September Gathering 2013

[Midnight]

The season is now leaf-fall.

---

Silverstar padded forward, her pelt fluffed up against the cold. The leaf-fall that had arrived was clearly going to be a harsh one, and Silverstar suspected that leaf-bare would be incredibly difficult on the Clans. The other Clans may find this leaf-bare hard, but since we have parts of WhisperClan and SunsetClan territory, we won't be doing as poorly as some cats may. The she-cat purred to herself as she leaped easily on the rock, turning and facing the cats. Where are the other leaders? Silverstar wondered impatiently, glaring around the clearing.

[Deleted]

Smokepelt walked out of the trees surrounding the pond, and sat down. Staring up at Silverstar with undisguised anger. This cat was the main reason that his clan was divided, and in fear. No clan should have this much territory.

[Sand]

Fangstar led his clan into the pond of truce his eyes narrowing when he saw that Leafclan was already there. Letting out a low growl he strode through the Leafclan cats his head raised proudly he would not let Leafclan put his clan in fear. He jumped up onto the rock where Silverstar was waiting making sure to sit as far away from Silverstar as possible.

Lionice followed her leader into the gathering her eyes blazing. She glared at the Leafclan cats and sat by herself scowling. She wanted Silverstar to pay for what she had done to her clan.

—————————————————

Bluewing followed behind Silverstar her eyes narrowed. Then she went to the spot where the medicine cats sat and sat down curling her tail over her paws.

[[Acro.]]

{Hope is the thing with feathers}

Ratstar stalked into the Pond of Truce with her head lowered and her tail raised high. Her dappled pelt was smooth in spite of the chill, and her pale eyes were narrowed straight ahead. She wore a cold, impassable expression as she made her way through the cats who had already arrived. The petite feline glanced up when she reached the stone, eyes flitting indifferently from Fangstar to Silverstar before she leaped easily up to take her place. She sat just beside Silverstar.

The SunsetClan leader greeted the others without ever looking their way. "Fangstar, Silverstar," she remarked coolly, tone even as her eyes shifted across the gathering, murmuring mass of feline bodies.

{That perches in the soul}

Padding dutifully behind Ratstar was the lanky, long-legged, newly-made warrior Otterfrost. Her wheat-yellow eyes burned as she strode in with her Clan. Cats still worried her, especially crowds of them... but she was a warrior now, so she had to show she wasn't afraid. Even if she was. The young she-cat took a seat near the Pond, sitting proudly with her eyes on her leader. However, in a moment where she couldn't help herself, Otterfrost let her eyes throw a searing glare toward Silverstar, and her sleek, brown pelt began to bristle. 'Cool it...' she told herself as her fur settled. 'She isn't worth it.'

Off in the trees, another young she-cat was about to lose her cool. 'What's going on? Who are all of these--?' but then she remembered. That tom... the one who had freed her from the thorns... he'd said something to her about how she needed to be gone before the next full moon. The frail, young cat's wide eyes darted nervously up toward the sky, panic washing through her when she realized the moon was indeed full. 'I was so sick and exhausted... I must have forgotten some of what he'd said!' Tense with panic and the need to run combating her instinct to stay hidden, 'Chance' clung desperately to the low branch of the tree she had been resting in before the cats had arrived.

Earlier than usual, feeling bolder with each passing moon, Ramble strode into the Gathering, his sandy orange pelt decorated with brambles he hadn't cared to pull free. The tom sat down toward the middle and began to wash his face, waiting for things to begin. These... 'Gatherings' were fascinating.

[ⓐⓜⓑⓔⓡ]

Dawnwhisper slipped into the clearing alone, her golden fur shining in the sunlight. It had been only the night before that she'd bothered to start taking care of herself again. Sure, Featherpaw was a little odd, but she sure was good at lifting others up off of their paws and getting them back on track in life. To her, at least.
Since her warrior ceremony, her body had definately changed. Her legs we're longer, more muscled. Her face was more finely shaped. Her body shape was very slim, and her ears were just the slightest bit larger, maybe less round. She was larger, that was for sure, and she held her head high as she entered the clearing, proud of her new size. She was very different from the cat she'd used to be, inside and out. When she was an apprentice, when she still had a best friend that was maybe more than that, she'd been smaller, weaker, and easy to break. Inside and out. Now she was bigger, stronger, prouder. She didn't care what other cats said about her leader; she was loyal to Silverstar until the end. She knew how to take care of herself, how to guard her own heart.

And she would never break again.

Sitting down next to a StormClan tom, Hawkstrike, Dawnwhisper met each cat's gaze evenly and confidently. Still, she couldn't help but feel like she was looking for one cat in particular. One StormClanner in particular.

Hawkstrike hardly glanced at a LeafClan she-cat sat down next to him, then his head snapped back around to stare at her. There was something oddly familiar about her, but he couldn't put his paw on it. When she started to look at him, he looked away again and shuffled his paws, deep in thought.

Moonpetal sat down next to Foxwhisper, heaving a long sigh. The pretty black she-cat glanced around, spotting Marshpaw, and gave him and encouraging smile. She searched for her other- what, seven?- kits and picked out Cloudpaw's white pelt. He saw her and waved at her wildly with his tail, grinning. The WhisperClan she-cat purred in return and he turned back to whoever he may have been talking to.

OOC: Good god... I just realized that I don't have any cats in SunsetClan or MidnightClan. Any. At all. o.o

[Deleted]

Lightblaze walked to the bank of the large pond with Icestep, Silverstar's daughter, by his side. The two Leafclan warriors sat at the very edge of the pond with some of their other clanmates, the cool water lapping at their paws. They looked confidently around the small clearing surrounding the Pond of Truce, spotting at least one cat from all of the other different clans.


A golden tabby tom expertly stalked through the shadows of the trees at the edge of the Pond of Truce, his pretty blue eyes flickering about. He spotted three leaders already sitting on top of the rock in the middle of the pond, and among them was his old mate. Sunwhisker got exiled from Leafclan after Silverstar had falsely accused him of killing their old leader. Ever since his exile, he's been living in hiding near the edge of his old clan territory, waiting for Vergil to bring him back. As the tom looked around the clearing, he spotted Lightblaze sitting next to a large silver tabby she-cat that looked a lot like Silverstar. One of his two daughters.

Before he could look for his other daughter that looked more like him, Sunwshiker scented a foreign scent on the breeze. Startled, he opened his mouth to scent the air, and following the scent trail quietly, he arrived at the base of a tree. He looked up, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. The large warrior spotted a slightly weak looking she-cat hiding among the browning leaves and branches.

[[Acro.]]

From her perch, 'Chance' almost didn't notice that a cat had noticed her. What clued her in was that instinctive, uneasy feeling that crept through her fur telling her that someone's eyes were on her... The thin she-cat glanced down and her breath hitched when she saw a tom staring up at her. Pressing herself as flat as she could against her branch, the loner had little time to consider her options. Soon enough, whether she wanted to act or not, her feral tendencies would kick in and she'd be on the run. Moving as quickly as possible, only halfheartedly trying to stay quiet (what was the point now when someone had already spotted her?), 'Chance' clawed her way further and further up the tree until the branches she came to rest on were hardly strong enough to support her light frame. She hoped the fragility of these overstated twigs would deter any cat from pursuing her. 'Just go away!' she screamed at the tom in her head, clinging with a racing heart to those last, weak tree limbs tat swayed quietly in the cool wind.

[:-Misa-:]

The moon shone bright, well overhead. Sharppaw padded into the clearing, his brother walking beside him at his shoulder. It seemed as if nothing had ever changed between the two. Out of the brother's, he was without argument, much larger, and would make a formidable opponent, as he was the size of some of the older warriors, and bigger then some as well. His brother, Jaggedpaw, however, was still lanky as always. He stood just a bit below, or maybe even the size of Sharppaw. They balanced each other out. 
It was both of their first times being to a gathering in who knows how long, but he wasn't typically thrilled, like really. Who wants to go to a gathering where the cats just sneer and glare at each other?

Jaggedpaw settled into a crowd of cats, right beside his brother. There hadn't been a ceremony in what seemed like moons in Stormclan, though in his opinion some were well overdue, but he said nothing of it, not opening his mouth to complain. He sat right beside a Leafclan she-cat, who looked to be only a few moons older then himself, and without second thought looked her over wearily, deciding if he had made the wrong decision by sitting there. 

---

Riverpool's eyes flickered over to her side as she heard a cat sit beside hear, or better said a few cats sit near her. They laid on two Stormclan toms, both of around the same size, her guess was they were siblings, or just close clanmates. Her ears lowered against her head, and stared back at the ground hoping to just shrink away, she didn't want to be some Leafclanner, and she didn't want to risk another cat looking at her and realizing her clan. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but listen in and envy their friendly and foolish chatter.

[ⓐⓜⓑⓔⓡ]

OOC: OH MY GOD I LOST THIS POST TWICE. So, basically, I just got REALLY lazy when writing this. It didn't help that I was constantly getting distracted.
Also. I'm just assuming that the "LeafClan she-cat" is...

IC:

Dawnwhisper sighed and sank down to the ground, closing her eyes. She began to doze, trying to ease her boredom. Gatherings were always so boring... The LeafClanner's golden fur shone in the moonlight, and her eyelids fluttered as she struggled to stay awake.

Hawkstrike sighed as the LeafClan she-cat began to doze next to him. Her flank pressed uncomfortably against his leg, and he shuffled a little ways away. Does she really have to do that here? One of his clanmates sat down next to her, and he grunted. "I wouldn't sit there if I were you, Jaggedpaw. She probably snores," he said, then turned and walked away, grumbling under his breath.

Dawnwhisper's leg twitched as she listened half-heartedly to what Hawkstrike was saying. A single name reached her ears and made her breath catch in her throat. However, she remained still, her eyes still shut, just a little tighter now.
"He's right. I probably do snore," she mumbled to him, trying to sound casual and sleepy. She'd changed so much in the past few moons, he probably didn't recognize her. Was she glad, or was she disappointed?

Moonpetal glanced around and noticed a particular she-cat sitting a few fox-lengths away. Saying goodbye to her sister, she trotted over to her, hesitating for only a moment before giving her a friendly smile. Her green eyes shone in the moonlight. "Hello, there. What's your name?" she mewed, a gentle tone to her voice. Had she seen this cat before? Moonpetal couldn't quite remember. What was her name, again? Ack, I can't quite remember it... Riverflower? No, no... Poolriver? No, no...

[:-Misa-:]

Jaggedpaw looked up his eyes fell on Hawkstrike then fell on the she-cat beside him. He knew her all too well, but he tried his best to push the memories away. "Come on Hawkstrike no need to be such a grouch." His tone came out light and teasing, an amused purr rumbled slightly in his throat, but nonetheless he rose to his paws and started padding off, but he stopped in his tracks and looked back, opening his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then he closed it and shook his head before walking out of the crowd, 'She doesn't care anymore Jaggedpaw, time to wake up from the fantasy.'

Sharppaw's ears jumped up and his attention darted over to a gruff, yet familiar voice. He noticed his brother's eyes follow a similar path. A grim smile snuck it's way up onto his face as a faint sense of recognition hit him. He couldn't put his tail on the name of this cat, but they, without a doubt, struck some type of burning memory in him. 
"Come on Jaggedpaw."
Whatever it was about this cat, he wanted away from them, and if they actually did snore, all the more reason. Rising to his paws he walked off flicking his tail, waiting for his brother to follow.


Riverpool's head snapped up, the stone grey she-cats eyes narrowed for a moment, locating the voice that had spoken to her. The cat was smelled of Whisperclan, this mere fact caused her to lower her head. 'Silverstar made us we do so much to them...' Internally she cringed before looking back up, the she-cat's eyes glowed of nothing but friendliness, this greatly confused her, but she smiled though it didn't meet her eyes, "Hello, I'm Riverpool... and, er,you?"

[ⓐⓜⓑⓔⓡ]

He said something to Hawkstrike, who just mumbled something unintelligible in response, and walked away. She sensed Jaggedpaw turn to go, but he paused. Her spirits rose. Then he padded away, and he'd heart sank like a stone in water.
She should have expected that he wouldn't say anything. She'd made it clear that she didn't want to be anywhere near him. but... didn't I say that I was going to talk to him?
Heart still heavy, she sat up, no longer sleepy.

Moonpetal smiled. "I'm Moonpetal, from WhisperClan. You're from LeafClan, aren't you? How are things there?" She knew how things were there. Oh yes, she knew. but it was polite to ask how another cat's clan was doing, and she didn't plan on being rude just because this cat was from a specific clan. It was a Gathering, for StarClan's sake. She ignored a couple of her clanmates, who gave her nasty looks as they passed.

[Deleted]

Sunwhisker narrowed his eyes so he could see better in the dim moonlight, noticing that the lone she-cat lowered herself to the tree branch as best as she could. He wondered what she was doing here all alone. "Hello!" the former Leafclan warrior mewed in a whisper that the loner could most likely hear, watching as she scooted further up the tree with a small attempt of being quiet. In an instant, the golden tabby tom stealthily jumped up on one of the lowest branches with silence. Sunwhisker then began to carefully make his way up the tree, landing on the more sturdy branches. After a couple of moments, he paused, his blue gaze shifting back towards the direction of the Pond of Truce. He was making sure that he wouldn't get caught by the four clans. Then, satisfied that they hadn't detected anything yet, he began to climb a little bit higher up the tree.


After a couple of moments of silence between the pair, Silverstar's daughter told Lightblaze that she would be back in a couple of moments. Icestep then quickly got to her paws and weaved her way through the crowd of gathering cats. She spotted Riverpool talking politely with another she-cat from Whisperclan, and decided to go ahead and join them. "Helo Moonpetal,I'm Icestep," the confident pale gray tabby warrior told her, sitting down next to Riverpool. She stole a quick glance at her denmate, noticing that she was sort of slumping down. Icestep thought that it was probably because they were from Leafclan, the fiercest clan of their age for the time being.


A large brown tabby tom pushed his way through the crowd, before finally making his way to some of his clanmates. "Hi Jaggedpaw and Sharppaw!" the Stormclan apprentice exclaimed with a smile, hoping that the two brother would make usually boring gatherings more exciting. Duskpaw's long fur began to ruffle a little bit in the slight breeze that was beginning to pick up. Before he said anything else to the other apprentices, he noticed the two glance over at another she-cat that looked like she was from Leafclan. He narrowed his eyes as he realized that she was part of the most hated clan in the territories.

[Sand]

Robinstrike sat apart from everyone thinking about Cloudblaze. She wished that Silverstar wasn't her lesder. She scowled her eyes fixed on Silverstar. 'She shouldn't have been made leader," she thought noticing a Stormclan apprentice glaring at her clan. She grunted and stood up looking for hidden spot to sit to escape their glares.



—————————————————

Darksun a former Leafclanner sat among her new clan mates Whisperclan. Fangstar had decided to let her come to the gathering this moon. She kept an eye on her kits hoping that Fangstar would name them as apprentices.

[:-Misa-:]

Riverpool looked at the cat Moonpetal for a moment, every clan knew just how Leafclan was doing, "Yeah, they're the uh, usual. And Whisperclan?" Her voice came out as a dry laugh, forcing the words out of her throat. Eyes flickering over, she saw Icestep sitting beside her. The she-cat looked so much like Silverstar it wasn't even funny, it was almost uncomfortable but she showed nothing and just nodded briefly to the she-cat.


Once Jaggedpaw was away out of the crowd of cats he stole one last glance towards the direction of his former best friend. His heart urged him to go back, and just share a few words with her, but he knew she probably didn't want him around. 
"Hi Jaggedpaw and Sharppaw!"
Those words snapped the spotted tom out of his thoughts and he spun around.
"Hey Duskpaw."
Jaggedpaw wiped away all signs of being lost in his thoughts and plastered a huge grin on his face, pushing all his problems away. He just wanted to be happy.

Sharppaw looked in the direction of an ecstatic voice directed towards him.
"Hey!"

[[Acro.]]

Claws digging painfully into her precarious perch, the treed she-cat swallowed dryly and risked moving even one branch higher. Her tail curled around the fragile limb's base and she crouched as close to the trunk as she could, trying to keep her weight from agitating the branch (if one could even call it that). 'Chance' locked her pale eyes onto the tom as he made his way up the tree, closer to her... "Go away," she hissed sharply under her breath, thin fur bristling. "Just leave me alone." She hadn't really done anything wrong, had she? Why were all of those cats there? 'I should have left when I had the chance... why couldn't I have just remembered?!' She was in for it now... but where could she run?