I'm done with GATHERINGS!!!

[Bristleclaw]

Bristlekit looked over to where Wishclaw had decided to sit, and followed. Her spot wasn't that great, anyway.

"Wishclaw...If you get an apprentice, who would you want it to be?"

Her voice was light with happiness, and the huge she-cat hoped Wishclaw would say that she wanted Bristlekit as an apprentice. She hoped everyone would want her as an apprentice, but she was new - that wouldn't happen. But a she-cat can dream, can't she?

[Wishclaw]

"--And hug them and squeeze them and call them George... Oh! Hah-wo there Bristlekit!"

She listened to what she had to say, and quietly, smiled to herself.

"Ooohhh... I want Giddykit as an apprentice!"

She giggled then batted Bristlekit with a paw, then prodded her. In the eye area. More-or-less the forehead.

"Hee... Just joking. I want you! Yesss. Your new name is George, y'hear?"

[Bristleclaw]

Bristlekit laughed. What a mean joke...but it was quite funny. Wishclaw's sarcasm made her laaaugh... And then she was prodded in the face.

"'Kay. I can live with George."

She giggled at her new name, and a huge smile spread across her face as Wishclaw told her she wanted her as an apprentice. Hopefully, that would happen.

[Shadow Spirit]

OOC: I was kinda waiting for those who went out training to get back and such...but whatever...I'm afraid you'll eat me if I don't do this ceremony XD

"All cats of Mistclan, gather beneath this Great Rock for a Clan meeting!" Lillystar bellowed.

[Battledream]

It was oddly fitting that Battledream was the first to respond to her leaders call. The mammoth padded forward, close to the Great Rock she could get without blocking anyone’s view of the happenings.

Would she get an apprentice?

Yellow hues reflected thoughtfully, as she watched Lillystar.

Hopefully not Giddykit or Streamkit. They wouldn’t last long under her paw.

Maybe one other two – the ones that appeared to be siblings to Bristlekit.

Or, maybe it would be fitting if the giant she-cat didn’t get an apprentice. She was still new here, as loyal as her heart already was, and there was much work to be done. Patrols and help with, hunting to do.

[Lucky]

Giddykit heard Lillystar's call. He turned back to Trillium. "I'm sorry, I guess your training will have to wait a bit longer." The tom went over to sit down and looked around nervously. If he was to be made an Apprentice, he wondered who he'd get. Wishclaw seemed nice when you got to know her. Trillium seemed very nice too, but he was taken. Giddykit looked over at Battledream and shivered. He'd definetley didn't want her for a mentor! Did Lillystar mentor anyone? Probably not. Her Clan was so big, she probably didn't have time to mentor anybody. Plus, the Leader mentoring somebody was already a last resort he knew, for when there weren't enough Warriors. Didn't seem like enough either. There were prabably plenty with Apprentices and few without.

[Ripplemist]

Ripplepaw sighed and padded wearily over to lie down next to Giddykit. Her tiredness had been forgotten, but only for a short while, and now that the excitement was over, her head dropped down on to her paws. She blinked and tried to stay awake and focus on the things going on in the camp, but it was no use, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The snow and the footsteps and the silence came back to her once more.

[Doubleheart]

[ if i should die within this hour ]

Double's was probably the face that the Clan members would least expect to see arrive suddenly, but it did all the same, mismatched eyes blinking at the golden and blue world as the handsome tom strolled in. His gaze flew over the camp and he realised that there were many around that he did not recognise; and they must have been the six newcomers that Shadowstreak had mentioned.

The warrior sighed quietly, but also felt a sense of excitement rise in his chest. He was sure that he would recieve an Apprentice this time round, having been to both of the most recent Gatherings and having been a dutiful ally to the Clan (if a little faraway at times). Double knew that to recieve an Apprentice would be his final signature onto his contract with the Clan, and he would finally see himself at the same level as his fellow Warriors.

The tom had arrived at Lillystars' yowl in order to hear what she might have to say; her call sounded important enough, after all. Besides, Double knew that he must attend all Clan meetings in order to keep his record clean (which was what he wanted - Double was an honourable tom) and anyway, it was always quite nice to see who was Apprenticed to whom. Double learnt his names and faces from watching meetings like this one.

Moving foreward, Double manouvered past a few other cats in order to draw a little closer to Lillystar and her perch, smiling faintly at some of the warriors and kits as he went along, tail twitching. He assumed his would have caught some eyes, from the kits especially, but of his rather odd vision, but he did not mind. On the contrary, such a thing amused him, and had he spotted one onlooker he would have given them a friendly wink in return.

Gazing upward and sitting down next to a large she-cat, Double quietly awaited the messages from his leaderess.

[ i have lived to die when i desire ]

[Mapleheart]

Trillium nodded at young Giddykit and watched her apprentice begin to doze. Then Lilystar awoke and called a meeting. If Trillium had been a twoleg, or perhaps even a kittypet, she would have used the term 'Baloney!' quite loudly in frustration. Would Ripplekit ever be able to train as an apprentice should?

She licked a paw and ran it over her forehead, preparing to be at attention for Lilystar. Glancing around, she noted that Double had re-entered camp. Perhaps the warrior would get an apprentice this time around?

[Shadow Spirit]

Lillystar waited as her cats gathered beneath the rock, waiting to hear her speak. She worried that she was losing acceptance from her clan already, with the disaster of a Gathering and the delayed and frenzied apprenticeships. All she could take comfort in was that the warriors' dissapointment was mostly unfounded...because none of them had any idea how much stress she was put under as their leader. She'd had to come at a time when the clan was in desperate need of leadership and simply pick up the pieces of Whisperstar's reign. Would anyone ever think of her in the same way they did their first leader? Whatever the case, for the time she had to put it beside her and do her duty as leader.

"Cats of Mistclan, I regret that certain ceremonies and training have not gotten underway until now...but I assure you I am trying my best..." she began, seriously fatigued even now. "When Whisperstar left me this position, I never realized how much she hadn't done, but I will do whatever I can to keep this clan running smoothly..." She took a deep and stedying breath before continuing. "I wish to make several cats in our clan apprentices...whether they are new or have been in our clan for just days...I ask you to judge them by their actions and not by their heritage..." "I will judge whether or not cats can stay in this clan depending on how they treat others and whether or not they do what is asked of them...no one else should be putting undue pressure on them!" "The new cats that need to be formally recognized as warriors are Battledream and Andromeda, so please step forward!" "Also those that need to be given their apprenticeships are Bristlekit, Giddykit, Streamkit, Nyria and Amara...and I have chosen mentors for them as well...so please step forward, all of you!" She stood, trying to draw saliva into her drying mouth as she waited for the cats to obey.

[Onyxdart]

Andromeda had sat more towards the back of the gathered cats- she could see just fine and she wasn't in the way. When she was called to the front, she flicked both ears in confusion. But there were no other cats named Andromeda here, so she figured it must be her. A bit self-consciously, she stepped forward and sat where they'd been told to sit. At least she wasn't up here all alone, though, she thought with a small smile.

[Lucky]

Giddykit smiled, he had been waiting for this! The tom stood up, and licked Ripplepaw's ear before going up. "Thank you," he whispered, "Thank you for giving me hope!" Giddykit knew he'd be Giddypaw soon. He padded quietly but quickly up to Lillystar, his head held high, his tail swaying, and a smile on his face.

[nymara]

Apprentice? What was that?

Nyria looked at her twin. Surely Amara would know what an apprentice was - she had done much research. Turning to the big white she-cat, she whispered the question in her ear and waited - not so patiently - for the answer.

As she did she decided it would be good to groom herself, so as she padded near Lillystar's perch, she tried to lick her paw - while walking - and draw it over her ear a couple of times. It didn't work out too well.

"A trainee."

Amara's voice was quiet as she and Nyria padded softly toward Lillystar's perch.

"A warrior trains the apprentice to become another warrior - the ranks of the Clan are in this order. Kit, apprentice, warrior and queen, elder. If you're lucky, you may become deputy or medicine cat, but MistClan does not need to worry - except for the deputy position."

[Bristleclaw]

Bristlekit - or Bristlepaw, rather - listened to her sister explain the ranks of Clans. She seemed to understand it quite well - almost as well as Bristlekit did.

She padded to the front of the herd of cats with her tail and head held high. She wondered which of the available cats would be her mentor. There was Wishclaw, Doubleheart, Battledream...what other cats were apprentice-less?

[Murderpaw]

[Battledream’s already as close as possible without blocking everyone’s view, so… *throws Murder in* Go give poor Lillystar a rough time. XP]

Aching paws – weary from hard travel – bore the little tom into the clan’s terra. However, the small creature didn’t stop there. Oh no.

He could scent cats heavily from a particular area and that ragged little sigh escaped his maw as he shifted coarse.

Cats. Company. Maybe his momma was there?

It she wasn’t – it wouldn’t really strike a hard blow to the kit. She hadn’t been the best mother around [in his eyes, anyway]. Now his father?

He had never met his father – although he admired him from the stories his mother told him of him.

She had hated the tom that had sired him – his momma had even said those very words. But why hate him? He had raped her, yes, but wasn’t that just a sign of how powerful he actually was?

But such hard thinking was hard on a kit that was little more than a fur-covered skeleton, and he forced his paws to use the last bit of strength within his body, sending his little body through the waterfall dividing him from the cats he could still scent.

The gathering of Mistclan cats greeted orange hues, from the ones on the ground to the one perched on the rock. So many cats – he had never seen so many in his short life.

But the kit had used the last reserves of strength that starved body held, and the tiny scrap of fur and bones collapsed right near the waterfall, a thin cry escaping his maw before he went down.

[loutuskit]

Droplet timidly walked to the front. She really hoped she wouldn't get a mean cat as a mentor, she didn't take getting yelled at very well. Well, if she did get a cat like Wishclaw, maybe she would get some respect since she was part of the clan.

[Shadow Spirit]

Lillystar considered her choices in her head once more, then she turned so she could address all of her cats.

"Apprentices, I have chosen cats that I'd like to mentor you!" she began. "Bristlepaw's mentor shall be Wishclaw, Nyria's mentor shall be Andromeda...if she feels ready, Streampaw's shall be Doubleheart, Amara's shall be Battledream, and I shall take on Giddypaw's mentoring...since Rustpaw seems to have dissapeared and also to keep an eye on this young firebrand."
She gave them a moment to take this all in. "Do you all agree to serve the clan and make these apprentices the best warriors they can be?" she then asked.

If they all agreed, then she would formally accept them all as clan members and allow the training and hunting to begin.

[Battledream]

Battledream had been distracted by the entrance of the small kit, the little skinny tom. He didn’t scent of clan, however since none of her fellow clan mates had yet to respond to his appearance, she dismissed the matter and returned her attention to Lillystar.

Almost a rare thrill of pleasure rippled down the mammoth’s spine. An apprentice! Her own apprentice! And it wasn’t either Streampaw or Giddypaw either.

“I agree, of course.”

[Ripplemist]

Ripplepaw snapped awake, her nightmare fading once again. She sat up and blinked, before yawning and stretching. The dream of that day kept coming back to her, every time she slept. She shuddered and shook herself. It was just a memory now, but one that she could recall well. But it didn't matter now. It was just a memory.
The silver apprentice noticed the happy looks on most of the cats, and what Lillystar was saying. So, everyone was apprenticed or mentoring now. That was good. Wait, what was that? Her large ears twitched, and she glanced over to the source of the sound. There, by the waterfall! She got up and bounded over, and stopped before almost tripping over what seemed to be an emaciated pile of fur and bones. Seemed to be an underfed kit.
"Hey, are you okay?" Ripplepaw reached out a curious white paw to prod the starving creature.

[Shadow Spirit]

OOC: I'll make Lillystar notice Murderkit once everyone is done with the ceremony. Sorry, but everyone's been bugging me to have them apprenticed and all so now I am making her very focused on that goal XD