February Gathering 2020

Nodding as the other deputy correctly guessed his name, Wolfcall flicked his tail. It was a bit of a relief to hear Raventail echo his own sentiment. The last Gathering had been... for lack of a better descriptor, terror-inducing, and though Wolfcall was fairly hard to rattle, he had to admit that it took quite a bit of effort to stop him from fleeing back to his own territory once SkyClan made their presence - and their anger - known. He let out a long breath, his eyes settling on a group of loud apprentices somewhere near the center of the clearing. "Can't say I disagree," he meowed, one ear slanting back uneasily. "I used to look forward to these, but after last time..." he dropped off, leaving the last half of his sentence unsaid. "I suppose only time will tell."

A rattling cough from the Great Rock made the deputy glance upwards, and he frowned at the state Finchstar seemed to be in. He'd brought Greencough to a gathering? Wolfcall's eyes narrowed in disappointment. That was reckless, and it made his fur prickle with well-disguised discomfort. Hopefully he wouldn't spread it to any others here tonight.

Aspenheart had enough of a reputation from his moons of medicine-related service, even without his latest display at the last Gathering. It seemed that his sorry state was attracting a few wayward gazes, but he paid them no mind. He figured that the cross look on his face was enough to ward off the most tenacious cats, so he could wallow in his beautiful solitude without any intrusions.

Or so he thought. There was a pair of ginger paws on the ground before him, where the medicine cat had been staring off into space just moments before. When Aspenheart looked up to see who dared interrupt his intimate moment with himself, the bitterness washed off his face as if water had come rushing up across it. The cold, refreshing chill blew away his mental fog; to say the least. Aspenheart was entirely stunned to see the face that was clicking in his memory. "Minkpaw?" the medicine cat half-choked. "Now, that's a face I didn't think I'd see again! What happened to you? Where have you even been?" Somewhere within him churned a great thankfulness that he no longer had to dwell inside his own mind. For just one moment, he was content with conversation.

Just like that, in an instant the determined look of grumpy solitariness washed off the grey tabby's face like Strom had just splashed it with water. He couldn't really blame him, it had to be a shock to talk to him again after moons of half-glimpses at gatherings - not to mention the recent time - only a couple of sunrises ago, though he could hardly believe that - he'd spent out at the Abandoned Barn, away from it all. To be honest, he really should have tried to reconnect all those moons ago, when he came out of the medicine cat den and back to gatherings, but somehow, he'd only every managed to catch glimpses of the other tom through the crowd, between whatever had happened to Aspenheart - he'd never caught the details - and his own problems.

Minkpaw. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.... He smiled, inclining his head slightly with a wave of his tail. "It's a long story. Probably as long as your own. But I guess you could say I was out finding myself," He settled down onto the cold half-frozen ground, wrapping his tail around his paws and giving the other tom a curious look. "I could ask the same about you. Except for the 'where have you been, part.'"

At least some of the other Thunderclan cats had seen what had happened to him. Ploverpuddle was alone when he was taken. No word of what had happened to him was able to make it back to his clan or his family in the slightest.. He was sure he was the only one left of his family at this point, though he wasn't too sure on that anymore...

"It seems there has been something bothering Finchstar and Aspenheart so I wouldn't be surprised if it was in Windclan as well." He wasn't too sure but he was observant. It was easy to see if his leader or medicine cat was acting off. "And yes I was taken by twolegs.. It wasn't the best experience, but I'm sure it could of been worse for me. It took a while to get back to clans though. So they took me pretty far." The gray and white warrior informed the other.

“They didn’t take us far…” Streamsong’s voice was barely over a whisper as he remembered his time in the twoleg nest…if you could even call that place a nest to begin with “But it was small, cold, crowded…the dogs were probably the worst part. If it wasn’t for the shiny silver ivy they used to keep us apart, from each other, I’m sure they would’ve eaten me and all the other cats that were there” He shuddered at the memory.

“We were lucky, we managed to escape when they left their guard down…it's clear they never dealt with warriors before” He smiled at that last bit, his chest puffing up slightly with pride as he remembered his and Bonewatcher’s escape from that awful place…a place he seriously hoped he never had to go back to.

Typically, Softpaw would have stuck to Aspenheart like glue. This time, however, she was stuck to Downpaw. It reminded her of her kit days and made her comfortable. Aspenheart still hadn't apologized. If he wasn't sorry, then neither was she. Downpaw had been fiercely protective of her after she'd told him yesterday morning. The cream and ginger pelts of both cats blended together as they sat away from the mingled cats.

(OOC: Soft and Down are open, but Down will be snappy boi and probably yell at you)

Stormpaw shuffled into clearing. She looked pitiful. Her eyes were dull, and despite her pelt shining in the moonlight, she looked worn out and tired. Mistwalker was dead. She was half-Clan. StarClan was angry at half-Clans and Clan-hoppers. She made them disgusted. She made StarClan disgusted. She was a failure. She made everything worse. She stared at the ground, her once glossy, shining blue eyes a bland gray. She didn't realize she'd bumped into a cat until she heard a grunt. "Sorry..."

(OOC: Storm is big sad and won't talk much, but she is open!)

Nightpaw tilted his head in confusion as two cats ran over to Deerfrost. One of the cats looked like his brother. Nightpaw just shrugged his souldiers and padded up to a cream tom. "Hiya I'm Nightpaw! Nice to meet you!" Said Nightpaw.

OOC: Nightpaw is talking to Downpaw!

(OOC: Down is Ginger xD)

Downpaw whirled around as a voice approached him and his sister. He was about to hiss at them, but Softpaw jabbed him with a fluff covered paw. "Hi. Downpaw." Downpaw hissed through gritted teeth, tail lashing.

Nightpaw tilted his heaad. "Okaaaaaay. Anyways hi Downpaw I'm Nightpaw from Riverclan! My mentor is Ivybrook. Whos your mentor?" Said Nightpaw happily smiling at Downpaw.

OOC; Oof

Downpaw cured his lip in a snarl, about to make an angry retort, but Softpaw interrupted him. "Why don't yo- his mentor is Finchstar, the leader of WindClan!" Mewed Softpaw quickly. She glanced at Downpaw and shook her head gently, almost unnoticeable. Downpaw was still fuming about the Aspenheart incident, but Softpaw didn't want him to take it out on this poor cat.

Nightpaw let out a gasp. "Woah thats so cool! Your so Lucky Downpaw!" Said Nightpaw. He didn't get why Downpaw was so mad but he didn't care. A new friend would be made! "Your probably the best hunter and fighter in your clan!"

"It's still your fault! Your "s-s-sorry" doesn't mean anything! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Argh, now my kegs are hurting even more! Why didn't you move? Like, isn't it easy to just, shuffle over?" she retorted, sneer of disgruntled revulsion present on her face as she fixed her gaze onto Driftingpaw, "Now, look! Thanks to you, my pelt's all messy again! UGH! Do you even know how long it took for me to groom mysel- oh, wait, i forgot, you don't even know what it means to groom yourself, don't you? You fish-breath! Like, what even is a fish? It sounds stupid, and it smells stupid!" She wasn't restricting herself. She was simply... spitting out everything that came upon her tongue. "In fact," Vixenpaw jeered, "You all stink! And why didn't all of you move? Didn't you see me coming? Are you all blind?" It was obvious she wanted to say more. Her maw was ajar, eyes igniting as she sought to intimidate Driftingpaw, and, it seemed, antagonise the rest of them. It brought a... nice sense of superiority. And, well, Vixenpaw liked that. However tormented her subjects were feeling, wasn't disturbing her. Even as the RiverClan apprentice cowered beneath her bristling figure, she didn't halt, or even falter. In fact... his startled stammering, frightened shrinking, only magnified her ego and confidence. At the pitiful sight, she scoffed scornfully, eyes brimming with contempt. He deserved her rant. After all, it was his fault, wasn't it?


Barely stifling an exasperated growl, her gaze whisked over, boring into her sister's, "Thanks, sis, for being so observant that you didn't realise that he was the one that was in the way! He should've, like, moved away from me, or something! What, are you only on his side because you also didn't bother to move out of my way?" Cherrypaw's huff to the other cats would have drifted right over her head, if not for her fleeting pause to take a breath. Barely catching her string of words, Vixenpaw's eyes drawed to slits, ears swivelled back in disbelief,  "And you-- y-you're just jealous that I'm the better sister! Hmph, I'm sorr-y that I'm too good to look like I'm related to you!"

"ARGH! And you smell almost just as bad!" At Olivepaw's response, Vixenpaw had wasted no time to chip in with another childish remark, You must've been so caught up in your own stinkiness that you didn't realise that Duckpaw, or, or WHATEVER HIS NAME IS was sitting in my way! And that's doing something to me, mousebrain!" Somehow, the snarl on her features had widened considerably, as she regarded the older apprentice with disdain. By now, she had subconsciously risen to her tiptoes, trying to compensate for her shorter figure. These cats were so tall.. she didn't like tall cats!

In her own shrill ranting, she had been oblivious to the looming shadow of her brother. When Jaypaw's voice registered in her mind, she had been poised to whisk around, spit a retort in his face to whatever argument against her he was about to say. That riposte was barely caught on the tip of her tongue, as her eyes briefly flared in surprise. Her brother, her super annoying brother, was actually on her side? A StarClan-blessed silence interrupted her diatribe, temporarily, in her confused shock - but... good things never last. Finally seeming to comprehend Jaypaw's own offer, she flashed an approving smirk in his direction before returning her focus to Olivepaw, "Exactly! Mind your own business, WindClanne-"

Again, Cherrypaw had pitched in. Her taunt towards Olivepaw was halted short as she snapped her head towards the direction of her littermate. A cutting hiss whistling in the air as she spat at her sibling, clearly vexed by her choice of position in the argument, "I could say the same to you, Cherrypaw! What are you now, a fish-lover? Rabbit-chaser? Hrmph! As my sister, you should be on my side! Look, even Jaypaw's made the right decision! What about you, sis? For once, you're annoying me more than Jaypaw! And- And I didn't even think that was possible! Y-Your stupidity is breaking records, Cherrypaw!"

"'Bat-breaths?" this time, it was more of an indignant screech than a spitting scoff, as she tilted her head in a mocking manner at Beepaw, "Yeah, sure, you're one to speak when you're even stinkier! Like- BEEPAW, did you even groom yourself? Like, look at you! How did I not notice how stupid you look before? I do smell like roses, and I smell so much better than you do, you stinky, foxdung-smelling mousebrain!" Any attempts to have de-escalate the situation had, quite obviously, been lost to Vixenpaw. From her flaring eyes and twisted sneer, to her nasty, immature retaliations... it was evident her rambling wouldn't cease anytime soon. And it seemed, she was seeking to kindle this debate even more..

"Oh, wow," she jeered dryly, ascending alongside Poppypaw in an attempt to assert her sense of superiority. Her hissing amplified in her ears, tone increasing into a shrill pitch, eyes engulfed with furious resentment, "Another fishbreath! I don't think I even have to say anything to you. Urgh, I can't even think over your revolting reek! At least I'm higher and mightier than you, genius. Are you so dumb that that's the only thing that you got correct? Because, as I've already said, HE SHOULD'VE MOVED OUT OF MY WAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!" As she resumed her tireless tirade, her kittish ridicules veered into a more condescending tone, not conscious at all of the consequences of the shrieking that resonated throughout the clearing,

Cherrypaw had had enough. Tail lashing, she dug her claws into the ground, trying to keep her temper, but Vixenpaw's incessant squealing was just too much.
"For the love of StarClan, will you just STOP?" She spat as she drew herself to her full height, and while it wasn't that great, her anger made her seem bigger. She drew her paw back and punctuated her sentence with a great smack, her paw connecting with her sister's face.
"You are an embarrassment to me and all of ThunderClan with your absolute narcissism and over-inflated ego! You are conceited, vain, rude, and the most annoying cat in the Clans! I am ashamed to know you, let alone be your sister!"
With her stinging retort over, she turned abruptly away from her sister and looked around for Dacedream. When she found their mother, she added,
"I'm going to tell Dacedream what happened so you can't go sniveling to her, whining about how you got attacked and didn't deserve it. You certainly deserved this, and mother deserves an unbiased account of what happened. I don't even care about getting in trouble anymore. I just couldn't stand hearing you be the most insufferable cat to have ever lived even a second longer!"
With that, she left the group, calling one last thing over her shoulder.
"Everyone else, I'm sorry you had to see that."

Now that she'd said things that couldn't be unsaid, she approached Dacedream and sat down beside her with a great sigh.
"Mom, I'm not proud of what I just did, but Vixenpaw deserved it. I don't even care about getting in trouble anymore, and you need to know what happened from anyone that isn't her."
With another sigh, she continued,
"Vixenpaw started insulting literally everyone that wasn't on her side, which was everyone except Jaypaw for some reason, and wouldn't stop. She kept acting like she was StarClan's gift to the Clans, and that she's above everyone. I couldn't take it anymore. I smacked her, just to get her to shut her mouth for at least two minutes."

---

Olivepaw crouched down and watched in near horror as Cherrypaw exploded and struck her sister, as much as Vixenpaw deserved it, in her unspoken opinion. She started to back away as Cherry laid it on, and as quickly as the outburst began, she finished spitting at her sister and turned to leave, apologizing over her shoulder to the others who witnessed that.
Looking around, she stood, at a loss for words, and turned to find Ferretpaw, to tell him about what happened. When she located her brother, she fixed Vixenpaw in a glare.
"I'm leaving. It's not often that I can be pushed to anger, but you've done it. Go bother someone who will actually listen to the tide of foxdung that constantly leaves your mouth."

With a tail flick, she turned and left the group, padding up to Ferretpaw and plopped down beside him. She started tearing up the grass under her claws, the bitter ThunderClanner having gotten under her skin.

At first, Driftingpaw shrank back from Vixenpaw's tirade. Her voice shrill and ringing in his ears making his head hurt and his mind reel. He was grateful to his newfound friends standing up for him, but as Cherrypaw exploded on his sister and Olivepaw padded away something new flared up in him. It was hot and rioted deep in his belly and suddenly his ears were roaring with the sound of his blood rushing through his veins. The saucy ThunderClan apprentice mocked his stutter and he clenched his jaws as his blue eyes narrowed into something that looked almost like a glare, an expression that seemed so out of place on his normally soft features. For a heartbeat he faltered as this foreign emotion roiled within him, but the shocked look on Vixenpaw's face after Cherrypaw's strike was just the opening the young white tom needed. He took a deep inhale, puffing out his chest as he rose to his full height. He might still be a young apprentice and not as burly or bulky as a normal tom might be, but this kid was tall. His soft, feather like fur was ruffled on his shoulders and smudged with dust and dirt but he didn't let his ruffled complexion stop him from looking down his muzzle at Vixenpaw.

"I-I-I feel b-b-bad for T-t-thunderClan, I c-can't imagine having to l-listen to y-you all day," as he stuttered he clenched his jaw as he took a steadying breathe, glancing at Poppypaw who seethed beside him and Olivepaw, his newfound friend, padding away. "The o-only thing th-that stinks around h-here is y-y-your attitude," He spat as his tail lashed behind him and his blue eyes narrowed. "You d-d-disrespected me a-a-and my friends, I-I'd b-be mad if I w-w-wasn't disappointed in h-how you represented y-your Clan. You i-insulted Poppypaw, and I'd c-c-claw your ears for that but," He paused as he took a deep breath in, standing straight and flicking an ear in dismissal as he gave her the most disapproving look he could must. "You aren't worth my time." He carefully enunciated his words, making sure he didn't stutter and that each word carried all the venom his sweet heart could muster. He glared at Vixenpaw for a heartbeat longer before he turned away and gave Poppypaw's shoulder a soft brush of his muzzle as he steered her away, not bothering to look back at Vixenpaw.

He had done nothing wrong, had nothing to apologize for, and he wasn't going to stand for his friends being bullied. He could take it himself, but after watching everyone stand up for him and having Vixenpaw tear into all of them it woke something in him. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and he felt odd. He glanced at Poppypaw again and lightly brushed his pelt against hers, finding comfort in her pretense and was incredibly grateful to her for standing up for him. It made him look at her in a new light, and his chest felt light and fluttery with her beside him.

Poppypaw felt her anger growing hotter and hotter with every word that came out of Vixenpaw's mouth. "You really don't think do you? You should stop projecting your lack of intellect onto everyone else. How did you ever get apprenticed when I know kits more mature than you?" She spat back.

She had to agree with Driftingpaw - she felt horrible for ThunderClan that they had to put up with her mouth all the time! StarClan, she wasn't even sure she'd make it through this gathering. She wondered what exactly it was that made her feel that she was so much better than all the rest of them, but found that honestly, she didn't really care. Her eyes widened as Cherrypaw smacked her sister in the face, although internally she was cheering. And Driftingpaw...He was being so brave! The tortoiseshell was so proud of him, especially when he managed to speak a full sentence without a single stutter. Any words that she had been preparing to viciously launch died on her tongue as he softly brushed her shoulder to lead her away.

Impressed by his ability to act as though Vixenpaw no longer existed, and realizing somehow that that was probably the thing to most affect the entitled ThunderClanner, she moved away from the scene with her best friend, refusing to look at Vixenpaw again. She was so glad she could call him a friend, as he was really the best she could ever ask for. Pressing a bit more firmly against Driftingpaw, she met his eyes and felt as though there was a miniature sun shining inside of her. "Thank you. For standing up for us all. For standing up for me. You were so brave!"

As the adrenaline wore off a bit, worry set in. They had just been part of a fight, mostly verbal but still a fight at a gathering. Cherrypaw had turned it physical. They were all going to be in so much trouble.

---

Ferretpaw turned to look at Olivepaw as she joined him, a confused look in his eyes. "I heard some yowling, but...what exactly did I miss? Are you alright?" He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her this mad before. He seemed to have picked the wrong group to sit with. He was a bit disappointed he'd been left out of the excitement.