October Gathering 2024

To say it had taken some convincing for Wolfstar to make an appearance at fourtrees was a minor understatement. Reluctance seemed etched into every line of the leader's tense body as they neared fourtrees, and she paused on the edge of the yet-empty hollow, blue eyes narrowing. Her fur had grown somewhat ragged over the past moon, owing to the injuries and infection she was still not a hundred percent recovered from. So much blood had stained this place, her own included now. The light wind in the trees shouldn't have sounded like a howl, she knew that, and yet... Something acidic coated the back of her throat and Wolfstar swallowed with a grimace. She did not want to be here, but she had little choice.

Wordlessly, Wolfstar leapt into one of the great oaks, settling herself onto one of the branches above the great rock. The bright leaf-fall foliage would obscure her a little bit, but that was fine. She could make her announcements from here just as well.

Skyclan may enter the gathering.

Tigerstar didn't want to be here, he didn't want his clan to be here. Ever step he took, his mind reminded him of the events from the last gathering. What could befall his clan if they attended this one but he knew he couldn't betray Starclan like that. He just hoped they had the clans best interests in mind this time around, or he just might swear off gatherings for a while.

With a flick of his tail, the striped tom led his clan into the clearing, flashes of previous chaos meeting him every step of the way but he pushed through. Carefully the tom jumped up onto the rock, dipping his head towards the others. "Greetings. Hopefully things have settled for you all after the events last moon." He couldn't be certain they had, he could only hope they had. No one deserved more rough times after last gathering.

Acornstar sighed as she stood at the edge of the clearing - it seemed all but RiverClan had arrived. There was some relief that she could finally have some good news in the return of Wiggleworm, but... There would be no true celebration until Silverdusk showed her face and the two could be reunited. She shook her head, motioning her Clan to follow as she stepped into the clearing, making her way to the rock where she joined the other leaders. "Hello," she greeted as she jumped up, taking a seat as she glanced between them all. She opened her mouth to say something, but held it - she was certain her wishes of good fortune for the last moon was something the other leaders had already said. "Let us all hope for a quick and calm Gathering," was all she finally settled on, letting the lingering weariness that still plagued her from the last Gathering to be clear in her words. Before she paused, glancing at Wolfstar and Leopardstar. "I do hope the two of you have been recovering and resting well, as you both took the most of the wolves' attention last moon."

ThunderClan may now enter the Gathering

Lighttail’s heart was already heavy this moon with Stoatclaw’s disappearance, and it sank even further as she stepped into the hollow and noticed that Leopardstar had not brought a deputy. Maybe Sablestrike just wasn’t feeling well, but Lighttail had an awful gut feeling to the contrary.
Lighttail is open.

Sageroot is here, I’ll post with her as soon as she’s de-souped.

Willowwisp and Pineblossom stayed home.

Directly behind Wolfstar, a stout yellow tom drew to a stop at the border of Fourtrees. Sunfire mirrored his mother's expression, narrow yellow gaze sweeping across the empty clearing, but there was no reluctance or hesitation in his stride when SkyClan finally stepped forward and joined - or rather started - the gathering. The other clans weren't far behind, though, so he took the opportunity while he had it to draw Timberpaw aside. Leaning down so that his voice was low, but not quite a whisper, Sunfire instructed: "You're not here to make friends. Remember that."

The marbled tabby gave him a wordless nod, and satisfied, the warrior moved off, trailing a few fox-lengths behind Wolfstar. When she picked a tree, and then settled down in the branches above the Rock, Sunfire simply sank down to his belly at the base of the oak, curled his paws under him, and rested his gaze on where the leaders sat. He wasn't here to socialize, either, and the unfriendly expression on his face should have been enough to ward off anyone who wandered close enough to consider it.

Sunfire is not open to conversation... you can try though. :)

Few things had excited Timberpaw more than the prospect of seeing more cats. SkyClan was so large... more of his kind than he'd ever been around, more than he'd ever met separately, even! But when they arrived to Fourtrees, it was empty... The young tom tried not to let the disappointment show on his face as they entered the hollow. A quick glance around told him that no one else seemed surprised, so he shook his pelt and let out an impatient sigh. Maybe the other clans were just slow.

He didn't get too much longer to dwell on it before a sharp gaze from his father drew him away from the rest of SkyClan, and he trotted over obediently, sitting at Sunfire's feet. The warrior's words were blunt and left no room for argument, so Timberpaw just nodded, expression shifting from wide-eyed enthusiasm, to dismay, as soon as his father's back was turned. His ears shifted backwards, then forwards, then backwards again before settling there. It wasn't long before the other clans arrived, now, but a sudden anxiety had seized the apprentice, and all enthusiasm he'd mustered for this Gathering was now gone. Timberpaw stared at the ground at his paws and frowned.

Timberpaw is open to conversation.

A slick black apprentice followed SkyClan into Fourtrees. Newtpaw had wandered every inch of SkyClan's territory over the last several moons, but she'd never been here, never gone to a Gathering before. It was fascinating, being somewhere new, somewhere that didn't belong to one clan but to all of them. And to see all the clans here at once... that was sure to be something, too. Newtpaw had only met other clan cats in passing, on patrols. Rarely did ThunderClan or RiverClan stop to talk to them, and she preferred it that way, anyway... but here, they were allowed to talk, allowed to socialize. Might as well capitalize on the opportunity.

Soon enough, the other clans arrived one by one. Newtpaw watched them, long black tail occasionally sweeping across the ground, until finally one other apprentice-aged cat cut away from their clan and she rose, padding over to greet him with a chirp. "Hello," she stated. "I'm Newtpaw... and you are..?" She flared her nostrils, and with it came the scent of lilac and moor grass. "Aside from WindClan, that is?"

Newtpaw is talking to Blazepaw of WindClan.

Wolfstar watched as Shadowclan entered fourtrees, offering Leopardstar a polite dip of her head. "I'm... Alright. My clanmates were uninjured, that's all I could ask for. I hope you're well. That last gathering... I never thought we'd see those beasts after leaving the lake." There had been no sign of more of them, but Wolfstar was still on edge. Perhaps Stoneheart was right and this place truly was cursed.

The other clans arrived, and Wolfstar listened to the other leaders' quiet greetings. "We're all standing. That's a win. Hopefully the injured make a quick recovery." She wasn't sure if there had been any other deaths than her and Leopardstar... She didn't want to know.

---

Honeybee padded into the gathering, though her blue eyes were constantly scanning the clearing, ears rotating to catch snippets of conversation. Not that it was conversation she was looking for. She noted how Wolfstar took to sitting on one of the great oaks instead of standing on the rock... She couldn't blame her grandmother for that.

---

Briarpatch wasn't thrilled about heading into fourtrees, but if her family was attending - and how could they not, with her mother standing on the great rock? - then so would she. She just hoped there would be no horrifying surprises tonight.

---

Cloudjumper padded in with the rest of Windclan, settling close to her clanmates. Green eyes scanned the crowd warily, and after the last gathering's eventfulness she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to anyone.

---

Swandive stalked into fourtrees, finding a place near the edge of the crowd. Part of her had wanted to stay back in camp, but she would support her clanmates as best she could.

Wolfstar is speaking to the leaders.
Honeybee is open to talk.
Briarpatch is open to talk.
Cloudjumper is not open to talk.
Swandive is not open to talk.
Stoneheart is not in attendance.

Falconmoon entered the gathering almost begrudgingly. He didn't want to go the way of Bloodstrike in his beliefs, nor did he want to outright curse them and mock their existence like he had before. But after that last gathering... it was certainly becoming more tempting. Was Dawnhawk what they wanted? Did they put him back here to try to awaken him? Were they bored of the forest life without him as a major menace? He didn't want to think like that, couldn't afford to... yet he did. He banished the thoughts from his mind, determined to try to stay on the straight and narrow.

But how much more could he take?

---

All other cats are not attending.

Bubblebeam had been at war with herself regarding whether to come or not. On one paw, wolves. Those beasts still haunted her nightmares after they'd driven everyone away from the lake--the final blow after moons of misery. But on the other paw, she... wanted to know if everyone was okay. She had no right to worry about Hemlockfox and Sorrelmist and Gramma Wolf after she'd left them behind to live in ShadowClan, but worry she did. Any of them could've been eaten and she wouldn't know. So she managed to gather the strength to attend, even with her heart beating at twice its usual speed. Of course, everything would be fine. Wolves wouldn't come twice in a row, especially not after two of them had been killed... she hoped. Stars, she hoped. But all she could do was hope.

She stayed near the back of ShadowClan's group, pale green eyes roving around through the crowds to find any familiar pelts. Were her brother or sister here? Wolfstar was up in the trees, at least, though she wasn't looking too good. It was hard to tell at a distance, but Bubblebeam thought she might have spotted a healing wound or two. At least... at least she was alive, but the sight of her grandmother so unwell sent a spike of nausea through her stomach. Her other searches were fruitless so far. Were any of them okay? What if Sorrelmist had been killed? What if Hemlockfox--what if that conversation where he got so mad at her had been the last one they ever shared? Increasingly anxious, she kept looking, scanning for faces that she knew--but suddenly she stopped short. That golden fur... It couldn't be. It couldn't be him. But the closer she looked, eyes widening, the more undeniable it became. The missing ear, the crown of scars, the scowling yellow eyes. But it couldn't be him! He'd gone, vanished, abandoned her just like everyone else. Her sisters had looked for him for ages and found nothing. Ploverwing had died without seeing him again. And there he was, in the flesh, sitting among SkyClan's ranks as if nothing had ever happened.

Sunfire. Back from the dead.

Bubblebeam stopped, her formerly roving paws now rooted to the ground. "...Dad?" Her mouth moved around the word, tasting it like bitter herbs in her mouth, speaking so quietly she wasn't even sure if she'd given the thought voice. But it was. It was him. He was alive! He was alive. A mixture of hope and anger and anxiety tangled in her chest. He was alive, but Ploverwing and Graywind and Honeydew and so many others were still dead. She couldn't believe it. She... didn't know how to feel about it. Should she go talk to him? Her paws wouldn't move. But as much as she yearned to run over and embrace him, something kept her still. Then it hit her, and her heart sank.

Oh, he would be so furious if he saw her now, smelling like ShadowClan, sheltered in their ranks. He'd always hated the other Clans. He hadn't seen her yet, had he? If he saw... If he knew... Why did she care? She'd dealt with Gramma Wolf's disapproval, she could deal with his too. She'd dealt with that back when she was in SkyClan too, anyway. And yet, the idea of him seeing her here was too much to bear. Even after he'd left Hemlockfox stuck in WindClan and vanished for so long she'd given him up for dead. His disapproval, his anger turned directly at her, would be the final blow. Bubblebeam backed away slowly, feeling almost as if she were no longer connected to her body, and hid behind the rest of ShadowClan's massed warriors. She couldn't let him see her. Stars. Had Wolfstar told him? Had Hemlockfox? Did Hemlockfox know he was alive? Did Sunfire even know or care that she wasn't a member of the Clan anymore? What if he'd come to look for her? Oh, stars. All thoughts of wolves had fled from her mind at the new conflict rising so sharply to the forefront of her mind. Her heart beat wildly in her chest like a trapped bird. Was it too late for her to just go back to camp? She couldn't... He couldn't see her here.

Bubblebeam is freaking out (but open to talk to).

--

Larchbreeze hadn't really wanted to attend this moon's Gathering after the utter chaos of last moon's. He also couldn't deny that it put him on edge he'd been mentally complaining about Gatherings being boring, only to be proved so immediately and terribly wrong. Of course, no one he knew had died, so it hadn't been as bad as it could have--but still. What were they going to do if more wolves showed up? And even if nothing bad happened, why on earth was he coming to sit around here when nobody even wanted to talk to him? It was hard to keep from feeling simultaneously sour and uneasy as he followed WindClan into the clearing, settling down at a random place with no intent to converse. It would be better to talk and distract himself, but he just couldn't focus on finding a partner right now.

Larchbreeze is open to talk to.

--
Dovetail stayed home with his kits.
Hedgepaw stayed home 'cause she's scared of wolves.

Poppystar started the gathering this time, and Wolfstar kept to her branch, silently listening to the other leader. Returning cats was a good thing, warriors who had gone searching for the missing and not returned themselves... Well, fate had a sense of humor it seemed, one none of the leaders were likely to share.

When Poppystar finished, Wolfstar lifted her voice. "Skyclan welcomes Timberpaw and Otterpaw to the apprentice den, and Foxsnap, Waspswarm and Honeybee to the rank of warrior." And Sunfire's return, though it was likely safer to let others forget... Her gaze briefly found those she had named in the crowd, acknowledging each of them.

Wolfstar tried not to think about what had happened the last time she'd given announcements in this stars-forsaken hollow. The moment the last announcement had been given, she was determined that Skyclan's paws would leave this cursed place as soon as possible.

Acornstar was as eager as the other leaders to get this Gathering done and over with - blinking in surprise as Poppystar started and revealed that one of her missing warriors had returned as well...And those who had gone searching for them had likewise not returned. Right, Silverdusk had set out with those RiverClan cats, hadn't she? With any hope, the entire group would be willing to return emptied pawed... Or if any rate, Silverdusk would keep her promise even if the RiverClan cats wished to keep searching. Wolfstar was brief, unmoving from her branch - no doubt wary of how easily the wolves had leapt up the rock the previous moon - and Acornstar took the opportunity to step up next.

"ThunderClan...ThunderClan is well despite the stress of the last Gathering - we have two new warriors, Addercrest and Minkbite. Likewise, we also had a warrior long missing return, yet the cat who set out to aid RiverClan in their search has yet to return - thought she had promised to return before the first snowfall no matter what. If Silverdusk is seen, please tell her that her mate, Wiggleworm, found his way home and we require her back. That is all from ThunderClan." With that, she stepped back - eyes falling towards the two remaining leaders.