Feb.07.Gathering

[the day the world went away]

A dark silver tabby drifted through the trees like creeping mist, silvery paws blurring over the ground. She hated how she was always so irresponsibly late; it'd make her father ashamed. After all, he always had such great faith in her, that she'd be the best leader in the forest, but so far all she had done was put his memory to shame...

A muffled sigh escaped her throat, shortened by the need for oxygen that both her brain and lungs were screaming out. Faster! Run faster! Her legs, driven by this new motivation, not to mention the thought of her Clan waiting, blurred to a faster velocity, aching as they scrambled over the ground, silver paws barely touching the ground as they flew, heart pounding out a jagged, disjointed rhythm. It was bad enough that she was stressed; she didn't need this extra physical strain on herself. But still she pushed herself harder. Can't you go faster? her brain screamed, echoing off the carefully locked walls of her mind.

The island loomed only a few lengths away. Not daring to pause to recheck her stride, the dark cat launched herself without hesitation onto the bridge-like log and scrambled across, a choked gasp emitting from her lungs as one hindpaw skidded off the log. But she regained her balance; she was back to racing, heart pounding, blood whooshing loudly in her ears. She bounded into the cat-filled clearing--the scent of so many felines in one place overwhelmed her and nearly knocked her off her paws. Calm down.

She put on her best blank face, carefully arranging her thought-filled mind to a lower volume, and kept her silvery eyes guarded. "I'm here. I can speak for my Clan," she mewed, soft-spoken voice breaking as she struggled to catch her missing breath. Stupid run. Stupid lateness. Stupid irresponsibility.

Stupid me.

[snowheart]

Dewstream greeted Cloudystar. "Glad you made it," She purred. She rested her tail on the silver tabby's flank. "Where have you been?" She asked. "Were you out hunting or something?"

[ ooc ] Braindead, sorry xD

[grayfur]

grayfur smiled. "Cloudystar!" he called out. He was glad to see his leader finally here. he walktzed up to her, an tried to lick her head. "I'm so happy," he cooed. he cared for his leader very much, even though no one believed it.

"Are you ok?"

[untilthis.echo]

Echostar's molten eyes gleamed from the shadows of the leaves where he sat on his branch. His autumn paws shuffled momentarily, the ebony painted one and the snowy coated one shuffling against the reddish paws. His breath caught when he saw Cloudystar emerge and his racing heart calmed, at least partially. Now that the Riverclan leader was here, they could actually start right? He gazed at Cloudystar as she made her way to the Oak and then trailed his eyes over to Dreamstar, waiting.

[the day the world went away]

Surrounded by the two cats, the dark tabby felt uncomfortable, a flare of panic rising in her chest, constricting her breathing. "I-I'm fine," she stuttered. "I was...hunting. And then I fell asleep. Sorry," she sounded unconvincing, but at least the sheepish apology helped. She managed a fake, pretended smile; it only pulled up one corner of her mouth anyway. A soft sigh escaped her lungs once more.

She was grateful for her deputy, that was completely true. Without him, her Clan probably would have collapsed. A sharp warning snapped in her mind, loudly ringing in her ears. You aren't responsible!

She flinched involuntarily. A sudden realization dawned on her. What would she look like, flinching and cringing every moment? Especially when Grayfur just licked the top of her head. A sheepish look crowded over all the other emotions, and she tapped the deputy's side with the tip of her tail. Cloudystar dipped her head and padded forward, leaping up on a branch and settling herself, paws tucked under her chest. Then she turned her silver gaze to Dreamstar, waiting for the ThunderClan leader to start the Gathering. Almost as soon as she sat down, the thoughts crowded her brain. What does a cat have to do to calm her mind down?!

[[.F.]light]

The siamese tom padded slowly towards the clearing that held many cats. Dark brown ears twitched as he looked around. His breath was a light flicker of stream as he breathed out. Flightfoot spotted Hiddenheart and Elmheart, the ThunderClan and the RiverClan medicine cats. He'd look around again before trotting over to them.

"Hello, Hiddenheart, Elmheat," He dipped his head quickly before sitting down amongst them. His tail curling lightly over his paws. Light blue optics yet again scanning the crowd of cats.

[siberiantiger]

Honeypaw's golden head turned towards the huge tree. She had never been to a gathering before, and she was extremely excited. She saw her leader Cloudystar seated on the tree. Honeypaw smiled at the sight of her. There she is Honeypaw thought to herself. The RiverClan apprentice spotted the medicine cats at one side of the clearing. She could see the leaders between the many, many warriors of all Clans. Wow! she thought, her tail twitcing in excitement, I've never seen so many cats!

[sorrelpaw]

[.sorrelpaw].

Sorrelpaw's lips twotched in a smile. She dipped her head ever so slightly in silent agreement, and as she did so the moonlight caught her face and she blinked away the light. It made her amber swathed features glimmer until she shook away the moonlight with an irritated shiver. The tortoiseshell switched her clear blue gaze from Crescentpaw's earnest face to Cloudystar and Greyfur. She pricked up her ears a little, but stayed put.

[.newtpaw.]

A lithe black shape made its way quickly over to the ginger tabby shape of Honeypaw, svelte body pumping with breath. It appeared Newtpaw had been running rather quickly to catch up with his clanmates. He had fallen behind, again, lost in the worries and complications of his dreams. The image of his deceased sister made his heart twist and a dull ache rang in the pit of his thin stomach. He sighed and settled down, looking glum. There was no excitement in his sea-green eyes at the prospect of his first ever Gathering, only the chaos and confusion of Tawnypaw's warning.

[.bubblepaw.]

A small white kitten suddenly hurtled into the clearing, looking tense. Bubblepaw's peered around, deep sapphire eyes anxious. A long sigh of relief fluttered from between her tightly laced lips as she realised that she had missed nothing. Shaking herself, she licked the thick white fur on one of her skinny shoulders, then hastily padded over to a gaggle of ThunderClan apprentices and sat in their midst, as if she was trying to hide her presence.

[.topazpaw.]
A demure ginger figure cut through the crowds, dark clover green eyes half closed as she picked her way towards the ShadowClan cats. Topazpaw's tail was curled in a high arch over her finely shaped ears as if she did not want it to drag on the grass. She peered around, green eyes clear and a little agitated, trying to spot her mentor. The vague implications of his vision annoyed her greatly. Eventually she sat by herself, chin up to regain some dignity.

[keestaa..]

All the Clans had finally arrived at the Gathering. In the shadows, where Crescentpaw stood, he could see almost everything, cats and the sky, which was a wonderful site. He wished that he was alone on the lone island. With peace and quiet. His gray body was placed at the at the roots of the other tree on the island. His ears pricked to hear the sounds of all the voices of cats mixed in with other voices. It made it extremely hard to hear anything they were saying. But finally is bright green eyes drifted to where Sorrelpaw sat not so far away from him.

ooc; Did you get my PM Sorrelpaw?

[siberiantiger]

Honeypaw looked up at at Newtpaw. "Hi," she mewed, "I'm so excited!" Her eyes were shining with excitement, but as she looked at Newtpaw she thought she saw a nervous look in the apprentices' eyes. "Is everything okay Newtpaw?" she asked timidly.

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Spottedstump's green eyes gazed up at Silverpelt. She sighed. Something bad was sure to happen at this gathering- something that would effect ThunderClan severly. Spottedstump's green eyes were sad; she didn't know what was going to happen.

[grayfur]

Grayfur rolled his eyes. he knew perfectly well that the leader was lying. She had told him everything, even before he was deputy. Why did it matter now. Grayfur gace a slight growl out of annoyance, and let his cold blue stare sink into Cloudystar's eyes. What did I ever do to you? his look asked. We never talk. I'm special. I... He tore his gaze away, fretting thet the White leader would see right through him. The truth was:

He loved her.

[tide]

Nightmare glared at Grayfur. He never had liked this cat. Nor, in fact, did he like any cat. He snarled slightly to himself, before turning his back on Grayfur. He stalked to the edge of the clearing before sitting down. Silently, without alerting anyone else, a tabby slipped in to sit beside nightmare. The tom's cold gaze swept across the clearing, and narrowed his eyes at the leaders.

[dream.]

With a slight shake of her head, Dreamstar recognized the new scent in the clearing as Cloudystar's. Finally, they could begin the gathering.
But hesitation tugged through Dreamstar's fur. Not just yet...
She let the chilled leaf-bare winds sweep around her, rustling through what few leaves remained on the trees surrounding.

Examining the clearing beneath her, Dreamstar saw all the cats, milling about in groups. They seemed to be having a good time. The warriors; chatting with friends. The medicine cats; greeting each other kindly. The apprentices; chasing each other playfully through the clearing.
But it could all change in an instant.
When these apprentices grew up into warriors, they would be clawing out tufts of each others fur in battle. Friends that warriors made, could turn into enemies and rivals in a split second, and the medicine cats would be tending to wounds inflicted by temporary allies.
But that was the way that forest life worked, right?
Dreamstar let her gaze stray to another cat in the clearing. Their eyes locked, before she forced herself to look away; down at her paws.
Oh, Echostar...
It pained her to stare into his molten eyes. Yet she didn't want to look away...

Forcing herself to her paws, Dreamstar let out an earsplitting yowl, a sign for the cats below to take their places. A sign of the start of yet another Clan gathering.

[snowheart]

Dewheart heard the ThunderClan leader's cry, and tapped Cloudystar on the shoulder. She purred at the great RiverClan leader. The moon made the silver tabby's pelt look white.

"You should go,"

[siberiantiger]

Iceheart bounded up to get a closer seat to the tree, he wanted to hear everything. His fur bristled with excitement. Though he had been to many gatherings in his life, he still found them exciting. He gazed up at the leaders, and curled his silver tail around his paws. His ice blue eyes shone brightly in the moonlight. He was waiting.