August Gathering 2023

Firefly nodded with an exasperated sigh. "You and me both, dear brother. You and me both." To say it shocked her that their father, Nightstar, had acted the way he did would be a horrendous lie. It almost disgusted her that his impulsiveness and quick temper slightly mirrored hers.

"Your shoulder? What happened?" As Thrushnose stood to show her, she leaned in for a better look. "A bit if a nasty one, for sure. What'd you do to get it? Im sorry I didnt notice youd gotten hurt..." There was a bit of excitement in Firefly's voice. For starters, her brother had fought and survived whatever had given him the scar. That  in itself was an achievement.

Firefly is talking to Thrushnose.

To the Windclanner's relief, he was met with little hostility upon joining the leaders on the Great Rock. Smallstar dipped his head in response to Perchstar's silent greeting, offering her a small smile in addition. Still, for the remainder of their time on the rock, he kept to himself, mismatched gaze flickering between the other leaders and the deputies below them. Tigerdance seemed to be getting along with the other deputies. It was reassuring.

Time seemed to go by much slower when he wasn't down socializing in the crowd. Maybe as much time hadn't passed as he thought, though. Either way, he began to grow restless, debating if he should be the one to begin this gathering. "I'm gonna, uh..." Smallstar took a few tentative steps forward, casting an uncertain glance over to the other leaders before clearing his throat. He raised his voice and addressed the crowd beneath him. "Good evening, everyone." He stared straight ahead, studying the branches in the trees on the opposite edge of the clearing. It was better to keep his head held high, he supposed. That way he wouldn't have to see the judging gazes of all beneath him. The voices below began to decline into hushed whispers. "Windclan has experienced a change in leadership within the past moon. Now, Tigerdance, my deputy, and I lead. I..." The tom stumbled, struggling to choose words. He wanted to reflect his desire to fix what had been broken, to restore what had been lost. "I intend to right any of Windclan's past wrongs. I hope that this change will lead to an era of... peace." A troubled exhale left his maw as he rethought his words, wondering if he had spoken correctly. He decided that he would leave that as it was.

"Additionally, within the past moon we have had new apprentices. Dustpaw, Quickpaw, and Honeypaw join us this gathering. Please welcome them if you see them." For a moment he lowered his gaze, trying to see if he could pick them out in the crowd. "Windclan has been doing well. Thank you." Smallstar began to grow uneasy, not exactly knowing how to end his segment, or if he was able to set up that of the next leader's. Stepping backwards, he looked at the other leaders with wide eyes, hoping that they would take the spotlight.

---

The impact of another cat knocked Morningpaw off of his balance, leaving him struggling to keep his footing. By the time he had recovered, his fur was fluffed out, searching his surroundings to find the cat who had bumped into him. Luckily, the cat has spoken up. "Yeah... they are." He remarked, although his tone wasn't bitter. "It's okay, though. I'm Morningpaw." He looked over the other apprentice. "Do you run into other cats often? Just curious."


Morningpaw is talking to Mintpaw

And there he was. “Stoatclaw!” Lighttail called out. “I’m all right, we’ll mostly anyway.” She still had that patch of fur missing between her shoulders and sometimes parts of her body would be numb or tingly, but it could’ve been far worse. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been there! I, um, hope you can forgive me.” There was much more she needed to be forgiven for, but this wasn’t the time or place. “I’ll be there tomorrow if you will.”
Lighttail is talking to Stoatclaw.

Silverwing! Blazefang glimpsed the silver pelt of her former apprentice and bounded over, but Lichenwing beat her to it. Oh well, at least this time she wasn’t interrupting a stranger, or worse, a WindClan cat. “Silverwing!” she called, darting over to say hello. “Long time no see! Lichenwing, this is Silverwing! Best apprentice I ever trained! Silverwing, are these your kiddos?” Blazefang was aware she might be coming on too strong, but she didn’t want to miss her chance yet again.
Blazefang is bubbling at/about Silverwing!

As WindClan's new leader spoke up, Leopardsun prepared herself to speak; it was strange: how often had she wished that she was the one addressing the Clans at the Gathering, just to prevent yet more problems, and yet she still felt somehow overwhelmed at the realization that it was now another responsibility to bear.

"ShadowClan has fared well this past moon," she began. "We welcome one of my daughters, Heatherberry, as a fully trained medicine cat. Additionally, we welcome Poppycloud and Beetlechaser as warriors of ShadowClan; and Ravenpaw, Magpiepaw, Skunkpaw, Sagepaw, and Moonpaw as apprentices."

With those more regular announcements covered, she could now discuss the thing she guessed most cats were either wondering at or having some sort of thoughts on.

"There is another matter to address. After the scene that transpired last moon, ShadowClan ruled that Nightstalker was no longer fit to lead, and so the time has come for me to take his place. As I am no longer deputy, that position is now filled by Sablestrike; and I hope that by working together our ShadowClan will remain strong, but not inflexible."

And that left only one thing to mention. One that had been previously discussed with the WindClan leader who had just spoken.

"Lastly, as a gesture of good faith, we release Owlshade to WindClan custody."

Soon enough, the Gathering began. To Perchstar's surprise, Smallbean--who introduced himself as Smallstar--began by speaking first. She wouldn't have pegged the tom as a courageous one. Perhaps it was a way to offer amends for his Clan's previous wrongs? Her icy eyes flicked down to the deputys' spot momentarily, seeing the tabby tom who had decried Shrikestar's foolishness in the Gorge skirmish sitting beside Poppyshine. A pleasant surprise. It would take a long time for WindClan to fix their mistakes, but this was indeed a good start. Leopardsun followed next. She either had not yet taken on her suffix, or simply did not bother to address it, so Perchstar was not sure how to amend the name she thought of when looking at the ShadowClan leader. At least the two tom-kits were no longer upon the rock. It seemed that WindClan and ShadowClan were doing their best to mend the bonds with each other as well, given the apparent cessation of hostilities. Thank the stars. I was getting tired of that chaotic mess of a collective tantrum.

Mottlestar spoke next. Perchstar's eyes slid over to her tortoiseshell ally, taking in the sparse words and continued acknowledgement of their arrangement. Once the ThunderClan leader spoke, Perchstar stepped forward next to get her own announcements out of the way. There was thankfully little to be said. "This greenleaf sees RiverClan prospering," she began. "We have welcomed several new apprentices: Pigeonpaw, Snailpaw, Duckpaw, Silentpaw, Scarletpaw, and Violetpaw. We retain our allies and our borders." Nothing else needed to be spoken. She stepped back then, glancing at Birdstar, who was the only remaining leader to speak. Perhaps peace was... achievable. For one night, at least. She certainly hoped so. Constant drama was beginning to wear on her nerves.

Stormwatcher sat in the back of the gathering his head kept dipping lower and lower every once in awhile before he would set it back up. Eventually it lowered and he let out a quiet snore as he snoozed off to the distant talking of the leaders. He liked gatherings, not because of all the others NOPE! he liked them because he could pass out asleep in the back. The white noise of the distant announcments was comforting to him.


Sprucebark approached the skyclan warrior and greeted him quietly staying quiet enough to not disrupt those around him.

"Stormwatcher? Thanks for saving my pelt earlier this moon" he meowed greatfully.


Stormwatcher jerked awake as he sleepily blinked around "huh??"

"were you asleep?"

"huh what no??!? just resting my eyes for a second is all"

The riverclan warrior rolled his eyes a bit with a quiet chuckle "uh huh"
"oh and sure, couldnt stand to see ya get eaten like that... especially when our clans are alligned and what not he meowed gesturing to the leaders

"Yeah about that... Think I could talk to you about something later?"

That got the big guys attention as he sat up more focused now "uhh okay" he flicked an ear curious but didnt want to show that more than he had to. He gave a casual shrug

"how about meet me by the river a couple nights from now? Right were we met last time?"


"That will work, I appreciate it... and I would appreciate it if we keep that quiet for now too"


Stormwatcher watched the smaller tom cat slip away wondering what in the world just had happened.

Swiftheart was late to the gathering she looked around happily at all the possible new friends she could make here and started walking around quietly not wanting to interupt anything but also wanting very much to meet someone new as well.

Swiftheart is open to talk too

Goldenfern sat at the edge of the clearing, her tail wrapped around her paws as she listened to the leaders. Flypaw was beside her, his coat carefully groomed so that there was no tufts of fur sticking out as it normally was. Cloudychase, his white coat glowing in the moonlight, sat a few tail-lengths away.