August's Gathering [2020]

The unpleasantly sticky late evening air was wrought with an undercurrent of tension, a sharp reverberation that weighted just below the skin- a painful inkling of remembrance. Striding through the surprisingly vacant grounds, the sharp protrusion's of Brindlestar's ever-prominent skeleton rolled and crept evidently beneath the unkempt mane of her wild coat. Pale gaze widening fractionally, allowing just the faintest sliver of pale to rival large puddles of vibrant amber, there was a sour touch evident in the depths of her frigid glare. Easily pulling herself atop the sacred stone with little more than a sharp puff, the WindClan Leader's apprehensive shifting seemed obnoxiously loud in comparison to the shroud of silence overhanging the stifling clearing confines.

It was difficult not to fixate on the possibility on another disastrous Gathering, especially whenever considering the latest spiel of drama as a result of her own actions towards ShadowClan, or the newest tensions with RiverClan following the frightening temporary loss of her youngest kin. Feathered tail giving an idle flick, Brindlestar couldn't help but click her teeth together in a fractional rhythm. Ah well, at least there were bigger issues than Magpiestar's wounded pride or RiverClan accidentally taking Thornkit.

Flashpaw walked along the route to four trees with his clan, his steps careful and measured despite the excitement he felt at his first gathering, it was dampened slightly by his never ending simmering hatred of his leader. It seemed every emotion he had was dampened lately, ever since Magpiestar, was named his mentor, Still he knew better then to show it outwardly at least not yet . He picked his head up, his flame colored coat standing out even in the dark gloom, the full moon making it awash with silver hue. His tail twitched as his too long limbs easily ate up the ground. He would be a powerful warrior once he grew out of his awkward apprentice stage . “.. so we’ll finally see the other clans then.. “ he said outloud, whisking his tail from side to side .

The mottled she-cat moved slow, every paw step filled with a hint of hesitant fulfilment of her duty as the crackle of a stick nearby caused her long tail to bush up slightly and her ears to flick back. Unease glimmered in her olive eyes, but she forced herself to continue moving, she was the deputy for StarClan sake, what sort of precedent would that set for her clan if she turned tail and ran from the gathering procession? Heronfeather stood still for a moment, ears pricked as she listened for any sign of something being wrong, dread only growing in her chest as cricket-call was the only thing she was able to pick out. The threat of the last gathering and the stench of Gus' breath lingered on her whiskers, the molly admired her leader and closest companion Brindlestar, whose mind seemed to rest more on ShadowClan and its unstable leader Magpiestar than their current rogue predicament.

A soft but drawn out sigh of relief left her maw as she settled beneath the stone, tail snaking behind her to meet with the base of the great stone appendage the meeting would be conducted from. There was comfort and safety in having it to her back, and it quelled the icy chill of fear running up and down her spine. Heronfeather gently chewed the inside of her cheek as she awaited the arrival of more clans and their respective leaders; as much as she didn't enjoy the other clans she was smart enough to know safety exists in numbers. And right now, she felt terribly exposed.

---

Honestly, he was just as surprised to be here as the next cat. After the disaster that was last months gathering, an aversion to these meetings had made a nest within him and now doubt blossomed in his chest. He would be fine; he knew this, Whitepaw and Nettlesplash would make sure of it, but he couldn't forget the blind terror displayed by most cats at the last gathering, and the embarrassing way he had been forced to retreat with his tail between his legs. No, I did not cower and run away like a scared kit, I made a well-thought and tactical decision! he combated his own thoughts, although the only one he had to convince was himself. Shaking out his caramel coat, Crakepaw found himself thinking about his favourite denmate, Whitepaw and feeling a brief pang of concern for the stocky white tom's well-being. He had totally blanked on whether or not the other male would be here tonight, and his distaste for the gathering quickly faded as he sought out his friend

Oakleap padded into the gathering, a fake skip in her step and a fake smile to go along with it. She still hadn't recovered from the loss of her mate. After all who could if you'd know him for your entire life. Who could? Letting out a small sigh Oakleap sat down near the great rock, trying to hide the pain inside. The pain of losing a mate.

Shaking out his dark brown tabby pelt, Grasssnake headed into the gathering and sat down near the Great rock. This gathering won't be so bad. I hope. He thought.

OOC: Minnowstream is currently in camp due to her kits and Bunnypaw didn't want to come to this gathering. Oakleap and Grasssnake are both open to talk to!

Mothpaw paused at the lip of the clearing, gazing down at the assembled cats. There were so many! Sure, he knew there were 5 clans so there'd have to be a lot of cats but seeing them was something else entirely. And the rock was so big even from this distance! His fluffy, pale golden coat was groomed until it gleamed, completely free from any tangles.

Well, gatherings are for socializing so... Time to find new friends! He bounded down into the clearing, eagerly looking around for someone to talk to.

Padding into the gathering, Lightningstar took note that only WindClan had arrived as of yet. He was certainly anything but friends with the molly named Brindlestar, but none the less, after making his way up to the top of Great Rock, the large leader gave her the usual dip of his head. He needed to at least be somewhat respectful, seeing as though they didn't need any bad blood between them right now, with all that was going on with the rogues recently...

Sitting down and tucking his fluffy tail neatly around his rather large paws, Lightningstar sat in silence as he watched over the growing clowder of chattering cats bellow, waiting for the next clan to arrive.

The deputy followed dutifully behind her father. The moon of rest and peace the Clans had taken in order to regroup and calculate had been much needed... especially when it came to getting it in Lightningstar's mind that the conduct he had at the last gathering was not to be allowed any more. Taking her place at the bottom of the Great Rock, she turned and surveyed the area. Seeing only WindClan was there, the deputy simply gave her greeting to the other. She had little to discuss, and as such, Cloudbreeze would choose to remain relatively quiet. She was more on watch duty tonight than anything.

Silverstar's eyes looked down at his paws as he stepped over the loosened dirt, pebbles, and plants on his way to Fourtrees. The gathering, a time that usually brought him peace, only made him feel worse this time around. It used to be a one-night respite from all their troubles, but now, with everything happening with the rogues, not to mention ShadowClan... It was now a time where he may have to face his troubles. His head went back up as he stepped into the clearing and padded to the Great Rock and hopped onto it. He sat down next to Lightningstar, although he didn't share any words with the ally. All he did was stare out into the gathering mass of cats, just waiting.

Roseeye bound down the incline to the clearing and slowed to a halt. Things were getting tense to say the least, but hopefully tonight will be peaceful. She sat down and looked up at the Great Rock, waiting to see what would happen.

Scorchpaw trodded into the gathering and looked around. With everything going on, he couldn't help but be worried. For himself, for his clanmates, and for everyone. He took a deep breath, there wasn't any sign of rogues nearby. The clans should be working together and focus on their common threat, best case scenario. But that was out of his paws. He looked over and saw a RiverClan apprentice eager for someone to talk to, and he figured he might as well. He walked towards the apprentice and sat down, bushy tail curled around his paws. "Hey, I'm Scorchpaw. From ShadowClan."

OOC: Roseeye is free to talk, Scorchpaw is talking to Mothpaw

Owlpaw's rounded ears drooped as she padded into the clearing. Whoever'd invented Gatherings was not taking into consideration cats with anxiety. Carefully, the brown and white tabby apprentice slipped into the growing group of her own Clan, relieved to spot her own mentor within only a few moments. Owlpaw  reached Roseeye after ducking around a few larger cats and tapped her mentor on the flank with her tail. "Roseeye! Can I just stay with you for all this?"

---

Rainpaw's fluffy tail dragged behind him as he followed his Clan. He wasn't in the mood to talk. The undeniable presence of rogues was felt, but not seen, and that made it so much more worse. He mingled around the other Clans, looking for apprentices to talk to. He was still young; maybe some of them knew what to do here if the rogues came.

Owlpaw is talking to Roseeye, Rainpaw is open and looking for apprentices outside of WindClan.

Roseeye turned her head as she felt someone tap her on the side. She saw that it was her apprentice, and immediatly she relaxed a bit. "Oh, Owlpaw. Sure." she looked back towards the Great Rock. Usually, apprentices would jump to be able to talk with cats from other clans, but she could understand why Owlpaw wouldn't want to. She was a really gentle cat, but not good with crowds, which did make it seem strange to give to a cat like Roseeye, who was known for acting impatient and irritable. Well, she felt like that around others, but not around Owlpaw for some reason.

Mothpaw perked up as Scorchpaw introduced himself, grinning widely, "Shadowclan!" his whiskers twitched in excitement, "I've never met a Shadowclan cat before! I'm Mothpaw from Riverclan!" He flicked his tail as he sat, neatly wrapping it over his large paws. "Have you been to a gathering before? This is my first time, there's so many cats here!" Despite the general tension surrounding the gathering and carried by many of the attending cats, Mothpaw seemed entirely unaffected.

Flashpaw walked into the clearing, scenting the air, so many cats, he was actually a bit nervous before pushing that emotion down, he couldn’t show his nervousness not to all these cats, he wouldn’t show weakness. He lifted his tail up high and walked with confidence towards the center of the clearing, and began to wash shoulder fur. Amber eyes glowing in the moonlight, he didn’t scent his traitor mother or siblings here yet, part of him was glad he wasn’t sure what he’d say to them yet his emotions were confusing on that front. He watched Scorchpaw talk to some fishy smelli Nd cat and curled his lip, he wasn’t to interested in making friends but it might be useful to learn the weaknesses of his enemies it could prove to help him on his way to revenge . (He’s up for talking if anyone wants to)

There was a stone firmly entrenched within the fathoms of Acornpetal's cramping belly, an unyielding pain that turned every singular step into a wild battle against the dredging weights currently fixated upon her tense muscles. The little tortoiseshell's entire form was decorated in a blatant display of obvious nerves- the gentle arch of her spine decorated in a bristling column of mottled fur, prickly and unwilling to lay flat against the grain of her coat. Tilting the soft curve of her angular chin skyward in a futile attempt to clear away the worst of the nerves that relentlessly coiled beneath her trembling shape, the young molly was quick to approach the relatively vacant clearing beneath the Great Rock- offering her new peers a quick, jerking nod. The mortification only seemed to simmer further at the realization of just how much younger she appeared to be in the presence of her counterparts, having held her Warrior name for only a few sunrises prior to Silverstar's anointment.

"Good evening." Acornpetal mewed after a moment, dark gaze drifting between Cloudbreeze and Heronfeather, blatantly unsure of how to proceed with high-stakes niceties.

The molly was definitely more jumpy than normal tonight, although as more cats appeared and the other deputies filled the spaces near her the knot eased more and more. She was far too familiar with Cloudbreeze's stoic silence; the other she-cat would engage in the barest minimum of pleasantries and nothing more before disappearing after her leader the moment a gathering ended. And Sorrelwing had always been too... disinterested for her tastes, and she was yet to get a reading on the RiverClan or ShadowClan deputies, this being due to most gatherings she had attended they either weren't there or were filling in the leaders position.

However, Heronfeather was surprised to find a new she-cat nervously padding to the deputy's places, SkyClan scent wafting off her. She had watched the newcomer file in with her clan, Silverstar very clearly having some level of trust in her, and wondered what in StarClan had happened to Sorrelwing? It's almost as if no clan can keep a deputy... I'm not next, right? She swallowed hard at her unfortunate realisation; angst about the rogues was making her lose her ability to think critically. That was beside the point, this molly clearly needed a nudge in the right direction.

"Hello, are you the new deputy of SkyClan?" Heronfeather asked rather bluntly; her curiosity was piqued, she wanted to know where Sorrelwing was but judging by how nervous and young Acornpetal looked, perhaps now was not the time. "If you are, come take a seat. This is probably the quietest place here anyways, the closer you are to the rock the less you can hear the actual gathering," She was chatting a little too much but that wasn't to be helped, the tortoiseshell molly looked like she needed some reassurance. Or so she thought - maybe she was leaning too heavily into how she felt at her first gathering.

Words that hung heavy over his head like the thick evening air were flicked away with the lofty wavering of his tail. Yewpaw trotted into the clearing alongside the rest of his clan. He followed after Heronfeather, casting a careless glace across the growing mass of cats. Admittedly, it was amusing the way they danced around each other and tested the limits of the precarious relationships between the clans. Instead of subjecting himself to the garble of strangers and the unbearable scents of supposed enemies, the tom made his way to the front of the clearing. Once he reached the space near the deputies, Yewpaw dropped to his stomach. With one fluid movement, he flipped onto his back, teetering side to side as he rolled his shoulders into the earth. A dreamy slime graced the features of his maw. When he blinked his amber eyes open, Acornpetal and Heronfeather were above in the midst of their own conversation, "Heronfeather, you never told me you had friends. Or that the gathering clearing was utterly comfortable. There must be several things you aren't telling me."

Lichenstar gave a fierce yawn as she led RiverClan towards Fourtrees, amber eyes bleary from sleep. This moon had been an absolute headache, accidental kitnapping notwithstanding. She felt a thousand moons older than she really was. The calico hardly noticed who was and wasn't already in the clearing before she already sat upon the rock. Brindlestar looked like she'd just fought and lost to a bush. She strained her neck to see Lightningstar and Silverstar as well, but no Magpiestar. RiverClan wasn't last, at least. Below them sat a new she-cat taking the place of SkyClan's deputy. 'She's awfully young. Ah, well, I appointed Wolfstorm. No room to talk for me.'

Wolfstorm followed Lichenstar into the clearing. As he arrived, he spotted a young she-cat in the deputy area. Joining her, the gray tom noticed some discomfort, which he assumed was in relation to her age. ”Honestly, we don’t do much at gatherings. And trust me, I felt really young at my first gathering as a deputy. It wears off.” he shrugged. The gathering was quiet, yet it didn’t seem peaceful. It was an eerie, empty quiet that haunted the clearing.

Shellpaw trotted into the clearing, peering around with minnow-like eyes at the five clans as they milled around, spotting a rather drab looking apprentice. He slowed his pace to a simple walk, approaching the tom until he could smell sweetgrass floating off of his pelt. He recognized the WindClan scent from the border Wolfstorm showed him. "Hey!" he said, head cocking to the side. "What d'you look so sad for?"

He knew there was a rogue infestation lately, but he'd never seen them himself. So, by an ingenious stretch of logic, that meant it wasn't such a big deal. He saw concerned looks on the faces of a few leaders, and timid warriors whispering among themselves, but he figured there was nothing to worry about. There were five clans, and one group of rogues. They'd be gone in no time! "Were you here when the rogues showed up?"

ooc: Shellpaw is talking to Rainpaw

Icee is busy, so Hawktalon will be leading ShadowClan to the Gathering tonight

---

Hawktalon wasn't really worried about Magpiestar. The tom had caught some sort of sudden onset of disease. With no medicine cat, ShadowClan couldn't do much about that. He had been left in the camp with the cats who had not been chosen to attend the Gathering. The deputy was only worried about representing ShadowClan. This was his first Gathering as deputy... only, he was acting leader for this night. Hopefully nothing bad will happen, he mused, ...like, I don't know, rogues attacking again. He glanced balefully at the scars that matted his pelt. Nothing new - scars were often trophies warriors put on display - but without a medicine cat, they had taken ages to heal.

The gray and black tabby signaled with his tail for the Clan to flood into the clearing. He paused at the dip, analyzing the night. Over time, Hawktalon had learned to listen to his instincts. Tonight, those instincts told him that the rogues would make an appearance. Stop it. I'll do my best tonight. It's all I can do. The muscular warrior twitched an ear and padded into the clearing, weaving his way around pelts until he was at the edge of the Great Rock, where he normally would have stood. Hawktalon wasn't a climber, but he was fit enough to leap to the top of the Great Rock, if a bit undignified. Forcing his nerves down, he dipped his head to the leaders. "Hello. I'm Hawktalon, ShadowClan's recently appointed deputy. However, Magpiestar is sick this evening, so I will be representing ShadowClan."

There. That worked. Now that the words were out, they couldn't be stuffed back down. Hopefully that would be good enough, because Hawktalon still needed work on acting in the moment. He sat down, eyeing the other cats. He felt so out of place among this group of seasoned leaders. All there was to do now was wait. He would not look good, as some new deputy, if he started the Gathering. Well, at least there was time now to draft some sort of decent speech. What had happened in ShadowClan? Obviously he'd been deputy... Flashpaw had been made an apprentice... There was that matter of Coalsp- Coal. Hawktalon had no clue how to address that, eventually  deciding to leave it to Magpiestar next Gathering. Ah, Briarkit was an apprentice now, too. That... That was all he had to do, right?

Flashpaw stepped into the clearing with his clan, a part of him feeling satisfied that magpie star couldn’t lead his own clan. *Some leader* he thought, pausing mid step to scratch his ear. His bright orange fur and large ears standing out amongst the darker furred shadowclan cats, not that he minded he would prove to them all that he was a warrior to be feared. And he would eventually extract his vengeance upon his so called leader. Every clan would fear him and shadowclan as if they should . They were strong, and a powerful clan and he would be the strongest warrior among them. The lanky Tom with large paws stepped into the clearing ears swiveling back and forth as he took in all the cats before him. No sign of his mother his traitor mother .. his brain supplied . As he sat down to groom himself .

Halfpaw slinked into the Gathering with the rest of ShadowClan, his expression more sour than usual. Magpiestar was sick, of course he was. He cast a glance over towards Flashpaw, remembering just a few moons ago how the young tom was just a stupid kit. Funny how time flew like that. At least Flashpaw was beginning to fill out, towering over the other apprentices. Halfpaw huffed in annoyance at Flashpaw's nonchalance at grooming himself openly. "Flashpaw, you should have done that back at camp," he hissed, tail lashing. "We're representing ShadowClan here, show at least some dignity, for StarClan's foxpelted sake." Ah, Halfpaw...In just a good of a mood as always.

“Leave him be, Halfpaw, it’s only his second gathering,” Toadspeckle sighed as she slipped in after the two apprentices, giving Flashpaw’s ears a friendly swipe with her tail as she passed. “He’ll learn, in due time." She sat down and tucked her tail neatly around her paws, looking towards the Great Rock with an uneasy twitch of her whiskers. "It'd be easier to look a little more dignified if our leader were here," she mumbled. With Magpiestar back in camp, she wondered if Hawktalon would take it upon himself to say something about Coal. Hopefully he keeps quiet about that for now. With the rogues a threat, we need all the allies we can get, She thought with a small sigh.

The dark apprentice's eyes narrowed at Toadspeckle's admonishing and his lips curled up in a snarl as he turned his face away to look elsewhere. "That's no excuse." he growled to himself. Although, he had to admit somewhat that Toadspeckle was right. It was much easier to slack off when the leader wasn't actually with them. Scowling, he turned his gaze up towards Hawktalon, praying to whatever StarClan cats were listening that the deputy wouldn't embarrass them all tonight.

Flashpaw looked up from where he was grooming his shoulder . “.. I got something snagged in my fur Halfpaw relax” he mewled and let out a soft purr as toadspeckle walked past him. He was fond of the molly, seeing her as a second mother to him, better then the traitor one he was born to. “You’re in a good mood as always Halfpaw,”Flashpaw purred and flicked his tail at the apprentice . “Why don’t we go scare some of the other apprentices?”