FOOTSTEPS DOWN FAMILIAR SIDEWALK | GATHERING CHATTER 8.15.22

[HAIL]

A Gathering where once in a moon, the cats of the forest gathered under sacred peace? Tch. Hail was flabberghasted by the idea. She didn't think anyone should let their guard down for even a second, even on nights supposedly protected by the spirits of those lost in a great battle that had taken place where she stood now. Hail had not been around for the events leading up to the creation of the five Clans, but she had witnessed RiverClan encroaching on the riverlands that she had called home for moons. She'd had no choice but to join or be driven out, so here she was, beneath the full moon, her claws sheathed by fragile peace that came from deities she was not positive she believed in.

Hail was not much of a talker, never had been. Just an angry spitfire with lots to say if someone had the courage to approach. So she sat down at the edge of the clearing, far from the conversations and small talk, hoping to be left alone until this was all over and done.
​

 

[Flycatcher]

Caught up in the mere experience at being at the very first gathering, Fly nearly jumped out of his skin when Mallow's voice rang out in his ears. He looks around for the source of the voice and his green eyes quickly settle on Mallow. For a moment he's not even sure Mallow was the cat who had spoken to him, his large, muscular frame doesn't quite match the bright, chirpy voice that called out to him. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Mallow was in fact the cat that had called out to him when he sees no-one else coming to speak to him.

For a moment they must make something of an odd pair. Mallow smiling widely at him but with a blank, unblinking expression, and Fly also staring back with a similarly blank expression, though notably more confused if anything. It seems like minutes pass before Fly breaks the awkward silence with a cough and begins to speak. "Hi, I'm Fly," He mews, introducing himself. "What's your name? Are you from WindClan?"

@MALLOW ​

 

[MALLOWLARK]

He didn't mind the staring- he'd started it, hadn't he, and what a hypocrite that would make him to have a problem with it! Registering not the confusion scrawled across the blue tom's frame, the extended silence brought a skittering giggle from his throat, a noise that inexplicable barely moved his face. Wide eyes void-empty faltered for not a moment.

"Mallow!" Melodic in intent but dissonant in nature, his chime rang out overzealous but brimming with happiness all the same. This tom smelled of forest air, though he knew not how to differentiate pine, oak or shaded marsh- well, maybe scrap the last one, because he didn't stink of mud. And the RiverClan possibility was a non-option given that he was not dripping with murky, cold water. "Yup, WindClan! And you're- huh, from a forest-one, yeah? What's it like there?" Questions spurred the loll of his head, snapping sideways in a movement that failed to disturb his statuesque expression.

He sank to a seat, pupils still, and cast a non-existent tail around his paws. This was great! He was making a friend!

/ interacting with @Flycatcher ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​

 

[RIBBITLEAP]

In the midst of it all, a scrawny brown tabby stands. He doesn't care much for the prospect of these gatherings, the memory of why they even do this still ever present in his mind, the image of his slain brother synonymous with the Fourtrees they gather under. But yet, Frog's Ribbit is here yet again, green eyes searching the crowd for one cat and one cat only.

Salamander.

She left so abruptly. Ribbit suspected it was coming, but it still felt so abrupt. So... quick. A goodbye hardly even uttered between the two. He isn't all that sure where she even went - or if his aunt still presides with the clans - but one can only hope that he spots blue mink fur within the crowd.

However, it doesn't take long for Ribbit to realize there's more faces here than there was the last time - that there's more unrecognizable faces here than there was during the battle, even.

The chances of finding his aunt feel nearly impossible, within the sea of cats. But, Ribbit keeps looking.

// looking for @cinderfrost , open to interactions!​

​

 

[Daisyflight]

"SUREFIRE, YEAH, THE SETTING SUN WANTS COMPANY"​

After an uneven circuit around the clearing, tail a lofty plume behind her, Daisy Flight settled slightly up the rise. It had been interesting to blend between the masses, eyes sweeping those new and old. The worry over disagreements had been pleasantly overturned. Shy introductions and family reunions were abound.

While briefly observing the tumbling duo a subtle smile was stitched onto her face. She hoped her kits would get along like that... An interjective voice touched her torn right ear. Turning to face the oak-striped tom, she gathered his Windclan allegiance from the sweet gorse scent on his pelt.

"Well surely you know some cats have family in other clans? Hm... perhaps not. I don't recognise you." A mild incredulity softened into curiosity, whiskers twitching with interest. "Even friends were separated after the split. You hail from Windclan, don't you?" Soot- star now most likely- seemed to be a very strict leader.

/replying to @WEASELCLAW ​

✿ ✿ ✿​

 

[FROGGY]

Froggy trails behind his siblings, his tail nearly dragging in the dirt as it twitches uneasily. Never before has he seen so many cats. A lump hardens in his throat, nervous laughter and rushed apologies falling from his lips as he bumps into others or nearly treads on stray tails and toes.

This was a mistake.

He sees many faces that he hasn't seen since the last gathering, but none belong to Foxy. What little hope he'd held onto begins to dissipate, a dying flame in his chest. This was a mistake. She wouldn't be here. She's probably dead, just like their mother, a star in a distant sky.

Froggy's eyes drop to the ground, kicking a stray pebble with a huff. She's gone, and he's never going to see her again.

Rocky lunges into the throng of cats with a cry. The tortie point stiffens, his eyes widening as his head snaps up. No, it couldn't be. Scrambling after his brother's disappearing tail tip, Froggy's heart pounds in his ears. A familiar calico pelt stands just a few fox-lengths away. Froggy's pawsteps falter, his jaw going slack with shock. It's her. She's really here. "You're alive!" A relieved grin crosses his features as he flings himself towards Foxy, wrapping his paws around her and Rocky with a laugh.

But as soon as the wave of relief retreats back with the tide, something else sparks in his chest. A blazing fire that scorches his lungs. You left us. You smell of the river. The stench of fish stings his nose. Froggy's paws drop back to the ground, and he flinches backwards as if he'd been burnt, his smile falling. She left them. She left them for RiverClan, and she didn't even tell them. His legs tremble with his mounting anger, his ears flattening. "We thought you were dead," he murmurs. Then, his wavering voice grows louder... "You left us without saying anything, and we thought you were dead!" Froggy takes a step back, and then another, shaking his head. "Why would you do that?! Right after... Right after our mom-" It's been a moon, and he still couldn't make himself say it.

[ interacting with @FOX @Rocky ]​

 

[Flycatcher]

His name is Mallow.

A nice name to be sure, albeit a somewhat unexpected name choice for the tom. Fly expected something different but he concedes it's an unusual but uniquely fitting name. Well suited for a cat as unique as Mallow. The WindClan tom is quick to pick up on his different scent, correctly guessing he is from one of the forest clans. Fly gives a quick nod before going into further detail. "I'm from ThunderClan," He answers, and then gestures to Emberstar, just in case Mallow didn't know the ThunderClan leader. At Mallow's following question, Fly pauses to think. What's it like there? What is it like there, Fly echoes inside his own head. "Uh, it's big?" Were the first words out of the blue tabby's mouth. Almost instantly he frowns, not entirely satisfied with his description of his home. "There are lots of trees and dense undergrowth in ThunderClan territory. Although we border the other clans our home does not feel small. It's homely and warm, and most of us are a lively bunch," He explains.

After speaking of his own home he looks to Mallow and poses him a question. "What is WindClan like?"

@MALLOWLARK ​

 

[OWLPAW]

Out of her peripherals, Owlkit could see the head swivel of one of the felines she had taken a seat near. A pretty cream tabby and her companion peered down at her. Owlkit resisted the urge to pin her ears against her skull as anxiety swept over her once she realized she was being addressed, but she remained stoic and unmoved. No kit of Sootstar was going to be seen quivering in the presence of another Clan cat. She straightened herself up and met the she-cat's eyes with her own vibrant orange gaze.

"I'm Owlkit," she introduced herself when asked for her name. She nodded politely to Deer and Vermillion. She knew their scent was different than her own, but she could not quite distinguish what Clan they hailed from. Her eyes drifted from them to the five leaders who towered over the rest of the cats in the clearing, her eyes zeroing in on her mother. "Sootstar is my mother. She wanted my brother and I to come tonight since we were the first kits born after the creation of the Clans."​

 

[Foxpaw—]

It's Rocky who greets her first, a flash of blue that reaches her in a stampede of paws. He's taller than her now, and he has to stoop to nuzzle her under the chin. He exclaims that she smells like the river, and she becomes self-conscious of the droplets that still cling to her pelt. "Yes, well... I live in RiverClan now," she says, voice small and almost scared. "B-but you look good! You're so big! Are you getting enough to eat?" The answer is no, she knows, as the marshes in her memories were scarce muddy pits compared to the river she feasts from now.

And then Froggy, his blue eyes wide with surprise. His initial response is excited, and he even grins at her in an achingly familiar way. She closes her eyes against fresh tears as Froggy throws his paws about her and Rocky in an excited embrace.

But the joy in her heart withers as he pulls away from her. The smile falls from his face, and there's a look of deep betrayal that sends thorns into the raw meat of her heart. "I'm not-- I wasn't--" Of course they'd thought she was dead, she thinks, despairing. She'd disappeared right after Dewdrop had died.

The tears fall, but slowly, without ceremony. Fox does not wipe them away, but she does not give into her crushed feelings, either. She only shakes her head at Froggy, whose ears are flat against his skull now, and he's retreating from her as though she's a monster herself.

"I had to get away," she mews, voice quiet. Her voice is choked with pain. "After Dewdrop died, I... that wasn't my home anymore. I couldn't say goodbye because I knew you'd convince me not to go. Because it was too hard to leave you."

She gives Rocky a beseeching look, then Froggy, who is looking at her like any ShadowClanner would a cat from another Clan, she thinks. Fox realizes for the first time the gravity of what she's done, the barriers she's erected between herself and her siblings forever.

"I'm so sorry," she says. She bows her head. "I'm so, so sorry I did that. But you're doing well, see? And you're growing up so big... so strong. We'll still visit each other, if... if you wanted to." She recoils from them both, afraid of what their response might be. If they want to see her, she will do everything in her power to sneak from camp and into the marsh, despise Cicadastar's blatant distrust of outsiders.

But they will never be outsiders to her. Never. She will never let that happen.
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​

interacting with @Rocky and @FROGGY

 

[MALLOWLARK]

He for sure did not know the ThunderClan leader- noticeably, his grey gaze followed the trajectory of Fly's motion as soon as he made it, clocking in unnaturally fast without even trace movement jostling the rest of his large frame. He nodded, registering the flame point's face and committing it to memory before snapping his gaze back to meet Fly's. Even at the vague beginning, Mallow was still enraptured by the tom's explanation... a sprawling forest made its way into his memory, though he did not interrupt before the blue tom continued. "Oh, it sounds so nice! I'll bet it's warmer than the moor," Mallow commented, a giggle following his words, distinctive in its mewling noise.

Still, he silenced himself mostly in good time to answer the other's next question. "It's big, too! Super big. It can get pretty cold at night, because we don't sleep in any dens or anything, but- it's nice being under the stars! The sky's always so clear- 'n apparently you lot have dead people up there watching us? That's so cool!" He'd heard of this StarClan through Sootstar's many mentions- and from word of mouth had gathered where they had originated from. Deceased ancestors, watching over them... it was so awesome!

/ @Flycatcher ​

[ PENNED BY PIN ]​