October Gathering 2022

Woolywing startled quite a bit at the approach of the new cat. Had he been approached by anyone else, he probably would've heard them coming. But everything about Whisperear was oddly quiet, from their gait to their voice. He hoped his surprise hadn't been too noticeable, though he gave a quick apologetic smile just in case. "Hello! It's nice to meet you. Sorry for jumping, you're very quiet. It's harder to hear things like that with all this noise." He gestured vaguely with a paw at the crowd around them. "I'm Woolywing, of RiverClan. I've spoken to a WindClanner before, actually! Flutterpaw, his name was? He was awfully nice." He smiled brightly, more comfortable now that his surprise had died down. WindClanners, it seemed, were rather nice cats. "What's WindClan like? I've always wondered if the wildlife was different. Like hares, are they really as big as they say? I've seen rabbits, but never a hare." His smile faltered for a split second as he got an unwelcome thought: he'd never get to see a hare. But as soon as the thought came, it went, buried down where all the other annoying intrusive thoughts went.

Woolywing is talking to Whisperear!

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Blackbear, as a Gathering first, was not walking into Fourtrees alone. By her side, or more accurately a safe distance from her side, was Nightbird. She'd taken something of an interest in him, though she couldn't quite place why. But it was rare she found a cat that didn't make her want to tear out her own teeth and shove them down somebody's throat, so she wasn't about to question it. "Over there okay?" She growled quietly, inclining her head towards the edge of the clearing. It was where she usually sat: away from all the annoying cats that insisted on pestering her every moon. "Less WindClanners." She huffed. WindClanners were annoying, and she'd rather chew off her own foot than talk to one.

Blackbear is talking to Nightbird!

Plumpaw followed her clan into the gathering, finding her way to her usual spot. She was looking forward to seeing them, but she frowned a bit upon noticing Eggdrop's absence. She hadn't known the Thunderclan molly particularly well, but as far as Plumpaw knew she was a pretty pleasant cat, and it was disheartening to think of something happening to her. She sat down nearby, letting out a friendly purr.

"Hello, it's good to see you all." She greeted, her tone friendly.

Plumpaw is talking to the other medicine cats

Beetleshade slunk into the gathering, slipping around the outskirts of the crowd to find a place among her clanmates. The sight of Thistlemask sitting with the other deputies made her blood boil, so she intentionally refused to look in that direction, not keen on having yet another reminder of her failures. To make things worse, Thistlemask seemed blissfully unaware of Beetleshade's ire, a fact that never failed to get under the tortoishell warrior's skin. Her yellow eyes idly scanned the crowd, more out of curiosity than an actual desire to talk to anyone. Though I wouldn't mind chatting with that Skyclan warrior from the last gathering... She mused. Surprisingly, Beetleshade had come to enjoy their snarky banter, it was a welcome change from over-sensitive cats getting butt-hurt by her harmless comments.

Beetleshade is open to talk to!

Flutterpetal walked into the Gathering, proudly bearing two carefully selected red poppies in his mouth. He hadn't yet decided whether he would go looking for a new friend, or try to find Yarrowblossom in the crowd. But either way, he wanted to go with Adderdawn. His brother wasn't bad at making friends, necessarily, but he could probably use a few more happy things to get his mind off of the sad ones. There was a cool breeze sweeping through the Gathering, and by the light of the full moon, he could see that all of the Clans had arrived now. So many different scents were carried on the wind. So many different voices were chattering animatedly, filling the clearing with sound. Flutterpetal's bright eyes combed through the crowd, looking for anyone who might be interesting.

There-- a tom who was... wearing a crown of flowers on his head? Flutterpetal had to clench his teeth to keep his jaw from dropping. So many flowers! There was another cat who liked flowers as much as he did? And how had he gotten them all to stay together like that? Excitement made his paws almost vibrate as he walked-- not ran, but swiftly walked-- through the clearing. The tom's fur was a bright golden, and the flowers set against it looked so beautiful. When he reached him, Flutterpetal set his poppies down so he could talk, looking closer at the crown to admire it before meeting eyes with the tom. He was... ShadowClan maybe? He smelled the same as the Hidden Outcropping. "Hello! My name's Flutterpetal of WindClan," he introduced himself cheerfully. "What's yours? I absolutely love your flowers! They're so pretty! How did you do that?"

Flutterpetal is talking to Honeylight (and taking Adderdawn with him).

leafpaw walked into the meeting witha thrill

[open]

To Smallbean's relief, the she-cat quickly returned his greeting with friendliness... and complimented his name? "Oh... thanks?" He supposed it did fit him well, considering his size. He supposed how small he was was obvious from birth, if it was the origin of his name. Whatever the she-cat said next, however, was a blur to him. The only thing that stood out to him was her name. "Yeah, hahah... Did... you say Crowspirit?" He winced at the sound of the name leaving his mouth. It had been so long.

A voice from behind pulled his attention away from the conversation. Mottlerose?-star? That was.. unusual. If she was up on the Great rock now for a second time, that must mean something had happened to Minnowstar- something that would inevitably be addressed during this gathering's announcements. "Hey, Mottlestar, nice seeing you up there." He called, hoping his small voice was heard. "Everything is going pretty good for Windclan. I hope the same can be said for Thunderclan." Luckily Smallbean wouldn't have to introduce himself to Nightstar's new deputy. Mottlestar had basically introduced them to each other at that point. Maybe he'd say something anyways- Leopardsun wasn't the only new deputy after all.

Although he was certain that he still had time to talk to Crowspirit, he didn't think that he could handle it at that point. It was a whole situation that he didn't particularly want to get into. That and he assumed he should take his place with the deputies, considering all the clans had now arrived. He politely dipped his head to Crowspirit in farewell. "Um.. I'm really sorry, I gotta go. Maybe we could talk again later, or, something. Thanks." He turned and scurried away. He let out a heavy sigh. The last thing he expected was to meet a cat with his father's name. Still, he felt guilty for how short he left the conversation. He'd have to pick it back up when he was ready.

Taking his spot next to the rest of the deputies, he stood to the side, listening to the current conversation.

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Shivering with excitement, Asterpaw walked into the clearing beside Crimsonflame. It took every ounce of his self control to keep from dashing around the clearing to expend his pent-up energy. This was his first gathering! Hopefully the amount of cats here wouldn't be too overwhelming for him. After briefly listening to Crimsonflame's instructions, he split off from his father, entering the crowd. Geez, it was a lot more crowded than he expected. It was almost uncomfortable, he felt like he couldn't breathe. Staying near the outskirts, he slowly walked around, looking for some cat approachable.


Smallbean is sitting with the deputies
Asterpaw is open for conversation

Stoatpaw entered the gathering a while after the main cluster of Skyclan cats had made their appearance. His wound from his sparring session had healed up nicely, but still gave him a little bit of trouble. If he hadn't been looking forward to seeing Lightpaw again, he most likely would have abstained from this gathering, opting to rest instead. Scanning the clearing, it didn't take long to find her, her position in the clearing still easily visible through the gathering cats. A smile lit his face as he padded over, taking a seat next to her. "Hey, Lightpaw." He greeted her warmly. "How have you been since we last met?"

Stoatpaw is talking to Lightpaw

Brackenwing hadn't been with the other Windclan cats that had joined the crowd, she was sure of that. Silverwing widened her search to the outskirts of the clearing. If she knew Brackenwing at all, the warrior wouldn't be in the larger crowd, that risked too much attention. Instead, she would be far out of sight, though still able to hear the major announcements of the night. Silverwing's eyes snapped to marbled tabby. Had Brackenwing been looking at her? She clearly didn't want a repeat of the last gathering, but that wouldn't be her choice. Silverwing padded forward slowly, almost as if stalking prey. "Braaaackenwiiing, why are you all the way over here?" she mewed cheerily. As she got closer to her friend, Silverwing slid to a place beside her. "It's time to spread our wings and fly!"

Silverwing has joined up with Brackenwing and is open to talk!

Leafpaw stayed silent as there wasn't much happening nothing was catching his eye to speak to anyone he didn't even know anyone besides his mentor brackenwing

leafpaw is open to talk

It was like Fawnshine had read Dovesight's own mind on the matter, but the truth was it was glaringly obvious. This just wasn't something Eggdrop would do. Everytime Dovesight spoke to the molly, she was always so excited and happy. She loved being a medicine cat apprentice. She loved her Clan. She loved where she was in her life. Her friend wouldn't just give that all away, would she? Suddenly, Dovesight found herself wondering just how much she knew. What if there was something that was never said? Was there a tom? She herself couldn't imagine giving up her life for "love", but it had been done before. Could that be it?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Plumpaw from SkyClan joined them. Maybe the subject needed to be changed anyway, before she thought too hard into it.

"Hi, Plumpaw. How is everything in SkyClan? Will Fogfeather be joining us today?"

Dovesight is speaking with the other medicine cats.

Crimsonflame is open for conversation.

Willowpaw was bored of waiting for someone to come up to her, so she got up from her position and walked over to a silver Windclan tom who looked just as lost as she was. "Hi, I'm Willowpaw." She introduced herself

Willowpaw is talking to Leafpaw

Leopardsun was taken aback as one of the leaders- the cat she recalled having seen as ThunderClan's deputy before- leaned down to speak to them. "Oh-! Hello...?" Well. If a leader making idle conversation was the strangest occurrence of this particular Gathering, she would be grateful for it. "Yes, that's correct," she nodded politely. As another joined them- introducing herself as Poppyshine- she continued. "My name is Leopardsun," she repeated. "Deputy of ShadowClan. Honored to make your acquaintance."

It felt- strange, speaking to cats from other clans. She'd mostly kept to herself or stayed near Echomist, a luxury she had certainly taken for granted. SkyClan's arrival caught her attention, and she recalled her resolve to speak to Briarstar, but the SkyClan leader didn't seem to be in the mood for it. Their deputy, however, seemed more sociable- a cat she recognized, but not by name; and so she let herself smile. "Leopardsun," she said again.

She should have expected how many times she'd need to introduce herself, she supposed. Part of her thought it might have been smarter to wait, but that might have come off as rude- and she wanted, more than anything, to establish as many positive relations as she could. To that end, she turned to properly face SkyClan's deputy as well as the cat she now knew as Thistlemask; also directing her words to the ThunderClan leader who had chosen to speak with them. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten- I wanted to personally thank ThunderClan and SkyClan for allowing us to recover after the flood. Nightstar already has, I'm aware, but as ShadowClan's deputy and one of the cats who was taking shelter with SkyClan... I thought I should show my own gratitude. I hope that makes sense to you."

She let out one soft sigh, relief and apprehension at once. She had said what she wanted to say, after all.

"Here's to a peaceful night, for once."

And may it stay that way for some time, if nothing else.

Leopardsun is talking to the deputies (and Mottlestar)!