November Gathering 2021

Newtspring fell into the clearing alongside SkyClan, steps slow and heavy as he made the familiar descent. They were first to arrive– unusually –and he found himself pacing a tight circle as he waited for the rest of the Clans to arrive. Once they did, he passed a quick glance to Driftpaw, who seemed to be settling perfectly fine, then turned his attention to search the crowd for any cats he recognized. Not seeing any familiar faces, he sighed and finally settled on his haunches, head lifted to keep searching for someone to entertain him.


Webshadow had never been particularly fond of Gatherings, but he wasn't one to argue when he was chosen for them, either. Especially not with Ratpaw attending this moon's, as well. The dark warrior kept a careful eye on his apprentice as they joined SkyClan at Fourtrees. He seemed... daunted, but if he was upset, or anxious, Webshadow couldn't tell. He seemed alright... nodding, the tabby found a spot at the back of the crowd to settle, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws.


Cloverheart came half-stumbling into Fourtrees, ears pinned back to her head and eyes turned downward. She'd come to this Gathering with a plan, though she hadn't been able to convince herself it was... a very good one. But it was all she felt she had. Lifting her chin to find the medicine cats, she felt her heart drop to her paws when she saw that Beechface had been crowded around by most of the others. That was... fine. Maybe an audience would keep the larger she-cat from pitching her across the forest for her question. Padding over, she offered Muddythorn and Basilpaw a nod before turning her attention straight to Beechface. "Could you step over here?" She mewed quietly, tipping her head to the side.

Newtspring is open to talk to!
Webshadow is open to talk to!
Cloverheart is talking to Beechface (and Muddythorn and Basilpaw).

Hentooth nodded, her ears flicking back briefly as he mentioned both siblings were sickly. That sounded genetic. Granted, she didn’t know much about how heritage impacted a cat, but two sickly siblings? One, like Basilpaw, was generally just an anomaly. But two… she glanced at him more keenly for a moment, as though she could pull out answers from his pelt. Ptcha. At least he seemed to have a nose. And the brains to use it.

“Nice to meet you,” she curtly nodded. “I’ve done heard ShadowClan has done away with your rogue… difficulties. That’s good news, for the whole forest. No one wants the filthy beasts on their territory.” She flicked her tail. It would be awkward if this tom came from loner ancestry, like Swift. To be honest, she couldn’t quite imagine herself in Swift’s paws. She was WindClan all the way back, and built like it. Tawnyflare, though, went a long way to show that blood wasn’t everything.

Dawn is talking to Loud.
Hen is talking to Burningwing.

Timbersun cheerfully padded into the clearing, tail and head high. His brown pelt lit by the full moon's bright light. He sat down, tail curled around his paws with a smile. He was pretty sure it was his first gathering as a warrior, it made him feel a sense of pride from within him.

-

Swanmist trotted into the clearing, swaying her tail slowly. She found a quiet spot to sit and shuffled her paws as she waited for the leader's to start the gathering.

Timbersun is open for interaction
Swanmist is open for interaction
Marshpaw isn't here... again

Appledapple meandered alongside her Clanmates into the Gathering, decidedly less excited at the prospect of a gaggle of other Clans than she had been last time she was here. Well, she was a warrior now, and that at least was cause for celebration. However, glancing around, she couldn't see anybody that she would want to interact with. Prickletail wasn't here at the moment, so bothering him wasn't an option. Stoatfur had to go sit with the deputies. Her other siblings weren't within view.

Out of all the other Clans, which was the least... distasteful? After all of SkyClan's shenanigans, she would be staying far, far away from any of those stinking cats. RiverClan was less than desirable, but not as bloodthirsty. ShadowClan she hadn't had much interaction with, nor WindClan. Hmm... maybe she should talk with one of them, then. It wouldn't do to sit alone at a Gathering when her name would be announced from atop the Great Rock.

Her gaze caught the shape of a young WindClan warrior. He looked to be about her same age... Well, there were worse options, she supposed. If he turned out to be rude she could always walk away. Appledapple walked up to him, her brown and orange tail sashaying behind her. "Hello," she greeted him. "I'm Appledapple of ThunderClan. Who might you be?"

Appledapple is talking to Timbersun.

Ashstorm was very excited.  This was no were near her first gathering, but it was her first gathering since becoming deputy!  She knew were to stand, at the base of Greatrock.  Skyclan was the first one there, so she took her place and waited for the other clans to show up.  Next was Shadowclan.  She felt really bad upon seeing Flintstar unable to climb the rock.  She felt like offering to help, but also realized that it might look bad on him to have a deputy from a different clan help him.  How would she be able to even?  Still, she dipped her head in respect as the leader came to stand with the deputies.

Once the other deputies arrived, she thought it was only right to introduce herself.  "Hi, my name is Ashstorm.  I'm the new deputy of Skyclan, now that Bloodstrike is now Bloodstar."  She was a little uncomfortable, not exactly knowing what else to say.  Plus, she could feel some of the other cats eyes going from Bloodstar to her with the sudden realization that he was now the leader.

Ashstorm is talking to the other deputies.
___________

Waterlily came alongside Thunderclan, for one of the many times.  Gatherings were a normal thing to her now.  The clans all gathering together once a moon no longer seemed like a peaceful tradition though, it appear to be a place where anger and betrayal could grow and be found, leading to a lot up non-peaceful interactions in the future, or even now.  She looked around at the many cats, not knowing what to do.  So, all she ended up doing was sitting down, waiting for this to be over.

Waterlily is open to talk to.
___________

Scarletriver calmly walked into the gathering.  She was no longer deputy.  Oh well.  She said it was too much work, that it was too much for a cat as young as her to handle, that was not true at all.  She quite liked being deputy actually.  Yet, she would always have a pain in her chest whenever she thought about being deputy, and eventually leading the clan, after what she did to Bluepaw.  Her guilt caught up to her one day and that's when she decided to step down, however now she regretted it.

Sitting down, she looked at the leaders, noticing something different.  Bloodstrike was on top of Greatrock, Wolfstar was not.  Okay, maybe the leader did not come.  But the strange thing was that Flintstar was not there either, even though Shadowclan cats were already at the Gathering.  When she looked at the deputies, her questions were answered.  Flintstar was with the deputies.  He seemed injured.  Also, there was a new deputy there that seemed to be with Skyclan, that must mean that was Bloodstar on the rock, new leader of Skyclan.  She continued watching the leaders, deputies, and other cats around her, making no effort to talk to anyone.

Scarletriver's open to talk to.
__

Shira stayed home.

The other leaders had been fairly silent upon seeing him on the Great Rock, but that was fine with him. They were under no obligation to be friendly toward him. Minkstar jumped onto the rock beside him and engaged in conversation however. Bloodstar gave him the warmest smile and nod that he could, given his torn lip.

"I received my nine lives recently, yes." He answered simply. As Minkstar continued to talk, Bloodstar flexed his toes uncomfortably. What more was there to discuss? For what he understood, there was already an agreement made...

And Wolfcall had told him not to honor it before he left.

Still, Bloodstar was in charge now, not Wolfstar. The decision was still his over all. He was angry that Briarthorn gave him no knowledge of the murder before she joined Skyclan. By his own laws she would be out on her own right now. Their kits were now all warriors and as far as physically needing their mother was concerned, they no longer did. Briarthorn had been avoiding him almost completely lately as well, not even so much as congratulating her supposed mate on his ascent to leadership of Skyclan. She hadn't been doing herself any favors at all with her complete silence and downright refusal to interact with her new clan. Even her own children seemed to feel some kind of way about her.

At the same time, he wasn't sure he could blame Briarthorn for killing in self-defense... if that's what it was. If she had killed in self-defense then she was at no fault and Thunderclan should probably rein in their warriors' tempers more. If this truly was the case then he was more inclined to agree with Wolfcall, that Skyclan owed them nothing and the punishment wasn't warranted.

Bloodstar's own experiences with Briarthorn, on the other paw... he knew she was a strike first and ask questions later type of she-cat. Their very first interaction had been her attacking him immediately as apprentices. They were on neutral ground and hadn't said a word to each other, all because he was a Skyclan cat and for no other reason. It wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibilities that she was lying... again.

"Wolfcall is on his own mission at the moment, but he briefed me. Is this something you'd like to discuss now or after the gathering?"

---

Burningwing blinked at Hentooth's response. This... This was a trap. It had to be. "Criminals are filthy beasts regardless of origin." He responded carefully. He wasn't about to trust a Windclan cat with his beliefs, especially not after attempting to murder one of their own warriors, the marbled Riverclanner and Dawnhawk. He tried to casually put a little more distance between himself and Hentooth, clearly getting uncomfortable. If things were about to throw down he wanted to be ready for it rather than caught unaware.

Ooc: ngl I feel so bad for Swift and hen rn kj and I are cruel

”Duh,” Hentooth responded with a lash of her tail. Did this tom think she was some sort of wacko purist? She’d better stop that before rumors start floating around.”I’m talking about rogues, not loners. All rogues are criminals, but not all criminals are rogues, yeah? I’m not some sort of wacko- if you’re loner born that’s not what I meant at all. Rogues. Loners. Big difference. I mean- gosh, Down’s litter is a quarter SkyClan, Swift’s the daughter of the Asylum Head, and our deputy is half loner, for stars’ sake. Don’t get me wrong. No offense to anyone who doesn’t deserve it, eh?”

Frustrated, her tail lashed behind her. This conversation clearly hadn’t gone as she’d hoped. Now this cat- Burningwing- apparently thought she was a wacko pure-bloodmonger. Better cut off the snake’s head and kill the rumor before it started.

Deep in her mind, alarm bells began ringing. You’ve said something you shouldn’t have, you’ve said something you shouldn’t have. Her eyes narrowed in concentration- what was it-

Hen is talking to Burningwing.
Dawn is talking to Loud.

Ashfall limped into the gathering after Daystar, moving to her usual spot near the front. She noted, with a hint of anger in her gaze, that Bloodstrike was sitting on top of the rock tonight. With a glance at Daystar, she began quietly watching Bloodstrike... or Bloodstar, passively ensuring that Daystar would be alright. Without her brother or mother to watch our for... and Swiftspirit could take care of herself... well that didn't leave much for her to do at the gathering.

-----

Wolfblaze lumbered into the gathering next to Kestrelswoop, happily bumping him every once and a while. Stoatfur was the new deputy, which had pleased the molly greatly. Stoatfur was level-headed and true, someone she would happily follow into battle any phase of the moon. Minkstar would get the punishment sorted out with Wolfst-, of course Wolfstar wasn't on the rock, but he would surely hear the news and Briarthorn would get what was coming to her one way or another. It was going to be a good gathering, she could feel it!

-----

Frostgaze usually was one to slink his way to the front of the gathering, mostly to better see what went on. Yet this time, he opted for something different. After Shadowclan had settled, he made his way over to Webshadow quietly, sitting next to the taller tom. He had grown fond of Webshadow, he was a friend, someone he could speak to. It was... nice, in a way, to have the option of speaking, even if he didn't. Now he would though, because he had questions. "How is Ratpaw faring? I know that gatherings are generally overwhelming for new apprentices."

Ashfall is open to talk to!
Wolfblaze is open to talk to!
Frostgaze is talking to Webshadow!

"That's true." She nodded, just in time as Minkstar seemed to have arrive. That was.. Right, ThunderClan's leader. They're finally here. "Ah, nevermind. I think they came in just now. Their scent is distinctable from the other's." She mewed, glancing over to ThunderClan's members, then back at the tom. "You really are right, though. The entire forest must be so large.." She paused. They've had this conversation before, and she didn't want to bore him with it all again. "Have you talked to any other cats yet?" She mewed. For now, Hollypaw knew she haven't. Socializing was.. Well, alright for her— she didn't have much opinions on it, though she would rather just talk to a few cats that she knows of. Ebonypaw was one of them.

Hollypaw flicked her tail, letting him take his time to answer. She had already assumed what the answer likely would be, though the molly still wanted him to answer. It was nice having talking to him, despite his somewhat introverted attitude. She didn't mind it either way.

Hollypaw is talking to Ebonypaw
Duskpaw is talking to Dandelionflight
Dreampaw is talking to the group of apprentices

It had been well over a year - nearly two actually - since Egretstorm was last in Fourtrees, and this would be the second time ever in her life. She wasn’t the type of warrior who needed to be kept out of sight. Not the kind to vehemently hate the other clans to the point of keeping her confined for their safety either. In reality, it was simply that the night a Gathering was held was the quietest the camp could ever get, and Egretstorm was more than happy to stay behind to enjoy it. She didn’t hate the boisterous voices of her clanmates, but sometimes it uncovered the little hole in her chest that kept her from fully enjoying herself. It made her homesick for the camp as it was before the flood. And unbearably lonely.

But tonight would be different, she hoped. She could safely say that she had a friend in Turtlefur. He was easy to talk to. So, with her paws on the unfamiliar soil, she found a place to sit among the sea of almost entirely unknown cats. It wouldn’t be so bad with a lifeline like him. Even though she’d sat without him, she gave a short purr when he decided to sit with her rather than interact with a cat from another clan. At his words she turned and looked towards the Great Rock and indeed the scarred tabby tom stood towering above, with no empty spots among the deputies (There was an extra even, why was Flintstar sitting down below?). “Wolfstar is - was? - his father I believe. He’s definitely aggressive, but he can’t have killed him. Right?” Even if she said it like that she wasn’t too sure either. “He’s too loyal to SkyClan to even think about doing it. At least, that’s how he seemed when SkyClan stayed with us after their fire a while back. Though,” she lowered her tone and fluffed out her fur, feeling a sudden chill, “Things could have changed a lot since then.”


Yewpaw had spent much of the journey up in the trees, determined to fit in some more training even on his way to his first Gathering. He’d be the best warrior on the Sky Patrol or whatever Bloodstar had called it. He did his best to keep pace with his brother, but the instant Cricketpaw came into the clearing he disappeared into the crowd. The tuxedo tom tried stretching up to find him, but he was far from being the tallest cat in SkyClan. Although now that he was here, there were far more cats around his height than he expected. And looking back to his clanmtes gave him the distinct feeling that perhaps he wasn’t actually short. ‘Is SkyClan just supposed to be tall? Like how they say RiverClan have webbed toes and ShadowClan are all dark-furred?’

The young apprentice realized he was still standing right in the way of his Clanmates trying to go into Fourtrees and quickly headed for where he had seen his aunt Lynxpetal and his mentor Oliverain walk off to. Though he didn’t really show it on his face, Yewpaw was actually suddenly feeling a bit too shy to greet someone he’d never seen before. He gave the tabby she-cat a soft tap with his tail to let her know he was there. It seemed a young she-cat that smelled like ShadowClan had come up to talk to Oliverain. Though he was mostly behind Lynxpetal, he gave Dappedpaw a short meow. She was kind of cute. “Hello.” Mission “Talk to a stranger” successful.

Egretstorm is talking to Turtletail, open to more.
Yewpaw is hanging around Lynxpetal, Oliverain, and Dappledpaw.

His eyes sparkled when she admitted she could touch clouds. He didn't say anything though (for once) and just listened to her description of it. So it is possible.. I never should have doubted! Loudnose blinked as Dawnfeather confirmed Bloodstar's rank, and gave an explanation as to why.

"Skyclan leaving? I sure hope not, I like you! You are so nice. Also a defense sounds great! Shadowclan should get one like that, sounds very safe. But that is the point of a defense right? And yeah I know how frustrating that can be, for a while I had to go outside with another cat as well. When the rouges were in our territory." The tom hadn't thought of an escort as annoying at all, but he could somewhat understand how Dawnfeather felt.

"The trees in Shadowclan are... well, tree-like. They are kind of... leafy? And some have these pointy ones that look like really thin sticks. Like, as thin as a mouse tail." He had no idea how to describe Shadowclan's trees, but he respected his friend's interest. "What is Skyclan like? Your trees?"

Loud is sharing information with Dawn that he probably shouldn't.
~~~~~~~~~

Pheasantpounce practically dragged herself down into the gathering, quickly finding herself a spot at the base of a Great Oak. Hopefully no one would see her, since the tree's leaves blocked out the moonlight, covering her in relaxing shadows. To not have to mingle, that would be perfect. Maybe next moon she would talk with a cat...

She looked up into the oak's branches, catching sight of a dove. Licking her muzzle she thought about going after it. Yes, it was probably against the code in some way, but no one would have to know. The calico quietly climbed up the tree, though neither graceful nor fast. This isn't against the rules right? She came to a somewhat high branch, the dove hanging just above her head. Yet Pheasantpounce wasn't in any way sneaky nor a good hunter, so the bird flew off. She flicked her tail before turning to climb back down. But... oh Starclan that was far down. Her limbs froze with apprehension. I mean, this is a nice view though, I could... just stay here. Carefully, she shifted into a comfortable position, gazing at the cats below. It was very distorting, so she decided to watch the stars instead. Pheasantpounce wondered if Starclan was looking at her. The calico's tail curled, uncomfortable at the thought.

Pheasantpounce is in a tree, so if you wanna chat you better get up there.
~~~~~~~~~

His first gathering. His first gathering. Flamepaw mingled with an entire five Clans worth of cats, his tail high in the air, whiskers vibrating with excitement as he trotted among them, eyes and ears tracking everything and everyone. "Whoa this place is big!"

Most of them were adults talking about boring adult things, though, and ignoring him. He twisted his head, searching for some apprentices like him, his gaze finally landing on a group. Eh, looked like Dreampaw was there, too. Whatever, with that many 'paws, they couldn't all be as boring as his brother. One of them in particular - the one who was talking right now - caught his eye as he sauntered over, bits of plant all over him. "They're always like that," He said with the air of a cat who knew absolutely everything about the world, twitching his whiskers as he planted himself in the group like he'd been there from the start. "It's always all 'how much prey here, what's ShadowClan doing, how many apprentices you driven mad in the last week?' - by the way, you've got some bits of bush stuck in your fur, you're welcome." He smirked ingratiatingly. "I'm Flamepaw, from the coolest Clan in the territories. WindClan, obviously."

Flamepaw has joined the group of apprentices!

---

On a mission, huh? Well, at least he isn't dead, I guess. Minkstar shook his head slightly. "If he told you, I shouldn't need to talk your ear off with the details again. My Clan has agreed to the plan we worked out, and we're prepared to take Briarthorn in whenever you've worked out who her escort is."

That was, of course, relying on SkyClan not to turn around and slap them in the face with a refusal. If Bloodstar chose to go back on Wolfsta- Wolfcall's decision, then he had no clue how he was going to deal with this.

Minkstar is talking to Bloodstar.

Bloodstar allowed a pause to pass between the two of them. He knew what Wolfstar had asked... but why then did he go through all of this effort to negotiate? Did he have a change of heart at the last minute, when the consequences of refusing to go through with the deal would not be his burden to bare? Maybe there was another reason and Bloodstar was feeling residual resentment that he hadn't before. There were so many other emotions going on at the time that he supposed he didn't have room for resentment until now.

"Minkstar," Bloodstar spoke softly, leaning in towards the fire colored tabby. "I didn't know about Robinloft when I took her to Skyclan. She never told me. I'd like to make a few things very clear with you." He searched for his next words very carefully, knowing that this situation was his first test as a leader. He was determined not to fail.

"Wolfcall, before he left, wanted me to go back on this deal with you. His reason was that he didn't feel Skyclan owed Thunderclan anything, and that a pregnant queen killing in self defense was reasonable. On the latter, I agree. However," He held up a paw in case Minkstar might be about to get agitated and try to talk over him. "Dovefrost helped Beechface when she was struck in the tree. That alone has put Skyclan in Thunderclan's debt and myself as her father personally. That alone wouldn't be enough for me to go through with Briarthorn's punishment, but the fact that she withheld this information from me and even now has yet to say anything to me about it, not even to apologize, has made this decision easier than it would have been otherwise. I don't know if Briarthorn even killed Robinloft in self defense. No one does, and I'm not interested in arguing as if either of us could know."

He hesitated for just a moment before he continued. He'd already said this much, so Minkstar was going to get his ears full regardless.

"I only knew Briarthorn at all because she attacked me as an apprentice on our first meeting. Her only reason was that I was a Skyclan cat. That's it. So I know her to be impulsive and emotional. I won't deny that. With that in mind, if she attacks any Thunderclan cat at any point during her duties there, her guard will be instructed to stay back and allow whatever will transpire from that incident to take place. If she dies there, she dies there. On the other paw..."

Now he looked at Minkstar very seriously and his tone dropped low.

"If her guard is hurt, or if I get reports back to me saying anyone in your clan attacked first, I promise you there will be The Dark Forest to pay. Do not let the tempers of your clan be the reason my children are without their mother." Or Robinloft's death will not be the only one Thunderclan mourns. He at least had the good sense to not say it out loud, but Bloodstar had a reputation in the forest. It probably wasn't necessary to say out loud. Hopefully Briarthorn will serve her sentence and be returned and everything will be water under the log, but if not... well... Bloodstar would address that problem if it came up. Depending on circumstances, he might be willing to negotiate a punishment with Minkstar for the guilty Thunderclanner or clanners. Likely, it would be a much heavier punishment than Minkstar might go for.

"I hope you take me going through with this plan despite my father urging me not to as good faith between our clans. I've had no reason to quarrel with you before, and I'd rather not start now."

Beechface narrowed her eyes as Riverclan entered fourtrees, and her lip curled as the Riverclan medicine cat... whatwashername? Cloverheart? Ugh, approached her. And then asked for her to step aside. Did she really want to talk? Was she looking to start trouble again?

Beechface glanced up at the great rock where Bloodstar was in conversation with Minkstar, ears flicking back. She was close enough to catch a few words here and there... Briarthorn. He'd better not be thinking of going back on that punishment Wolfstar had agreed to, unless it was to do something more appropriate.

Her glare returned to Cloverheart for a moment before she glanced toward Muddythorn and Basilpaw. The Shadowclan medicine cat seemed nice enough, and it seemed like she and Muddy would be fine talking with each other. "Excuse me," She mewed reluctantly, then stepped over to where Cloverheart stood, tail twitching in agitation.

"What?" She asked, "Make your point, Riverclanner, and make it quickly." The steady breeze made the branches above sway, and Beechface could swear she smelled smoke and burning flesh. Nauseating. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The sooner she was out of this stars-forsaken hollow, the better.

Driftpaw had never expected that their little conversation would grow so large so quickly. It seemed his initiation of the conversation had prompted a bunch of other apprentices to join in. He greeted each of the newcomers in turn with a soft smile and a tilt of his head. "Hi, everyone, I'm Driftpaw...again. SkyClan. Nice t'meet y'all. This's my first Gathering, what about you? 'S always nice to make new friends, I think."

Driftpaw is talking to the Apprentices!