November Gathering (2023)

White lines etched into the stone underpaw as Smallstar unsheathed his claws and applied pressure; not out of anger, but of unease. It had been quite some time since the Windclanner had felt such aggressive anxiety, especially at a gathering, (He had thought it been a result of his lives) But it was Mottlestar's words that were causing him such worry.

A part of the Windclanner wanted to claim that her suggestions were ludicrous, that only a cat who wished death upon the clans would suggest that they leave, but he knew that it was the opposite, for Mottlestar was not stupid nor impulsive. She knew the forest was hurting, and she knew that, despite how tall the leaders were standing, that they were hurting too. And it was because Mottlestar knew that Smallstar worried. As much as he hated to admit it, she was probably right. Still, a sliver of doubt remained. He would say nothing yet.

Up until that point, Smallstar had kept his eyes down, hearing the Thunderclanner out as she spoke. However, he sat upright when she called to the medicine cats, even if he no longer held the title. Immediately, the leader recalled his dream from a few nights prior. He felt sick, picturing the cat once more, and felt the need to say something, even privately, to the leaders about it, but refrained upon hearing a voice rise up from where the medicine cats resided. Smallstar made a point to pay great attention, for they no longer had a medicine cat to interpret Starclan's messages - and he was severely out of practice (not that practice helped anyways).

Giving Fawnshine his full attention, he listened to her recount past half-moon meetings, furrowing his brows when she recounted the most recent one. What she described was, just as he suspected, the same dream he had received that night. Starclan at least cared enough to give Windclan something, although he was displeased that it ended up going through himself.

As other medicine cats and leaders agreed with Mottlestar, it seemed an answer from himself was growing more and more urgent. That the other leaders shared his worry and grief, he was relieved, but a part of him still desired to remain on Windclan territory, despite the unfortunate fact that the clan would starve if they remained. It was Perchstar's' words that brought him to what he felt was a final decision.

Casting a look down to Tigerdance, he took an uncertain step forward, leaving behind the white scratches in the stone. "I, too, received a dream on the night of the most recent half moon, not much different than the one that Fawnshine described. I, uh, assume it is because Windclan currently has no medicine cat fit to travel to the moonstone." It felt like sin to declare Windclan's weakness to the forest, but in this situation, it felt safe enough. "I saw the same cat in my dream, and they said the same words. And it's worrying to see the parallels between the dream and reality. It leaves one to wonder how much worse it will get."

"As much as I do not wish to leave the forest - the moors - behind, I fear it may be the only choice we have. Prey is already this scarce and we haven't even experienced the first snow of the season." The leader paused, casting another glance down towards the deputy, hoping he was making the right decision. "I fear we may face worse conditions as the season goes on. It is, for that reason, that should the other clans make the choice to leave together, Windclan will follow. Our territory becomes more unsafe to travel every day, it's possible that the Twolegs will be in our camp next, as if they haven't already scared away our prey. I will not- cannot, watch my clanmates be taken by twolegs again, or starve."

Smallstar stepped back once more, casting a concerned glance over to Mottlestar. He worried the trustworthiness of these "visitors," although Mottlestar seemed certain of their words. The Windclanner was far more inclined to follow Starclan's guidance, despite his quarrels, but even then their directions were, as usual, unclear.

The tension that her words had called into the air was more than understandable. It was no small ask of the Clans to ask for them to leave what they had known for generations behind, even temporarily. She found herself holding her breath, withholding it to the point of trembling and nearly passing out from lack of oxygen, before Perchstar finally stepped forward. Even as she had heard Leopardstar declare her support first and foremost, which had brought a surprised blink from the tortoiseshell. But it was Perchstar who allowed her to breathe again. Her ally. The one that, despite everything, she had hoped would have her back. If Birdstar and Perchstar didn't support her, then her suggestion would have been for naught. Even outnumbering the leaders in the forest... this would have to be a unanimous decision.

Followed by Perchstar, Birdstar. Her other ally. Finally, she felt she could stand again. As if she hadn't just offended every single cat in the forest with her suggestion, even if the tortoiseshell herself felt particularly disturbed by the words that had even come out from her own mouth.

All that had remained was Smallstar. Windclan's leader. The only cat on this rock she could truly stand at eye-level to. She watched the tom with an underlying nervousness that mimicked the one that he had. Leader by leader, the tension had dissolved into reluctant admission. There still was the desperation to survive thick in the air, heavy on the tongue like a poor-tasting herb. Once he finally stepped forward, and had admitted to receiving a similar dream to that of which the medicine cats spoke about, though? Mottlestar knew her call had been right. It was in support of the stars.

With Smallstar's support... that had made it unanimous. Deep down, she was truly surprised with herself to have rallied all of the other leaders behind her. An urge to make another statement filled her paws. She was the one who had prompted this... it would be up to her to organize it. "I truly wish it did not come to this, either. However, know this journey will only be temporary. We will return to our forest, when it is healthy again." She declared. After all... even she had wanted to stay in the forest. In her home of bracken and brambles.

"Let us all meet at Highstones the day following the half-moon. Prepare our Clans by gathering whatever herbs may be necessary to bring with us, strengthening our weakest and appointing helpers to those who will need it. We can appoint one of our strongest warriors from every Clan to be the ones to lead the helm-to be our scouts. We must all take this journey together... no cat left behind. A truce called for the journey so we may all survive together." There was some power fueling her as she spoke. Called a plan for them to follow. She had heard Burdockroot's suggestion to travel in two groups - that was her best solution knowing just how weak the majority of her Clan was. She looked out into the gathered crowd, before turning her gaze back to the leaders. Softly, she spoke to them.

"It is not easy to leave behind the lands we have known for generations-even temporarily. I thank you all for seeing reason. I want all of our clans to survive this harsh season, for the forest would not be the same without any of us."

Kestrelchirp uneasily watched this all unfold. He didn't want to leave the forest, but they had to... Shifting nervously, he looked around. Coyotegrin would be devastated. The tunnels will fall to ruin, again... He wondered if she could even handle this journey.

Cats did not attend, just rolling the dice.

Fuzzface: 9
Curlyfluff: 7
Sweetpaw: 1

The member 'Ice' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9, 7, 1