The carousel never stops turning

[Miss Tactical]

Eveningstar looked behind him as his clan followed. He had no intentions of talking to Brackenfall nor had he really encouraged him to attend this gathering. It was rather embarrassing so to speak that the reason he was even leader was not because he earned it, but because his own leader sinfully gave up his lives. He flicked his tail looking to batstrike giving him a simple nod. "let's not bring up Brackenfall....they don't need to know as far as I'm concerned he died." that's how the black tom felt in all honesty. Someone he considered his friend at one point was dead to him. As an awkward silence fell over them as he turned to his clan they were the first ones here. "cats of Mothclan, do no speak of Brackenfall tonight. Gather information for us to use later. Mentors keep a close eye on your apprentices.....we don't need unnecessary information slipping from chatterbirds."he mewed firmly.

With that Eveningstar jumped on top of the monsters and sat in a rather regal position. He had just come back from receiving his lives that morning in which he announced to the clan that Batstrike would be the new deputy but the black tom had bigger plans, he liked to make scenes and planned on announcing the black and white tom to all the clans. He gave a firm nod, Batstrike had been sitting there for quite some time now so it would be no surprise that he would be here again. "i wonder what five cats Rookstar has chosen today for his deputies." There was some sort of arrogance about his tone. Clearly taking a stab at Ivyclan before they even arrived.

His mind wandered to MistClan perhaps instead of just taking their territory inch by inch he could just ask Bearstar for a strip of the streams. The idea crossed his mind a few times before he wrapped his tail around his paws eyes glaring ahead. This was his time to shine and he would make sure the other clans knew who the strongest was.

[LupTacco]

-= [ Ambershine ] : 32 moons : MothClan Warrior : pansexual(single) =-

    Running alongside her sister Thunderstrike, she couldn't help but notice her sister's foul mood- and she understood why, honestly. It was a bit of a shock that their father, the proud MothClan leader, had stepped down from his duties and been so quickly replaced, and for reasons she wasn't sure of, the newly-named Eveningstar seemed especially critical of his former leader. Deep down, Ambershine felt as though there had to be some kind of secret, something she didn't know yet that would explain the weird behavior of both Eveningstar and her father- but for tonight, she wouldn't worry too much about it.

    As MothClan slowed and settled into the clearing in front of the old monster shells, she kept close to her remaining sibling and peered around, waiting with itchy paws for the other clans to arrive- hopefully with less news than her own.

    tags;; sabs if you wanna do some sis stuff at the Gathering?? _{idk i hope it was ok i mentioned her,,}

-= [ Sneezepaw ] : 6 moons : MothClan Apprentice(Mantisclaw) : unknown(child) =-

    The young tabby tom bounded forward, pushing himself to keep pace with as much as possible with the peppered black and grey blur that his mentor seemed to be in comparison, silently thankful as the clan slowed and then came to a stop in a place that looked even bigger than the camp. In awe, Sneezepaw spun in a slow circle to take in the view, yellow-orange eyes wide with wonder until he had gone almost all the way around in place and almost bumped into Mantisclaw.

   

    "Hey, is it- how's it this big? The other clans must be huge if this is supposed to be all full," his curiosity bubbled forth, too strong to be contained by the know-it-all seriousness he usually tried to act with. "Do other apprentices come, too? Can we be friends? Or can I at least fight them a little?" Sneezepaw rambled question after question, trying to stand on his toes as he peered between the trees to look for more cats arriving, growing more impatient every second. 

    tags;; Fireflake

-= [ Cactusblaze ] : 18 moons : MothClan Warrior : unknown(single) =-

    As his clanmates settled in to wait out the other two- er, three, right, he was still having a hard time on that one- Cactusblaze kicked back and relaxed, almost as lazy as an elder, with the same kind of smugly idly expression as he took a piece of grass between his teeth and chewed on it, letting most of it droop out of his mouth. "Well," he grunted to more or less to himself, "leasset's none too col' out." He spoke lazily with a heavy drawl, an accent nobody was really sure how he'd gotten but one he stubbornly kept until it became his natural speaking voice. His spring-green eyes wandered over to where MistClan usually took their places, his mind wandering as early childhood memories kept nagging at him. His father had always casually mentioned an extended family, and he suspected that somehow, some of them may have been in the water-side clan he had hardly thought of before recently.

    "Somebody better up 'n show soon, tell ya what," Cactusblaze forced himself to yawn to distract himself, continuing to think outloud without adjusting his volume at all.

    tags;; open!

[Storm]

Batstrike
MothClan | Deputy | Tom | 34 Moons | Heterosexual

The lean black and white tom had been at the side of the clan parading to Moon's Maw, moving the cats along and herding any apprentice that strayed a bit.  As MothClan grew nearer he stretched his stride and easily caught up to the front of the group.  Batstrike fell in behind Eveningstar, yellow eyes meeting the new leaders as he nodded.  His ears stood at attention as he was spoken to and he gave a dutiful nod back, but his eyes likely portrayed how heavy his heart felt.  He'd always looked up to Brackenstar but now that cat was 'dead', leaving Brackenfall to live shamefully among the cats he used to lead.  It definitely had dampened his excitement of officially being named deputy, but he would hold himself with pride despite this.  Batstrike had temporarily held this position before and Eveningstar had groomed him for the role.  He wasn't surprised when Eveningstar announced him as his deputy when he returned with his lives, he only hoped he would serve his family and clan well.  

Batstrike walked beside the black tom, turning to face the clan when they were addressed in the empty clearing.  He stopped when they passed his designated place at the gathering, where he had sat a few times before while filling in.  Here the warrior leaned back on his haunches to sit, watching as Eveningstar took his place as well.  He guessed neither of them were in entirely new positions, with that relief in mind he supposed the two toms would be just fine leading MothClan together.  He offered a chuckle to the leaders comment, not at the cockiness but at the fact he'd be the one having to deal with the excessive cats around him.  

As he settled into his position he took a deep breath, taking time to look around with fresh eyes.  This was his place now, it really was.  Batstrike smiled back to his clanmates and chatted with the warriors closest to him as they awaited the arrival of the other clans.  He'd straighten himself up and puff out his chest once they started to trickle in.  He wanted the other clans to see him as the confident and strong warrior he was when they realized he was officially MothClans deputy now.  

[gingersnapsdacat]

HeronStar padded at the front of her clan, proudly leading them into the gathering. Well, she was trying to look proud. In reality, she was quite nervous. The last time she had been at a gathering, two moons ago, she had only just become deputy. Now, she was showing up as leader. No doubt the other clans would have questions. 
You can do this... she tried to give herself motivation as she stepped out of the trees, and into view of the other clan cats.
"Feel free to speak your minds," she mewed, motioning with her tail for the others to go mingle. "IvyClan has nothing to hide."
She glanced up to the top of the trains, spotting only one cat there.
Oh thank StarClan, I'm not the last to arrive.
Taking a deep breath, she leapt up onto the old trains. To her mild surprise, it was not BrackenStar, but his deputy, Eveningblaze, who sat up on the trains. Then again, he had led many of the gatherings in BrackenStar's place, as MothClan's leader had a tendency to fall ill at the least opportune moments. 
"Oh, um, Eveningblaze...are you stepping in for BrackenStar again?"

[Miss Tactical]

Eveningstar turned his head rather surprised not to see Rookstar. Instead only two of his so called deputies. The rest of Ivyclan appeared to settle in although hardly talking. When the she-cat greeting him he flicked an ear hardly acknowledging her but at least giving a simple greeting. When she asked about Brackenstar he muttered a few words to himself before making eye contact with her. "There was an unforseen event in which I was named leader of Mothclan. You can call me Eveningstar." he newer. Although he didn't say Brackenstar was dead....he d idnt say he was alive either some things were just better left unsaid. He d idnt want the other clans to think they were weak. On the contrary they were just the opposite. As a matter of fact he would have liked to think they were at their strongest in quite some time. He blinked slowly before looking at Dustytuft then Back to Heronstar.

[/b]"Rookstar has only two deputies today?"[/b] he mused with a flick of his tail. He supposed two was better than five. That was certainly obnoxious having to fight for a spot up front. He could only imagine what Starclan had been thinking when he had five deputies at the gathering. He chuckled slightly before looking at the other Ivyclan cats. "Owlstsr must have come down from Starclan and knocked some sense into him she must have been rolling around up there ready to claw off his whiskers." His own comment amused him causing his 2hiskers to twitch ever so slightly. Ivyclan was something else these days.

[Ava]

RootClan had been calm lately. Screechstar could sense a bit of tension within MothClan, but he chose to ignore it as he noticed two somewhat new faces sitting atop the ledge. Glancing back towards his clan with a curt nod, "You can go mingle; life has been calm and I am nowhere near worried,"he said quietly. Then he hopped up beside the new tom and she-cat, although he believed he had seen them sitting amongst the other deputies at the last gathering. He thought Brackenstar and Rookstar had been the younger leaders, so he figured the leaders must've just not been able to go to the gathering tonight. 

"Is it... Eveningblaze? And... the lovely Heronflight?" he asked, recalling the names of the two cats. He dipped his head to the two kindly, then looked down towards the clearing to see if MistClan had arrived yet. They seemed to be lagging behind, although he had seen the state Bearstar had been in earlier, so he couldn't quite blame them for being a bit slower to the gathering. 

Suddenly he looked down and noticed two new deputies sitting where Eveningblaze and Heronflight would've. Did that mean that Brackenstar and Rookstar had... died? They both surely should have had many lives left, they seemed so young and energetic. Maybe they didn't die, maybe they just stepped down. Yeah, that must've been it. He told himself to stop thinking about it until he got some clearly cut answers, so he just settled his mind and focused on what he would say when the time came.

[Broadwaykat]

Dustytuft knew this meeting would be...difficult. For one thing, it was a gathering in which they would have to explain the strange passing of Rookstar, something that would have shaken up even the sturdier of clans. Secondly, she was still somewhat reeling from the meeting with Owleye's ghost - or was heavenly spirit more appropriate. That their former leader had stretched out beyond their grave to sort out the tangled web of leadership that Rookstar had left them with. Now, Heronstar was a young mother taking over the reins of an entire clan and she was but one deputy out of five; the protectiveness she felt for the clan that was her family magnifying tenfold as she walked alongside them.

"Skippaw, by all means enjoy yourself - this is a time to mingle and not to worry about Ivyclan things alone. There's bound to be some other apprentices around that you'll want to talk to. And be sure to let them know that everything is fine." Despite her own misgivings brewing in her stomach, she realized for the first time in quite a while that that, in fact, was true - that they were finally back on sturdier footing after a long time of unrest in the clan. No matter how troubling the events that brought them about, Ivyclan felt normal once more.

She padded over to where she had sat last time as one of many - both wishing and dreading the reaction of certain other deputies, like Eveningblaze, who had always been so hyper-critical of Rookstar's odd decisions. It might have been childish, but she almost gleefully saw herself telling off the black tom that finally things were sorted out and she - and she alone - was Ivyclan's deputy. That they were once again at normal and if he had anything to say about her and Heronstar in charge and not someone older like Firechaser, well he could -

But Eveningblaze was not there - instead, the dark cat who stood in place as Mothclan's deputy was a black and white tom she remembered from other gatherings. Her curiosity piqued, she nonetheless greeting the cat with a cheery calm that befitted a gathering that was meant to be peaceful. "Batstrike? Well, surprises all around today, aren't there?"

Tagged: Storm, gingersnapsdacat (If you wanna bring Skippaw in)

[mewmehh]

Sablestar shivered as he trotted briskly at the front of the patrol, a clowder of sleek-furredt! cats awash with moonlight as their water-proof pelts rippled together like fish. Their hearts were heavy and somber after the loss of Bearstar, but their spirits burned bright in memory of her. And bright for Sablestar as they had meowed in resonance their approval when he announced his new name and that of Mistclan’s new deputy. Sending the brown tom a sideways glance, the ruddy leader took a hasty breath and pushed through the growth into the clearing.

It appeared Mothclan, as punctual as ever under Eveningblaze’s watchful eye, had beaten them again this moon. And there he sat, atop the Leaders’ perch as he had the last couple of moons; Sablestar was practically to the point where he wondered if he should say a prayer to Starclan on Brackenfall’s behalf. The tabby tom was easy enough to talk with and Mistclan leader wished him no ill will. Perhaps later tonight. As Mistclan spilled into the clearing and around the awkwardly close-together members of Mothclan, Sablestar moved for his new place. He flex and flashed silver in the light of the full moon, an unfamiliar sight atop the monster where all had grown accustomed to the brown pelt of their late leader. Sablestar felt flush under his pelt as he scanned across the collection of cats below. Among them, he could’ve sworn he caught a glimpse of a familiar tabby form, but it disappeared and left the new leader wondering if Starclan had maybe taken a bit of his brain in exchange for his shiny new lives.

Snapping his attention away from the black tom, the ruddy cat was astonished to see the space was far more cramped than he assumed it would be. Mothclan had beaten them there, but then again, so had Ivyclan. And Rootclan?! The Mistclan leader was nearly dumbfounded. Perhaps he was simply fashionably late was all! Certainly that!!

As he approached, Sablestar heard the last of the conversation, almost nearly missing the sudden namedrop. Settling into his seat, he turned his head to the side and dipped it towards Eveningstar. ”Hope prey’s been running well.” There was a slightly uncomfortable tickle to the striped leader’s words as he overreached in his pleasantries; he hadn’t missed the subtle and less so pushes along their borders with the neighboring clan, and the last thing Sablestar wanted was to kick things off with a bunch of bloodshed. He then looked to Heronstar and Screechstar and gave an equally courteous tip of his head. ”A-and to you both. Might Rookstar be busy this night?”

[GnawingOnIce]

Dogear padded along beside Sablestar, head held high. In all honesty, Dogear had no clue he’d be chosen as deputy. There were plenty other good candidates, though he supposed he should be grateful.

Upon arriving into the clearing, he discovered to his demise that MistClan were the last to arrive. He flicked an ear in annoyance; hopefully they’d be quicker in the moons to come.

The brown tom pressed his nose into his mother’s fur for a moment and giving her a small smile before striding to the base of the monster’s carcass. He noticed Rookstar’s many deputies were no longer there, and instead there was only Dustytuft, a she-cat whom he had only ever heard the name of and knew nothing about. There was also a black and white tom who belonged to MothClan, and another tom from RootClan who was just as big as him but fluffier. Either way, whoever he was he was intimidating and Dogear didn’t like being intimidated, but he knew he had to have a good reputation now for the good of MistClan.

Glancing up to the top of the monsters, squinting against the glare of the moon, he saw Eveningblaze, Heronflight, and Screechstar. He came to the conclusion that Eveningblaze and Heronflight must now be Eveningstar and Heronstar. The large tom turned his attention to the other deputies.

“Hello, Dustytuft,” he greeted the she-cat somewhat awkwardly, his deep voice resonating in his chest, “and… Batstrike, is it?” he sat down when he had finished speaking, only giving a glance to the tom from RootClan. He’d ask him what his name was later.

Tags;; Broadwaykat, Storm
Notes;; n/a

[noctemq]

Blackmoon stood closely behind his leader, eyeing the other cats sitting at their level. Before he was given his current role, the solitary tom had chosen to not bother learning about clan politics; this choice had left him a bit behind on the more elementary stuff, such as names and which scent belonged to what clan. It had previously been all outsider business to him, but now it was his own business as well. He didn't bother to introduce himself and would speak only when absolutely necessary. Whenever a glance would wander towards Blackmoon, he would politely nod and that would be the end of their interaction. All of the leaders and deputies standing before him seemed to have a good head on their shoulders, so maybe this would be more pleasant than he had originally imagined.