September Gathering 2021

Muddyleap blinked as another voice spoke up, glancing over to see a young apprentice had decided to join the trio and was welcomed openly by Newtspring. "Hi there!" he purred as he waved his tail at the young tom. "My name is Muddyleap and this is my momma, Hayglow! We are both WindClanners."

"Its a pleasure to meet you, Loudpaw," Hayglow spoke up, giving the young tom a nod as she leaned into her son for comfort, whiskers twitching at the energy of the pair. Perhaps on a normal day she could match it but the events of the last Gathering still had her rather rattled but...Well, she was happy to see everybody else in good spirits.

"Anyways, the Gathering is going pretty well cause I got to see Newtspring again and I'm hanging out with the best momma on the moor," he added as he rubbed his cheek against Hayglow's head as the two shared a short purr before he continued on. "Gatherings are great in general cause I get to see new cats that I can befriend and of course I get to keep up with Newtspring cause we are in different Clans and don't even share a border. As for the weather...Its nice that it isn't hot but I'm also dreading the idea of the cold cause me and momma have short fur and we do live in the open moor so we really gotta cuddle for warmth apparently but I do like cuddling so maybe it won't be so bad?"

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Flintstar watched as the rest of the leaders joined him, having nothing to say until he heard Minkstar speak up - asking to catch a word with Wolfstar who requested it be after the Gathering. Ah...He had nearly forgotten about the fact that he had to speak with Wolfstar as well about Jasminepaw. He leaned forward, glancing over at the SkyClan leader. "I also have a matter to speak to you about about an apprentice you are no doubt missing - Jasminepaw? She is fine, before you asked - she had been injured and chased onto our territory by a fox. I meant to send word to you sooner but things..." his gaze darkened a little. "There has been a lot on my end of things and I didn't wish to risk escorting her home when she was still injured as we have rogues prowling our territory still. We plan to bring her home as soon as she is able to protect herself - nothing more needs to be discussed if you don't wish, but first..." He pushed himself up to his paws, stepping forward past the leaders to take the spot at the front of the rock.

"The Gathering has started! ShadowClan has been...Surviving," he meowed, whiskers twitching as his eyes narrowed a little. "We continue to have a band of rogues as thorns in our side, along with a fox problem - which together had slain a few of our cats. While I remain convince that the rogues will be only a ShadowClan problem, I will at least recommend the other Clans be wary of the foxes although we know at least one is dead but we don't know the total number. Alongside that..." He took in a deep breath. He didn't much want to speak about this but he knew he had little choice - the other medicine cats would be told by Basilpaw and if there was a chance that any of the other Clans had an idea of what had happened to the medicine cat past the guess of it being a two-leg due to the fact that only one of them perhaps had the ability to grab the medicine cat without a clear sign of a struggle transpiring. "Our medicine cat, Rookfire, has gone missing. We are not sure what happened to him - he had gone out seeking herbs and we found the warrior that had been with him was killed by rogues, but there had been no sign of Rookfire. Our best assumption is that he was taken by two-legs due to no sign of a fight at where his scent disappears and he knew how to fend for himself... We were at least granted a medicine cat apprentice before his disappearance - Basilpaw, who continues in his stead. While we are facing hardship, this is nothing new to ShadowClan and we will continue to survive no matter what the world might throw at us. That is all," he finished with a nod of his head as he stepped back, giving a glance at Wolfstar as he padded past - wondering if the tom would want to speak more about Jasminepaw or if he would decide he had his paws full with whatever was happening between SkyClan and ThunderClan.

So he was aware of the situation, too. How long has he known? Trying to push away the sneaking suspicion that they'd known from the start and still taken her in, he flicked his tail. A part of him had almost expected the other to put it off. "The sooner the better," He agreed. This would be more convenient to the both of them, anyway.

His eyes drifted down to Beechface, the vague memory of Dovefrost saying something about talking to her rising to the surface. Maybe they found out the same way we did. That would be nice, for once. Tipping his head in her direction, he remarked, "It's good to see Beechface up and about. I've seen cats die from less."

Flintstar's sudden addition to the conversation made his ear twitch, eyes glancing in the direction of the fluffy grey leader with a hint of curiosity. Some apprentice had turned up on their territory from SkyClan, huh? That made his mind briefly wander, a missing warrior and kit of their own coming to mind with a twinge, and he missed the tail-end of the conversation, tuning in again as Flintstar's announcement rolled on. The mention of foxes made his pelt crawl uneasily, the aside that the rogues probably wouldn't be a problem for the rest of them not really doing much to ease that feeling. Why is it always foxes? He quietly grimaced to himself, the mention of ShadowClan's medicine cat reminding him of their own, who hadn't really had a chance to have her new status mentioned last gathering....

At Flintstar's last comment - almost a challenge, really - the corner of his maw twitched up briefly, an expression he smoothed over as he stepped up into the recently vacated spot for himself, running through the long, long list of announcements he had to give in his mind one last time before opening his maw. "ThunderClan is doing well - greenleaf has treated us kindly with plenty of prey, and we have welcomed many new kits into our ranks. Because of this, we now have more apprentices who have come to the gathering for the first time: Cherrypaw, Pheasantpaw, Pricklepaw, and Applepaw. Last moon, Dovefrost also took on an apprentice - Moonpaw - and she is settling well into her duties. Starlingflare also became a warrior."

So many names. He allowed himself a brief pause to order the rest of his speech and let the congratulations subside, a warm feeling flickering to life in his chest. His Clan was growing, despite the troubles they'd had. That feeling faded slightly, though, as he moved on. "However, we have suffered losses, too. Wasppaw... Wasppaw died in an accident, and some of our cats have also gone missing. Stagleap - formerly known as just Stag - disappeared a moon or so ago. One of our kits, too, wandered off and... hasn't yet been found. Burdockkit is young, but we're holding out hope that she'll turn up again. Any information on either of them would be appreciated."

With a dip of his head, he stepped back to let the next leader go forward, the feel of the gritty stone against his paws still warm from the heat of the day. A part of him hoped that someone, somewhere, would have some inkling of where the two were. Another part of him was resigned to never hearing about them again, the spectre of Hickorypaw's bright smile wavering in front of his eyes. Seeing Kestrelswoop and Wolfblaze in the same position as he and Bat had been... He kept half an ear on the rest of the announcements, a prick of pain in his chest as he let his mind wander.

"Good," Wolfstar said quietly, "I agree." He turned to Flintstar as the ShadowClan leader spoke, and the mention of Jasminepaw made the dark tom's eyes harden into glittering amber stones. Jasminepaw had forsaken SkyClan in the middle of her warrior ceremony... and then turned tail and run, abandoning her clan and everything she'd been raised to believe. There was no room for cowards in SkyClan. As Flintstar, and then Minkstar, made their announcements, Wolfstar listened, and once the ThunderClan leader had finished, he moved forward quickly, before either Dayspring or Ivystar could take his place.

"SlyClan is prospering," he announced. "Dandelionpaw, Beetlepaw, Olivepaw, Orchidpaw, and Pigeonpaw have become apprentices, and Bearflower, Newtspring, and Dawnfeather have joined the ranks of SkyClan's warriors." Wolfstar hesitated there. Part of him wanted to repeat the warning about Dawnhawk... but... mostly, he didn't care. SkyClan knew to be on the lookout for him... and if he knew what was good for him, he'd never step paw on their territory again. If he went to the other clans, though...

He could slaughter the lot of you and it would be hard to bring myself to care, Wolfstar thought resentfully, his eyes raking over the non-SkyClan cats.

"That is all," he finally stated, and then stepped back. In a low voice, he added, just to Flintstar as he turned away. "Keep her, if she wants to stay. I think she's made it clear she does not want to be a warrior of SkyClan."

Daystar would be lying if she said she was listening intently to the words of the other leaders. Their voices went in one of her ears and out the other. It was too much of a distraction to pay attention to them when she was far too busy silently rehearsing her announcement in her mind. Tonight wouldn't be her first time speaking on behalf of the entire Clan since the last Gathering had given her some sort of experience, but it was still something that she wasn't used to. In fact, she was unsure if she would ever be able to get used to it. Conducting ceremonies from the comfort of her own camp in front of the familiar faces of both cats that she had grown up with and cats that she saw everyday was a different experience in comparison to giving an announcement on the Great Rock in front of all five Clans and their chosen high ranks.

A recap of events that had occurred in WindClan raced through her brain as she stood on the Great Rock. She had no intention of sharing every detail with the cats down below. She knew that many of them already felt either confusion or annoyance toward her Clan, but for those that didn't, she had no intention of turning the Gathering into a pity party. As WindClan's speaker, it was her duty to make the Clan appear as strong as possible. How could she do that when she was unsure of how to make herself appear as strong as possible?

Flintstar went first, then Minkstar, then Wolfstar, and that left her and Ivystar as the remaining leaders. She quietly cleared her throat before taking a step forward to let it be known that she would be speaking next. Her pawsteps felt heavy and her throat felt dry as the sea of Clan cats below gazed up at her with dozens upon dozens of multi-colored irises. Her mind twisted the scene so she saw a nightmare instead of what was really there. The glimmers in their eyes seemed to be accusing and full of hatred, even from WindClan's side. They were poised, claws out and ready to throw themselves at her at any given moment if she said even one word wrong. She had to force her body to not shake as she opened her mouth to begin.

"WindClan has been faring well despite some changes. Recently, I have received my nine lives from StarClan and taken on the name Daystar with Goldenfang serving as my deputy. Lilacstar has decided to step down." That was all the she-cat wanted to say about that certain topic as most of the details weren't anyone else's business but WindClan's.

"I'm pleased to say that Fogpaw has become an apprentice, prey has been plentiful, and the weather has been treating us well. Henpaw is now training to become a medicine cat, but Smallbean... Smallbean is gone. He never returned to camp one day, and I'd appreciate it if any cats that miraculously know of his whereabouts would let me know. Uh... that is all."

She quietly stepped back and relaxed her shoulders. Public speaking was such an awful chore.