GATHERING (October)

[Tanglekit]

Tanglestar nodded to the Riverclan warrior taking her place at the front of the leaders for her turn to speak. She looked across at her clan-mates not really sure how to begin. "Thunderclan fares well. Even though as leaf-bare approaches the prey have not gone to ground yet and what there is is still healthy enough to keep us alive. Our apprentice den is full with new apprentices and we have a few new warriors as well.", she stated looking around for her new warriors. "We have been caring for the Riverclan apprentice Icepaw after he was injured wandering about in Thunderclan territory.", she looked up at her deputy knowing all to well what had happened. She stepped back looking at the Windclan leader waiting for her to take her place and for the gathering to be over and for her to get a chance to talk among the other clan-cats.

[cuddlyinfection]

Finchpaw sat quietly among the rest of Thunderclan. He liked going to gatherings, but his nervous nature kept him from socializing with cats of other clans. He didn't know if, when, he would fight against the cats he saw here.
The black and white tom was more fidgety than usual, and the slightest movement in his peripheral vision made him flinch. Finchpaw turned his focus inwardly, trying to go to his happy place which consisted of a large, clear meadow where nothing scary and terrifying could hide. The sun was shining and flowers were blowing in the breeze.

Its actually working? he thought in surprise when he noticed his breathing was calm.

[Deleted]

Riddlehawk, the massive tom that was deputy under his much smaller leader, wasn't paying much attention to the gathering. It was the same every moon. Each clan tried to boast about themselves, even though alot of them were suffering the same as every other clan. But no, couldn't appear weak could we. His single gold eye turned and looked at Finchpaw. He blinked, his eyes serene but bitter and mystifying at the same time. He aimed to catch the young tom's eye, to give him a nod, but wasn't sure if he would look this way.

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[cuddlyinfection]

Something caused Finchpaw to jump out of his musings. He glanced around nervously, blue-green eyes darting in every direction.

Bum-bump his heart nearly stopped its beating when his eyes connected with Riddlehawk's golden eye. Almost the second their eyes locked together, Finchpaw tore his gaze away. The deputy of his clan intimidated him. Well, most cats made him nervous, but the larger tom especially so. Riddlehawk was the complete opposite of Finchpaw. The apprentice was scrawny, weak, and neurotic. The deputy was massive, brave, and strong.

I could never become as strong of a cat as he is, Finchpaw thought to himself, his low confidence plummeting even farther. He brought a paw up to his face and busied himself into licking it, trying to ignore the negative feelings creeping through the shadows of his mind.

((I just know I'm going to have fun abusing this kitty with character development ))

[Deleted]

Flairpelt had come in with the rest of Riverclan his mind had still been on were his brother had gone. His eyes turned to slits and his ears pinned back at his brothers named being called, saying he had been with Thunderclan the whole time, his claws dug at the earth's ground and tore grass from it. Why hadn't anyone told him about this? He looked to Tanglestar and to Riddlehawk...
---
Nightclaw still gazed around for Swiftfire he wanted to talk to her badly and he wasn't focusing on the gathering at all. He needed to talk with her before it drove him mad.

[Deleted]

Riddlehawk knew he intimidated the younger tom. Heck, he intimidated alot of cats. Size, reputation, everything seemed to be a factor that intimidated other cats. But he knew that if they all knew of the treason running through his mind, he would be shunned. Not like they could kill him, like they'd be able to hold him down in the first place. Just another factor that helped him. He turned his gaze back to the cats, mutinous thoughts running through his mind.

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[Deleted]

Foxflight's eyes shone as Sunflash asked for his help. Oh how he wished Sunfall wasn't part of the plan of abuse towards Tanglestar. The senior warrior was well respected, but just happened to be a good friend of the leader. He was just about to nod and reply to the warrior when Scarshadow's presence instantly became known.

As the conversation continued through the tom's mouth a hint of agitation grew inside Foxflight. He could see with every word that Sunflash was becoming less and less certain. Right now, he just wanted to claw the male as he spoke, especially at the nudge. What are you doing?! You're blowing it! You are defiantly as stupid as a squirrel... he thought in anger.

Now it was all up to Foxflight to make everything smooth again. "Well, the rouge will probably move around, but has a den at the moment near the edge of our territory, at least that's what Scarshadow informed me a while ago. I think what Scarshadow means is that we best get rid of the nuisance before the first frost occurs or we'll just get weaker, making it harder. Best to save energy in Leaf-fall, don't you think Sunfall," he mewed brightly.

~

Swiftfire staggered into the clearing, following her leader as best she could. Her head was hurting horribly, but she denied herself to show any weakness. The clan had to be taken care of before herself or the snitching and rumors would be once again thrust forward. How could a cat, with possible non-clan blood lead a clan? Of course that was a total lie, her blood ran true with the clan, even if her parent's past was unclear. Gossip was one thing cats loved more than prey.

She stopped a length from Stormstrike without even knowing. Her eyes traveled the darkened landscape, making sure to follow each cat from her clan. Her green eyes strayed onto Badgerstep as he looked towards a throng of Thunderclan cats with a crestfallen face. He then walked on and the scene seemed sad to her somehow.

Flicking her ears, she continued on to the leader's speaking rocks. Once there, she sat and waited for the gathering to begin. When it did, she narrowed her eyes and looked down towards the grass. Her eyes began to unfocus and refocus again and again and the squinting wasn't helping the problem. At every heartbeat, her head exploded with pain and it was a miracle she could even hear what was being said over it. Somewhere in the back of her throat she felt the itch, but it had lessened! She did not have greencough nor whitecough by Starclan!

[Deleted]

Sunflash turned back to listening to Foxflight, but still felt a prickle at his paws. It was hard to say how comfortable the tom was with listening to these two, much less planning an ambush with them. Both cats had always been suspicious in his mind from the beginning. But what about the rouge would make them so? They were just trying to deal with a problem before it got too big. There wasn't anything suspicious about it. But still, the golden tom felt like he needed to perhaps be a little more cautious.

The tom flicked an ear in agreement with the other warrior. "Right," he responded. "The sooner the better." Sunflash glanced back over to where Tanglestar was just finishing up the Clan report, and felt a pinch at his heart. He wanted to confide in her what was going on. From some angles, what he was doing could be considered going behind her back. Well, actually, that was all it was. But with so much on her shoulders already, shouldn't it be his job to do whatever he could to lessen that burden? The tom grimaced, still not sure, but looked back to Foxflight. "So when is this going to happen? Tomorrow? When? You said so yourself- it can't be put off that much longer."

[cuddlyinfection]

Featherwish remained near the rest of her clan. She didn't much like gatherings, she thought they were a bit boring. At least things were looking up! All the clans had claimed good health, which she knew was especially important in Leaf-fall, when most cats were vulnerable to sickness. She was healthy, her creamy fur soft and radiant, her blue eyes clear and shining.

Featherwish glanced around, noticing Badgerstep, Swanfeather, Ashstorm, and a few other of her clanmates. She was hesitant to sit with them, seeing as quite a few of them were a bit busy conversing with others. Featherwish didn't have many acquaintances with cats from other clans, so she just busied herself with cleaning her pelt.

~~~~~

Finchpaw eschewed the negative thoughts from his mind. Tonight was supposed to be a good night, right? He was allowed to attend a gathering! He supposed that this would be good training. He glanced around to see what his clanmates were doing, but they all seemed too busy and Finchpaw was too nervous to actually go up to anyone to speak to them.