August Gathering 2022

Blazefang was a bit startled at the name change for a moment, before deciding the name suited her sister. She’d always felt a bit off about the “-spring” suffix anyway. After all, she was the bouncy one, not Maple. But certainly this couldn’t be what was bothering Stormdance. And it wasn’t. The news of her sister’s death struck her like the bite of an adder. She had no living family left. Not even any of the friends she’d grown up with remained. She was truly the last leaf on the tree, except for her niece and nephews. And they would probably never know her. “Thank you Stormdance,” she said, voice blank and wavering just slightly. “Offer the family my condolences. Sorry, but I need a minute.” And the ever-social Blazefang actually walked away from a conversation. She didn’t walk far, though, before realizing Dayquill had come to see her. “Um, hi,” she mewed. “Did… did you hear that?”

Observing the number of cats already present at the Gathering, the tom climbed up and joined the leaders atop the Great Rock. Froststar isn't here. he noted, exchanging a brief nod of greeting with each leader. Shadowclan's leader was nowhere to be found. Did the other leaders know what had happened to Shadowclan? Allowing a couple more moments of waiting, Minnowstar decided to clarify. Steadying his breath, he took a step forward and called out to the clans. "The Gathering will now begin." We can start with the obvious. "I'm sure all of you are aware of Shadowclan's absence in this gathering. Just a couple of sunrises ago, we found several Shadowclan warriors, elders, kits, and apprentices, including their deputy washed up on the borders of our territory. Nightstalker explained how the continuous rainfall had brought a flood sweeping through Shadowclan's territory, and seeing the state they were in, we are sheltering them until they have recovered. We were unable to find any signs of Froststar and the rest of Shadowclan. " he announced, pausing after that to let any of the other leaders speak.

Minnowstar has addressed the clans and started the Gathering.

---

Flurrypaw entered the clearing with a flat expression, quietly padding over to a spot where there was room to sit with her family. Keeping to herself, the molly simply wrapped her feather-like tail around her paws and watched as the gathering took place. No sign of any other Shadowclan cats...

Dayquill's ears twitched, straining forward to listen in on the conversation before him. He felt a twinge of guilt, eavesdropping like this, but... well, it wasn't really eavesdropping. It was impossible not to listen in at a Gathering, he reassured himself as he edged closer. The chatter of the crowd drowned out the dark tabby's voice, though a few words reached his ears: something about a name change, something about StarClan... Dayquill shook his head slowly. The stout tabby looked fretful, so whatever news he'd come to bear couldn't have been good. And Blazefang looked just as devastated– he didn't catch her goodbye, if she'd said one, but she turned away quickly, sulking as she abandoned her conversation partner.

And– oh, walked right over.

The heat of embarassment rushed through him from nose to tail as Blazefang's eyes found his, and Dayquill ducked his head sheepishly as she approached. Her voice was thin, not the bubbly chatter he'd heard last time, and that was enough to confirm to him that what she'd heard had been no good. A death, maybe? "Not really," he started slowly, scuffing a paw against the earth. He shifted, glancing around at everything that wasn't the WindClan cat, before his eyes finally settled on her. "It... doesn't look good, though. Is– do you to talk about it, or something? Or–" Dayquill's voice drifted, and his gaze lifted to look past Blazefang, at the warrior she'd been talking to. Blue eyes lingered, as if he could pull some divine information out of the tom, but Dayquill settled for just shuffling closer to Blazefang's side, tail flicking against her flank. "Well, whatever it is, you can talk about it. I mean– I know you don't know me that well, so you don't have to, but just– if you want to, you know."

Dayquill is talking to Blazefang (and keeping an eye on Stormdance.)

Blue eyes flicked between all of the cats that were moving and shuffling around close to where Thornpaw was sitting. She didn't really know how she would go about talking to the other clans if they even bothered with speaking to her, though a specific cat caught her attention. One that was slowly making his way over to her. All he offered in greeting was a nod to which she returned. It was his first gathering? "It seems we have something in common then." She responded, not really knowing how she felt about the tom's confident nature. "My name is Thornpaw. What's yours?"

Perchstar nodded at the other leaders as they joined her at the rock, one by one. There was Briarthorn-- likely Briarstar, now; Shrikestar looked the same as always; then came Minnowstar. All fairly new leaders, in the grand scheme of things. Still... there were none of these cats that she considered an enemy. It was a strangely warm thing to realize. She had to stop a small smile from coming as she glanced down to see Poppyshine chatting up the other deputies. Some were happy to see her, and some were befuddled at the positivity radiating from the calico. Even if I wasn't doing my best to make alliances, I doubt any cat could hate Poppyshine. Maybe there would be an era of peace in the forest, after all. Confusion returned when Minnowstar began the gathering, despite there being only four cats on the rock. Where was Froststar? Her expression betrayed no surprise, but her ears pricked forward in curiosity as the ThunderClan leader spoke. There was a slight widening of her eyes at the answer. A flood in ShadowClan's territory? Half of them had wound up in ThunderClan? Well, that was certainly news. Still doesn't explain where Froststar went... but it's not too big a leap of logic to assume he and the others were washed somewhere else, too. Another Clan, perhaps? Twolegplace? Her only outward acknowledgement of the conundrum was an inconclusive flick of her ear. Well, it was unfortunate for ShadowClan, but none of her business.

Minnowstar paused after relaying the information. Was he waiting to give his own announcements? Well, that was okay. She would take the initiative and relay her own brief announcements, then. After the moment of uncertain silence, Perchstar stepped forward. "Thank you for telling us, Minnowstar." She nodded to him, then turned her attention to the crowds of Fourtrees-- which were, admittedly, a bit smaller without the fifth Clan in attendance. "RiverClan is faring well. Our dens are full to bursting with new apprentices: Rowanpaw, Olivepaw, Sprucepaw, Gingerpaw, Reedpaw, Minkpaw and Torrentpaw. We have also named several new warriors: Brookstone, Hawkshriek, Grebedance, Sleepycloud, Yarrowblossom, Woolywing, and Sootspirit. Finally, we have a medicine cat again. Dovesight has completed her training, and now serves RiverClan in her full capacity." Her tail flicked as she thought. Her eyes turned back to the three other leaders on the rock. "Also, a word of warning to the other Clans. Recently, RiverClan territory has been beset by foxes. We have done our best to deal with them, but some might find their way onto your territories as well. It is best to stay alert." With that, her announcements were over. She had not said that Mapleleaf had joined their Clan... and she would not mention Mapleleaf's death. That was something that the other Clans had no business knowing. If WindClan had cared about her, she would not have been driven away. Perchstar stepped back, signalling that she was done, and allowing another leader to speak.

Blazefang didn’t know why, especially after clamming up at Stormdance, but she felt she could talk to Dayquill, that he should know somehow. “Um, well, that was my friend, um, from RiverClan, and he… he told me my sister is dead,” she said, eyes beginning to tear up. Looking off into the distance, she continued. “She left for RiverClan a long time ago, and I never got to properly say goodbye.”

Blazefang is talking to Dayquill. My other cats are SC so they’re absent.

The friendly demeanor of the deputy seemed to radiate between herself and Riverclan, and thankfully, it seemed the other two also were in good spirits. Even if she could tell that there was some nerves, Mottlerose could hardly blame the other molly. While she knew the only cat missing among them was Nightstalker, and the fact that he was keeping his Clan together the best he could back at their camp, she figured it would be something left to Minnowstar to announce. ”Mhmm, I look forward to getting to talk to everyone each gathering, now that things seem to have settled in the forest.” After the chaos with the Dark Forest, the announcement of the previous gathering, and so much more… hopefully, once Shadowclan was able to recover, would peace finally settle thoroughly among the forest.

Her head tilted back in surprise as it was her mate that began the gathering. Straight to the point, but it was beneficial. After all, it had been painfully obvious that Shadowclan was missing. Mottlerose’s gaze immediately went out into the crowd of cats, searching for her own. A warm smile passed to Comfreyheart, an encouraging nod to cats like Thistlemask and Stormsong. Thunderclan themselves was doing quite well, and as she listened to the leaders, that fact was only proven. It seems the gift of Greenleaf is for all Clans. She commented to herself.

Mottlerose is listening to the announcements with the deputies!

---

Moonlily had found her place to rest comfortably among the crowd, in truth fully content to simply observe. A curious gaze snapped up to the Great Rock as the gathering had began, listening to the announcements spoken by the Thunderclan leader. So that is where the rest of Shadowclan ended up… She had no ill-will towards the cats that had found themselves on their land, and in their camp. After all, there was much devastation that the forest could bring. But, now knowing where the rest of them seemed to exist brought quite a bit of relief. Not out of care of the Clan that was greater than that she had for Skyclan - but just knowing that they were safe. Alive.

Of course, that tune would change on a positive note soon after, with Perchstar following with her announcements. It seemed that greenleaf continued its tradition of being plentiful for the clans, earning a nod of content from the solitary molly.

Moonlily is still open to conversation, though a little sleepy.

---

Approached by an unfamiliar face, there was a grin of curiosity that quickly spread on her face. Laughter and smiles were what she resorted to when even slightly uncomfortable, but as she was given an enthusiastic greeting, the smile became genuine. The smell of the new she-cat had been quite different than anything else she had been used to… until the apprentice said who she was. Windclan. Wasn’t that where Mapleleaf had been from? Surely, that was.

”Hi Hazelpaw! I’m Minkpaw, from Riverclan. What’s it like out on the moors?” She instantly blurted out the question, little thought behind as to whether or not it’d be rude. ”Don’t get me wrong, I love the water… but is it true you can run for fox-lengths, even monster-lengths?”

Minkpaw is chatting with Hazelpaw!

---

Mallardpaw’s lanky frame lept as two cats approached them. Thankfully, one was a familiar face - Scorchtalon. ”Oh, no thank you Scorchtalon. But thank you. I think I’ll figure it out.” They said with a half-convincing smile. Soon as they would assuage the warrior that they were alright, though, would another face pop by to talk to them. He was much fluffier, sure in his steps. The smell of fish instantly gave away the fact that he was from Riverclan, but it wasn’t something that they found themselves recoiling in disgust at. No, if anything, they simply didn’t mind it. Offering a bit of a nervous laugh as the warrior nudged their shoulder in greeting, Mallardpaw did their best to appear friendly. ”Sometimes, it’s fun to observe. But it is the gathering, so you’re right.” They mewed, a chipper tone despite the nerves coming from the apprentice. ”My name’s Mallardpaw. What’s yours?”

Mallardpaw told Scorchtalon he’s okay, and is now talking to Rowanpaw!

Shrikestar nodded to Perchstar, then took the place of the RiverClan leader. "WindClan continues to do well. We have a score of new apprentices in our ranks: Flutterpaw, Adderpaw, Daisypaw, Goldenpaw, Hazelpaw, and Mallardpaw. We have had no issues with prey, and our borders remain secure. That is all." Shrikestar then stepped back to allow the final leader to come forward. There had been no word from RiverClan about the missing ShadowClan cats, so either they had floated into Twolegplace, or perhaps SkyClan had them. It was about time to find out.

Coyotegrin weaved her way through the crowd, and scanned the place for any interesting cats to speak to. With a sigh, she resigned herself to sit on the edge of deputies and listen closely to the conversations around her. Her ear only twitched at the mention of ShadowClan being displaced. It meant nothing to her quite yet, but it was interesting that ThunderClan had admitted to allowing them to stay in their camp for the time being. Did that scent of one of a possible alliance in the future?

Coyotegrin is open to talk.

Trufflesnap's fur bristled as she weaved through the crowd of stinking, disgusting, fish-breathed RiverClan cats. She only agreed to go because she wanted to hear her name called out at the Gathering. Ego, over pride... For now. She shot Perchstar, probably oblivious to her presence, a nasty glare as she settled down next to Fogpaw and Plumpaw. As she settled down, she eyed Birdchaser with distaste. How could she be deputy to the same cat that banished their mother and overthrew Bloodstar? Some 'Warrior Code' follower. Trufflesnap would never admit it, never could be pried from her, but besides how she started she didn't mind Briarstar. Still, Trufflesnap turned her head to her siblings, not caring much for the other leader's speeches. [color:803f= #ff66cc]"I feel bad for you two. You'll be forced to go to every one of these."

Trufflesnap is talking to Fogpaw and Plumpaw.