April 2014 Gathering - Season: Greenleaf

[Midnight]

Silverstar leaped easily from tree to tree for half an hour (as we would call it) before finally reaching the northern border of LeafClan territory. From there, the silver tabby she-cat made her way gracefully down the tree she was in before bounding forward, the large boulder in sight. As the river came closer and closer, Silverstar's pawsteps grew faster little by little until she leaped to the top of the large rock. From there, Silverstar turned and sat down, purring and washing her pelt. This was going to be a fun gathering.

Ah, if only the others would hurry. Silverstar's ear flicked as she began to feel a bit of impatience poking at her mind.

[Sand]

Fangstar led his clan out of the camp unlike usual his face actually closed of his emotions he was just to much going on at the emotion that at the moment he was keeping his emotions hidden. He had a lot to think about with Lionice's betrayal and Wildfire's death he just had a lot to think about. His icy-blue eyes narrowed as he entered the pond of truce to see Leafclan already there but besides that his face was still closed off. He had hated Silverstar ever since she had led her clan into attacking Whisperclan during the time he was deputy.

Because of Leafclan his daughter had been blinded but he didn't blame Leafclan as a whole for the unjust attack on his clan just Silverstar. His daughter had survived the attack by Leafclan but had died right after becoming a warrior from bearing kits. Flicking his ears back and forth he jumped up onto the stone sitting as far away from Silverstar as was possible.

[Deleted]

Icepaw of StormClan

    The gathering, the first gathering for the young apprentice. Icepaw slinked along quietly with his clan mates, eyes staring at the other cats that were around him, as well as up ahead. The scents of other clans already seemed to fill the air, and Icepaw had to stop himself from giving a sneer. They smelled different and weird. He was glad to be in StormClan and not smell weird like they did. but he said nothing nor gave any indication of how he felt, as he padded closer to the gather. As the other cats seemed to stream down, he stood still, looking at others. He wasn’t a social cat, he wasn’t meant for this. Some anxiety seemed to prick at his pelt, as he tensely padded down toward everyone.

    He took a seat at the edge of the gathering. Everyone else was mingling, but he stayed back. Who was he to talk to? The other apprentices in the clan were already together probably, and there was no way he wanted to talk to another clan cat. Even if others did, he felt it would be best not to. Not until he was comfortable with the area and everything about. For now, the black tom kept his muzzle shut as he watched every cat from every clan.

[Lemonade]

Featherfoot was feeling anxious. Bramblestar's accusatory announcement at the most recent ceremony had really set him to thinking, and the thoughts that plagued his mind were not pleasant. Were there really cats among them who might sneak away, defecting to this new clan out treacherous outsiders, TalonClan? The very thought of a cat he knew- a cat he might have slept next to, shared tongues with, hunted with, patrolled with, befriended- sneaking away in the dead of night like some stinking fox and betraying their clanmates... it set his teeth on edge.

He needed some air, and was grateful for the gathering. For the past few days, Featherfoot hadn't been quite himself. In every Clanmate's eyes he saw the potential for treachery. He kept imagining a hateful glimmer in every cat's eyes, and he couldnt' shake the feeling that, no matter how loyal everyone claimed to be, at least one or two cats would yet be lost to TalonClan. How many were the other clans losing, he wondered, as he looked around the field. Would TalonClan cats show their faces here?

Were the birds and their attack, like the lightning strike that split the tree on his own territory, the great force that divided the clans? He imagined one half of the scarred tree was the clan he loved, his beautiful MidnightClan, and the other half of the shriveled blackened trunk was the mass of cats leaving it for Talonclan. An uncomfortable shiver ran down his spine, ruffling his fur. His paws felt hot with anxiety, even in the cool of a Greenleaf night. Taking a deep breath, Featherfoot tried to still his furiously beating heart, and moved through the crowd, looking for a familiar face or a new friend, and questioning the loyalty of every face he saw.

[Icestorm]

Poppypaw of Leafclan

Poppypaw was excited to finally be at a gathering. She had stayed close to Thornfur on the journey, he didn't seem to mind. She had been so busy with being an apprentice she didn't have time to see him as much. but this gathering she would get to meet others! At the clearing Poppypaw watched Thornfur go off in his own. She certainly didn't want to be stuck with abunch of warriors older than her. She scanned the area looking for a group to talk to.

[Deleted]

-From MidnightClan- The dark furred tabby sat stone still, watching the other cats carefully. TalonClan couldn't be thinking of coming. StarClan would never allow a group of rogue cats to impose on the gathering. It was sacred, but still all those cats abandoning their clans, they showed a certain boldness. She wouldn't be completely surprised if they did dare to show up. Her eyes were narrowed in a glare, though she wasn't really angry with any cat. It was more the nervousness of being here, it was her first gathering in a long while and she hadn't yet seen a friendly face. She noticed a black and white cat moving through the crowd and gave a polite nod, "Featherfoot." She meowed simply. She wasn't usually so pleasant to cats, though she never meant to be rude. At a gathering though she didn't want to make it seem like there were any issues in her clan. It would look best if she stayed as polite as possible to all the cats she knew, it would make them look stronger in front of the others. And perhaps remind potential traitors of what they risked.

[Lemonade]

.: Featherfoot :.
Featherfoot stopped as he heard his name called, and turned his pale green eyes on his clanmate, waving his tail at her. "Bramblefur," he said warmly, though equally curt in his response. His approach was similarly systematic to her cool detachment. Although he and Bramblefur rarely spoke on a personal level- they could hardly be called more than acquaintances even though they had often trained together as apprentices and even now had apprentices of the same age- he was determined to be overly warm to all of his clanmates at gatherings.

Drawing himself to his full height, Featherfoot stood next to the tabby she-cat, and was pleased to find that he was still taller than her, as he was taller than most of his clanmates. "I trust you're doing well?" He continued fleetly. "And Moonpaw, she's coming along fantastically?"

.; Milkflower ;.

Despite her busybody demeanor on her own territory, Gatherings always made Milkflower feel a little out of place. For the sake of appearances, she whisked into the clearing around the pond right in the midst of her clan, holding her head high and looking as confident as possible. However, the mingling of clan cats and their scents, their dozens of pelts, fluffed her tail with distress even as she held it high with superiority. It had been a long several days, and the pretty blue-eyed she-cat made sure to work herself into an exhausted stupor leading up to the gathering, to make sure she wouldn't be tempted to run off right in the middle of it and embarrass herself. She was exhausted. Every three or so foxlengths, her back foot would catch on the grass in exhaustion, used to the smooth glide of sand through her toes and not the tug of grass and sparse, weedy undergrowth.

She cast her sleepy eyes around, looking for a place to sit, and for the time being, settled at the edge of the clearing, where the chatter of conversation wouldn't disturb her too terribly.

[Deleted]

Lowclaw, StormClan

The young warrior stalked in with the rest of his clan, green eyes glowering the the pale moonlight. TalonClan. With nearly every cat he passed by, he swore he could hear them muttering the name under their breath. Even if the name wasn't on their lips, many cats still seemed to be on edge -- and why shouldn't they be?

Lowclaw didn't particularly make it his business to know the goings-on of the other clans, but the supposed rise of this new "clan" seemed to have strained the relationship between each of the true clans as well. Everyone seemed worried about losing valuable warriors to this group of defectors.

The tabby warrior, for one, hadn't been present at the last Gathering. but word had spread quickly. If some group of... traitors, he spat the word, even in his mind, wants to claim a piece of outside territory and still call themselves a clan, then they should... they should... What should they do? Prove themselves? Of course. Hadn't each clan had their own struggles with the birds? What gave this one group the right to lay claim to a territory that should rightfully belong to all of the clans? They abandoned their own clans, their own duties, to run off on their own, and they dared to have expected a place at the last Gathering?

Lowclaw padded along with a scowl, though such an expression was hardly out of the ordinary for him. Every once in a while his claws would dig into the ground as he stepped, until he eventually made his way to the side of the field and sat. He made a conscious decision to stay as close to his own clanmates as possible, segregating himself from the other clans. He spotted Icepaw across the way and offered a tense, restrained nod of acknowledgement to the lone young StormClan tom before turning his gaze to the leaders' boulder. Hopefully the meeting would be over quickly and without incident. And, if TalonClan managed to stay away, Lowclaw would be satisfied.

[Deleted]

Burningleap of SunsetClan

    He had healed. It had taken time, but he had finally healed. Of course, he had been stuck in camp, but he no longer took that. Burningleap had not let others decide for him, as he walked along with his clan. A gathering might have seemed scary enough for someone who became crippled, but he couldn’t handle being stuck in camp any longer, and gatherings tended to be fun. but the tom seemed to slowly become the cat in the back, as he limped behind the others, tongue lolling out of his mouth from the walk there. It made him unhappy that he would get tired so easily, but it was the fire to blame, not himself.

    As he entered the main gathering area, he felt he needed to sit down and relax. He was torn, as he wanted to socialize, but his heart was racing. Burningleap’s legs were shaking with the strain, and he felt his one eye start to become foggy. Ok, rest it was. Finding a place toward the main area, but on the outside, the golden tabby laid down, as he just watched the others around him. His mouth was slightly open as he tried to take in breathes of air, steadying himself. When he felt he was good enough, he started to lick his pelt where he could. Eyes were probably on him, eyeing the scars that burned his body. but he paid little attention, as he tried to be happy. 

[Deleted]

-From LeafClan- Fur glowing blinding white in the light of the full moon Suncloud entered and looked around the pond. He could smell at least one cat from each clan was present, but didn't see any friendly faces at first. He did recognize Poppypaw though and stopped to lick her ear quickly. "Have fun, but be careful what you tell cats from other clans." The white tom warned. He wasn't her mentor but there was a certain tension in the air, he couldn't think of any huge secrets LeafClan was hiding, but it was still best to be cautious around their enemies, even on a night of truce. It was then he recognized a cream she-cat from SunsetClan. They had spoken only briefly at the border of their territories, but he did recognize her. Milkflower, that's what she was called. He walked over, and gave a polite nod. "Good evening Milkflower, find anymore crabs to practice your battle prance with?" He purred quietly. He was pleased that there was no sign of Birchflame yet. The tom had been a bit aggressive for his liking.

-From MidnightClan-  The she-cat nodded. "Moonpaw is a skilled apprentice, we've been working on her hunting. She will make a fine warrior." The she-cat said stiffly. She was proud of her apprentice, but if she showed too much the young cat might go soft and become lazy, like some other cats she knew. She was uncomfortable speaking with Featherfoot like this, but she was uncomfortable speaking with most cats. They were acquaintances at best, even though they had been raised at the same time. "And your apprentice, Marigoldpaw?" She mewed. She knew that he'd been made a mentor the same night as she had.

[Lemonade]

.: Milkflower of SunsetClan :.

As the rest of her clan members made their way into the clearing around the pond, Milkflower's eyes caught on poor, injured Burningleap. He looked so pitiful and lonely, licking his wounds at the edge of the crowd. but then, what was she doing? His scars might be physical, but at least they were marks of a battle bravely fought. The internal scars on cats' hearts, the ones they could conceal and push to the back of their minds and ignore, were the most humiliating. She had the urge to approach Burningleap, and tried to catch his eye as he lay there licking himself. Should she call out to him? Would he want to sit with her? Wasn't it in poor taste for two cats of the same clan to sit alone and apart?

Her fear of being alone was quickly wiped away. Milkflower immediately noticed the white tom as he approached, and her heart gave a wary and suspicious leap. At first, she suspected that Suncloud might want to publically call her out over their rendezvous at the border. Luckily, the lack of a scent seemed to smooth things over between them, because Suncloud sounded positively... friendly. "Oh yes," she purred back, nodding sagely. "I must have scared half the beach's population of crabs straight back into the ocean where they came from. I assure you, they won't be lurking around your forest anymore!" With a mewling chuckle, she bounced from one paw to the other, mimicking the same playful spring she mimed when they first met at the border. "LeafClan cats really should consider sending out patrols to control your population of squirrels, now that I think about it. We SunsetClan cats have finer tastes- your furry rats are a nuisance!" 

.: Featherfoot of MidnightClan :.

Featherfoot's ears flicked back and forth as he listened to his clanmate. A rumbling, kindly purr grew in his throat as he examined her, picking up on her stiffness. Even clan members could be vastly different, he thought, as he casually glanced around the clearing. Where he held himself with a loose, casual air to show his confidence, poor Bramblefur seemed on edge, too eager to impress. "Oh yes, Marigoldpaw is coming along nicely as well," he said shortly. "She's a talented hunter, and confident. We should take the two of them out together sometime, they might be able to teach each other a few tricks."

He paused, considering for a moment, and then added, "You can relax, Bramblefur. Gatherings are about sharing tongues with other clans. Spreading news. Just..." He pauses suddenly, and for a moment, was overcome with the same flash of anxiety that tortured him for days. What if the gathering wasn't what had Bramblefur on edge? What if she was thinking about TalonClan... thinking about leaving for TalonClan? He shook it off as quickly as he could. Nonsense. He had to trust his clanmates. Nevertheless, he sounded more hesitant as he finished: "Just not too much news."

[Icestorm]

Poppypaw twitched her ears. She knew Suncloud meant well, but she felt like a kit again. I'm an apperentice now! she shouted in her head. She looked to Suncloud before he left, "I will!" She walked away. She looked around to see if there was anyone to talk to. It didn't seem so. Everyone was already forming their groups and were talking.

Poppypaw did notice a black cat off to the side with no one around him. Poppypaw decided she was going to talk to someone, why not him. She padded over to him. "Hi," she said energetically, "Who are you?" She sat down, wrapping her tall over her feet waiting for him to answer.

[[Acro.]]

ooc:// Cats present: Ratstar, Sandstrike, Otterfrost, Copperbeeze
Cats mentioned (apart from the obvious leaders): Burningleap


{Hope is the thing with feathers}

Head down, ears forward, eyes narrowed, tail raised.

The familiar gait of SunsetClan's leader was easily distinguishable at the head of the incoming group of felines. She led her Clan to the Pond of Truce, troubled that she was not the first to arrive but glad she had not been the last. As she strode through the clearing, she noticed some of her Clan had already arrived. 'They must have left early,' she thought. Or maybe they had already been out, and just decided to make their way over...

In either case, Ratstar wasn't exactly supportive of SunsetClanners arriving before their leader. It showed poor taste, and implied that the Clan was not unified.

but nothing to be done about it, now.

Pulling away from her Clan, the petite feline leaped easily up onto the cool stone in the center of the Pond and sat directly between Silverstar and Fangstar, nodding once as an acknowledgement of them both. Her eyes remained forward. "Fangstar, Silverstar," she greeted, tone nothing if not civil. "I trust all is well in your Clans?"

{That perches in the soul}

Sandstrike and Otterfrost strode in close behind Ratstar. The tom, his left side from his neck to his flank covered in blaring scar tissue, walked proudly, with his head high and eyes glowing fiercely. The she-cat moved fluidly--a drastic contrast to anyone who had known her as an apprentice--and padded confidently toward the Pond. The two warriors forked in opposite directions, though each took up a seat at the edge of the Pond--Otterfrost just sat a tail-length or two further away from the water. The sleek, chocolate warrior sat attentive, as she always did at these affairs, but there was distance in her simple yellow eyes. Something someone had said to her recently, about how waiting too long to find... things... would be devastating, in the future. His words rang through her head, and she couldn't help but glance around, her gaze dancing unsurely between one tom and another.

She felt ridiculous.

Her wandering eyes landed on a tom from her own Clan, and she noticeably cringed. Burningleap. His handsome, fiery pelt only made his scarred body all the more... unsettling. Peering over her shoulder, Otterfrost knew she had been staring too long, but found she was too absorbed in her own head to look away. 'He's hardly five moons older than me... and look what's happened...' It could have been anyone, their life changed forever...

Maybe she really did need to stop waiting.


With WhisperClan, a long-legged, black-pelted tom stalked smoothly into the clearing. His fresh green eyes, the color of New Leaf, drifted appraisingly across the faces he knew and those he did not. Pausing at the edge of the clearing, Copperbreeze reviewed his options and then sat toward the back of the gathered cats, sitting with his tail placed neatly over his paws.

[Deleted]

Icepaw of StormClan

    Things were going smoothly enough. Icepaw kept his attention toward the leaders, trying to pick up what they were saying. but the noise about him of cats speaking to one another made it hard to hear, and he felt it wasn’t going to happen. He resisted a sigh when he turned his head some, looking about the cats. He didn’t really feel himself enjoying this. Maybe when he was use to it, but right now he was on end. So many bodies, so much noise. How could anyone enjoy this? 

    ”Hi.” A voice made him almost jump, as he moved to the side, fur slightly fluffed up. ”Who are you?” Who was she? Icepaw looked the she cat over, taking some time before speaking. It would probably confused her the amount of time he didn’t speak. “I am Icepaw…Of StormClan…” His voice was quiet but heard, he hoped. How did conversation go? “Who…Who are you?” Hopefully that’s how they started. 

Burningleap of SunsetClan

    He wanted to mingle with the others so badly. His leg was slightly stiff and sore from the walk there, but he tried to appear normal, a small smile on his maw. Burningleap could feel other’s eyes on him. His own clan mates and other cats. His one green eye looked about, going over other cats. It fell onto two cats from his own clan that were looking at him, the she-cat’s discomfort noticeable. A small frown was on his maw, as he looked at her, but looked away. What else was he to expect? Instead he looked about at the others, trying to make himself grow happy. His tail flicked on the ground, a fake purr coming from his throat. It sounded somewhat scratchy, but he didn’t mind. 

[Icestorm]

Poppypaw smiled at him waiting for him to answer her. He seemed a little shy and awkward, but Poppypaw was used to that. He actually reminded her of her uncle. "I am Icepaw...of stormclan." So that was why he smelled a little funny, she wondered if all stormclan cats smelled like him. "I'm Poppypaw. I'm from Leafclan." She looked to the other cats at the gathering. "So is this your first gathering?" She look back at him. It was nice to finally get to talk to someone else. It was exciting for her. She tried to contain her tail for twitching with her excitement.