Not that keeping track of cats had ever been difficult, but this was getting out of hand. Bouncepaw was a WindClan apprentice and Bluestrike his mentor, they had both encountered a fox, where Bouncepaw had gotten his nose injured, Burnedpaw was in Thunderclan and Wavebreaker knew his mentor, and mentors mate, Wavebreaker was a warrior from her clan... and this new cat was... his daughter?
Had she forgotten anything, probably, but now, she sat, almost in shock of everything that was happening. Inhaling sharply, she gazed up, almost feeling overwhelmed, and closes her eyes. You'll be okay, Cricket'Paw Amberdew had constantly comforted her when she had been scared. As a kit, too many cats around her was terrible, no more than three put her in panic mode,so when Amberdew... died, she learned that talking when you're nervous is far better than not. If you ever feel overwhelmed imagine how the other cats feel. Amberdew's voice echoed around her head. Keeping her eyes shut, she let her mind drift, imagining the minds of others. It would be okay.
Wavebreaker suppressed a chuckle as his daughter apologized for interrupting him. Sorry but not sorry. Is more what her words sounded like. He smirked as her spotted figure turned to the attention of all the other cats present. He felt her hindpaws make contact with his face several times before she made it to the ground. He let out a small huff and raised one eyelid higher than the other. Well, I did wish for this. Did I give Blizzardoak this much trouble when I was an apprentice?
Despite his misgivings, it seemed as if StarClan really was present tonight. After all they had answered his prayers in record time. As Kitepaw was making herself known to the group, he stole a glance at Irisdream who still seemed to be chatting with Rowanmane. He considered telling Kitepaw they needed to check in with her mother, but he did not want to spoil her first gathering with family drama.
She only gets one first gathering, I can talk with her about Irisdream later.. Besides, it seemed the gathering would start in earnest soon enough. Everyone seemed to be present after all, uninvited kits included. Wavebreaker supposed the leaders were merely deciding the speaking order before the official ceremonies began. His ears swiveled back at the mention of Hawkthorne being somewhere nearby.
"I'm sure your mentor has plenty of other things to concern himself with at the gathering rather than gabbing with us." The older tom hoped Burnedpaw would drop the search for his mentor. He didn't think Hawkthorne would make a scene, but it wasn't an impossible scenario. As the wind whipped through the sandy clearing, the air was painted brown by the pigment of the sands carried on the breeze. Wavebreaker was careful to put his head down and cover his eyes so as to avoid any irritants lodging themselves where they weren't wanted.
With his head tilted down he noticed Cricketpaw had her eyes closed, and all her limbs were close to her body. She was protecting herself from some unseen danger. Wavebreaker recognized her body language, because he was familiar with that need to feel safe. Leapingfang had delivered him enough trauma in his young age to recognize it in others. He casually stretched his leg from his sitting position so he could reach a paw carefully over the edge of the stone he was on. He pressed it gently on Cricketpaw's back as he leaned in whispering, not wanting to make a scene. "Are you alright Cricketpaw?"
Her tension was cut by Wavebreaker. Are you okay. She had been, just a minute ago right? Now, she was retaining too much info, surrounded by too many cats. This was all new to her, she had thought she got a hold on her fear, it's why she could chatter so much, but this... This was proving that she only failed to prepare herself. Opening her eyes, she breathed, mouth parted slightly, and contained a small whimper threatening to escape. "Ye-yes, I'm fine, just, resting a little, I have never stayed up so late." it wasn't all a lie, she was tired, but still to this day, there were some circumstances that even played out faster than her voice could. This was most definitely one of them.
Gaze falling to her paws, she busied herself with the dirt. It will be okay... she mumbled, It will be okay...
"Cool name," she told Silverleopard. "Fits you, with the spots and all. You know, our pelts are kinda similar. Like, I've got spots too, though they aren't as cool as yours. And we've both got white patches."
Doeflame yawned, and the RiverClan fish smell wafted towards her. So did the other clans' scents, but they weren't nearly as bad as RiverClan's, just nuts and heather and stuff. Normal stuff. Wrinkling her nose, she turned her attention back to Silverleopard. "Don't you hate the fish smell? Like, seriously, do they just roll around in fish before each gathering to annoy us? Or do they actually live with that every single day of their lives? I do not know how they would be able to do that. Like, I s'pose you get used to it but still, yuck."
Re: September Gathering
