January Gathering 2022

This was a lot more cats then he had imagined.

Aether had heard his father mention that the Clans met here on a full moon, and he wanted to make Papa proud by bringing back some information. Although now that he was here, he was certainly overcome with fright.

It wasn't like he could just turn and leave, that would bring too much attention to himself. He just had to remember the things his father had told him about Clan life. Young cats starting training had -paw at the end of their name, which was odd, but he could use that. And Papa was from, CloudyClan? Okay, no saying what Clan he is from. In fact, don't make conversation. He couldn't draw attention to himself, cuz Papa said Clan cats were very bad cats, and they had tried to kill him.

So instead, he just sat among the crowd, facing in the general direction the other cats were, and waited to see what would happen.

This is a dev req for outsiders, so it has to be allowed, right? xD "Aetherpaw" is open to talk to.

Perchfall's face was as stoic as ever, her bearing as neutral as ever, and her gait as measured as ever as she followed her leader into the Gathering. The feeling of the cold ground crunching beneath her feet was one she was used to, but not one she relished. The ever-present chill in the air was about as welcoming as the rest of the Clans in the clearing. She would be lying to herself if she said that she enjoyed Gatherings, especially with how Jaystar seemed to love antagonizing the other leaders, but it was not her place to say so. Her place was to sit at the base of the rock, have subdued conversations with the other deputies, and watch hopelessly as the leaders continued their worthless banter. And it was that she was prepared to do, as she sat resolutely down by the four other cats who sat with varying levels of bitterness or exhaustion plain on their faces. It had been a hard moon. The next would likely be even worse.

Perchfall is open to talk to.



Appledapple started in surprise, eyes widening slightly, as a cat walked up to talk to her. A bright-eyed, friendly-voiced she-cat who smelled of ShadowClan introduced herself with a giant smile. How many moons ago was it that I would do the same thing, looking for inter-Clan connection? Other cats to talk to? The idea of initiating conversations with anyone from RiverClan or SkyClan repulsed her now. However, she knew little of ShadowClan... she supposed there was no harm in responding to this "Swiftheart." "My name is Appledapple of ThunderClan," she replied, putting a sweet smile on her delicate face. "Honestly, our Clan could be doing better. But don't all Clans have some issues during leaf-bare?" That's a very mild way to put it... but I'm certainly not unloading all of my frustration onto some random ShadowClanner.

Appledapple is talking to Swiftheart.

An unfamiliar scent notified him how something was up, and Duskflight whipped his head across to where it came from. A reddish, somewhat brownish-colored cat. They were certainly unfamiliar, and with another sniff, the warrior was sure that they weren't from any of the five clans that he's known of before. An outsider, that must be it. If lucky enough, he might even be able to gather some information on how things are outside the clans. And so, he gave it a go, lifting himself from his original spot and padding over to the outsider tom.

"Greetings," He offered the cat a small smile, "Which Clan do you come from? I've never seen you around before. I'm Duskflight, from ShadowClan." That should be alright for an introduction. Even if the cat was.. somehow from a clan, then he'd have to see for himself later on. The cat's particular face was never spotted in the crowd before, and so if he were to be in one, he must be a newly-appointed apprentice at best. Though for now, he'd play along.

Duskflight is attempting to start a conversation with "Aetherpaw"!

---

Hollyleaf joined into the clearing with her clan, silently following behind until she reached an empty spot. Her eyes scanned for the sight of a familiar face, though there weren't any.. yet. "Would Hollypaw be here? I wonder if she's a warrior now." Although their previous encounter was awkward, Hollyleaf wished for them to be equal again. Creating accidental rivalries was more than unnecessary. With that, she remained silent, head pointed towards the direction of the Great Rock in wait for the announcements to begin.

Hollyleaf is open to talk to!

Like a wraith. Like a shadow flitting from tree to tree. Against the pale backdrop of the snow and dappled shadows, Astraeus’ pelt seemed nothing more than an illusion, a brief movement. He’d tracked his brother’s scent to Fourtrees, telling any of his littermates he met along the way to ‘let him go in first’. Ares was best in combat, true, but for a keen wit and sharp mind, as well as a fast and smooth tongue, there was nocat like Astraeus… among his siblings, anyways.

There. Aether. And- oh no- a cat approaching him- Astraeus swiftly and surely made his way down the slope, walking with purpose, like he’d somewhere to go. Brushing past his brother, he suddenly turned to look at him. “Brownpaw? It’s me, Silverpaw, we met at the border! I’m sorry about the skirmish- my mentor’s very… zealous, to say the least. Stars, you smell awful, did you roll in fox-dung?” His voice was innocent and quiet, seeking not to carry. He looked at the… other cat with some surprise.

His yellow eyes might’ve shown little but slight curiosity, but his heart raced. Obviously, they had to choose a Clan this cat was not from. ShadowClan. “We’re both new apprentices- well, I am, I’m Silverpaw- are you ShadowClan?” He suddenly asked, eyes wide as if he had just noticed the other cat’s smell. “Do you really live in a marsh? Do you really catch frogs? Is it true you can’t even see the stars from ShadowClan territory? And that the marsh tries to eat cats? At that the trees are strange? And that it’s always foggy and snow never settles, and that all ShadowClan cats eat kits?” He leaned in closer, with an apologetic expression. ”I don’t believe that one,” he said sheepishly. “That’s just what the elders say when trying to scare you, right?”

This cat seemed a talkative type, and Astraeus- Silverpaw would have to distract him. Questions were the best- until he got Aether out of here, that was. He had done everything right. Call attention to Aether’s rogue scent for a moment, then give just enough information so it didn’t seem apparent he was holding things back, then deluge the other cat with questions. He was a curious apprentice, after all.

His gaze held the other cat’s, curiosity sparkling in its depths. He didn’t even turn his head to look at his brother. As soon as we can, we’re out of here, brother. At least Astraeus himself had had the sense to roll himself in oak leaves near the ThunderClan scent markings- he smelled vaguely of ThunderClan and vaguely of SkyClan, and that was perfect. No cat could pin him down by his scent, yet he didn’t stand out. He couldn’t trust Aether to have listened to da’s stories of the Clans. He’d probably call himself ‘Aether’ or, at best ‘Aetherpaw’.

Astraeus is talking to Duskflight and attempting to cover for Aether.

Emberleap winced with every soft crunch beneath his paws. This wasn’t his first cold season, but for how unprepared he felt, it might as well have been. Herb supplies ran low; cats pushed their nests into one big clump in their respective dens; hunting patrols came back empty-pawed, and what little prey they did find was skin and bones. More often than not, the scents Emberleap picked up belonged to owls, raccoons, and worse. He’d left them alone so far—he couldn’t afford an injury if he wanted to keep his nest—but the sight of the other Clans, their warriors thin and weary, made him wonder. Even SkyClan looked worn despite their extra hunting grounds. If this continued, they’d all be eating raccoon soon enough.

That settled it. Once the Gathering was over, he’d fetch his fox pelt and head out again. For now, though, Emberleap wandered toward the relative warmth at Fourtrees’ center, his short fur spiked as far out as it would go. Reaching a spot at ShadowClan’s outskirts, he began to pad in a slow circle. He almost didn’t care how odd it looked; he would sit when the announcements started, and not a heartbeat sooner.

Emberleap is open to talk!

Aether was about to open his mouth to reply to this newcomer, when, from out of nowhere, Astraeus appeared, saying some very weird things. Brownpaw? Silverpaw? Skirmish? What was he talking about?

"Who is Brownpaw? My name is Aetherpaw! I'm from CloudyClan! Come on, you know this, we're brothers silly! And yeah, we're sort of new Duskflight. It's our first gathering!" There, now he got his story out. Perfect.

Or it was perfect until his brother mentioned eating kits! "Y-y-you eat KITS?!?! Oh, please, sir, d-don't eat me! Papa would be very mad if you eat me! I'm sorry, I won't do this again, I promise!"

This was not how he wanted this night to end. Not in the slightest.

Aether is talking to Duskflight and Astraeus and being very stupid xD

Muddythorn had always found Thunderclana's medicine cat a little intimidating, but now he thought about it, Dovefrost was nowhere near as scary as Beechfang on a bad day. And so the tom join his fellow medicine cat at the gathering. Everyone was freezing cold, and despite his thick fur, he felt no difference, and it would only get worse before it got better. "Is all well in Thunderclan?" he asked politely, taking a seat beside the white tom. Normally he would automatically seek out Basilbloom, but maybe he should branch out a bit - he enjoyed socialising with other cats after all.

---

Aoife had gotten to the point where she genuinely couldn't believe the stupidity of her littermates. 'Let's go to a clan gathering to see what's it's like!" Aether and Astraeus had suggested. Of course she had tried to persuade them not to, knowing it wouldn't be worth the trouble if they got caught, even if it was unlikely given the sheer amount of cats. She'd never seen so many in the same place, and suddenly her and her siblings didn't seem as unstoppable. Her path stayed firmly on the edges of the hollow, her eyes never leaving her brothers. Aether, unsurprisingly, was making a mess of the whole situation and Astraeus was doing his best to cover. And his best was nowhere near as good as she could do. Brownpaw and Silverpaw? Really? How uncreative could he get with names?

Maybe she could smooth everything out before the poor Shadowclan warrior noticed anything wrong. "Duskflight, was it? I'm Blizzardpaw." There. It sounded clan-y and it was a half decent name. "Very sorry about my brothers, they have a bad habit of thinking they're funny when they're really not." She gave them a wide-eyed warning look, hoping they would get the hint and be careful about what they said. "We're from... Skyclan." Even though she listened to papa's stories with sharp ears and an eager mind, some details did slip her mind. Luckily, Aether's prompt of 'Cloudyclan' had been enough to remind her.

"What's Shadowclan actually like? Personally, I'm much more interested in facts than nursery stories." Duskflight was already suspicious, so maybe if she could steer the conversation back to him it would distract from the questionable circumstances. It would definitely be best to leave, but she wasn't willing to do that before she'd some for what she'd came for. Even if she would act more mature than her brothers, it didn't mean she couldn't want some fun and adventure.

Wisteriabloom and Primroselight are staying home because I'm lazy
Muddythorn is talking with Dovefrost
Magpiepaw has a mild case of whitecough and is not going
Aoife is talking with Astraeus, Aether and Duskflight

Out of the blue, another younger cat arrived. He blinked, opening his mouth to answer each question, though wasn't fast enough to keep with the new apprentices' questions. Aether..paw? CloudyClan? Was that a nickname these apprentices gave to SkyClan? Then came another fairly odd question. "Of course we don't eat kits, where did you hear that rumor from?" He tilted his head, a somewhat sarcastic tone coming out from him as he presumed it was satire. Do other clans really think that..? Though, it was until 'Aetherpaw'— or 'Brownpaw' mentioned their father. Who was he?

Then, another cat arrived yet again. Blizzardpaw, or that was what they introduced themselves at. Another sniff in the air, and he nodded. She sounded proper and decently more mature than the.. er, two. Though, it was until she mentioned 'brothers' that his eyes started to slightly narrow again. Didn't Silverpaw claim to be from another clan just earlier? Then, an attempt was made to steer the topic back to him again. Right, he'll have to.. play along. For now, until the official announcements speak up, he'll try to act natural with the three.

"I guess you're reasonable for being curious. It is true how our territory covers the marshlands, and most of the time we do eat frogs or rodents. It can be foggy in there, though mostly only at night. There are pine trees around, too. They're not exactly look-alikes of these trees around in green-leaf or new-leaf, but they're different," He gave a gesture forwards the fur flowing out of his, "They spread out in a way somewhat like this, though stiffer at times. They're huge, too." Though now, he had another plan in mind. If he asked the 'apprentices' the reverse question, would they be able to answer, too? "How is it like in SkyClan? Or uh, in the clan you're in, Silverpaw? You didn't specify it earlier," He offered the younger cat a genuine smile. Even if what Blizzardpaw said was true, if they were brothers, why attempt to make up a story in the first place? Even so, why weren't they already at the Gathering with the clan when they first arrived? Something didn't add up here.

Duskflight is talking to Aoife (Blizzardpaw), Astraeus (Silverpaw), and Aether (Brownpaw), and is slowly becoming more suspicious.

Aether… Aether… Aether was going to be confined to camp for moons after this. He’d make sure of it personally. Before his racing mind could fathom a plan, Aoife appeared- Aoife appeared?!? Thank the stars one of his more sensible siblings was here. He didn’t miss the look she gave him- did she think this was his idea?!? He’d only come to stop Aether! Very carefully maneuvering so Aoife was between him and the ShadowClan cat, he jerked a claw across his neck at Aether, a warning that the other tom had better shush his maw.

After explaining some cool stuff about ShadowClan that anyone could’ve known by just looking at it, Duskflight asked a question. Astraeus hesitated… then sighed. “Fine, since someone just had to go spoil my fun, Blizzardpaw. She’s right… I thought that they’d surely make me a warrior sooner if I could trick a ShadowClan cat- all the older apprentices said you guys could see through lies! They also said you ate kits, though… sometimes they aren’t the most accurate. My name”s actually Hailpaw, and Mousebrainedpaw over here is my brother. We’re all from SkyClan… and yes, I thought it would be cool to pretend to be from a different Clan… I mean, if we had to invade ThunderClan some day, I’ve gotta practice! Erm… sorry about practicing on you. Nightpaw-“ he pointed at Aether- “Prefers to ruin my attempt for no reason…  Blizzardpaw, did you tell him what we were up to?!” He asked suddenly, looking straight at the Greatrock. Why- why did SkyClan’s leader’s name elude him at the moment- “He’s looking right at us- should we sit by the rest of SkyClan before he notices? I don’t want to have elder duty for a moon- oh, and Duskflight,” he mewed, turning back to the dark tom. “Please, please don’t tell anyone! If it ever gets to anyone that I’ve been ‘playing silly jokes’, I’ll never live it down! Especially Darkpaw- if you see a dark molly, about my height, please, please don’t tell her- she’ll laugh at me for moons, and she’s so pretty! Oh, and really really really don’t tell Birchclaw- she’s my mentor, silver tabby, blue eyes- she’ll kill me for ‘being a bird-brain’, yadda yadda yadda-“ Hopefully his siblings wouldn’t be drowned under the deluge of information he was dumping on the ShadowClan cat’s head. He wouldn’t start trotting away until they did- but once they did he would lead them deeper into the Gathering cats before slipping out the other side, making sure the ShadowClan tom wasn’t still watching.

Tinypaw trotted behind Perchfall as they entered the clearing. The small black she-cat looked up to the leader's rock, surprised and a bit intimidated by their imposing silhouettes. The Riverclan apprentice gulped nervously. She looked up to Perchfall, who swiftly took her place among the other deputies. Of course, Tinypaw wasn't supposed to follow her there so she stayed among her peers.

Her blue eyes explored the clearing. It was a bit overwhelming seeing so many unknown cats together, chattering. She curled her tail around her paws and tried to stay calm. She was still too shy to approach anyone by herself.

Tinypaw is open to talk

"No, I've been to a few gatherings since I've gotten my warrior name. How have you been recently? I know this Leaf-bare has been a lot harsher than usual," She meowed to the dark-furred tom. Cherrycloud looked around the clearing and noticed that WindClan wasn't here yet. She wondered what was taking them so long. She shivered from the coldness of the snow underfoot. She hoped WindClan would arrive soon.

----------

Dappledpaw listened to Minnowpaw apologize and she meowed in reply, "It's okay." The ThunderClan tom asked her if it was her first gathering, and Dappledpaw said in return, "No, I've been to a few gatherings—four I think." Her apprenticeship felt like it was lasting longer than most cats'. Most likely because she had multiple mentors.

---

Cherrycloud is talking to Nightstalker!
Dappledpaw is talking to Minnowpaw!

He let out a chuckle, nearly believing the lies.. just when 'Hailpaw' has mentioned a few more members. Again, he'd never heard of them before. Who were they, and how were they like? "And invading ThunderClan? That won't be easy," An amused smile appeared onto his face, "It's still best not to create enemies though, you know. Who knows if there will be a time you could use some help? Oh, and also, try not to cheat your way through apprenticeship. It takes a long time, but it's worth it in the end." He nodded, pausing for a short moment before talking again.

"Is Birchclaw and Darkpaw here with your clan? I'd like to be able to talk to them," He smiled, "Though of course, I won't tell them about this, so don't worry. I guess your mentor's pretty strict, huh?" Or at least, that's what he planned to do. Was Birchclaw or Darkpaw even here at all? He couldn't properly identify through the crowd.

Duskflight is talking to Aoife, Astraeus, and Aether!

---

Her eyes caught sight of a younger-looking apprentice, one that she's only seen walking around camp sometime before. Wanting to get to know her better, Hollyleaf padded towards Tinypaw, a soft smile lingering on the tips of her maw. "Greetings, you must be Tinypaw. I believe we never spoke before," She calmly mewed, "I'm Hollyleaf, as you might already have known. I'm still a fairly new warrior." Blinking, she looked around, then back at the young molly. "There are so many cats here, aren't there? It'll take a long time to get to know them all. Not that you have to.. purposely interact with them, however. Some could find you interesting, or simply sociable enough to talk with, and want to interact with you," She smiled, "Like how I found you interesting, now."

Hollyleaf is talking to Tinypaw!

Beaverpaw had to fight to keep up with the rest of her clan. She kept getting distracted by everything interesting on the way over to Four Trees. Mindlessly, she wandered into the clearing, her mind completely blown by how many cats were there. With much anxiety in her heart, Beaverpaw beelined to Perchfall, and sat right next to her. "I'm scared." she whispered, looking up to her deputy.

Beaverpaw is talking to Perchfall.

Steely blue eyes peered over the western hill. Goldenfang looked down on Fourtrees with an unreadable expression. Behind her the glowing pupils of WindClan awaited her signal. It was frightening. She wanted to do it right. Eventually, the stinging cold and the swirling anxiety were indistinguishable. “Let’s make our entrance,” she announced to her party before descending in a cascade of snow.

She headed towards the Great Rock in a straight line, her golden pelt glittering with snowflakes. Her breath streamed from her mouth and nose. The young WindClan deputy liked to think that she looked like Goldengale with the stars shining in her soft coat. After nodding firmly to the gathered deputies, Goldenfang scaled the Great Rock and settled a bit more distanced from the leaders. It wasn’t unusual for a deputy to step up now and then, she thought to herself, and she wasn’t doing anything wrong even though it felt strange. The cause was her little secret. The cold stone beneath her feet kept her rooted to her surroundings.

[WindClan may enter the Gathering]

Mistypaw would have wanted to make a grand appearance at her first gathering, but already she felt so awkward. This shouldn't have been her first! She had been an apprentice for moons, but she had been stuck in the stupid medicine den! (No offense Berrypaw, you are awesome, the situation wasn't.)

At the very least, she could try to find that apprentice who took her tail. How dare he? That was so cheating! Sure, her relationship with Ashfall was a bit better thanks to it, but HOW DARE HE?!?

Oh, Mistypaw was so going to give this cat a piece of her mind when she saw him, that was for sure. He would be lucky if he stayed in camp.

Mistypaw is looking for Ratpaw, but she is open to talk to!