’t help but still distrust most of the other clans, and the cats that made up their populations.

With a deep sigh, he shook his fur and joined the crowd, trying to find a nice spot among the many chatting cats around him to be able to hear whatever announcements the leaders had to make. Most cats seemed tense and, thanks to his recent return to the territories, he still hadn’t been able to figure out why…

(OOC: Hawk is open to chat, but he might not be the friendliest cat around)

Cats throughout the clearing found their seats or conversational partners; the teeming crowd gradually began to settle. Raventail trailed a paw through the snow at his feet. It gave way with a soft crunch, revealing flattened grass. On a less tense night, that might have distracted him until the announcements began. With a soft sigh, he swept the snow back into place and looked up in time to see a dark-furred tabby approaching the Great Rock. SkyClan, by the scent and the sudden influx of cats. Raventail had almost forgotten about their change in deputyship—almost. Even at his most preoccupied, he couldn’t ignore a new cat sitting only a few fox-lengths away.

The first few moons he’d spent here, he’d taken comfort from the other deputies, even established what, to him, passed for friendship on Gathering nights. With Ivybrook representing RiverClan, Beartooth gone, and StarClan’s fury hanging over them all… Maybe it was time to start reaching out again. He bowed his head to SkyClan’s deputy, then sat, eyes a shade brighter than they’d been before. ”Wolfcall, right?” That name felt right. He’d always had a good memory for them; it served him best in times like these. Raventail hummed. ”I’m okay. Glad to get a chance to stretch my paws, and all. Mostly“—he briefly tipped his muzzle toward the stars—”I’m just hoping for a quiet night.” Maybe that wasn’t the wisest thing to say while making a first impression, but Raventail doubted there were many cats here who’d disagree. Folding his tail around his paws, he looked back at Wolfcall. ”How about you?”

Flintshard's ears perked as he glanced over at Oakstar as the leader spoke, confirming his suspicious on what the two leaders were talking about. It would be curious to see how the other Clans stood on the matter - Thornstar had made it clear that she wasn't willing to move on her stance when he had spoken to her about Mothglow's warning and he was more than happy to follow in his mother's footsteps. "Mothglow received the same warning," he said as the ThunderClan leader turned his attention to the other three cats, swishing his tail to curl around his paws as he started to knead at the hard rock beneath him. "Thornstar has made her stance clear - she is not in favor of this new course of action by them and so I stand with her on this matter." Of course, he wasn't sure how much it truly mattered - the single cat he could think of who would attain StarClan's wrath had left ShadowClan in a fit of anger.

As far as he was concerned, ShadowClan was safe and that was all that mattered.

"An apprentice already?" Mothglow asked, surprised. Maybe it was time she considered one herself, she supposed - she wasn't intending to retire, of course not, but more paws around to help could only be a good thing - and it would let her take the more difficult, lengthier herb-gathering trips she sometimes needed to a little more often, if nothing else. "It's nice to meet you, Honeypaw," she greeted kindly. "I'm the Magnificent Mothglow, medicine cat of ShadowClan," she added, making sure to inject her usual flair into her tone. "I'm sure we'll get along wonderfully."
~
Batbite hummed softly as her mate left her side to greet their old friend, though she remained where she was. It had been too long since she'd seen the goings-on of Gatherings, after all; with all their arguments thinly veiled as diplomacy and the dramatics of leaders and apprentices alike. They had a tendency to be eventful, for better or for worse, and the rumors she'd heard since her return to the forest seemed to suggest that tendency hadn't changed in recent moons.

Ploverpuddle's eyes sadden as the tom told him of being taken from Thunderclan. That was something that the gray tom understood too well. "I understand that struggle all to well. I was taken from Windclan and I returned some moons ago." The windclan warrior informed the other. "I am Ploverpuddle. The current situation with the clans as is.. has me concerned, to say the least." He wasn't going to express his true emotions on the situation. He didn't need to show weakness in front of others even if it was the gathering.

“Twolegs as well? I was taken next to the Thunderpath, during a patrol” Streamsong was sincerely interested in this now, meeting another cat that had been abducted from their own clan was not common, and he could only guess the stories they would have to tell, and how they would compare to his own.

However, at the mention of the clans’ situation, his ears dropped “Because of a prophecy?” He was making a wild guess here, but given the tense air around them, the exact same as he could feel back in camp, he couldn’t help but wonder “I managed to come back just in time to catch the end of the whole situation in camp…is your clan going through that as well? Or is this a ThunderClan only thing?”.