December Gathering 2021

Bloodstar pushed through the snow as an icebreaker ship would through the ice in the sea. With every powerful stride the snow gave way and he left a path in his wake for the other cats in his clan to easily follow behind if they so chose. The giant, scarred tom kept a steady pace all of the way to Fourtrees right up until he made his way to the Great Rock. On the outside, Bloodstar was as strong, silent and stoic as the snow covered, frigid oaks surrounding the hollow. He leaped atop the Great Rock in one powerful, graceful arc that only a Skyclan cat could boast about. His massive paws landed on the snow and forced some of the white powder off of the edge of the Great Rock before he silently and confidently took his seat.

On the inside however...

I hate leaf-bare. Why does it have to be so foxing cold??? My toes are freezing, my nose is freezing, my ears are freezing.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! To the Dark Forest with anyone who thought, "Hey, know what would be really funny? Freeze the ever living owl-dung right out of all of the cats down there, hurr hurr!!!" I swear to the Stars if I ever find out who is responsible I am going to end them!!!

But... Bloodstar was at least good at keeping a strong presence in public. Strong and silent... and totally not shivering every now and then.

Beechpaw quietly followed Bloodstar to fourtrees, long fur and broad paws lending themselves to navigating the snow much better than the leader ever could. She smirked at seeing him shiver, knowing that beyond the stony facade he had to be miserable with the fluffy white stuff that blanketed the forest. She resisted the urge to swipe a paw through it and send snow flying in his direction.

Tonight would prove interesting she was sure, and she was happy to not be attending the gathering as a medicine cat. Her first gathering after Skyclan had returned from the fire had been as a medicine cat apprentice, and she'd despised being announced as one. Things had been... Very different, then. Now she was an apprentice again. Had Muddythorn told the medicine cats at the last half-moon meeting, or would they be finding out tonight? Ultimately it was unimportant, she figured,, but it was clear that Beechpaw was far happier without the crushing weight of being responsible for the clan's well-being upon her shoulders.

Of course, she still had to go to fourtrees, so she wasn't particularly thrilled at the moment. Her ears flattened as Skyclan entered the hollow, and for the moment she stuck close to the rest of her clanmates, pointedly choosing a spot as far from the shadow of the spreading, snow-laden branches above as she could get.

Beechpaw is open to talk!

Lionpaw wasn't nervous. Well, he wouldn't tell anyone if he was. The Tom had only been an apprentice for a few days and here he was, trailing Bloodstar as closely as he could without being obnoxious. He held his head high, determined to look good for the leader. It was all he would ever want, to be noticed as strong and brave by Bloodstar. Soon, they were in the clearing and all he could do is stare up in awe. Although he was big for a new apprentice, kitten fluff clung on to him as stubbornly as kitten curiosity. The trees were absolutely massive and it made him feel small. He hated it. With the smallest of growls, Lionpaw sought out a seat close to the Great Rock, right in the center. But where he could still get a good view of course. He wanted to be right in the action, right in the center, and see every leader and every cat for the very first time. His eyes stared up, as large as the moon, in just. Awe. Awe is the only word that can come to mind. He wanted to be up there one day. It was certain, he knew it. Hoped. Whatever.

Lionpaw is open to talk!

Murkystar led the way to Fourtrees, keeping her head up and shoulders straight with confidence, even if she was nervous inside. Flintstar had never not led them to a gathering that she could remember, and here she was expected to just... Do it. Alone. Well, not quite alone... Looking back to her new deputy, she gave him a small nod as she halted the clan behind her at the edge of the clearing. Looks like they were the second to arrive, after SkyClan. No matter. It would give them time to get to their positions without having to push through a crowd of other cats. She flicked her tail high, giving the signal for ShadowClan to pour into the clearing and settle themselves, pausing to briefly nudge Mistyfalcon's shoulder before making her way to Greatrock. It wasn't that much taller than Jaggedrock... Bunching her muscles, she jumped up, pulling herself onto the rock. She would get better at it with time, she was sure. Taking a seat on the far edge of the stone to give the other leaders space, she greeted Bloodstar with a nod before turning her gaze back down to the clearing below as she waited for the other clans to arrive.

Making his way into the Fourtrees with the rest of ShadowClan, Duskflight felt a shiver running up to his spine. This was the first ever leaf-bare that he'd experienced, and it felt both so exciteable— and incredibly cold as well. This had been much different from leaf-fall. The cold back then to him was shiveringly cold enough, and despite his thick layer of fur, the bits of snow lingering onto his pelt didn't seem so much of help. With a light shake, most of the snow began to slip off from his coat, and he gave it a silent purr.

This was his second time arriving to a Gathering, yet it still felt just as wonderful as the first experience; when he was only an apprentice. His eyes scanned the clearing, and only one other clan seemed to be here. Well, he wouldn't complain. He was glad that his clan arrived if not first— then second, as it'd get much more crowded later on. Settling down to an empty spot, Duskflight wrapped his tail around his mitts, feeling glad that it's fluffiness would help maintain some of the warmth from escaping away. Even if it wasn't so much, at least it helped.

Duskflight is open to talk!

Newtspring fell into step alongside the rest of SkyClan, his shoulders hunched and his head low. Despite his bulk and the thick fur on top of that, he shivered against the cold. He hadn't expected leaf-bare to be as bad as everyone said it was, but as settled down in the snow, the mottled tom grumbled to himself about how badly he wished it was green-leaf again.

Newtspring is open to talk.


Webshadow's tail flicked restlessly as he kicked through the drifts of snow, snorting to himself as he went. He'd spent moons complaining about the sudden chill and dreading the change in seasons, and all at once it was here. Not only that, but his dark pelt stuck out starkly against it... ears twitching, he raised his head to search for Frostgaze. He would enjoy the new weather, wouldn't he? When he was hunting or patrolling, at least... Sighing, Webshadow took a seat, attention on his paws.

Webshadow is grumpy, but open to talk.

Darkness, gently fractured under the probing reaches of gradually strengthening moonlight gathering upon the frigid gleam of freshly-laden snow, streamed by in a perpetual smear of jagged nothingness, exhaustion-shaded reaches of his peripheral vision doing little work to connect the nearly indistinguishable rush of landscape to innate memorization; after spending the last night entrenched within the depths of the Highstones and conversing with old ghosts, the last thing Jaystar wished to do was squander an entire night's precious rest through making likely false niceties with other Clans. The freezing night was strung out with the sharp symphony of conversing Clans, casual and neat-tongued conversation curling together into one great indistinguishable melody that crept across the entirety of the forest. An entirely different world from the last time he had ventured here; so many lifetimes ago, when the world was yet untouched by the reaches of darkness. Cool air curled sharply across his tense underbelly with the force of his great leap, the world seeming to melt away into nothing more than a shadowy pool of slow-going motion as the partially habited Great Rock rushed up to meet his embrace, the easy landing doing little to jar away the lingering wrack of disquietude that currently clung to his frigid bones.

Settling into a faulty semblance of resolute and unbothered silence, the gently moving rivulets of tension and apprehension seemed to stir and heighten around the dark-furred young tom, seeping into the unkempt mane of his coat with a biting chill. Offering both Murkystar and Bloodstar a reflexive twitch of the ear in lieu of any falsely pleasant attempts at conversation, Jaystar resolved to enjoy the certainly dwindling silence in these moments before the arrival of ThunderClan.

Frogpaw's eyes widened in fascination as ShadowClan made their way into Fourtrees. The short she-cat bumbled after Murkystar, and her stomach and chest were soggy and wet with all of the snow that had accumulated in fur and began to melt. She eventually found a spot with the other ShadowClan apprentices, sitting silently as she took just how vast the Fourtrees were. It was her first gathering, and the sheer number of cats from other clans was slightly overwhelming.

Feel free to interact!!!

Well... this should be interesting.

Perchfall's face was as emotionless as usual as she walked in with RiverClan, but her eyes scanned the clearing nervously. Two Clans already here... SkyClan and ShadowClan. She hadn't interacted with many cats from those Clans before. Now, as deputy, she might have to. The fresh blanket of snow over the clearing had already been marred by dozens of paw prints, but it sparkled almost teasingly, taunting her with the knowledge that leaf-bare was arriving. RiverClan was not in a good position. They hadn't been for as long as she'd been alive. Today would be no exception.

The slim gray and white she-cat had to force herself to not settle in the back of RiverClan's section of Fourtrees, as she usually did. Instead, she followed Jaystar all the way up to the Great Rock, stopping at the base where she'd watched the other deputies do so as a wide-eyed apprentice. She felt small, tiny even, just a fallen leaf next to four other giant oak trees. Her breath puffed white in front of her face, and she tried to breathe slowly, calming herself so that no one would see her terror. Her face was impassive. Her eyes were bright, but cold, an icy blue gaze that pierced anyone who would try to talk to her. She would do her best to converse... but she knew that the chill down her spine was not just because of the frigid wind. Perchfall was scared.

Burningwing made his way to Fourtrees and gave the Skyclan cats a dirty look. They may have taken Highpine for now, but who knows what the future would bring? Bloodstar couldn't be in all places at once. He sat at the edge of where the Shadowclanners were designated to sit and wrapped his tail around himself. He did notice that Riverclan seemed to have a whole new leadership... What in the Stars had happened??? Questions that would need answering, but answers he would get during this meeting, no doubt.

Burningwing is open to talk

Bearspirit did not come to this gathering because he is super super mad at Swiftspirit still and he'd rather snooze off his injuries.

Frostgaze trudged through the snow that buried the earth, pelt becoming nearly invisible, even in the light of the full moon. This is why he was Shadowclan. Catching Murkystar's gaze as they approached Fourtrees, the white tom dipped his head in response to her nod. Though he didn't necessarily know Murkystar well, he did understand her apparent nervousness. It was standard for cats to be nervous about change, he was no different, despite his cold exterior. It was unsettling to be moving to the base of the Highrock, being counted as someone out of the ordinary. A future leader.

He wanted to talk to Webshadow. Before padding to the base of the Highrock, he stood next to the tom. "I suppose we cannot talk at the gathering anymore, unless you plan on being extremely close to the deputies. We will have to speak another time... perhaps we can go hunting again." His tone was characteristically cold, but he placed his tail on his friend's flank for a fleeting moment before continuing to the base of the rock, sitting down alongside the Skyclan deputy.

As Riverclan arrived, Frostgaze spotted a deputy that he had certainly never seen before. Piercing, pale blue eyes, met eyes akin to his own, and he gave a respectful nod to the new arrival. He didn't really know any of the deputies. Would that change? Time would tell.

Frostgaze is open to talk to!

Soon as Jaystar led their way into the Fourtrees, Hollypaw followed behind with the rest of the clan; her fur bristling from the immense cold that came with leaf-bare. Being a RiverClan cat, her short layer of fur helped with fishing.. Though definitely not with the cold. She sat herself with the other apprentices from her clan, not having a specific plan to talk to any other cats just yet. Well, unless they really wanted to.

She gritted her teeth, not wanting it to chatter loudly to anyone. She was cold. Incredibly cold. Though she quickly figured that  this wouldn’t be the right time to complain about it, and decided to stay silent anyway. The other cats would experience the same freezing weather as well. She scanned the clearing as she sat down, quickly taking notice of other cats giving her clan odd looks. Right, who couldn’t? Their whole leadership changed along with.. many puzzling events. She knew Ivystar wasn’t coming back, and just that thought made her stomach churn.

Hollypaw is open to interact!

It was Hollypaw’s debut: her first Gathering. She had been listening to the other apprentices’ about this since she was a kit. About how everyone mingled and greeted each other, in spite of the fact they’d inevitably fight on the battlefield. How they made friendships. And, well. Hollypaw didn’t see the point of that — what was the point of making friends with cats you were going to pound into the dirt? Who could steal your prey?

Ravenclaw would certainly disapprove. And Hollypaw was her mentor’s apprentice.

No. Hollypaw was here was to keep an eye on the enemy — and, if there was any mingling, it was only to make sure they knew who she was when she inevitably clawed their faces off at the border. As they walked first into Fourtrees, Hollypaw kept her head high. If she spoke to anyone, she’d be cordial — those were the rules, after all — but she wasn’t going to pretend they were something they weren’t. Which was basically potential enemies.

She was here to watch, learn, and keep an eye on—

Hollypaw blinked, eyes looking back to catch sight of her wayward sister. But as the SkyClan cats filtered into what had to be Fourtrees (and Hollypaw was distracted, okay, keeping her guard up and everything!), they seemed to have been separated. She huffed, rolling her eyes... It was a little worrying, since there were going to be strange cats here. But.

Newtspring was an entirely incompetent mentor, but even he couldn’t be so awful as to let his apprentice be attacked at a Gathering. And Wasp was coming along fine.

She’s be fine.

Caught up in these thoughts, Hollypaw didn’t realize other cats had arrived until she spotted a pale molly — unfamiliar. And smelling distinctly fishy. ...Riverclan? Really? There were others like her, too, but larger or thicker-furred — other warriors of her clan, presumably.

At the head of the group, near the Great Rock, Bloodstar had ascended to take his place. Easily, of course — such a jump was no challenge for a SkyClan cat. And as Hollypaw sat, it wasn’t long before he wasn’t alone — three clans had apparently arrived close together.

It hadn’t seemed a big deal, while she was thinking about it. (Hollypaw could claw these cats’ faces off, if she reeeally wanted to. Even — um, the big ones.) But somehow she lost sight of most everyone but Lionpaw, and was... stuck among the other clans. She glanced around, a little nervously.

The grey-furred molly was closest, and she seemed... at least not a warrior. Hollypaw refused any kind of retreat, and just — sat, relatively near her. And stared resolutely ahead, as if she were very focused on the leaders. She would talk to the Riverclan molly — maybe about which one of those was her leader? — but then it occurred to Hollypaw that she should know that. Duh.

Foreign clan leaders was like, kit stuff. (Hollypaw just... couldn’t remember.) It was... Ivystar, wasn’t it? But the molly up there was a dark black. Which left... another tom?

Skyclan Hollypaw is considering talking to Riverclan Hollypaw. She just hasn’t yet. (But it isn’t because she’s — you know, nervous, or anything.)

Hailpaw trudged through the snow, his white coat nearly disappearing in the blanket of white if it weren't for the plentiful amount of feathers that decorated his coat. A wonderful mix of bright blue jay feathers and iridescent starling feathers. If all the flowers and leaves could have survived in the snow, he would have worn double the amount he had worn during his first visit to fourtrees, but the coming leaf-bare had ruined his plans. He would just have to be content with adornments that did not wilt in the cold and wet.

As he entered the clearing, he glanced over to the group of Shadowclan cats arriving just a bit later than them. A new cat was leading the group this time. Did they have a new leader? Hopefully nothing bad happened to Flintstar, they didn't look in the greatest condition during the last gathering. Riverclan not far behind was led by completely different cats. Or perhaps he didn't remember who was leading last time? He wasn't paying much attention. Regardless, his frost-colored gaze scanned the available cats, wondering who looked the most approachable.

Hailpaw is open to talk to!

---

Cicadapaw grumbled as snow clung to his pelt. Its thickness kept most of the chill out, but there was only so much fur could do when frozen flakes started to melt into his coat. He didn't know how anyone could manage to function in this mess. He felt like he stood out like a birch tree in a pine forest, his orange and black contrasting horribly with the white below. He hoped leaf-bare wouldn't last long and that it would take its dreaded snow with it.

He sat down with the rest of the Shadowclan cats, giving the other clans a wide berth. If he was being honest, he never quite understood the purpose of gatherings. It seemed like they said the same things. These cats were born or ranked up, this cat died, prey is plentiful, whatever. Maybe if he was lucky some territory dispute would cause an argument and give him something interesting to listen to.

Cicadapaw is open to talk to!
Ebony remained at camp!