June Gathering

[nyme]

WE'LL BUILD A FIRE IN YOUR EYES

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ! ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

SALAMANDERPAW . 13 MOONS . SHE/HER . RIVERCLAN

Can they see the missing ear? Oh, please, stars above, she hopes they can see the missing ear. She's not being subtle with it. It's my whole ear gone, of course they can see. Anybody with eyes can see. But she has to MAKE SURE they can because she looks so stinkin' good it's unreal. At least, that's the conclusion Salamanderpaw would have finally come to after propert mourning that little loss. Like, yeah, it sucks and all and her whole head feels different and she swears it's changed the way she hears things somehow but come onnnnn she looks so awesome. And everybody can—and SHOULD—see it. And she'll rest so easily tonight knowing that they're probably seething over it. Or, like, swooning even. Salamanderpaw'll allow some cats to swoon, that's fine. She's sure she has that effect on others.

Mostly, though, they just need to appreciate how cool she is.

Salamanderpaw gives her showboating up in the time it takes for this regal swinging of her maimed head to start making her neck hurt. Again. Ouch. Fine, finefinefine, everybody probably already got a good look. Salamanderpaw deflates with a little groan and finds a place to sag down onto her haunches near the rest of Riverclan. A brief look at the 'Stone shows strangers standing in where she expects to see Thunderclan's ranks (plus a bunch of other weirdness that she aims a loud scoff at). Well. Strangers except their deputy. Salamanderpaw's whiskers twitch with quiet, sour amusement—and no small amount of relish—at the implication. Ohhh...did Thunderclan lose a medicine cat? A leader?? Oh noo...imagine.

Okay. Come on. Don't smile on the outside. She bites the inside of her cheeks. It feels good, to know that Riverclan had to help them out of a bad spot and to know that things must have been even worse back in their camp...but she doesn't need to go grinning like a fool over it. She can be better that that, just once.

[ OPEN ]

[goodacacia]

Rookpaw
♜ WindClan Apprentice | 9 moons

She watched as some apprentices wander their way towards the center stage, wanting to get a seat up the ledge where the leaders were. weren't they taught the basic etiquettes of a meeting? Or do these clan just have zero control of their cats. She brushed it off and used the remainder time before the Gathering started to clean herself. Just when she thought tonight couldn't get worse, some cat, a ThunderClan apprentice, approached her with a...friendly attitude. Wow, what's up with this one? Did she look like she wanted to talk? The dusky apprentice looked at the apprentice up and down before her face form a small scowl.

Right. Etiquette. Be nice, play nice, or whatever the stars Crowtooth said about alliances and or whatnot. The slender apprentice flicked her tail to the other side before responding plainly. "Rookpaw."

[ @c1nder | sorry about this girl, she's not exactly friend material ]

---

Floodsight
✦ RiverClan Warrior | 30 moons | Mind Reader ; Killer Aptitude T3 ; empty slot

It's been a while since she'd been to a Gathering. Due to her...recent events, or the lack of it, Floodsight had been a little under the weather to participate. The silverish she-cat made her way towards the Seastone with the rest of her clanmates, following behind Owlstar's pawstep. Her stormy eyes searched around for her apprentice whom she'd hadn't seen in a while. Perhaps she hasn't arrive? Or perhaps, the little one wanted to sit this one out.

She found her way around the crowds of cats before settling herself somewhere in the front. The silver warrior was more than keen to hear about the recent news amongst the clans. How much did she miss? How much changes have been made since the day she disappeared.

[ open ]

[Minku]

══════════════
Frigidpaw
RC Apprentice. He/Him. 6 Moons
Lucky Duck T1, Ultimate Predator

[ @ ]
══════════════
post 15

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO HIS FIRST GATHERING FRIGIDPAW’S FIRST EVER GATHERING YEAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! As soon as they reached the Seastones, he was hit by a BUNCH of new scents!! Almost overwhelming, bit a good warrior is ALWAYS READY FOR A GATHERIIING!!!! Oo, there’s MORE LEADERS!!!! LOOK AT THAT BIG BIG BIG ONE OVER THERE!!!!! SHE LOOKS SO COOL???!!! AND SHE HAS COOL SCARS LIKE MS. OWLS!! THERE’S SO MUCH CATS HERE!! UH WHAT DOES HE DO NEXT??? He sees some other cats sitting, so he should sit too!!

Frigidpaw ran into to the crowd, trying to look at every cat there; there’s some boring lookin’ ones BUT SOME OF THEM LOOK COOL! He wants to talk to all of them! BUT HE CAN’T!!! He’s gonna be in these gatherings every moon right? HE CAN IF HE REALLY WANTED TOO!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE CATS!!!!! Warrior life must be SO nice, well, he knew it is, but THIS too??? AND THE LEADERS ARE UP AT A COOL STONE THING!!! As soon as he becomes the best warrior, HE’S GONNA BE THERE SOMEDAAAAY!!!

[open, have an overexcited apprentice]

[Zero]

Cicadapaw
| He/him | ThunderClan Apprentice (49/100) | @Fenrir @crow. [OPEN to a cat he runs into] |

ꊞ○ꊞ○ꊞ○ꊞ○ꊞ○ꊞ○ꊞ

Cicadapaw stuck close to Pineblossom’s side as they padded into the clearing, his amber eyes wide. He’d heard stories, but nothing really prepared him for the sea of cats that greeted him. Everywhere he looked were strangers: broad-shouldered RiverClan cats with sleek pelts, tall WindClan cats, and ShadowClan cats with unreadable stares. It was dizzying. He swallowed, suddenly very aware of how small he was.

"This… this is a lot more cats than I imagined," he muttered under his breath, glancing sideways at Pineblossom for reassurance.

He hadn't plans to stray from her side tonight, but then Cricketpaw shot off into the crowd, and his paws followed before he could think it through.

"Wait up, Cric-" His call cut off abruptly as he smacked right into the side of an unfamiliar face.

[crow.]

Crowbones
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Hanged Executioner ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
He/They/It/Crow/Crowself | Warrior | 29 moons | Windclan
``I'll Never Lose; I'll Never Die``

Purrks: Mind Reader [PERM ACTIVE] Killer Aptitude T2 [INACTIVE] Katty Krueger [INACTIVE] Kitty Softpaws T2 [INACTIVE]
⛧⛥⛦⛧

- - -

Cricket was GONE by the time his brother called for him. Instead, the apprentice ran face-first into strong muscles, the black tom stared down at him. "Careful." He murmured.
@Zero

[Silverfur & Co]

Dawnflutter looked at the groups and smelled shadow clan. She seen the other clans and she smiled

[Neptune.]

Larkwing
35 moons || she/her || rc warrior || Kitty Softpaws, Mind Reader, Killer Aptitude T2
heavily scarred dilute tortie w/ low white; green eyes

There's an immense amount of quiet courage in doing what you once thought you'd never do again; too shackled by fear and uncertainty and an intense desire to just... not find out what might happen next. That boundary, Larkwing had thought, was firmly in place, rooted in the ground and as unmovable as the ocean is infinite. Apparently she'd been wrong.

Moons ago, before their kits were born, Larkwing had told Fishfreckle she didn't think she'd ever go to a gathering again. And, at the time, that had truly been what she believed to be true. But, the truth remains that she simply doesn't trust the other Clans around her kids - ThunderClan especially, though the other two don't hold much merit in her mind either.

At present, she's escorting Faithpaw, sticking close to her pale furred daughter, enough so that their pelts might brush up against each other and Faith won't get lost in the already huge crowd. Larkwing is buzzing. Not from excitement, but from anxiety. How many cats here recognize her? How many has she last met in violence and bloodshed? She makes an active effort not to look too closely at the cats on the high rank stones - she doesn't see Bumblestar, in her place is- she doesn't know the tom's name. She swallows. Most of her anxiety had centered on the ThunderClan leader, and she doesn't see her here. (If Bumblebreak was any taller, maybe Larkwing would have spotted her, unfortunately she's a tiny cat and surrounded by several bigger and bulkier cats.)

"Do you want to stick close to RiverClan? Or chat with the apprentices from the other Clans?" Larkwing asks, keeping her voice light and free of the anxiety she feels even as she glances around anxiously, her torn ear flicking in mirror of her nerves. She hates gatherings.

[ @Star <3 ]

[Nahbois]

Sprucepaw
|| She/her || 7 Moons || Riverclan Apprentice || 52/100 ||

Sprucepaw followed Owlstar and the other Riverclan cats to Seastones. This was her first Gathering, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. She'd made sure her pelt was properly groomed. Looking bad in front of the other clans would reflect badly on the clan overall. It looked like all the other clans had arrived already, based on all the cats, the scents, and most importantly the noise. Taking it all in was a lot. Where would she sit? Should she talk to cats from other clans? If she did, should she talk to fellow apprentices or warriors? Sprucepaw's tail flicked nervously as she lingered at the edges of the gathering, unsure of what to do.

(open to anyone bothering an anxious apprentice)

[Alchemist Kitsune]

High Rank Announcement [#hrannouncement]

| Lightningstorm |
30 Moons - WindClan Medicine Cat
Flock Together [Tier 3] - Active | Mind Reader - Active | Dreamwalker - Inactive | Katty Krueger - Inactive

---

She was lagging behind. The WindClan medicine cat knew this, but frankly this time she wasn't very bothered by it. She had three temporary residents in her den that she had to ensure were doing well before she left them alone for the rest of the night. All of them were healing quite nicely at this point in time, yet the amount of injured patients made her uncomfortable. Then there was, of course, the matter of grooming herself. Sure, she was a skinny cat that was looking a bit less nourished than usual of late, and true, she'd had next to no time to keep her pelt well kept these past few days, but she couldn't show up to the gathering looking like Crowtooth on a regular day. She might not be able to do anything about her general physique, but she could very well tidy up before making an appearance, thank you very much.

It seemed she had missed something, however. During her time away. Moonshine hit her slick, well groomed fur as she approached the stones, dainty paws stopping as she openly stared at the deputy's perch, seeing all the apprentices just... clustered there. There seemed to be a new ThunderClan deputy, spotting a gray tabby who had leaped down to wrangle one of the paws, and a quick glance at the leader's rock let her know that Bumblebreath was no more, the - alleged - medicine cat killer having taken his place among the leaders instead. Lightningstorm still remembered the odd accusations revolving Elmshadow's apprentice's death, but she also distinctly remembered nothing having ever come from it. A part of her wondered if the allegations had never been possible to prove, or if it had been brushed to the side much in the same fashion as Dusklion's murder of WindClan's former deputy.

The medicine cat tilted her head with interest, doubting that was the case. After all, Twilightstar had somehow rallied the two other clans against RiverClan for that little crime - among others - so even if Dusklion herself had later on turned into Stormstar, there had been an atonement of some sort made. She couldn't remember any sort of similar vengeance having been wrought on ThunderClan or Spiderthroat for that matter, which made the potential of it all having been naught but rumor more than plausible... or it could also be the simple fact that a medicine cat's life was worth less than that of a deputy's or hell... even that of a warrior's. If your own clan would turn on you in the blink of an eye over a perceived mistake without a shred of evidence to it - hard to come by evidence that didn't exist, after all - it would make sense that another clan killing your own medicine cat was not worth being hostile for. Much less if it was a mere apprentice.

Shaking herself clear of those thoughts, Lightningstorm took a deep breath, preferring to not linger on that little rabbit hole of political inquiries that she would probably never have an answer for. She doubted Sleepysunrise would know much about it - the medicine cat was curious, but her smarts for anything not herb related were... lacking as far as the herbalist had seen - and even if she did, it had all happened before her time and the calico wasn't interested in second paw accounts. It was tantamount to gossip, and she didn't care to find half truths that were worth nothing without exact knowledge on what were the parts that had actually happened. Instead, she leaped to the medicine cat's perch, sitting down easily on her usual spot before spotting the new, ThunderClan smelling feline as well as the tom that sat besides the ShadowClan medicine cat. Again. This wasn't her apprentice. She knew that much. She'd seen him before. Hadn't stopped this one from being all close and cuddly with the dark she-cat before, though, making it clear they were close, just not exactly in what manner. Only one way to find out, she supposed.

"Good night to you all, ya beauts. You know... between Mistlewhisker's bring your kit to the deputy's perch night and you bringing your mate over to the medicine cat's perch every gatherin', I'm startin' to think you lot are a lot cuddlier than you let on," she mewed amicably, lapis gaze blinking innocently at the dark furred medicine cat and her... companion.

Look... was this a complete shot in the dark? Yes. Did Lightningstorm have any real reason to believe these two were mates? Well... maybe? They might just be friends, but their closeness was far more intimate than any friendship she'd ever spotted. It could be that WindClan cats were simply more self absorbed and even less friendly than she gave them credit for, true, but considering how uncharitable she was with her thoughts towards most of her clanmates, she doubted that was the case. Which left either family bond or mates and... well... They looked as much like each other as Lightningstorm did to Leechscar. Which was to say not at all. Leaving only the potential of them being a couple as a possibility. Could she be wrong? Absolutely. But would the potential for a fun response regardless be worth that possibility? Even more so, so she would take looking the fool for a bit of teasing. She'd never been the proud sort, anyway. Not in silly matters like this, in any case.

---

@Estelle [Sleepysunrise] | @Dreamingstars [Dragonflypaw] | @Rani [Bleedingpaw]

[iliri]

Gladepaw
long-furred, scarred, dark brown classic tabby with amber eyes
purrks: n/a
she/they | rc apprentice | 6 moons

---

Her first gathering, and her nerves were already spiking up. Following closely behind her clan, her paws hauled themselves lightly over the coarse sand, sinking slightly into the cool sand as the sea breeze tugged at her whiskers. The salty air clung to her fur, the distant sound of crashing waves thumping in her eardrums. Gladepaw tried to keep her steps stable, but it was hard not to feel like her paws were made of reeds. She’d imagined this moment so many times, but none of her mental pictures matched the real thing. The wide, open stretch of moonlit beach gave way to a scattering of worn, smooth stones nestled just beyond the reach of the tides. They glistened faintly under the glow of the moon, spread like ancient relics across the sand. There was something timeless about them, something that made the fur along her spine prickle. What made it worse was that her clan seemed to be the last to arrive, and the multitude of different scents attacking her system almost made her brain short-circuit. Cats were everywhere. Dozens - maybe more than she’d ever seen in one place - clustering in small knots across the Seastones. Their pelts gleaming in shades of silver and shadow beneath the moonlight, voices rising and falling in an ocean of conversation. The hum of chatter and the overlapping smells of foreign pelts overwhelmed her senses. She swallowed thickly, her amber eyes wide and darting from group to group as her paws instinctively slowed. Every muscle in her body tensed like a tightly wound branch, ready to snap from the lightest ounce of pressure.

Gladepaw's breath caught in her throat, a nervous flutter deep in her chest. She’d known there would be cats, but nothing could’ve prepared her for the sheer number of them. It was different than training or sharing a brief word in the camp; this was a sea of strangers, all gathered under one night sky. Her body was still and rigid as she followed behind her clan-mates, ears flattened to dull the constant barrage of noise. It all felt like too much. Everyone seemed to know how to talk. How to stand. How to be here. She shifted her paws again, flexing them against the cool sand. Maybe she should say something. Find another apprentice, ask a question, compliment someone’s fur? That’s what you were supposed to do, right? Her mouth opened slightly, only to shut again a heartbeat later. Her voice felt trapped somewhere behind her tongue. Stars, she wished she were better at this.

open !! posts will be longer <3