Time for a Gathering

[Amber]

Cherryfur's mind was racing like usual as the Gathering came closer and closer. The deputy was full of energy, ready to see the other clans and to see if any battles that would possibly happen from harsh words. The grin settled back on her face as the image of flesh being torn ran through her mind as she followed Palestar toward the meeting place.

She made sure to stay as far away from Finchnose as possible, craziness could be contagious and she sure didn't want his disease. Maybe one of the clans would dispose of him. No...Cherryfur, stop thinking that. He is a clanmate. Sighing the she-cat wondered how all else would go once the gathering actually began and the other clans arrived. It wasn't surprising to her that they arrived first.

Settling just beneath the stump, the she-cat made herself comfortable. No point in saying or doing anything else until others showed up. But once the other clans began to show, she muttered a few choice words before straightening herself and nodding respectfully as each leader approached. Upon seeing Ivytooth approach she wondered why Rainfur was sitting with the leaders now. Surely something had not happened. Oh well, maybe it would be a good change. Shrugging the she-cat looked around, wondering if this would ever start and end so she could do something other than sit here.

As the ThunderClan cats arrived at the Gathering, Mapletail noticed that they were the last to arrive. It didn't look like the others had been here too long, which was better than being fashionably late. As he trailed along with the rest of his clan, and made it across the log to the clearing he felt more relief this time around. The last moon had been his first as a warrior, and it had been so different than as an apprentice. He actually felt like he was just like the majority of the cats, part of a group. And soon enough his little sister would be joining them and he could show Cedarkit around. Now that would be a day to look forward to.

Settling down, the tom found a spot to sit down, as he thought of what would occur tonight. Not too much had occurred in ThunderClan the past moon, but it seemed ShadowClan had something going on. But what? Mapletail would soon find out, no point in over thinking.

[Yellowstar]

Fernstar

[/center]
"WindClan is well," The WindClan leader replied simply, not quite willing to say too much. There was plenty that had happened this past moon in WindClan, but not all of it was good to tell other leaders. Especially about those of her Clan being injured by the fox or certain... other things that had happened recently. So she kept most of it to herself.

It wasn't long before the scent of ShadowClan drifted on the breeze and she saw the other Clan arriving. She searched among the cats for the familiar pelt of Longstar, but to her surprise she didn't see the ShadowClan leader. Rainfur seemed to be leading the cats, and as he came over to the other two leaders Fernstar noticed a she-cat following him. She watched the tom with suspicion, noting the way he spoke which did not suit that of a deputy speaking to leaders of other Clans. Palestar had questioned Rainfur well enough and there was no need to add; she just nodded to the ShadowClan tom and sat quietly.

It wasn't long before the final Clan arrived, Whitestar at the lead with his ThunderClan cats behind him. She nodded curtly to him as he arrived, though showing no particular friendliness. Considering what had happened... she was in no hurry to be overly fond of the ThunderClan leader. But she still wouldn't let the other Clans know of this. It would be kept just between their Clans. Fernstar glanced toward her deputy and saw Redfang fixing the ThunderClan cats with a fierce stare, knowing only what he must be feeling at the moment. Difficult or not, Fernstar would continue maintaining appearances, for this was no business of RiverClan's or WindClan's.

Foxclaw

Foxclaw was simply a red shadow as he walked along with his Clanmates, silent and swift-moving. He kept up easily with the group as they skirted around the lake, unspeaking and only focusing on the night ahead. Once reaching the bridge he crossed its slippery surface easily with moons of practice and dropped to the ground on the other side.

This would be a Gathering unlike any other. Less than a moon ago the great leader Longstar had died, leaving Rainstar to take her place at the head of ShadowClan. Of course, Foxclaw has his own opinions on the matter but he was interested to see what the other Clans thought in the change of leaders. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a leader change, as Lionstar had died only four moons previous, but this was the first time in his lifetime that his own leader had changed. And Rainstar needed to make a good impression on his first Gathering as leader. Sitting by himself, content with only focusing on the news instead of socializing, he fixed his eyes on where the leaders sat and waited for the Gathering to begin.

Bramblepelt

As soon as he stepped off of the tree bridge and onto the island, a grin broke out on the ThunderClan tom's face. Ah, Gatherings, how he loved them. There was no better time to socialize with those of other Clans than on the night of the truce, and no better place to meet she-cats. Though he was not a picky cat when it came to those he talked with, tonight he was finding himself yearning for the company of a she-cat. So what luck it had been when Whitestar had picked him to go to the Gathering! That brother of his really was something to be grateful for. What better way to show his appreciation than to take full advantage of it?

His amber eyes gazed around the Gathering with purpose, searching over each cat that was there. Most of them he recognized, as he could never be called shy or withdrawn, but he looked most of them over. When he finally found something of interest, his eyes landed on a she-cat who appeared to be sitting by herself. WindClan from the scent of her. Grinning again, Bramblepelt padded straight toward her, head and tail held high with a swagger one would expect of an overzealous apprentice. "Hello there," Bramblepelt purred smoothly, "Nice night for a Gathering, hmm? It's sure to be a good one from the looks of it." He sat down next to Lizardheart smirked at her, convinced he appeared as charming as he thought he was. She-cats always fell for it.

((Omg so much fail. But I procrastinated too long on this post already. ><))[/justify][/blockquote]

[Sporelett]

[/b] the grey tom nodded solemnly as he spoke. "Longstar lost her last life to greencough earlier this moon. The Clan has recovered, but her loss will be felt for a while longer." He paused for a moment, waiting for his news to sink in. Rainstar's voice was firm and strong when he continued. "I have already gone to the Moonpool to receive my nine lives and my name. Now I would like to present Ivytooth; my new deputy."

It was at that point that ThunderClan finally arrived; Rainstar turned his head to note Whitestar's arrival, and nodded at the white tom when he padded over to them. "It runs well enough, Whitestar. Is your Clan well?"[/justify][/ul]

[/i] for the honour of going to the Gathering... back when she still had to hunt and fight for the Clan. Not that she didn't like doing such things, but by all the stars in Silverpelt, Duckpelt was glad to have finally earned her rest. She was more than seven winters old; she had certainly seen her fair share of grief and hardship, and it was darned nice to have the Clan looking after her for a change instead of the other way around, thank you very much.

Perhaps it was true that she had experienced such luxuries before. She had been a queen (only twice... how does a cat mate like clockwork for seven season-cycles and have only two litters of kits?), and while she was in the nursery she had been cared for. But this was different from being a queen; for one thing, there were no kits to look after. It was just her and the other elders, and kits who came to visit sometimes, but always returned to their mothers to be fed and cared for and fussed over. In fact, it was a bit boring. A she-cat could only flirt and gossip so much. After a while she just got tired of it, or the toms didn't want to be flirted with and the she-cats weren't interested in her tidbits of info.

She couldn't blame them; even she wouldn't want to be doing only that 24/7. So once talking and flirting was out of the picture, what was left? Well, sleeping and eating, both of which she did plenty of. And on this occasion, when Palestar had announced the beginning of another Gathering, she had been indulging in the latter, to her guilt. The last thing she needed to be doing in leaf-bare was sneaking extra pieces of prey from the Clan's fresh-kill pile, but what was a cat to do? In the end, she decided to attend that night's gathering. It would take her mind off of those fish some neglectful apprentice had left lying about...

---

Later that night, after the Clan had marched across their territory and arrived at the island crossing, Duckpelt had been one of the last to cross. She didn't like other cats behind her (and she was slow that there was no one there in any case). They were so pushy! So she waited until everyone else was across before she heaved her bulk onto the stripped log and waddled carefully across. With a gusty "oof," the tabby tortoiseshell had hopped down and trundled towards the clearing where the Clans would gather, found a spot with a good view of the Great Tree, and had promptly fallen asleep. It wasn't until the other three Clans arrived that the snoozing elder had bothered to rouse, and when she did it was to the sight of all four Clans mixing and milling about in the clearing around her.

"Hmph, must've arrived whilst I was napping," she concluded astutely. Duckpelt shifted her position, burped, and eventually rolled onto her back, where she lay with her belly sticking up rather comically and her limbs quite flaccid and relaxed. The cat looked up, catching a motion somewhat nearby, but found it hard to see over the hill of her stomach, and so had to crane her neck somewhat awkwardly. What she saw was a young white and black tom hurrying across the clearing, his destination quite unknown to her. She didn't know him, but decided that he looked like an amicable sort, and handsome besides. Duckpelt flopped ungracefully onto her side and got to her paws, padding after the young tom and stopping him with a tap of her tail to his shoulder. Close up, she realized that he smelled of ShadowClan.

Ah, well. She was an elder, what did she care for Clans?

"Hello there," the she-cat purred at Lightheart, her voice surprisingly low and attractive for the obviously-overweight, aging feline. "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you before. We must never have been at the same gathering, because I'm sure I would have noticed you. I definitely wouldn't have missed such a dashing tom." She was laying it on thick, she was, on full frontal assault. Duckpelt narrowed her eyes in a friendly expression, genuinely pleased to have found such promising company to spend the Gathering with. Now, all she had to do was manipulate him into staying.[/justify][/ul][/size]

[kitty]

Palestar bowed his head briefly. Longstar had been a pretty good leader, and she had been leader for so long it probably had come as a hard blow to ShadowClan with her passing. "What a shame," he meowed, raising his head to turn his amber eyes to the she-cat that followed the new leader. So, his newe deputy was Ivytooth. He dipped his head slightly in recognition. From what he remembered of the she-cat, she was a rather wise choice. "I'm glad to hear your Clan has recovered, Rainstar," he added. So, greencough had taken Longstar's last life, hm? Palestar, too, had lost one of his lives to the deadly disease. It was certainly a much more peaceful way to die, instead of in battle. You wouldn't be considered a brave cat, joining StarClan fighting valiantly for your Clan, but it was a leader who had died, and surely she had lost other lives in battle. Palestar had certainly lost a couple that way.

ThunderClan had arrived in the middle of this little exchange, and Whitestar was now standing "Greetings, Whitestar," he meowed. "Prey runs well in RiverClan." While some of the Clan leaders might be a bit hostile to the other Clans from recent battles, or even past ones, they did not show it openly. Palestar himself had no current quarrel with any other Clan, and their borders had been relatively peaceful recently.

Now that all four Clans were here, the Gathering could start soon. Palestar looked up at the sky. All was still clear. They'd just give the gathered cats a bit more time to catch up, and then the leaders would start the meeting.

((Bleh. >.<))

[ivyy]

.: Stonewhisker followed mechanically behind the strikingly white cat, just a tail length behind his leader, his pale green eyes were trained forwards on the already busy island. It seemed that ThunderClan was the last to arrive, no bother. They were quite far from the gathering place, and would have quite the difficulty trying to beat RiverClan there. Slowing his pace, Stonewhisker watched Whitestar intently, waiting for the signal the they were all free to move about as they please before the real meeting started.

.: Stonewhisker turned briefly to note that Duskpaw was following behind them, and yes, she was. His paws gripped the water soaked log with vice like strength as he crossed, paying special attention to his center of balance. No, Stonewhisker did not plan of getting wet this night. He made his way through the maze of cats, more and more ThunderClan infiltrating the crowd of foreign cats, some he recognized from previous gatherings or the occasional run-in on a border patrol, some he couldn't recall. He noted this absently, following Whitestar at his steady marching pace.

.: To Stonewhisker's surprise, there in the place of Longstar, was now Rainfur and a she-cat he recognized vaguely. Well, it was Rainstar now, supposedly. He sighed quietly to himself as he sat beside ThunderClan's light-furred leader, completing the line. He listened blankly to the friendly conversation, not enticed by the chitchat of the other Clan leaders. What good would it really do him anyway? Stonewhisker was not in the best mood tonight, and all he could do was wonder if Fernstar would bring up the... incident during this evenings announcements. No, she had more sense than that, didn't she?

[Cai]

"ThunderClan is strong in preparation for leaf-bare." Whitestar replied to Rainstar courteously, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgement. "My condolences for ShadowClan's loss," he added, having arrived just in time to hear the tom's confirmation of Longstar's death. He leaned back, glancing over his shoulder at the vast array of cats from all Clans before thoughtfully casting his gaze up towards the full moon, apparently quite relaxed. If one looked very critically at him, they could see that the ThunderClan leader was steadfastly keeping from looking in Fernstar's direction for more than a moment, but there was no real sign of the trouble brewing between ThunderClan and WindClan.

Except for Redfang's filthy look. Whitestar gave a tiny sigh, then slowly tilted his head to look straight at the WindClan deputy, unblinking and unperturbed. It wasn't a look of pleading, and it wasn't a look of worry. It was simply an acknowledgement of the deputy's sentiments and quiet acceptance that there was much to be resolved between the two Calns. Whitestar held his gaze steadily for a moment, quite aware of the resentment coming from the other cat, but fairly sure that both he and Fernstar would keep the dispute between WindClan and ThunderClan tonight.

There was no need to involve the other Clans. Whitestar wanted to keep the whole issue as calm as it could possibly be, because what had happened was a very dangerous thing. Relations with WindClan were terribly strained now, thanks to the stupidity - possibly insanity - of one single cat, and Whitestar knew he had to tread carefully. He glanced briefly at Stonewhisker, a tiny look of apprehension passing across his face for a moment before being replaced by calm pleasantness.

"Now that we are all present, I believe we might start the Gathering." Whitestar said politely, inviting one of the other leaders to commence the night's events with a small inclination of his head. The moon was high, the Clans were together and the Gathering was ready to start...

[/blockquote]

[Yellowstar]

Fernstar

[/center]
So Longstar was dead. Fernstar allowed herself a moment to grieve for the former leader. She had never been a true fan of Longstar or her policy for leading her Clan, but it was surreal to think that the previous Gathering had been the last time she'd seen her alive. Many leaders had came in and out of power during Fernstar's years, and one day she would be no longer; then the other leaders would have to welcome a new cat among them. It was uncertain how far off or how soon that day would be, but she knew this was not the time to think of such things. There was a Gathering to start.

Fernstar's gaze drifted over the cats gathered around, landing with interest on Ivytooth- the new deputy of ShadowClan who would hopefully prove to be a good choice- before moving on to each of the other cats. "All the Clans grieve the loss of Longstar," she meowed solemnly. "But I'm sure she left ShadowClan in good paws." ShadowClan's business was really none of hers, since her Clan and theirs were on opposite sides of the lake. She had no quarrel with ShadowClan, but she also did not know much of this young cat who was now leading the Clan. She supposed she would find out what sort of leader he was in time, but for now she treated him with sympathetic respect.

Whitestar spoke, proposing they should start the Gathering. Although it was mildly irritating to be taking a suggestion from the ThunderClan leader, she decided she shouldn't be so immature about something like that and nodded. "I agree. I shall start, unless anyone has any objections." After getting to her paws and briefly glancing again in Redfang's direction, Fernstar turned toward the great tree they sat beside. With the practiced ease of countless moons climbing the distance, the oldest leader bunched her muscles beneath her and leaped onto the tree with one try. Once she steadied herself on the branch with her claws, she leaped up a few extra branches until she was high enough that she could see the cats of the Clans clearly. Once the other leaders had settled themselves on the tree as well, Fernstar stepped forward and yowled out to announce the beginning of the Gathering.

"Welcome to the Gathering, all those who have been chosen to attend." She began. "WindClan has been fortunate this moon. Prey has been running well for leafbare and we are healthy and strong. We have a new apprentice, as well; Heathpaw is here for his first Gathering tonight." A bit of pride entered her voice at the naming of the young apprentice. She loved announcing new apprentices or warriors; it let the other Clans know that they were still competent and strong. After a brief pause she concluded, "This leafbare will hopefully be as kind to the Clans as it has been so far to WindClan." Then Fernstar stepped back at lay down on the branch, allowing whoever wanted to speak next to go ahead.[/blockquote][/justify]

[mystic]

Finchnose
^{I am not distracta- Oh look a butterfly!}

"Hi Duckpelt." Finchnose mewed. "Oh this? This is my friend Lightheart." He happily purred. "I dunno who the other cat is." He shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna go find the rest of the clan, I think the gathering is properly starting soon." he mewed, his tail flicking. After that the ginger tom bounded off to find more cats to talk to.

Nightflower
^{I'll wait for you Forever}

If Nightflower could ever give a dirty look to somecat, he did now. In fact he gave Duckpelt the worst possible glare. Around him, no one hit on Lightheart. He slowly wrapped his tail around Nightflower. He hoped that the pale tom would remember how much Nightflower cared for him. Currently he wished that it wasn't a gathering so he could teach this nosy, fat elder a lesson. However he wasn't able to, so he satisfied himself with giving her the nastiest possible death glare.

"Hello." He said his voice barely restrained.

Rosethorn
^{I will survive}

Rosethorn had been stewing in her own thoughts when she pratically walked into Cloverfang. "No." she mewed, not letting the other clan cat see weakness. "I was simply thinking." She nodded. "How is prey running, or swimming I suppose, in Rivercl- Oh..." She blinked several times as Russetfang walked up. He was such a big tom compared to her, she purred a little in approval as she glanced over his body, she was pretty sure she had found something much more interesting than a gathering. She smiled and blinked a little, putting on her charms.

"Good Evening to you good sir." She mewed, her tail flicking in interest. With luck she had found a way to ditch the gathering.

Lizardheart
^{If you are afraid to die, you have already died}

Lizardheart looked the tom up and down. He smelled of Thunderclan she noted, her nose twitching a little. Then he began to flirt with her, she gave a slight smirk of amusement. She found it funny when toms attempted flattery with her. His words weren't flattery, but se could tell by the way he moved and the way he smirked, it would only be a matter of time before he opened his mouth and tried it.

"It should be a fine gathering." she said. "Windclan is strong and the prey is running well." she smiled, they had the horseplace with many fat mice, and Lizardheart knew how to hunt them. "How is prey running in Thunderclan?"

[Heathclaw]

Unbecoming of a deputy? Unbecoming of a deputy?! How about unbecoming of a clan?!! Redfang thought furiously, seething under his fur. Whitestar had met his glare with a look that absolutely killed him inside. He knew from that simple glance that nothing would be resolved tonight, not a single bloody thing. And there wasn't a thing he could do about it, either. He had no business speaking to the clans at the gathering, and as for Fernstar... he had the feeling that she wasn't going to say a word about the matter. The rational part of his brain told him that it was for the best, but his current mood cried out for retribution and bloodshed. Barely containing a growl, he broke off the gaze and whirled around, moving as far from the ThunderClan party as possible.

----

Lightheart hadn't actually expected Finchnose to go up and follow him as he went on his merry way through the gathering, but he certainly wasn't going to turn down the company. On the other hand, Finchnose's company was certainly... unique, to say the least. He immediately started off with a random question, something that Lightheart probably should have anticipated from their first meeting. "Nope, I can't say that I tried to sneak to a gathering as a kit- as fun as that sounds. They kept me on a pretty tight watch back then. Who's who?"

Lightheart was about to turn around, but the scent of petals, still strong over that of all the gathered cats, keyed him into who it was. "Ah. Nightflower..." he mumbled, somewhat awkwardly, before turning back to his clanmate in a burst of enthusiasm. "Hey! Have you met Beenose yet? I saved him from a devastating bee attack. From a bee. It was on the same day that I rescued you from that two-leg, too!"

And then, they were joined by yet another cat, a RiverClan elder as it seemed, and a cat that Nightflower seemed to take a particular loathing to. "Hey, not so tight, huh bud?" Lightheart murmured into the tomcat's ear. "Don't you trust me?"

He then turned to the RiverClan elder, with his trademark grin on his face. "Dashing tom, huh? Why, yes- we toms do tend to dash around a bit- no wonder why we're so easy to notice. Lightheart is my name. The tom trying to strangle me with his tail is called Nightflower. Do say hi, won't you, Nightflower?"

----

What with the way that Heathpaw was running around, it was only a matter of time before he ran into someone. And that someone, unfortunately or not, happened to be a red ShadowClan tom, sitting all by himself in a corner of the gathering. "Oof! Oh! Uhm... hi!" said Heathpaw, waving his tail in greeting at the tom. "I'm Heathpaw! I'm one of WindClan's new apprentices, and this is my first ever gathering! What's your name? Have you been to a lot of Gatherings? D'you know what's going to go on tonight? Oh, this is so exciting!"

[Icy-son]

Gee, this was... most unfortunate. Not a single cat was waiting to talk with her. Ahh, I guess this was inevitable. I might as well go and search for a different elder, she decided, slowly rising to her paws and following the many pawprints around the island. She cast a glance at the full moon, and sighed. She would be up there soon. Perhaps before the great Fernstar lost her last life. She turned her head to her left, and purred with delight. A RiverClan elder was with a small grouping of cats, and each had a different scent. Although, she didn't detect ThunderClan. Just WindClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan. Spottedtail flicked her tail in greeting, and padded beside the elder, whom she thought was Duckpelt. Ah, yes. She had seen the younger she-cat before, many moons ago. Yet, the elderly ShadowClan cat couldn't remember. "Hello, dearest," she rasped, grinning with pleasure.

-- -- -- -- -- --

His bulky gray fur seemed to stick on end as Redfang, WindClan's deputy, was shooting a subtile glance at Whitestar. Instead, he flattened his fur, then stalked toward the Deputy of the moors. "Having a good stare?" he grinned, knowing this might disrupt something else within Redfang. "Ahh, it would be nice to have Swallowpaw here tonight. My daughter is almost an warrior now." He broke off in slight thought, then continued. He grinned, his tooth kind of snaggling off the lip. It was not a pretty sight, but it was a way to say that he was not enjoying tonight. Redfang /did/ seem tense.

-- -- -- -- --

Oh, no. Why this, why now? Why is Redfang doing this? It was an accident, for StarClan's sake! Icewhisker rolled her eyes at the red furred deputy, then turned toward Lizardheart with a sigh. "You do know, right? Dapplepaw will be just fine and dandy. Redfang is making this oh-so difficult with ThunderClan." she broke off, then stared at the tom walking up to the cream furred she-cat. Wait, was he flirting with him? Disgusting! As Lizardheart seemed to turn him down, she purred in the she-cat's ear. "Don't let them get to you. Toms will be toms, just like Redfang is now." she turned toward a ThunderClan tom stalking up to him, and he started chatting. The deputy didn't say anything yet, but he might. And Icewhisker wants to catch it.

[Yellowstar]

Bramblepelt

"Oh, of course!" He exclaimed, uttering a hearty laugh as the she-cat spoke. "What else could be expected from such an adapted Clan? Though I, for one, could never stand to live on the moors. Too open. Forests are the best place, that's for sure. ThunderClan has plenty of prey, too: almost too much to know what to do with! Strange for leafbare, hmm?" Rambling on, Bramblepelt trained his eyes on the great tree as he spoke, waiting for the beginning of the Gathering and perfectly content with talking on. Of course, as to be expected from him.

"Well hello, Icewhisker!" Bramblepelt greeted the WindClan medicine cat merrily as he noticed her approaching Lizardheart and himself. "How have you been? Being a medicine cat must be so tiring, and never being able to serve your Clan as a warrior! Tragic." He allowed his voice to have a piteous tone to it, then picked up again with his cheerful air. "But I'm sure you don't let that bother you! Am I right?"

Foxclaw

Sitting by himself and seeming not to have much interest in conversing with cats from other Clans, Foxclaw was more interested in hearing the news of the other Clans than socializing. There was no point to knowing cats of other Clans if you were only going to only speak to them once a moon, or more likely, meet them in battle and end up having to take their life. It was simply an unneeded thing in his opinion, and so he didn't see Gatherings as a chance to meet new cats or make friends, but as a chance to observe how the other Clans were functioning and keeping a keen eye out for any weaknesses that could play in ShadowClan's favor. That was exactly what he was doing as he waited for the leaders to begin the sharing of news: sweeping his keen gaze around the warriors speaking in groups and apprentices playing and elders sharing gossip. In fact, although it was unlike Foxclaw to be caught off guard, he was much too involved with his idle observations that he hadn't noticed the young tom barreling toward him until the actual collision. An apprentice, by the look of it, for the tom had a careless air about him and even still seemed to have some kit fur sticking up on his brown pelt.

Foxclaw fixed him with a cold look and ignored most of the young tom's questions. "You should be careful, Heathpaw. Many cats don't take kindly to being knocked into by excited apprentices."

((Not that great, but they're posts.))

[Heathclaw]

"You mouse-brained fool!" Redfang hissed under his breath at the ThunderClan tom who'd dared to approach him. It was all that he could do to restrain himself from clawing this tom's face open. He leaned forward, right into Ivyclaw's face, and spoke in a low growl full of menace. "Get out of my sight. Now. Do not approach me, do not speak to me again, or I will rip you apart the next time we meet." He flashed his claws out briefly to back up his threat, and then shouldered his way past the ThunderClan tom. Along the way, his eyes met with Icewhisker, and he gave her a dirty look as well. The medicine cat's carefree attitude towards the violation of his apprentice, the subsequent violation of their clan, and her attitude to medicine in general made him sick. It was a relief when Fernstar started speaking- something to distract his attention for the shortest while.

----

"Aha!" said Lightheart, as he saw an elder from his own Clan arriving to speak with their RiverClan companion. "We'll leave you two lovely ladies to it then. As for us... well, you know how toms are. Can't ever stay in the same place, can we? Come on, Nightflower. Let's go!" And he gave the tom a quick neck nuzzle and bounded off, scoping out a good seat for the start of the gathering.

----

Heathpaw was either unfazed by Foxclaw's coldness, or he flat out didn't notice. Perhaps it was even a bit of both. "You look kind of like Redfang. You give off the same impression, too. Tough. Rough. He has longer fur than you though. He's our deputy- one of the strongest cats in our whole Clan! I hope I get to be just as strong as him some day- or stronger! Oh... hold on- the gathering! It's starting, isn't it? And WindClan's going first!" He squeaked happily as his name was mentioned, turning to his erstwhile companion. "That's me!" he whispered excitedly.

[ivyy]

( Icy, just wanted to point put that Dapplepaw will be the opposite of fine. She's going to have social problems in the long run, and currently she's basically shut down. More like severely traumatized, being a rape victim and all.. Carry on. x3 )

[mystic]

Nightflower
^{I'll wait for you Forever}

"A bee attack, oh how brave of you." Nightflower purred, his chest rumbling a little. He hoped that Duckpelt would get the message that Lightheart was already involved. Then another elder showed up and Lightheart took that moment to bound off. Nightflower gave the she-cat one last sharp look, and added the words ."He's mine." then followed Lightheart to listen to the gathering.

Lizardheart
^{If you are afraid to die, you have already died}

Lizardheart glared at the Thunderclan tom as he began talking his mouth. The tan she-cat muttered to herself and rolled her eyes. She stood up and walked off as he was in mid sentance. She then looked at the medicine cat. Fine and dandy, she knew something terrible had happened, the apprentice had refused to do anything since she had been brought back into camp. Of course, Lizardheart was the last cat to know anything. However she knew one thing, if a cat was acting like Dapplepaw was... She shook her head and sat next to Redfang. She felt the ginger deputy needed support so she gently put a tail on his shoulder. "I'm here if you need me." she mewed gently. "And I won't judge."

[Yellowstar]

Bramblepelt

"I mean really, I'm sure Whitestar will have a lot on his paws trying to lead through his first leafbare, but he's been a good leader and come on, it can't be that hard! Of course, he and Hawkclaw haven't been getting along, but it's really-" ...Hmm. Bramblepelt broke off as he saw Lizardheart simply walk off. Well that was strange. Didn't she know it was common courtesy to at least say farewell before exiting a conversation? (It hadn't been much of a conversation as was one-sided chatting, but all the same to him) Ah well, he supposed not all cats could know perfect social etiquette. "My apologies, Icewhisker, but I must take my leave as well." He then said to the medicine cat, smirked at her, then turned to follow after Lizardheart.

"Why did you walk off? I thought we were having a good time! So as I was saying, Whitestar and Hawkclaw haven't- oh, hello Redfang! How's the deputy life going?" Bramblepelt smiled obliviously at the WindClan deputy as he padded over, seeming not to notice the foul mood the ginger tom was in. Waving his tail casually, he appeared every bit the charming, if a bit stupid, ThunderClan cat he was known for being. Really, if a cat didn't want to talk with him, he just didn't seem to notice.

Foxclaw

Foxclaw's ear twitched irritably and he wondered briefly if he would have to listen to this cheerful chatter the whole Gathering. It wasn't the worst possible thing that he could be stuck with, he knew, but it was rather irritating all the same. Most of what Heathpaw said went right over his head as he tried to tune the tom out, but occasionally he would glance over to let the apprentice know he was still paying attention. Though only slightly. "So it is," He rumbled lowly. "Must be quite exciting, though it's not the first time any cat has ever been excited to become an apprentice." A slight sigh seeped into his tone but Foxclaw was doubtful that it was very noticeable. Especially not to this overly-talkative apprentice.