August Gathering 2022

Thornpaw was a mixed bag of emotions as she looked at the gathering out in front of her. She was excited because she was experiencing something new, something different from the day to day life of Skyclan, but there were a lot of cats here.. More cats to remind her just how small she was. Slowly she followed the rest of Skyclan into the clearing but stuck to the back of the large gathered group of cats.. She didn't really want to approach anyone. She didn't want to be reminded of her size. Everything was too big.. yeah just too big.

Thornpaw is open for conversation!

Flutterpaw's smile only grew when the warrior said his name. He was so nice! He seemed to have a lot of friends from his own Clan, too. "Yarrowblossom! That's such a pretty name," he said sincerely. It sounded beautiful, just like a flower. Yarrowblossom was obviously a warrior-- but like he said, they were nearly the same age. "Aw, pretty soon, I think," he answered the question, glancing up to where Shrikestar sat on the rock. "All I needa do is get my Moonstone journey and talk to StarClan. Then it'll be my turn for a name! I'd love a flower name like you." Oh! Flower! That reminded him... His eyes lit up. "Oh oh oh, one second! Be right back, let me get something for you." Without another word of warning, the small black apprentice dashed off into the crowd, disappearing for a few moments. He'd seen a couple of nice flowers on the walk to Fourtrees.

When Flutterpaw came back roughly a minute later, there was a flower hanging from his jaws, gripped by its carefully cut stem. It was a blossom of tightly-packed white flowers. Yarrow. His knowledge of herbs from Batsong had finally paid off! His light green eyes shining, the apprentice dropped it at his new friend's feet. "Here ya go! This is for you," he said, nudging it forward with a soft paw. "I can see where you got the name Yarrow. It looks just like you!"

As their Clan dipped into the clearing, Birdchaser could feel her hackles stiffen with nerves. It felt like she'd been deputy long enough that this shouldn't have caused her anxiety, but it was her first Gathering as a deputy. Her first time sitting at the base of the Great Rock, in the shadows of the five leaders, all of Fourtrees turned towards her. Shaking out her pelt, the large she-cat turned to look over SkyClan before marching over to her new place. One of the deputies was already there, and though she didn't know the little calico's name– or her face, really, stars curse her for not paying attention –she knew her scent well enough. With one last effort to school her expression into neutrality and look less like a snarling dog, she padded over to settle against the rock, under Briarstar's looming figure.

"Hello," Birdchaser mewed– simple, and a little stiff, but it was passable. For a long moment afterwards, she was silent, paws working against the earth. Was she supposed to say something? Something nice, ideally. Introductions were always a start, she guessed. Shifting her weight, she cleared her throat and and slowly offered, "I'm Birdchaser, SkyClan's deputy. I know you're RiverClan's, but I never caught your name."

Birdchaser is talking to Poppyshine, but open to talk with other deputies.
everyone else will arrive later gn

Blazefang’s ears perked up as she picked out a few faces in the crowd, faces she knew to be her niece and nephews. She couldn’t help but wonder if her sister ever talked about her. Did they know they had an aunt in WindClan? She hoped she never had to face them in battle. Blazefang didn’t think she could fight her own kin, even if they swore loyalty to another clan. With that thought, she noticed another cat approach. “There you are, Storm!” she exclaimed, hoping he wouldn’t realize she forgot his suffix. Inwardly cursing her memory for forgetting her own friend’s name, she continued. “How’s everything going on your side of the gorge?”

Woolywing nodded at Yarrowblossom, retaliating to his bump with a nudge of his own. "It would be good to know what's going on around the Clans now that we're older, yeah." After looking at his friend for just a second too long, his gaze moved from Yarrowblossom to the newcomer. A WindClanner! Woolywing smiled. And he was about the same height as him, possibly shorter- being around Yarrowblossom all the time made him feel like the smallest cat in the whole Forest sometimes. "Hi, Flutterpaw! Nice to meet you! I'm Woolywing." His smile slipped a bit at Flutterpaw's next words for a split second before he recomposed himself. It was an objective statement, he reasoned. Yarrowblossom did look nice, and it was perfectly normal for someone other than him to say so. He kept up his smile as the toms talked and Flutterpaw remarked at how pretty Yarrowblossom's name was. Ah, well Woolywing had said the same thing to him at his ceremony. So it was fine. He pushed down the oddly familiar jealousy and grinned at Yarrowblossom. "See? He thinks so too! It's a pretty name for a she-cat." He laughed brightly. "I'm only joking. It's lovely, and it suits you." He butted Yarrowblossom's shoulder with his head.

"Oh the Moonstone is brilliant. StarClan is just breathtaking, I wish I could see it again!" He said, addressing Flutterpaw again. He watched the apprentice curiously as he slipped into the crowd for a moment. His jealousy was near gone now, if anything he felt silly for having felt it at all. Flutterpaw was, clearly, a very lovely cat. He'd have to apologise for being weird later. Then the black tom emerged with a plant in his jaws... Yarrow, Woolywing guessed. The horrid feeling rose up again. Why was everyome insistent on giving Yarrowblossom gifts?? It was a pretty flower, he gave Flutterpaw that- but he couldn't help but grit his teeth a little trying to keep his composure. He looked away from Flutterpaw and the flower, suddenly very interested in his tail. He was a warrior now, he couldn't do silly things like try to outdo anyone who gave Yarrowblossom something. Not in public, anyway. I'll get something for Yarrow later. Maybe some roses? They would look good in his pelt... He thought to himself.
Woolywing is talking to Yarrowblossom, Sleepycloud and Flutterpaw!




Blackpaw walked with her Clan, eyes and ears flicking this way and that to get the full scope of the Gathering. There were so many cats here. It was hard to decide where to sit as the clearing was so busy. She had to be far enough from everyone to not be annoyed, but close enough to someone that she could meet new sparring partners... Eventually after some pacing, she sat down somewhere near the edge of Fourtrees.
Blackpaw is open to conversation!

Dandelionflight ran down into the clearing with the rest of her clanmates. The same excitement for the prospect of meeting new cats. It seemed that RiverClan had gotten there before them, though WindClan arrived shortly thereafter. She wandered towards the center of the clearing, where there were the most cats.

Dandelionflight is open to talk to!
Dappledlight is lost and unable to attend!

At the front of the clan, Minnowstar led them in the direction of Fourtrees. Eyeing the bright moon hanging in the darkened sky, his thoughts were all trained on one subject. Leaving all those Shadowclan cats unguarded at camp... I hope I won't regret this. The scent of cats were carried in the wind. Quickening the pace, he glanced towards his deputy and plunged into the clearing.

-

Thunderclan cats may now post in the Gathering!

Mottlerose followed not too far behind her mate as they came into the clearing. It was a bit of a surprise to herself that she had even the strength to come, as she had kitted what had felt like not too long prior. Even then, some of her kits were being apprenticed, so it had indeed been long enough. Time simply was a blur when taking care of another Clan within the camp, alongside kits. It was a blur that she welcomed, though, as it meant time to reflect later on. That was what she did for most of their journey, and as Minnowstar departed to join the other leaders, she gave him a quick headbutt to his shoulder before going to her place among the deputies.

It seemed that the molly would just barely catch the end of the new deputy's name. The small tortoiseshell was quite pleased to see that Poppyshine was there, though, looking much more like a cat who wasn't about to kit anytime soon. "Poppyshine! I hope you're well? That your kits are doing well, too?" She greeted towards the deputy that she knew, a friendly smile warming her tortoiseshell face. "And I'm so sorry you'll have to repeat it so soon, I just missed your name. I'm Mottlerose, Thunderclan's deputy." Hopefully, she wouldn't be annoying for having been unable to catch their name. As she studied the unfamiliar face, the resemblance they bore to another cat that she had knew struck her mind. I wonder... could this be one of Dovefrost's kits?

Mottlerose is talking to the other deputies!

---

Moonlily followed in not too long after her other clanmates. She truly had no idea what she would do, as all of her time spent socializing outside of Skyclan's camp had left her a little awkward. Since Shadowclan had joined in on their land too had the she-cat only further spent time away from the camp, keeping an eye on those who milled about. It was an innate distrust that led her to keeping an eye on the other cats, and as a consequence, almost exhausted. Still, she was more than happy to go to the gathering, finding a place among the crowd to simply cat-watch.

Moonlily is open to conversation!

Dovesight perked up at the sound of her name being called. "Eggdrop! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! I got named a full medicine cat too! Although I still go by Dovesight. I already had my full name, and it still fits me, so there was no reason to change it. Anyway, how is everything in ThunderClan? For the most part, things have been pretty calm on our side of the river."

She wasn't going to mention the death of Mapleleaf. Or of Forestfire's stillborn kits. As much as she liked Eggdrop, she was a really sweet cat, and she knew the two of them were outside of Clan rivalries, some things she just didn't want to share. And even if she was growing better, those losses did still hurt. That was something that wouldn't go away. And she didn't think she was ready to share that hurt with Eggdrop.