March Gathering

[lio]

NIGHTHOUND
huge, dark grey tabby tom with orange eyes and many scars.
he/him

By this point, Nighthound had grown sick of being either ignored or brushed off by his Clanmate. Irritation bubbled within him and he sighed aloud, rolling his eyes before realizing that Mirehound had joined them. With the arrival of the Enforcer, he nodded his head politely and listened closely to her words. The firsthand account of the border skirmish was a strong rebuttal to the blabbering ThunderClanners. His tail flicked, looking back and forth between Mirehound and the ThunderClan cats. Her calm voice caused a shiver to dance up his spine- even being older than the she-cat, Nighthound knew not to get on the bad side of a cat trusted to the rank of Enforcer.

Shadefrost didn't appear to notice that, though. But Nighthound was far past the point of caring what the tom did or said, merely shaking his head exasperatedly. Mirehound's quick look was more than enough to know to shut his mouth and step back. So, with one more glare toward Shadefrost, Nighthound dipped his head and stalked toward another part of the crowd to wait for his Clan's departure.

[iliri]

{Springpaw}

“St… Please… Stop fighting….” Her voice came out as stammers and stutters. Her throat almost collapsed after speaking. Her muscles felt so shaken that she couldn’t remain standing in place for much longer. Her diluted gaze darted towards Cardinal when they… blocked her? Her aching paws slowly eased themselves from them finally letting go of the snow, the usual white fur caking with murky brown. Cardinalpaw was helping her. Someone finally helped her. Warm, salty tears had began to escape the corners of her eyes, but she forced herself not to break down in sobs. This was a gathering. Not somewhere where she could break down. She could feel her lungs finally allow air to flow through them, her throat finally letting go of its tight imprisonment and allowing her to take easier, less staggering breaths. She felt… okay. She felt okay.

Well, she would’ve if it weren’t for her suddenly overhearing the conversation. Her good ear had twitched over towards the small group of cats that were arguing. She could almost feel that tightening feel come back, but she had forced herself to stay steady as she stared at the group with her shaky, yet steady blue gaze. She knew how thin ice was between ThunderClan and ShadowClan, yet she couldn’t just sit here and just have these adult cats argue over something like this. Even if she didn’t have the right amount of courage to openly express how downright upset she was about the situation. She could simply console them…


Right?

The thought felt ridiculous. Stupid. Impulsive. She couldn’t just simply stop them from arguing over the death of an innocent child. She was only just an apprentice, she couldn’t simply console them. Focusing back up towards Cardinalpaw, her breath staggering, she slowly began to speak. “Thank you…Cardinalpaw. I just… I just wish they could stop fighting. It’s only going to cause more and more problems for everyone if they do.” She briefly spoke, looking away from Cardinalpaw and focusing once more on the small group of cats. Judging from their scent, most of them were ShadowClan. Or so she thought. She didn’t exactly know, or did she want to know. With a deepening intake of breath, and the mobility to move returning to her legs, she slowly stood herself back up and focused towards the group of cats.

In the back of her mind, she wanted to go over there and console them. She knew it was a ridiculous idea to do, but it was heavily needed. She knew what was going on around them. This was a gathering. Not a brawl. Focusing back towards Cardinalpaw, she began to speak once more, confidence now flowing into her voice. “I’m gonna talk with them. I know it’s… stupid but… this has got to stop. They have to stop arguing. This is espoused to be a gathering, not a battle area.” The words she choose felt stupid, but Springpaw forced herself to resist saying anything about it. She knew that this debate was needing an end, and maybe she could help it end.

@carmen @jupiter @lio @/everyone else involved

[shaae_26]

Originally Posted by Catherine

Caterpillarpatch
*⋆*❀❁❀*⋆*❀❁❀*⋆*❀❁❀*⋆*❀ ❁❀
Female[he/him] -Windclan

Caterpillarpatch watched as the finale clan arrived to the gathering. She heard her leader started the gathering. Oh she had almost forgotten about the sick cats in her clan. Hopefully they'd all be alright. She didn't want to lose any more of her clanmates. Then she heard Thrushfir talk about an apprentice who was killed and skinned and her heart stopped. Poor thing. She felt anger towards Shadowclan. How could they be so cruel. An apprentice? She turned to Hailhawk. "I'm so sorry for what happened to your clanmates. It must be awful seeing them go.", she meowed. Sure it wasn't her place to, but it made her deeply upset.

"Yeah... Dawnstar has a weird liking for pelts.. We hope we can prevent things from going any furthur. I hope things dont get too bad in your clan either." Hailhawk said.
(sorry for the short reply, racing against the bell rn ;-

[occultation]

【 S H A D O W F U R 】

[ @daenerys ]

Fortunately, the outsider made the smart decision to flee the Gathering. Shadowfur had half a mind to go after them to ensure they left Clan territory, but he opted not to. If they ran off into RiverClan’s territory, that was not his problem.

He turned his attention back to the Seastones for the leader announcements. Little mind was paid to Pikestar and Twilightstar, although he did note with interest that an illness was ravaging their Clan. The tips of his claws poked out from his toe beans as Thrushfur began his announcements. The dark Enforcer was ready to spring to his Clan’s defense if need be.

Thrushfur offered to make good on Sparrowstar’s offer of prey and herbs. Shadowfur bit back a chuckle; little did he know that ShadowClan intended to take much more.

Then, as was typical for a Gathering these days, conflict started. Thrushfur began questioning Dawnstar on the death and skinning of one of their apprentices. Dawnstar gave a solid rebuke, exactly the type of response Shadowfur expected. Of course, ThunderClan decided to continue playing the victim.

Sure enough, an argument broke out. The black tom sat still as stone, his green eyes fixated on the leaders on top of the Seastones while his ears listened to the murmuring and protesting all around.

Then, from her position nearby, Mirehound moved. He turned his head in a clean, deliberate movement, watching silently and neutrally as she gracefully moved into the crowd to address the tension. From his place at the back of the crowd, he couldn’t fully make out everything she was saying. But, from the sound of what he could hear, she was pointing out the clear hypocrisy in which ThunderClan lived.

For as much as ShadowClan was suffering from internal conflict, it seemed ThunderClan was worse off. At least the majority of ShadowClan agreed that living under restrictive, outdated rules was asinine. ThunderClan was torn in two between cats who bowed to the warrior code like it gave them the blood in their veins, and cats who would happily spit in its face to get an upper paw against their enemy.

Shadowfur caught a pointed look that Mirehound shot the way of her Clanmates, causing his ears to perk. Clearly she wished to avoid physical conflict, a sentiment that he partially shared. The pragmatic part of him recognized the stupidity of fighting at Gatherings, but he also found Gatherings rather stupid to begin with. The more emotional part of him - the part that loved the feeling of power and strength he got during battle - wanted to put his claws to the test once more.

He slid back to a tall rock sitting at the edge of the clearing. Bunching his muscles, he sprang up atop the rock. Digging his claws into the stone to steady himself, he sat down and stared in Mirehound’s direction. If anyone decided that they wanted to cause trouble with tooth and claw over her words, he’d see it from here.

( Dani- tagging you because Shadow’s reacting to Mire, don’t feel like you have to respond if you don’t want to! )

[Wingnettle]

 

Originally Posted by daenerys

[just so nothing is misconstrued, not once did mire raised her voice in this. she is continuously talking with a calm and steady tone. ]

As much as Mirehound knew a majority of the ThunderClan cats to whine and complains, stars it seemed like her own Clanmates did to. To her it seemed like Rosecougar just loved to hear herself talk, because she did an awful lot of it. Shadefrost had more fluff in his brain than the nests in the nursery, though she had to admit she was mused by his spitfire personality. Nighthound - stars, how he was given that prefix but lacked the ability to pick up on the fact that neither of these cats would ever listen to him was beyond her.

Looking to her left and right at Shadwofur and Sorrelflare who were still nearby, she gave them a nod as if to watch her area while she slipped off the rock. Paws strode forward, carrying the shadow incarnate fluidly across the beach. Blue eyes illuminated against her dark pelt were void of any telling emotion, instead focused on the Seastones. Dawnstar had covered a majority of it, and so had the others, but so far no cat outside of another ThunderClanner had spoke on how the border skirmish had actually started.

Mirehound had been there. She had seen the hatred in the eyes of the cat who had attacked her - after she gave a verbal warning to leave, after he had clearly seen she was with three apprentices.

Ignoring the squabbling kits, and the way the thunder rolled in the dark sky overhead, the Enforcer looked first not to the ThunderClanner who had been at the battle, but at Sootfur, the one who was once again preaching the warrior code, as she passed him on her way to the front. Observant ears caught the hissed words and she turned to look at him. "You still preach the code in a Clan full of those who break it. It was ThunderClan warriors who crossed the border. ThunderClan warriors who sought to hunt prey on our territory. ThunderClan warriors who killed ShadowClan cats to win fights. ShadowClan is not the only one who treads in the darkness. Pull your own head out of the sand and recognize that if you want any hope of your Clan moving forward, you must stop always playing the victim." Her voice was calm, steady. Didn't they ever get tired of their own hypocricy?

Looking now to the ThunderClanner who had been there - she did not know her by name - Mirehound padded forward the rest of the way and blinked. So the apprentice who had died had been her sister. She could feel sympathy for that, if only for the fact that losing kin was more difficult than the shadow could imagine. "As warriors, it was their duty to pull your sister back over the border, and they did not. Instead they gloated about hunting on ShadowClan land. They reveled in the fact of breaking this code you hold so close in your claws, that gives you an easy sleep at night." She wasn't about to let another ThunderClanner follow in Thrushfur's steps and cover up the way this had started.

"I remember the look in that first toms eyes, the one on the patrol. I knew even as I gave the order for him and his patrol to retreat, they would refuse. I gave them a path that would allow for them to exit the territory without bloodshed, because I did not wish to involve untrained apprentices in an unfair fight. Do you want to know what your Clanmate did instead?" A curiosity to her tone as she tilted her head slightly. "He attacked me, with the intent to kill me and harm the three apprentices I had with me." Looking over to Cinderpaw, she blinked again. "I do hope that your concern for the lives of children and their innocence is true. But I cannot see how it is while you condemn our actions but refuse to acknowledge the cats in your own Clan who have committed the same crimes."

There wasn't much else to add, Mirehound wasn't here to start a fight. The Enforcer had no desire to get in a quarrel, and her sharp look to the ShadowClan cats held a silent command to stand down, at least from arguing with each other. They didn't need to waste their energy arguing with a Clan who would never see the wrong they did, never acknowledge their part in the carnage that the first ThunderClanner spoke of. Although truthfully she didn't really care if they listened to her or not - it was no skin off her back if they wanted to continue to make fools out of themselves with petty arguments while the sky was black and the moon was gone and the smell of rain was clear on the wind's breath.

Looking now to Dawnstar, she watched her leader looking to the WindClan matriarch. Would this change in atmosphere cause the Clans to depart? Mirehound certainly hoped so. She rolled her shoulders back, forcing herself to not wince at the ache she still felt. If the cats she had spoken to wished to speak to her, they were welcome to do so, but the shadow was quite out of words tonight, only having wanted to say her piece.

[ @perseus. @Cherry~ @carmen @Wingnettle @littlelove @Levi 99 @jupiter @lio ]

╔═══*｡❅*⋆⍋✧ ✦ ✧⍋⋆*❅｡*═══╗
Sootfur (he/him)
Thunderclan ❍ 19 moons
Light grey tabby with silvery-blue eyes
╚═══*｡❅*⋆⍋✧ ✦ ✧⍋⋆*❅｡*═══╝



Sootfur observed as a black cat stinking of Shadowclan approached him, obviously out of annoyance for what she was just complaining about a moment before. He snorted as the she-cat approached him with a haughty air, a reprimand escaping calmly from her mouth about the last border skirmish where victims had been slain.

Oh, Sootfur knew it. That was mainly what hurt him most: that his own clan had the guts to turn their back on Starclan and commit such gruesome acts as if bowing at the level of Shadowclan. But what kind of right had this cat now to tell him? He was a full-grown warrior, one that certainly couldn't have control over his whole clan. Not even our leader couldn't.

A growl threatened to start in his throat, but he forced it shut and stayed respectfully calm in front of the Enforcer.
"I don't know what happened at the border, but my clanmates shouldn't have started a battle. What happened to Dawnpaw, however, was totally different. He was alone. He would've never trespassed on his own, so why did he have to be murdered? Why did your warriors want our pelts so bad to kill mercilessly such young cats?

Dawnpaw's body was left bloody on the ground for vultures to feast on."
The gray tabby didn't want to linger on this conversation anymore. It was painful and especially pointless. Throwing Mirehound an icy glare, he turned around and joined again his clanmates, trying his best to ignore the presence of Dawnstar's Enforcers encircling the Seastones like vultures on a piece of prey.

»»————-　☀︎︎　————-««

 

Originally Posted by SpiritedWarrior

Crowpaw

Rage boiled inside, over and over until he couldn't take it anymore. Everything in his life had flopped, he had no hope for a healthy relationship with anyone, especially his mother who seemed to think that keeping her pregnancy a secret from her only son, her only living kit. Now, he knew forgiveness was a thing, but from what he's seen, no one has earned his forgiveness until they proved themselves worthy. But despite the hatred that has boiled inside since day one, he decided to make his way to the Seastones in hope of seeing the one cat that could possibly give him advice. A cat he could trust other than his friend: his grandpaw.

But instead of seeing Pondwhisker, Crowpaw's eyes went toward a ShadowClanner who was speaking directly to his ambition-driven, negligent father. And for the first time in what felt like moons, the tabby swiped his mohawk to the side and confronted the mouse-brained frog eater, finally expressing the hidden loyalty he felt toward his home and Clan. "If we aren't even able to come to the borders, how do you suppose we do our border patrols, huh? We need to protect our Clan. Yes, Dawnpaw was in the wrong for going alone, but that doesn't merit the death penalty your Clan seemed to think was right in that moment. Dawnpaw was an apprentice, a damn good one at that and if your Clanmate felt the need to murder outright even though our Clan's apprentice was merely relaxing at the border, not doing any harm. Did Dawnpaw even cross the border? Can one of you ill-tempered, frog-eating, murder-bent, blood-spilling, slimy, filthy rogues tell me that? Tell my father that? What about Dawnpaw's mentor? His parents?"

Crow's eyes narrowed with challenge, urging the disgusting excuse of a cat to tell him the truth about what happened that day between Dawnpaw and the murderer. He wanted to unearth the truth, and at this point he didn't care if he died doing it as long as the truth was revealed. At least he would be with his sister, the one who ever truly loved him as family. "Father. I know you are giving ShadowClan access to our herbs and prey, but do you truly see any reason as to why Dawnpaw was killed and skinned? I sure don't." Let's see if he's truly the cat ThunderClan needs as a leader...

Just then, Sootfur noticed a familiar high-pitched voice spitting out insults. Crowpaw! Who was his apprentice talking to like that?
The gray tabby couldn't see beyond the crowd, so he had to make his way among clanmates and Shadowclanners before reaching the dark brown tomcat. He was talking both with Thrushfur and a Shadowclan stinky-warrior. Of course.

Normally he would have gone there and reprimanded his apprentice for such disrespectful behavior during a time of truce, but... every one of his words had a point. Yes, even the insults.
Sootfur suddenly placed himself Crowpad and Shadefrost, a hard glare on his face directed at the poison-spitting tomcat in front of him. "Stay away from us, Shadowclanner. And don't you dare speak to our leader with such arrogance." He hissed with bared teeth, pelt bristling in rage. But he didn't make any step further. He just wanted these rat-eaters to go away and leave them alone.

[ @SpiritedWarrior @Levi 99 @Eaglet ]

[nykyrian]

♔|Aspenpaw|♔

He/Him | @revelations

The next interesting thing did not come from the high ranks perched atop the seastones, but from a fellow apprentice. And at first, this terrified him, as the scent of riverclan flooded his nostrils. Had that simple remembrance of his trespassing informed those around him? Could this cat read his mind? No, of course not, that was impossible, and this one didn't even look like the fish-brain that had given him so many of the scars that adorned his pelt, so there was no way for him to know. And he seemed sincere enough, there was no reason for him not to trust him. Still, the tabby felt his claws flex into the ground below him.

"Hello." There, that was a simple greeting, no admission of guilt there. "Who might you be?"

#78

[Captain]

High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]

• PIKESTAR •
LORD OF THE WATERS

Taking his rightful place amongst the other three clan leaders, the large dark-furred tomcat remained utterly silent and kept mostly to himself as he usually tended to do. These gatherings were always a stressful place for him, and he wasn’t truly in the mood to get himself wrapped into drama that did not concern his own clan. Perhaps it was a selfish way to go about things, but in his eyes, it was smart and done for the safety of RiverClan. A few moments would pass by where he just sat there, waiting for the Gathering to officially begin, while Pikestar listened to the sound of the ocean's strong waves lapping against the beach behind them. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Twilightstar to step forward and start WindClan's announcements. He bowed his head and listened respectfully as talk of a plentiful prey began her speech. The talk of a spreading sickness, however, switched the tone of everything and the Lord of the Water's ears twitched as Twilightstar told everyone that Fallownose was sick and a young Kitekit had died. Cowtuft was doing his best to combat the illness. Pikestar silently sent a prayer out for his neighbor, and silently wished them well in the future moons. Death and sickness certainly had it's grip on them now, as she spoke of two more passings. A dreadful thing, without a doubt. He cast a sympathetic glance her way as she stepped back and retook her place where they were all seated together.

Next, the new ThunderClan leader would step forward and Pikestar focused their attention on the other tomcat, wondering what kind of image he would paint for his own clan now that Sparrowstar was assumedly gone. Thrushfur first spoke of Firekit, one of their kittens sent back to ThunderClan from StarClan themselves. The large oriental longhair hummed thoughtfully, but made no further reaction. A child's life was able to continue and that was good, that was all that mattered. But, of course, with life came death and soon the list of deaths would show itself true. Two apprentices, and a kit as well. It reminded him of all the deaths he once had to deal with earlier on in his leadership. This did not stop there, however, and soon the ThunderClan tomcat would go into further detail surrounding Dawnpaw's death. It would lead to a border scuffle between ShadowClan and ThunderClan, bringing four more bodies to the pile. Much like for WindClan, Pikestar offered a prayer to the moon for ThunderClan. Then came the topic of Sparrowstar, who had been nabbed by twolegs, and now was out of the picture. He shook his head, disappointed by this, but not letting it unwaver his calm demeanor. Surprsingly, he would then say that ThunderClan would give a portion of herbs and prey in return for the battle that had caused many deaths. Pikestar watched in silence, partial gaze flickering between Thrushfur and Dawnstar, tension visible.

As expected, this stirred the crowd below and cats would start to shout and protest from both sides, casting blame and spitting venom. Pikestar turned his head away from the clowder and chewed on his lower lip anxiously, not knowing if the nastiness would stay with just verbal or would descend into a mess of blood and fur. His sole attention would remain on the leaders and their reactions, trusting RiverClan to still behave and not do something idiotic that would toss them into the crossfire. He was not a coward, but he also was not a fool that would involve himself in drama that was not his own. He had tried doing that before, and it only brought him needless trouble and stress. Dawnstar would soon fire back her own recalling of the situation, going into graphic detail about what had happened to ThunderClan's apprentice. A younger Pikestar would've felt sick and disgusted, but he only stood still, lifting his partial gaze to watch the ShadowClan queen as she spoke directly to Thrushfur. However, the large abrupt boom of thunder from over their heads made the RiverClan leader flinch and look up, seeing the darkening clouds. Great. That was all they needed now.

Deciding to finally stand up, the mighty dark-furred RiverClan lord stepped forward, ignoring the arguing and chatter that was happening below. If he waited for it to stop, then he'd never get a chance to speak. "RiverClan has been doing well. Our rivers are ripe with fish, and we've welcomed many new kittens into our clan. One of our queens, Featherspirit, has given birth to five healthy kits: Spiderkit, Pondkit, Finchkit, Tansykit and Oceankit." He paused for a quick moment before continuing onward, "A family of minks has, however, recently caused our clan some trouble, injuring both Mintpaw and Mistycloud. With a strong team of warriors, myself included, we were all able to drive them out and dispose of the vermin before they could harm anyone else." And he was quite thankful for that, knowing those critters could've caused quite the issue if they had multiplied. "We've done well to expand our camp and build it up much stronger to make room for our growing clan. However, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that one of our senior warriors, Blizzardwind, has passed away due to a fox attack." His own mentor once and a father figure to Pikestar, he didn't really know how to react to such a thing anymore. "May he rest well among the stars." The lanky RiverClan tomcat bit his lip again, wondering what else needed to be said. "I'm sure many of you have noticed Gingerfrost is not present tonight. But I can confirm that he is alive and well, just strictly on bedrest due to an unforeseen infection. Stonepaw is making sure he makes a full recovery." And that was that. Done. "That is all from RiverClan."

At this point, Pikestar was sure his announcements would fall on deaf ears given the ThunderClan and ShadowClan drama, but he didn't really mind. They would just be happy to finally go home and get out of this mess before the oncoming storm would arrive. Even though he tried not to associate himself with the stars much anymore, he would not disregard the fact that this sudden change of weather was due to their own ancestors being upset. He hurrily stepped back, sitting beside Twilighstar and keeping his distance from the other two leaders, not wishing to become guilty by association.

✧ @Eaglet @Moonraven @Undertaker ✧

[Wingnettle]

╔═════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════╗
Moonpaw (she/her)
Shadowclan ❍ 9 moons
Black and orange tortoiseshell with half face ginger and amber eyes
╚═════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════╝



Mh. Was that an order? Moonpaw wasn't sure how to feel about it, but she still sat down close to her mentor. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the Enforcer carefully while she was distracted. She was covered by gray and brown patches of fur, with a white underbelly and amber eyes. Well, I could say that you're pretty. She conceded in her mind, still looking silently between the two warriors.

Darkfall seemed to have forgotten the rest of the world was... existing. She looked at him with an amused expression, a little smile lining her mouth. She had understood completely, and now she couldn't help but see him as a wagging puppy with adoring eyes near Larkfire.

Someone among the leaders spoke; it was Pikestar, wasn't he? Riverclan's leader. He looks pretty young, compared to Dawnstar.
But it seemed that the one-eyed leader didn't have anything special to report.
Moonpaw fidgeted with her paws; she was getting bored, and she felt like ants were crawling under her pelt. Uhg, stuck in a couple. This is getting more boring by the second!

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

[ @Rose @Darkclaws ]

[littlelove]

High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]

Because defending themselves made them victims, apparently? Cinderpaw's fur bristled on end as Shadefrost continued, and the Shadows "justified" themselves as always. Like she had any reason to believe them.

"There was no evidence he ever crossed the border either!" She hissed, eyes narrowing. But of course, they were right - because they were strong, and that meant they could be trusted.

Rosecougar's words placed her on the edge. She turned to the tawny she-cat, fury in her eyes. "I know that! I am one of those damn kids! I am one of the ones who were killed! But I will not let Thunderclan get away blame free and I will not let you monsters divert the responsibility!" Her snarl was loud and grating, roughened by moons of damage. She blinked away any tears that threatened to well. "Everybody in this damn forest knows Thunderclan are 'useless', whoop-de-doo -- but you all refuse to see Shadowclan is worse!"

"When we defend ourselves we're victimizing, when we sit down and take it we're kittypets, when we defend our territory we're brats for refusing your ""help""..." Her words ripped through the air, seething. "Where's our payment from when you sat like pigs in our camp eating the prey we caught? Where's our payment from when Riverclan stole me? "Playing the victim" hasn't gotten us anywhere so I don't understand why you still think we are. Everything we do and say is playing the victim in this disgusting forest."

"I will personally rip my damn claws through the next cat in Thunderclan to hurt a child. I will not be waiting for anyone else's opinions on it next time. But don't you dare try to make a moral argument when I know your don't mind his pelt lining your great leader's nest. Shadowclan has been crossing the borders and slaughtering indiscriminately for moons, so why the hell does everyone believe them here?" Apparently losing your clanmates and having them used as upholstery was better than... being next to what? A clan who apparently were "just kittypets"? She didn't even bother responding to Dawnstripe's inquiries.

A distant, rolling thunder cracked across the sky, and it froze the blood in Cinderpaw's veins.

It seemed like Starclan had made their choice. The eldest apprentice's head snapped up towards the greying, moonless sky...

And she let out the tiniest, dryest laugh. "Wow." She murmured. It seemed she'd been right, about the stars playing with them.

Even as clanmates circled around her, spitting visceral hate back towards the other clan, she stood and stared to the sky. They couldn't just disrespect their ancestors, Sparrowstar had said, the ones that had given Thunderclan so much. Like what? It was obvious they didn't consider them a clan anymore, judging by the clap echoing. They hadn't intervened, not when Lionpaw was killed or when they had the choice of standing in line or being slaughtered or when Cinderpaw howled, broken underneath the Thunderwillow, begging for anyone to hear a word of what she said.

They were a game. A plaything. She wouldn't let Shadowclan treat her that way, but where was the fight she supposedly had when the stars treated her the same? Where was the fight when she was locked into this stupid, subservient role? A pang of something rolled through her -- she wouldn't do that to her. Not now. Right? This had to be... the rest of them.

Cinderpaw felt dizzy. So, so dizzy. Nausea rolled in waves over her, and she opened her mouth to let out a final call - if they said she wasn;t keeping them safe, she would start, dammit...

The words of a shadow-black warrior killed any words in her throat for a brief moment. She couldn't quite grab the specifics, but she heard what she needed to -- attack and untrained apprentices and

"Thunderclan's apprentices," She wheezed. "We are going home."

They would never learn. Not a single soul around her would. They would sink their claws into children indiscriminately and always, always act like they were the ones in the right because kids weren't alive. They weren't people. They weren't anything except sorry little piles of skin and bons who could never survive out on their own. No matter the faction or creed of aggressor and victim, they would be slaughtered like nothing. Thunder could sound, shadows could break across the sky, and the world would stay the same.

Cinderpaw turned tail, moving to the entrance of the gathering clearing from which Thunderclan had came -- like a coward, like a martyr. There would be no world in which these kids weren't constantly surrounded by threats... but with a wild glint in her eyes, it seemed like she'd at least be keeping them far from the ones who sunk their claws into them in the open.

[not gonna ping everyone in this convo there is literally too many to count im sorry]

 

@RedAnger @~Hope~ @Estelle @NinjaBloss @/SpiritedWarrior @Dirtfur @perseus. @/Octavia! @/Poprock @/ShadeCosmic @FireSandwich @CatontheMoon @/naiad @Yugo. @mooncake @teddy. @ophelia @ares @Socks @Cxndy_Fatal @Quasar @Leafí @Apollo. @Rosepaaw

[CatontheMoon]

Littlepaw (she/her)
scruffy furred mottled brown and grey she-cat

Littlepaw's ears perked at the commotion in the Clan camp. She peeked her head out from the foliage where she was taking an afternoon nap and scanned the clearing.

Loud voices and shouts lured the apprentice out of her cover and into the ThunderClan Clearing. She spotted Cinderpaw yowling at several cats in anger and fury. Littlepaw cowered behind a group of warriors in fear.
Littlepaw saw Cinderpaw begin to pad out of the camp. She didn't know what to do. The mottled brown cat had definitely heard about the recent discourse about ThunderClan apprentices' lives being threatened.
Littlepaw knew for certain she was not safe here. She didn't know if she could be the next cat whose pelt would be torn from her body.

Puffing out her chest and rising to her paws, Littlepaw scurried after the older apprentice with determination painted across her face.