June Gathering 2020

Flintstar stood on the fringe of the clearing, his paws rooted in place as a soft sigh escaped him. It was...Strange. After moons of dreading every Gathering, it was...Over? Peace had been achieved - even if it had come at the price of so much blood. But now they were to just carry on, find a new...Normal in the wake of everything. He shook his head, sparing a glance behind him at his Clan before he turned and led them into the clearing. He wasted no time in crossing over to the rock, jumping on as he turned his attention on to where RiverClan would be arriving. He wouldn't admit it, but he was rather...Anxious for RiverClan to arrive, having something he wanted to discuss with Ivystar. He had spent the walk up to Fourtrees trying to plan out what to say, not wanting to fumble on something that felt so...Important. He only hoped that she would be willing to hear him out on the matter and support it.

Ebonypaw walked into yet another Gathering. It seemed like it was only yesterday since the last Gathering with the fight...with the Righteous Few. As she padded after ShadowClan, she sighed as she shrugged off her doubt and worry. “All right...hopefully nothing wrong will happen this time...” Her icy-blue eyes shimmered, glowing under the silver light of the moon. Ebonypaw noticed that Flintstar was constantly looking at where the RiverClan leader, Ivystar would sit and frowned slightly. Thinking that it wouldn’t be her business, she decided to shrug it off, knowing that leaders had...leader things to talk about.

The Righteous Few were gone. Ravenstar had seen StarClan—the parts of it worth trusting, anyway—with his own eyes, and he’d returned from Silverpelt alive and well despite being one of the cats they’d accused of treason. To him, that was proof of their defeat. Maybe it was short-sighted…no, it was definitely short-sighted, but he refused to consider any other outcome. Graybriar, dead by the time WindClan returned. Morningdove, stubbornly unconscious. Flintstar, Ivystar, and Oakstar, all one life short. That had been a single night’s losses. The best thing WindClan had taken away from that fight was the assurance that it would never happen again; Ravenstar wouldn’t be the one to dash their hopes (or his own, for that matter). Not unless he had to.

Still, he wasn’t entirely rabbit-brained, and neither were his Clanmates. A moon’s time couldn’t begin to erase what they’d witnessed here. Though Fourtrees no longer seemed a breath away from catching fire, Ravenstar fought to keep his pelt flat as he stepped past the Great Oaks’ shadows. He had other things to think about right now. Things like remembering two moons of renamed Clanmates or figuring out how he’d make himself look Spottedstar in the eye. Normal worries. He huffed out a laugh. New name or not, those were still pretty far from normal.

The short tom approached the Great Rock, where Flintstar, ever punctual, had already settled. As it turned out, the climb was a lot easier without injuries or illnesses weighing him down; he scaled the rock in a matter of seconds and found his space at the top, meowing a greeting to Flintstar as he passed. ShadowClan’s leader seemed preoccupied, and Ravenstar privately resigned himself to a quiet night. They’d been allies against the Righteous Few, but he wanted to know the cats he’d be spending Gathering nights with, the way he’d tried to know Ivystar and Beartooth. Maybe next moon, they’d all be more at ease.

ooc: ravenstar is open to talk!
snowflight is sleeping guarding riverclan's camp and will not be present

While it had been an entire moon since the last Gathering, and while the Righteous Few had been defeated, Olivestone still found herself a little bit on edge as she padded into Fourtrees at Ravenstar's shoulder. Nonetheless, she held her head high and walked with purpose, moving forward to take her place at the foot of the Great Rock. Thankfully, the cat that she'd wanted to talk to the most was already sitting at the base of the rock, and she sat down beside Ravenmist, a question on her mind.
"Hey, Ravenmist. How are things in ShadowClan?"

---

Redwolf padded into Fourtrees with her head high and gaze cold. Truthfully, it was a bit of a facade, as she found herself still on edge after the events of the prior Gathering. Sure, the Righteous Few were gone, but there was no way to predict if a Gathering would devolve into chaos.

Wildpaw flattened her ears, staring at the crowd of cats. Or, well, tilting her head in their direction. She was worried she’d do something embarrassing because of her blindness, but it was her first Gathering, and she wasn’t going to spend it worrying about things she couldn’t change. The speckled molly sucked in a deep breath and trotted into the clearing, hoping others wouldn’t stare at her scars. Her Clanmates only did it a little. But in a place full of other Clans, they’d probably do it a lot. She sniffed the air, trying to find Clearpaw or Sweetpaw, but wasn’t able to distinguish their scent out of the many filling the clearing. Sighing, she sat down, pricking her ears and waiting to see how Gatherings worked.

---

This was the first normal Gathering, wasn’t it? And it was his first one. Emberpaw padded into the clearing, gaze raking the crowd. He was a little on edge, considering the stories of past Gatherings hadn’t exactly been great, but he’d keep an open mind. Or try, anyway. He sat down, not really caring where, and studied the great rock, wondering if he’d look good on it.

Sweetpaw kept pace with her clanmates as they traveled through the moor, the full moon brushing the heather in shades of silver. As they approached the giant trees the apprentice was taken aback by just how many cats were in the clearing. As her Clanmates split off, Ravenstar and Olivestone heading towards the great rock, and the rest dispersing to talk and share tongues with cats from the other clans, Sweetpaw takes a moment to take in the scence stretching before her. She had never interacted with anyone outside of WindClan, and seeing her clanmates converse so easily with cats they regularly quarreled with was interesting and foreign to the apprentice. She would be content to sit right where she was and just, watch. However she spots a familiar tawny pelt weaving amongst the assembled cats and trots over.

"I really wasn't expecting this many cats, and RiverClan and ThunderClan aren't even here yet." She says in way of greeting, flicking Wildpaw's flank fondly with her tail as she settled beside her friend. She was grateful to Zinnia for pointing out the leaders of the clans during her training, so she could more easily identify them now in the flesh. The gray tabby lifts her gaze to watch the moon peeking through the canopy, satisfied with the sky's clearness. Perhaps her first gathering would stay peaceful, or at least, she hoped it would. " I don't understand how ThunderClan lives in the forest, it's so hard to see the stars." She muses, casting a troubled glance to the thick greenery that bordered the clearing.

Spotlake padded into the gathering. While she would of preferred staying in camp to make sure Morningdove was safe and help out the queens with getting their kits to sleep, she had to be there for her clan.

OOC: Spotlake is open to talk to!

Clovertwist followed his Clan with his expression dark but unreadable, his movements tight and tense. His gaze swept over the clearing as WindClan dispersed, joining in with ShadowClan which had already arrived - as usual. There were spatters of blood here and there where living cats had been injured and killed at the claws and fangs of the Righteous Few, yet there was no physical evidence of the fox-hearts ever having existed. Their blood, which the living cats had longed to spill in retribution for their fallen loved ones, was gone without a trade; there was so little satisfaction in their eternal deaths, even after everything. Clovertwist sighed and carried on into the clearing, looking for somewhere to settle. Somewhere... that he'd be able to get to his family easily if something happened. He chose not to settle yet, instead waiting and watching to see where his own kin and Clanmates ending up drifting to.

Mothglow slipped into the Gathering, keeping close behind Flintstar. As they reached the clearing, she carried her herb bundle - lingering anxiety had led her to piece together something, even if it wouldn't do much in the event of more battles - to the medicine cats' usual spot, where she settled comfortably. At least she could see her friends, which was always a pleasant experience.
~
Zinnia followed into Fourtrees for the first time not Raventail, but instead Ravenstar. She found an unoccupied space to sit a ways away from some of her clanmates, feeling surprisingly at ease for a place where there had been war just one moon earlier. Some of those around her were still on edge, she knew, but change was the way of things and it came swift in this forest. Whether her pleasant smile or relaxed posture would stay through the night, only time would tell.

(Both are open to talk to!)

(OOC: on mobile, sorry for any mistakes ;; Also, Sagelight will be coming later! )

Clearpaw padded after his Clanmates, sticking near his friends Sweetpaw and Wildpaw. His long, dark-tipped tail was flagged, held high in his interest in what this Gathering would be like. Much to his delight, Ravenstar had allowed him and his denmates to go to this moon's Gathering. He had to admit, though, he was a bit wary about Gatherings as all the Gatherings he'd heard about had ended in some sort of bloodshed.

As WindClan filtered into the broad clearing, Clearpaw could even see the dark bloodstains littering the ground from the previous moon's battle. The lanky apprentice squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and marched on. Hopefully something like that would never happen again, but if it did, he would be ready. In the meantime, he took in the muddy scents of ShadowClan and the fainter mingled scents of the other Clans, eyes scanning over the ShadowClan cats already there. Clearpaw wasn't exactly one for lots of talking, but he wouldn't mind mingling a little with the other Clans once they all arrived.

He settled down on Wildpaw's other side opposite from Sweetpaw, touching the blind molly's back with his tail to alert her to his presence. "And SkyClan too," he replied to Sweetpaw, looking around at the gathering crowd. "That's a lot of cats...I wonder who I'll meet tonight." At Sweetpaw's comment about the stars, he tilted his head up towards the dark sky. "You're right...I don't think I would like living in a cramped forest. I like the moors much better."

(Clearpaw is open to talk to!)

Flurrypaw gaped at the vast clearing. There were already so many cats meandering around, chatting and sharing tongues. New scents flooded his nostrils. They weren't unpleasant, but they were drastically different from the earthy, windswept WindClan smell. He hadn't been to any borders yet with Foxspirit, so Flurrypaw never was shown such things. He had imagined the other clans to look... different. But he couldn't tell the cats apart. He thought that RiverClan would always have waterlogged pelts, ShadowClan to lurk around the fringes, ThunderClan to push around and act self-absorbed, and SkyClan to be watching from the trees. It seemed that the elder's stories were untrue. They were cats, same as himself.

Realizing that he was drifting away from his clan, Flurrypaw scampered to catch up to his friends. He stopped next to Clearpaw, who sat beside Wildpaw and Sweetpaw. Clearpaw had always seemed to be a confident tom that Flurrypaw could stick close to.

"Yeah..." Flurrykit mumbled his agreement, having not quite heard what his fellow apprentices were talking about.

Ebonypaw spotted a bunch of WindClan apprentices who seemed younger than herself. “Hi! I’m Ebonypaw of ShadowClan, and you guys are...?” She padded over and greeted them warmly. “This is your first Gathering, right?” It probably was. They seemed quite young and just apprenticed, but that was okay. They would probably grow into strong, capable warriors.

((Ebonypaw is talking to Clearpaw, Flurrypaw, Sweetpaw and Wildpaw.))

Aspenheart hobbled, as always, but his head was tilted up to eye-level with his peers. Usually, he walked with his head low, level with his shoulders, so he could keep his balance as his trembling legs swung out in odd directions. But tonight, he felt overwhelming pride in WindClan and the forest at large. He carried himself to reflect the change of heart. Ravenstar led the Clan tonight. The Righteous Few were gone. Aspenheart had received his first prophecy in moons, and even if it was quite negative, it meant that StarClan had found favor in the medicine cats once again. Things felt well and good.

He approached the medicine cats' place in the clearing, purring at Mothglow to signal his approach. She carried herbs with her, which he could understand. Tensions were still high in the clearing, even if Aspenheart had elected to ignore it. He took a less-than-graceful seat near ShadowClan's best and most marvelous. "How is ShadowClan recuperating? Are you all getting along alright?" he asked.

---

Tanglepaw found herself much fluffier tonight. Last time she was here, she had come out swinging against a spirit. Unnerving, to say the least. She figured she would branch out a bit, and talk to whoever she deemed least threatening. She found a gaggle of WindClan apprentices, all seeming to be newly-named by the way their heads swiveled around the clearing. Maybe, talking to some different folks would make her less nervous. Ebonypaw was on her way over, too. There was room for another, Tanglepaw hoped.

The flat faced apprentice looked to each of them. A grey-pointed tom, a silver she-cat, another silver tom, and a speckled... oh. Tanglepaw blinked a few times and averted her gaze as to not stare at the gorged marks on the last apprentice's eyes. Not that she could tell if Tanglepaw was staring, anyway. "Can I sit here?" she asked gruffly. "I've never met WindClanners before. You look pretty out of place with all these trees. I'm Tanglepaw. Ebonypaw and I are denmates."

---

ooc: Aspenheart is talking to Mothglow, and Tanglepaw is talking to Clearpaw, Wildpaw, Ebonypaw, Flurrypaw, and Sweetpaw! It's an apprentice pow-wow!

Clearpaw flicked one large ear in Flurrypaw's direction, casually acknowledging his presence. Flurrypaw was also a friend of his, although lately the pointed tom seemed to be getting closer with Wildpaw and Sweetpaw instead despite the fact that Flurrypaw was apprenticed at the same time as him. He welcomed the silver tom's appearance nonetheless, casting a sideways glance over at him. He was about to ask how he was doing when another apprentice, ShadowClan based on the scent, approached. She introduced herself as Ebonypaw. Clearpaw looked her over with curious interest, pleased to already meet other apprentices. "Hello, I'm Clearpaw. It is my first Gathering, yes. Nice to meet you."

Before he had even finished speaking, a flat-faced gray molly had sauntered up beside Ebonypaw. Clearpaw noted with a frown that she had pointedly looked away from Wildpaw's face and fresh scars. His head cocked to one side, gaze unreadable. This new apprentice seemed a little rough around the edges. "There's a first time for everything...I've never met any ShadowClanners before. Until now. As for the trees..." He trailed off, staring at the four large oaks ahead.

"...I admit I prefer the moor-grass."