July Gathering 2021

Ravenclaw beckoned her forward, and Beechface followed, perfectly okay with leaving the other medicine cats behind. Ravenclaw spoke softly, glaring at seemingly nothing in particular, and Beechface listened intently.

"They what?" She choked out, rage flaring in her chest. "Always knew they were weak, lying sacks of foxdung. I don't know why I expected anything less." Beechface spat, fur lifting along her back and claws digging into the ground beneath, blades of grass shredding. She dearly wished it were Dawnhawk's throat, or Softbreeze, or anyone in that pathetic excuse of a clan. She should have known it would be Windclan to pull something like this, especially after how Softbreeze and Lilacstar had supporting Spiderquill lying about the two kits that had been stolen straight out of Skyclan's camp.

"Tell Wolfstar." She said through gritted teeth, tail lashing back and forth. She was seeing red. How could they possibly have done this? "He warned everyone at the gathering. I warned the medicine cats even before that. I can't believe that Windclan would be so unbelievably foolish. They knew exactly what he was capable of!" A frustrated growl escaped her, her gaze turning towards the rock where the leaders were sitting.

Where Lilacstar was sitting. Beechface's eyes narrowed to slits as her gaze locked on the Windclan leader. Dawnhawk wasn't here, and why would he be? But Lilacstar was. She'd probably hidden him from Skyclan for moons.

Without realizing it, she started forward, eyeing the Windclan leader with intent.

---

Mistyfalcon had arrived with Shadowclan, affectionately pressing his cheek to Murkystrike's head before settling on the edge of the crowd, as far as he could get while still being considered a part of the gathering. He spotted the Skyclan medicine cat moving toward the great rock and sighed inwardly, wondering what sort of drama would be had this time.
((Go Dove go <3))

Bearpaw had practically exploded with joy when she found out that she had been chosen as one of the cats to attend the Gathering with SkyClan. This would be a lovely opportunity for her to converse with apprentices from other Clans, and possibly even some warriors, but she figured that the older cats would probably prefer to stick to themselves. The trip from SkyClan's camp to the clearing known as Fourtrees felt like it took thousands of moons, and Bearpaw couldn't help but feel frustrated at the fact that time always seemed to move at a tortoise's pace whenever she was excited about something. There seemed to be a smile permanently plastered to her maw as she padded into Fourtrees with the rest of her Clan and glanced around at the multitude of cats that dotted the clearing. There was an abundance of different scents, some that she had never smelled before, and even though it startled her a bit at first, the apprentice found that it was easy to get used to. If this was what a Gathering was like, then she wanted to attend every single one of them.

bearpaw is open to talk to.

Yarrowpaw looked up from his fixed gaze on the hard-packed earth, surprised at the other cat's outgoing nature. She was another apprentice, obviously from another clan, and she seemed very excited- this must be her first gathering. This was Yarrowpaw's second, and the novelty was already wearing off.

Did she know that Yarrowpaw couldn't hear? Couldn't speak?

Yarrowpaw tilted his head at Spottedpaw, ears twitching. "I'm Yarrowpaw," he attempted to convey, mouth moving wordlessly and bobbed tail wagging, "Where are you from?"

Yarrowpaw is talking to Spottedpaw!



Maplepaw stalked into the clearing, eyes cast down and tail waving in warning. She wanted nothing to do with anyone, really- especially not anyone in SkyClan that wasn't family. She can't believe Newtpaw talked her into going to this place- where was he? Probably showing off, like usual. Sighing, she started to crawl and weave her way through the throng of cats, looking for the recognizable pelt of her brother.

Maplepaw is open to talk to!




Bumblepaw trotted happily alongside his father and siblings, never happier to attend his first Gathering. He was so exited so see fresh faces, and meet new friends! He knew his brother was hesitant, however, and Bumblepaw wanted to remedy that immediately. Sliding up against his brother, Bumblepaw rubbed his head against his shoulder. "Hey, Nightpaw! Don't look so down! How about.. let's play a game! The caped striped tom was completely unaware of Wolfstar's interaction, or why it had bothered Nightpaw. It didn't really matter in his mind, anyway- his brother was upset, and that just won't do!

Bumblepaw is talking to Nightpaw!

Swanpaw found herself at another gathering, still as an apprentice. It was not really a surprise that she wasn't a warrior yet. Most cats probably wont see her as fit enough to be a warrior. It wasn't her fault that she didn't talk.. okay, maybe it was, that's a bit of a stretch. Still, no cat should think that they're in the right mind to judge her for how she wants to act. She sat, her tail curled neatly over her paws, waiting for the gathering to truly begin and the leaders to start announcing stuff that she, nor most of the other cats, probably, care about. She looked at the moon, bright as always, because of course it was, because why would Starclan be angry and end this snoozefest?

She looked down, back at the dirt, and with a single claw, scratched into the dirt abstract shapes formed by her own imagination, it didn't look quite like anything, but she didn't really know what to make it look like.

Through the sea of voices came the soft shuffle of paws, and Emberleap raised his muzzle to see a ginger-blotched tabby tom approaching. The pine scent registered before the tom’s—Newtpaw’s—introduction did. SkyClan, like the she-cat he’d exchanged names with at last moon’s Gathering. Though Emberleap had no reason to expect them to, they didn’t look alike. To start, Primroselight had been a warrior; past his blinding grin and his proud posture, Newtpaw was still very much apprentice-sized. Emberleap opted not to mention that. “My name’s Emberleap, I’m from ShadowClan,” he said with a smile of his own, sitting up straight. “It’s good to meet you—Newtpaw, you said?”

And just like that, he was stumped. Of all the Gatherings he’d been to (not many, seeing as he’d only been part of ShadowClan for a season or so), he’d had exactly one conversation with a stranger. That barely scratched the surface of cross-Clan etiquette! Emberleap pawed at the flower again. “So,” he began, not entirely sure which words were about to leave his mouth, “is this your first Gathering?” That sounded…all right, actually.

Dovefrost's attention turned to the young apprentice, glad she was willing to approach him without her mentor present. "Things are going well, how are they going for you? Cloverpaw right?" He asked trying to make sure he remembered her name from their meeting not too long ago. His memory wasn't the best sometimes, but at least he could remember that right?

Though something had distracted the tom. Green eyes looked up from the medicine cat apprentice and landed on the skyclan medicine cat as she moved to the rock. Dovefrost recognized the look in her eye, a look he had seen as he trained with warriors and gotten into fights those moons ago. "Excuse me." He told Cloverpaw as he rushed to stand and intervene Beechface on her war path.

The large white tom stepped into Beechface's path blocking her sight from the leaders. He didn't know which one was causing such issue, but they didn't need it right now. Not at a gathering. "I don't know what it is, but right now is not the place Beechface. We can deal with it after okay?" He hoped he was saying the right thing, but they didn't need violence at the gathering, they didn't need Starclan mad.

---

Tornshadow stepped into the gathering, her eyes downcast. She didn't really want to be here, but she came anyway. A small sense of longing to know if her father was alright compelled her. The gold and white warrior had unknowingly made her way close to Beechface and Ravenclaw. She stopped in her steps when she had noticed how close she was and turned to make her way to the back of the crowd but stopped when she heard a certain words. Dawnhawk, Windclan. Oh no. Someone knew.. Azure eyes looked up watching Beechface's reaction told her this wasn't good.

Carefully the she-cat stepped back. Away from the two skyclan warriors, away from the crowd. There had to be someone on his side here right? Someone she could warn that Dawnhawk was in danger? She didn't know.. Would the leader even know she had him hiding there? Did his disguise fail? Thorns.. She didn't know what to do. What choice to make. Eyes scanned the crowd spotting Birdsong. She could trust Birdsong right? She quickly made her way over to her friend. "Bird I have to go. This gathering isn't going to be safe for me soon." She couldn't elaborate just in case someone else overheard. She had to get to Dawnhawk. If she could even find him... Carefully she stepped away from the crowd moving swiftly. Trying to disappear out of sight before she went to Windclan territory.

---

Batglow followed the rest of Shadowclan into the gathering. Not really knowing what to do at the moment. Things were kind of crazy for him at the moment. After his family.. Well. It was a situation certainly. The black tom made his way to Moonshine's side. Not really saying much to her other than offering a friendly nudge.

Alright, well, maybe this ShadowClan cat was okay. The resentment Newtpaw had been harboring for the Clan nearly since birth was quieted for the time being. Emberleap had smiled at him, and he seemed the quiet sort– perfect for showing off to. "It is!" He purred, eyes glittering with excitement. "I can't believe how many cats are here." His gaze drifted around the crowd as he spoke, and through a gap in the gathered bodies he spotted someone familiar. "Oh! Hey, hang on, Ember." Newtpaw's sentence was cut off by him bounding into the swarm of cats, weaving through them until he could, quite literally, bump into Maplepaw. "Quit looking so sulky, wouldya? C'mere, talk to someone with me!" His voice was warm with affection as he beckoned his sister back over to where he'd left his new acquaintance sitting. "Don't claw his ears off, 'kay? This is Emberleap!"



Cloverpaw grinned at Dovefrost, dipping her head as he returned the greeting. "Yeah, that's right! Things are we–" And all of a sudden, the other medicine cat was gone. Her ears twitched, wondering what could have compelled him to take off like that, but she found her answer soon enough: SkyClan's medicine cat was making a straight line for the gathered leaders, seething with rage. Shrinking, Cloverpaw took a few steps closer to the amassed crowd, hoping she could just melt into the rest of them and stay away from whatever was about to happen.

WindClan followed Lilacstar wordlessly into the clearing and dispersed when they were given the signal, though it wasn’t like all the other times they’d come to gatherings. Goldenfang could feel a lump in her throat threatening to choke her. Although she was excited to come to fourtrees as a warrior, there was unrest in her Clan. RiverClan, the only other Clan at first, was also unusually ruffled. She plodded some distance away from the Great Rock and took a seat by herself. She just wanted to watch what would unfold. Goldenfang scowled at the few odd SkyClan cats who did double takes  in her direction; now she knew… she knew about Dawnhawk, and she knew how they looked alike, and she knew she couldn’t say anything or else chaos would erupt.

Goldenfang is open to talk to.

Turtlefur shuffled into the gathering with RiverClan. His head was full of twolegs and dogs and unreachable rivers. He’d become decent at hunting land prey during his time at the barn, but he really would prefer the fat, oily fish that his clan usually feasted on. Now… he paced now and then, worried, unable to keep the worry from stiffening his limbs. He glanced up at Ivystar and Lilacstar on the Great Rock. Were they discussing twolegs? Even Dayspring and Loonwhisper were crouched together and speaking softly. The pressure was building, steadily but surely. SkyClan’s presence didn’t help - stress and suspicion was radiating off their pelts and in their eyes. Turtlefur scanned their group as they entered, then paused as he recognized one: Birdsong, the she-cat he’d bumped into last moon. Another she-cat approached her and whispered something, then peeled away, though Turtlefur stayed focused on Birdsong. He hesitated, toes kneading the ground, then plucked up the courage to approach.

”Hi there,” he meowed, dipping his head politely. Turtlefur was nervous, filled with the uncomfortable energy practically leaking from almost every cat in the clearing. ”How are you? I forgot to tell you my name last time… I’m Turtlefur from RiverClan. Is everything alright with SkyClan?” His concern was genuine. This atmosphere… it felt horribly wrong.

Turtlefur is talking to Birdsong.

Juniperlight paused obediently at the top of the hill with Blossomstep and Bloodstrike, nodding as Wolfstar spoke. The usually jovial tomcat trained his gaze on his leader with a grave edge to his posture. Dawnhawk, a traitor and a murderer, had escaped SkyClan’s wrath for too long. The situation wouldn’t be nearly so dire if it hadn’t been for the treachery that a Clan had supposedly committed: harboring the killer even as SkyClan asked for help and conveyed warnings about how dangerous he was. The implications were terrible - a Clan of liars and schemers who, for moons, hosted Dawnhawk and likely had other secrets. But no Clan he knew of fit that description.

The black tomcat slipped into the clearing like a shadow. He wove his way around the groups of cats, some meowing in hushed tones and others sitting rigidly on their own. Juniperlight was a ghost among the living.

”…ShadowClan. Who’re you…”

”…first time here as warriors of ThunderClan…”

“…is this your first Gathering?”

He stuck to groups of warriors and apprentices. The deputies were Bloodstrike’s responsibility and no doubt Wolfstar was going to initiate a confrontation with the other leaders in due time. Beechface had stuck around for the instructions as well and she was doing her part. She spoke directly to a cat from a clan which Juniperlight was too far away to identify. Nothing… yet. Tonight the tension was almost enough to drown them all in this blessed clearing.

Juniperlight is unavailable to be spoken to.

Swiftspirit had noticed the tension radiating off of Dayspring as the Skyclan cats arrived, and she watched as the tree-dwellers mingled in the crowd. Their leadership seemed tense, but if what half of what Dawnhawk had revealed was true, they certainly had reason to be.

A dark she-cat broke away from the crowd and was speaking to what looked like the Skyclan medicine cat, and Swiftspirit watched her demeanor change from merely tense and unhappy-looking to very, very angry. If she had to guess, dung was about to hit the fan, and Swiftspirit thought she could guess why. A white Thunderclan tom was jumping in front of the furious medicine cat, and Swiftspirit hoped the poor fool knew what he was doing. She hadn't seen what had tipped off the dark she-cat that had been speaking with the Skyclan medicine cat, and maybe it was better that she didn't know.

Observing the crowd still, her gaze finally found the pale, marbled tom she'd been looking for. With plenty of cats' attention focused elsewhere, it was easy to unobtrusively make her way to where Bearspirit sat. Closer, it was easy to tell that something had him shaken.

"Hey, Bearspirit," She mewed softly, "How are things in Riverclan?" She wanted to ask if he was okay... He definitely didn't look it, but theree were too many cats around for her liking.

---

Birdsong jumped slightly at Tornshadow's sudden appearance. She looked worried and uneasy, and Birdsong gently rested her tail on her friend's shoulder for a moment. "Tornshadow, are you oka-" She didn't even have time to finish her sentence before the pretty white and gold she-cat spoke and was turning away. Birdsong sighed, tail flicking uneasily. Tornshadow worried her... And the tension that filled fourtrees tonight wasn't helping in the slightest.

Naturally, it would be then that another tom approached her, he smelled of Riverclan, and surprised recognition flashed across her face. "Oh, hello. I'm Birdsong, I don't think we ever introduced ourselves last time." Her whiskers twitched in amusement. "Things are... tense." She shrugged, gaze drifting uneasily towards a large silver tabby that was currently stalking towards where the leaders and deputies sat. Beechface was angry, very angry. And Tornshadow had left... "Foxdung." She muttered, "Why can't we have one gathering without drama?" The question wasn't really aimed at Turtlefur, and she doubted he would be able to answer it.

"I hope things are well in Riverclan?"

Swiftspirit has approached Bearspirit!
Birdsong is talking with Turtlefur!

With their conversation finished, and the final clan arriving at the Gathering behind them, Wolfstar nodded once and the cats split apart. He'd noticed Beechface had stayed to listen as well, and that was fine with him. There were few cats he trusted more. As he turned to make his way towards the rock where the other leaders sat, the dark tom caught a glimpse of Lilacstar breaking away from Ivystar. His eyes narrowed in poorly veiled suspicion, but he said nothing. He didn't plan to make a scene at this Gathering. If one of the clans had gone against his warning, and sheltered Dawnhawk, or knew where he was, that retribution would be swift and merciless... but not while the moon was full.

The leader prowled across the clearing, took a running jump, and landed expertly on to the rock with one smooth motion, dropping to his haunches and curling his tail around his paws. His gaze slid to Flintstar, and there was but a moment of hesitation before he said, voice low, "Your sister fares well, and her kits were apprenticed not long ago." And then he fell silent.

There was a sense of awkward tension across the clearing. Everywhere he looked, he saw shifting glances, uncomfortable body language. Had something happened before they arrived? Wolfstar narrowed his eyes, claws instinctively sliding out to scrape against the rock, but the only disturbance he noticed came from his own medicine cat, who was advancing on the leaders with murder in her eyes. Wolfstar liked to think he knew Beechface fairly well... and there were very, very few things that would cause this type of reaction. He rose to his paws, trying to follow her gaze and see which cat she was specifically trained on, but before any scene was made, Dovefrost intercepted her. The white tom's words were too low for the SkyClan leader to hear, so he just waited, glancing over to try and catch Bloodstrike's gaze and impress the importance that no blood be spilled here, tonight.

There was movement. A lot of it. One medicine cat was storming through the clearing and another jumped in front of her. Turtlefur’s short tail flicked, a sign of stress. ”I don’t know. Maybe peace isn’t a realistic goal. RiverClan is… okay. We have a problem…” his speech was choppy and reluctant. He knew he shouldn’t be telling another Clan cat about their struggles. He sighed deeply. “I think a lot of Clans are having problems, though. On the bright side, I was just assigned an apprentice. I hope to StarClan this Gathering doesn’t go downhill. I don’t want him to… have to be reassigned a new mentor.” he meowed, glancing around with concern in his eyes. Flypaw was Ivystar’s grandson. No doubt he’d lose what little tail he did have if something happened to him; but more than that, he cared for the young tom even if they hadn’t had much time together.

Maplepaw sighed both in relief and in annoyance at the sight of her brother, huffing and puffing yet letting him frog march her towards the cat he was talking about.  Emberleap, huh? She must be from another clan. Maplepaw needed to meet cats outside of SkyClan if her plan was to work. She needed connections. That's why she's letting Newtpaw carry her around, She doesn't need friends.

"I'm not sulking! I'm brooding. There's a difference." She laughs, letting her mood lighten. Maybe this gathering won't be so lonely for her after all..

Reaching the other cat, Emberleap, Maplepaw found that her signature scowl had crawled it's way back onto her face. Stars, she didn't need to look so upset. She needed this cat to like her. "I'm Maplepaw, Newtpaw's sister. What clan are you from, Emberleap?

Maplepaw is talking to Newtpaw and Emberleap!

Nightwolf walked into the gathering, immeaditly noticing the tension in the air. Wonder what everyone's so prickily about. Nightwolf thought, as he sat down.

Padding into the gathering, Quiet glanced around, her baby blues searching for Rosethorn. She was getting quite attached to the tortieshell she-cat, always look forwards to seeing her. Hopefully she was here.

OOC: Nightwolf is open to talk to, Quietstep is look for Rosethorn, and Quaildock and Spotlake are staying home

Ashstorm walked to the gathering with the rest of the clan.  She didn't have anyone that she really wanted to talk to.  She looked around at the other cats trying to find someone to talk to.  She noticed that Beechface was really pretty angry and she would have gone and tried to figure out what it was about and try to calm her down if Ashstorm thought that would be a good idea... but she thought that might make things worse so she decided to stay out of it.  She thought that she would probably figure that out later too.  Ashstorm sighed.  She had no idea that someone at the gathering was looking for her... nor who that someone even was.

Ashstorm is closed to conversation, except for Ashfall
Shira stayed home with Spark.

Ashfall's blue gaze watched as Skyclan arrived, observing some possibly disturbing developments. Wolfstar had spoken to a few warriors, and his deputy, before sending them off and approaching the other leaders, which could be trouble in itself. As she continued to scan the gathering broadly, trying to find Ashstorm, she saw something particularly troubling. A cat had approached a medicine cat with haste, causing the medicine cat to begin approaching the leaders with something akin to anger, if not something else. She could only assume this was Skyclan, and that someone may have been too loose-lipped about Dawnhawk. Why can't anything just go right. Even then, she saw on the fringes of the gathering, from her own far away place, a cat leaving. Odd, and while she couldn't figure out what this cat was doing, it was troubling in its own sense.

When she snapped her gaze back, that was when she saw her. Ashstorm, sitting amongst most of Skyclan. This was her chance, and she took it. As quickly as she could manage without being too notable, Ashfall darted her way to Ashstorm, mumbling apologies to those she had to slide past. Approaching her, she took a small breath before putting on her game face. Her plan had changed, and she only had a few questions to ask. "Ashstorm?" She questioned, as she approached the larger she-cat. This was the only cat she had spotted that met Ashstorm's description, and for once she had to take a chance. "My name is Ashfall, I'm from Windclan." She got closer than she would've usually liked, but she had to be quiet from this moment onward. "Dawnhawk is alive and in Windclan, I would ask to speak to you elsewhere but based on the fact your medicine cat looked about ready to kill a cat, I'm guessing some of your clan already knows." She took a moment before continuing, thinking of the most important question to ask. "I'm sure you don't trust me, I wouldn't. Let me say I am his daughter, and he told me you were the only cat that still liked him. Thats why I ask this, I think you'll be honest with me. I won't take too much of your time, and I wouldn't be questioning you right now unless it were important, but I have to know, what exactly did Dawnhawk do to get a kill-order on his head from Skyclan. I need to make sure he isn't lying to my clan, I need to make sure he won't hurt anyone." There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask, and she may have even asked to speak to Ashstorm more privately later on, but right now she needed answers before everything went to mousedung. If Skyclan already knew Dawnhawk was alive, she needed to know if he had lied, or if he had been truly honest and wanted a fresh start.

Ashfall is talking to Ashstorm!

Nightpaw startled again as his brother came up to him, eyes widening, though this voice was at least familiar. "Ok well first, uh, our clan got a new branch for announcements so that's good! The fire got rid of our old one, I think. Anyway, this is my brother, Bumblepaw!" He moved out of the way slightly, allowing for her to see him. Nightpaw was grateful that his brother had seen his distress, it might help with the awkwardness of this whole situation. "We could all play a game? At least until the, uh, leaders start talking?" Nightpaw seemingly wasn't great with other clans, but at least it looked like his brother had talking covered.

Nightpaw is talking to Smokepaw and Bumblepaw!