Gathering 6/17 - 6/22

[Crowzerplorodon]

Otterfur could sense the smaller tom get distracted. It was actually something funny to watch, he thought. But he didn't mention it, just sat back at watched a few other cats chat before hearing Briartail's question.

"So what's it like living in PineClan?"

His ears flattened, and Otterfur seriously hoped that the StreamClanner was not thinking what he thought he was. Most cats jumped to the conclusion that PineClan was unorganized, messy, and not loyal because of their lack of faith. Otterfur couldn't see how they jumped to that conclusion, all he knew was many cats did.

"Er, I don't think it's different from others clans," he started, feeling a little hesitant about what he would say. "I mean, we've got a leader and deputy and medicine cat like you do. Actually, we have two medicine cats... and a head elder. That's No-ears, he helps Gingerstar with the clan." Over Briartail, he caught sight of Sandpaw and sent the she-cat a quick nod.

"It's just normal to me, I guess. Difficult to explain, y'know?"

--

"I'm hoping you and your clan are quite well?"

"Very well, Cedarstar," Cloudstar replied, sitting up just a little straighter as he spoke to the other leader. "StreamClan has adjusted well to being a clan of this forest, its members are very well suited for the life of a warrior."


Respectfully, the white tom moved back a bit as Cedarstar began talking to Gingerstar. His long tail swished idly as he began to think. Tonight's gathering was definitely a successful one, he could hardly smell an area where one clan's scent was stronger. The mixing of clans is just what the forest needed to grow stronger.

He could pick out a few of his clan mates in the area, including his deputy, Stormflower, speaking to Kestrelstorm and a smaller cat. Definitely an apprentice of PineClan. Cloudstar was glad to see there were no obvious hostilities between the two deputies.

[thistle.]

"Only a few trees?" She stared at the warrior in awe.
"Don't you like climbing trees? With only a few, there's not much to climb..." A pause, then, "It must be sorta boring if you can't climb much, but then I guess there's lots of place to run around too." Spottedpaw stopped jabbering on to answer Tigertail's question.

"Ya' ever catch a rabbit, young'un?" "A rabbit?" The calico cocked her head to one side and squinted her yellow eyes as she fought to remember. Well... she wasn't much of a hunter and mostly went for the easier and slower prey, but she had to have caught one once... right? Or maybe not. Still, she decided that the best reply was, "Yeah!" and she gave a few swift nods.
Her word, though, was drowned out by the tom's voice as he began speaking again.

"Yippee! Do you think you'll get one soon?" Spottedpaw's excited voice peppered the air as she stared up at the warrior.

[glowlynose]

Briartail angled his body more toward Otterfur. A head elder? Now that was an interesting concept. His ears perked up in curiosity. How could an elder help run the clan? Weren't the clan members supposed to take care of the elders?

"If you have a head elder, what do the other elders do?" he asked. Briartail was genuinely curious, and he hoped that the PineClanner would take no offense to his inquisition. PineClan had a reputation for clawing cats who they thought were being offensive, and Briartail was quite fond of his ears. He gave Otterfur a friendly smile and bounced on his paws a bit.

When were the leaders going to get on with things? The moon was climbing higher and higher into the sky, yet the Gathering had not been called to order yet. Briartail had thought that the leaders would want to start as soon as possible, get the thing over with, and then pop back to their own territories. It appeared that Briartail was wrong yet again.

[Emily]

"I'm the mousebrain, now? Look. There's no need for you to come over here and start quarreling with me. I'm just defending me and my clan; did you expect me to go running off like a frightened kit, Firepaw?" Spiderpaw retorted swiftly, kneading his paws as if it would help him bite back everything else he wished he could throw at the spiteful little red tom-cat. Honestly, Spiderpaw found it hard to believe he had been able to control himself so well without clawing Firepaw's ears off as soon as he had said such things.

"PineClan, blind? You've got to have brees in your brain. At least we have some self dignity of what we believe, and don't find ourselves supported by dead cats. And besides," he continued hotly, unable to control himself any longer as the two toms seemed to stare him down. Commonly, Spiderpaw would have simply walked off and cool himself down until he was approachable once more. Instead, here at the Gathering, Spiderpaw found he could do no such thing. It would only please Firepaw to know he was an insecure, lanky tom who was too shy, as harmless and defenseless against his own attacks.

Turning his attention towards Finchpaw, the brother whom Spiderpaw found to be at least a bit pleasurable had it not been his poor attempts to defend his friend, he began to knead his paws very lightly. "Oh, I didn't know you guys were first timers too." The skinny tom's friendly attire was only worn and directed towards Finchpaw; his whiskers twitched with irritation whenever Firepaw tried to snap something again, intruding the two's small conversation as explanation. "Yeah, I suppose it's confusing, Finchpaw. Just keep your brother off my back, will you?" Spiderpaw was swift to add the last few words silently, as to Firepaw wouldn't hear.

--

Grinning from ear to ear, Grayfang slipped one more pleasant smile, reassuring himself of Silverflower's pleasance and sweet nature. Though there were certainly others who were landing themselves into small talk and friendly converse, Grayfang had simply caught the wrong cats at the wrong time and situation. Previously, he had caught a snippet of three apprentices bickering as if there was no tomorrow; the young toms had an angry aura about them as they fought constantly over their own clans. As neither of the apprentices were from StreamClan, Grayfang simply couldn't bring himself to stopping their argument once and for all. Perhaps some other cat would, or they would resolve between themselves. At Silverflower's question, Grayfang whipped back up into shape from his silly daze, and kneaded his paws with affection. "StreamClan's doing quite well. Prey runs high as the river. Thank you for asking, Silverflower. I hope to all the clans that they go well, don't you? StarClan forbid any who wishes the clans to fall otherwise," Grayfang replied.

The gray and white tom allowed himself to fall in a silly infatuated gaze, unable to deny that the small FogClanner held something quite beautiful about her. She was young though, and certainly not a fellow StreamClanner. What in the name of StarClan was he thinking? Shaking the silly thoughts away swiftly, he continued to listen intently and follow through with speaking softly to the others who had joined in the small patchwork of cats. Another she-cat appeared, and Grayfang couldn't help but wrinkle his nose from the strange stench of FogClan. The shy feline spoke rather softly, and her fellow clanmate, Silverflower, was quick to introduce the two. "Yep, I'm Grayfang. StreamClanner, as Silverflower mentioned. You must be Spottedstream - it's hard not to remember you're name when you're talking in person," the tom chuckled. "So, how are you, Spottedstream?" he inquired, plastering on another cheery grin, though it was far from a fake mask.

--

Sighing, Bluepaw managed to slip a few muffled words of disappointment. Finchpaw's sudden disappearance from her view had caught her in a tumble, which was somewhat unusual for the spunky she-cat. Commonly seen as the troublemaker and most out there she-cat in StreamClan's society, it was hard to believe that the small blue she-cat was simply standing there on her toes, trying to peer over other cats' heads in search of the reddish tom. "Where has Finchpaw gone now?" Bluepaw murmured beneath her breath, though inside her head she pronounced it in a loud, clear-strung voice.

She flounced about merrily, questioning the others of Finchpaw's whereabouts with little success. Perhaps her luck was just down that day, and there was no point in consulting him for a good old conversation. Though she admitted, she was rather fond of him, there were always other apprentices and warriors to chat with. Their own talks were so much more in comparison though; the most it ever got with the others was: how is your clan doing? Prey well? StarClan be with you. It got old and tiring, Bluepaw thought miserably.

[Whiskers]

Although Cedarstar was kind, Gingerstar still felt wary around him and shifted her paws a little as he spoke. She nodded politely while he was speaking, to show that she was listening, despite the fact she would much rather be listening to some other conversation, or looking over her cats. Already, there had been a bit of a... conflict between a few apprentices, but Kestrelstorm and Stormflower seemed to have converged there to sort it out on their own.

But it were incidences like that one that kept Gingerstar on her toes during these monthly meetings. She made a note to praise Spiderpaw for not letting his anger get out of control because of those two snide Fogclan apprentices.

When Cedarstar stopped speaking, she answered politely, as she was expected to. "Mm, yes, my clan is thriving. We work very hard to make sure everything is in order."
----

Firepaw snarled angrily as two more Pineclan cats popped up, along with the oh-so "brilliant" deputy, Stormflower. His ears flattened against his head as she chastised him and his brother for no good reason. What? They had been interacting. It's not like he attacked Spiderpaw or anything! He had just asked him a question. 'Sides, he didn't need another clan's deputy to keep him in line; he already had Finchpaw and that was annoying enough. Sometimes he wondered if Finchpaw had any courage at all, or if he was just a snivelling suck-up. Made sense. All he did was suck up, to Rowanheart, to the leader, though Firepaw had never thought that his very own brother would suck up to the likes of Spiderpaw!

And as for Stormflower, he wished he was strong enough to put her in her place. He opened his mouth to tell her her that he was not her apprentice and he could do whatever the hell he wanted. He answered to Smallfoot and Owlstar and that was all.

As he opened his mouth to angrily spit out all these things he was thinking, Finchpaw bit his ear and dragged him back before he even got a chance. He snarled at his brother. "Hey! What is with you lately? First you’re talking to Frostpaw and now you’re—“

He was silenced immediately by Finchpaw’s angry glare.

"Firepaw, please, we are at a Gathering and if we ever want to come to another one, we have to behave," Finchpaw hissed at him in a low tone, his tail flicking in annoyance. "Now... let's just leave Spiderpaw and Sandpaw and the deputies alone," the young tom paused to think over his next statement, "There are more worthy cats here. Why waste our time? Right?"

With those carefully chosen words, Firepaw felt much more calm. Finchpaw was right... though Firepaw hated to admit it. He rolled his eyes and let his claws slide back into place. "Fine. Yeah. We're better then the likes of them."

Finchpaw sighed in relief and gratitude. ”Good. Now let’s go find someone else to talk to.” He turned away from Firepaw and then quickly scanned the area, before grinning warmly. "There's Bluepaw. Come on Firepaw, I'll introduce you. Bluepaw!"

Firepaw sighed and followed Finchpaw as he ran toward a small blue she-cat. Well... it was better than nothing.

[/size]

[laur]

Cedarstar's broad, wood-colored head swiveled on massive shoulders as he turned to the two other leaders. "That's great to hear!" he boomed, plume of a tail scattering the debris behind his rump, "I'm glad to say my clan is doing just as well. We're ever so glad to be where we are." His eyes traveled to the large [stone? tree?] on which the leaders make announcements.

"I suppose we should start the meeting soon, eh?" His question was directed to no cat in particular; mainly he was just putting it out there. "But maybe not too soon, it seems our clans are quite enjoying the socializing." His gaze flickered to a few apprentices, then to the med cats, over to two deputies, and back to Gingerstar and Cloudstar. He purred absentmindedly, enjoying the pale light of the moon and the gentle breeze playing games with his long fur. "Ahh, what a beautiful night," her muttered.


ooc// i warned you of a terribly short post! Dx

[» s a b ø r ]]

Owlstar could sense how uncomfortable Gingerstar was with Cedarstar. She really had not wanted to converse until the meeting began but fellow leaders had to help other leaders out. She stood and padded over to Gingerstar, sitting in a friendly range from her. "How are you doing Gingerstar? It looks like your clan is very well." She smiled at Gingerstar, trying to lighten the mood. She knew that Gingerstar would probably be very cautious of what she said, not wanting to show any weaknesses in her clan. Owlstar respected that about her, she was a strong leader. She and Owlstar proved that not only toms made good leaders.

Owlstar hoped that Cedarstar wouldn't try to push his conversation with Gingerstar further even though Owlstar had pretty much plopped herself right in front of where he stood, with the exception of a few feet. She smiled inwardly at how much this would probably tick Cedarstar off. It wasn't that she wanted to create trouble, just that she liked messing with Cedarstar's...sense of "holier-than-thou"ness.

[Whiskers]

Gingerstar smiled just a little bit as Cedarstar boomed. He was quite a happy tom, which was good, but she was still uncomfortable around him. When Owlstar acknowledged her, she relished the chance to speak to a fellow female leader, even if she was the leader of Fogclan. She would avoid the topic of the... attitude of Fogclan warriors for now. Keep it light, keep it superficial-- that was the rule for these little chats. All the heavy stuff was saved until the Gathering officially started.

"How are you doing Gingerstar? It looks like your clan is very well."

Gingerstar dipped her head toward Owlstar. "Yes, Pineclan is good. As for myself, I'm busy. You know how it is. Running a clan can be hard work. I'm very grateful to both my deputy, Kestrelstorm, and to head elder No-ears, for their help." She purred and then looked out into the area. Her eyes found the two easily. Kestrelstorm was speaking with Stormflower; No-ears was resting.

Though she found Kestrelstorm a bit too rash at times, he really was a fantastic deputy. Just his presence alone commanded respect.

[/size]

[» s a b ø r ]]

Owlstar was glad that Gingerstar didn't take her comment offensively. It was odd how the leader of a non-believing clan and the leader of a strongly-believing clan could sit together and talk very friendly toward each other. Owlstar found humor in this, yet was happy that their hugely varying differences did nothing to make them sour at each other. "Yes, PineClan is good. As for myself, I'm busy. You know how it is. Running a clan can be hard work. I'm very grateful to both my deputy, Kestrelstorm, and to head elder No-ears, for their help." Owlstar had always found it curious how PineClan had a leader, a deputy, and a head-elder. She thought that it must have been much easier to run a clan with such help, yet Gingerstar had to prove a lot more than the rest of the clans did. She deserved the help.

"Ah, I do know how it is. Always busy, it feels like sometimes I am raising a clan of kits. I mustn't say such things though, for I always have the help of Smallfoot. It must be nice to have the help of No-ears. Elders are very wise, very intuitive. I do hope the prey has been running as well for you as it has us." Owlstar found it nice to make such small talk. Of course, it was autopilot work. There were strict rules you stuck to while making small talk: never reveal too much, never get too friendly, never accuse one of something, never show your clans weaknesses, etc. Leaders learned to be pros at remembering such rules.

[Rolo]

No-ears' heard Briartail's question and he shifted slightly, as if he were pricking his ears. If he had ears, he would certainly have let them hone in on the tom and Otterfur's conversation.

No-ears couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Otterfur, he seemed to be struggling to explain the clan life they both led without making it seem to foreign. Without a second thought, No-ears dragged himself to his paws and slowly limped to Otterfur's side.

"Hello there," He mumbled, winking at the Briartail "Perhaps I can help Otterfur explain our clan ways more effectively... if both of you would like that?"

---
Frostpaw grinned to herself as she neared the gathering place. She chuckled inwardly as she reached the fringe of fourtrees, congratulating herself on not being seen. It had been even easier than normal to get here, however that was more down to her getting better at sneaking out than lack of attentiveness by her clan. She had purposely set off a few minutes after the rest of her clan, not wanting to be seen outside camp at all. Now she was here... her reward being an ability to see Pineclan again and a thrill at outwitting everyone in her clan.

However, as she slipped silently into the shadows of a large pine tree where she planned to hide for the duration of the gathering, a look of slight irritation crossed her face. After her confrontation with Rowanheart, she wanted nothing more than to see a few cats who were like her... Pineclan cats... to reaffirm her self belief. However, because she was not allowed at the gathering, she could not show her face so she could do nothing more than watch them.

She sat herself down in the shadows with a sigh, her excitement worn off. She began to wonder if it really had been worth coming here...