February Gathering [2020]

Oakpaw nodded. "Yes Nightstalker." Said Oakpaw. She waved her tail in good bye to Minnowpaw and padded over to Nightstalker sitting down beside her.

Minnowpaw watched as Oakpaw padded away before getting up onto her paws. She padded towards Silvertooth and sat down beside her. Minnowpaw was rather cross but decided she wouldn't speak. She would confront Silvertooth later.

Cloudbreeze followed behind her father, a proud stance to her trot as she came with the rest of ThunderClan. It was strange to feel the peace between all of them, not excluding the slight tensions that came with RiverClan just days before. With her calico pelt rather beautiful beneath the moon-lit sky and the smiles of her ancestors, she found her place where she should be at the bottom of Highrock. Three other deputies were already there, and she simply took her place silently. Proud, as her father had taught her to stand. All she offered towards the other cats were a curt nod, with her gaze fanning out to watch the rest of the clans in front of her. In particular, her gaze stayed on ThunderClan. If any of her clanmates misbehaved, she would surely let them know that was not how a gathering went.

-

Hawkflight was one of the warriors who came in with Skyclan. While blending in with the rest of the crowd, she slipped away to climb one of the massive pines to gain a vantage point. After all, she was a Skyclan cat. It most certainly was in her blood to dwell within these trees. As far as she knew, she wasn't trying to cause an ambush and was breaking no rules of the truce that fell tonight if she was simply dwelling within familiar territory.

ooc; deputies feel free to try n hit up cloud. she's stoic. but anyone feel free to boop hawkflight she'll prolly show you how to climb one of the fourtrees.

Fernpaw jumped to her paws yelling Boo at all the cats surrounding her.

Badgerpaw noticed his sister, cloud breeze, and motioned with his tail as a greeting.


(Sorry wanted to do prank, scared of morningpaw, don’t mind me :3)

Scorchpaw eyed Morningpaw in confusion. Prank? What does he mean by tha-

He flinched at stared at Fernpaw in shock as she jumped up and shouted "Boo" like she was still a kit. He just stared at her with a blank expression. Scorchpaw remained silent for a moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity. "You were faking it?" he spat, his face starting to show disgust. His eyes narrowed to her, "Ya know what sort of commotion it would cause if someone dropped dead at a gathering? Everyone would try to help them, then just find out they've made a mistake for being a decent helping cat. You think that's funny?" he snarled. His bushy tail lashed side to side as his fur fluffed up. "You see anyone laughing?" his teeth bared from the frustration building up inside him.

Swiftstream had followed the other windclanners, her fur unkempt and her eyes darted from any new thing that came into her view. Something was off recently with the windclan medicine cat. She had spent more and more time hidden away, avoiding the hours in which she would have the highest likelihood of being around other cats. So attending a gathering full of other cats from not even just her clan really wasn't exactly helping her. She felt like the world around her wasn't there, she felt an empty, terrible sense of loneliness. All of the work she had poured into her duties, just for starclan to ignore her. What did I do to deserve this? she thought over and over and yet she couldn't focus on it, she could hardly focus on anything. That caused her to nearly trip and bump into quite a few other windclanners as they made their way to the gathering, resulting in many "hey!"s and "watch it!"s.

Everything that moved, everything that lived and even the things that did not must've been of starclan's doing at some point, right? Just a part of starclan's plan, or was it? Swiftstream kept her head low as she found her place beside her apprentice.

---

Beepaw didn't eagerly seek out the company of her clan-mates or even her siblings but her ears flicked left and right at the sound of other cats talking, exchanging gossip amongst themselves. A sudden rush of excitement sent a shiver down her spine, in this moment she experienced a feeling of sonder- that everyone around her lived just as eventful lives as she did. She wanted to know everything there was to know. So she sat down near a group of chatting felines and made mostly fruitless attempts to listen in.

As dusk fell away, the moon replaced the setting sun, lighting the sky with its brilliance, its beam accompanied by bright starlight twinkling overhead. No clouds lingered overhead, a common occurrence on the night of the gathering. Truth be told, he could not recall the last time a battle had been prophesied by cloudy skies. Dancing lights lit the way before him as his paws stumbled through banks of snow in efforts to keep pace with the rest of Thunderclan.

His short brown pelt did little to stop the frigid temperature, which in turn, did not aid his current state of shaking. His eyes shot around the clearing as they entered the arena that was Fourtrees. Conversation was always far too tense, not that Logleap's own anti-social nature did not contribute to awkward situations all around, but at Fourtrees, being comfortable was difficult when all five clans were present. Thankfully, he was placed not with the rough (and sometimes thick-headed) warriors. Instead, he was with the far more understanding medicine cats of the clans. Logleap kept his head bowed as he trudged through the crowd to reach the gathering crowd of medicine cats. His green eyes flashed with recognition as he neared his fellow herb lovers.

"Late, late," the tom meowed merrily. "Toad, Wild," Logleap tossed the duo a small nod, his eyes lingering on the apprentice. She gave him serious heebie jeebies. "Um ha, Swift and Soft. Oak." He concluded, then on second thought added; "Hi."

------

Spiderspark trailed confidently - practically strutting - into Fourtrees. He threw a wink at anyone that would bother to look, and it took all of his willpower not to instigate a fight with the inklings of rumors he had heard at gatherings past. He assumed a position near the center, and awaited anyone to visit him.

(spider and log are open for anything)

Willowshade squinted as she brushed through the mingling cats, not particularly caring whose conversations she interrupted as she pushed towards the Great Rock to clear the crowd. She was never one for crowds, and never really all that fond of making friends with other Clans, either. The she-cat was more disinterested than disdainful, but nonetheless she was well-aware that she could easily be meeting these cats in battle and was hesitant to form any kind of attachment with them.

So, she stuck to those she was familiar with. She wandered up to Ivyfeather, her ever-present look of mischief growing a little. "I hate to break it to you Ivyfeather, but staring really hard at other cats won't cause their untimely demise," Willowshade said with an audible chuckle to her voice.

---

Rimepaw's eyes grew wide as he entered the clearing following his mentor. He had no idea that there were anywhere near this many cats in the forest, let alone that they could gather in one place. His initial kit-like instinct was to make as many friends as possible, but that instinct was immediately drowned out by the realization that he would likely have to fight some of these cats one day. His stare of wonder grew icy, his distrust of the other cats growing. The apprentice stuck to the edges of the group of cats, not terribly fond of the crowd either. He made his way over to Heronpaw, taking a seat a couple tail lengths away. "This is.. overwhelming," he mumbled after glancing at the other apprentice and seeing her general air of discomfort.

Leappaw skipped her way to the gathering. Her tail waving in excitement. Her eyes gleamed as she looked around at all the other cats. "Wowowowow!" She purred, gazing up at the four oak trees. "This is utterly amazing! This is the best thing ever!" She mewed. Her eyes sparked with kit-like energy.

(OOC: Leappaw is the best open for interaction)

Breezebranch had been secretly hoping Mudmask would appear at the gathering this moon. It didn't hurt having a friend in WindClan, did it? No, they were meant to be friendly tonight. Her clear green eyes scanned the crowd for his familiar pelt, but it seemed it was hiding from her eye. She sighed and padded towards her clanmates, but paused when Mudmask surprised her. "Mudmask! How are you?" Her first reaction was delight, but she realized that might seem odd, as she generally didn't speak to anyone but SKyClan, so she quickly changed her tone to casual. Though her twinkling eyes gave away her true feelings. "SkyClan is good. I found a kit, abandoned in the snow, poor thing, and brought him back to SkyClan. His name is Icekit." She purred, thinking of the snowy kitten she viewed as her own.

"How is WindClan? They are doing well, I hope." She mewed calmly, taking in the charming tom's orange eyes. Her fur was neatly groomed, reflecting starlight. Her tail calmly wrapped over her paws, and she sat close by to the tom. Ever since their first meeting, she'd thought of the Windclanner often, which at first shocked her. After her initial shock, however, she accepted it, and she greatly looked forward to talking with him tonight.

Morningpaw leaped straight up as Fernpaw jumped to her paws. The hairs on his back raised and his tail fluffed up like a squirrel's. Resisting the urge to hiss, he dug his claws into the ground for security.

He let out a dry chuckle. "Hehe, good one..." His eyes narrowed at Scorchpaw. "No need to be so serious," the apprentice meowed, trying to shake away the shock in his body. He was growing increasingly annoyed at himself for falling for such a simple prank. But he would never let them know that. "Who doesn't love a good prank every once in a while. I would have pulled one myself if you hadn't beaten me to it..." Morningpaw paused, cocking his head at the she-cat who scared him. "Sorry, what's your name?" He flicked his gaze to the other tom, looking for a response from him as well.

Fernpaw smiled at morningpaw and scorch paw. “I’m Fernpaw of windclan.” she mewed.



(A she-cat with two toms... I smell a ship coming :3)

A sandy colored room slipped over the ledge at the rim of Fourtrees. Sandbreeze had arrived a bit late, but it looked like he hadn't missed much. He spotted a few of his clanmates, but he saw them everyday. This was an opportunity to meet others from the clan. A cat never knew when he might need an unexpected friend. He walked over to a pair of cats he knew by name, but no more. "Hello, Willowshade. I don't think we've met before, but I'm Sandbreeze, from Thunderclan. And you must be Ivyfeather. It's a pleasure to meet you both," he said to the other, waving his tail in flourishing bow.

Scorchpaw's eyes blinked as his expression faded. Mouse-dung, he did it again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to react that way..." he dipped his head a bit, "Can't help it sometimes, I'm not the type to take pranks well, y'know?" He eyed Fernpaw and lifted his head back up. "Scorchpaw, ShadowClan." he flicked his tail in greeting to the two other apprentices.

The tom made himself comfortable near the she-cat, hearing with full interest at her news. "Thanks to Starclan that you were there in time for that little kit! And it is even greater that you clan let them in too. Hehe, who would have imagined that you were such a kind, warm soul after how to shouted me for scaring a little mouse?" He mewed jokingly, reminding their first unusual meeting in this same place. Who would have imagined that the tom would not stop wondering about the she-cat? Mudmask certainly wouldn't think of ever caring for a cat from another clan yet there he was... losing himself in the green eyes of the calico molly.

"Windclan is well. Nothing much happens. I was given an apprentice, though! Her name is Fernpaw and well... she is a bit of a troublemaker but she has the spirit and the potential! She just needs some guidance but I have no doubts she will be a warrior soon." Though it was usual mentor and apprentice would enter a Gathering together, Mudmask and Fernpaw weren't exactly the common mentor and apprentice. Fernpaw lacked commitment and acted more like a kit than a future warrior. And Mudmask was more independent, doing his own thing and only taking the role of the mentor when it was 100% necessary.

Wildstar nodded at the leaders who arrived shortly after he had. It seems the other clans were doing well also, which pleased the WindClan leader. He hoped for a period of peace after everything they've gone through. As he looked out upon the gathering crowd of cats of all ages, he purred quietly to himself, pleased that everyone seemed to be getting along. The boundaries of the Full Moon appeared to be holding, which was sure to please StarClan.

Following up behind the rest of Skyclan was Sorrelwing, making sure that no one got left behind. Scrunching her nose at the sight of the other clans, she quickly and awkwardly made her way to the foot of the rock where the other deputies sat. She took a quick glance between them all, making short eye contact with Magpiewing before she huffed and looked away. "Greetings..." She meowed, her nose stuck in the air.

----

Bramblepaw quietly filed in behind the rest of Shadowclan, his anxious eyes scouring the large clearing. All the clans convening at once? It sounded crazy to him as a kit, but even as he stood here in the midst of the gathering, he still couldn't believe it. It sounded too good to be true! But what was he supposed to do? Other than some stern warnings not to speak of the clan's doings, no one had told him where he was supposed to be. As he looked at all the warriors, they were gathering in small circles, some talking like old friends, others awkwardly trying not to look at each other. On the other side, more cats that looked like his age were playing, shouting, and fur standing on end. Was that where he was supposed to go? He had no idea. Instead, he padded closer to the apprentices talking but didn't dare interrupt. Rather, he simply sat and listened.

Having made his way into the clearing and up onto the Highrock with the other leaders, Lightningstar's large form sat silhouetted against the moonlit sky as he neatly wrapped his tail around his paws. Looking to the side, the tom gave a curt nod of greeting to Wildstar, Firestar, and Silverstar, before turning his gaze towards Lichenstar, who sat on the other side of him. "Our clans seem to enjoy hating each other, wouldn't you say?" the leader huffed. The topic of clan rivalries was something he found trivial, but at the same time, he supposed it was only natural.

This Leafbare wonderland was when Cloudpaw was at his happiest. The chill could never get through his thick, white fur, nor did snow keep him from a successful hunt. The fluffy tom descended into the clearing like a rolling layer of fog, his dull, but expressive yellow eyes gazing about for somebody to talk to. There! A lanky, black tom sitting by his lonesome. How cold he must be! The apprentice weaved his way towards the gloomy-looking creature, his own face warm and friendly. "How are you doing over here?" Cloudpaw sat beside the ShadowClan cat - with a bit of respectful distance, of course. "You look smart, I'm sure you can already tell where I'm from. I'm Cloudpaw. I hope you aren't feeling too chilly out here?"


After trekking all the way to Fourtrees in the cold slush and slop without issue, who knew that beneath the towering oaks she'd meet a roadblock. Lichenstar watched her own warrior Silvertooth quarrel with one of Lightningstar's many children, a black she-cat whose name evaded her at the moment. Her authoritative demeanor had dropped as she stared blank-faced, but dumbfounded at the two. 'Please don't cause a scene,' she silently begged them. Regathering herself, the RiverClan leader passed Silvertooth, giving the younger calico a brief tap with her tail-tip. She wouldn't say anything at the moment - indeed she admitted that exchanging thorned words had once been a fun pastime as a warrior - though if this continued to be an issue, she'd make a mental note to speak with her back home.

She leapt onto the Great Rock, finding herself beside ThunderClan's leader. "Firestar. Wildstar. Silverstar. Lightningstar." Brief acknowledgement, wait to speak their turn and maybe listen to what the others had to say, go home. Easy as that. Though Lightningstar seemed intent on breaking that pattern. "That's what it always devolves into, it seems." Her gaze lingered on the side of his face, trying to catch an expression, but she soon turned away.

"Morningpaw, future leader of ThunderClan. And that's not some kit fantasy," he added, knowing they would laugh at him. That didn't matter. At least he knew he was truthful. The tom turned around and rolled his eyes where they could see before turning back with a fake smile. "Maybe, uh... Fernpaw and I can teach you how to lighten up a bit... Searpaw was it?"

---

Magpiewing sat rather uncomfortably, pulling his tail close to him as the remaining two deputies joined them. Cloudbreeze seemed to ignore the group or was blissfully ignorant of the stale atmosphere. Sorrelwing, on the other paw, fully intended to insult at least the ShadowClan deputy, but perhaps Brindleface and Ivyfeather might take offense to her huff as well. The black tom gently licked the pads of his paw and watched as the SkyClan cat plopped herself down and stuck her nose up high. As a response, he snorted as if he was laughing, looking away from the she-cat with a smirk. "A warm welcome to you, Sorrelwing. You're looking as proud as ever," he commented, adding a hint of amusement to his voice. "You're all looking rather important tonight," he added with a mocking tone.

Breezebranch laughed as she remembered their first encounter. Oh how that mouse annoyed her! "Yeah? Well, your prideful self wasn't much better! And who could blame a poor cat for scolding someone who walks like a lopsided badger?" The tortoiseshell-tabby molly teased playfully, eyes gleaming. Mudmask wasn't like any of her Clanmates, and she enjoyed hat about him. She could be herself around him, without fear of him judging her. That fateful morning Breezebranch certainly hadn't thought she'd meet a WindClan tom, and certainly not one like Mudmask! He was different than other toms, he made her feel... Like she belonged. He reminded her of Spottedoak.

"Oh, an apprentice? That's cool, Mudmask. I can't wait until I get my first apprentice, and it might be soon! There are three kits in the nursery other than Icekit, and I'm hoping I'll get to mentor one of them! Is it exciting?" She asked, "It must be! You're so lucky, Mudmask. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mentor and teach her everything she needs to know."

Shrikepaw wasn't as enthusiastic as most apprentices about going to the Gathering. She didn't really care about talking to cats from other Clans than SkyClan, and the main draw was the knowledge one could receive about what was going on in their Clans. She doubted any of the leaders would so easily let anything good slip, so she looked around for another apprentice who might have some good gossip.

ooc; Shrikepaw is open to chat.

Fernpaw laughed at the funny nickname. “My friend is just like you scorchpaw.” she mewed at the two toms.

Badgerpaw look at the cat that started talking to him. “So what brings you over to me?” He asked curiosity bugging him.

Softpaw padded in silently beside her mentor, nodding to Logleap. She liked the tom. He was crazy. "Hi, Log." After that she sat beside Swiftstream, keeping to herself. She wasn't very social, and she enjoyed keeping to herself.

(OOC: Soft is open for conversing among MEDICINE CATS and MCAs)

Ratpaw shivered, tucking his skinny tail tightly around his paws, shoulders still hunched as he passed a quick glance over the cloud that sat a few tail lengths away. Somehow... The tom reminded him of some other formal speaking fool. "Kind of you to say... WindClan, right? You must be used to this awful chill." He shuddered again. "I'm Ratpaw. The pleasure is all mine." Slight sarcasm could be heard in his voice.

Firestar briefly glanced at the newly arriving leaders. They hadn't stood side-by-side like this in a long while. It felt... kinda nice.

Scorchpaw scoffed at Morningpaw's comment and nickname for him. "Lighten up?" he spoke back with a smirk, "I never thought of that idea before. Thank you, o' wise Sunrisestar." He then pretended to dip his head in respect. He was always easy to startle, most of the time he couldn't control it, but he doubted the two would get that. So, he just sat down and curled his fluffy tail around his paws in silence.