Time for a Gathering

[[S]ydney]

[/b][/color] She started with an unreadable expression. ”Most of the deputies are younger then me.”[/ul]

[mystic]

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

Lizardheart turned around at the voice and let her ears flick bck against her head. She really wasn't interested in talking to this mousebrain. "What do you want?" she asked with her eyes narrowed. What did this self absorbed tom think he was. He had been going on about his clan and how he was doing. Didn't know that she didn't care. As he followed her nattering on in her ear and annoying her she finally turned around and glared. "Just shut up and get lost before I become more irritated with your presence. You are a self absorbed pain in my tail, so leave me be and go flirt with some she cat who's desperate. Because to be interested in your advances, they would have to be." She then turned back to Redfang. "Don't mind him, he's just a brainless idiot." she mewed, trying to calm down the deputy. She really cared about him, and hoped that he would recover from the attack. She could tell that whatever had happened had affected him just as badly as it had affected poor Dapplepaw. She paused and decided to catch a nice fat mouse from the Horseplace and bring it to the apprentice, after the gathering of course.

[Yellowstar]

Bramblepelt

It was too easy to assume by Bramblepelt's attitude and mannerisms that he was not that intelligent. He always butted into conversations, made himself the center of attention, and seemed to all but ignore anyone's attempt to hint when they didn't prefer his company. Most assumed he was too stupid to tell the difference when someone didn't want to be around him, but that was where he would prove them wrong. Just because he didn't show it didn't mean he didn't realize it.

He just chose to ignore it.

"Aww, why so cold?" He made his voice sound hurt, as if the she-cat had actually hurt his feelings. In reality though, he was much too dense to be hurt by a few harsh words. "You know, some cats don't really like to be around others. Strange, I know. But I know that's not true with you, or else you wouldn't be talking to me. So why the harsh words? I'm sure Redfang doesn't mind some extra company, right Deputy?" He flashed a grin at the ginger tom, then went back to smiling at Lizardheart. Honestly, some cats really confused him. And she was one of them. She was lucky that he was such a friendly cat, though~

[/justify]

[ivyy]

.: Stonewhisker sat stiffly, ignoring the tightness in his shoulders. He was too on edge to pay attention to his body's whining. The deputy sat just behind his leader, listening intently to Fernstar's announcements. Holding his breath, he listened to her seemingly cheery description of WindClan's prey and all that. She didn't mention a thing about the apprentice... Stonewhisker could almost jump for joy as she retreated, his pale green eyes brightening with what might have been joy. Might have.

.: After the initial rush of happiness, Stonewhisker found himself with a mixture of emotions. He was almost disappointed, in a way. Fernstar had decided to cover up the scandal, keeping ThunderClan's good name. Perhaps she was becoming weaker with old age, she must be getting on in moons. Fernstar had been WindClan's leader for all eternity, as far as Stonewhisker was concerned. There had never been anyone else in her place, only she. And she was respected, of course, but the grey tabby could see how the leader would like to keep things hush hush. Who would want a fight on their paws when they were on their way out? Of course, Stonewhisker had no way of knowing Fernstar's age.

.: His thoughts were broken abruptly as ShadowClan's deputy approached him. Stonewhisker arched his brow slightly as the she-cat spoke, gazing at him with an expression he couldn’t quite decipher. “Yes, I suppose we are a bit young for our positions,” the tom said with just a hint of suspicion left in his voice. Stonewhisker had never been one to socialize with cats of the other Clans, not even when he was just an apprentice. He cleared his throat, focusing more on the cat chatting with him.

[maplefrost]

Cloverfang sighed, and turned his head towards the leaders. He partially listened as Rosethorn spoke to a cat from a different Clan than his. He noticed
Longstar's absence, and his jaws clenched slightly as he feared the worst. He also noticed that Ivytooth was sitting with the deputies. He assumed that,
unfortunately, Longstar must have died in the moon since the last gathering.

He raised himself to his paws, searching for another spot. He quickly found a patch of grass that wasn't occupied. He flopped down on his left side, his
muzzle sinking into the stalks. He looked around, peering through the grass, his tail twitching behind him. 'Hmm,' he thought. 'I wonder if this is what
it's like to be a mouse...'

[[S]ydney]

[/color] She stopped herself with a slight shrug, rolling her gaze back to the ThunderClan deputy. She had never been one for much socialization outside clans... but, as deputy, perhaps she should try it? It would be good, to get to know others. Being well liked by most clans would be a very good thing. Sitting up stiffly, the she-cat tensed her mouth into a small line, as if thinking over her next words carefully.

”Redfang certainly seemed steamed, earlier.” She gave an innocent smile, flashing her gaze from the deputy. ”Wonder why..”[/ul]

[ivyy]

You could literally cut the air with a claw. It was so awkward, Stonewhisker had no idea what to do. He had hardly seen the she-cat before, if only for a few moments time at a previous gathering. They had certainly never spoken to each other before, so why now? Stonewhisker eyes her cautiously, his pale green gaze sweeping over the lean cat's form. She seemed quite all right physically, and she was quite pretty. Stonewhisker's eyes shot up to meet her's as she opened her mouth to speak.

She inquired coyly about Redfang, triggering alarms in Stonewhisker's head. He was not about to tell anyone of the incident, especially ShadowClan's deputy! Any friendly thoughts he might have been having vanished as Ivytooth subtly questioned him. "Oh, yes." Stonwhisker said stiffly, "Hmm, you know him. He always seems to be miffed about something." The striped grey cat's muscles shifted and tensed underneath his pelt, silently signaling his discomfort. If there was one thing he disliked more than a nosy cat, it was foreign nosy cat. Though he'd never mention it, not during a gathering. Probably not ever, either. Stonewhisker cares greatly about ThunderClan's reputation, and having new of this... disgrace float around the other Clans was unacceptable. "Yep, no idea."

Whew. Narrowly avoided.

[Sporelett]

[/b] he called, making sure his voice could be heard by all who were in the clearing. "I stand before you burdened with the grave task of telling you that Longstar is dead. She lost her last life to an outbreak of greencough, which also killed one of our elders, Heavystep. The rest of ShadowClan has recovered, and StarClan has named me leader in Longstar's place. I have named Ivytooth ShadowClan's deputy." With that heavy announcement lifted from his shoulders, Rainstar moved on, able to focus now on the more mundane news that he had decided to share. "I have only one more thing to announce. ShadowClan has two new apprentices; Brownpaw and Dovepaw, who is attending her first Gathering tonight."

Having shared all that he planned to, Rainstar sat back down beside Fernstar and waited for the other two leaders to share the news from their Clans. Truthfully it was news from RiverClan and ThunderClan that he wanted more to hear, since those were the Clans that he shared borders with. Rainstar said nothing, and waited patiently for one of them to begin.[/ul][/justify][/size]

[kitty]

Palestar listened politely on his branch of the leader tree to the two leaders tell the gathered cats about the happenings of their Clans. Fernstar announced the coming of a new apprentice, Heathpaw. Palestar searched the crowd for signs of the new apprentice, but refocused when Fernstar went on to announce that the prey was still running well for WindClan. Rainstar stepped up next, announcing the loss of Longstar and saying that Ivytooth was now his deputy. Palestar already knew this, but he still dipped his head in respect for the lost leader. Rainstar then announced two new apprentices, Brownpaw and Dovepaw.

He then rose to tell the Gathering news of his Clan. "RiverClan too has been fortunate this moon," he began. "Prey still runs well despite the coldness of leafbare settling over the lake. We also have a new warrior with us tonight. Finchpaw has earned his warrior name of Finchnose." He paused at this, letting the others congratulate the new warrior. Warriors were good; they let the other Clans know RiverClan was still strong. Palestar dipped his head and stepped back for the final leader to report his news, resuming his position on the branch, smooth from moons upon moons of leaders' paws perching on it. Once Whitestar spoke, the gathered cats would disperse and return to their own territory, to hopefully remain there until the next full moon came around and another group from each Clan would again report to the island for another Gathering.

((Suckish. >< Where has my muse gone? D:))

[Cai]

Whitestar ended up being the final speaker of the night, and he listened carefully as each of the other Clans announced their news. Of course, nobody ever gave away anything very important at the Gathering; only things which would hint at their Clan's growing strength. Certainly no leader in their right mind would announce anything which would suggest weakness, though there were occasional slip-ups. None tonight, however, and the first leaders spoke of the usual topics for Gatherings.

Whitestar watched Rainfur with vague interest as he spoke. Whenever the leader changed in one of the Clans, it was always intriguing to see how the new one would fare sat up in front of all the Clans. Rainstar looked comfortable enough sat up with the older leaders, though, and the announcements went by without any upset. The other three leaders did not have any extraordinary news to share - Longstar's death aside - and more or less just pointed out the few new apprentices and warriors they had brought with them.

As Palestar sat down, Whitestar rose to his paws and took his place to speak. "And now the last news of the Gathering," he began pleasantly. "ThunderClan is well and prey runs well for the time of year. We have named three new apprentices in the past moon, and they are Mudpaw-" He paused to let the Clans acknowledge the youngster "- who attends his first Gathering tonight, and Thornpaw and Shadepaw, who were unfortunately unable to be present at the Gathering this moon. Aside from this, it may interest ShadowClan to know of a recent fox sighting crossing our border into their territory." He did not add details, since the rival Clan did not need to know that it had been unintentionally chased into their territory by ThunderClan cats, but he felt it only fair to alert them to the potential danger.

"I have no further news, and if the other leaders are also satisfied, I believe this brings the Gathering to a close!"

[/blockquote]

[Heathclaw]

Of course you have further news, Redfang thought coldly as he listened to Whitestar speak. All of his anger and ill feeling had condensed into a single blank look as the leaders had begun speaking. He had no energy to waste on either the second ThunderClan cat, nor Lizardheart. He had left them to their own devices. It was Whitestar's honor that was his major concern- and the cat had tarnished it, in Redfang's eyes. Coward. His clan probably sent that fox over to ShadowClan, as well. Just goes to show, doesn't it? No clan is trustworthy, none but your own. And with that, he turned to fall in step with Fernstar to bring WindClan home. There would be words after this. Oh yes, there would.

----

"Huh. Well, I guess the gathering is over, then," said Heathpaw, in a sort of puzzled tone. "That wasn't quite what I was expecting. I'm sorry to hear about your Clan's leader though. I wouldn't want that to happen to WindClan- Fernstar's been leader forever. Oh! It looks like we're leaving. Bye! Hope to see you again!" And with that, the young apprentice bounded back to the tail end of the WindClan brigade.

----

"Huh. Well, that turned out just as fine as I expected it to. Nice, short, and sweet. Until next moon, then!" said Lightheart, nodding appreciatively towards the other cats that he was sitting next to, before turning towards Nightflower. "And, as for you... d'you fancy a night-time stroll some day, you and I? Catch you back at camp!"