April Gathering 2020

Willowpaw saw a group of three apprentices talking.  She decided to go over.   
"Hi!" She suddenly saw the hostility in some of their eyes.  She pretended that she couldn't.
"My name is Willowpaw," she asked, hoping that some of the hostility would fade, "what are yours?"

Jaypaw had learned What Not to Do at his first Gathering.

Rule number one: don't follow Vixenpaw, because she always gets into trouble.

Rule number two: ignore the other clans' apprentices - they don't matter, and making friends outside ThunderClan especially right now was stupid and reckless. Not to mention, pointless. Why would he want to make nice with cats he could be potentially fighting the next moon. No. That was stupid.

With both those things eliminated, Jaypaw did what felt like the only other thing to do: he sat and waited for the Gathering to begin. Sitting still was not the tom's strong point. He'd much rather be training, or hunting, or... well, anything that required skill and movement and not immobility. But despite that he'd learned early on that Gatherings were the jackpot of information. Anything interesting happening in all five clans was bound to come out at the Gathering, and Jaypaw loved to know things.

So he sat, shifting weight from one side to the other, impatient as always. Where were the other clans, anyway? Were SkyClan and WindClan exempt from showing up on time, like everyone else?

--

Rainstrike lingered towards the back of ThunderClan, her gaze locked on the back of Oakstar's head as he led them through the territory and onward to Fourtrees. As the clan split up, the warrior slunk towards the side of the clearing, settling down in the shadows, to discourage anyone from seeing or approaching her.

[[Jay and Rain are both open for conversation but fair warning neither will be super happy about it.]]

Redpaw felt a grin split her maw as the tensions rose between Viperpaw and Cedarpaw, and she flicked her tail as the ThunderClanner spat at Viperpaw. Despite her enjoyment of witnessing her denmate taunt the ThunderClanner, she kept her own mouth shut.
Ooh, now this is getting fun! Ha! So angry! Upset that you got caught trespassing? That you got beaten up?

She ran a too-many toed paw over her ears as she watched the exchange, and had to force herself to not curl her lip as RiverClan scent washed over the trio. The fishy stench mixed with the already unpleasant ThunderClan scent, and she thought,
Ugh! Absolutely disgusting! ThunderClan scent is bad enough, but RiverClan's as well? It's nearly unbearable!

She turned to face the newcomer, catching the greeting from the seemingly oblivious she-cat. Despite her growing irritation, she opened her mouth to respond.
"Hi. I'm Redpaw."
Can't you see we're kind of busy here?

Breezepaw had stayed at the edge of the clearing. He wasn't quite sure where to go, but eventually he found himself padding towards another apprentice- ThunderClan, by the smell. He curled his lip but stalked over to the tom. I may as well put myself out there. I'm not looking for friends, but perhaps I'll learn about my enemy this way.

The dark tabby tom nodded to the ThunderClan apprentice and hesitantly sat down beside him. "I'm Breezepaw. And you are?"

OOC: Breezepaw is trying to talk to Jaypaw!

Of course, the one time he tried to look as unapproachable as possible, someone just had to take the bait.

His ears both fell flat back against his broad skull, his brow furrowing in annoyance. For a moment, Jaypaw considered ignoring the other apprentice... but he quickly threw that idea aside - if he stayed quiet, the other tom could think that he was afraid or something, and that just wouldn't do. So his cobalt gaze slid over to Breezepaw, nostrils flaring to bring in the apprentice's scent: ShadowClan.

"Jaypaw," he said flatly, eyeing the smaller, dark tabby with undisguised distaste. "A pleasure," for you to meet me, maybe.

As the new she-cat approached,Cedarpaw looked up. ”Hi! I’m Cedarpaw.” her voice was kind and sincere. It seemed like a completely different cat then the one who had been talking to Viperpaw.

Something spoke in Finchstar's mind as he led his clan into Fourtrees, yellow eyes scanning the clearing. WindClan was late, but the leader was focused on other matters, casting aside the nagging feeling that bit at his fur. He'd seen newleaf before, but this one felt different - strange. The tom leapt onto the Great Rock without another word, nodding to each leader before finding his place on the stone.

Willowpaw was somewhat stunned at the Cedarpaw's sudden change from being hostile.  She was glad.  She had hoped that she wouldn't have to break up a fight.
"I wonder what's taking WindClan so long?" she said, trying to change the ShadowClan cats' moods.

Redpaw flicked her ear at Willowpaw, the RiverClan she-cat's obliviousness just serving to rub her fur the wrong way. WindClan's scent joined the mix, and she hoped that SkyClan would get there soon.
Are you serious? Can't you smell their rabbit-y stench? Ugh, SkyClan better get here soon so we can get this Gathering over with...
"You don't have to wonder, because they just arrived."

---

Olivestone followed Finchstar into Fourtrees, the four great oaks never ceasing to amaze her. This would be her first Gathering as a warrior, and she couldn't wait to see what the other Clans had to say.

ooc: olivestone is free to talk!

Spotlake padded into the clearing. Starclan it had been a while since her last gathering. Being a queen took up most of her time over the past few moons. The calico she-cat looked around and sat down near her clan. Her paws fidgeted uneasily. Spotlake wrapped her tail around her paws staying quiet. Some cats seemed to be socializing but others kept to their own clans. Much different then the Gatherings Spotlake went too before she had her kits.

OOC: Feel free to talk to Spotlake! She'll be a bit unsure towards the other clans tho!

Echofrost walked into the gathering behind all the other ThunderClan cats. He had been "chosen" to go by Oakstar, so he had to come. No point in making a scene by refusing! Echofrost walked to his usual spot in the back of the clearing, Partially hidden under a nearby bush. It was here that he sat down, looking towards the Great Rock. Hopefully, it would be just a normal gathering, no strange supernatural events. Those just fueled the Clan's delusions that StarClan was real. Once a long enough time passed, everyone would forget them, and the stupidity would finally end.

Foxspirit entered Fourtrees next to Spotlake, and watched as her only child walked away to find her own place. She found a nice place near cats from most of the other clans, but not too far from her daughter. A quick look around and a breath through the nose confirmed that there were no SkyClan cats here yet. Good. It had been many seasons, but Foxspirit had never fully forgiven that clan for what they did to her brother. If they had punished the murderer, then maybe she could have moved passed it with time. But what Rippedstar had done... He had refused to punish that SkyClan scum, not even slightly. Foxspirit gazed up at the sky, the stars reflecting in her eyes. Would their ancestors stay quiet tonight? Or would they speak up again, showing their power for all to see. Only time would tell.

Briarthorn was near the front of the group of WindClan cats as he padded into the enormous clearing. He had a confident smile on his face, and walked towards the front of the gathering, siting just far enugh away from the Great Rock to not be told to move. After all, he would be one of the cats up there someday. Briarthorn didn't know the strangers he sat by, but if they had a problem with him siting there, they could tell him themselves.

OOC: All of my cats are open to talk! The options today are a depressed StarClan denier (He doesn't really talk about it unless you bring it up), a relatively normal she-cat with a prejudiced against SkyClan, and an overconfident aggressor!

Clovertwist never would've felt anxious for arriving late to a Gathering before, but he certainly did now after the starry ancestors' recent... shall we say touchiness had surfaced. As Finchstar lead the way into Fourtrees, Clovertwist breathed out a sigh of relief to know that they weren't the last Clan to arrive. If perfect, pious SkyClan can be late then I'm sure StarClan'll forgive us, too, he thought with no absence of bitterness. His Clanmates streamed into the hollow alongside him, his friend Olivestone quickly disappearing into the crowd. The rest of WindClan soon followed suit, leaving Clovertwist to meander absently through the crowd. He glanced around at a few familiar faces.

Up at the very front, so close he could practically scent the leaders, was Briarthorn. Clovertwist chuckled at his older brother's boldness and continued to search for someplace to sit - somewhere a bit less conspicuous. After a short time he determined that finding a seat would be more important than finding someone to talk to; he'd hate to be caught standing once the leaders had started talking and everyone was supposed to settle. The kink-tailed silver tabby found a nice open spot mingled in the crowd to sit, his posture open and inviting but not overly energetic.

Maplepaw followed her Clan, excited to be at her first Gathering.

(she is free to talk with any)

/i’ll post with snow Soon (but likely not tonight)

No matter how Raventail wished he could believe otherwise, he had a feeling the deaths of Torrentstar and Thornstar weren’t the end of this. The StarClan he’d grown up only spoke when the Clans were in peril, and sometimes not even then; their silence during WindClan’s ordeal with the beast-cats had shown him that. So all these messages, all these accusations, they had to lead to something. Yet tonight, the sky was clear. The stars and the moon shone down innocently, unobscured by the storms of the last few Gatherings. ”At least it’s done raining,” Raventail murmured as he settled beneath the Great Rock. The two newer deputies—Ravenmist and Stormbringer, if he remembered correctly—were already talking; he wasn’t nearly at ease enough to interrupt.

---

It had been exhaustion and grief one moon, then a minor bout of whitecough; then, suddenly, more than half a season had passed since Lightfang had seen the Clans gathered. But he’d heard it all. He couldn’t close his ears to something that so clearly involved the mountain cats…involved him, the last of them as far as he knew. StarClan had sent fire and storms, had killed a pair of traitors—a pair of leaders that they themselves had chosen. If Lightfang had been terrified to meet them as a loyal apprentice, he was far more frightened now.

But his own fear didn’t matter. If StarClan had more to say, he needed to hear it for himself. And so Lightfang walked near the back of WindClan’s crowd, scanning the three Clans who’d gotten there first, noting the absent one. He’d never known Firflower to go to Gatherings. Tonight, though, he might try looking for her.

Strom arrived with Batbite, gazing around at the others already gathered, ears pricked. The last few gatherings had been... hectic, to say the least. A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the last one, ending in a flash of lightning and rain that had soaked them to the bone. His narrowed eyes caught Finchstar padding into the clearing to join the leaders, and his tail twitched uncomfortably behind him at the memory of the tom's speech. Whether he was right or not... Here's hoping this gathering isn't like that.

(OOC: Strom is open to speak)