May Gathering 2021

Leading her Clan into the clearing, Lilacstar found that she had been the first to arrive. Thank goodness, she would at least get a moment's peace. It was clear to her from the last gathering that she was disliked among the other leaders, and to be honest, the feeling was mutual. Still, she had asked that tonight, her Clanmates refrain from causing a scene, regardless of what would happen. Tensions were high enough as it was, and she would really rather not have any more conflict for the moment.

Leaping up onto the Great Rock, Lilacstar let her gaze sweep the cats that had gathered, anticipating the arrival of the other four Clans. She hoped that things would run smoothly tonight, and yet, knowing her luck, this gathering would be yet another disaster.

---

Following after Lilacstar, Tawnyflare could not help but notice how much this place had changed. It was almost as though the Asylum had never been here, and yet the disaster was imprinted in her mind. The thorns from the cages still seemed to remain, and Tawnyflare was sure to give them a wide birth as she took a seat among the crowd, her eyes closed, taking deep breaths. Maybe, just maybe she could let herself forget.

Lilacstar and Tawnyflare are both open to talk to.

Flintstar padded into the clearing, breathing a slight sigh of relief that RiverClan was not here. He still hadn't figured out how he planned to bring up Foxspark and Shira to Ivystar - it was clear that she deserved to know the choices that the two had made and he didn't wish to keep them secret lest the backlash grow even worse...But there was no simple way to just bring it up. No doubt Ivystar had noticed the two gone - did her warriors manage to track the scents to the ShadowClan border? Did she assume that they just disappeared? It was hard to say and he let out a huff, already feeling annoyed.

How did he feel like he had a easier time bringing up Thaila and her actions to Lilacstar than approaching Ivystar about this. ...At least he would have time to think more on it as they waited for her to arrive. He leaped onto the Great Rock, giving Lilacstar a nod of acknowledgement before he took his seat and cast a long stare in the direction that RiverClan always arrived in, dreading the moment Ivystar would join them and he would have to find the words to speak - if she didn't bring it up first.

Sunnyskip bounded into the clearing with the rest of WindClan, settling to wait for the other clans to arrive. Within a few moments, ShadowClan arrived, and the young warrior looked around to see if she could spot Batglow. She didn't see him quite yet, so she settled on waiting to see who else joined the gathering crowd or came up to her. Hopefully this gathering would be as fun as the last!

Sunnyskip is open for anyone to talk to!

---

Murkystrike walked a few tail lengths behind Flintstar, feeling nervous and maybe a little excited. This would be her first gathering as a deputy, hopefully the first of many. So much had changed in the last moon, at the last gathering she had been terrified of Fourtrees, struggling to remain in the clearing to support her apprentice. Since then, she had returned to the clearing in the night and met Bloodstrike, and the two had discussed their experiences in that place and she had slowly come to terms with what had happened. She had adopted a kit, Mistyfalcon had become her mate, and she had just been named deputy. Looking over to her side, she smiled as her eyes fell on her mate. She knew he despised the Gatherings, but she was grateful for his supporting presence. As they stood at the edge of the clearing waiting for Flintstar's signal, she brought her head under his chin for a moment. When the signal came, she butt her head to his shoulder and smiled at him nervously. "Well, I'll see you soon! I love you." The warrior turned and made her way towards the base of the Great Rock, sitting where she had seen the other deputies sit. Her heart was racing nervously, and she glanced up to where Flintstar sat upon the rock with Lilacstar. Hopefully tonight would go smoothly.

Murkystrike is open for other deputies to talk to!

Spotlake padded into the clearing, with the rest of the Windclan cats. She sat down in the clearing, wrapping her calico tail around her body.

OOC: Spotlake is open to talk to!

As Dayspring quietly followed Lilacstar into Fourtrees, she began to hope that tonight would be a bit more calming than what had occurred at the last Gathering. Once the rest of the Clans arrived, the clearing would once again be filled with the blended scents and sights of various cats, and if that wasn't enough to make her shudder with anxiety, then bickering between the leaders would only make it worse. However, as usual, she kept an undisturbed expression on her face and a neutral shine in her eyes as she padded over to settle down below the Great Rock.

A cat that she was unfamiliar with approached, and she figured that it was ShadowClan's deputy considering the fact that they were the only other Clan here along with WindClan. At the last Gathering that she had attended, she hadn't had the chance to meet this cat, and perhaps now would be a good chance.
"Hi, there," Dayspring turned her head to look at the she-cat with a small smile, "I don't believe we met at the last Gathering... are you new? I'm Dayspring, by the way."

Dayspring is speaking to Murkystrike.

Mistyfalcon offered his mate a reassuring (he hoped) smile as she briefly leaned against him. "You'll do fine." He murmured, gently bumping his forehead against hers. "If you wanted to sneak out early, I'm sure we could manage it." He added, smirking. Leaving early to curl up in their nest wasn't a bad idea at all, really. Still, for Murkystrike, he'd stay.

Shadowclan made their way into fourtrees, and Mistyfalcon found a spot near the edge of the gathering cats, thankfully free of the thorny remnants that still lingered near the edge of the hollow.

---

Swiftpaw padded into fourtrees, trailing her mentor quietly. She could tell Tawnyflare wasn't thrilled about being here tonight, and had every intention of avoiding the prickly calico. Her gaze drifted around the clearing curiously, noting a group of cats that didn't smell of Riverclan, and the way that Lilacstar and Dayspring headed towards the huge boulder in the center of the clearing. A massive dark tom had leapt up there as well, an imposing figure in the moonlit hollow.

Swiftpaw settled near the edge of the clearing as well, unsure if she should approach anyone. Her gaze scanned the edges of fourtrees then, wondering at the other clans that should be arriving soon.

Mistyfalcon is open to talk!
Swiftpaw is open to talk!
Skyclan hasn't arrived yet, Beechface and Birdsong will be in attendance when they do.

Mistyfalcon's parting words to her rang in her head and she smiled to herself. Surely she couldn't sneak out of the Gathering early this time, probably not ever again either. She wondered if Mistyfalcon would attend the next Gathering, or if he would stay home. She was pulled from her thoughts by a nearby mew, and she turned to see a she-cat that smelled of WindClan. Instantly her nervousness returned, and she smiled back shyly as she wrapped her tail loosely around her paws. "H-hello! Yes, I suppose I am new, I'm ShadowClan's deputy now. We just had the ceremony a couple evenings ago." She admitted, feeling a bit more confident with each word. "It's nice to meet you, Dayspring. I'm Murkystrike."

Foxspark padded into the gathering behind Flintstar. He didn't know how RiverClan would react to him being in ShadowClan now, especially after taking a warrior name in the clan. It probably wouldn't go very well with Ivystar, especially because Shira was Ivystar's daughter. It was strange, and the tom didn't know about how she'd really react, though it would probably be bad.

The ginger tom still thought of himself as Spark, or at least that was what he called himself still. As time went on, more and more cats would call him Foxspark, though, and he would eventually ease into his new name. But now, it was time to wait for the clans to speak.

---

Rookfire padded into Fourtrees, his head up high. As the last gathering was very controversial, the black tuxedo hoped for a calmer gathering this time around. He turned his head to look at his other clanmates. Murkystrike, the new deputy of ShadowClan. Mistyfalcon, Murkystrike's mate and Rookfire's friend. And Foxspark, a formerly Asylum-raised tom that Rookfire grew to like as time passed. There were more, of course, but those were the cats that Rookfire saw at the moment.

Turning to Mistyfalcon, he decided to converse with the tom once Murkystrike jumped up to her position on the Great Rock. "Hey Misty, do you think that this gathering will be as tense as the last one was?" In the black tuxedo's opinion, it probably wouldn't get worse, though if it got bad the black tuxedo would step in to give in his two cents as well. (I, Mamenchisaurus, think that if this ends up happening, he will just make the situation worse by speaking up, but that's Rookfire.)

Fawnstep followed after Lilacstar, lingering near the front of the group as they descended upon the clearing. As usual, his head was high, boasting the strength of the Windclan blood in his veins and a personal sense of self-serving duty. Eyes raked the clearing as he noted with pride they were the first to arrive. When the rest of the forest appeared at the edges, they would note the presence of his clan for sure, he would make certain of this. As he waited, the tom glanced around, taking little more than a second to acknowledge the fact this was where Asylum had caged him and stripped him of his freedom. The thought caused his teeth to clench as he subconsciously sought out Tawnyflare. Her expression told him all he needed to know based off their previous interactions and drew a low his from his maw just as it brushed her ear, "If an Asylum cat ever dared to step paw in this place again, I would not hesitate to rip their throats from under their maws." He didn't seek her gaze but rather settled back on his haunches at her side as he looked around. Previously when they had set foot here together, the warrior had seen her as little more than an unworthy apprentice, but now... they were equals in a sense not every cat could begin to understand and that thought alone drew him to her side.

Padding into the gathering with her shoulders set squarely and her head and tail held high, Ivystar had her emerald gaze set on the giant rock where several other leaders sat. Namely, Flintstar and Lilacstar... Great. On of them she'd had... quite the experience with at the previous gathering, and the other... Well, she had a sneaking suspicion that her daughter had ended up in his Clan. With a hardly audible sigh, she pushed her way past the cats that were already seated, watching as her Clanmates filed in and took spots of their own.

With a slight grunt, she pushed herself up onto the rock, front legs still aching from the injury she'd gotten fighting the Asylum moons ago. She gave a simple nod toward Lilacstar out of nothing but respect for common courtesy and took a seat next to Flintstar. "Flintstar, I know this is likely an awkward question, but I must ask... Have two young cats, pregnant with kits, shown up in your Clan seeking shelter?" She mewed in a hushed voice, not wishing for the other leader seated alongside them to overhear anything that they would be talking about.

Lionpaw almost bounced into the gathering. She was so excited, she had heard from the older cats about gatherings, how the Asylum had stopped them, then how they were reinstated…She wasn’t sure of what exactly to expect, but she couldn’t wait regardless…

Or wair…that was when she realized that this meant interacting with new cats.

Her shyness and the anxiety that came with it were quick to betray the young she-cat as she locked up almost completely for a couple of seconds, looking around at the unknown faces with the fur on her neck standing on end. It wasn’t until she noticed the cats from her clan walking by her, meaning that she was blocking the path, that she forced her paws to move again, trying to find a good spot.

She really wanted to make friends and talk to the other clans…but her own nerves wouldn’t let her do so…maybe someone else would approach her and get her out of said state?


Frigidpaw walked with a smile alongside the rest of ShadowClan, taking a deep breath of the night air and taking in the scent of the other clans.

After grooming his whiskers a bit more to look presentable, he quickly made his way towards one of the apprentices of the other clan, hoping they would be friendly and willing to chat with him. He had only heard tales of the other clans and what they could do, so this was the best time to get some firstpaw information from actual members from those clans.

“Hi!” He meowed, energetically but still polite enough, enough to drag the attention of the other apprentice, he hoped. If they were like the apprentices in ShadowClan, they should react favorably to this kind of greeting, right? “I’m Frigidpaw, from ShadowClan. May I ask your name? And clan if it’s not too rude to ask? I still haven’t been able to fully memorize how each clan smells like…”.

Cloverpaw's eyes sparkled as she trotted along to Fourtrees with the rest of her Clan. She'd been waiting for this Gathering for what felt like forever — after hearing the other cats talk about it, especially overhearing yhat there hadn't even been any for a while, she couldn't say she wasn't ecstatic. The volume of the cats already present made her heart briefly skip a beat; there were already so many of them here!

Nerves prickled under her pelt, but she quickly shook herself out. It seemed everyone else was using this chance to catch up with the other cats, so she might as well find someone to introduce herself to as well. After a brief moment of pause to gaze up at the leaders, she weaved through the crowd, finding a nervous-looking cat about her age.

"Hey there," she purred, tail twitching slightly. "Is this your first time at a Gathering? It's mine! I've been so excited for this," Cloverpaw went on, barely stopping herself from rambling. She looked at Lionpaw expectantly, eyes bright and smile wide.

Cloverpaw is talking to Lionpaw!

Mistyfalcon glanced over at the medicine cat as he spoke, "I hope not but... It's always something, Rookfire." Mistyfalcon responded, whiskers twitching. "Though maybe... Avoid getting dragged into the other clan's foxdung, too?" He added, mildly reproachful of what had happened last time. He'd been surprised there hadn't been bloodshed, in all honesty. That silly Windclanner had managed to anger two clans that had been arguing with each other. It was impressive. And beyond foolish.

---

"Oh, hello," Swiftpaw mewed, glancing over at tabby who had approached her. He didn't smell of Riverclan, which was... slightly disappointing, strangely. Though it shouldn't have been. "I'm Swiftpaw, of Windclan. I haven't memorized the scents either, is this your first gathering, too?" She was curious, she'd never met a Shadowclan cat before, as their border was along the thunderpath and Swiftpaw generally avoided the acrid strip of land if she didn't have to go over there.

Tawnyflare gave a sidelong glance as she realized that Fawnstep had taken a spot next to her, threatening the group that had held cats captive in this very clearing. "So does that include me, then? You are the one who said to embrace my nature. And part of that is being an Asylum cat." As she spoke, there was faint amusement in her eyes. Of course she already knew the answer to her question, although she was curious to how he would respond. There was something very telling in the reactions to even the most obvious questions.

As RiverClan filed in, she could not help the obvious distaste she was showing, which besides the Clan themselves, Fawnstep was the only cat who knew the reason behind this. Although she was stationed in RiverClan, so the rest of the Clan could assume that her experience there would not have been the best.