September Gathering 2020

Flashpaw's ears twitched. Flintstar, Flintstar... That was ShadowClan's leader, or at least she thought so; but it admittedly didn't mean much to her. It was, perhaps, moderately impressive; to be born into some sort of power - but a leader's kit had no real power of their own, and knowing who Tinypaw's parents were did little for her, besides making her question the ShadowClan leader's naming habits. "It doesn't. I didn't ask you who your parents were. I asked what makes you special. Or do you need to rely on a pre-existing legacy, with no talent to call your own?"

There was a lot things on Pinepaw's mind as he traveled into the clearing with ThunderClan. The usual hustle and bustle would excite him, but all he could stare at was the leaf on Thrushpaw's tail as his thoughts drifted off. Emberheart, Rainstrike, Jaystream... There were so many cats, all giving him conflicting messages. It didn't feel like how it should - right before his warrior ceremony. It seemed the whole clan knew that Pinepaw would no longer be a paw tomorrow, so why didn't he feel happy? Shaking his head, Pinepaw found a seat next to Thrushpaw, hoping to distract himself with conversation. He'd be fine after all. He always was. "You've got a leaf on your bum!" He hissed into her ear, eyes sparkling. "Don't let SkyClan see you like that, they may claim you as one of their own!" SkyClan... What were they up to? Pinepaw sympathized with the warriors who had lost their home in the fire, but he found he could hardly imagine what it would be like. Too detached to relate, he supposed. However his heart beat for them.

---

It wasn't long before Cinderpaw lost Crowpaw in the crowd, watching as her brother's jet black pelt slunk away to speak with another clan. She narrowed her eyes and pulled away from the group, finding a shady spot under some ferns to sit. Gatherings were pointless and dull. Cinderpaw didn't like speaking to others about such fickle things. This time could be used to hunt or fight! The massive she-cat pulled her paws closer to her chest as she sat; looking like a grumpy bear in her gloomy corner. Flintstar, Cinderpaw's father, could be observed from the Great Rock. While her heart screamed to leave the clearing as fast as possible, something about her parent up on the rock put her at ease. It further convinced the she-cat that ShadowClan was above it all. With Flintstar at the helm, they didn't have anything to worry about. Now if only her father's large figure could shoo away all the chatter as well...

Pinepaw is talking to Thrushpaw!
Cinderpaw is open for conversation!

With a light chuckle, Ebonysong's mind drifted back towards the Righteous Few. "Oh yes, much more peaceful. Much less crowded. That Gathering was my first one. In the previous one, a leader was murdered by an evil StarClan cat. In this one, the evil StarClan cats and our Clans battled against each other. It was chaos, the Righteous Few, as those cats were called, were seemingly unstoppable. We almost thought that we were going to lose, when Galestar broke the barrier that the Righteous Few had put so that all the good StarClan cats poured out to help fight the Righteous Few. Of course, a lot happened before that, too." Ebonysong's eyes grew softer as she thought about Morningpaw, the brave WindClan apprentice, who was still in a coma.

A warm feeling rose in Splashpaw's chest as the large tabby spoke, and she grinned eagerly. Already the terror she'd felt when confronted by a mob of strangers was long forgotten. "Of course!" The young molly mewed cheerfully. For a moment she sat quietly, watching the ebb and flow of the now-settling crowd and wondering if she'd just made her very first friend.
She stirred as Bluepaw spoke, turning to look where the bigger she-cat had gestured. 'The other leaders?' "No, I don't," Splashpaw gazed at the older cats with wide-eyed interest. They all seemed so much bigger and wiser than the warriors, and for a moment the tortoiseshell was reminded of her sister Flashpaw. But no, that didn't feel right– it was difficult to imagine her wild sister perched on top of the Great Rock like an egret looking down at the fish in the river. "I wonder how old they are, and what clan each one is from." She said, tail-tip twitching.

It was clear that just because a half-moon had passed since Softbreeze had seen the others, things were not okay. The world still felt shaky for her. Isolated from the others, Softbreeze stared numbly at her paws, as if reliving each horrible moment of her life thus far. Aspenheart... I still need you..

Downtuft kept one eyed cocked on his sister as he sat down, enjoying the quiet that was this gathering at the moment.

---

Downtuft is open for conversation.
Stormpaw is still not here, as she has not returned to ThunderClan yet.
Softbreeze is open to talk to medicine cats only

Streamtail listened closely as Bluepaw asked Splashpaw who the leaders were. Smiling at both of them, the grey warrior pointed her tail at each of the leaders one by one. "You know our leader, Ivystar. She's the silver tabby over there with the blue-green eyes. Over there is Flintstar, the large, black tom with the yellow eyes. He's the leader of ShadowClan. There's Nettlefire...Nettlestar, I'm guessing, who is the long-furred silver-grey tabby. She's the leader of ThunderClan. The last leader, but of course, not least, is Olivestar if I remember correctly. She is another grey tabby with olive green eyes. Spottedstar, the leader of SkyClan isn't...here yet, but I'm sure he's...fine." Smiling at the two apprentices and hoping that they weren't too confused with that huge spurt of information, Streamtail studied Splashpaw and Bluepaw carefully to see how they would react.

If anything, the Clans got louder after they relaxed into their places for the night. Thrushpaw finally caught sight of her father…as he reached the Great Rock, too close to the other deputies for her to approach. They were already imposing enough from this distance. Her ears flicked back as she frowned. Before the disappointment could sink in, however, Pinepaw settled down beside her. At once, her posture loosened; having even one friend nearby dimmed the crowd’s eyes. Maybe this Gathering would turn out to be better than the first.

At her friend’s playful hiss, she twisted around to blink at the offending leaf. “Living in the trees wouldn’t be that bad,” she said, though she brushed it off of her tail anyway. Then, because SkyClan hadn’t arrived yet, she whipped her paw around and pressed the leaf against the flat part of Pinepaw’s shoulder. It didn’t stick quite as well in his short, rust-colored fur as it had in hers—but it stayed nonetheless. Thrushpaw’s face lit up. Her smile persisted as she meowed a moment later, “Where do you think they’ll go after this?” It didn’t matter to her where SkyClan ended up as long as ThunderClan wasn’t harmed, but Pinepaw had a lot of good ideas, and the ones that weren’t good tended to be interesting. “I thought somewhere past the forest. Or underground,” she added, quieter, “though I guess not if they’re still SkyClan.”

Loonpaw floated into the clearing, walking beside his sister, Splashpaw. He did not dilly-dally at her side very long. He was wandering tonight. He milled between cats and felt their conversations, energies, and scents pass through him. In they came, and out they went. He felt as though he might know them all in an instant... and yet he had so much to learn about them. He hummed to himself, a simple and dual-noted call: hoo, hoo. hoo, hoo. It soothed his mind, which was abuzz with the energetic bustling of the evening.

His wispy, black-and-white fur swept out behind him like the tail ends of clouds as he found a creature who caught his interest. She was massive, an imposing and dark-eyed she-cat, with a mane of cotton framing her chiseled, frowning face. She struck him as a lion, blackened with soot and dust. He imagined her, in the throes of war, with dignity and beauty. Blood would not be a foul sight dappling her muzzle. His moon-like eyes were impossibly large with his admiration for the fine apprentice. He came closer to her, and though his face was unnaturally blank and neutralized, in his eyes and the creases around him, one could see how he smiled at her.

"Hello," he said, voice lilted with bell-chimes, "My mother lied to me. Lions aren't yellow at all... they're the color of smoke." He sat down, allowing the distinct smell she carried with her waft to his nose. There was one note in the aroma that was familiar to him. "There are lots of frogs in the creeks. We have that in common."

---

Beecloud meandered into the clearing with drifting eyes, seeking out a pelt that he could connect to more easily. He was weary tonight. He was in no mood to socialize with a brand-new cat, doing the dance of small talk and strained politeness. Beecloud wanted to fall into a familiar rhythm, to whisper in the space between whiskers, to laugh and drink in the scent of a cat who he understood well.

It was a good thing he found Snowflight. He padded across the clearing on big, lumbering paws, approaching from the side of the RiverClan tom's good ear, purring gently in greeting. His mouth twisted up, a little forced, given the circumstances, but true and honest and kindly. He sat down at Snowflight's good side and bent his neck down to meet his companion's height. "It feels louder tonight than usual... I think it's just me," he said, interspersed within a nervous chuckle, "... SkyClan still isn't here, are they?"

---

Tanglerose lurked on the edge of the clearing, riding high on tumultuous emotions. She was outrageously tired. She wanted to nap. Instead, she had decided to go to the Gathering. She felt like she needed a connection. She felt like she needed to laugh. The warrior had not known true companionship in quite some time. She was solitary. Like a specter. It was depressing, suffocating, and it made her feel small.

Maybe tonight, she could forget all of that.

---

Loonpaw is talking to Cinderpaw
Beecloud is talking to Snowflight
Tanglerose is open

Any stray thoughts that still clung to Pinepaw's pelt were pushed away as Thrushpaw shoved her leaf into his shoulder. The apprentice rolled back dramatically and toyed with looking aghast. "How dare you!" He giggled, grasping the leaf in his jaws to place it on the back of another unassuming apprentice in front of him. "I don't wanna be taken to SkyClan! They'll make me eat birds. I know I'm a ThunderClanner but I don't like birds... The feathers get stuck in my teeth and ruin my handsome grin." Pinepaw demonstrated this statement by smiling wide at his good friend, white fangs flashing in the moonlight.
The clearing bustled on with white noise until Thrushpaw spoke up; pondering on what would become of the tree-dwellers. Pinepaw thought on this for a moment and let his gaze drift upward into the branches of Fourtrees. "I suppose they could live in ThunderClan territory, with us. But they'll never be able to touch the ground. They'll have to make their home up in the branches and just live up there!" Pinepaw grinned for effect and chuckled at the ridiculousness of his statement. "What? Who said the clan's territories can't be vertical to each other? They could also live underground like you said. But then we'd have to call them DirtClan."

---

The masses of cats seemed to blur with each other, their chatter and bustle becoming an uneasy white noise that made Cinderpaw shiver. From her massive size, she could easily peer above most of her clanmates' heads, but wished for it to be otherwise. Her fern didn't offer enough shelter, and left Cinderpaw exposed to prying eyes and judgmental stares. A couple of WindClan apprentices side-eyed her from a higher slope in the clearing, whispering little nothings about her height and brutish features. The she-cat only hunched down lower, grumbling to herself, imagining the good ear-cuffing she'd give them if they ever decided to walk their snobby hinds over to her. Her rapidly thumping heart stopped however when a strange looking tom found his way over to the 'paw. Cinderpaw craned her neck downward and furrowed her brow to contemplate the strange sight. The apprentice looked as if he'd seen a ghost - or perhaps he was the ghost, or maybe a mix in between. His eyes were far too big for his head, and his lanky body looked as if the wind could take it away any moment. He crooned about Cinderpaw's features, comparing her to that of a lion, and then just as quickly, the tom brought up frogs and similarities between the two. It took the massive she-cat a few moments to process his statement, stunned at the swiftness of it. He sat down by her side and the larger apprentice barely stopped herself from flinching away.
Her usual reaction to a new stranger would be that of insults and wall-building. Cinderpaw certainly had no problem spitting nasty words at Tanglerose or Tulipfang when they got too close for comfort, but she found she couldn't bring herself to be mean to the young tom, for fear that he might evaporate like mist. "I've never had anyone call me a lion before." Cinderpaw grumbled, not willing to admit that the statement the young tom had spoke made her heart soar. "Frogs, hmm. You're from RiverClan then? My father, Flintstar, told me that RiverClan has frogs as well. Are their apprentices always so... so... interesting?"

Shrikepaw developed a more relaxed position as he realized Crowpaw didn’t mind his immediate hope to form bonds. The ShadowClan apprentice mentioned the others. Only then did Shrikepaw take notice of the others entering the Gathering. His eyes widened slightly. “SkyClan isn’t even here...” His voice trailed off as he briefly wondered about their situation. Turning his attention to the Great Rock, he asked, “Even if it’s your first time, you could know about the leaders. All I know is that Ivystar is my leader! The gray tabby who was the earliest leader.” He peered up, imagining the silhouette of himself against the moon. “Maybe I could be up there sometime.” Ambition was easy to see in his eyes. Shrikepaw deftly wrapped his tail around his paws. “Okay, I think Flintstar is the name of your leader, but which one is he? Or she? It doesn’t sound like a name for a she-cat though.”

---

Shrikepaw is talking to Crowpaw!

"Oh, are they not?" Crowpaw said, responding to Shrikepaw's statement about SkyClan. He was vaguely aware that something had happened to the clan, but knew nothing of them beyond that. Perhaps he'd hear more tonight? He would certainly like to. Not because he had any particular stake in their fates, but he felt it was good to be well informed.

The small dark-pelted tom couldn't help but smile lightly as Shrikepaw changed the subject. If they were talking about leaders...it would give him the perfect opportunity to casually mention that Flintstar was his father without it coming too out of left-field and making him seem too off-puttingly arrogant for mentioning it. And he delighted in the idea of being able to do a little name-dropping.

The ShadowClan apprentice took note of which one Ivystar was as Shrikepaw pointed her out, and took even stronger note of the light of ambition in his new acquaintance's eyes. An ambitious friend was good. They were also possibly dangerous. Crowpaw made sure to keep that in mind."Yep, our leader's Flintstar! He's that one, there," he said, indicating the leader with a nod of his head and a flick of his tail. "I gotta admit, it's a little weird seeing him up there so official, since he's my Dad and all. I mean, I'm used to seeing him give announcements and being all leader-y, but it feels a little different when paired with this big crowd of cats," It was neither really that strange nor different for Crowpaw, but what he cared about was finding the best way to mention the information, not being honest.

Stormbringer dipped her head to the other deputies as they arrived. New faces were there in front of her as well as one she has seen before but didn't expect to be up with the deputies. Minkstream Her amber eyes rested on the Thunderclan deputy. Curiosity getting the better of her so she spoke up. "Minkstream right?" She had recalled the tom from the one fishing adventure she observed with Dacedream all those moons ago. She knew his secret but it wasn't hers to tell so she would just remain quite about it.

Storm is talking to Minkstream.

Walking into the moon-lit clearing beneath Fourtrees, Maplewhisker padded into yet another Gathering after the rest of WindClan. The night air felt cool against her fur.  It had been dry for most of greenleaf, though the heat hadn't been as excruciating as it wore on.  Plus, the darkness of the night was a relief against the previous glaring of the sun, though the heat still seemed to soak through to her skin.

Tonight's Gathering would be interesting, though most Gatherings were, so that wasn't much of a surprise.  After all, you can always expect the unexpected, as Maplewhisker had learned over the past moons.  So much had changed since her care free days as a kit.  Even just recently, Raventail had retired, after a leadership that had seemed to only last a few days.  It seemed like just the day after then, that Olivestar had traveled to the Moonstone to receive her nine lives.  Everything was changing so fast that Maplewhisker was surprised she was able to keep up.  All the thoughts swimming around her mind made her dizzy, and she had to clear her mind.  She took a deep breath, calming herself, and readying her mind for the Gathering ahead.

Taking a quick glance around the clearing, Maplewhisker looked for some cat to talk to.  Meeting cats from other Clans was one of her favorite parts of any Gathering, though she knew that her first loyalty was to WindClan.  Any friendship she made could have to be thrown away in the twitch of a whisker if it went against her loyalties or the warrior code.  She had been taught not to share any Clan secrets to the other Clans, until Olivestar announced it before all the Clans, if she decided to do so.  She noticed a couple of cats sitting next to each other talking.  She could tell that they were both ShadowClan by their scent.  Maplewhisker padded over to talk to them while she waited for the Gathering to start.  

"Hello," she meowed as she sat down by them.


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The air in the clearing felt as dry as the dust that came off of the moor, making Willowbreeze feel uncomfortably hot.  She wished for a river to swim in.  Even for how uncomfortable the air was, she was still glad she had come to the Gathering.  She loved hearing about what was going on in other Clans.

From where she was already sitting, Willowbreeze looked around the clearing, searching for a certain gray-pelted tom.  When she could not find Vinetail, she looked for someone else to talk with.  Gatherings were more fun with other cats to talk to.  She spotted a light brown WindClan cat sitting by themself.  She padded over to him, prepared to strike up a conversation.

"Hi! How are things in WindClan?"
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Maplewhisker is talking to Ebonysong and Mistypaw
Willowbreeze is talking to Downtuft
Lilypaw is open to talk to

As a RiverClan she-cat approached, the sandy-ginger tom frowned. "You'll find out soon enough when our leader speaks!" He retorted, fur bristling. Cycling through two leaders so quickly was bound to make them look weak, and Downtuft would be quick to jump to the defense of his former leader and ally. Leadership was not easy and Raventail deserved respect for all his hard moons as deputy.

"We're well fed and our numbers have increased, as you can tell. Anything else you want? Or are you here to annoy me?" downtuft kept one piercing jade eye on his sister, Softbreeze, who had been downcast since Aspenheart's death earlier this moon. A small exasperated chuckle left the striped tom's maw, thinking of what his sister would've said about his rudeness. "Downtuft, who are you, RiverClanner?"

One of the others turned to him, RiverClan's deputy, her yellow eyes vaguely curious. A memory of fighting a goose came back to his memory, tinged with sadness. "That's me." The corner of his maw tilted up in a smile as he searched his mind for her name. "You're Stormbringer, right?"

Curiosity mixed with a faint flash of concern that an unobservant gaze would have missed touched his face as he eyed her. "How's RiverClan doing?"