April Gathering 2020

As the tension grew, Blizzardpaw felt uncomfortable. Aren’t StarClan cats supposed to be good? He thought, confused and slightly fearful. He looked around to see if any of his friends were here, and suddenly spotted Willowpaw and Sunpaw. The two she-cats were sitting together warily, and he decided to join them.

Larkpaw pinned her ears back and looked around at all the fearful faces. The five cats seemed to be basking in it, which was certainly strange. A small whimper escaped her, and she tucked her tail beneath her haunches. She scurried over to Crowspirit, ears still pinned back. Larkpaw glanced up at her mentor. The look asked it all: What's happening?

Moonpaw glanced around fearfully, looking for cats she knew. Spotting her friends sitting nearby, huddled together as if it would save them from the wrath of the five StarClan cats. She bolted to them, confused at what was going on. Fear made the fur stand, bristling, on Moonpaw's back. Her first gathering and this was happening. Scooting closer to her best friend, Willowpaw, she asked, "What's happening? Why are there StarClan cats here, in the flesh? Aren't they supposed to be dead?"

The great crackling thunder rolled over Ferretnose's head, and she winced under the terrible brightness. Her fur began to prickle with anticipation of what was coming. She leaped to her paws, hunting the darkness, half-blind, for Harefoot's russet coat and Sunpaw's pelt of gold. She couldn't find them anywhere... she saw Beepaw skid towards his sister, but where was the rest of her kin? "Zinnia, I can't see!" she hissed, frightened.

She heard an exuberant greeting, a chorus of gasps and yowls, and turned to find five starry pelts facing the Great Rock. "What have we done?"

---

Aspenheart whipped around at the sound of thunder. He knew what was happening a mere seconds before it began. "They're coming!" he yowled to Mossbloom. A whispered promise wormed its way into his ears. WindClan will suffer the worst. He felt a terrible weakness in his legs as he began to sway. "I'm gonna be sick. Tonight's the night, they're going to make good on their word, we're not going to win! I'm telling you, it's not StarClan!" Aspenheart continued his babbling as he started to back up, twisting and wobbling as he tried to duck. The cats that appeared after the great flash of light were not of this world. He couldn't fathom what world they were from. Finchstar, take us home, now!

---

Beepaw cowered at the noise, but he trembled at the sight. Those cats... he felt he could practically see through them. Was this StarClan? Then why were the other clans so afraid? Had Finchstar upset them before he even opened his mouth? The apprentice swung his head around, fixing his sights on Cedarpaw, and sprinted across the clearing to meet her. "Don't leave me!" he mewed, pressing close to her side. "What's going on, why is everybody yelling?"

---

Tanglepaw's mouth hung open at the spectacle she was experiencing. For a moment, she could not move, and she did not want to. She was frozen to the ground. The tom who spoke in a sinister, biting voice seemed terrifyingly familiar, as if he might have been one of her own. Indeed, he must have been a ShadowClan cat once. There was a power about these cats that she couldn't describe. It... drew her closer.

Echofrost's world was crumbling around him. Everything he thought was wrong. StarClan... He cowerd under his bush, blue eyes full of terror, his fur puffed out like a scared kitten. "This can't be! No, it's not- It's not possible!" They were real! They were here! And they were angry. Echofrost's breath was coming in short gasps, and he dug his claws into the ground. They were here for him, they must be! They knew about him and Lilyflower, they knew that he had denied them, they knew about every impurity to ever infect the clans. And they were here to snuff them out. There was no hiding from these cats.

Foxspirit stared at the stary cats, fear filling her. What would they do to WindClan? Finchstar had been rebelling against StarClan recently, and they obviously hated that. She was more scared for her clan than for herself. Scared for her only kit. Foxspirit searched around desperately to find Spotlake, bounding towards her. She stopped, standing protectively in front of the WindClan she-cat. They would not touch her! You stay away from my kit!

Briarthorn jumped back in surprise when the StarClan cats appeared. He felt fear for only a moment before it turned to rage. Filth? Disgrace?! Impurities?! He knew it would be stupid to speak out against StarClan, but he didn't care. These cats were different than the ones he had seen at the Moonestone. Diferent from the kind leader who had told him to become a warrior. These cats deserved to be talked back to. Now you listen here! Briarthorn stomped up to the nearest StarClan cat, glaring at him with his green eyes. "I don't care what you have to say about these 'impurities'. You probably think I'm one of them! It's not my fault that I'm half SkyClan, it's yours! You had Graybriar born into the wrong clan, and then you, STARCLAN, sent a prophecy to her that told her to come to WindClan! It's not my fault that I have 'impure' blood, and it's not anyone else's! We can't just choose where to be born, or who our parents are!"

The starred tortoiseshell tom’s head turned towards the grey and white tom who had just addressed them so arrogantly. These clan cats had deviated so far from their ways. His teeth bared as he stepped over towards the young tom that dared to blame them for the fault of cats led awry. Then leapt. His heavy paw crashed down on Briarthorn’s head with a violent thud as Brackenstar growled.

“Do not speak to your ancestors with such arrogance. You’re trying to claim you know the ways of StarClan, but you are still just a naive kit.” He hissed as he stood over the young tom. “Nothing abolishes the sins that Graybriar had, and there is nothing to abolish yours if you continue to disrespect us so grievously!”

---

Oakstar had been pleased with how the gathering had been going. So far, nothing had transpired that was overly notable… then lightning struck. Shadows lifted, and in their place were the cats of starred pelts that Oakstar held a reverence to. His amber eyes widened to see the figures before them.

His heart pounded in his chest. Why were they here? He knew that he didn’t follow their directions to the word… but he couldn’t just throw Dacedream out, or Strom. They had both earned their places in ThunderClan. It was their home.

Loyal to the clans to which they were born. Oakstar’s head sank with his heart. He wasn’t loyal to ShadowClan. He couldn’t be… he was ThunderClan. Felt as if he had been born there the entire time. He couldn’t just turn around. He was their leader, he had to be strong. He had been accepted as leader, and gained the nine lives of one. His head lifted a bit. Gaze neutrally calm. Until one cat in the crowd was struck.
"StarClan please! We are trying to follow your words, but they are unfair and unkind to the cats who have earned their places in our clans. Those who have worked hard, who have proven their loyalties and hearts should never be forced to cast that away to a clan they were simply born in." Oakstar yowled, but as he did, the glare of the darker one fell to him, and he felt his throat choke.

Suddenly it felt like his days were numbered.

Willowpaw trembled slightly as the big, StarClan warrior attacked Briarthorn. Then, she looked at Oakstar as he addressed StarClan. Her eyes grew wider as she noticed that something was wrong with Oakstar.

A fifth starry cat, the shortest one, a pale gray tabby, stood suddenly as Brackenstar raised a paw against the young Briarthorn. Head high as she walked slowly, deliberately, towards the two, she gently pushed Briarthorn back as she turned to glare up at Brackenstar. "Stand down," She hissed, eyes glowing with disdain and thinly veiled anger. "Briarthorn is of my clan, Brackenstar, or have you forgotten your place?" Her eyes remained trained on the other starry leader as she raised her voice. "Aspenheart, check our clanmate over. If he is harmed, the same will be done to Brackenstar in his turn. We are here for a reason, and that reason is not to raise paws against those unfortunate enough to have no say in their heritage - regardless of what others might think."

She still remained focused on Brackenstar, almost as if enticing him to raise a paw to her. Briarthorn was hers to protect, or to punish, in the ways she saw fit, and she would not tolerate another member of their group to overstep in the way that Brackenstar just had.

There was a great commotion as the firecracker tom struck out at Briarthorn, sending him to the ground. Aspenheart felt fight-or-flight, do-or-die build up in his stomach as he hunted for the closest exit and his imploring eyes reached for Finchstar. A more placated voice cut through the haze, and a small silver she-cat ordered this "Brackenstar" to stand down. Then, she addressed him... by name.

"Our?" Aspenheart whispered, more in confusion that in fear. "I see. You're WindClan."

The medicine cat hobbled tentatively to Briarthorn's aid. There were no lasting wounds, though the mental scarring of being struck down by a celestial being that supposedly held great stature? Well, he couldn't speak much to that. He sat down at the warrior's side, allowing him the dignity of rising to his own paws. He would stay there with the rest of WindClan until the matters were sorted.

---

Badgerstar watched from the corner of his eye as Brackenstar wrangled with his own frenzy. He always was the weakest link. One, however, could not cut corners when establishing an army. Sometimes a little firepower was what the forest needed. Oakstar's pleas did little to dampen his heart.

"Dear, dear 'Oakstar,' we're not here for you!" he announced. "Stand down. I would sooner toil in the riverbank for the rest of my days before I allowed harm to befall ThunderClan's chosen warriors. Your clan will not be touched. Our agenda shall soon be clear, if our beloved clanfolk could lower their cries to a dull murmur." The huge black-and-white tom let his sweeping gaze roll over the crowd. "Vixenstar, if you please?"

Letting out a whimper as thunder cracked above, the clearing exploded with the sounds of gasps and disbelief. What in StarClan's name... StarClan; they were here. A strange, ominous scent wafted through the air and looking around over the crowd, Sunflower began to tremble at who he spotted. It was Owlstar, the cat from his dreams. Was... was he heard to take his life? He hadn't done anything wrong recently, had he?

With his large ears flat against his head, the abnormally lengthy and awkwardly sized tom trembled in fear and not paying attention to the other StarClan dwellers that had arrived, but instead watching as Owlstar neared. He was surely coming for him, there was no other explanation. Crouching down and pulling himself into as tight of a ball as he could, Sunflower shut his eyes, waiting for him untimely demise, but as the moments drew out, nothing happened. He... he was still alive?

Heart racing a million beats per second, Sunflower peeped open an eye. Owlstar hadn't stopped by him, but instead took his place next to his sister, Swansong and some other apprentice. Had she done something wrong? No... he didn't look as if he was out for blood, yet. Great StarClan he hoped Swansong hadn't been dragged into this too.

Letting out a breath but not relaxing too much, the pale pelted tom noticed an odd feeling under his belly. Was it blood? Had the StarClan cats somehow taken a slice at him without him being noticing? He wouldn't have put it past them... they sure were powerful, especially if they were able to show up at a gathering...

No, it wasn't blood; it was worse.

Craning his neck to look under himself, his heart practically stopped and his pelt grew hot. He'd.... he'd soiled himself... For Silverpelt's sake, how had that even happened? Some warrior he was, that was for sure. He'd definitely get laughed at for that someday, but luckily, every-cat was pretty occupied for the time being. For now, all he could do was crouch down even further and hope that no cat saw his little... accident, and hopefully, Owlstar of all cats didn't see him.

“He still needs to be respectful” Brackenstar stepped back from Galestar. His green glare turned on her, then towards Badgerstar as he turned and padded to the middle of the clearing. He stood next to Badgerstar as the tom spoke to ‘Oakstar’. Disdain roiled in his belly at the tom on the rock. The one who shouldn’t be there, or perhaps he should have been, but for the right clan. He sneered at Badgerstar’s words.

“Oh no, we’re not here for you. Yet. Rest assured, you’ll be dealt with in your turn.” He paused, then looked around the clearing. “All of you will be faced. Tested, and only those pure and truly loyal to the code should be allowed to thrive and survive the new leaf. May you all have luck in this venture.”

No cat had come to sit with Clovertwist, but whether or not that was in his favor was yet to be determined. Spottedstar arrived late, but otherwise the Gathering seemed to have been going without any hang-ups, much to his relief. Each leader gave their news before passing it onto the next, until last to speak was Finchstar. Clovertwist felt his stomach flutter with nervousness as he watched his mentor and leader's face, unable to read the expression there for better or worse. It seemed that nearly every cat from the Great Rock above to the clearing below was grimacing as the ginger-and-white warrior stood. He couldn't really blame them; he'd made two of the last couple Gatherings end in storms, and Clovertwist hoped the same wouldn't happen.

It seemed StarClan had other plans, however; before Finchstar even spoke, the sky was lit with lightning, and just like last time, Clovertwist jumped with a hiss of surprise, his kinked tail bushing unevenly and awkwardly with fear. This was not simply weather like the times before, though. There were suddenly cries of fear from near where Clovertwist sat, and he turned his head to see five large, starry figures where there hadn't been cats several moments before. The WindClan tom was petrified as he looked at them. StarClan?! he thought, aghast. It certainly looked like them, but everything about them felt so much more... sinister than when he'd met them during his Moonstone meeting. This felt nothing like the ancestors who Barleytuft had always praised and admired.

Yet who else could have such power? Clovertwist's ears flattened against his head, and he was content to hold his ground until he suddenly saw movement. No, you hot-headed rabbit-brain! Clovertwist thought with horror as he realized Briarthorn was storming through the crowd to sling defiant words at the ancestors. He rose to his paws immediately and began to wriggle through the crowd towards the WindClan warrior. Clovertwist had no idea what he was going to do when he got there, whether that be to shut Briarthorn up or join in backing up his claims. He didn't get the opportunity to find out; before he could get there, one of the starry warriors had lashed out and cast Briarthorn down.

Clovertwist arrived when Aspenheart did, his heart pounding in his ears. "Briarthorn!" he gasped in a voice croaking with concern as he looked down at his brother receiving the medicine cat's treatment. Thankfully, Briarthorn didn't seem to have been too badly hurt, but Clovertwist gave Aspenheart a stricken look and hissed softly, "What is happening? Do you know these cats?" He heard one of the starry cats let out a warning growl suggesting quiet from the crowd, and Clovertwist lowered his head with a flash of fear and fury.

---

Dacedream's charismatic daughter rose and introduced herself formally to her grandmother. She knew her mother would be happy for her, but still nothing could've prepared her for the joy she felt to see her mother's pride so bright on her face. Dacedream shook her head and interrupted, "It's okay, momma, I had my rock. You were with me in my heart - you always are." With that, Dappleshine turned to Cherryblossom to speek to her directly, greeting her with affection immediately. Dacedream purred fervently, while in the background the leaders chattered on with their announcements. The most important news for Dacedream was right beside her!

That was, until the sky once more split open with lightning as it had at the other Gatherings. Dacedream let out a squeak and felt her entire coat and tail bush out with alarm. "Wh-What happened?" she gasped, having been enveloped in her conversation. Dacedream was surprised - but enraptured and filled with love and admiration - to see her mother rise swiftly to her paws to put herself between her kin and... "StarClan?" Dacedream gasped, eyes wide with shock. There was chaos before her in the crowd as five starry cats appeared where, seemingly, there had been none before, and they began to sneer and weave among the crowd with looks of disdain and superiority on their faces. Dacedream's ears flattened and she felt Cherryblossom plaster herself to her side; the queen pressed back, the only comfort she could offer during this uncertainty.

There was the sound of a terror-filled snarling closing in on Dacedream that she immediately recognized as her daughter, Vixenpaw. If the queen hadn't identified the she-cat before she bowled into Dacedream's side, separating her momentarily from Cherryblossom, she might've leaped into the air with fright. Instead, however, Dacedream managed to give Cherryblossom an apologetic look as her smallest daughter simply switched sides, leaving Dacedream to drape one leg around Vixenpaw and pull her close into her thick tortoiseshell fur. She watched wide-eyed and horrified, stammering anxiously to her daughter, "I d-don't know, kitten, but it's okay. I-It's a night of peace. This must be StarClan, so they must... they must have a message. Just stay with me, baby, and stay quiet. Everything will be okay." Please don't make me a liar. Please. Please be fair and merciful, StarClan...

They struck a cat down like nothing in the crowd, foregoing the declaration of peace on the full moon, and Dacedream swallowed her words anxiously, pulling both her kits closer and hunkering down. She couldn't see the aftermath of the strike and waited to see if the worst would come.

The clap of thunder that had preceded the StarClan cats' arrival came as no surprise to Wolfcall - it had become almost a normality at this point, something to be expected. But what hadn't been expected was the shapes of the five starry cats that appeared in the center of the clearing. StarClan had never had an issue with showing their displeasure before, but to show up, in the flesh, to disturb a gathering? That was... that was unprecedented. Unheard of.

Wolfcall stood, expression stoic even with the whirlwind of emotions roiling through him. He would not make SkyClan look weak in front of these cats. Amber-gold eyes moved from the first tom who spoke, to the second, following him as he slunk around the clearing, pressing himself against the SkyClan cats. His claws extended, raking tiny furrows into the dirt at his paws. But then the massive tabby shouldered up to Juniperpaw, and a low growl started in Wolfcall's throat.


Jaypaw had decided that he was never going to attend another gathering. Never. Nope. Nuh-uh. As soon as the thunder rumbled through the sky, he'd sprinted over to his family, fur fluffed out in fear. Somehow, he managed to squeeze the majority of his almost-warrior-sized body beneath Dacedream's throat and forelegs, shielding and protecting her as much as he was himself. If StarClan had come here for blood, if they wanted to for some reason hurt his mother, or his siblings, they'd have to go through him first.


Throughout the chaos of StarClan's appearance, Rainstrike remained calm. She didn't move, other than to bring her tail across her paws, icy gaze watchful and intrigued. Would StarClan go as far to break their own truce? To incite violence during a Gathering?

Watching the shock that befell each of the cat's faces was rather amusing to the tabby StarClan leader, her amber eyes flickering back and forth, gaze wandering between each of the code breakers she could identify within her own Clan. Rather than prove their points that the Righteous Few were overly abrasive and mindless, she simply sat and watched, her sleek fur tamed down as stars cascaded smoothly down her back. The she-cat held no respect for Brackenstar in any regard; she simply tolerated him, as his brash and destructive manner sometimes lent a paw to their cause. Simply shaking her head, the regal she-cat rose to full-height at Badgerstar's words, a pitied gaze making it's ay to Sunflower all the while. "I suppose SkyClan's tendency towards pure blood and heart has to even itself out in some way, Sunflower. No worries, not all of us can be so strong in the face of fear, dear." Her voice was practically dripping with satire as she made her way around the clearing.

Her paws lead her to Cherryblossom and Dacedream's side, simply working her way around Dappleshine to lay her tail gently on Cherryblossom's back. "Watch yourself, Badgerstar, or 'the rest of your days' will be numbered." The she-cat purred in a sickeningly sweet tone, shifting her path towards the Great Rock. As the star-pelted RiverClan leader made her way towards the front of the crowd, her gaze remained locked on the cats above. She offered a curt nod to the deputies scattered around the base of the rock before leaping to the top, nose to nose with the five living leaders.

Whipping around to face the crowd once again, she locked eyes with each of her colleagues before letting her gaze wander around the crowd. How helpless they all looked; struck with terror at the events unfolding before them. She almost sympathized with those who the Righteous Few had come to favor; they meant to cause no harm to those who were pure- to those who they favored. Fear seemed to be most effective, however, so it was the course of action they'd chosen, and that they'd acted upon. If- No, when they succeeded, the Clan would be purged of those who were lesser, those whose hearts had been blackened by moons of unredressed sin. It was a shame, really, that it had to be done at all. But the new dawn was upon them, and there was no escaping it now.

"Cats of the forest!" Vixenstar yowled, hopefully quieting the anxious and fearful chatter of those below her. "A new day is upon us all. The perpetual defamation of our sacred Code is no longer to be tolerated. Those whose very hearts and minds have been eclipsed by your own selfish desires will be served justice, as it always should have been. StarClan bows to us Righteous Ones, few yet mighty!" Her tail was lashing viciously behind her, the mere thought of the slander the precious Warrior Code had endured enraging her. "This new dawn has been a long time coming- we tried sending you a savior, to liberate you of your own crimes, and he suffered your same fate; one filled with the recklessness and lunacy of a Code-breaking delinquent. We've taken matters into our own paws, and fate, my dears, is simply inevitable."

Amber eyes burning with passion, Vixenstar turned to face Finchstar and the four leaders who were pawsteps behind him, gaze shifting between each of them. "It is your star sworn duty to protect the Clans you love so staunchly. Protecting them entails safeguarding their purity, to ensure that the Clan remains unblemished by impurities from the inside. The ideas of this senseless fool before you threaten the security of your Clanmates." She nodded her head to point towards Finchstar, the fur-brained WindClan leader on the center of the rock. "His blindness in regards to the Warrior Code jeopardizes the forest you call home. This threat must be eradicated." Her fur stood on end as her gaze lingered on Spottedstar, Flintstar, Ivystar, and Oakstar for a few seconds each, before finally shifting more permanently to Finchstar's amber gaze. "Stike him down." Her voice rang out across the clearing, her intent clear to each of the leaders she spoke to. Finchstar's foolishness must come to an end, and his very fate rested in their paws.

Her first gathering as an apprentice- her first gathering at all- and... well, it was far, far more eventful than she expected. Truthfully, she'd wished for a little more excitement, but not like this. Not like this. Oh, Morningpaw was scared- she was terrified. Blood would be spilt tonight, she had no doubt about that, and the beak of StarClan would descend upon the flanks of the clans, spilling innocent blood--

--she was terrified. But fear and force had never been her way- and of course Olivestone would worry for what she was about to say, but to Morningpaw? Some things needed to be said, and nobody here was brave enough to say it. And if Finchstar's head was on the block for this- well, maybe it wasn't her place, but someone had to, right?

"Wh- when another clan tries to force their way of life on ours," the apprentice meowed, just loud enough to be heard over the whispered gossip of the clans. "We fight them, to defend our own."[/size]

Her voice shaking, she continued, "When another clan kills your own in cold blood, we fight them, to avenge our own."

"A-and when another clan oversteps their territory, we drive them off, to secure our own."

Morningpaw took a deep breath, her forest-green eyes glaring out from behind Olivestone and Ferretdance to lock onto the Righteous Few. She steadied herself, then called out; "You're-- you're not StarClan. You come from the stars, you call yourself StarClan, but you're not them. StarClan is gentle, and kind, and- worth respect, not fear. You're predators. And-- and maybe we should be scared of you, but- that doesn't make you right." And with her eyes turned to Finchstar, "You're- you're not alone in this."