May Gathering 2020 [Sitewide Plot Finale]

Time went by as did the losses suffered by Windclan when the clan arrived at the gathering. Fogpaw walked alongside the rest of her wounded clan casting a shadow of dread upon the other clans. The moment she had sat down close to where Dappleshine had been talking to another cat whose scent eluded her. It was a different smell from that of WindClan but this mysterious she-cat acted kindly to her mother. She shook of her lingering distrust to pay attention to elsewhere be it the living cats or other dark forces that had made themselves known amongst the clans. IT was her first gathering a happy little event it was. Only by the mere fact that many cats were infected by a sinister plague brought down by their ancestors was it ruined. In her head she shouldn't complain as she hadn't been out right affected by it. Either way her paws fidgeted uncomfortably against the peaceful ground of Four Trees.

When looking around she had spotted there were plenty of apprentices ranging from clans she knew little about. There was the border with the river, maybe it was StreamClan? Perhaps not, the night was short but she'd make the most out of it. Even with not much insight about the other clans she hadn't noticed until now the newly made apprentice approached a cat that look disturbed by the gathering itself. The concern shaded her face when she reached Batbite minding where her pawsteps landing. "Hello, who might you be?" She asked gingerly look at the warrior in awe. The kitten fluff in her ears made it apparent she had only just been apprenticed not long ago, that and the glaring size difference from that of her clanmates.

Spiderquill all but crawled into the clearing, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes. All had been affected by the illness, but none more than the ill and the medicine cats. If he had to hazard a guess, Spiderquill would say he probably hadn't slept in about four days. Between Moonstone journeys and caring for the sick, there was precious little time to sleep, to find herbs, to do anything else really. His Clanmates (especially Ivystar, Stormbringer and Honeytongue) were trying their best to help him and the sick cats, but it still seemed like the world had been placed upon Spiderquill's shoulders. He could really use an apprentice these days. The medicine cat could feel the tension in the air, made all the more palpable by the constantly shifting clouds that shrouded the stars in their smoky veil. He stood still for a moment, his mom having already left his side and taken her place on the Highrock, and took a deep breath. No matter what happened today, RiverClan was in it together. No, the whole forest. He wasn't alone, none of them were. He would stay strong, if only for tonight. Yet a fine tremor ran through his body, and this time it wasn't from the cold.

He shakily joined the other medicine cats, nodding a respectful greeting to Mothglow and Mossbloom and pressing his head briefly against Softpaw's. He just about caught Mossbloom's question and smiled a little grim smile. "The sickness is in RiverClan too, it's affected many of our finest cats. I can only thank Star-uh, Jaystar that it hasn't spread any further." He looked away for a moment, trying to think of something to say. He then turned to Softpaw. "Hey Softpaw, did you know I'm not Spiderpaw anymore? I'm fully named! Spiderquill. That's- er- my new name." He smiled awkwardly, clearly tired and not in the best headspace for sensical conversation.
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Goldenpaw smiled at Ebonypaw. " Hey! I'm Goldenpaw. Weird energy here tonight, huh?" Though her tone was cheerful, her eyes betrayed the fear hiding just beneath the surface. First the sick cats, now this uneasy atmosphere--something was clearly afoot.

She purred a happy greeting to Redwolf, touching the other she-cat's back with her tail. Lowering her voice to match Red wolf's, she whispered, "Yeah, something's off. I don't know if I'm glad or sorry that this is my first Gathering."

Daisybloom dipped her head in greeting to Spiderquill. She believed he was from Riverclan. ”Hi I’m Daisybloom, Mossbloom’s new apprentice.” she mewed softly, her blue eyes meeting his.

Ferretdance had walked with his sister the whole way, as he usually did. He realized pretty quickly, though, that this would be the first gathering where he couldn't sit and draw strength from her being beside him. It made his heart hurt, especially because the very air felt charged, like even the nature around them could sense that something was going to happen that night. He was nervous, and it made him more nervous to be separated from Olivestone. He noticed his apprentice, Fogpaw, starting a conversation with a ThunderClan cat. Batbite, he recognized from the meetings that Morningpaw had set up. He padded over, dipping his head in greeting. "Hi there. I see you've met my apprentice."

---

Viperpaw didn't want to go to the gathering just as much as she did want to go to it. She was pleasantly surprised that Flintstar allowed it, but she figured he probably wanted to be able to keep an eye on her. That was alright, she did feel safer with her half-brother near. Her fluffy pelt prickled as she followed the rest of ShadowClan, sitting near Redwolf and Goldenpaw.

ooc; Viperpaw is open to talk.

An abnormal tensity showed in Ravenmist’s posture- the usually collected deputy was on edge tonight. Something would happen, she was sure. But she, Morningpaw, and the rest had trained for this, met for this, prepared for this. If they failed, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying. As she took her place at the bottom of the Great Rock, taking note of a new WindClanner next to her- Raventail had apparently found a deputy, she just prayed she could keep every cat she loved safe.

Crowspirit marched into the Gathering, head held high as he took his place next to Spotlake. If the StarClanners appeared tonight, he wouldn’t hesitate in leaping forward to defend his Clan, his family. He would protect Spotlake, his kits, including Morningpaw, his youngest and bravest daughter, Goldengale, Raventail. If protecting them required death, so be it. Whatever happened, if those StarClanners wanted him to bow they’d have to bend his dead body.

Willowpaw padded towards Fourtrees, following her Clanmates. It’s been a moon...and look at how chaotic everything is... Willowpaw thought. I cant believe this is my second Gathering... She sat down at a random spot in the clearing, hoping that this moon’s Gathering wouldn’t be so chaotic. Hopefully, the Righteous Few wouldn’t interrupt this one again.

Streampaw was excited for her next Gathering, but she was slightly worried too. As she padded up to sit in the clearing, she shivered slightly. Has it only been a moon since the last Gathering? She thought to herself. She had witnessed Finchstar’s death herself, and that would never be wiped from her memory. Streampaw curled her long tail around her paws, becoming even more nervous and scared.
Both open to talk to!

Spotlake glanced besides her to see Foxspirit and Crowspirit sitting next to her. "Do you think Starclan, the rightous few will come in like last gathering?" Asked Spotlake shaking her paw uneasily.

Nightwolf walked in, the cheerfullness gone. His whiskers twitched. To any cat that didn't know him, they would think he was some scary exprienced warrior. But he wasn't, as the scent coming off of him was full of fear and determanedness.

Frostpaw’s pure white pelt shined with a tiny hint of silver. The moonlight hit her fur, making it glow a tiny bit more than usual. This was her first Gathering, and she was very excited. As she was only a kit when the Gathering last moon happened, she didn’t know much about the Righteous Few, but she did know that they were evil and needed to be stopped. As Frostpaw entered the clearing, she saw many grim and determined faces. Nervously, she sat down in an empty space with no cats around.
(Frostpaw would love it if you could talk to her!)

Willowpaw padded up next to Mossbloom. The younger she cat blinked up at the medicine cat. “Mossbloom? Is something wrong going to happen? I don’t know...but I feel as if something bad will happen today...Is there anything I can help with?” She asked.

Streampaw padded up to Applefang. She purred happily as she saw her mate. This was the only thing that made her happy: Having her mate by her side. Her emerald green eyes met his with sudden worry. “Applefang...I will always be by your side, no matter what happens today.” She promised him.

When they come for us, we will stand, and we will fight. The warriors and I can shield the apprentices, Morningpaw thought, forgetting for a moment that- regardless of the size of her spirit- she was still an apprentice herself, still vulnerable to a well-placed strike- and we'll push them back, force them to flee back to the stars with their tails between their legs. Maybe if we don't go for blood, they won't either- it's a fool's hope, but it's all we can hope for. They have strength, but we have numbers- and if anyone gets hurt, the medicine cats can help, but... it won't be enough. A slight pause, and she glanced around Fourtrees, taking stock of the area; If the leaders can secure the Great Rock, they can use that as a staging post, and we can encircle the whole of Fourtrees; and as long as the line doesn't break, neither will our spirits. And if our morale is high enough, and theirs low- we might be able to resolve this without casualties... no, they won't agree to it. If they wouldn't negotiate then, why would they now? They've forgotten what it's like to be mortal; they've forgotten they can bleed. We, though- we know we can.

Lost in thought, the she-cat barely heard the RiverClan apprentice approach- but at his kind words, Morningpaw turned to face the tom, assessing him for a few moments. Not a face she recognised from her meetings, but not an unkind one either; this was no StarClan spy, nor a lionhearted revolutionary- simply a kind, caring soul, seeing the pain written across her face as clear as the wind on a breezy day. For a moment, she considered shaking her head, dismissing the apprentice with a gentle lie, an 'I'm fine, but thank you' that would no doubt be as unconvincing as any lie she told- but no, Morningpaw was not a skilled liar, and Ashpaw was right; she wasn't okay. She hadn't had a good night's sleep since the last Gathering, and unbidden thoughts arose- dozens of bodies, dead and dying, claws torn and the Great Rock stained red with the blood of five-and-one Clans- and with a gentle smile, she turned to Ashpaw, taking a seat by the young apprentice. "No, you're not wrong," she murmured, just barely loud enough to be audible. What she was about to say was for the ears of the RiverClan cat alone- he reminded him almost of herself; young, kind, a little naive. She'd grown since Finchstar's death, tempered and hardened and quenched in the fire of sorrow and loss and truth; but the cat before her? Well- she couldn't help but tell the truth.

"I had a dream last night," she continued. "I dreamed that I saw a squirrel- a big, furry, red one, big enough to feed every kit in the Clan. It was just sitting there in the moors, basking in the sun. I wanted nothing more than to catch it; I was the predator, and it was the prey, so I chased it. I didn't feel guilt, or pity, or anguish, at trying to hurt it; it was just prey, after all- and as I closed in, it ran to the RiverClan border. I had it pinned there, I thought; behind it was the gorge, and in front of it, me. The squirrel knew that if it did nothing, it would die, and end up as a tasty meal; so instead... instead, it stepped backwards, falling far into the river below." Morningpaw took a moment to breathe, looking away. "I saw its body lying there, shattered and bloodied on the rocks. It chose to dive head-first into death with its own paws, rather than die by mine. The squirrel chose its own fate, even if that fate ended just as badly for it as any other. Either way, it would've died; but it died with dignity."

"The Righteous Few are coming. They've killed already, and they're going to kill again- and... there's nothing we can do to prevent that. Even if we fight- and we will- we won't all make it out, and... that's on me. This was my idea. I think- in the dream? The squirrel is the Clans of the forest. The squirrel is us."

Redwolf mirrored Goldenpaw's gesture, curling her own tail across her back, and murmured back, "Let's hope that we all can put an end to the Righteous Few's reign of terror. The lousy fox-hearts need to be taken down a peg or five. Hopefully things will return to normal soon, though I expect that it'll take tooth and claw to do it..."

She took notice of Viperpaw sitting nearby, and murmured to her, "Hey, Viperpaw."

Throughout the moons, Dustcloud had seen countless battles. She was born into a time where cats from above wreaked havoc down below, so it was certainly no stranger to her- it was cats of the stars wreaking havoc that had surprised her. StarClan had been her savior since she was old enough to think solid, sensible thoughts, and that was only solidified when the stars led her home after moons away from her Clan. She'd never doubted her ancestors before, but even the most honest cat would be lying if they said they never questioned their loyalty to StarClan in such trying times. How could her loyalty lie with a group of cats so vile, so heartless? When Wolffang had descended from above, though, the old she-cat's faith had been restored. Seeing a StarClan cat such as herself fighting for justice amongst the living proved what Dustcloud needed to know the most- that everything was going to be okay, and that the "Righteous Few" was truly only a few like-minded outcasts.

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Freckleface's paws were shaking, no matter how high she held her chin, and no matter how many times she denied her fear. She truthfully didn't want to attend the gathering, but there was no way that she was letting her apprentice and Flintstar go without her there. So, with shaky paws and whiskers, she followed the rest of ShadowClan into Fourtrees. She started to follow Mothglow towards the medicine cats, but ended up thinking better of it. She didn't want to interupt them if they were discussing something that she didn't need to hear, and truthfully, didn't want to hear. After gazing about awkwardly for a moment, Freckleface settled to the side by herself, placing her fluffy tail over her paws as she looked up at Flintstar and the other leaders.

---

Briarpaw was probably the least excited out of all her siblings to be at this gathering. The last place she wanted to be was at Fourtrees, where cats that hated the very principle of her being would likely show their mangy, star-ridden pelts. Her large paws left indentions in the grass as she walked past the great oaks, her eyes settled on Redwolf's familiar pelt. She didn't mind the additional company of Goldenpaw, so she padded over to the firey she-cat's side and settled down, licking the fluffy fur on her shoulders down. "Truthfully, I think they'd put an end to themselves if we gave them the chance. They seem to hate each other more than they hate us, sometimes." She muttered, continuing to groom herself.

Redwolf smiled at Briarpaw as she settled down on her other side, and she brushed her tail over Briarpaw's back. A warm feeling kindled in her as she basked in the presence of both of her love interests, and she felt like she could sit between them forever. She let out a soft snort at Briarpaw's comment, before she responded in kind, glancing around the clearing. "Honestly. They probably all have different ideas for what they want to do with us, they just only have their Clan purity idea in common. I wonder how they've stuck together long enough to get this far."

She paused for a moment, before adding,
"SkyClan needs to hurry up and get here. I want to at least get some of the Gathering out of the way before the foxes in cat's pelts show up and ruin everything."

Minkstream dragged into the gathering, his paws feeling like clouds moving through mud. Fire raged in his throat, and a cough stuck at the back, ready to come out whenever he took his attention away from trying to stop it. Technically, it was better than it had been at the beginning, but better was almost a meaningless comparison when he took into account how bad it had been.

Jumbled memories of a few nights ago danced through his head, and he winced, his head reeling sympathetically. How stupid could he have been?

If he was honest, possibly a lot more stupid.

But now, as he looked up at the moonlit clearing, his eyes feeling like someone had shoved a sand-encrusted toad into them, a new feeling surged through him. Somewhat similar to the one he'd had before, but this one wasn't hopeless. If the Righteous Few appeared... well... this time he wouldn't sit by, and he had a feeling, from the looks of the others in the clearing and tension subtly crackling through the air, that neither would anyone else. Maybe he could still die, maybe they all could, but this time his friends and family would be by his side.

Never alone.

He glanced at Batbite, talking to a couple of others. His paws itched to join her, but first... His eyes sought through the crowd until a familiar grey pelt, also hunched with sickness, caught his gaze. There were others around her, as always, including Cherryblossom. Maybe Dacedream's daughter had already broken the news, but he felt a need to be there. He couldn't just walk by, not after she'd helped him through his own grief - even if his voice would be little more than a hoarse mew.

"Hey Dappleshine. I guess it's been a while," He rasped as he padded up to join the others near her, a genuine smile - however dampened by sickness it might be - stretching up his maw. She'd been looking through the gathered cats when he'd padded up, just a hint of concern on her face. She doesn't know. And it wasn't his place to tell her, unless Cherryblossom needed help breaking the news, which he doubted. "How've you been?"

Nettlefire let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that he's alright," she said, her voice brighter than it had been in a while. She nodded as he quietly added the extra statement. There was an edge to it that she appreciated.

Nettlefire felt nothing but fury and contempt for these "Righteous Few". They had caused pain and suffering and humiliation for not only her clan, but her family. She didn't know for sure whether StarClan cats could die a second time. But if she saw any of those foxhearted fools with her own two eyes....well. She aimed to find out.

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I don't know why I'm here.

Addershade asked himself that question every time he decided to go to a gathering.

He hated big crowds. He hated small talk. He hated having to interact with strangers. And that was basically everything a gathering was.

And tonight, it was even worse. Everyone was tense and upset.

And tense and upset + a large crowd of already unpredictable cats?

Well, that was just a recipe for disaster.

But Snowpaw, Applefang, and Nightwolf were all here tonight. And the only thing he could imagine that was worse than being stuck in a large, potentially dangerous crowd were his children being stuck in a large, potentially dangerous crowd without him being there to protect him.

So that's why he was here tonight.

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Marshcloud barely knew what was going on.

Which was not a new feeling for him, but it was more true right now than it ever had been.

His sleeping habits had just gotten worse and worse over the past moon or two. He was tired and disoriented and out of it. Everything had started sort of blurring into one big, confusing mess, and he was never really sure whether he was fully awake or whether he was half asleep. Yesterday, he'd almost started striking up a conversation with a tree because, in his massively sleep-deprived state, he'd almost mistaken it for another cat.

He looked around at the sea of faces that at once all looked disturbingly familiar and uncannily foreign to him and smiled cheerfully.

Because that's what he did. He didn't know what else to do.


OOC: Both Addershade and Marshcloud are open to talk!