RiverClan 'Gathering' April 2022

His father welcomed these shadowy cats into their camp, and into their lives before he was even a kit. The unease the others felt was not nearly as strong as it was for Owlpaw. To him, it was something Jaystar wanted, and it was a part of everyday life for the tom. It would not be polite to ignore these cats that continuously were part of their clan. No matter if the others liked it or not. Instead, Owlpaw opted to take the first step and joined a group of cats that stood near the base of the tree. "Good evening." Owlpaw bowed his head, settling next to the group. "How are all of you today?" He added, feeling a need to politely introduce the conversation. For the most part, he hadn't truly talked to him before. What would be a better time to change that?

Occasionally, the sight of the shadowy cats made her jolt— fur bristling in instinctive defense; but there was nothing she could do now, until they were strong enough to not be held under these cats’ controls. Jaystar has agreed to this, and it was for the Clan’s own safety— or well, she supposed it was. Her eyes were dull, only sometimes scanning to make sure that Owlpaw was still alright… then settled to her own spot, a bit further away behind the crowd. She’d be willing to talk to anyone, as she wasn’t the one to usually make the conversation.

A dark tom had approached him, young and full of life. Whitesnake hadn't expected one of the living to do so even with their leader's acceptance, and a smile graced his pale face the the marshwater-sodden tom turned bright golden eyes to him. "Well enough," His shoulder lifted in a shrug as he eyed the apprentice. "Care to spar, 'paw? You look like you could use some practice." There was a hint of a purr in his voice as he lifted a paw in invitation, claws sheathed... For the moment.

Whitesnake is interacting with Owlpaw.

Owlpaw's head raised in interest. "A spar?" The apprentice echoed, uncertainly glancing around the camp. There were kits out, and everyone was simply gathering to share tongues. Fighting right now didn't seem like the best choice of action. Yellow eyes glinted back at Whitesnake. His paw in the air and the light purr were misleading at best. "Something tells me I don't have a choice, do I?" The dark-furred tom remarked cooly, standing up from his sitting position to block the vulnerable areas in his body.

Owlpaw is interacting with Whitesnake.

Flurrypaw looked around at her clanmates, wondering who to talk to. She wanted to talk to all of them so it would be fair, but there wouldn't be enough time in one night for that, and by the time she'd come to that conclusion more of them had already started talking to one another. Without anyone or anything specific in mind, she started wandering in a random direction without thinking about it, hoping she'd find someone - maybe even someones, it wasn't like she had to limit herself to just one cat, as far as she knew - to talk to that way.

Kitepaw didn't feel comfortable talking with any Dark Forest cats. If for some reason one approached her, she'd probably respond, but otherwise she would rather sit behind with the rest of her family. Did they have to get along with these Dark Forest cats now? It didn't seem very appealing to her.

"Oh, come now, don't be so reluctant!" Whitesnake purred, aiming a playful (to him) swipe at the apprentice's shoulder. "I mean, unless you're a coward... I'd always heard Riverclanners didn't back down from a challenge, you know." Words said with a smile, Whitesnake truly didn't mean any offense by them. It wasn't his fault that Shadowclan couldn't take a little color on their apprentices during training, but in his mind there was nothing wrong with it. Blood was only natural after all. "I'm only trying to help you 'paws prepare for the dangerous world outside of camp, you can never get enough sparring practice in." He could help Riverclan's apprentices, if they let him.

Kitepaw noticed Poppypaw watch Owlpaw. As the calico she-cat turned to approach her, Kitepaw felt like she was going to melt. She's turning around oh my stars what doing I say she's looking right at me- "Um... I'm doing... alright," the russet-furred she-cat said, smiling sheepishly. I'm better with you here, though. She'd never tell Poppypaw, of course. Poppypaw almost certainly had her own crushes, and Kitepaw was sure that she wasn't one of them. "Uh... how are you doing?" The russet-furred she-cat had no idea on how to continue the conversation.

The younger tom's ears flicked uncomfortably, angling towards the dark shadowy cat before him. His attention was on the cat's face so much that he nearly missed the paw swiping toward him. Colliding with his shoulder, Owlpaw staggered to the side, struggling to keep his paws underneath him. If this cat were to actually spar with Owlpaw, it was going to hurt. But..."I'm not a coward." He spat, gaining his composure enough to face the older tom. "And I am not scared of a challenge." His family never backed down. And if he was going to do them proud, he wouldn't either. Owlpaw stared Whitesnake dead in the eye with a challenging gleam.

The apprentice actually staggered under his blows, and Whitesnake blinked, staring at him in surprise for a moment. "Back in my day apprentices were made out of sterner stuff than that, come on, show me what you got, kid." With another paw, he aimed to swipe the tom's legs out from under him, playful smirk still in place.

Martenpaw gave her limbs a nice long stretch, poking out of the apprentices' den. Cats, both living and undead were gathering in camp. She felt rather reluctant to join them, their filthy scent was something she'd rather avoid. Carefully she picked her way through the assembly, observing her sister's flustered expression with a smile crossing her maw, Owlpaw interacting with one of the menaces, and another apprentice like herself, wandering around. Although it would seem most reasonable to go and talk to her, the russet-furred apprentice slinked away and quietly sat behind Kitepaw, keeping to herself. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, only wanting to stay close to her sibling, tail curling around her paws.

Ashflight's gray form stayed to the sidelines of the crowd, green eyes scanning the corners and fluffy tail tip flicking anxiously.  Since the first day the Dark Forest invaded he had not been at ease, his eyes were sunken from lack of sleep yet his instincts were constantly on high alert, head snapping around at any little sound.  He hated it, it reminded him of when he was in Asylum.  He watched the group of shadows as Owlpaw approached them, and one of them started to spar with the apprentice.  A low growl rumbled in Ashflight's throat, but he didn't intervene.  Not yet.  Instead, he padded over to sit beside Poppypaw, Kitepaw, and Martenpaw, nodding to the three but not taking his eyes off of the clearing.  Perchfall had asked him to protect Poppypaw when she wasn't able to, and that is what he would do.