something in the air tonight | post-gathering discussion

[Flycatcher]

For the first half of the morning after the gathering, Flycatcher had enjoyed a much-needed rest. After the events of the past few days, it felts as though he had hardly gotten a wink of sleep, such was the problem when his mind was on other things.

Now that it was closer to noon, Flycatcher had begun to stir and make an appearance around camp, quietly grabbing a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile to eat. There wasn't much to choose from at the moment, and having slept most of the morning he did not feel comfortable taking a larger piece of prey. After eating his meal - which didn't take long as the mouse was only small - Flycatcher settled to join some of his other clanmates in sharing tongues. He listened in and offered his input to some of what was said but largely kept to himself until the attention was turned to him and a clanmate asked how he was doing. "I am well," He answered simply. "What do we think of what was said at the Gathering last night?" Flycatcher would add looking around, gaze lingering on the cats who had been there. And there were certainly a lot of interesting things mentioned, not just what was going on between ThunderClan and SkyClan.​

 

[ROEFLAME .]

I TOLD YOU ONCE, I CAN'T DO THIS AGAIN​

---

Roepaw hated, no- despised, missing out on things, especially big things.
Still, it had been decided that staying back from the gathering may be the best idea for her health, her last bout of no-breath after the border skirmish had left her weaker than she would have liked, and she had barely been able to keep up with the patrols she was sent on, and her cautious visits towards her and Snowpaws meeting place. Their last conversation had left her… uneasy, and the desperation to fix that gnawed on the apprentice day and night.
Aside from the “condemned” apprentice, another desperation nagged at her- she needed to know how the gathering had gone, but by the time the clan had returned they had all seemed too drained to spill anything juicy.
When she hears her mentor partaking in the casual conversation, Roepaw makes her way over in a heartbeat, almost giving the illusion of spontaneously appearing. "What did they say at the gathering?" She prompted towards Flycatcher.
"speech."​

 

[covecatcher]

Cove wasn't at the gathering, had absolutely no motivation to go despite her affinity for making friends. She didn't like being around so many strangers and it was an awkward thing, I mean, what were you supposed to do? She had much rather sit in camp and giggle with her own friends. When Flycatcher had begun to speak she had been drawn over just like Roepaw had, her gaze flickering between both mentor and apprentice.

"Was it... bad?" her voice is unusually quiet, laced with curiosity as she seats herself to listen to the discussion. As much as Cove wants to believe the gathering was all sunshine and roses she knows its wrong, especially with some of the more somber expressions those around had worn when they had returned. Oh, but Cove really really hopes it wasn't that bad, at least, and this is exactly why she hadn't gone in the first place. She did not like tension.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Flycatcher]

As Flycatcher poses the question to his group, it does not take long for more faces to join, lured over by the interesting news. Roepaw is first to appear followed by Covecatcher. They basically ask the same question. "What wasn't said at the gathering," Flycatcher begins to answer with a nervous chuckle. "WindClan was their usual boastful self, claiming they were still well fed and announcing an unusually high number of new warriors." He frowns a little as he says that, still confused about where they had all come from. "A lot of bickering occurred between WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan and that goes for both their leaders and their warriors down below."

And now came the harder thing to explain - the Warrior Code. "After Emberstar and Blazestar shared their news, Emberstar proposed a shared law between the clans. That we may have friendships with cats in other clans but our loyalty should always remain to our clan. All the leaders agreed to it...it is to become a sort of warrior code."​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

( ☄. *. ⋆ ) Raccoonstripe sidles up to Flycatcher, his dark eyes gleaming with excitement. He looks forward to Gatherings, especially now that he's gotten a loose idea of who each of the other four Clan leaders truly are. Pitchstar, easily-riled, explosive, volatile, paranoid; Sootstar, arrogant, vindictive, sly; Cicadastar, a man true to his convictions, unafraid to make bold accusations against two allied Clans. The three of them had certainly put on an interesting performance tonight, and the tabby had soaked in every insult, every scrap of ire.

It can only mean good things for ThunderClan down the line, in his opinion. "ShadowClan and WindClan are rotting from the inside out," he tells the cats who hadn't gone. He slides Covecatcher a wink. "It's no surprise, really, that they're so vile they chased away their own medicine cat and lead warrior. Right into RiverClan." Really, this news is still the juiciest tidbit for him, and he'll be forever amused by Cicadastar's vehement defense of two she-cats who abandoned their Clans.

But, really, who'd want to live with either Sootstar or Pitchstar breathing down their necks? He can hardly blame the refugees.

Flycatcher brings up the warrior code, and Raccoonstripe's mirth-filled expression softens. He notices Little Wolf has not returned yet -- she must have stayed to say a long goodbye to her mate. He feels bad for Blazestar, losing all of his kits and Little Wolf at once, but it must be done. They are ThunderClanners, and part of him is glad that his older sister will be forced to honor that now, to enforce that expectation for her children. He'd never liked her taking her brood across the border.

After all, look what it had caused.

"All of the leaders agreed divided loyalties can only lead to pain," he said. "It's a law we're all expected to follow now." He shrugs. He'd die before he felt any inclinations towards a cat in another Clan. To prove this, he throws a sultry wink Covecatcher's way and purrs, "Why would I care, when all the prettiest she-cats are right here for the taking?"​

( I CAN SEE THE SKY LIGHT UP , AND THE GROUND EXPLODE )