November Gathering 2021

Apparently, they and Flamepaw had ruffled the SkyClanners’ pelts. Flypaw sat as tall as they could manage, a response tumbling off the end of their tongue: “I’m just saying—” Already they could hear their tone turning combative. Sure, SkyClan were a bunch of rogues, but that didn’t give Flypaw an excuse to start a fight. They weren’t even sure they wanted one. Closing their eyes, they let out a slow, deliberate breath. “I’ve…never seen that before. Is it a SkyClan thing? It…it kind of reminds me of our dens back home.” Not that it was anyone else’s business what RiverClan’s camp looked like, but it seemed safe enough to say. Knowing some cats’ dens had shining stones woven into their walls wouldn’t give the other Clans any kind of advantage.

The harshness left Driftpaw’s face as he spoke again, and Flypaw hunched down, letting themself relax. Truth be told, they weren’t the most skilled swimmer, but the others definitely didn’t deserve to know they’d gone almost their entire apprenticeship without access to RiverClan’s lifeblood. “Swimming’s not that bad,” they said, shrugging. “Our fur dries out fast ‘cause of all the fish we eat. Plus it’s good for cooling off in greenleaf.” Driftpaw addressed the WindClanners next. Flypaw almost chimed in to answer before thinking better of it; just as they wouldn’t have appreciated Dreampaw or Flamepaw answering for them, it wasn’t their job to spill WindClan secrets.

One more cat broke away from the crowd to join them, bringing their little group to eight. Of all the apprentices who’d gathered, she looked closest to Flypaw’s age. A bitter scent similar to Cloverheart’s hung around her. Flypaw squinted. What was that smell? It was too watery to be ThunderClan or SkyClan, too thick to be WindClan… “I’m Flypaw,” they said with a sharp nod, “from RiverClan.” Bloodstar yowled out across the clearing, then, and Flypaw shut their mouth and angled their ears toward the Great Rock. Though RiverClan’s were the only announcements they had any stake in, they’d been taught to sit still and listen.

"The same way I could convince you to come if I didn't already know you hated these things." Batglow answered. It was simple in his mind to get his best friend to do anything, but if he had to explain how it was done, he wouldn't be able to give an answer.

"I'm sure it will go by fast.. If Burningwing shuts his mouth that is, and doesn't get involved in other clans business." He would hear his clanmate running his mouth from here.. What about? The black tom toned it out. Anything that came out of that tom's mouth was useless to Batglow.

--

Starlingflare watched intently as the two medicine cats interacted. His yellow eye flicking back and forth for a moment... Clearly whatever happened here was... very interesting to say the least.. He didn't really mind that the attention was taken from him for a moment. He almost didn't notice that Beechface had already turned back to him.

"Oh.. um.." He started before he finally collected himself. "I'm Starlingflare. I'm sure you can probably tell why I approached you." Hers wasn't as new as his.. but he was sure it wasn't that long ago it happened.. If he remembered correctly it wasn't that long ago. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but how do you deal with it? I'm not quite adjusted to it all.." He shifted uncomfortably.. Usually he was better with words than this, but he wasn't really one to interact with other clan cats, though it seemed Skyclan was the one clan he got along with. "My apologies.. I'm more use to speaking with on of your clanmates.. Newtspring."

Frostgaze nodded along silently, pleased that Ratpaw had been getting along well, and hadn't been pestering his mentor too much. He knew little of Ratpaw, but he did know that apprentices could be pawfuls. It appeared Ratpaw was not one of them. He flicked his ear as Webshadow's attention turned to him, shifting his gaze to his friend silently. Carrionplace, the rogues. All that rat dung. That caused the tom to drift into an even quieter silence, if such a thing were possible, as he contemplated. He didn't want to simply say he was fine, yet he wasn't particularly injured in the battle. Was Webshadow asking for his feelings on it? Curious. "I suppose I am doing fine. My wounds are healing nicely, though you have no doubt noticed the scars by now, you are keen. As for how I feel about what transpired, I find that the rogues being gone is beneficial for Shadowclan, and I am pleased that we drove them off. It allowed me to find Shykit after all, and it seems she has acclimated well to Shadowclan."

He thought for a moment more before continuing, "How have you been doing since Carrionplace then? It is only fair I ask you... and I also wanted to thank you for your protection. The sentiment was thoughtful of you." It was then that he heard the leader's yowl for the gathering to begin. Frostgaze's ear flattened slightly in annoyance, and his gaze remained on Webshadow instead of shifting to the leaders. He had never much cared for Skyclan anyway.

(Disclaimer: Flamepaw's opinions are not my own, and I apologize in advance for him flaming your characters X'D)

Flamepaw let out a laugh at the cat with plants in his fur, cocking his head with an incredulous look twinkling in his eyes. "You deliberately put that in your fur? Wh-"

Dreampaw interrupted him. Apologizing for him.

Abruptly the good feeling crashed and burned through the ground of the clearing, and Flamepaw's fur started to bristle, his heart starting to beat what felt like fire through his veins. "Excuse you, rabbit-tail," He hissed, lips drawing back from his sharp teeth, tail lashing sharply as his claws pricked out of their sheaths. "Nobody asked for your opinion, Dreamer."

Luckily, his annoying hare-brain of a brother moved mostly out of the way to let the other, less annoying apprentices join the group. With another lash of his tail, heat still simmering under his pelt, Flamepaw turned his attention away, deliberately ignoring him, though his words still seethed in the back of his mind.

"He's just like that."

Un-gritting his teeth, he forced a confident smile back onto his face, just catching Flypaw's statement. "You haven't gone up against WindClanners, have you?" He snorted, the smile turning into a smug grin. "We have killer rabbits up on the moor. You have to be really tough to survive like one of us." His attention turned to one of the other cats. SkyClan or something? Whatever. He couldn't really remember his name, either, but that was okay. "Yeah, the sky stretches forever. We're the closest to StarClan, you know. At night the stars are practically close enough to touch, and we're tough enough that we don't need dens," He added, glancing in Flypaw's direction again, just to ram that point home.

And then a she-cat joined them, the scent of bitter herbs - like Hentooth's - clinging to her pelt. And she complimented the one with flower bits in his fur. As if they added to his appearance.

Stars, she was pretty.

Why did she have to like the weird guy? For a brief moment, Flamepaw wondered if maybe he should grab some leaves and try sticking them in his fur, just to see if she'd compliment them. Decided the whole idea was ridiculous and not worth it even to catch her attention.

---

Minkstar twitched an ear as he listened, a brief twist of his mouth showing when Bloodstar mentioned her killing in self-defense. Technically, he couldn't argue with that - accidents happened, after all - but that didn't mean no punishment at all should be given.

Tugging his attention back to the other leader's speech, he held his eyes evenly. "I've told the Clan the consequences of attacking Briarthorn. If any of them do so without a reason, I won't protect them from you."

Inclining his head to the other, he said simply, "I do. So long as SkyClan doesn't antagonize us, we'll be happy to work with you."

As the other leader stepped forward to deliver his Clan's news, Minkstar settled back in his own spot, listening with half an ear. I'd say that went well. Threats to life, family, and Clan were always a part of dealing with SkyClan, it seemed, so technically it had gone swimmingly.

Stepping forward as soon as the other was done, he gave their own announcements. "ThunderClan is doing well. We have welcomed several new additions to ThunderClan, as well as apprentices. Thrushnose's time as a temporary deputy has also come to an end, and so I have appointed Stoatfur as ThunderClan's newest deputy."

With a flick of his tail to signal the end of his piece, he stepped back again to let the next leader go forward.

The Riverclan apprentice had just been drifting into a shallow nap when a jolt ran through his body as someone seemingly tripped over one of his legs. The disturbance elicited a grumble from the thick-pelted young tom, who cracked open one of his glittering silver hues after a moment when he felt probably the same cat settle beside him. While he appreciated that the stranger didn't try to initiate conversation, he'd rather know who they were. Greypaw disliked unknowns stumbling into him.

After a few moments of debating, he yawned, and rolled back onto his stomach, still basically lounging, and looked over. It was another cat, of course, not of Riverclan though (While Greypaw wasn't exactly a social butterfly, he had become more observant, and took to knowing who his clanmates actually were.)

Letting out a sigh he spoke up, voice casual, and not too loud, body language lax. Making enemies at the gathering would be troublesome, and unlike some of his clanmates, he didn't hate any specific clan just because they existed. "Yo." He rose a brow, "While I appreciate ya not trying to initiate conversation, since I was trying to sleep so I'd have at least some energy to survive this troublesome gathering, I think at least knowing your name before you chill beside me would be... less odd." There was a tint of light amusement in his voice. "If you'd prefer some peace and quiet after a cursory introduction though I'm all for it."

This would probably be the only other clan cat he'd meet on some non-hostile ground for a while, after all. He'd prefer not seeing all other non-riverclan cats as enemies just because he only met them in skirmishes, it'd probably stunt his intellect otherwise. Also... getting along with a few cats in different clans could open him to a bunch of other strategies to try and counter so he'd survive any future battles without being horribly marred in a fight.

So he supposed while it was troublesome, it'd be better for his future survival if he socialized a bit in each gathering he went to.


____ ____ ____ __ _ _ _

Sootpaw kept a silent eye on things from his position, he caught a few words from the leaders over the din of senseless chatter around him, but not really enough to piece together into a coherent conversation, sadly. He also kept an eye on his Mentor, feeling oddly protective as he noticed her interacting with a seemingly hostile cat a ways away along with his sister. Sure both could protect themselves, and he wasn't on exactly friendly terms with his medicine cat sibling, but he did still respect both of them as clanmates, his mentor in particular, who had taught him so well.

Finally, after a moment, he made his way over to them, slithering between cats until he was at his mentor's side, odd-coloured eyes locked on a dark-pelted tom who seemed to be on the verge of spewing smoke. The stranger looked older than him, yet was being so unprofessional? How pathetic. He only caught the tail-end of what the tom was saying, without context he didn't dare comment, knowing that his words were often far too blunt and ruffled many cats' furs if it got out of hand.

He settled down on his haunches, flame-dappled black pelt shifting with the action, making his silhouette slightly disorienting to look at. The sharp tom glanced at his pale-furred mentor, his expression showing a hint of stoic inquisition.

"Is everything all right, mentor?" Perhaps he could learn some things. He glanced at his seemingly agitated sibling, raising a brow. He then pointedly looked at the weirdly enraged tom they seemed to be paying attention to, saying no more, seeing as how both of them had witnessed what happened when he let himself speak his mind.

Warriors were supposed to be in control of themselves, to see one losing control a likely stupid reason immediately made his stare much more withering than it really was. A strong sense of him being wholly unimpressed radiating from his body language. If this was how the clans interacted with each other commonly at gatherings it was no wonder why so many cats' lives were wasted in pointless superiority struggles.

His tail twitched idly, and when he heard the yowl of one of the leaders initiating the gathering, he glanced back at the rock. The only important bit of information he heard was Skyclan's shift in leadership. Sootpaw had never met nor witnessed the past leader of that clan, so it didn't really impact him beyond it being necessary information to know.

Next was Thunderclan, their news was less interesting than the leadership change. Idly he noted the deputy's name in the back of his mind. After all, deputies were future leaders unless they got themselves killed one way or another.

Beechface listened as the tom- Starlingflare, spoke. They both had something in common, however frustrating that seemed to be for the both of them. Beechface was no warrior and hadn't gone hunting or been in a fight since the... incident, but she thought he was referring more to the pain if he was asking her, the medicine cat, specifically. "The pain is... Something. No herbs seem to touch it at all." She huffed, "Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of. If you're able to focus on something else as a distraction, that helps a bit." Well, she hadn't tried poppy seeds, and she refused to. After what had been done to Bloodstar at the Asylum's claws, she no longer felt comfortable using them or even keeping them in her den. "It's no longer a constant, for me at least. It seems to come and go now. Maybe it'll continue to become less frequent with time?" When she'd first been injured, the pain had been a maddening constant and bad enough to prevent her from sleeping despite her exhaustion. Her question was more of a guess than anything, and Beechface hated the less-than-certain tone of her voice. She wasn't sure if what she'd said would help Starlingflare, but she hoped it was something at least. His injury definitely seemed more recent than hers, though with how distracted she'd been at recent gatherings she wasn't sure of just how recent.

The sound of two cats arguing broke out, and Beechface's ears slid back against her head, pupils dilating as she searched for the source of the arguing. She vaguely recognized the marbled tom who had told Cloverpaw off when she'd been pestering Beechface- The other tom wasn't familiar to her and Beechface honestly didn't really care. Ears ringing, whatever was being said slid past her. Her gaze lifted to the great rock uneasily, then to the sky above. Cloudless... For the moment.

Too bad Beechface knew exactly how quickly that could change. She'd been careful enough to keep herself clear of the trees but the sick sense of dread remained.

---

Mistyfalcon's whiskers twitched in amusement at Batglow's answer. He would've said something snarky in response but... "Too late, I think. Why can't the frogbrain leave well enough alone? Who cares what Windclan lets into their ranks?" His eyes narrowed on Burningwing and the marbled Riverclan tom, but he was not going to interfere. If Burningwing got himself into trouble, that wasn't Mistyfalcon's problem. None of this was Shadowclan business. So long as Windclan and their supposed daughter of the Asylum Head kept to their own territory, Mistyfalcon did not care.

---

"You wanted to be a gloryhound and kill him for not being... What, Shadowclan? And then take the credit for killing Dawnhawk yourself." Swiftspirit commented, tone carefully remaining even. She wouldn't raise her voice, she wouldn't yell or screech about it. "You could have assisted Bearspirit instead of threatening to kill him when he had Dawnhawk pinned. Instead he escaped because of your shortsightedness." She had nothing to hide, Daystar and Hentooth had been told exactly that.

"Dawnhawk has no sympathizers in Windclan. Ask any of my clanmates and they'll tell you the same." And there he was, shouting about her being Eris' daughter again. Swiftspirit didn't flinch, her expression remaining calm and showing no sign of the anxiety she felt. Nobody in the hollow seemed to be acknowledging it... If she kept her cool, she might just be able to sway things against him. The tom was already a few feathers short of a bird and was throwing stones. Somehow, that wasn't surprising.

"I was a kit when Windclan took me in. Your clan has former Asylum members, too. Ones who would have joined your ranks much later in life than I did." She said lowly. Bloodstar's yowl rang out before she could say anything else... That was for the best.

"Just fine, Sootpaw." She murmured, "Don't let your emotions get the better of you and make yourself out to be a fool in public like that one. We're respectable warriors." She added, voice hardly audible as she sat back down next to her apprentice.

Beechface is trying not to panic and failing.
Mistyfalcon is still talking to Batglow (and wants no part of the drama but is listening anyways).
Swiftspirit has addressed Burningwing, and is now sitting with Sootpaw.

Hentooth’s eyes grew wide as a bloated frog as Swiftspirit appeared out of nowhere. “Oh stars, Swift,” she mumbled, head whirring. Thank the stars someone- oh- things started happening quickly, and the medicine cat found herself plopping her rear down next to Swift and Soo- Sootpaw.

Oh.

Stars.

She wasn’t about to talk to her with Sootpaw right here- and she didn’t seem too ruffled- Hentooth shook her head abruptly, trying to snap herself out of it. Maybe she’d caught whitecough from Goldenfang?

As if things couldn’t get any worse, that great brute of a hare-brain started to yowl out, confirming that he was now Bloodstar. “Staaaaars…”

Hentooth is sitting near Swift and Soot and is a bit out of it.

(OOC: Apologies first for Dreampaw's attitude, he dislikes being insulted!)

"Rabbit-tail."

"Dreamer."

Dreampaw's jaws opened in disbelief. Nevermind that. Sure— He daydreamed a lot, but the way Flamepaw said it sounded like mockery. His eyes furrowed as he stood up, and a small scoff exited his mouth. "Then maybe you shouldn't have listened, featherbrain." He pressed on the word, giving the tom one last glance— then sharply lashed his tail and walked away. He settled next to a blank spot (despite the gathering having barely any at all), ears perked up to listen to the leaders speaking. This should've been less of a troubling first Gathering for him, but unfortunately, he wasn't in much mood for talking now, thanks to Flamepaw. If only he had his ears swiveled the other way around when the wonderfully loathsome apprentice just seemed to arrive.

He flattened down his own fur, cooling himself off from the small conversation earlier. This was no time for him to be minded by an insult. Stars, he was actually looking forward to get to know the apprentices from SkyClan more. They seemed pretty cool, but maybe in another time. He wouldn't even want to set a paw near where Flamepaw was, now.

---

Duskpaw gave her a thoughtful look for a moment, then spoke up. "Duskfall, maybe? Or.. Duskblaze, that also sounds really cool! Or Duskfeather..." He rambled on, before finally deciding on a proper one. "Duskflight!" He exclaimed, "Duskflight sounds like a really nice name. Since I could be fast on my paws, ya know?" The tom purred. "Do you think it'll fit me?" The apprentice asked, before turning his head over to the leader's yowl. The Gathering has begun. He kept his tail neatly wrapped beside his paws, and gave it a small flick to tell Dandelionflight that they should be paying attention to the announcements now. He smiled enthusiastically, listening to what the leaders have to say.

---

Hollypaw hesitated to step over to Scarletriver, and just at that moment— Bloodstar's voice seemed to clear the puzzling thoughts in her mind. She gave a sigh of relief, and raised her head up, ears highly perked to listen to the leaders. She felt somewhat lucky that the Gathering call cleared her mind, though perhaps she'd talk to Scarletriver another time. They.. barely have really talked at all, and she supposed they should at least talk once before she becomes a final warrior. That day was.. close. Closer everyday.

Hollypaw is talking to Ebonypaw, and is also listening to the leaders!
Duskpaw is talking to Dandelionflight, and is also listening to the leaders!
Dreampaw has successfully escaped the group of apprentices, and is not open to talk to.

The question prompted a stretch of silence from Frostgaze, and for a moment, Webshadow wondered if it'd been the wrong thing to ask. Was it something he hadn't wanted to talk about? The tom's nose wrinkled as he wondered whether he should try and change subject, but his friend spoke up again before he could make up his mind. Pleased with that, he nodded along as Frostgaze spoke, humming quietly to himself. If nothing else good had come out of the rogues, Batglow's return and Shykit's appearance almost made the ordeal worth it.

Now with his own questions to answer, Webshadow thought on it for a moment– offering Bloodstar's yowl only a brief twitch of his whiskers –before he started speaking. "You don't have to thank me," he said slowly, tilting his head and offering a small smile. "You are my friend, after all. Of course I would have protected you." Really, it seemed... odd that Frostgaze wanted to thank him for that. It was the least he could do. More yowling broke out between Webshadow's words, and he turned away to see what the commotion was. Burningwing's voice carried over the din of the crowd, though Webshadow lost the exact words, and a few of WindClan cats seemed upset. The tabby watched the situation, wondering what that frog-brained cat had started, before returning his attention to Frostgaze with a sigh.

"Your friend is causing trouble," he mewed quickly, then he was back on the question from before. "Fine, though. I'm sure you've noticed my own scars, but I am fine. Happy the rogues have been dealt with– it's nice to patrol the territory alone again." It was. He'd missed the quiet time. Though... he looked Frostgaze over, blinking slowly. Admittedly, he wouldn't mind if he were to come along, too. "And... I suppose I should thank you, in turn. I appreciate your jumping in."

Flintstar's ears twitched at a familiar voice that was raising over the other cats, eyes falling onto Burningwing as he picked up the conversation - of the words being spat between him and a RiverClan warrior. The one that had attacked him, if he were.. His gaze narrowed, focusing on what was spread between the two - the RiverClan cat claiming that he was trying to apprehend Dawnhawk and... Hm. He had suspected there was more to the story than what his warrior had told him, but it seemed there were two very different tales. He remained silent as Bloodstar spoke up, explaining that he had gained his nine lives. Hm... His ear twitched as he loosely remained to the rest, before he finally pushed himself to his paws and raised his voiced.

"ShadowClan is...Surviving. The rogues that have prowled our territory are no more, although it came at a cost of one of my lives and the...Worsening of my leg scar," he rasped with a swish of his tail. He didn't know if his leg would ever recover althought he had his doubts. It was...Best he keep quiet on how terrible it was. "We have new apprentices in Cicadapaw, Duskpaw, Ratpaw and Frogpaw...And new warrior in Mistlebright. That is all," he added...But he did not sit back down. He took a step forward, motioning with his tail for Murkystrike to remain where she was seated as he padded through the crowds until he had reached his target.

"Burningwing," he meowed, his voice low as he glared at the tom. "You will be silent. You disrespect the Clan with this scene of yours. Who the other Clans hold within their ranks are not of our concern and if you do not hold your tongue, then I will hold it for you," he added, a growl escaping his words as he stood to his full height to loom. His golden eyes were narrowed before he finally took a step back, glancing at the tom that Burningwing had been shouting with. "You. I...Apologize for my warrior's behavior. However, if you are willing, I would like to speak to you after the Gathering. I have heard my warrior's side of the story - but I would like to hear yours. Unlike my warrior, I do not...Jump to conclusions and would prefer all points of view. If Swiftspirit is here as well, I would like to hear her account if you could ask her to join us."

Flintstar has given his announcements but has left his post to scold Burningwing and speak with Bearspirit briefly.

--
-
--
____ ____ ____ __ _ _ _

When his mentor spoke again his listened mutely, now having a bit more context for the situation. It seems his mentor used to be an outsider. Well, that hardly changed his view of her, she had taught him well and was a professional warrior, she was loyal, that was all he cared about.

As she spoke he kept his eyes locked on the raging tom, his stare not ceasing. His mother had been an outsider as well, he wasn't pure windclan blood, yet he had no intentions of following in that coward's footsteps and abandoning his clan. He may have next to no emotional connection to it, but it was still his home and had helped him shape into who he was now, he wasn't going to ignore that.

when his mentor addressed him he glanced over to her, mildly insulted that she'd think he'd be unprofessional in any way at such an important place. Still, the rare outbursts he has had were not pretty, so he could understand the warning slightly.
"I have no intentions to be anything but professional at this gathering, you've taught me well enough for me to know when I have to stay in control of myself." His tone was a bit dry, but he did search her gaze for a bit, looking for anything giving away that she was disturbed by the brute's accusations.

He looked away though when the Shadowclan leader spoke and then came down from the rock to speak to the raging tom and another warrior who seemed to be involved as well, perhaps the 'Bearspirit' his mentor mentioned. Seems this leader had no intention of losing control over his warriors, respectable.

He also wanted to speak to his mentor as well. He looked over at Swiftspirit again, raising a brow,"I suppose I should ask about who this 'Dawnhawk' fellow is at a later date." The odd-eyed tom commented idly.

Sootpaw then shot a passing glance at his sibling, who seemed to be in a state of shock for some reason... speaking of, didn't the medicine cats usually convene at gatherings or something? What was she doing over here?... Well, no matter, he'd leave her be.

The apprentice supposed he'd be sitting by his mentor for the rest of the meeting, he had nothing better to do. It was best he didn't try to make any friends outside of his clan, who knew when they'd meet in clashes after all. Besides, Sootpaw didn't do friends, though, in this case, he also wanted to avoid making allies as well. His clan was all he needed.

A laugh bloomed from the tabby tom. "No silly the marsh does not eat cats, not the full moon not ever! Neither a spooky monster, just regular rouges and foxes and the like. And uh no ravens do not help us, I think we hunt them actually. Though I have yet to catch one... yet. What was your first catch? What does Skyclan like to hunt? Birds right? I was told birds, but surely something else as well? Shadowclan eats frogs, rodents, lizards, and other stuff but that is the most of it. That is what we are good at catching! Ooh! Do you get to hunt in the clouds? What would you catch up ther-"

Loudnose was cut off by the yowl of Bloodstar. The gathering had begun. He turned his head up to the leader, lending his attention. Nothing too interesting, or worth commenting on. Minkstar followed, then Flintstar. Still nothing exciting.

Loudnose is talking with Dawnfeather and listens to the announcements.
~~~~~~
During Dappledpaw's response, two other cats had come up. Oliverain purred, it was Orchidmask and Yewpaw. Her sister, mother, and apprentice. She was quite pleased with the cats that sat near. The ragdoll turned to Yewpaw as he mewed, and she blinked in greeting. Oliverain was fond of the tom behind Lynxpetal, and hoped he was comfortable here. It was loud, but fun. The warrior stayed silent as Dappledpaw introduced herself to the black and white cat. She looked up to the trees, counting the sparkles sitting up there.

A yawn creeped out of Oliverain as the announcements started. Not that she found it boring, just that she was tired. The warrior had nothing against the gathering, but was impatient for its end. Getting back in that nest sounded pretty good right then.

Oliverain is hanging out with Dappledpaw, Yewpaw, and Orchidmask, though paying attention to the announcements.

Batglow shook his head. "He can't even leave his clanmates well enough alone.. shoving his nose into business that isn't his, is his talent." The black tom remarked lowly. "Hopefully Flintstar will snap some sense into him. He gets away with too much lately." He said making sure to keep his voice low so that only Mistyfalcon could hear.

--

Starlingflare listened intently as the medicine cat spoke. Nodding slightly in agreement as she mentioned the pain that wasn't really touched by herbs. It seemed the same for him for the most part. Nothing Dovefrost gave him seemed to touch his pain that he had some days.

"The pain comes and goes.. There are some days it's.. pretty much all that I feel. I don't wish this on anyone who doesn't deserve it." If he could he would gladly take an eye from that Shadowclan apprentice. She definitely deserved it, but hopefully she had enough scars to remind her to never do it again.

Yellow eye followed the medicine cat's gaze over to the two cats that were arguing, he didn't know either of them, but they were causing quite a fuss.. That was until the Shadowclan leader walked over and put a stop to it.. "Stupid Shadowclan... Always causing an issue for everyone... Can't leave well enough alone." The tom said lowly.

"Agreed... We'll figure out something to manage it, eventually." At least, she hoped. At times the pain was truly overwhelming.

Through the ringing in her ears the medicine cat caught bits and pieces of the conversation, and her lip curled. "Windclan and Riverclan are involved, why am I not surprised? Shadowclan though... I expected better of them." Beechface answered, her disgust for the former two clans clear. "The forest will be better off when my littermate is dead. I don't care who kills him. If one of them is actually helping that foxheart..." Her voice trailed off, a low growl rumbling in her chest.

---

"Right, of course he wouldn't." Mistyfalcon muttered, "He keeps his up someone might take a chunk out of his hide again." Mistyfalcon wasn't opposed to that someone being him... But now wasn't the time or place, and he respected Murkystrike and Flintstar's leadership enough to not do so until he had a better reason than the tom being foolish. He was sure Burningwing would give him a reason, the tom was a loose canon and needed to be reined in a long time ago.

---

"Later." She muttered to Hentooth. They were going to talk. Nobody seemed interested in wanting trouble except for that Shadowclanner, and Swiftspirit hoped it stayed that way. There was a reason she never told anyone, and Hentooth had apparently been the one to give up that secret. It couldn't be taken back now, the damage was already done. She glanced over at Sootpaw, and nodded. "Good." It was clear from her tone that she hadn't expected him to do so either way. Too bad others weren't so smart.

He didn't know who Dawnhawk was? "That... Is a long story, but one you should know. I'll explain when we're back at camp." It was better he know the politics surrounding the tom and how Windclan had so severely damaged their relationship with the other clans by harboring him.

The Shadowclan leader was making his announcements, and Swiftspirit fell silent. Instead of staying in his spot however, the tom padded up to where Burningwing and Bearspirit still stood. A bit late in disciplining his subordinate, but it was better than nothing. "Right here." Swiftspirit answered as her name was mentioned, tone still level. She eyed the Shadowclan leader, noting again the nasty wound to his leg. Should he really be the one speaking with them right now? "After the gathering, then." She and Bearspirit had nothing to hide, of that she was absolutely certain. She turned back to sit with her clanmates. Maybe that would be the end of this for the moment.

Burningwing's ear flicked over to Flintstar when he spoke. His fur bristled, but he forced it to lie flat an instant later. He remained where he was and listened to what the Shadowclan leader said to Bearspirit... So he was going to talk to them now? His sulfuric gaze went off to one side. He needed to think... He hadn't meant to turn this into one big story for Flintstar and Murkystrike to hear, but they had. Now he had to keep coming up with things to say to cover himself.

Idiot... keep defending cats that aren't even yours to defend and disregard anything an actual Shadowclanner has to say. Maybe Flintstar was impure too. Did he honestly think he was intimidating at all with that limp leg of his? He did remain silent... for now. His eyes flicked to the marbled Riverclan tom, curious as to what his response would be.

---

Bearspirit hadn't been expecting Flintstar to approach. When he had, he half expected to be hissed at... so it was a surprise when the dark tom spoke to him calmly. He wanted Swiftspirit and him to stay after the gathering? Bearspirit's face felt hot under his fur with a single glance towards her. Fish-dung I shouldn't be feeling this way! He thought to himself briefly. He looked over at Ivystar for a moment as if asking permission to stay. Once his eyes went back to Flintstar, he nodded once.

"I can stay just... not too long." He refused to look at Swiftspirit again. Fantastic... what had he gotten himself into? His tail tip twitched, feeling guilty. I'm just going to talk to him, give him my story and leave. He won't need me beyond that. I don't need to be spending anymore time with Sw- ... with a Windclanner.