August Gathering 2023

The tom knew how important these gatherings were, yet that still hadn't stopped him from sticking to his camp instead of following his clan to Fourtrees every full moon. It was a social event, which only made it unappealing to Sablestrike. He was far from being the most social of his clan and preferred to keep it that way, but with his new position he knew that skipping out on these gatherings was no longer an option.

Upon entering the clearing with the rest of his clan Sablestrike made his way toward the great rock. Most of the deputies had already gathered it seemed As he got within earshot Sablestrike heard one of them uttering Nightstalker's old name. "It was deemed by Starclan that Nightstalker no longer lead Shadowclan. I wasn't in attendance last gathering, but from what I hear it was pretty clear what our ancestors thought of his leadership." They didn't need to know anything more than that, and perhaps that had been too much. The tom strained a smile at the deputies. "I am Shadowclan's new deputy, Sablestrike. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He didn't truly care about meeting his fellow deputies, though if they were going to be future leaders it was best not to make them hate him immediately.

Sablestrike has introduced himself to the other deputies

"Hi, Acornstem," Wolfblossom smiled at the Thunderclan deputy, "Stars, I hope things aren't eventful this time. It's starting to get old, the constant drama. And the lightning was unpleasant. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." She was glad that Poppyshine had missed it, though she knew the other deputy must have been worried, being back at camp just as Birdstar had been.

It wasn't long before Shadowclan arrived, with Leopardsun approaching the great rock. Wolfblossom offered a quiet greeting to the Shadowclanner, though it seemed she would be standing among the leaders tonight instead of the deputies. Hopefully not temporary - and the arrival of a second cat baring Shadowclan scent confirmed it. "Nice to meet you, Sablestrike, I'm Wolfblossom." She greeted Leopardsun's apparent successor politely. "The last gathering was... A mess, to put it bluntly. I hope similar can be avoided in the future." The tom was quick to volunteer that Nightstar - Nightstalker now - was no longer leading Shadowclan. Wolfblossom couldn't say she was surprised, nor could she say she was displeased. Nightstar had dealt with his warriors who harmed Skyclan swiftly and brutally, which Wolfblossom could appreciate. But he was far from diplomatic, and Leopardsun handled it with far more grace than Wolfblossom might have were she in Leopardsun's position. Leopardsun had been among those to speak out at the last gathering against the foxdung, Wolfblossom hoped that she had picked someone as reasonable for her deputy. Time would tell.

Windclan was the last to appear, and Wolfblossom kept her expression neutral as the puny coward of a deputy ascended to the great rock. Another tom approached the deputies, another who had spoken up at the last gathering against the quarreling leaders. If both clans had gained new leadership, perhaps the constant drama the two clans brought to gatherings might cease. She wasn't confident in Smallbean from how often she had seen him control his clanmates in the past... Still, the Skyclan deputy offered the newcomer a polite nod.

Wolfblossom is talking to the deputies.

Jaypaw was surprised that someone had approached him already, he decided instead of joining a big group, or find someone to talk to. He would let cats find him, seeming has is strategy worked he put on a happy face. Then he got bombarded with questions. “Jaypaw, SkyClan, Robin, and uhm… haven’t thought of that before, I guess any bird.” he would have to think more on that last one. It seemed the WindClan she-cat has a lot of questions, he was curious if she could answer them herself. “You?” Probably would, but he was curious. “What's it like in WindClan?” he asked another question. He also needed to know how cats could bear being in a moor, with no trees to climb.

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Jaypaw is talking to Honeypaw!

Heatherberry followed a few steps behind Leopardsun, still unsure when her mother would spare a word with her, if ever. Not that she really blamed the soon-to-be leader - there were more important matters to attend to.

Taking a seat eith her fellow medicine cats, green eyes turned to the sky. She hoped the forest would behave themselves tonight.

Heatherberry is open to talk to.

Tigerdance had followed Smallstar into the gathering, noting once again the size difference between him and his leader. It was.. something he would have to get used to, but he couldn't help but find it odd. At least it was something to occupy his mind on the walk down, up until he reached the other deputies. The striped tom dipped his head to the others before speaking. Greetings, my name is Tigerdance. Windclan's new deputy." He was certain the others had questions, and if they voiced them he would do his best to answer, but he knew that Smallstar would address some things in his announcements.

Sagepaw took a seat about the same time as Sablestrike. At the front of the crowd, she caught a few of the words spoken between the deputies. She was mildly satisfied that she could follow the meaning of the grown-ups' conversation, although she did not particularly care for it, and she swatted an ear dismissively.

Sagepaw had been in the nursery on the night of the lightning strike and the echo of its sound through the marshes had scared her. Any sensible cat would be concerned and keep their mama and papa in sight, from the nursery's entrance, during the ensuing clan meeting. Threat was very real to Sagepaw, as she had been born into the war.

She kept her posture and the set of her ears alert, her tail curled politely around her paws, bright yellow eyes fixed on the front of the clearing. Clearly, she was not open to conversation. Her pure black fur was sleekly groomed and her expression serious. It was Sagepaw's second night of apprenticeship, but no one would guess.

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Snowfoot didn’t want to go to this Gathering, in all honesty. Still, Leopardsun needed the moral support. Snowfoot curled up off to the side, in full sight of Leopardsun but otherwise hopefully out of the way.
Snowfoot is here but not open.

Moon after moon she tried, and moon after moon she didn’t get the chance to talk. Blazefang’s eyes scanned the crowd once more for a familiar silver pelt, heart pounding. What if Silverwing was avoiding her?
Blazefang is looking for Silverwing.

Lighttail, too, was looking for someone. She had to talk to Stoatclaw, to just be near him and see how she felt. More and more since Honeylight’s death, she wanted to see her friend again. Still, an uncomfortable thought prickled at the back of her mind: her feelings about Honeylight weren’t the same as her feelings for Stoatclaw. Still, there was no way this was romantic. Lighttail was sure she was too smart to fall for an outsider twice.
Lighttail is looking for Stoatclaw and trying to tell herself she doesn’t have a crush.

Sunflare almost hadn’t been here. He knew he was wanted as one of the camp guards this moon, but he just had to attend this Gathering. The sly tom had slunk out of camp when the guards were chosen, narrowly escaping a fate of confinement.
Sunflare is open.

Sageroot is not here because I don’t have enough braincells to write her today.

Perchstar was bracing herself for the other Clans to arrive. However, to her relief, the next two were her allies--ThunderClan and SkyClan. She could not extinguish the calming warmth that burned for a moment through her veins as Mottlestar approached with a smile and a chirp of welcome. It seemed like ages ago that Stoatstar and Jaystar had been at each others' throats... and now, the tortoiseshell from across the border seemed to her like a friend. "I am well, Mottlestar," the leader responded, knowing that the words were at least not entirely false. While the dizziness and ache had not left her alone, they seemed dulled, muted by the soft presence of her compatriot. "This moon has been prosperous for RiverClan. And yourself? When last we spoke, I know there was much on your mind... and much happening within ThunderClan's borders." A few moments later, Birdstar joined them. Perchstar could not help the quiet rush of relief that the leader was okay, given Wolfblossom's presence on the rock last moon. "I would say you were lucky to have missed it," she responded, tail flicking once behind her. "That thunder left my ears ringing for days afterward." Her eyes caught two distant forms moving toward the Great Rock... forms that were not Shrikestar and Nightstar. Imperceptibly her gaze narrowed. "But perhaps we will no longer have to worry about such an event recurring."

Sure enough, the WindClan and ShadowClan delegates were neither of the fish-hearted toms that had caused such chaos in the Gathering last moon. Leopardsun and Smallbean--or perhaps they now suffixed their names with -star--joined the three allies, each offering a quick, wordless greeting. There was still tension in the air, but nowhere near as much as previously. No sullen glares or cold scowls. Perhaps there could be civility in the forest again. Perchstar offered them both a nod of welcome... more than she had given to either of their predecessors since leaf-bare.

Perchstar is speaking with Mottlestar and Birdstar, and has greeted the other two leaders.

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Bubblepaw couldn't help the widening of her grin when the other apprentice responded in kind. A kindred spirit! A friend! "Pigeonpaw, RiverClan, okay!" she chirped. "Wow, what a nice name!" Her pale green eyes sparkled as she listened. Sure enough, there was a fishy scent to the cream point apprentice. It was the same as when she'd gone to the river border with Rainfrost. "Nope, nope, no special treatment! I'm just so proud'f them cause they're so cool! They're nice to everyone, not just me and my siblings. And wow--the deputy's your mentor? That's awesome! Which one's she? You should point her out." It was hard not to bounce up and down on her paws with excitement. "My mentor's Rainfrost! He's my uncle! He's really little but he's one of the best warriors in the Clan. He's--oh--actually I dunno where he ran off to, I was just with him but I forgot. I hope he's not too lonely without me."

Her train of thought was completely forgotten when she returned her attention to Pigeonpaw's energy-matching questions. "Yup! It's my first time! So yours too huh? That's so cool! So glad we got to meet each other." She giggled happily. "Yeah, so many trees! I don't even know how many. I asked Rainfrost how many and he said he didn't know. Maybe I should try counting 'em! And I haven't teeeechnically learned yet but how hard can it be? Totally I can teach you! Should be a breeze! I climbed all the way to the Tallbranch once when I was a kit! I mean I didn't do it by myself, Sorrelpaw and Ploverpaw helped, but--!" Bubblepaw was cut off by the exact topic of her conversation walking up to her. "Oh, Ploverpaw! Hi hi! This is Pigeonpaw, she's my new bestie." And there was her other partner in crime. "Hey Sorrel! Lookie lookie I made a friend!"

Turning back to Pigeonpaw, Bubblepaw continued to grin widely. "These're them! Well, two of 'em anyway. My sisters! Sorrelpaw and Ploverpaw. D'you got any siblings? I've got four of 'em! Not sure where Bearbear and Cy went though. Prolly doing boooooring stuff." Her eyes shone, and she jumped a little bit at her sister's suggestion. "Yeah! We can teach you to climb, and you teach us fish! It'll be fun! Like a culral... a culch... how'd you say it again?" She frowned momentarily, trying to remember something Rainfrost had said once, then brightened up when she remembered. "A cultural change! No, uh, exchange! Yeah."

Bubblepaw is talking to her sisters and Pigeonpaw.

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Dovepaw caught sight of several of his siblings--but all of them were surrounded by other cats, chatting up a storm, before he could get to them. He supposed that was fair. That was the whole point of coming to Gatherings, wasn't it? To socialize with cats from other Clans? But the last time he'd tried that, he'd only gotten about one sentence in before the entire clearing fell apart. Then he'd had to race back to Ravenpaw and Swanpaw just hoping that they hadn't been hurt. Calm down, Dovepaw. It's not going to happen again. He let out a shaky breath, then steeled himself. I'm going to do it. I'm going to talk to someone again. Or... try, anyway. He did make note of where he saw all of his siblings sitting, though. Just in case.

Who should he talk to, though? There were so many apprentices. Most of them had already paired up, it seemed. Last time he'd tried to talk to somecat from ShadowClan, but hadn't gotten very far. Maybe he should try again? There was a pair of toms sitting somewhat close to him. He gathered his composure and walked up to them... then immediately forgot how to start a conversation. "I, uh..." Stars. They were both staring at him. This was an awful idea. "My name's Dovepaw," he said quickly. "I'm from RiverClan. You're from ShadowClan, right? What are your names?" Was that enough? Should he say anything else? For some reason, he wasn't sure which one of them to look at. Their eyes were both fixed on him. Eventually he met the dark-furred tom's gaze. "You, uh... I like your... fur. It's a nice color."

They're going to murder you. Nice going, Dovepaw.

Dovepaw is talking (poorly) to Silverpaw and Hawkpaw.

Firefly greeted her brother with a purr, glad it was him who approached her. Green watched as Thrushnose settled down next to her before answering his question. "StarClan has been very generous with striking cats at gatherings lately. Who knows what could happen this time." She had been victim to StarClan's wrath already, the nerves that lay beneath her scarred face tingling every once in a while with the occasional surge of pain as they tried their best to heal. "You doing alright? Been keeping your nose clean?" She gave a light chuckle at that.

Firefly is talking to Thrushnose.

On the way to Fourtrees Silverwing's gaze had never left Littleflower, and now that they had reached their destination the spotted molly seated herself next to her kit. She didn't know if this gathering would turn out to be as bad as the last, but if it did she would be ready.

Silverwing is sitting with Littleflower.

From the moment he had arrived at Fourtrees Stoatclaw had begun searching the crowd for a certain Shadowclanner. The last gathering had left her with a serious injury, and nights spent at the border waiting for his friend to come along had yielded no results. Some deep part of him had begun to worry about the fate of his friend. It had interrupted his sleep on more than one occasion and kept the tom up late into the night. If this dragged on any longer he might end up turning into a Shadowclan cat himself.

The silver tabby finally caught his eye, and for a moment Stoatclaw thought his heart had stopped entirely. The tom wasted no time in rushing over to her, pushing a few cats aside in the process. "Lighttail! You're alright? Stars I was so worried about you! I-I didn't see you at the border, I waited for you but- are you alright? Feeling better?" The tom's worry was apparent, though as he regarded his friend it seemed to dull slightly. Lighttail was alive and safe. That brought a smile to the tom's face, something it had been lacking for many moons by this point. Without thought the tom nuzzled his friend's shoulder.  "You have no idea how happy I am to see you! I thought you..." He didn't dare voice what he had thought happened to her. She was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Stoatclaw is talking with Lighttail!