May's Gathering [2020]

BadgerStorm padded into the gathering with Firepaw next to him. He sat next to Oakleap as he watched Firepaw walk off to find cats to talk to.

Firepaw ran around in excitement as she looked for someone to talk with.

SwiftBranch padded into the gathering with her family and shrikethorn and even though she couldn’t understand the gathering she loved coming. It was a glorious sight to see, when so many cats get together in peace. She sat down next to shrikethorn and looked around.

Blackclaw padded into the gathering with Shadowclan and went to talk to Mistedsong as he hasn’t seen his mentor is days. “H-he-hello..” He mewed when he reached the others medicine cats.

Rainpaw stayed close to BreezeBranch as this was his first gathering and so many cats were there.


(BadgerStorm is open

Firepaw is wandering around looking for cats to talk to

SwiftBranch is with shrikethorn so isn’t open

Blackclaw is talking to The medicine cats

Rainpaw is too shy to talk )

Lichenstar led her clan with a bit more confidence tonight; the clan had grown much this moon, thanks to her clanmates' hard work. For a moment she paused at the lip of the clearing. RiverClan was first, besides a few early birds from the other clans. With her clan trailing behind her, she leaped onto the Great Rock to wait. How odd it was to see Fourtrees so relatively empty, even if it would only last a few heartbeats.

Wolfstorm entered the gathering beside Violetpaw, his wild gray fur still sticking our quite a bit.

Lilypaw glanced around for someone to talk too, before landing on a younger she-cat. She approached her, smiling. ”Hi! I’m Lilypaw.” she introduced herself.

Ferretpaw had been with Firepaw, and smiled as the tortoiseshell approached. ”Hi Lilypaw! I’m Ferretpaw.” mewed the silver tabby.

Coalspark padded into Fourtrees, head held high and golden eyes roaming the slowly gathering group of cats. She was early-- SkyClan must not have arrived in force yet. She sat near the side of the clearing that they would enter from, patiently waiting.

---

Mistedsong had gone ahead of his Clan some to have a proper conversation with Blackclaw prior to the gathering starting, and before things got loud and crowded. He caught sight of the black medicine cat relatively quickly upon entering the clearing and approached him, tail swishing gently. "How are you doing, Blackclaw?" he meowed cheerily. He had missed mentoring the ShadowClan cat, but his paws definitely did not.

Minnowstream padded into the gathering and sat down a smile on her face.

OOC: Minnow is open to talk to!

Cloudbreeze proudly followed behind her father when it came to the gathering. She took her place dutifully, looking around at the other Clans. She had her place to be, and she would be there.

The smooth, well-worn surface of the Great Rock was shimmering faintly, the stark light of the untroubled moon reflecting with sharp insistence upon the ancient stone. Brindlestar's downy fur caught softly on the slight indents and outcrops of the stone, a faintly evident rustling sound just barley noticeable above the clamorous chatter of the mingling parties, as she pulled herself atop the ceremonial meeting place. Straightening up, the pale-furred molly was set aflame by the cold light of the moon- her own grey pelt stripped of its usual hue, instead reduced to a ghostly outline of her usual self.

"Good evening Lichenstar," Brindlestar's sharp voice held its usual note of superficial politeness and refinement that was exclusively reserved for the other Leaders, assessing the tortoiseshell's newfound ease with a sharp stare that blatantly implied her curiosity, "I hope all is well with RiverClan."

---

Nettlesplash's jaws split widely, the tense flesh of the scar that had once split his lip straining at the unwelcome stretch, stark teeth flashing in the cold light of the Newleaf evening. The RiverClan Warrior had hardly felt like coming and enduring the tediousness of social interaction, especially when considering that he would have to ignore his abhorrence in Lichenstar's decision to ally with the tantrum-throwing Leader of ThunderClan of all cats. Forcing the mingling sea of cats to part in light of his presence, the big tom couldn't help but absently stride through the crowd, mindlessly catching wind of all sorts of gossip.

---

Acornpaw's dark gaze was exceptionally wide and starry tonight; unable to resit the plethora of unfamiliar sights and sounds that lingered about in the sea of cats who drifted aimlessly through the hollow. The little tortoiseshell felt a bit odd and uncertain of her paws, undeniably overwhelmed at the realization that she was actually here at the Gathering. Plus, all of the voices and scents were already giving rise to the faintest indications of a headache! Purposely keeping a neat distance between herself and any cat who could potentially be from WindClan, Acornpaw's big gaze couldn't help but steadily drift back towards the two Leaders atop the Great Rock, as well as the Deputies sprawled out below.

---

Ignoring the sharp protest from a cat whose tail was the unfortunate causality of Shrikepaw's carelessness, the young WindClanner found himself sticking to the outskirts of a loose scattering of Apprentices from various Clans- sharp features twisted up in distaste as he tried to keep up with the aimless chattering of his peers. Although he had initially been quite excited to join his Clanmates for the Gathering, the experience thus far was quite lacking- and it wasn't as though he could barge into any conversations Heronfeather was currently partaking in, as it would likely be received in poor taste. Reclining slightly against the sharp roots of a tree that happened to fringe the clearing, the blotched young tom continued to only offer some mindless input whenever prompted by his companions.

(OOC: Stormpaw is open to talk to as I don't have any plot for him in mind ATM ^^)

Stormpaw followed close to his father, also his mentor. This was his first time at a gathering, and it was impossible for him not to feel nervous. He looked around all the cats around, ThunderClan cats or not, his nose overwhelmed with all the different scents. He even had never seen a cat outside ThunderClan before!

Lilypaw smiled. ”Nice to meet you, Ferretpaw.” she soon saw the Thunderclanner beckon a younger apprentice over. It seemed the two had met before.


Ferretpaw nodded, and beckoned Stormpaw over with her tail. It looked like her nephew needed someone to talk too.

Firepaw saw Ferretpaw and Stormpaw so bounded over. She sat next to her aunt with a giant smile as she met lilypaw aswell. “Hi, I’m Firepaw.” She mewed to the Skyclan apprentice.


Blackclaw smiled at Mistedsong. “E-Eve-Every-Every-Th-Thing..I-Is..O-Okay.” He mewed and nodded as more medicine cats and Mca’s came.


Firepaw is talking to Ferretpaw, Lilypaw, and Stormpaw


Blackclaw is talking to the meds


BadgerStorm is waiting for gathering to start


Rainpaw is still hiding with BreezeBranch 


SwiftBranch is still with shrikethorn

Padding into the bustling clearing and nodding farewell to Cloudbreeze and his clanmates, Lightningstar made his way to Great Rock. The moon shined bright up in the starry night sky, casting light onto the forest bellow, and Lightningstar hoped tonight would be just as usual as every other gathering, though he knew it wouldn't be, especially after what had happened not to long ago. A rogue killing a kit... whoever did it would pay, that he was certain. But, until the time came for him to sink his claws into that monster of a rogue's pelt, he would need to stay alert and collected, just like him and Sageleaf had talked about.

Jumping up onto the rock in only a couple of strong leaps, the large, fluffy leader made his way to the other leaders who'd already arrived. Sitting down on the other side of Lichenstar, the stoic tom gave them both a nod of greeting before turning his gaze to look down on the gathering clans bellow. Keeping quiet, he wasn't one to speak unless spoken to and didn't want to interrupt their current conversation on whatever they were talking about, though he assumed it was most likely just the usual pleasantries that came with sitting atop the Great Rock.

Silverstar padded into the clearing along with the rest of SkyClan. He didn't look up at the sky like he usually did, he wasn't that interested in StarClan's mood. His expression was blank as he hopped onto the Great Rock and he said no words to the other leaders.

Roseeye walked into Fourtrees and sat a bit away from the center and sat down, staring up at sky.

Scorchpaw enterred the clearing and looked around for a spot to sit in. He saw a small group of apprentices in the distance and approached them. "Hey, I'm Scorchpaw," he greeted, forcing a smile.

Roseeye is open to talk

Scorchpaw is talking with Firepaw, Ferretpaw, Lilypaw, and Stormpaw

Oakleap walked in beside her mate and sat down next to him. "So what do you think this gathering will like?" She asked her mate.

Minnowstream looked around when she saw a Thunderclan she-cat. "Hey I'm Minnowstream."

OOC: Oakleap is talking to Badgerstorm and Minnowstream is talking to Roseeye

Stormpaw nodded back to Ferretpaw. Then he heard a stranger cat mewing to him. "Nice to meet you, Scorchpaw, I am Stormpaw, and I have just become a ThunderClan apprentice." He turned around and greeted the ShadowClan tom politely.

Mistedsong nodded in response to his former apprentice, smiling softly. As the other medicine cats filtered into the clearing, he mentally checked them off in his head until they were all present before regarding the group as a whole. "Fellow medicine cats-- I have a proposition," he meowed, trying to ignore the curl of anxiety in his chest at addressing all of them at once.

"The connection between StarClan and the Moonstone seems to be especially strong during the half-moon. I've visted twice now to verify this, and both times the stone has been brighter than any other time I've seen it. It is as if I can feel our brothers and sisters in StarClan physically there with me. I've been thinking on the matter and perhaps it would be a good time for all of us to meet each moon and visit with StarClan, so that we may check up on each other and better advise our leaders in StarClan's vision," the medicine cat explained, hoping that he was making sense. "What do you all think?"

Heronfeather had followed dutifully after her leader, pleased to find the anxiety that had nipped at her heels the last gathering had dissipated like the snow that had formerly plagued the clans. Having her deputy-ship readily accepted at the previous meeting - plus the fact she now had an apprentice - worked wonders to mitigate any former worries, and she padded in with her head held high. Taking a seat next to Cloudbreeze she flashed a friendly smile, deciding to start a conversation; something she hadn't had the opportunity to do last time. "How are things in ThunderClan?" the molly queried, blissfully unaware of the events that had transpired in their camp not long before the gathering.

---

As soon as SkyClan had been given the send off to head to Fourtrees, the cream tom had found himself almost in front of Silverstar, impatient and excited to get there to see Coalspark. His love! The trek over couldn't have been any slower in the warriors mind, but he didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention to himself than he probably already had. As his ginger paws found their footing at the crest of the ridge marking the gathering place, he choked down a purr as the beautiful face of his mate greeted him. Caution thrown to the wind, Lionflame descended the slope and went straight for the ShadowClan she-cat, although he withheld from any intensely affectionate displays beyond purring out a happy, "Coalspark!"

OOC: Heronfeather is speaking to Cloudbreeze / any of the deputies really, Lionflame is talking to Coalspark

(Just going to have Blackclaw reply right now)

Blackclaw listened to mistedsong and realized his mentor was right, when Blackclaw took Ravenpaw to the moonstone it was just as mistedsong explained. “I-I...Ag-Agr-Agree..” He mewed and waited as the other medicine cats spoke also.

Blizzardpaw rushed into the clearing, almost bouncing with energy as she did. She had drifted from her mentor’s side just a little bit, not too much, when she smelled the herbs growing nearby. Call it a force of habit, due to abundance of Newleaf still being a somewhat new concept for her. Growing used to the scarcity of Leafbare, even after several sunrises gone by, she just had this urge to snatch any herb on the perfect time to be harvested and take it back to camp with her…as long as she stayed within territory boundaries. She knew better than to steal from other clans.

So now she came rushing towards the group made of the medicine cats of the forest, carrying a tiny, carefully wrapped, bundle of herbs she had collected on the way. At least She had grown out of the habit of picking them at any stage of growth after a couple of talks with Mistedsong, learning about the importance of letting them grow just enough instead of just collecting them.

When he joined them she was just in time to hear the second half of Mistedsong’s proposition, waiting for her to finish as she put down the herbs to greet everyone. Yes, even those other Medicine cats Mistedsong helped. She really didn’t mind sharing her mentor, it was actually cool to be able to tell that your mentor was the one to teach the mysteries of healing to more than one clan…yes, she had heard rumors of that being one of the reasons of her training being delayed a bit, but the fluffy she-cat couldn’t care less. While everyone seemed so determined on racing each other to rise in their respective ranks, she had found an unexplainable enjoyment on taking her time to try out new things, and dive even deeper on what she already knew, gather knowledge from even the tiniest, shallowest pool instead of skipping them to dive on the large streams of it that everyone targeted. Sometimes, that very tiny pool of knowledge everyone ignored could hide a secret or two that would’ve been stayed unknown for only StarClan knows how long if she didn’t stop to take a look…or at least that’s what she liked to think.

Her ears twitched with excitement at the idea of going to visit StarClan so often. Usually, the average cat had a single chance to talk with the wise cats of old, unless they decided to contact them later on for one reason or another, so being able to poke at their knowledge more often? “Oh! I like the idea!” She wasn’t sure if her opinion had much weight here, she was only an apprentice after all, but there was nothing wrong on voicing what she thought on the matter, right? Her eyes drifted to the remaining cats of the group, waiting for their respective answers.



Ebonypaw had one hellish time to get rid of all the dirt on her coat and claws. She had been neglecting her training a bit lately, and she was a bit aware of that fact, but that secret world right under their paws, albeit dark, seemed to call for her, a call that simply was…well…irresistible to her for reasons she couldn’t even understand herself. She didn’t care the extra time she had to spend fixing her coat, or how bright daylight now seemed to be for her after her eyes got so accustomed to the pitch-black darkness of the tunnels.

She was starting to wonder if she should tell anyone about them…what would everyone think about her and the tunnels she had discovered? She didn’t mind being called a weirdo for digging instead of running like everyone else, but she had started to understand the dangers of these dark tunnels, how easy it was to get lost if you didn’t know how to walk through them, how not digging properly could cause cave-ins…dear StarClan, once she got stuck for longer she would like to admit and started to legitimately fear for her life until she found a wind current that led her back to the surface…if those used to run above her all day couldn’t understand the wonders that these tunnels brought with them and only focus on the bad, would they force her to cave them in for good? Forbid their use forever?

She shook her head a bit. This was not the place no the time to think about that, this was a gathering. It was her chance to socialize with other clans instead of fight, maybe figure them out a bit better too.



((OOC: Blizzardpaw is talking with the Meddies. Ebonypaw is open to talk))

Wolfstorm was excited. It was his first gathering as a deputy, and he took his place near some of the others. Soon they would realize that Ivyfeather wasn’t there, and that he was instead. Hopefully. He didn’t want to stand here, looking like an idiot for too long. He saw another deputy talking too who he assumed was the Thunderclan one. ”Hi, I’m Wolfstorm.” introduced the younger tom.

(OOC: I'm bringing Sootpaw in. While she is walking to Scorchpaw and ThunderClan apprentices, she is still open to talk with other parties.)

Sootpaw sat with her clanmates, looking around with wide eyes. She knew there were five clans in the forest, and she was always curious about the four other clans. She only spent time watching monsters roaring, thinking about what it was like beyond the Thunderpath. Maybe she should find some cat to talk to. As she saw a fellow ShadowClan apprentice approached a group of apprentices, she quietly followed him and watched as they greeted each other.

Magpiewing padded into the gathering with ShadowClan. Firestar was sick in camp, leaving the deputy to lead the clan to the gathering.

It was a first for the tom as he leaped onto the Great Rock. He cleared his throat, his tail flicking back and forth with a nervous twitch. He nodded to the leaders, although his eyes carried no sense of courtesy or camaraderie.

Austere features tightening into a sharp expression of baleful displeasure, Brindlestar's frigid gaze grew jagged like flint as she simply glared at Magpiewing without repentance. Letting out a purposely audible distasteful inhale, the pale-furred molly could feel the sharp undercurrent of tension lingering heavily within her veins despite her forcible attempts at relaxing. Instead of wasting anymore energy on staring, she turned to offer up an informal and relaxed greeting to the other Leaders whom had arrived moments earlier. After several heartbeats of indulging in the soft tendrils of mindless chatter that curled skyward from the loose collection of cats below, the pale-furred molly instead turned to toss a pensive gaze in the direction of her peers, purposely sending a scathing glare in the direction of the ShadowClan Deputy, apparently already eager to draw the evening to a prompt close.

"If no other wishes to take initiative?" She inquired, venomous reaction to Magpiewing's presence flavoring her crisp statement, already growing bored with the task of having to begin the Gathering again. After offering up her counterpart's a moment or two to step up first, considering it was only polite as she was the youngest Leader, her answer was quite obvious. Striding to the center of the stone with her usual characteristic poise, the WindClanner purposely bumped her unwanted peer out of the way as she stepped up to the center of the stone.

"Let the Gathering begin!" The lapsing silence proved decision enough for the WindClan Leader to officially drag the event into order. The sooner they left, the better. Just the smell of Magpiewing made her skin crawl.

"WindClan fares well thus far into Newleaf- the warmth and rain has brought an abundance of prey back to the moors. Although the heavy rains have caused a bit of issue this season, thankfully we have yet to have issue with any of our runoff streams flooding." Brindlestar began, passively sparing the curious audience the unwanted pomp of frivolous statements, confident and stern tone very obviously attention grabbing as she detailed the more general state of her Clan's well-being. Blinking down at the sea of unfamiliar faces milling below, the new Leader let the rest of the faint discussion bleed away before launching into the more personal part of her Clan's news. "We have a pawful of new Apprentices who have begun their training since the last Gathering; Bunnypaw, Wisppaw, Eaglepaw, and Rockpaw have all proved to be excellent Warriors in the making. Our Nursery is also quite full, which is a blessing all its own." Turning to look back at her fellow Leaders seated atop the Great Rock, Brindlestar gave a slight shrug as she stepped away from the prime speaking position for the next eager participant.

Ravenpaw entered the clearing, following after her mentor. She was a newly named medicine cat apprentice, and didn’t know a lot of cats. Nodding at the rest of the medicine cats, she introduced herself. “Uh...hi. I’m...Ravenpaw. I’m ShadowClan’s new medicine cat apprentice.” Her midnight-black pelt shone silvery in the glow of the moonlight.

Silverpaw didn’t want to come to the Gathering...but she had to. She had to hear more about the news of the rogues, the rogues that killed Silkkit. A pang of pain made her shudder, and Silverpaw sighed, watching the leaders talk amongst themselves. Silverpaw decided to sit there, staying quiet and blending in with the crowd of cats.

((Ravenpaw is talking to medicine cats and Silverpaw is open to talk to!)

Listening as Brindlestar spoke, Lightningstar didn't pay much attention, as per usual. He had more important things to worry about, including how he was going to share the news of the rogue attack. He'd thought about it earlier, but with so much always on his mind, such a plan had escaped him rather quickly.

Soon enough, the she-cat was finished and Lightningstar decided to take his turn next. Standing up, he gave his fluffy pelt a shake before making his way to the tip of Great Rock.

"Prey is plentiful in ThunderClan and Firepaw, Honeypaw, Peregrinepaw, Silverpaw, and Stormpaw have earned their place in the apprentice den," he promptly began, not exactly knowing how to share good news among more harrowing news. Trying not to get himself riled up again, he took a deep breath before continuing. "But this time, I do not come with the same report on the rogues. Just recently, a rogue killed an innocent ThunderClan kit in cold blood. The cat who committed the act had yet to be found, but if any rogue is found on our territory, they will be dealt with... accordingly. I suggest you all keep an eye out and keep your kits close."

With that, Lightningstar turned around and took his place back next to the other leaders, his heart racing and blood boiling. Those savages needed to be taught a lesson; to not ever mess with ThunderClan or any of the clans for that matter. Any more wrong steps from them and he would take immediate action.