October Gathering

[Badwolf]

[Bouncepaw]
Apprentice|8 moons|Windclan

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Bouncepaw glances at his sister as she drifts off to see other cats. By the looks and smell of them, they must be Riverclan warriors. Bouncepaw didn't know Daffodilpaw had Riverclan friends. That was new. He puts his mind off her business for now.

Who should he talk to now? Should he just stand alone?

"Cricketpaw?" Bouncepaw meows as he sees the apprentice. They'd talked last Gathering, and although he didn't yet know her all that well, she was at least more familiar than the other cats. He dips his head in greeting.

Tags:
@Silvershadow13 /Cricketpaw
(Hello!)

[Silvershadow13]

•| Cricket'Paw |•

She turned at the sound of her name, fur laying flat when she recognized the face.

"Bouncepaw! Hello!" it was nice to have made friends at the last gathering, at least she had cats to talk to.

@Luna16
@Splitmoon
@Badwolf

[taillow]

High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]

Stormstar - RiverClan Leader

One ear remained focused on the medicine cats seated below them as she heard the other ShadowClan healer speak up - Mossfreckle, was it? The warning in his tone irritated her, but as much as it did she knew it was something she'd do if she could right now to Cobs; a warning to not let Rookfire rile her up. Her gaze flickered briefly over towards Cobs and Berries, wondering if she needed to talk with the two after this gathering was over. She hadn't realized what an anxious mess the medicine cat apprentice would be - and that would need to be fixed at least for gatherings.

Bumblestar's quip had her glancing towards the leader. Right, the otters. "That's bein' handled, just so you know," Stormstar offered, brows furrowing. "Ran into a slight... issue, but they shouldn't be a problem much longer." She had already talked to the elders and had a game plan in mind, at leasy. Hopefully the next time she took a patrol out it would be to rid the waters of those vile creatures.

...And bring closure to Mudsmoke and Jayfrost...

The scent of WindClan turned Stormstar's attention towards the beach and she watched as Twilightstar hurried across the sand to the stones. She didn't go further than the stones where the deputies sat however, and the gray furred leader blinked. But when the single-eyed leader glanced at her, and spoke words she never thought she'd hear, the RiverClan leader's gaze widened a bit. Short-circuiting and blinking once, then twice, she tried to regain her composer and stop the gratitude from filling her eyes by clearing her throat.

They were rival Clans. Twilightstar and WindClan had driven them out! So why did her heart flutter with admiration at being recognized by the older leader? She was sure it was only said to remain civil. It wasn't because the WindClan leader was actually proud of her, or wanted to congratulate her. "Thank you," the gray-furred leader finally managed with a quick dip of her head, then because she wasn't entirely sure what else to do she averted her gaze back out towards the crowd. Well, if she wasn't nervous before, she certainly was a bit now. Her paws kneaded the stone as Twilightstar continued speaking with her deputy, and the medicine cats continued below, and the chatter of the crowds.

Before she knew it, Stormstar was striding forward onto the rock until her paws crested the edge and she could see out into the crowd. Her heart beat heavily in her chest as she paused, letting her gaze sweep over every cat there. It was... terrifying in a sense to be right where she had wanted to be for so many moons. Times spent sitting on the sandy shoreline looking up at the cats that stepped onto this stone, that gave announcements. Her paws tingled and the feeling spread up her legs, to her whiskers, and finally up through the tips of her ears and tail.

...But she was ready. The nerves died down and she rolled her shoulders back, standing taller and appearing much more confident than she had a couple seconds ago.

"RiverClan has been through a few challenges lately, but it's been nothin' we haven't been able to handle," Stormstar began, her voice clear and bold as it rang across the gathering space. "As you can tell, Fadin'star is no longer with us. Disppeared without a lot to go on. I traveled to the Starcave 'n was made RiverClan's leader under my new name - Stormstar." A brief glance up towards the stars, wondering if Goosefury was watching her right now. "Our medicine cat traveled with me, 'n StarClan saw fit to also grant her full medicine cat name of Berryshine."

A wide grin spread across her maw as she looked to her medicine cat, pride shimmering in her gaze. Sure, she had a deputy now and Berries an apprentice - but that Starcave journey was something the leader would treasure between just the two of them. "I've named Owltalon as my deputy, 'n Berryshine has taken on Cobwebfern as her apprentice." Full ranks. Perhaps the quickest she had seen them done, but she wouldn't boast about that now - she'd let that action speak for itself.

"We've had some new apprentices start their warrior trainin'; Featherpaw, Starrypaw, Shorepaw, Rosemarypaw, 'n Drizzlepaw. Some new outsiders joinin' out ranks as well - Soarin'paw, Fireglow, 'n Bravekit." She didn't currently see any of the outsiders here, which was probably for the best since they could be rather overwhelming. "One of our queens, Swanberry, has also welcomed a litter of kits; Turlekit, Ripplekit, Bubblekit, 'n Whisperin'kit." Her throat tightened at the thought of Streamkit, debating on if she should mention the young kit... "Streamkit, unfortunately, was stillborn, 'n we hope StarClan has welcomed them with open paws." It hurt to think of the kit, but it was the right thing to do to honor their name here.

"We've had a few issues with predators lately - a pack of dogs in our territory that we had to fend off, foxes roamin' about, 'n otters in the rivers at our borders with ThunderClan and WindClan. While tryin' to deal with the otters, RiverClan has also lost Jayfrost 'n Mudsmoke." Two more losses to add on. "We lost Crowglow while clearin' out the dogs in the territory, 'n Catfishwhisker was taken from us by the foxes in our territory. I took a patrol to handle 'em 'n hearded 'em towards the outskirts. All of these cats were good 'n loyal warriors, 'n we honor them here tonight." Stars, that was a lot of deaths, wasn't it?

Looking at the other leaders now to make sure she had their attention, then back out at the crowd, Stormstar added, "Another ex-warrior of mine, Strongstorm, threatened the life of a 'paw 'n had no regard for the Clan he supposedly vowed to protect, so he's been exiled 'n renamed Weakkit. He's a big fluffy gray tom with green eyes, will probably be whinin' 'bout how he doesn't care about anythin'. He's not worth your time to take in." She made sure to let her gaze linger on each leader before continuing.

Looking back out to the crowd once more, Stormstar flicked her tail. "This wasn't acknowledged at the last gatherin', 'n I know it's long since past. But you all got to honor those who fell for your Clan in the battle," the leader stated, glancing to either side at the leaders, "so I hope you'll extend RiverClan 'n I the same courtesy." It was about time the cats who had been killed were given their rightful honor. "Mistclaw, Sedgetwist, Sandygust, Waterworm, Riverwhisper, Mudstone, Splashgaze, Carrotdash, Poppytail, Cricklecrash, Honeypaw, Alpinepaw, and Stickpaw all fought valiantly. They lost their lives in battle, 'n they are honored 'n remembered by their Clan." A brief dip of her head and closing of her eyes. She hoped they had all found peace among the stars...

After a moment, Stormstar re-opened her eyes. There was one more issue she wanted to address. Taking a step back from the rock just a bit, she rolled her shoulders back and looked towards ThunderClan's leader. "Bumblestar - at the last gatherin' before we were driven out, you gave RiverClan back Cattail Pond - however when I went to scout the area when we returned, there's still ThunderClan scent as heavy as ever. I want to know if you plan on keepin that word in givin' Cattail Pond back to RiverClan?" It was mostly to Bumblestar, but she didn't exactly keep her voice down. Mostly because she knew what the answer was going to be - and she wanted every single cat here to hear it, too.

Bumblestar would never give the pond up, despite having promised to return it to RiverClan. Of course, once they had left, she had swooped in and stolen it again. As much as Stormstar respected the leader beside her for what she had done to lift her own Clan out of despair, this would be the true test to see if she could ever fully work with the leader.

[ @Undertaker @Moonraven @dino. @Marigoldwhisper @squidz @finley !! ]