the . gathering . of . the . century . &#&;;

[Agii♫]

It took not more than a few minutes, near half of an hour, for her sodded down paws to reach the sandy shore of the island. A chilly wind caught her soaked fur, a few drifting snowflakes that had glided from the land melting upon strands of peach and cream fur. Tickling her tall, rounded ears, the leader suddenly glanced to the full, beautiful, round, leaf-bare winter. A certain mystical-ness engulfed her then as she pulled herself up, head to the sky.
It was apparent SkyClan was the first to arrive.
Northstar took no need to shake to rid herself of the clear liquid she had plunged into; the moon's light was all she needed. Winds curled around her, gently brushing off excess water from her sleek coat. As she gazed curiously into the brilliant moon, the she-cat saw with fear that the eyes of her love were not gazing back down to her. She took another step onto the cool rock. Unbelievable... He was not there. Why wasn't Moonrun there?
The leader swallowed.
All at once, she wondered if it had been him she felt around her the day of the last clan meeting. Was he not in StarClan anymore? The thought gave her a sudden chill, wracking her body so violently that she stumbled, having to crouch as she stared at the puddle of water collecting before her.
She prayed that this Gathering could clear things up, however deep in the pits of her churning stomach, the leader realized that it would not.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Aspenwind padded on to the Island, pausing for a few moments to shake her pelt and allow the water droplets that were sticking to her pelt to fly off. She shivered slightly as a gust of wind rushed its way through the Island, causing an icy chill to be sent down the spines of each and every SkyClan cat waiting there. Looking around, Aspenwind realized that SkyClan was first to the Gathering.

The deputy sat there on the Island, feeling somewhat lonely as she waited for the EarthClan cats to come. She wished that Viridianpaw was here; he would've been someone to talk to. She could have easily gone to talk to one of the warriors that were her friends -- say Coalspark or Oceanwing, but the two looked as if they were sharing some tender words.

Psh. Lovebirds. Didn't they already have multiple moons to share affection? Amusement flickered through Aspenwind's eyes as she looked around the Island, awaiting the arrival of the EarthClan cats.

--x

This was his second Gathering; Dreampaw's first. Inkpaw purred as he sat himself next to Dreampaw after both of them had shaken the water out of their pelts. Rasping his tongue lightly over her ear, he gave another purr. "It's exciting, isn't it?" he asked cheerfully to her, gently entwining his tail with hers.

"Yes, Inkpaw, it is," Dreampaw responded in a light tone, closing her eyes and laying her head on the ebony colored tomcat's shoulder, glad for the warmth that remained at her side while they were all waiting for the Gathering to begin.

--x

Cloudpuff looked rather wistfully at Inkpaw and Dreampaw. He had wanted Mai to come to the Gathering too, but how could she, without receiving a warrior name first? He kept his spirits and hopes up by the fact that she would eventually be coming to a Gathering with him and he would be trading affectionate words like Inkpaw and Dreampaw were doing. If she wasn't totally scared by him at the fact that he was in love with her.

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[Battie]

Maplestar hauled himself out of the water and shook himself furiously, then sat and groomed himself, shivering slightly. He shook himself once more then stood and made his way to Northstar's side.

"Good evening," he meowed politely, "How is your prey running?" He wanted to talk of the rumor about Eagledance and Silverpaw, but wouldn't bring it up unless she did.

--x

Flamefoot sat on the banks of the island, grooming herself vigorously. She hated water. Well, not hate, but she really disliked it. She prefered dry land. Substantially.

The ginger tabby got to her feet and trotted towards the main gathering of cats. She spotted Maplestar and Northstar talking and watched them for a moment. Suddenly, Maplestar turned his head and met her eyes.

The tabby leader's eyes danced with delight as he looked at the she-cat and he looked as if he would leave Northstar's side to go to Flamefoot. Flamefoot stood frozen to the spot as she recognized the look he had in his eyes. It looked like the look that Onespot gave her, the one that only close friends or siblings shared.

The next second Maplestar had turned back to Northstar, acting as if nothing had happened. The ginger SkyClan warrior stared for another moment, then turned slowly away and slunk away from the two leaders.

[Agii♫]

The EarthClan leader's voice struck her, for in her fetal position Northstar had not expected to have anyone speak to her. But what was she thinking? Something's getting in the way, and something was just about to break. Regathering herself, the she-cat looked up with wide, fearful emerald eyes. Scanning the larger leader over, she blinked the fear away, swallowing down her pride and pushing her previous emotions behind her; there was no time for this now.
In Maplestar's voice there seemed to be a slight tinge of anticipation, as if he wanted to talk something over with. Indeed, she did too, and she had a great feeling of comprehension between them that they both knew what the main topic for tonight's Gathering would be about.
Flicking her long tail upwards to show authority, Northstar nodded politely back, "Yes, surprisingly good for this time of year. What about you?" She was merely being polite back to him, otherwise the female would've gladly jumped into the rumor of his foreigner and her Silverpaw. She had yet to see, or meet, this so called foreigner.

Finally, they had arrived to the island.
Not fatigued in any way except eagerness to arrive, the immensely lean tomcat leaped out of the chilled waters, climbing onto the shore without any gracefulness. Oh, well--this was his first time swimming, what could anyone expect?
Once he had found his groundings Eagledance shook himself from the water, blinking liquid from his eyes and glancing around. There were a lot of these... what was the other clan called? SkyClan, right? He marveled at them; they were all lean and with small, but seemingly well-gripped paws. Curling his massively long and thick tail into the air with curiosity, the long-legged golden cat padded around to see who else was around.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

The moonlight dispersed from the moon shone brightly on the placid waters, although harsh gusts of wind sometimes distorted the figure of the waters. This slight disturbance in the waters caused the moon's reflection in the water to be somewhat disgifured, but it was otherwise a beautiful night, looking as if there would be no clouds in the sky to cover the moon. Of course, things could take an unexpected change, but Ivorywing certainly hoped that they didn't.

Looking up thoughtfully at the moon, Ivorywing only turned half an ear to Hailwind's chatterings as he continued to fume good-naturedly about the fact that Mysticflight had managed to catch more prey than he had been able to. It was a rather weird thing to hold a grudge against, but Ivorywing just continued to listen to what Hailwind said, giving a few occasional nods here and there.

"I'm the deputy of EarthClan! I should be able to out hunt any of the EarthClan warriors! How else would I be able to have become deputy? Maplestar wants someone who he can rely on to do whatever he wants!" Hailwind exclaimed. This was really a kind of petty thing to be going on and on about, but Hailwind didn't really enjoy being outbested by a she-cat.

Crystalrose gazed around at the scenery of the Island, sitting by herself. There was a large amount of hustle and bustle, but Crystalrose remained quiet through the noise. Her tail was curved around her slender frame, resting on her paws. A faraway expression was written across her face as she subconsciously listened to the other cats.

Seeing a she-cat from SkyClan sitting by herself [Flamefoot], Lightbreeze decided to go over and supply the she-cat with company. Eventually, Lightbreeze recognized the cat as Flamefoot. "Hello, Flamefoot," Lightbreeze meowed, padding up to the ginger colored she-cat. "How is the prey running in SkyClan?" she asked as a polite greeting.

Lilacpaw bounced up and down with delight as she bounded on to the Island, absolute delight spreading through the expression on her face as she looked around for a SkyClan cat to speak to. To say the least, she was excited to be here at her first Gathering.

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[Battie]

Maplestar saw Northstar's expression and wondered if he had scared her, or if something was bugging her. He shoved the thought away and said, "I'm fine."

He dropped his voice to a low tone. "I heard a rumor from one of my warriors," he said, "that one of my other warriors was seen on the border talking to one of your warriors. Did you hear anything similar?" He hoped that she hadn't. He wanted to trust Eagledance, despite his initial fury at the foreign tom.

--x

Flamefoot glanced at Lightbreeze and nodded in greeting. "Hello," she meowed. "The prey is running well. I got a new apprentice. Dreampaw, right over there with Inkpaw." She indicated the two apprentices. "You probably know of them already though," she laughed. "How are you?"

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"That's lovely that you got an apprentice," Lightbreeze meowed in a breezy tone, pausing for a few moments to glance over to where Dreampaw and Inkpaw sat together. She acknowledged the fact of who they were with a slight nod; of course she knew who they were. "Finally together, yes?" she murmured softly, then looked back at Flamefoot.

"Oh... Yes, I'm fine, although to tell the truth, I sometimes feel like my personal space is a little invaded at times back in Camp," Lightbreeze meowed in response, a slightly amused tone coming to her voice as she spoke, thinking back to Smokeheart and his heartfelt good-byes as she padded off to the Gathering.

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[Battie]

Flamefoot nodded. "Yep," she meowed in response to Lightbreeze's comment about the two apprentices. "The Clan's been pairing off actually," she laughed.

The ginger warrior tilted her head to one side curiously. "What's wrong in your camp?" she asked. She was genuinely concerned, rather than thinking to take advantage, as she had thought last time she heard bad news from an EarthClan cat. "It got slightly heated in SkyClan's camp, too," she meowed. "A warrior was a bit angry at a few other cats." She decided not to mention she had been that warrior. It didn't seem very warrior-like to be so touchy. At least, it wouldn't to someone who hadn't had to put up with Flamefoot her entire life.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Oh really? Like who? I've always wondered if there were any affections beside Inkpaw and Dreampaw's in SkyClan," Lightbreeze meowed in response to Flamefoot's first answer, purring slightly. "You got anyone you've got a special liking for?" Lightbreeze added as another question, although she wasn't particularly sure if the ginger colored warrior would want to answer a question that was sensitive and secret like that.

"Well, to tell the truth about our Camp... I'm not exactly all that sure," Lightbreeze answered, giving a shrug. "It looks like there's been some drama in the Clans lately, it seems," she added with a nod, peering up at the sky, which contained the twinkling pelts of the StarClan warriors.

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[[:; [h] e a r t ::♥]]

Rainfeather padded onto the island, droplets of water rolling off of her sleek silver and black coat. She scanned the island with pure aqua eyes, looking at all the cats there. Most of them were in groups, both SkyClan and EarthClan, chattimg happily. She sighed, thinking of how they all looked like one Clan, in peace and harmony, all together.

She trotted lightly over to Lightbreeze and a ginger cat she recognized as Flamefoot. "Er, hi," she said shyly, bowing her elegant head quickly, not knowing if she should add her bit to the current conversation. Rainfeather was never any good at having conversations with other cats.

[/size]

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Hello, Rainfeather," Lightbreeze responded in a smooth and airy tone, looking up at the sky yet again, a faraway look coming to greet her eyes as she stared off, wondering how many warriors of StarClan were watching the Gathering. Suddenly, her eyes flickered to the moon and the rest of the broad night sky. There were a few clouds, but they didn't look as if they'd be drifting to cross the moon's path anytime soon. She hoped. After all, it was a pretty little night for a Gathering -- it was clear, and although it was cold, that didn't take away much from the beauty of the Island at night.

Shifting her gaze back down on to the Island, she looked at Flamefoot, awaiting the SkyClan cat's response to her questions. This was rather exciting -- Lightbreeze had always liked Gatherings. It was a nice chance to socialize with the cats of SkyClan, as well as the fact that it was nice to have a truce between Clans for one night in which both Clans could be friends instead of rivals.

--x

Lilacpaw bounded around the Island, excitement glinting in her pale lilaceous colored eyes. Her tail twitched back and forth with excitement as her nose tried to take in all the different EarthClan and SkyClan scents that had flooded together and were attacking her nose as a whole entire scent. This was her first Gathering, yes, and Lilacpaw felt extremely exhilarated at the fact that she was here.

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[Battie]

Flamefoot's pelt burned but she nodded to Lightbreeze and said, "Me and Icefoot are getting along rather well." She thought back to their discussion at camp, and how shamelessly she had flirted. She cleared her throat.

Hearing another cat approach, the she-cat looked to Rainfeather, an EarthClan cat she knew only a bit. "Hello," she meowed pleasantly. She suddenly remembered what Mistheart had told her. "Do either of you speak to Battooth?" she asked. "His sister'd like to know how he is."

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"That's interesting," Lightbreeze meowed, a slight purr of amusement coming over her as she talked. Her ears twitched slightly at the question about Battooth. "Battooth's been doing well. There's a she-cat who's caught his fancy -- Rainfeather here," Lightbreeze meowed in a kind tone, sending a side glance to Rainfeather.

"I guess there really wasn't much news in all, is there?" Lightbreeze meowed calmly, looking around at the Gathering cats. There were about ten cats to each Clan apiece; a decent amount. "I can see that there are some apprentices that are here at their first Gathering, no?" she murmured softly, a thoughtful expression crossing the features on her face.

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[Battie]

"Oh really," Flamefoot meowed slyly, grinning at Rainfeather. "I don't even want to know how you keep up with him."

The ginger warrior nodded. "I guess not much has been happening then," she meowed. "I mean, I heard a rumor, but I guess Northstar and Maplestar'll bring it up during the meeting. It's probably exactly that though. Just a rumor. The Clans haven't had anything truly catostrophic in a long time." She glanced at Northstar and Maplestar, shivering slightly as she remembered Maplestar's expression when he had seen her.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Oh, I see," Lightbreeze responded, an interested look on her face as she spoke. "So," she meowed, just to keep the conversation going, "what other cats have gotten a little... fond of each other?" She tilted her head to the side, awaiting Flamefoot's response to her question. She didn't even know why she was so interested, but it was just something to say instead of just standing there an acting all polite with a few nods here and there.