September Gathering 2021

Batglow didn't want to be here.. He would rather be back at camp in his nest not having to worry about the outside world at all, but since then.. Well he was assigned to look after Basilpaw and teach her what he knew. What he knew wasn't as much as Rookfire but it was more than enough to get the young Medicine Cat apprentice started. "It's alright Basilpaw." He said to her as he approached the scared apprentice. "I will stay with you for now until you feel comfortable joining the others." His voice was rough due to his neglect of staying in the den, but hopefully he got what he wanted across. He may have felt terrible but he couldn't let Basilpaw be afraid at her first gathering. He would feel even more guilt if he left her alone. Darkblue eyes narrowing as a warrior happened to bump into his apprentice.

Starlingflare Followed his clan into the gathering, yellow eyes scanning the clearing for a familiar sign of someone he knew.. He was looking for a certain cat but he hadn't seen traces of her in... a while. It was concerning to him. He hoped she was okay, but he had a bad feeling in his gut. The tortie tom stayed towards the outskirts of the clans.. Not really sure if he was in the mood for talking.

Dovefrost followed after his clan, lost in thought, wondering if Minkstar would make a scene at the gathering over Robinloft's death or if he would try to go about it in a different way. His tail tip twitched with anxiety afraid of what would possibly happen... Maybe.. Just maybe they could go one gathering without drama..

Green eyes looked up once the Medicine Cat realized he reached the clearing, scents filling his nose. Gaze went across the clearing looking for a specific cat, and once he saw her his feet picked up the pace. He swerved between the growing number of cats, slowing down as he reached the group. Two Skyclan warriors, and their medicine cat. He didn't really know the others but Beechface was his biggest concern right now. From a glance over, she seems to have healed well. He dipped his head in greeting to the three cats. "Greetings. Beechface I see you are healing well. I'm glad." He said, his tone relaxed. No sign of the aggression he had shown when the situation was dire.

Stormbringer didn't really know what to do with herself. It had been a long time sense she had been at a gathering, but now that everything seemed somewhat settled back at camp, and in the nursery she wanted to come out and stretch her legs some. She gave her mate a reassuring smile before settling in the comfortable spot meant for elders.. Or well she thought it was. Amber eyes looked up at the Great Rock with shining eyes.

Batglow is speaking with Basilpaw and sort of Dawnfeather. Dovefrost is speaking with Beechface's group.

Starlingflare and Stormbringer are open to talk!

Loudpaw sat down as the tom greeted him with a smile. "Yeah you're correct, this is my first gathering. My name is Loudpaw, and I am from Shadowclan. What clan are you guys from? And what are your names? How is the gathering going so far? Do you like going to gatherings? I am glad it is not as hot tonight, I know most cats do not like the heat. For me it is not as bothering though, I kind of enjoy it. What do you think?" he asked energetically.
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Olivepaw snapped her head to the direction of a quiet voice, a bit alarmed. She relaxed once she saw it was a small striped she-cat that had spoken to her. An apprentice, she thought, her expression calm. The fluffy ragdoll flicked her tail as the stranger introduced herself as Scarletpaw, from Riverclan. She softly meowed back to her, "I'm Olivepaw, Skyclan. This is my first gathering, what about you?"
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Loudpaw is talking with Newtspring (and Hayglow and Muddyleap)
Olivepaw is talking with Scarletpaw
Pheasantpaw is still open to talk to

"Hello, Dovefrost." Beechface greeted the Thunderclan medicine cat with a dip of her head. "I'm... Well enough, I guess. Thank you, by the way." Haer gaze drifted towards the remnants of the scorchedbranch, though this time Beechface managed to catch herself.

"How are things in Thunderclan?" She glanced toward the great rock, where Minkstar and Wolfstar looked likke they were speaking to each other, but from this distance it was impossible to make out anything that was said amongst the leaders. Her gaze returned to the white-furred tom, a silent question in her eye. The last thing Skyclan needed was more bloodshed. The last thing she needed was more bloodshed. Beechface sincerely hoped that both leaders would see reason about the situation with Briarthorn.

The first cat to join (well, re-join) her wasn’t a deputy, but Quail. Thrushnose leaned over to bump her shoulder against his. “As long as it’s just a talk. I’m not sure that oak could take another bolt.” In truth, seeing a fraction of StarClan’s wrath had left her shaken. She’d always known those stories about the Righteous Few to be based in fact, but it was something else entirely to witness that power in action. She rolled the wood under her paw, looking thoughtful. “At least everyone doesn’t seem as prickly tonight.”

An unfamiliar cat approached, prompting her to return to her seat and sit up straight. Surprise flickered across Thrushnose’s face. She’d never encountered someone who knew her name without her giving it. Though it made sense—another consequence of the position she held—it was uncomfortable in a way she couldn’t put a paw on, and she directed her attention elsewhere before she could spend any more time on it. Goldenfang’s scent, build, and pale coat said WindClan before the cat herself did. Thrushnose dipped her head politely. WindClan wasn’t off the hook yet, but at the moment she felt far more charitable toward them than SkyClan. “And I’m ThunderClan’s, for now. This is my brother Quail—Quaildock,” she corrected. “I take it that means Dayspring is Daystar?”

Bloodstrike strode into the clearing as proudly as he always had and took his place among the deputies. He noted Dayspring on the Great Rock, surprised to see her there, but not disappointed. He'd made an impression last gathering it seemed. Good. If his words were enough to run a leader out of their position when they didn't deserve it then he was satisfied that he had done his job. He sat quietly and made no move to speak to anyone, unless they were going to address him first. He heard his name and his tattered ear flicked over towards Ashfall, who seemed to be, once again, saying how Skyclan had taken things too far. Another victory. The corner of his mouth twitched upward, but other than that, he gave no indication that he was listening to anyone at all.

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Bearspirit entered the gathering and quietly sat down. He wondered if Ivystar would mention to Wolfstar that Dawnhawk had been sighted on their territory. Still, he couldn't ignore the fact that the pale tom had willingly helped fight off dogs from their territory as well. A part of him grudgingly believed himself to be in Dawnhawk's debt, but he wasn't about to admit any of that to Ivystar. He didn't think she'd want to hear about it anyway. So Bearspirit quietly observed the on-goings of the gathering, his mouth closed for now. His eyes wandered briefly to Swiftspirit before sadly looking away. She's a Windclan cat. He reminded himself. She hadn't spoken to him last gathering either, and he assumed at this point that the feelings were mutual. Bearspirit needed to look elsewhere, as did she.

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Burningwing stepped into the moonlight of the Gathering and threw harsh, fire-fueled stares at the crowd around him. If anyone approached him tonight, they'd better be someone he actually wanted to speak to. He sat down well within Shadowclan's ranks and watched in silence. Who else would say the wrong thing and end up on his list? It was growing every day... and one day he would be crossing those names off. His claws gouged the hard earth beneath him as the gathering commenced, his ears straining for anyone he deemed unclean to reveal themselves. It's time for a few small repairs... He thought to himself as words were thrown around the gathering... some more offensive than others.

Spoiler:

Cherrypaw listened to Swiftspirit’s response and sat in silence for a bit. Swiftspirit seemed to be looking through the crowd of RiverClan cats who were arriving. “What is WindClan territory like? Is it really just endless grass?” She asked the warrior. She didn’t know much about WindClan. Maybe hidden amongst all that grass, there would be a new treasure that no one in ThunderClan would of ever seen before.

He softly chuckled at Thrush's remark, the sound cold and awkward. Quaildock then perked up his ears as another cat joined them. She smelled of Windclan and looked rather unfamilar. "Hey." Quaildock greeted, waving his tail towards Goldenfang. She looked respectful, but still young. Who knows. Maybe she and Dayspri-Daystar will be better than that Lilacstar she-cat.

Basilpaw looked up with a sigh of relief as Batglow appeared at her side, and she leaned against his shoulder momentarily to stabilize herself and calm her racing heart.  "T-Thank you Batglow, I'll be fine.  I just realized that I don't actually know what the other medicine cats look like!"  Giggling a bit embarrassedly, she recalled some of the names she knew from gossip; Beechface (that was the one she heard most often), Smallbean, Dovefrost, and Spiderquill.  She considered it important for her to meet at least most of them tonight; maybe if she made a good impression, it would be easier for Flintstar to convince one of them to mentor her.  Looking pensively out at the crowd, he meowed to Batglow; "Do you see any of them?  I'd like to meet as many as I can."

"It's all open fields, yeah. Lots of flowers at the end of newleaf, and no shade whatsoever." Her whiskers twitched, "I suppose our territories are pretty much opposites." Swiftspirit had explored plenty before Windclan had found her, but she had no intention of letting Cherrypaw believe that she was anything other than Windclan. Her gaze caught Bearspirit's marbled pelt, pale blue eyes meeting green for a moment so brief it could've been imagined. A faint smile crossed her face as she continued her conversation with Cherrypaw, "I wouldn't trade the feeling of running with the wind in your fur for anything." Bearspirit had turned away, and Swiftspirit squashed the twinge of disappointment she felt. He was Riverclan, they were friends. Nothing more than that.

Ashfall released a puff of air through her nose, an almost sigh. "Yes, we heard that last gathering..." Even she preferred to put the last moon's event out of mind, the chaos of the night had terrified her... even if she wouldn't admit it. She was just so worried for Dayspr- Daystar. She would protect her to her last breath, the fear of Starclan themselves injuring others had spooked her something fierce. She did her best to internalize it though, something to deal with many moons from now. "I'm sorry. Dawnhawk is a monster. If only you had told me as much when I met you the first time... If I had had real tangible evidence to give to Lilacstar, maybe I could have convinced her. I'm sorry I didn't. There were a lot of choices Lilacstar made that I didn't agree with, and the one to evict Dawnhawk from our clan was one of them, given the circumstances. I would have preferred handing him over as soon as he revealed he was a murderer."

Ashfall's tail tip flicked, in her own silent anxiety. She still felt as if she could have prevented all of this bloodshed. All of this war and chaos. "Can you tell me why you love him?" She said this almost under her breath, nearly without thinking about it. It was something she wanted to know, wanted to understand. She loved Nightwind... but Dawnhawk was a different creature altogether. His persona had been her father, not him. How could someone love the real thing? After everything he had done?

As Murkystrike settled in her place at the base of the Greatrock, she shuddered slightly. Recalling the events of the last Gathering was... Difficult, and it seemed as though it wasn't just the landscape of Fourtrees that had changed. Dayspring stood among the other leaders, and there was no sign of Lilacstar. The leader had been unable to speak at the last Gathering before StarClan ended it, leaving her deputy to speak in her place.... Perhaps more had happened. Basilpaw was safe with Batglow, so the she-cat greeted the other deputies with a small nod as she settled in. She smiled warmly at the newcomer, not wanting to interrupt her conversation with Thrushnose. She would catch her name soon, she thought as she looked away to gaze out over the clearing, ears perked to hear the announcements. Surely more explanation would be given about WindClan's changes, and the states of each clan.

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Sunnyskip hadn't been feeling well, pain in her belly keeping her in her nest the last several days. She assumed it was the frog she had eaten, in an attempt to get it out of the fresh kill pile without wasting it. It had been so slimy, and smelled so terrible... She knew she shouldn't have taken even a single bite. Today had been the first in a while she had felt well enough to go out, and she had wanted to make the most of it. So, she asked to come to the Gathering. As she entered the clearing, she looked around, trying to pick out a good companion, even temporary, for the announcements. Her gaze landed on an older she-cat sitting alone, and as she padded over she smelled she was from RiverClan. Good, they were on friendly terms with them. "Hi, do you mind if I sit with you for the announcements?" She asked politely, remaining standing while she waited patiently for a response, smiling at the other cat.

Sunnyskip is speaking to Stormbringer!

Ashstorm looked down for a moment.  It was true, if Ashstorm had told Ashfall some of the the more horrible truth, it probably could have changed something.  She was trying to spare the other cat about the truth about Dawnhawk, but she realized know that was one of the worst things she could have done then.

When Ashfall asked the question, she was silent for a moment.  "I... I don't know," she responded honestly.  "I think it might be because I thought he was the only one that loved me for a while.  He probably doesn't, though.  He probably didn't then either."  Why did that make her sad to admit?  It was something that she felt was pretty obvious now.  But for some reason it was painful for her to admit that he most likely never loved her.  Deep down though she was pretty certain that he didn't love anyone, because if he did then why did he bring them so much pain?  "I don't even know if I actually love him anymore either."
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Scarletpaw thought that Olivepaw was a great name.  She didn't know why, but it sounded cool.  Olivepaw was from Skyclan too.  She didn't know much about Skyclan, but was very interested to learn.  "This is my first one also," she replied.  She was silent for a minute.  She was a little bit to shy to ask at first, so she did not say anything for a while.  However, her curiosity soon outweighed her shyness.  "What is Skyclan like?"

It felt like such a long time since Robinpatch had last been to Fourtrees. This would be his first time at a gathering after his return back to Riverclan. The last few gatherings he passed on but he always made sure to get a recap of the night's events from one of his clanmates. Being as awkward as ever, the warrior chose not to join in any conversation but kept his eyes and ears open for any interesting chatter or any sort of trouble. He still wasn't comfortable around large crowds but he'll probably get used to it eventually. It'll most likely take time though. However, before he went off on his own, he made certain that his apprentice was doing well, it being her first gathering as well.

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Not friends? Beetlepaw was taken aback a bit, but then he brightened. Obviously cats in other Clans were going to be a bit guarded, and maybe not as fond of the term friend for cats in Clans not their own. At least Frostgaze seemed friendly enough.

"Oh, SkyClan is fine, Beechface is recovering which is good," he paused for a moment, taking note of the Clan scent on the other tom, "How about ShadowClan?"

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Patchpaw felt a prickle of unease, and turned her attention away from Applepaw for the moment. She didn't see anything, though. She frowned, glancing at Pricklepaw.

"Do you...feel like we're being watched?" she asked, feeling a bit silly and paranoid.

Beetlepaw is talking with Frostgaze
Patchpaw senses someone watching the group of apprentices, but doesn't see Marshpaw. She is speaking with Pricklepaw.

Applepaw smiled at the apprentice-- Dandelionpaw, she said her name was? She seemed nice enough, for sure. Maybe they could get along. But then, two other apprentices walked up, one after the other. Both from her own Clan. Patchpaw, who was older than her, snidely commenting on her boast... and Pricklepaw, glaring and interfering with her as he always did. She felt her pelt begin to puff up in anger, but took a deep breath in an attempt to control herself. There would be retribution for her brother later. And maybe she'd have to find some way to get back at this Patchpaw as well. However... for now, blowing up in rage at the Gathering of all places would cause important cats to be disappointed in her, and she couldn't have that. Though she felt like her insides were boiling, she kept it as well contained as she could. I'll show them.

"My mentor is Minkstar," she meowed, baring her sharp fangs in a polite-looking smile that may as well have been a death threat to those who knew her, "you know, the leader of ThunderClan? Sitting up there on the rock? He said I have natural talent. I wouldn't be surprised if I even end up getting my assessment early. All in good time, though, of course." Her thin tail flicked in her brother's face, but she didn't address him directly. "How nice to meet you, Dandelionpaw. That's a really nice name! Ravenclaw sounds nice too. I think we should be friends." Her smile closed up prettily, and her soft gray eyes sparkled. Cute and harmless. Thankfully, the two other ThunderClanners seemed to have been distracted. Buzz off, Pricklepaw and Patchpaw. I don't need any more mouse-brains to deal with today, or I may end up shoving a branch of the Great Oak down your throats.