July'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. 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.

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 .

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.

Looking down at her paws as she walked, Bunnypaw padded into the gathering, an air of sadness around her. Sadness that came from the loss of her sister and her mother. Sitting down at the edge of the clearing, Bunnypaw tried to straighten her back. To try to not look sad. But it was kind of hard to do so, with tears flooding from her eyes.

Minnowstream heaved her self into the gathering, gasping ever so often. Finally she made it and laid down near the great rock. She started licking her plump belly, stroking her tounge against her silver tabby fur. To other cats it make seem that she was plump from the abudence of fish. From the good prey that Greenleaf brought. Well most of it was true. Except she wasn't plump because of the prey. No, it was because she was expecting kits.

Grasssnake padded into the gathering. He waved his tail in hello to other cats as he sat down. The last gathering was disaterous, but hopefully this one wouldn't be too bad. Maybe if there was postivity this gathering could probably be better then the last.

OOC: My other cats will come later on. Grasssssssssnake and Minnow are open to talk to. You can try talking to Bunnypaw but she isn't so open to socailizing.

Hawktalon took his place at the base of the leaders, striped tail wrapping around his paws. He sat up straight, not showing any signs of weakness as he observed his Clan walking in. His first Gathering as deputy... the tabby warrior’s ear twitched as the other Clans started to flood through. Brindlestar took her place on the rock, but the others, including Magpiestar, were not yet present. Silver-tinged fur slightly adrift in the breeze, Hawktalon turned his head up to the sky, waiting for the other leaders to get here. He’d have to learn tips on how to speak well in front of a crowd.

---

Panting, Sorrelpaw scrambled up the RiverClan path into the Gathering. Her gray fur shone a radiant silve,r and she paused to admire it, giving it a quick grooming. Her aqua eyes fell on Minnowstream, and she scrambled towards the queen. Better her own Clanmate than someone else. “Hey. Minnowstream. What’re you supposed to do? I don’t wanna talk to someone not from RiverClan, they’re all fish-brains.”

---

Owlpaw’s head was held low, ears twitching nervously, as she slowly padded into the clearing. An small, awkward, antisocial apprentice, in a clearing with almost everyone in all the Clans. What could go wrong? Drawing her short tail behind her, the patched tabby chose a spot at the edge of the clearing, pressed against a tree.

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’s up for talking if anyone wants to)

Minnowstream lifted her head to see Sorrelpaw, an apprentice from her clan. "Relax and enjoy the peace and maybe talk to another cat. Also yea some of the cats from other clans are fishbrains." She said. "Anyways Sorrelpaw how have you been?"

The excitement of his first gathering was dampened considerably from what it might have once been. It was hard to be optimistic when the last moon had been full of upseting events for his Clan— and now since Sorrelwing had spilled their secret, he wasn’t so sure that SkyClan would be met with friendly faces. Not to mention the rogues, Sunpaw thought and cast a wary glance around the edge of the tree line, half expecting to see the glint of malicious eyes and bared teeth. He shook out his fur to try and chase away his apprehensions as he looked around the gathering cats, starting to wonder if Leopardpaw had been allowed to come, and if he had told his Clanmates about the mousebrained SkyClan apprentice that almost drowned himself.

Toadspeckle was a few paces behind Flashpaw, although she was busy searching the dark forest around them with her wide eyes. She had heard the story about last Gathering— and she didn’t want to be caught offguard. The mottled she-cat’s whisker’s twitched at the familiar tang of the other Clans’ scents. Ahead of her, she watch Flashpaw begin to explore the crowd. “Have fun!” She called after him, her voice tinged with a purr as she recalled her own first Gathering.
(Ooc: talk to my cats, they need friends and sorry if this has bad formatting, I’m on mobile)

Flashpaw glanced behind him at Toadspeckle, he would always have a soft spot for her, he considered her more of a surrogate mother to him, more then coal that was for sure. He walked back to her and rubbed his head against her chest letting himself be something other then guarded and tense and angry as he purred .
“I’ll try Toadspeckle “ he told her before trotting off to find other apprentices, He caught the strange scent of skyclan and noticed a rather nervous looking apprentice . “.. hello” he mewled at Sunpaw.

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! Many cats already seemed to be chatting; he spotted a small, patched tabby lingering around the edge of the clearing. He eagerly bounded over to the smaller cat, "Hi! I'm Mothpaw! Have you been to a gathering before? This is my first gathering and there are so many cats here! What clan are you from?" He chirped excitedly.

Padding into the gathering, Lightningstar was surprised to only see WindClan had arrived thus far. He was certainly anything but friends with 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 large paws, Lightningstar sat in silence as he watched over the clowder of chattering cats bellow, waiting for the next clan to arrive.

"Don't worry, Sorrelpaw!" Shellpaw chirped as he slid past her, "If all these cats are fish-brains, you'll fit right in!" He bounded past his denmate a few paces, turning around for only a second. His mouth was peeled up in a mischievous grin, tail lashing with the excitement of his first Gathering. "Come on, it's the one time of the moon where nobody's allowed to claw your ears off. It'll be fun!"

The silver tabby tom zipped through the clearing, hyperactively turning corners and dodging warriors much larger than himself. He saw two cats, around his age. One was Mothpaw, another denmate of his (he was a soft fellow, of course, and very easy to tease), but the second cat was a stranger to him. He skidded to a halt. "Can I sit with you two?" he asked, already sitting down. "You smell like pine needles, stranger! I'm Shellpaw."