Sparkpaw's eyes widened as Applepaw talked. Hearing about her Mama as a warrior was so cool! She knew, of course, that Mama Day was the best Mama to ever Mama, but she didn't get to hear much about her days as a warrior. "That's so amazing! I had no idea!" Sparkpaw's little stub of a tail wagged excitedly. "You must have tons of stories!"
Sparkpaw nodded eagerly when Applepaw offered her assistance. Honestly, she didn't think she'd need help in the traditional meaning of the word. But training with Auntie Apple, who was trained by Mama Day, just seemed like such fun! "Oh! Oh! Oh! You gotta teach me some of Mama's moves then!" She chirped, crouching into a playful bow and jabbing outwards lightly with sheathed paws before resuming her seated position.
Hmmm...names.... Sparkpaw beamed, it was clear Applepaw wanted to pay homage to Mama Day with a name like Applewhisper. But that didn't seem to quite fit... "Oh! Like Mama!" She purred, lifting a paw to rub her chin as she thought hard about names. "Appleday doesn't have quite the same ring either... OH! I know!" Sparkpaw leapt to her paws excitedly. "What about Appleshine? Days are shiny right? And so are apples!" Yes! In her mind it seemed like the perfect solution.
Applepaw
"That's such a pretty name! Appleshine! I'll have to talk to Twilighstar about it!" The apprentice replied genuinely, the name was nice and it was still paying homage to Daywhisper without it being too on the nose. It also sounded nice with Applepaw's prefix. The russet apprentice's expression turned more playful though, giggling as she spoke again, "Maybe I'll just have to take Applespark instead though! After all, it has a name that all the cool cats have!" Her purring assured the words of their teasing nature. "Or maybe I'll just have to take all the names! Applewhisper-spark-fallen-holly- all for me!"
Sootstorm followed Lionpaw, wanting to keep an eye on her apprentice. She sat down beside the light brown tabby as he settled down next to Hawkbite, offering Hollowpaw a dip of her head in greeting.
''Hawkbite,'' the gray-and-white warrior meowed a formal greeting, dipping her head in respect to the Enforcer Commander. ''I think that you'll be pleased. Lionpaw's almost ready for his assessment. I've still got a thing or two to teach him, but he's getting there.'' Sootstorm flashed Lionpaw an affectionate look, a mixture of pride and fondness for the tom filling her green eyes. ''He's a fast learner, and I'm proud of him.''
Her eyes then flicked over to a black tortoiseshell. ''Come on, Spiritpaw! Stick close to me, it's cold.''
l i o n p a w • he/him • 9 moons • shadowclan/apprentice •
shadow fiend [ACTIVE] ❝ speed doesn’t matter; forward is forward regardless ❞
The tom had padded quickly alongside his clanmates to the gathering, but he had been slinking along the shadows, hardly visible to the warriors around him, and there was no way apprentices could detect him. Upon reaching the gathering place, he came from the shadows and looked around. Huh, ShadowClan was first. Of course, they are the best after all. HawkBite! He padded up to the Commander, dipping his head kindly and sitting beside him. “How’re you?” he huffed politely.
The Commander was approached by a few cats, one being his own apprentice, who quickly disappeared into the mix of cats. Hawkbite would let his eyes trail after her before focusing back on the next apprentice to approach. Lionpaw, his... son? He'd been helping Nightshiver raise him up alongside his siblings, though they seemed to be gone or simply ignoring him. He hadn't actually seen the full litter since they were babies. He'd blink affectionately towards the tom. "I'm well. Haven't attended one of these in a while, so figured I might get back onto that," he half-mused.
His gaze lifted to see Lionpaw's mentor who chimed into the conversation. He understood wanting to keep an eye on the apprentice, his own were wandering around here somewhere, but part of him was irked by the need to sit with them. Maybe that was partially due to the unspoken relationship between the two, he felt obligated to protect Lionpaw more than his mentor would understand. "Assessment already? Nightshiver will be pleased to hear about that. It feels like you'd just been named an apprentice," Hawkbite let a smirk curl the corners of his lips.
A quick glance towards the deputy's rock made him raise a brow. His gaze settled on Mistlewhisker briefly. His pelt was tingling, and he instinctively felt the urge to pester her about it. Was she talking about him? Thinking about him? Part of of him wanted to believe she was. How cute. Instead of pestering her, he'd stare for a moment, hoping she'd find his gaze long enough to see him stick his tongue out at her playfully before letting her get back to whatever she was doing. He'd return his attention to Lionpaw and Sootstorm shortly after.
rookfire followed along the clan, having chosen the very tail end of their little group, a unusual position for someone usually comfortably lingering between the high ranks and enforcers, he could see the first few heads of the other clans arriving by the time he himself had set foot on the cold stone and sand. the wind was bitingly cold and dry, salt carrying over from the waves crashing against sand and stone. all alone, as per usual, he chose a seat central within the mass of mismatched, dark pelts that was shadowclan, cool grey eyes scanning the surrounding cats. riverclan arrived not long after, with a not so surprising lack of cobwebpaw that put a smile on rookfires face. wasnt it beautiful when the stars punished those undeserving of a high ranking position? the molly had been foolish, played with fire and oh! she got burned. too bad..
tail flicking contently, he eyed riverclans sole medicine cat, gaze drifting to sleepysunrise every once in a while. her behaviour, and silentpaws as well, had been less than ideal, and he hoped they had it in them to behave accordingly to their rank. berryshine on the other hand gave rookfire painful reminders of what he had lost. something he so desperately tried to drown in hatred but still missed in one way or another. marigoldpaw. not the cat herself, but a cat he felt important to, one to protect. berryshine sort of fit that narrative, even if he had only spoken to her once directly and otherwise giggled at her clans downfall. she was still a reminder nonetheless.
[Scorpionpaw]
ShadowClan Apprentice
20/100
No Purrks
Scorpionpaw's first Gathering! How elated she was to be out of the camp and in a group of cats she didn't konw. She'd learned over the last couple moons that she shouldn't make friends with cats from the other clans, and she took that to heart. Scorp stuck close to her clan, but her eyes would wander over the others. Her nose would constantly twitch as the smells encircled her. The dark tabby would eye the cats on the rocks and around the rocks. She assumed them to be the high ranks from the other clans, so that important to know when the announcements started.
Honestly, things were slowly becoming a bit overwhelming for her. She quickly turned to find someone she recognized or someone from her clan she could bother and distract herself with. Her victim today happened to be Rookfire. The tom she'd stumbled on a couple times now. He was familiar enough!
Scorp bounded over, hiding the anxiety that was building up in her chest as she grinned happily up at him. "HEY!" She'd half-scream trying to talk over the rest of the cats so he could hear her. Of course, they'd grow more quiet as the leaders began to speak. She'd only half pay attention to that though, not seeing a need to listen right now. It wasn't like it effected her at all. At least not yet. "There's a lot going on, it was a bit confusing," Scorpionpaw spoke, the anxiety creeping out on the tone in her voice.
╔══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══╗ Firebloom
Heavily scarred and half-blind she-cat with red fur, minimal white spotting and a single ocean blue eye.
She/Her | 14 Moons | + every 21st | ThunderClan Warrior | Insecure
Firebloom had completely overlooked the fact that Sprucejumper was at the Gathering, as well. She'd hate to admit, and she found it very mean to do so, but she had simply assumed he didn't like to go to Gatherings. He never really attended Clan meetings, so why would he attend a Gathering? It was far too loud and there were far too many cats and it was overwhelming. So obviously, the she-cat was caught quite off-guard when the brown-furred tom approached her with a single word.
For once, she completely stopped looking at the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice and turned her attention to her Clanmate. "Y-yeah. I-indeed. You must l-like... Having th-that thick of a p-pelt... A-at least in L-Leaf-Bare... I c-can't imagine having such a thick coat during th-the hot seasons..." She returned his blink with a smile, previously slightly drooped ears perking up as she scooted closer to him to drape her tail over his back once more, like she had done during the last Clan meeting. "Y-y'know, I-I'm kinda s-surprised... You're h-here. N-not that I mean to offend you or anything! Uh, y-you just do-don't seem l-like the type of c-cat to come t-to the Gathering..." She wouldn't point out the fact that she, in fact, have been avoiding Gatherings following the events of what happened in Newleaf.
Berryshine's ears were ringing, the familiar feeling of panic settling into her bones. Oh, no. Not now. Not when she was just trying to put on a brave face and be normal for at least a single Gathering. Not now, not now, nonono—
A sudden voice, friendly and questioning, interrupted her thoughts. Someone had said her name... everything before that had been a blur. Nearly jumping, the small brown molly turned to see Rabbitpaw arrive. Wolfhawk and Lightningstorm were not far behind. The only good thing about them catching her like this was that it knocked her out of her spiraling thoughts, a frenzy of fearful ideas and haunted memories that surely would've ended up in a trauma response right here in front of all four Clans.
Immediately, her fur felt hot with embarrassment. Was she alright? StarClan knows Berry was never good at hiding her emotions. But she did her best to recover, clearing her throat and shifting her paws, trying to turn away from Sleepysunrise's piercing blue gaze... but even then, her periphery wouldn't let the small medic out of her sight, as if critically aware of how endangered she was by leaving herself open. And now there were three ShadowClan cats there — she didn't know who the golden tom was. He looked friendly enough, but in her current state, the scent of their pine forests and marshes was suddenly suffocating.
"A-Ah, um, y-yeah... I'm... a-alright." Stars above, she was not convincing. Berryshine cleared her throat, schooling her expression as much as possible. It was clear that she was uncomfortable by... something, and not in any good state to speak about it. "S-Sorry. Um... it's... n-nice to see you all... doing well, I-I hope." That part was in earnest; though she hadn't been able to make 'friends', per se, she at least seemed to have a friendly dynamic with the other medics. Such as Wolfhawk, who'd given her a nod that she did her best to return.
Forcing a little smile (that likely did little to reassure anyone that she was fine), Berryshine found herself inching closer towards the ThunderClan and WindClan medics, creating a sort of barrier between her and the ShadowClanners. She tried to be as subtle as possible, but that'd never been her strong suit. Now was not the time to be reliving the memories of the raid — and surely not the time to make a scene on the Seastones because she'd never properly recovered from such a dark time in her young psyche.
As she listened to the high ranks all speaking, she remained mostly quiet, clearly unsettled but still trying to be attentive to the conversation. Blotting out the memory of crunching bone, ripping skin, blood flying, agonized yowls—
A prickle of unease went down her spine. As if... someone was looking at her. Duh, of course they were — she was at the Gathering on the Seastones. All eyes were attuned to the respective leaders who spoke and the other high ranks. But it was a chilling yet familiar stare — one that drew her own green gaze across the crowd until they briefly met. Rookfire.
He was looking at her... strangely. In a manner that Berryshine couldn't really read. Not necessarily hostile, but not approving either. Perhaps something forlorn, or something melancholy. Though she had no personal issues with Rookfire, it made her uneasy; learning of the ex-RiverClanner's past from Stormstar and Cobwebstorm had told her of all the reasons she should probably hate him. Yet he was like an enigma to her, all from their one and only personal interaction.
Shaking out of her thoughts, the RiverClan let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when Bumblestar spoke. The ThunderClan's voice and scent still chilled her to the bone, but it seemed that she was... sated, for now. They'd been right (at least, for this moment); the leader was seemingly relieved by Cobwebstorm's apparent absence and punishment. Maybe. Hopefully.
And, thankfully, no one else seemed to mention or question it. Good. She didn't need that right now... she'd been doing her best to forget Cobwebstorm (not entirely, just so that her grief of losing her dearest friend to exile wasn't a prominent cloud in her mind), but seeing the cat who'd torn off Cob's leg in the traumatizing battle did little to help her settle down. Berryshine just prayed that she was doing okay enough to compose herself, her fur a bit ruffled as she quietly listened, green eyes focused squarely on the leaders and not the culprit of her anxiety.
Nothing can happen here... it's a truce... don't worry... calm down...
very large, muscular, & scarred light brown tabby tom with stark blue eyes and a torn ear; killer aptitude t3 | just a scratch | dreamwalker
[ riverclan warrior | tomcat | 57 moons | gruff & battle-hardened, heart o’ gold; loyal to a fault ]
—
Stagheart hummed in thought as Starrypaw questioned the other Clan. "ShadowClan ain't been so bad, really," he muttered. Not much less than WindClan, he added silently; they hadn't really been at the forefront of RiverClan's problems, except for partaking in the 3v1 raid that'd driven them from their home. ThunderClan's vendetta had started it, and the death of Fallownose had surely only exacerbated it. ShadowClan had just hopped along for the ride. Which was its own annoyance, mind you, but one that took up less brain space compared to the other two Clans.
"Mostly ThunderClan. At last Gatherin', well... Bumblestar made some threats." The battle-hardened tom frowned, keeping his voice low so others couldn't pick up on his words. "Let's just say she ain't so happy wit' us, 'n hasn't been for a long while. Just watch whatcha say to other Clans, y'hear? You can chat wit' 'em, but never give 'em sensitive information that could put our Clan at risk. Not unless Owlstar says it's alright."
Stagheart was just about to continue when ThunderClan arrived — and at once he saw their medicine cat, Wolfhawk, bump into Starrypaw. Stag's gut reaction was to snap a quick Watch where yer goin', but only grunted instead, holding his tongue. Berryshine had told him that Wolfhawk had proved to be friendly to her; he saw no point in making a comment at the medic, especially when his bump had clearly been unintentional. Instead, Stagheart found himself inching closer to Starrypaw in a protective gesture, narrowing his eyes as the line of ThunderClan cats streamed in like water.
"You alright?" He asked the young apprentice, glancing down at her in concern. He couldn't tell if she seemed overwhelmed and curious in the good or the bad way (i.e. sensory overload), and hoped that he was helping rather than hurting her nerves. "I'm sure that were an accident, despite what I said earlier 'bout ThunderClan. I've heard Wolfhawk ain't so bad... he's their medicine cat." Stagheart flicked his striped tail at the rocks, starting to name off the respective high ranks as he gestured to them. "Bumblestar 'n Spiderthroat are the leader 'n deputy. Then we got Twilightstar 'n Crowtooth in WindClan... Lightnin'storm 'n Rabbitpaw are their medicine cats. Berryshine says they're alright, too. Lotsa names, I know," he added with a chuckle. "Then there's, ah... Dawnstar 'n Mistlewhisker for ShadowClan. Think Dawnstar said their medicine cats' names were Sleepy-somethin' 'n Silentpaw last Gatherin'... don't know much 'bout them yet."
As he spoke, Stagheart found himself frowning; Berryshine was staring directly at Sleepysunrise, looking petrified. Oh... did she recognize her, or something? His gut stirred, silently praying that Berry would be able to calm down... which, it looked like she did, thankfully. But the poor girl was also incredibly uneasy; it was written in every tense muscle and wary glance. He'd have to ask her about that later. But for now, his blue gaze flickered back down to Starrypaw, waiting to see if she'd have any other questions as the leaders began to speak.
art by Daragca / GRACKLEPAW \
stocky dark gray tabby with a beige overcoat and bright blue eyes; silver tongue t1
[ windclan apprentice | tomcat | 6 moons | mischievous, charismatic, adventurous ]
16/100
—
Ohh yes! Gathering time, part two!
The first time had been a bust; Gracklepaw had tried to yap his way through the throng, but everyone seemed to have ignored him. Even a cat he'd walked straight up to! The nerve!
For now, the young tom marched boldly with his father to the Gathering — and once they got to the cold sand, he bumped Hawkfur's shoulder, a mischievous glint in his bright blue eyes. One that spoke to his determination to find some cats and chat 'em up, of course. As he did best.
Then the gray-and-beige apprentice was worming his way through the crowd, murmuring "Hi!!" to a few cats; if they ignored him, no big deal! He'd move onto the next! Even as the leaders settled and began to speak, he still found himself happily trotting through, trying to catch somebody's gaze.
art by Daragca / GRACKLEPAW \
stocky dark gray tabby with a beige overcoat and bright blue eyes; silver tongue t1
[ windclan apprentice | tomcat | 6 moons | mischievous, charismatic, adventurous ]
17/100
—
Oh, finally! YES! Someone took the bait!
Gracklepaw turned to Primroseadder; a RiverClanner, by the smell of it. Then again, it was hard to distinguish individual Clan scents when all of them mingled together. Scrunching his nose, the young tom thumped his tail against the ground like a rabbit's foot, eyes gleaming in the silvery moonlight.
"Oh, hiya! I'm Gracklepaw." He jerked his muzzle towards the Seastones, a little grin on his maw. "Ya see Crowtooth up there? The deputy? Yeah. I'm his apprentice," he purred proudly, puffing out his small chest. Had Primroseadder asked? No. Was Gracklepaw going to boast anyway? Yes.
This WindClanner sure seemed lively. ''Well, I don't know Crowtooth personally, since I'm from a different Clan, but I'm sure that he'll be a great mentor to you,'' Primroseadder purred, wrapping her tail around her freezing paws. ''With the Clan Deputy as a mentor, I'm sure you'll be just like him as a warrior.''
RiverClan already had enough issues with WindClan. It was time that things lightened up a little bit. And if talking to an apprentice smoothed out the mood, then maybe that was what they needed---a little peace, even if only for a few moons.
Re: February Gathering
Berryshine is RiverClan's medicine cat! 
Re: February Gathering
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