To the Gathering, ho!

[Battie]

Maplestar glanced behind him to see if his Clan was following him. When he was satisfied, he looked back towards the water's edge, shuddering slightly. He took a deep breath before stepping towards the water. "Youngsters and oldsters between warriors," he ordered his Clan. "Lilacpaw, Hazelpaw, stick with a warrior." And with that, he plunged in, struggling to keep his head above water. He knew he would have to go first, to lead the Clan, and to show no fear, but it was hard when he was surrounded on all sides by the thing he feared most.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"It's looking bad, Ivorywing. I mean, I'm deputy and I can't out hunt a she-cat -- even when it's leaf-bare! Mysticflight caught a piece of prey when we went out hunting together, and I didn't even catch so much as a twig! What's going to happen? What if I'm not fit to be deputy of EarthClan anymore?" Hailwind confessed his fears to Ivorywing as he padded behind his leader, in the deputy's respectful position. Ivorywing was beside him, listening with a slightly amused look written across her face as she listened to Hailwind's words.

"Relax, Hailwind. Maybe Mysticflight just had a little more luck than you did," Ivorywing responded, trying to chose her word cautiously. Although Hailwind was a good cat, he was a little too chivalrous and believed too much in the fact that the male gender was supposed to serve and outbest the female. It was a little irritating at times, but it could prove to be a rather entertaining joke.

Crystalrose was padding a few pawsteps behind the deputy and medicine cat of EarthClan, trying to train her eyes to look somewhere else, for from behind Hailwind and Ivorywing, all she could see was an obsidian colored pelt standing much in contrast against an ivory colored pelt. It was difficult, this looking somewhere else and trying to pad along in a straight line. More than once, she almost bumped in to a few trees, walked in to the lake, or tripped over a rock. She would have too, if it hadn't been for Lightbreeze speaking up every once in a while to warn her.

Lightbreeze was enjoying this walk, although she had had felt a slight bit of pity for Smokeheart. He looked as if he were about to cry when she was leaving for the Gathering -- he was probably sobbing his 'smoky-heart' out back at Camp. Really, Smokeheart was a good tomcat, but Lightbreeze sometimes wondered if he had ever heard of personal space. His affections were nice and he was kind, but he did seem to act a little... odd at times. "Watch out again, Crystalrose," Lightbreeze meowed softly to the warrior padding in front of her as Crystalrose's paws brushed dangerously near the water of the lake.

"A Gathering! A Gathering! My fi-irst Gathering!" A small, blue-gray colored bundle of fun and neverending energy leaped up and down as she bounded quickly after the warriors, her tail and ears perked up in the air at a high angle, showing that she was about to burst from happiness and excitement. Her paws moved underneath her in almost a blur as she continued bounding after the warriors, two of her bounds equalling one of their strides.

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[Agii♫]

Him? The foreigner? Selected for a Gathering?
He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten to go to a Gathering. Swallowing, the golden warrior realized that it was back in his birthclan. Hopes risen for his acceptance, the scottish-dialected feline heeded to his leader's words with the uttermost respect. Swiftly, with immensely long legs springing forth, he plunged into the cold, swallowing waters. It was very new to him indeed; he had never swam before! How exciting this all was--he absolutely loved it. Never in his moment's of awkwardly paddling had he gotten the fear of drowning, for after a few strokes he felt he had the rhythm. However, his swimming skills were most certainly not as adept or graceful as the other clan cats.
Shifting his eagle-like eyes towards the leader just in front of him, Eagledance noticed something peculiar. The leader seemed hurried and frantic in his swimming--was something wrong? Possibly just the fact that Maplestar had called him to talk, and yet had never gotten the chance to. Would he do it at the Gathering, or save it for later?
Blinking the thought away, he flipped a long ear backwards just in time to hear a few squeals headed his way.

"Eagledance! E-eagledance!" the small voice called.

He turned his long, lean neck backwards to see Twistedpaw leaping and bounding at the shore, yowling his name with a bright beam across his face. Beside him, Dawnpaw sat, smiling with amusement as his new friend cheered.

A massive lump of warmth and pride swelled within his chest and throat, a wide smile spreading across his black lips as he paddled along with the rest of the clan to the Gathering.