August Gathering 2020

"StarClan warned you about the fire...?" Mothglow frowned at Daisybloom's words. "Well, I just hope SkyClan is okay. I don't suppose Sagelight will be able to make it tonight - unfortunate, considering, but understandable, given the situation."

She couldn't shake the sinking feeling that it would be some time indeed before she knew for certain that her friend was alright.
~
Batbite nodded politely to Spotlake, who carried the scent of their allies in WindClan. "It seems that SkyClan got the worst of it, overall," she noted, turning her gaze to the Great Rock once more. "Just as they should, as far as I'm concerned - given everything that happened with the Righteous Few. Turning tail and fleeing like cowards, leaving the rest of us to die... And to think, I once thought the warrior code was about honor."

She blinked, genuine interest and concern in her expression as she regarded her fellow warrior. "Right... How has WindClan fared lately? Beyond the news, I suppose - you're far enough away that there isn't much concern, right?"

Spotlake took Batbite's words. "Windclan is doing quite well. And that isn't a lie. And yes we are far away from the fire. But I don't think Skyclan deserves the fire. Some of their warrior and apprentices weren't even born when fight with the rightoues few happened. And I'm worried for the kits. No matter what their leader did Skyclan as a whole doesn't need to be punished."

Quailpaw turned his gaze to see his denmate, Rosepaw. "Oh hey Rosepaw. Isn't the gathering fun? I can't wait to talk to as many cats as possible." He perked up. His ears flattened a little when he saw Rosepaw's face. "Hey whats wrong? Are you worried about the fire. It won't reach us. I know so!"

OOC: Quailpaw darling your friend's crush is in the fire

The air smelled strange, thick, but not humid. It was a different scent that Pinepaw hadn't experienced before. There were whispers from his clanmates of a fire as they padded through the territory towards Fourtrees, pelts prickling with apprehension. Pinepaw was under the assumption that this gathering was going to be far different than expected. As the clan cut through the last layer of undergrowth, and over the stream, a large hill rose above them, topped with four massive trees. It was already crowded with many other cats, ThunderClan was late. It was no surprise, seeing as Oakstar needed to take every leap and bound slowly given his elderly state. Pinepaw narrowed his eyes as he watched the leader, wondering if he, too, would retire to the elder's den soon just as his father did.

It was true, much had happened in the past moon. Aside from Harefoot making the journey to the elder's den, Jaydream had been found dead at the border, the RiverClan border no doubt. Pinepaw was certain that that fact alone would have tensions running high. As they climbed the hill to Fourtrees, dipping into the large clearing, it seemed as if the Gathering had already roared to full force. RiverClan resided on their side of the glen, pelts glowing in the night. Pinepaw wrinkled his nose at their scent, a little biased with the current circumstances. WindClan sat on the far side, with brooding ShadowClan on the other. The lack of SkyClan was apparent, and every cat seemed to notice.

Pinepaw noticed Beecloud at the far side of ThunderClan's group, wearing a concerned look on his face. The apprentice frowned in pity, padding to his brother's side to flick his pelt with his tail, offering sympathy. "I'm gonna go talk to WindClan alright? They probably got a better view of the fire from that moor o' theirs. If you get lonely come find me, 'kay?" Pinepaw's brother could be a big sap at times, but the apprentice cared for him, even if his empathy crossed the line sometimes. Feeling rather bold, Pinepaw departed from the warrior and crossed the clearing, weaving between chattering groups of younger apprentices and concerned elders. He stopped by a silvery-white she-cat, one rumored to still possess her loner name. "Did you get a view of that fire?" Pinepaw asked, finding a seat next to the older she-cat, wondering what intel WindClan had.

Pinepaw is speaking with Zinnia.

Zinnia blinked at the approach of an apprentice - one that carried the scent of their allies in ThunderClan. "I'm sorry to say I didn't see much of anything myself," she admitted. "I would have thought ThunderClan to be the most knowledgeable, given your proximity to SkyClan... Though all of those trees would certainly be in the way, wouldn't they...?" She hummed quietly to herself for a moment, lost in thoughts that were a mystery to anyone else, before returning her attention to the apprentice who had chosen to speak with her. "My apologies - I am Zinnia. May I know your name?"
~
"I'm glad to hear it. And you're right, of course - kits shouldn't suffer for the sins of their parents," Batbite agreed. But it's not like they were sparing toward the rest of us, either... she added silently, a thought better left unsaid. "The same can't be said for some, however... For instance, I can't wait to hear whatever their sorry excuse for a leader has to say at the next Gathering." Now there was a cat she could reasonably wish ill on - not an innocent kit or apprentice, too young to know the truth, but the very leader who had ordered his Clan to leave and let the rest of them suffer.

She'd never liked SkyClan, really, and it seemed with each passing moon they gave her another reason. Perhaps she was too harsh on them now, but it wasn't something she could help; views shaped by a lifetime of negative experiences. She could count on her own four paws the SkyClan cats she'd thought tolerable - one, across her entire life, and he hadn't walked the forest floor in some time indeed.

Flintstar's gaze fell toward the forest as movement caught his attention, althought his whiskers twitched as he realized it was just ThunderClan. He quickly picked out Oakstar from the crowd, watching as the old tom slowly made his way to the rock. He heard as Oakstar made a leap, the sound of claws scraching at the stone...And then the soft thump as the leader failed to climb the rock. The ShadowClan's leader's ears perked with slight worry as he stepped forward to peer off the edge, relieved to see that Oakstar seemed alright even as he apologized as he would have to remain at the base of the rock. "...That is understandable," he meowed.. Oakstar was the oldest leader, he imaged age had to be catching up to him and he wasn't about to demand that the ThunderClan leader join them when it was clear that he would have imense trouble. "...Oakstar? Have you heard anything about SkyClan? None of us know..." he drifted off as something else caught his attention, a flicker of red as he turned his gaze to a cat that was slowly approaching the rock.

"...Foxfire?"



It looked like the weight of the world was on the lone SkyClan cat's shoulder as he stepped from the mass of ThunderClan cats, his eyes flickering around as perked at every mention of his Clan...Only to deflate when he realized that the Clan hadn't arrived yet. Would they arrive? He looked down at his paws, the pads still stinging from his close encounters with the flames the night before. He had been trailing after Oakstar, pausing to watch the leader fail to clamber the rock. Pain and guilt prickled at his pelt but that feeling was soon forgotten as he flinched as his name was called, turning his eyes up to the rock where he found the fearsome looking leader of ShadowClan was staring at him. "...Hi," he said weakly, trying to put on a smile but he found he just didn't have the energy. "I...Um...I-I think I...Have an annoucement to make at...Some point, I guess. I'll just...Sit with Oakstar I guess," he said, before he ducked his head as his ears slicked back. "I...I'll just...Say it here. I-I don't know where the rest of my Clan is. I-I'll give more infomation once the Gatheirng...Y'know...Uh, starts," he meowed as he shuffled his paws, before he perked up a little. "A-After all, maybe SkyClan will still...Arrive..." his words quickly trailed off as he hung his head and took a seat next to the ThunderClan leader.

...He wished he knew where his Clan was.

Nettlefire entered the gathering with the rest of her clan. She made her way to where the deputies were, her mind full of distractions.

The news of a fire in SkyClan's territory was eating away at her thoughts. Anyone who looked at her and saw the large burn scars all down her back and stomach could easily tell that the gray she-cat knew just how dangerous the stuff could be. And though she had requested her name at her warrior ceremony as proof of her recovery, proof that she would not be controlled by her fear-- she still was very, very afraid at the thought of the fire spreading. The mere idea of getting caught in flames again sent-- quite ironically-- a chill down her spine. The she-cat did her best to make no outward show of her anxieties-- a skill she was usually quite good at-- but her deep-seated fear of fire, coupled with the fact that ThunderClan itself hadn’t been in the best of states lately-- left her much more obviously distressed and distracted than usual.

But all the distractions in the world couldn’t stop her from noticing her father trying and failing to get on the great rock. He had been getting weaker, there was no doubt about it, and she eyed him with apprehension and dismay.


OOC: Addershade is still too sad about Applefang's death to feel up to attending a gathering, and so is staying home

Rosepaw sighed and shook her head sadly. “It’s just that my, uh, friend was in the fire. He’s a SkyClan cat.” Totally casual, Rosepaw. Straining a small smile, Rosepaw shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah…but ThunderClan is really close to the SkyClan border. I don’t know…the fire could reach the edge of the territory if it’s really serious.” Hopefully the SkyClan cats could show up to the Gathering…

"Ah I see. Well I hope your friend is safe!" Said Quailpaw. Man poor Rosepaw. It pains me to see her like this.

"Yes kits should not suffer the stuff their parents did." She stopped to sigh before contuining. "Yes while I don't think Spottedstar should've left when we were in need, I do believe where he is coming from. So many cats died in the battle with the righteous few and I think he just wanted to protect his clanmates. Though I do believe the he should've at least gave his warriors a choice of they wanted to stay to fight or not, instead of punishing cats who disobeyed him."

Goldenpaw looked up from her paws at the newcomer, looking her up and down. She was pretty, with icy blue eyes and a silver pelt. Goldenpaw smiled. "Hey, Fogpaw. My name's Goldenpaw. I'm ShadowClan, obviously." She paused for a moment, her smile never faltering. "So, how's Windclan doing? Did y'all get affected by the fire at all? Thankfully our camp was unharmed, but we have a lot less land to hunt on now. The marsh is all dried up, can't even find a frog to eat."

Batbite resisted the very strong urge to roll her eyes. "Did he really think they'd just leave him be, though? The Righteous Few displayed quite clearly that they didn't believe in anything remotely reasonable. I doubt they'd let him really just walk away. Besides that, there are five Clans. If the rest of us were somehow destroyed, did he think everything would be just fine? That SkyClan could just waltz in and replace everything?" She paused, something like realization crossing her face. "No, actually, I'm sure he did. I'm pretty sure those mouse-brained idiots all think the world revolves around them, if I'm entirely honest. Like the rest of the forest is nothing more than a minor nuisance."

Then, with more curiosity (though an only slightly less judgmental tone): "I wonder if they think it was worth it, at the end of it all."

Clearstone loped into the Gathering with the rest of WindClan, gaze sharp and ears up and alert. This was his first Gathering as a warrior, and he made sure he looked his best. He would hate to look bad in the name of his Clan. For a moment, he weaved and padded around the various cats grouped into the clearing, noting with a solemn expression the thick black clouds that hung over the forest and the chatter about "SkyClan" and "a fire". He was looking for a place to settle down and watch idly but a voice caught his attention.

"I'm pretty sure those mouse-brained idiots all think the world revolves around them, if I'm entirely honest. Like the rest of the forest is nothing more than a minor nuisance." the voice spat, and Clearstone turned to look at a black molly talking with Spotlake. A quick sniff told him the black cat was ThunderClan. Brows furrowing, the young warrior approached the two mollies, taking a seat with them without asking. "I have a feeling you're talking about SkyClan." he intoned, nodding towards Spotlake in greeting. "Clearstone, of WindClan. My apologies for jumping into this conversation, but I just had to say something. I believe you're referring to the battle with the Righteous Few, correct? When SkyClan left the Gathering? Well, if it was Spottedstar's call...The Warrior Code states that the leader's word is law. Surely SkyClan was simply afraid of repercussions should they break the Code. I would be, if I were them. That doesn't mean they don't care about anyone else, or that Spottedstar is cruel...Although, admittedly I haven't met the cat, I could be mistaken. What I'm trying to say is, I feel as if they were just trying to protect themselves, which is understandable." Clearstone paused, his tail tip flicking back and forth. This was an interesting discussion to have, in his opinion, hopefully this black ThunderClanner wouldn't take it the wrong way.

”The damage”? Of course fires were destructive—he’d learned that much from the stories—but hearing it from someone who’d actually seen the aftermath was something else. ”Oh no,” Ravenstar murmured, mostly to himself. A Clan he hardly knew and a threat he’d never seen… He hardly knew what to ask first. Before he could come up with something, Ivystar joined them, and brought an answer with her: apparently, the fire hadn’t stopped burning. Though it probably went without saying that he hadn’t seen so much as a whisker of SkyClan, he shook his head in response to her question anyway, letting a frown take root on his muzzle. When Burntstag had run ShadowClan out of their territory, they’d fled to RiverClan—but this was something else, more akin to the flood than a takeover. Where could a Clan hide from something that didn’t care about borders?

When ThunderClan arrived, the tension wrapping around Ravenstar’s ribs loosened its grip just a little. They were safe—and with any luck, they knew more about the fire than the other Clans. Oakstar crouched, preparing to make the customary leap onto the Great Rock. His almost-fall from the previous moon flashed before Ravenstar’s eyes. Odds were he wouldn’t be able to help much—WindClanners weren’t known for strength, after all, and he was smaller than most of them—but he still rose to his paws, holding his breath. This time, Oakstar managed to dig his claws in…but it wasn’t enough. After a moment, he dropped back to the ground, not far from the deputies. Ravenstar’s heart dropped with him. ”Nothing to be sorry for,” he said quietly, blinking down at the older leader from the Great Rock’s edge.

Flintstar opened his mouth after a brief silence, and Ravenstar snapped back to reality. Right. The fire. Oakstar’s injury wasn’t the only thing (or, though he hated to think it, even the most pressing thing) to worry about tonight. He leaned forward to hear Oakstar’s answer, and caught sight of something else instead: a scarred face and red fur. His eyes went wide. ”Foxfire?” Maybe SkyClan had found shelter with ThunderClan— Or, he thought, shoulders drooping, as Foxfire elaborated, maybe not. At best, it was a spark of hope: If one SkyClanner had made it to safety, the rest of them could’ve. But Foxfire’s tone was far from optimistic. Ravenstar’s frown deepened as he backed away from the edge of the rock and sank into his usual place once more.

---

Snowflight remembered the painstaking preparation, the extra naps throughout the day, the hours of grooming until every frost-white strand of fur laid exactly how he wanted it to, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember why he’d agreed to come here in the first place. On an ordinary night, he would have forged a path into the crowd in search of someone new, something interesting. Maybe he would’ve found some explanation for the smoke curling into the sky above what he knew to be SkyClan territory. Tonight, though…he didn’t have the energy to build bridges. Part of him (most of him) wanted to find Beecloud and tell him what had happened. After what they’d discussed at the last Gathering, it seemed like a fair trade. Grief for grief. But Fourtrees was already too loud, too public, even without SkyClan, and Snowflight hadn’t put so much effort into his pelt just to ruin it in front of the rest of the forest.

With one last look toward ThunderClan’s part of the clearing, he sighed and set off in search of a secluded place to sit. What he found was Streamtail—sitting alone, to his surprise. Then again, wasn’t Amberpaw the only one of her kits who’d gotten their apprentice name? A frown flickered across Snowflight’s face. He doubted Streamtail wanted a conversation any more than he did, but…maybe she wouldn’t mind having quiet company. They’d lost the same cat, after all. Giving himself a firm shake before those thoughts could take root, he padded forward to stand beside the gray-furred warrior. ”Streamtail, hey,” he meowed. ”Mind if I sit here?”

ooc: snowflight is talking to streamtail [windwillow]

---

In the days leading up to the Gathering, Thrushpaw had been nervous. On one paw, she’d never been to a Gathering before; from what her siblings had told her, they were busy and noisy and a lot of things she generally avoided. On the other, what if there were more dogs in the forest? What if Rainstrike came back? Though she’d improved steadily throughout Nettlefire’s training, that first fight had pasted itself onto the backs of her eyelids. Was she strong enough yet? Would she ever be? She’d have to face the answer someday—but not yet. Not tonight. And so this time, when she’d been asked to go to the Gathering, she’d leapt at the opportunity.

Now that she was here…well. To put it simply, Gatherings were everything she’d thought they’d be. Finding an open spot took some effort and a lot of shouldering past cats older than herself, but after several minutes, Thrushpaw emerged near the emptiest patch of Fourtrees. From here, she could clearly see three cats on top of the Great Rock; Oakstar and a vaguely familiar red-furred cat waited below. Not knowing how these things typically went, she decided it'd be best to settle down and watch them.

ooc: thrushpaw is open to talk! (be warned: she will introduce herself by both of her names if anyone asks)

Another WindClan cat, Batbite noted, as another cat approached and introduced himself. "SkyClan wouldn't know honor or reason if either of those things hit them over the head with a rock," she muttered. "Besides, any rule that says you should follow the whims of some total mouse-brain was made to be broken. What most warriors seem to ignore is that the Code is flawed. Listening to anyone unquestioningly, regardless of what you know to be right or wrong... I can't even pretend to understand that."

Stars, had no one but her learned anything at all from the Righteous Few? That they were thought of as StarClan for as long as they were, that some cats followed their ridiculous excuses for doctrine, that StarClan themselves condemned their actions and not their beliefs... To believe the code they upheld so strongly was flawless, or that it shouldn't be questioned or altered...

But this was a Gathering, and no place for such a conversation. "Spottedstar is only marginally less of an embarrassment than his predecessor, and that's the closest thing to a compliment I have to offer him," she shrugged. "Protecting yourself is one thing... Doing so at the expense of everyone other than yourself?" She curled her tail more tightly around her side, trying to keep her true anger from showing. "They made their choices the night of the battle, and if they can't handle harsh words then they should have chosen right."

At last, ThunderClan padded into Fourtrees with Oakstar at the group's head, and she found herself holding her breath as he attempted to jump onto the Great Rock, and she winced as he fell back down, accepting that he'd have to give his announcements at the base of the rock. Nodding in respect at Oakstar, she didn't expect to see Foxfire in their ranks, let alone be taking a place with the deputies. She'd heard that he'd been deputy before she was born, but with what she knew, this wasn't what she expected to see. With a nod of respect, she turned to address him.
"Foxfire, I'm sorry for the trouble you and all of SkyClan have experienced. I hope that the fire burns out soon, and that you and your Clan can return to your home."

Foxfire had settled down, gaze focused on his paws as he listened to the voices. This...Wasn't his place - he had given it up moons ago but yet here he was, sitting in Wolfcall's spot. Oh... His ears slicked back as he bunched up, wishing that this could all be a bad dream. Spottedstar, Wolfcall, Basildrop, Wrenspring, Mistrain.... Flowerthorn. He missed them so much, he wish he at least knew if they were okay or if... A voice startled him,  glancing over to see a... Uh, she was WindClan by the smell of it and on second thought he could remember seeing her sitting here since Ravenstar had become leader but her name escaped him as he awkwardly shifted on his paws. "Oh...Um... Thanks," he said quietly, giving a shrug of his shoulders - unsure on what else to do. "I... I just...Uh, wished I...I wish I knew where my Clan was," he said softly, a sniffle escaping him. "I wish I knew if they were alright or... I just...I haven't seen them since the fire."