The measure of my days (Pre-Gathering Chatter)

[Badgermoon]

The night air was gentler than it had been in the previous moons, as newleaf slowly unfurled across the forest. The typical moonlit quiet was now cut through with the cheeps of insects and other stirrings of night creatures who were beginning to reappear from their winter slumbers in the fledgling warmth. The ground was soft and slightly damp underpaw as opposed to crispy with frost, and Badgermoon drew in a deep breath as he entered the familiar clearing. They were green, growing things very near to the surface, itching to emerge - he could smell them - and they stirred some hope in his scarred chest as he paused, his Clanmates all round. "Remember what StarClan asks of us." the black and white tom murmured with uncharacteristic solemnity. "Keep the peace. This is a sacred time and place."

They were StarClan's chosen Clan - if they did not obey the will of the stars, who would? How could they claim to honor their ancestors if they defied their will? Slowly the WindClanner sank into a sitting position he hoped appeared calm and imperious, instead of lazy or unbothered. His moon-yellow eyes were sharp as they roamed restlessly over the faces which began to stream into the hollow. StarClan grant us a peaceful night, and safe journeys home. Please. Badgermoon prayed in silence, white-tipped ears pricked as he waited for conversations to break out all around him.​

 

[STARCLAN]

It is a peaceful night when the cats of all clans would slowly filter into the clearing. The sky is clear, the moon and stars illuminating faces that peer around at one another, looking for friends, avoiding enemies, chatting among clanmates. The air is still, calm, a gentle new-leaf breeze tugging softly at pelts and making the leaves rustle quietly.

Then, once everyone has settled and before the leaders can assume their places on the great rock from which they normally perched, the atmosphere would rapidly change. Clouds gathered to obscure the moon and all the stars, throwing the cats assembled bellow into darkness as the wind whipped itself into a frenzy around them. The trees surrounding the clearing groaned and bent in the brutal air and every so often there could be seen flashes of lightning in between them, illuminating the anxious faces of those who had gathered to bear witness to this act. Suddenly there is a loud crack in the sky, like something breaking and then a flash of light as a bolt finds its mark on the great rock. Sparks fly but nothing catches, cats recoil away from the light that now floods the clearing.

Just as quickly as they came, the clouds depart, the wind dies and as the moon reveals itself to once again bathe the clearing in its gentle light and it is then it would be revealed that in the spot in which WindClans leaders claws often scraped against the stone was a small circle of blackened soot.

​

 

[TIGERFROST]

Tags and Information

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His wounds still burn, but his eyes are alight with a passionate glow. WindClan had done what it had needed to do, and Tigerfrost was proud of them all. Perhaps it would never be enough, so long as RiverClan still remained in the forest, but that was a thought for another time. As the moon and stars hung high over their heads like sparkling sentinels, the long-legged chimera understands that this is a time of peace. At least... in regards to teeth and claws. He knows that tongues will likely be as sharp as ever. So many were sporting their fresh injuries, after all. Badgermoon reminds WindClan of the truce, and the Lead Warrior nods silently. He won't start any fights. He's not opposed to finishing any, though. For the gathering's sake, he hopes nobody decides to give him or the rest of his clan-mates an excuse.

He finds a seat with the rest of the Lead Warriors, though he notes with sudden surprise that it seems the wind had begun to pick up. Storm clouds roll across the night sky, obscuring the light of their ancestors. Tigerfrost peers upward, curious, and yet there is a chilling dread that worms it's way into his belly. Was it just a storm? Or... was it an omen? All at once, chaos erupts. The trees creak and bend as the gales race through the clearing. Lightning strikes with a blinding bolt, a deafening roar, and the great stone is marred by electric heat that bursts from the wrathful storm.

Tigerfrost jumps to his paws, eyes wide with shock at what he had witnessed, half-dazzled by the racing bolt of lightning that left spots in his vision. As soon as it began, it's over. Quiet once again, asides from the shocked yowls and murmurs of the crowd. The tabby isn't sure what to think, but perhaps against all reason, he turns his boiling, rage-filled eyes upon RiverClan. They caused this! By killing Juniperfrost and starting a war, they had displeased the stars themselves! Worms, the lot of them. He curls his lip in fury. "It's because they murdered Juniperfrost, forcing us into war." He grits the explanation through his teeth toward Badgermoon and any other WindClanner that happened to be close enough to hear his low, grating excuse. That had to be it. WindClan had only been responding to the fact that RiverClan harboered a butcher! They had done nothing wrong, so it must have been RiverClan's fault.

Tigerfrost sees no other explanation.

[speaking quietly to @Badgermoon ]​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Tonight would be a fun gathering. With nearly all the clans at each other's throats and WindClan launching a raid on the pest next door she knew this gathering would somehow be like no other. It would truly be a test of how much they hold StarClan's words dear, if any night was going to spill blood, it'd have to be this one. The blue smoke has vowed to try and obey herself; she doesn't need any more run-ins with the gods at the moment.

Thats when clouds gathered rapidly in the sky, near covering the full moon. Sootstar looks up with a gasp, did they know what was coming? Could they sense that tonight was the night the leaders would spill bloodshed under the full moon? Sootstar feels the wind rapidly pushing against the ivory tufts of fur on her cheeks, she couldn't help but lean forward as if bracing for it to blow her away. It's when a terrifying crack pierced the sky, it causes her heart to lurch and reminds her of the twoleg stick that had blown right through her lungs several moons ago. Her very first life lost. The bolt lights up her face and from where she stands among her clan-mates, stunned, it viciously strikes at the edge of the Great Rock.

Right where she sat every single gathering.

The leader feels her blood turn cold. For a very brief moment a petrified look flashes through her eyes causing her pupils to tremble, but in a mere blink to all who had managed to saw it was as if they had just witnessed a facade. The storm was brief and by now ended. She looks her typical stoic self and one paw after another, she makes her way to the Great Rock.

With an elegant leap she stands atop of the rock, she notes the soot created by the strike and pressed her paw deep in it, staining pink paw pads gray. Then she sits down, back straight, ears alert, and chin gently tipped into her chest. Her gaze finds her clan all with different expressions; anger, fear, despair, worry, she smiles at them. "...Well? Sit tall and powerful, you're WindClanners." The moor leader beams, "Show off that strength StarClan has renowned us for!" A rallying yowl into the night.

In truth, her spirit trembled.​

---

Spoiler: TAGS ★ 03/13

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· SOOTSTAR, female — she / her
╰ ‣ 39 moons . pisces. ages on the first
╰ ‣ windclan leader . marsh-born . believes in starclan
╰ ‣ former soldier of the marsh group

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like heather and wet dirt , status — 100%
╰ ‣ blue smoke . scarred chest, difficult to see through fur . green eyes

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ESTJ-A ❝ EXECTUTIVE ❞ , Slytherin, Lawful Evil
╰ ‣ Cunning, brash, fierce, confident, self-reliant, envious & selfish
╰ ‣ finds great difficulty in relating to others . can be cruel, usually shows mercy to those she can find sympathy with
╰ ‣ sole key to her heart is loyalty, if you have her trust, she often shows a completely different side of herself. Aggression tends to manifest from her extreme paranoia
╰ ‣ Appreciates titles such as "miss, m'am" etc

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· SOOT CLAW x PEBBLE BREEZE, sister to Pebblenose
╰ ‣ heterosexual. mate to Weaselclaw
╰ ‣ mother to Windstrider, Sootchaser, Moorkit, Adderkit, Harrierkit, Bluekit & Cottonkit
╰ ‣ mentor to N/A
╰ ‣ average fighter . skilled hunter .
╰ ‣ will start fights . unlikely to flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.​

​

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[BLAZESTAR]

Blazestar leads his Clan into the core of Fourtrees, jaw clenched and blue eyes flashing warily. The last Gathering had not gone well, and part of him dreads another discussion among quarreling leaders. Emberstar's betrayal has darkened the shadows stretching across the clearing. He sees only treachery when he looks into the blinking, moon-silvered eyes of the other Clans.

He has to force himself to look away.

"Go forth, SkyClan. Remember my instructions," he orders. He does not elaborate; everyone, from his deputy to the youngest apprentice present, knows better than to breathe even a syllable of Dandelionwish's name. He will watch his warriors flow around him, mingling with the other Clans.

Tension has drawn the air between him and Sootstar taut -- more than usual. He does not greet her, does not say he hopes she's well. He likes to think they are both past those useless false pleasantries. Seemingly, her kits are old enough to leave at their camp, and so she is here again, yowling arrogantly to her Clanmates.

Is it only tension that's causing the air to feel strange? The flame point pauses before the Great Rock, frowning. There's electricity in the air, and the ends of his pelt are beginning to fuzz. The air crackles. The sky, which had been clear on their journey to Fourtrees, thickens with stormclouds.

"What is going on?" He murmurs to the nearest cat, but before they can answer, all felines present are battered by wind. The trees, mighty as they are, struggle to maintain their structure under the ferocity of the galestorm. Blazestar sinks his claws into the earth, his heart beginning to pound.

A flash of white blinds him momentarily, striking the stone the leaders stand upon with fiery force. His ears ring with the sharpness of the crack, and he blinks the water from his eyes, astonished and nearly stumbling from his fear.

The place where Sootstar sits is blackened from the lightning strike.

Incredulously, Blazestar stares at the stone. StarClan had spoken. StarClan had let all cats in the forest know something about Sootstar... he does not know what it is, but he can only imagine it's nothing good for his Clan.

Amazingly, if Sootstar is rattled, she recovers quickly. She yowls to her Clan about their StarClan renowned strength. Blazestar's eyes are wide as the full moon. He is almost as stunned by her display of easygoing arrogance as is by StarClan's lightning bolt. "If she had been standing there..." he murmurs to no one in particular.

His fur remains on end. It will take several minutes before it can lay flat again.

// anyone can be the cat he's talking to!​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[Starlingheart]

"SPEECH"

Starlingheart is fully prepared for this to be a gathering where she stares at her paws. She doesn’t want to look up and see Chilledgaze in the spot her brother should be standing in, doesn’t want to hear them announce to the clans that her brother is gone, that they are stepping forward in their place and wearing the name that had once been his and she especially does not want to see the faces she is certain will be pleased at this news.

She knows Pitchstar was not a particularly well liked cat but he had been her brother and at the end of the day she was just an apprentice playing pretend at being an adult.

Still, she holds her head high and makes her way to the spot where the medicine cats usually sit together. She was finding herself looking forward to seeing some of them. Beesong and Gloompaw might be nice to talk to again and she even finds herself hoping Vulturemask is there. She knows how the other clans feel about Wind but she herself cannot bring herself to care about the inner workings of the clans. Perhaps this can be attributed to her young age, her naivety.

The lightning stops her short and she finds herself frozen in place as the wind tears at her black and white fur, barely able to stand as her too thin frame is battered by the furious cyclone. She finds herself terrified and in awe as she and all the others watch a lightning bolt pierce the sky and hit the great rock, right where Wind Clans leader usually stood.

What happens after is a blur. She does not pay attention to Sootstar but is instead left staring at the sky with wide green eyes, marveling at their starry ancestors and wondering what it was they meant to show them. Had they intended to kill the WindClan leader and missed? Or was this simply a warning. The ShadowClan medicine cat thinks it more likely the latter.

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

ThunderClan arrives at the edge of the hollow, right near SkyClan. She glances towards them as they enter from the same direction but her attention is swiftly turned towards her own clan. "Go on and mingle," She invites them with a gentle nod, eyes twinkling but there is a hidden nervousness shining through. The air is suffocating, tension surrounding them. She must still keep her head level, though. ThunderClan is strong. We have nothing to worry about.

Shoulders straightened and tail extended back behind her heels with confidence, the ThunderClan leader strolls down through the undergrowth and into the clearing. She smiles and dips her head towards familiar faces as she weaves through, heading towards the Great Rock and trying her best to ignore the sudden shift in the atmosphere. She is stopped in her tracks, however, as electricity tingles in the air. In a blinding flash of light, she must turn away as lightning strikes the towering boulder. For a moment, the clearing is left in stunned silence, Howlingstar herself standing with jaws agape. She glances back to Blazestar, the closest comrade she thinks she has among the leaders, with surprise etched onto her face.

Hesitantly, she turns back to the Great Rock and picks her way forward, jaw clenching as she climbs up. Her joints feel stiff tonight. Once she's at the top, she is left to stare down at the blackened spot that Sootstar now sits proudly upon. Horrified, her gaze slowly lifts until she's looking at the moorland leader's face. "What did you do?" She mews, almost hushed.​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​

---

they had done this before. they had joined the other leaders upon the rock before so why had this time felt so sickening? maybe, perhaps, it had been due to their leadership. pitchstar was no more, and they could no longer sway either peace or anger on his behalf. they'd have to do it all themself. as they walked beside their clan– geckoscreech in particular–, they paused for a moment before gesturing to their only allies– a partnership that was hanging on by mere threads. they did not wish to make enemies so quickly out of the windclanners but chilledstar was not fond of them, long before pitchstar decided to frolic with sootstar.

"try to be somewhat civil."

they urge, before their gaze turns upwards. the sudden clouded overcast makes them squint and suddenly the wind is picking up. they wince at the feeling when suddenly a boom of thunder and crack of lightening makes them whip their head. a spot where sootstar commonly sat, now scorched and steaming. the clouds leave, taking the wind with it, and suddenly they feel a cold chill up their spin. what in the name of the stars had sootstar done to warrant that? was it a warning or was it an assassination attempt from the stars? sootstar climbs up to her spot, and shouts out how they're blessed with strength from the stars.

"stars... she's delusional. she cannot be serious... can she?"

their voice cannot be heard by anyone but geckoscreech. they furrowed their brows, letting out a breath.

"fuck."

// interacting with @GECKOSCREECH
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[Flamewhisker]

It had been moons since she had attended a gathering. The gathering before she had found out that she was expecting kits, she had missed because of being injured in the border skirmish along the Skyclan border. Tonight, she walked beside her mate, and their two kits who were now Thunderclan apprentices. Her eyes were gleaming with pride, but deep down she was nervous. It had taken her a long time to get used to going to the clan gatherings, and now she was out of practice. Being in a clan was one thing, but being around five clans...it was a lot to take in.

As they emerged from the clearing, she would pause to make sure her kits were still with them before padding down to join the rest of the gathered cats. The jumbled up smell of all the clans was something that made her nose wrinkle. She was curious to see what was going to happen tonight. The last one had been eventful apparently, and if she knew Riverclan, Skyclan, and Shadowclan, surely something would go on. The moorland leader always seemed to be bloodthirsty, the Riverclan leader liked to let other clans do his job, and Shadowclan...she simply loathed the clan as a whole.

They were only there for mere moments, before clouds started to cover the sky. She narrowed her eyes curiously, and before she knew it, a loud BOOM of lightening struck down, and shocked the leader's rock. The fur along her back rose, and she would glance towards Howlingstar's direction. Were the stars trying to kill Sootstar? Should they leave? What if it happened again?

Howlingstar never made the call to leave, so she would force her pelt to relax. She watched as Sootstar sitting proudly in the spot that had just been struck by lightning. Has she truly gone mad? If her kits were still nearby, she would beckon them towards her. "Maybe you should stick close to me this time..." Normally she would let them run off and mingle, but she didn't trust the others, and if something happened, she wanted them within protecting distance. They had only been made apprentices within the month, they couldn't fight off anything yet.

//
@FALCONPAW @STORMPAW

[₊⋆]​

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[FALCONPAW]

Truthfully he is excited to be going to his first gathering. Being able to actually see the other clans and get to know them is one of his main goals. Afterall a good warrior knows and understands the world around him. At least that is what he tells himself. He wants to be just like his father, strong and proud. Merciful! With a flick of his white dipped tail he makes his wah after his mother, tilting his head up as the smells assault his nose. At first he makes a face and then he looks on in awe at so many different cats all mingling around and then he jerks back as the moon is suddenly covered. The wind is furious and his ears pulled back against his skull. He presses closer to his mom in an attempt to hide himself away from the storm as it suddenly springs forth and then the sudden boom and flash of light makes him cry out. He shivers slightly as he tucks himself underneath Flamewhisker, having taken the idea to not stray from her side. In fact all the excitement sucked out of him.

His blue green gaze only holds fear as he swallows thickly. "Mama...i-is Starclan angry? Did we do something wrong?" He looks toward the cat that stands on the scorched stone and a chill runs down his spine. What does it all mean?

- interacting with @Flamewhisker ​

 

[smogmaw]

Deafening whip-cracks of lightning, a swelling vortex in the heavens, and tension so thick it's nigh on suffocating. The dark-smirched tom isn't one for symbolism, yet he finds himself unable to overlook the apparent shadow cast over this gathering—as though the stars themselves hold them all in disdain. These conditions, albeit fierce and foul, do not deter the deputy. Having lived in ShadowClan for all of Leaf-bare, he's quite used to StarClan's abandonment.

Smogmaw plods behind his leader's flank, his eyes and ears still reeling from the barbaric spectacle. Through his squint can he glimpse the cloud of loose debris flung up from the strike, hanging in the air above an intact Great Rock. That the boulder did not rupture under such an immense force ought to be symbolic too, he reckons. The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful stars sought to warn WindClan's leader, but shattering the stability of the clans did not lie in their intent; a humorous notion, as the clans were doing that to themselves anyhow.

After Chilledstar gives their simple instruction, the mackerel tabby absconds from his leader's side in favour of a more secluded spot. He does not shy away from socialising during gatherings, but crowds are not something he is all too fond of. A less populated neck of the clearing is where he settles, at least during the precursory period.

Laying on his side, front paws curled into the tufts of his chest, Smogmaw stares into the abyss. ​

 

[STORMFEATHER]

She remembered how she felt when her father first let her out of the nursery to meet the other ThunderClan cats. Stormpaw had been so nervous then, and this was almost twice multiplied with how many people were here. So many eyes, so little room to mess up. Stormpaw stayed as quiet as she could, sticking to her mentor and then to her mother as she drew them in closer.

When the storm began and lightening struck, all Stormpaw could hear was her own breathing. Her throat closed up and her chest heaved. When it was over, her haunches fell back against the earth to keep her steady. She could hardly even hear the WindClan leader's proudful call.

The newly made apprentice glanced over at her brother and shakily followed his lead to move closer to Flamewhisker. "I want to go home." She whispered, burying her face into her mother's chest.

​

 

[SLATE]

❪ TAGS ❫ — The Maine Coon pads into the sacred meeting space, still feeling a bit out of place as much as he's attempted to assimilate into SkyClan. It was not easy to adjust to the life of a clan cat after having spent nearly a whole lifetime living as a rogue on the city streets. Honor, loyalty, camaraderie... It was all very new and foreign to the brute. Religion and spirituality was also

Why did it suddenly grow darker?

A moment later, before Slate could really make anything of the sudden change in weather, a crackle of lightning strikes against stone and nearly shatters his eardrums in the process. An acrid, burnt smell originates from the direction of the giant rock upon which the leaders would usually stand. Then, the clouds dispersed as quickly as they had appeared.

His charcoal-colored hairs bristle and tingle; while he isn't one to scare easily, freak lightning strikes could surprise pretty much any cat. Slate is far from the most sociable of creatures and will be unlikely to be interested in continuing any chit-chat, he cannot help but mutter to the nearest cat, "... What the hell just happened?"

// open for interaction!​

 

[Maggotfur.]

EYES COVERED IN INK AND BLEACH​

maggotpaw | 04 months | female | she/her | physically easy | mentally hard | attack in bold mediumpurple

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Maggotpaw is not sure why she is even here. She doesn't see what the big fuss about the gathering is - she can barely stand her clamates most days, let alone dozens of strangers. Irritated, the blue and white molly is quick to break off from the group, even the astonishing display of starclans power garnering no more than a calculating look from her. Perhaps if they'd actually struck someone down and fried them to a crisp she'd pay more attention, but really. Tch.

// open to interacts; please tag!


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[LAKEMOON]

✵ ღ ☾ IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE - This particular gathering had been one Lakemoon had actually been looking forward to attending, surely it was bound to be an interesting one.
As Riverclan would trickle into the clearing, Lakemoon would split away, brandishing her still freshly torn ear by swiveling it slowly to and fro, hoping she would catch the familiar sight of her sister.
Abruptly, her sight is dimmed by the sudden clouds, thick fur being parted in every direction when the wind picks up.
She turns on her heel, looking towards High Rock just as a sudden flash of light rips the night sky in two, a harsh crack echoes through the clearing as it collides with High Rock itself.
Yet, in only a couple of blinks the sudden storm is over, a blackened mark at Sootstar’s place making its ominous message loud and clear.
The blue tabby looks around, her expression almost blank as she takes in everyone else’s reaction.
By the time she looks back forwards, Sootstar is sitting smugly on top of the ash, while her grandmother looks at her with a horrified expression.
Lakemoon grimaces then, to act so brazenly towards Starclan, to look so proud.
❝ Tch. Embarrassing. ❞ The scarred molly growls, her voice low but not exactly hushed.
She finds herself wishing she could speak to Howling Wi- Howlingstar, but the tabby leader was only more impossible to reach now.
Lakemoon made her nest, it was time for her to sleep in it.
Seeking out the nearest Thunderclanner that didn’t look paralyzed with fear, she’d tap her paw on the ground to grab their attention.
❝ Do you know if Wolfwind or Berryheart are here? ❞

//currently searching for @WOLFWIND & @BERRYHEART

❝ Speech. ❞

THE HATRED IN HER EYES​

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[Cindershade]

She steps forth, a shadow emerging from the foliage with her head and tail held aloft with pride ever so evident within her gait. Her wounds throbbed with each passing stride, the brisk night air causing them to sting from not quite scabbing over just yet though her mask reveals nothing. RiverClan had defended their own and their home. They had all fought valiantly, despite being ambushed in the dead of night. The clearing was open and clan cats gathered, already she spots the group of WindClan huddled together. Her ire flows within his chest, thick tail lashing back and forth as she traces over them. Icy virdian eyes settle upon Sootstar herself and Badgermoon, then familiar brown tabby fur. Tigerfrost. Her nails instinctively pushed from their sheaths, flexing over the soft soil when she looks over his hulking frame. WindClan scum, her inner monolog hisses at the very sight of them. Knowing how interesting they were going to toy with this gathering, blaming RiverClan for their squabbles.
The sky seems to shadow overhead, blocking out the luminescent silver light of the full moon till there was nothing. She disappeared from where she once stood, her obsidian form blending in with the shrouded night despite her glowing irises. What was happening? She'd never seen clouds gather so quickly, even with the Green-Leaf storms. Electricity buzzes around the clearing now, it's intensity nearly hitching her breath into her throat as her eyes glued themselves to the clouded sky. An ear-piercing crack roared with a flash of blinding white light. She's barely able to blink before it's gone and the clouds begin to disperse just as quick as they arrived. What the...? Others gasp and the woman's own maw drops open and what she sees.
Lightning had struck the stone surface of the Great Rock. Right where Sootstar would perch herself.
The rosetted warrior's brow furrows in annoyance, her tongue clicking against gnashed teeth. Too bad they didn't wait a few seconds later. She watches with a cold gaze as Sootstar assumes her place where the Soot lay by her paws, boasting about her clan per usual as if nothing happened. "Hmph. Wretched witch." The dark warrior grumbled, prowling beside Slate as his question slips past his tongue. "A missed opportunity, is what it was." She murmurs, sliding back onto her haunches beside the looming gray warrior. "Someone needs to better their aim." The woman adds, her gaze flicking towards the indigo sky and back onto the darkened mark where she stood.

// interacting with @SLATE and open for interaction!
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[ SILENCE IS DEAFENING ]​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

"Better their aim, indeed." Hyacinthbreath mutters as she follows behind Cindershade, two Warriors on each of her sides. Her cheek burned with her fresh wound, but she makes no connect in how she reacts to the lightning bolt. It hits the rock close to Sootstar, and Hyacinthbreath watches, enamored. It's moments like these when she wished Pollenfur was here so she could curl up with her and listen to the Gathering. But, it was how things were now- Pollenfur was a loner. They could only ever meet in private.

Well, the lightning didn't hit anywhere near herself; whatever doubt she had simply perished at that revelation. Spotting Smogmaw in the distance, Hyacinth gives him a curt nod. She'd talk to him soon, but first.. "Where is my son?" She asks aloud, though not loud enough to catch everyone's attention- just the people closest to her. "They better not have.. Ugh."

// feel free to play her two guards, riverfam!​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[CICADASTAR]

another gathering. as they near the clearing, the wind roars — sudden, violent. he tips his head towards the skies to watch limbs sway wildly overhead. almost there, he thinks, pins his ears to each side of his head. a storm. it would only make sense, he supposed. the clearing would be full of milling, fish - brained windclanners, glaring and bristling as they always had been. though now, they bristled at him. gnashed their ugly, weak little teeth at him, at his warriors, puffed their fur to pretend they could rival anything other than a riverclan kit. his head is low, shoulders high as he stalked the ever - familiar path, pelt dripping, soaking the dirt with rapidly - cooling water. icy eyes stare snap from the stars above, settle forward. claws unsheathe. oh, the self - control it would take — he wanted to rip them apart, feel fur part where that damned calico’s had and blood well between his toes. it was the only thing the moorland cats were good for.

cicadastar splits the undergrowth and within seconds, lightning cracks, shocking through the darkness overhead.
electric claws rake through the heavens, lighting the crowd in shades of white - gold. curled fur lifts, spikes along the jutting knobs of his spine, looming figure even sharper with it. his eyes close, head pivoting away to avoid the sudden flash, the riotous growl of thunder like an angry snarl bursting overhead. oh. oh, they were angry. his eyes slit open again and there she is — dumbfounded. wide - eyed, it sullies her spot — her spot, and he barks a loud, brutal laugh in her direction as she goes leaps onto it still. oh, they would pay for it. for the attacks waged on him, on skyclan, on any of those that dared not pretend to be afraid of her little stature and ugly, twisted face. she shouts something, something prideful he’d no doubt, but the lingering rumble of thunder drowns her out. her mouth moves, and all he hears is the heavens fury.

he forces his eyes away from her, hopes she sees the disinterest he holds for her, the cold humor he finds in watching her sit amidst the soot that layers her spot and.. blazestar. he stands shocked as well, wide - eyed at the sky and he would still be too, should fury not burn under his chest. if she’d been up there.. “ she should have been. “ he hisses, wild and narrow - eyed — his body hurts, his warriors blood shed, his sense of smug compliance gone with the wind that had assaulted their camp. she should have been, she should have suffered at the paws of whatever, whoever had sent it. it should have taken her lives for the insolence, the attacks she waged on him, on skyclan. all the disgusting, pitiful excuses for warriors she hoarded into her borders. as he speaks, his eyes find a white mask he’d seen in his camp the day prior — the face his lead had smashed in, but not enough. he glares, “ now even the stars can see they’re vermin. they were trying to do us all a favor. “ she was a mistake, just like each medicine cat she’d had before her. the frog - brained cinnamon molly, dandelionwish, run out according to the two battered, bloodied toms that had come simpering to his borders. she was not strong ; nowhere to be seen in the attacks on his camp, on blazestar’s. a
coward popping more pitiful, cowardly kits into existence. anything star - laden deserted her, condemned her. this was no surprise.

/ speaking to @BLAZESTAR and staring down @TIGERFROST

− ♱ information out of character ⟐ visual reference translated ♱ −

• ˖ ⁺ ｡ ˚ ⠀ CICADASTAR⠀⠀−−−c−−−⠀⠀king of the rivers.
  m. he / him. black smoke & tortoiseshell chimera with intense salt - blue eyes. a handsome, looming tom bearing patchwork black - silver curls that fall over his slim figure in loose, shining rivulets, broken with white and glossy from his fish diet. descending from a heritage of overtyped oriental shorthairs, cicadastar stands unusually tall amongst his peers, and holds himself with a tragic grace, poised and prim and ever - aware of how he is being perceived.
  
  ᨒ gay, courting smokethroat. smells like wet stone & moss.
  ᨒ speaks with a german accent. 40 moons, ages on the eighth.
  
  penned by antlers​
  
  
• 
• none.

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[Fireflyglow]

He was no saint, not like Dawnglare was- lightning hit the rock and Fireflypaw grunts in surprise; eyes flickering at the bright lights as he goes stumbling back. His paws rub at his eyes painfully, trying to make the ebbing agony go away. Soon, it dissipates, and he shuts his eyes and stands once more. "I'm fine-" He reassures whoever's close to him, making his way through the crowd to seat himself with the rest of the medicine cats. Maybe he was the first here.. Wasn't that a sign? That he's going to be a great medicine cat?

"Perhaps it's a warning, from StarClan.. For her to behave herself." It's a hushed whisper that leaves his lips, a haunted expression on his face. His prophecy, did it really mean something? Boughs of the pine.. His head swivels towards the direction of his father's voice. "What's going on.."​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

Always perpetually at the phantom's side, how strange given most ghosts don't often have a shadow, but he only broke away when the gathering would begin proper; when the leaders rose to their place to make their announcements and he is not so injured he even spared the thought of staying behind when he was all too eager to hear the excuses singing once more. WindClan this, WindClan's superiority that. Loud, irritating, grating to his nerves, he only wants to witness it so the fall is all the more enjoyable to watch; when it finally comes crashing down and the moors are shook into a lawless landscape with no ruler for she had been torn to shreds by her own cats.

He feels himself jolt with a brief surge of panic at the light, the crack, the timbre like ice shattering and for a brief moment he is paralyzed with uncertainty as he once was on the frozen river watching in silent horror; but a sharp glance to his side and seeing Cicadastar there quickly eased the panic. This was a lightning storm, they'd be getting plenty during newleafs arrival but it was where it had hit and what it left behind that drew him to walk forward through the crowd of cats curiously murmuring to one another. Burning fills his nostrils, he's reminded of the ThunderClan fire suddenly by the heave of smoke that still faintly emits from the place it had come crashing down upon. If he didn't recognize the spot immediately, the WindClan leader's expression and sudden bold declaration reveals it to him then.

"Reknowned." He spits, bitterly and unamused by the ashen she-cat's attempts to save face. Any cat with eyes, even just one, could see this was the most blatant form of rejection the stars could give short of striking her directly. How long would the black layer of char merge across that stone surface, how many rains would it take to rid it before she got it in her head she was a failure of a cat. How many more of her cats would be cast out bloodied and refused before it occurred to her she was the problem. Smokethroat could not help the sneer of disgust on his maw, shook his head flippantly.
A lean of the shoulder given to the mottled RiverClan leader before he turns, he wants to find a secluded spot further from the stone tonight, can already feel himself getting heated and irate at what was to come and the distance between him and those other bastard leader's would ensure he didn't do anything he would regret. Dark head spots a blue striped crown, a pause before steps forward anyways and takes a seat a careful tail-length away from the tom; gets a hit of marshland scent instantly. ShadowClan.
"...Pitchstar really want to keep allying with that one?" He asks, though he does not glance in the tabby's direction as he does so, allowing him the option to take it as rhetoric.

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[Ooc]
-interacting with @smogmaw
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