March Gathering 2022

The question wasn't a surprise, and with how young both apprentices seemed, Beechfang figured they were hardly familiar with the scents of the other clans, let alone who their leaders were. She recalled asking Wrenspring the same thing at her first gathering, and would do her best to explain to both of them. "The tortoiseshell she-cat up there is Murkystar, Shadowclan's leader. The black tom is Jaystar of Riverclan, and the scarred brute is my father, Bloodstar. He's a pain in the tail, but he's led us well and let me train as a warrior, so I suppose I shouldn't be one to complain. As for the deputies, Ashstorm is the big tabby, she's my sister. The small white tom is Frostgaze of Shadowclan, and the gray and white she-cat is Riverclan's deputy but I'm not sure of her name. Actually... I'm not sure who the new Thunderclan deputy is either, though I suppose Stoatfur must've earned his lives if he's not at the base of the rock. Last moon I was in twolegplace with the medicine cats, finding Basilbloom's herb." She explained. "Windclan seems to be late, like usual." She added derisively. Her gaze returned to the leaders for a moment, and she wondered if the Thunderclan apprentice had caught her father's eye too. Maybe it was just paranoia... But it wouldn't be the first time she'd found out she had nieces and nephews in different clans or even outside of the clans. Darkpaw's pelt was like a more solid version of Smokefeather's, the differences in markings and color were only minor.

---

Mistyfalcon merely nodded at the apprentice- Daypaw- as he spoke. "Mistyfalcon, of Shadowclan." Of course the apprentice wanted to talk... Everyone wanted to talk at these harebrained events. Absolutely everyone. Ugh.

...Why he was glaring at Thunderclan? "It's my face." Mistyfalcon responded, tone flat. He wondered if Thunderclan even knew what they were harboring, but that was Murkystar's information to share, not his.

Beechfang is talking to Icepaw and Darkpaw.
Mistyfalcon is talking to Daypaw.
Ata/Featherpaw is talking to Tinypool.
Swiftspirit has not arrived yet.

Icepaw's gaze followed each of the cats that Beechfang pointed out. She knew her own leader and deputy, of course, but she hadn't known the names of the other leaders. She was planning on putting it together herself, but she couldn't say she wasn't grateful that Darkpaw was willing to show his own ignorance. Now she was getting information directly without having to risk making a mistake in putting the pieces together.

She tried to commit the faces of the leaders to memory, but she was growing more and more distracted. Beechfang's father was the leader of SkyClan? Her sister was the deputy? She went on the important mission with the other medicine cats? Great StarClan! The first cat that Icepaw decided to walk up and chat with was someone clearly quite important. Icepaw had steered clear of speaking with the deputies for fear of not being important enough, or bothering them, and here she was speaking with someone who may as well be considered next in line.

Icepaw schooled her expression to not let her panic show. Beechfang didn't seem bothered when she came up to talk. Nor did she with Darkpaw; besides that she seemed to almost recognize the young apprentice. Icepaw glanced between them for a moment before she asked in a polite tone, "Who are your parents, Darkpaw? Are they here tonight?"

She had to admit that she too was curious about what cats created such interesting kin.

Icepaw is speaking with Beechfang and Darkpaw.

The naive nature of the Riverclanner took Cinderpaw off-guard. She was honestly hoping for a more aggressive reaction. She rolled her eyes, a little bored by how kind the apprentice was. Kindness among clans was a weakness. Friends would only become a hassle in the battle so it was better to stick your relationships within one clan. "Maybe YOU are here to make friends, Poppypaw. But what use will that give you? As you say, we're 'neighbours' and that makes us more prone to fight each other one day." Cinderpaw narrowed her eyes as she stood up to approach the Riverclanner, closing the distance between the two she-cats' faces. With piercing, serious yet intense eyes, the Thunderclan molly continued. "So let's say we become friends. Our forest provides us protection but it makes us dependent on land prey. And land prey is scarce during leaf-bare... unlike that fish you Riverclanners love. Your leaders all think that the river belongs to you but... if Thunderclan is hungry we will demand a share. After all, we are neighbours, right? But what happens if Jaystar decides to be selfish... What will you do if a battle happens then? Would you fight for your clan, even it means fighting against a friend? Are you ready to get your claws dirty with the blood of another cat? Because Starclan knows I am?"

Cinderpaw unsheathed her claws and dug them in the snow but didn't do anything to the younger apprentice. She stepped back and sat down, her chin high giving her a sense of superiority. "Little advice, Poppypaw of Riverclan. Don't make friends outside the clans. It will make it easier for you when the time comes to defend your clan. Better stick with your own."

Cinderpaw is talking to Poppypaw and still being a mean brat

Burrpaw stuck to the back of the pack. He was embarrassed enough being possibly the oldest apprentice there. New apprentices just looked so little. Burrpaw was hardly about pomp and circumstance, but he did think it was cool to talk to cats outside of SkyClan. He gazed up at the ledge the leaders stood from.

I bet a jump from up that high could kill a monster...

His ears perked as he noticed two apprentices talking amongst themselves. One from RiverClan, one from ThunderClan. The ThunderClan cat was outraged about making friends at Fourtrees, which didn't sit well with him.

"We meet here in peace for all the Clans. Every cat you fight has kin. We can't forget that."

Burrpaw is talking to Cinderpaw and Poppypaw.

Poppypaw's good-natured smile slowly melted away as Cinderpaw continued to be derisive, until even she could suddenly feel the anger and eagerness to fight coming from the cat. When Cinderpaw drew close, Poppypaw took a step back, frightened at the apprentice's piercing gaze. Her fur raised on her hackles when she noticed the claws unsheathing in the snow, and she didn't relax even when Cinderpaw sat down with that smug expression.

Despite fear making her mouth taste dry, she still replied, "Things will never be good if we continued to fight each other all the time. Peace is more important than war, and I'm sure Jaystar and Perchfall know that. They would never push for a war between RiverClan and ThunderClan, and if you think that your leader would, then that's your problem!"

Her body trembled with fear and contained anger at this apprentice. Why would Cinderpaw want to fight? Poppypaw hated the idea of fighting any cats, be it from clans with bad blood or not. She didn't even enjoy hunting. Poppypaw only did that because she knew that it was needed for survival. If it was up to her, she would never raise a claw against cat.

At the new arrival, Poppypaw looked up. Her fur slowly relaxed now that there was the presence of another neutral party. One seemingly on her side, too, which comforted her.

Poppypaw looked once more to Cinderpaw and gave a nod in agreement to Burrpaw's words. "Like it or not, we are neighbors. And we're not at war. So there's no reason we can't be nice at Gatherings."

Poppypaw is speaking with Cinderpaw and Burrpaw.

With his injuries healed for a while now and his brief sickness at bay, Loudnose felt more than ready for gatherings. In fact, we was ecstatic. It seemed so long since he had attended the wonderous event that took place every full moon, where so many different cats gathered and mingled under the glowing night sky. Positive energy jumped through his paws as he bounced along his traveling clan. Loudnose had found Ratrunner to happily chat with along the way. He felt normal again, talking at high speeds and with playful joy. He bet nothing could ruin such a great night.

Shadowclan eventually spilled into the clearing surrounded by four great oaks. Loudnose didn't want to end his time with Ratrunner. He turned to the dark tabby and chirped, "Who do you think we should we talk to? If you want to keep hanging out that is. I haven't heard much about the other clans events, have you? Ooh do you have cats you want to meet again? I remember meeting a very nice Skyclan cat. Have you met any Skyclan cats?" He could keep on going, but realized that might be enough questions for the moment. The tabby's smile was bright.

Loudnose enters the gathering with Ratrunner.

WindClan, last to arrive, streamed down the hill and into Fourtrees quite a bit late. Goldenstar’s limping pace had slowed the party considerably. The bare, scabbed, gouged patch on her ribs near her shoulder showed plainly against her pale golden fur. Still, she shamelessly trotted with her head high and paused at the base of the Great Rock for a moment before joining the other leaders.

“Murkystar, I’d like a word with you at the end of the Gathering. I have news about the predators that have roamed our borders, and I believe we can solve this together.”

WindClan has entered the Gathering

Mistysky padded into the gathering behind Goldenstar, although she was a bit standoffish this time around. Her fur was bushed up, and her eyes were downcast. Not even paying attention, she was stumbling into multiple cats as she made her way into the clearing, finally taking a seat on her own.

Mistysky is open to talk to if you want to deal with this mess

Deerleap felt a cat crash into her. she yelped and whipped around to see a grey tabby she-cat. her fur was bushed up and she looked... distracted. she smelled of rabbits. odd.

"Hey, my name's Deerleap. How are you?" she greeted, hoping to catch the she-cat's attention.

Deerleap is trying to talk to Mistysky

(ooc:Mistysky is WindClan. I am assuming with the fish smell you thought she was RiverClan so just to clear things up lol)

Mistysky jumped as one of the cats she had seated next to spoke, eyes wide as she turned to face the molly, as if only just registering that another cat was there.

"I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Look, it's none of ya business k? I's just got a bit going on! Is it so bad to have problems of my own?"

She had to take a few breaths to remember she was at a gathering. She was supposed to socialize, not cause a scene. Right.

"Sorry, it's just.... A lot's happened this past moon. It would prob'ly be betteh if I let Goldenstar explain. Name's Mistysky."

Mistysky is talking to Deerleap.

Darkpaw followed Beechfang's gaze as she talked about each leader in turn and the deputies too. He knew Stoatstar and Minnowfin. of course. He nodded as he intently listened. When she was finished, he turned his gaze back to her, a grateful smile on his face. "The Thunderclan deputy is Minnowfin... and my mentor." He declared proudly, standing up a little bit straighter. He noticed a large group of cats coming to the hollow as well, lead by a blonde she-cat. That must be Windclan. He'd need to get close and get a sniff of them in a moment.

"That's really cool that you're related to so many important cats Beechfang. I wonder what that must be like. Do your clanmates fear you? Respect you?" And then... Icepaw spoke again. The motion in his body was slight, but it was there: a tiny slump in his posture and a lowering of his tail and ears.

"Uh well... my mom is Waterlily. She's over there." He pointed with his nose at the black molly with mismatched eyes. At the thought of his father, a faceless gold and white rogue appeared in his head. "My dad... I never knew him. Mom hasn't seen him in awhile either but he was..." He looked away, clearly unsure if he ought to continue. But he had already started hadn't he? Besides... what did it matter what a Skyclan and a Shadowclan thought? Thunderclan loved his mom, despite her breaking the code. His decision made, he straightened up a bit.

"He was a rogue cat named Klaus. To be honest we don't even know if he's still alive. Don't bring it up with my mom though, I think she's still upset about it." Hopefully they wouldn't. He didn't want his mom embarrassed at a gathering.

---

Bloodstar had been quietly sitting and watching for the other clans when Stoatstar approached him. The words that came from the short leader's mouth had Bloodstar's ears and lip twitch. He wasn't sure that he liked the tone Stoatstar was using, but he nodded anyway.

"I will gladly talk with you about that exiled and wanted dead for murder former Skyclan cat." He fixed Stoatstar in a stare after that, wordless for several moments. The only thing that broke the stare was Goldenstar whispering to Murkystar. His ear rotated in her direction, hearing what she said. Bloodstar blinked and his heart jumped a bit. Was Dawnhawk actually crazy enough to anger the entire forest? Was he slipping up, finally?

"You're not the only one having problems apparently, Stoatstar." He muttered to him quietly, but if the other leaders were listening at all he didn't try to hide his words.

---

Bearspirit's heart quickened when Goldenstar appeared. He was immediately moving through the Windclan crowd looking for Swiftspirit. He would nod politely at them as they passed, but it was clear that his eyes were searching, almost frantically for one cat in particular.

Rookfire grinned as he followed Murkystar to Fourtrees. He hadn't seen the Great Oaks in moons, and they still looked strong even through the harsh weather. At least the Clans are still meeting under Fourtrees. He remembered the last time he went to a Gathering. It seemed like the faces on the Great Rock had all but changed - besides Bloodstar, of course. The other clans seemed to have new leaders, too. ThunderClan's and RiverClan's leaders were unrecognizable to the tom, despite the fact that RiverClan's leader seemed to be older than him. Maybe he didn't know RiverClan as well as he thought he did.

As WindClan entered, a familiar face led the way. He remembered her, the time when he flirted with her on the border when she was an apprentice, when he heard that she became a warrior, and now she was leading WindClan. Obviously she knew how to lead, and it seemed like she had something important to say... to Murkystar. Interesting, he thought. It's obviously something pretty important. Padding to where the medicine cats usually gathered, the black tuxedo noticed the familiar faces among their ranks. Cloverheart was still here, and so was Dovefrost. No Smallbean, but Rookfire had assumed that he couldn't have made it back to the Clans safely. It wasn't probably the best to dwell on that, so he decided to greet his medicine cat friends. "Hey, Dovefrost!" he said, smiling at the white tom. "ThunderClan doing alright?"

Rookfire is talking to Dovefrost.

Swiftspirit was impatient to get to the gathering, impatient for something that was normal and familiar. Her mind was weighed down by thoughts of Timbersun and Buzzardpaw, and all she wanted was a distraction from the sickening sense of grief that made her chest feel heavy.

She scanned the clearing for a familiar marbled tom, an inaudible sigh of relief escaping her as her eyes landed on Bearspirit. She weaved her way through the crowd toward him, glad that she at least had him still. "Bearspirit," The exhaustion was evident in her tone, but she managed a smile for him. Brittle as it was.

"I figure Goldenstar will share this... But Timbersun is dead. Buzzardpaw, too. Dogs got both of them." She sat, not really caring about how close she might've been to Bearspirit. He'd understand the loss... And Swiftspirit was done trying to pretend. "I'd been hoping to break things off with him, is it bad that this almost feels like a weight off my shoulders?" Almost like they were meant to be. Bearspirit would join Windclan, and they could be together without having to sneak around gatherings or search for each other while on patrol.

Swiftspirit is talking with Bearspirit.
Other replies will come later.

Ratrunner was in relatively good spirits when he entered the Gathering, warmed by the presence of his friend. I’m happy to hear him so well. It was hard not to be drawn in by Loudnose’s conversation, even as he tried to keep an eye on his young apprentice. The gray-and-white fur became lost very quickly in the River of cats — making his heart quicken briefly, in concern — but... Forestpaw would be all right, he told himself.

Webshadow let me find my way, my first Gathering... it should be no different for Forestpaw.

And so, tentatively, he smiled back at Loudnose, and hmm’d quietly in thought. The clearing was steadily filling in, and yet they had gotten caught up in their own bubble. He greatly appreciated his clanmate’s company.  “I don’t know if there’s anyone I want to talk to,” Ratrunner replied, once the older warrior paused to let him speak. “And we didn’t talk, but I actually sat with a SkyClan cat last Gathering. She seemed kind. Do you see the cat you sat with?”

The molly Ratrunner had been with had been larger, with a long tabby coat and a quiet streak as strong as his own. He... hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone then, and so the silence had been welcome. Even if he’d still felt alone. Well... I definitely don’t feel alone this Gathering. And it was good. Scanning the mingling cats, Ratrunner noticed an open spot not far from them. “Maybe we should sit, and see if someone wants to sit with us?” he suggested quietly. I think the Gathering will be starting soon. “Unless you see a friend of yours.”

Loudnose certainly knew more cats than Ratrunner did.

Ratrunner entered the Gathering, and is talking with Loudnose.