SPRINGCLAN +

He had originally entertained the idea of attending the gathering of the clans as a way of gathering intel. While his nemesis has been and would always be the one he found himself ingratiated with the most, danger lurked around every corner, and while he believed himself to be the biggest threat the weak could face, you could never be too sure. Experienced in the art of utter betrayal via those you were meant to trust, Draven saw this event as something of an informational gold mine. Not only would it educate him on the political connections between the clans, but also offer him ideas of who could turn out to be useful in the end. Though he very much doubted he’d find himself relying on anyone, the idea of support was oddly nice.

The Ghost King of SpringClan kept to the edges of the gathering, observing the interactions of those who at any other time would undoubtedly be at each others throats. The politics of this grand society were enough to make him wish he were still dead. He shook himself and padded forward, nodding quickly to the leaders he passed by, though overall not paying them much mind. He was an invisible entity for the past several years, he doubted anyone would pick up his presence and if they had, would they be so bold as to say anything?

He very much doubted.

PI

Eshek prowled into the clearing with her kits, tense despite her lazy, relaxed muscles about their first public appearance. She devoted little effort to hiding the fact she’d entered with the League from DayClan; it was more or less an open secret, like it had been with Luc and Sen before her, that she led a double life — and, either way, she had more important things to worry about than Glowstar’s disapproval.

She didn’t drift from her gaggle of kits, standing ominously by their side with her eyes watchful and her tail-tip twitching in an undisguised threat; the languidness of her posture was almost more menacing than her usual sharpness, like her violence itself was more relaxed and universal, like she’d rip out a friend’s throat just as dispassionately as she would a stranger’s if they came near her kits. Finally, she crouched down and, after scanning the clearing one last time to make sure it was safe, turned to smile at them. “Go embarrass your dad,” she growled, her eyes slitted and her grin lovingly vicious. achromatic sunlight bauble and gold <3 

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Doe limped in self-consciously at the very fringes of the League’s entourage with a defiant little rosemary flower tucked behind one tear, looking and feeling like a little lamb that had been taken in by a slabbering pack of wolves. His shoulders were hunched, his eyes guilty and embarrassed. To go from hating the very ground the League — the group that caused him and Shaded such suffering — walked on, to taking refuge with them and finding out they really weren’t that bad at all, if one ignored the general uncouthness and senseless debauchery, was the most humbling thing that ever could have happened to Doefreckle. Rather than looking fearful, he just looked chastened, and a little humiliated.

But that all changed the second he saw Sunstar. As the League dispersed around him, whooping and running amok and inflicting themselves on the other Clans, he just stood gazing at her — his breath caught in his throat, his heart skipped a beat; all he could think was how beautiful she looked, and he wanted nothing more than to tell her, to congratulate her, to have their friendship back.

But he didn’t. Instead, all his genuine softness stripping away, he strolled past her, stopping beyond the other leaders but right in her line of sight, and told her with over-excited, beaming cheerfulness, “oh my gosh, Sunpetal! You went with the baby’s breath! Cheap, common, but I suppose in your family’s position you have to take what you can get, don’t you? Which explains your fiancé!” He laughed, harmless and happy for her on her special day. “And the yellow roses!” he gushed. “A bold choice with your complexion but I’m sure no one will notice the thinning fur.” He smiled and tilted his head, eyes squishing up; they were the one thing that wasn’t keeping up with the sarcastic sweetness, just genuinely wounded and hateful. He didn’t care who heard — didn’t care about anything. There was just this petty, broken friendship tearing both their hearts out. “Have a lovely ceremony,” he purred, and, with one last look, turned away. The maliciousness faded to grief as soon as he did so. woof

He’d been heading for Shaded and Lilydawn, and the second he reached them the vindictive mask melted away, replaced by softness and worry. “Hi,” he breathed with a genuine, relieved little smile, a little out of breath as he leaned up to brush his muzzle against Shaded’s cheek and then leaned down to brush it against Lily’s. “You look thin,” he fretted anxiously to his daughter, despite the fact she looked just as solid as always, “are you eating? Is your husband treating you well?” Without waiting for an answer or saying anything of his own exile, too aware of the short time they had together, he turned back to Shaded, raising his eyes to look at him with gentle, concerned love. Leaving him had been the hardest part. “And you? How are you, my love?” He didn’t ask about SummerClan, didn’t ask about Sunstar; if they were alone he might have, might have given in to how desperate he was to know about them beyond what he could glean from looking around, and one day soon he might force Shaded to meet him in secret and give him all the details down to the minutest change in bee activity while he nodded frantically and soaked it all up, but now he was stubbornly sticking to his and Sunstar’s friend break-up. He didn’t let himself feel how horrible, how aching, it was to be surrounded by his Clan and their flower crowns and not have come in with them, to be among them but have no idea what was going on in their lives, in their camp, in their territory. If he stopped and thought about it, his heart would never stop breaking and he wouldn’t be able to cope. And then there was the strangeness with Hywel waiting for him back at his adoptive home… He just had to compartmentalise and push it all down for later. goldcrest

SunClan

Skipstep blinked, considering this information. "So it would seem," He mused a soft expression on his face as he looked down at his daughter. "And that is true, but I suppose our painters can also include those who do murals like your sister Phoenixpaw, she's done some dabbling with them right?"

"But maintaining plants is a good job, a boon to your clan for sure." Skipstep added to Poppymask, before glancing past her noting some SpringClan cats starting to slip in along with a dark tom at the head of the group.

He blinked, he didn't recognize the tom. He wasn't Goldengriffon or that she cat Jetstar always had around the leadership pair.

"Excuse me, are you SpringClan's representative?" He asked as he eyed Draven when he joined the leaders. "Is Jetstar ill?" ѕнαdow✩ Jadie racer

SUMMERCLAN & WINTERCLAN 

It was Lilydawn who first caught sight of Doefreckle, neck craned to watch the League make their way in, a distasteful curl on her lips that soon turned to confusion as she spotted him. Immediately, from where she was catching Shadedsun up on her life, she stopped, gave a quiet, dull, “Doefreckle’s back,” because it hadn’t quite set in yet. Seeing him with them almost, almost, a betrayal, but she tried to push her bias down to greet him, watched with curiosity as he stopped to talk to the new Summerclan leader. As she shared the news, Shadedsun went to move, get up and go find him himself, found himself meeting Doefreckle halfway from their old spot. He stayed quiet, let him talk and fret over their daughter because he had missed hearing his voice, let his own worry for the tom melt away. 

“What?” Lilydawn blinked, a little lost because he was carrying on like nothing had ever happened, “yes, I’m fine — what are you doing with them of all people? And how did you manage to piss off Summerclan this much? They’re the most lenient, softest bunch of —“ 

With a single lifted paw, a slight wave, and a, “don’t be rude,” Lilydawn cut herself off, because he usually never chided her, though she could tell there was a certain bitterness in his voice, that he wasn’t too serious. Without another word, he pulled Doe into his fluff, holding like he would disappear the moment he let go, though the embrace was soft and easily escapable. 

“Freckles, no need to worry about me. Are you safe?” Picking his head up from where he had let it rest atop Doe’s, he pulled away, taking a long moment to figure out what he wanted to say — there was nothing to talk about, there was everything to talk about, there was too much to talk about — so instead, he crouched a little lower because he knew both of them were much shorter than him and it would only be fair, and gave an unsure smile, “Springclan’s just arrived and I’m a little nervous,” his voice was low, and the words were both an attempt at a joke and to clear the air. fox


PI 

This many cats was bound to make anyone nervous, let alone Laertes who already had the tendency to worry about anything anyway. He stuck close to his mother, would have hid between her legs if he were small enough, but he had grown through an exceptional growth spurt lately and was now too big, looked awkward as he trailed his family, more like a weird, gangly teenager than a kit. He was still entirely convinced that someone was out to get him somehow, that that very person was in this clearing with them, though he tried to push away his nervous tremor, focus on where he was walking and not being left too far behind. 

Go embarrass your dad. He looked around, focused on Bermondsey like a hunter had caught his prey, except there was nothing exceptionally hunter-esque about him — he was more the prey, really, by the he shook like he had just walked into the wolf’s den — but he made his way towards him, keeping himself low to the ground and as small as possible, finally taking his place just beside his father like he had rose from the ground itself. 

“Father,” he said loudly, putting on the face of a clueless kit, “Mother said to remind you that she still has to smooth the fur from behind your ears — the spot you can’t ever reach. She knows how you try to look your best.” It was said in such a deadpan, innocent way, like he was trying to be helpful but didn’t quite have a filter yet. 
wont bother tagging LOL 

WINTERCLAN "He's so well dressed, no one would dare interrupt such a beautiful wedding," There was a humorous tint to his tone and a small smile on his face as he leaned slightly closer to his mate. Neither of them had been so fancy at their wedding... then again they hadn't known each other. This was considered much more important to the clan. He was surprised so many were in favor of diluting winterclan's blood and marrying an outsider, especially the blessed. "Makes me wonder what's really going on, seeing as he's marrying an outsider." Griffonwing couldn't care less about blood status, it was merely fact that he was pureblooded winterclan. Jadie

COMMANDER SHULE'S REGIME
She was later than Havilah, perhaps for the fact that he simply had to take trails they were used to, and though closer by distance, Shule herself had new land to trek to the gathering place. There were notable cats missing from her group, many of whom appeared to be coming from Havilah's side of things, with a notable exception that her mate was nowhere to be seen. To her cats there was still the twinge of smoke, and for once the Commander's paws weren't pristine white. In fact, she donned a worn aviator cap, with dead cold eyes and a walk less proud, more sharp. What seemed like a grease stain swished across her cheek, and puncture marks were pale scars on her chest, marring the perfect sentinel lines she once had. Clearly something had gone down since the Regime split, but it was more than that. Shule herself seemed different, as if all manner of light had left, leaving but cold metal and soulless crystal eyes behind.

The mostly black feline didn't acknowledge anyone as she climbed to her place, only to see Havilah sitting it. "And the traitor shows his face." He would notice the difference in her immediately, the clearly cat-claw marks on her chest and Sean's absence. She stood, for the moment, saying nothing more, simply staring at her ex-Superior. Jadie

DAYCLAN
Of course Foxstar had to drift in after her mate, though she followed suspiciously late. Her paws were a tad too clean and the body paint further down her legs seemed just a tad faded. Her scent was fresh like running water, not at all her own, scrubbed clean from just about anything in a way that would make any sane cat suspicious. Even still, she met up with her mate, quickly wrapping herself around Glowstar with a rumbling purr. Twin to Glowstar, a leader of DayClan in her own right, but one forged out of infamy and the dark tales one didn't want to tell their kits. With the gaze of a predator and smile as charming as any siren, twisting invisible ropes around anyone too naive to avoid her. "Late or not, you always make a stunning entrance, none can compare." She told her mate with a grin. Faith

WINTERCLAN
Skeletalrose drifted in with her siblings, a frigid smile on the clearly pregnant she-cat's face. While her marriage may not have been a union so politically necessary as her littermate, her own pregnancy was important to the clan in it's own right, solidifying the strength of their family. Though her mate didn't seem to be doing so well, but that was besides the point.

Senescence sort of trailed in, not really part of WinterClan's main group, but technically with them nonetheless. After all, she couldn't miss her grandson's wedding, now could she?

NIGHTCLAN
While the whole of NightClan was curiously absent, the very last cat anyone actually wanted to see was here, of course. And Doefreckle would be oh so glad to find his shoulders wrapped by a noodly paw, Pinesimmer's stench meeting his nose a mere moment later. Apparently he didn't get a moment to breathe, because he was now trapped, staring into the very same captivating and none-too-kind grin that had charmed him back in SummerClan. "Having fun, dearie?" He purred, patting Doefreckle on the cheek with the paw wrapped around the exile's shoulders. "You're looking a little pale tonight. Is something the matter?" The healer didn't even acknowledge the company around them. fox

PI/SUMMER/WHO THE HELL KNOWS

“And suck-up isn’t a good look on you,” Doe called back to Rosethorn cheerily as he limped toward Shaded and their daughter. “But I suppose that’s how you keep clawing your way up to deputy.” He didn’t yet know who the father of her kits was, but the second he found out he’d be irate at the screaming hypocrisy of it.

As Lil spoke to him, Doe let out a breath, trying to calm and ground himself in the moment with his daughter. What are you doing with them of all people? “Yes,” he replied with a sigh, “I don’t think I’ll ever get the smell off me. And they eat like complete uncultured animals, bones and all. You’d think they’d been raised in hell itself, and I suppose they were… But they were the only ones who’d take me.” He let out a rueful little laugh, his shoulders shaking slightly. “The irony isn’t lost on me either, believe me.” At her question, he looked off to the side for a brief moment before looking back at her. “Ohh,” he laughed weakly, waving a vague, sad paw in the air that just made him look more defeated than anything. He was trying to be brave but it was so hard. “You know me… Always pissing off someone.” It wasn’t an answer, so he added a half-truth, giving his daughter a tired smile. “Sunstar and I had a falling out.” When she wasn’t in hearing, he always called her by her true name, was proud of her having it.

When Shaded suddenly bundled him into the bear hug, Doe tensed for a moment on instinct before letting out a laugh and relaxing into it. The warmth of his thick fur was the greatest comfort he’d had since his exile. The familiar smell of him — he wanted to cry, never wanted to be let go of. “Yes, yes, I’m fine,” he promised, and when Shaded drew back and crouched down he almost wailed at the loss of him. Doe smiled, leaning down to rest his forehead against Shaded’s and slump against him, letting the contact take his upper body weight as he closed his eyes. He felt so tired all the time. Finally, with a sighing breath, he drew back. “Oh, my love, you’ll be—“

Having fun, dearie? The second Pinesimmer’s scent hit him and his paw curled around his shoulder, Doe flinched, swatting his paw off him and wriggling out to jump away from him. The movements were very inelegant, like someone suddenly seeing a spider on them. “Yes, something’s the matter,” he snapped, but his voice sounded more terrified, more caught off guard, than anything, and he shot a desperate look up front to the leaders, begging them not to see and think he was still continuing with the medicine cat. “You. What are you doing here? Haven’t you ruined enough lives?” Not daring to look at Shaded and Lily, despite how desperately he wanted to apologise to them, he shoved Pinesimmer with his paw and bundled him forcefully away from them. “Not in front of my daughter,” he hissed once they were relatively out of ear shot, his muzzle a breath away from Pinesimmer’s scarred cheek. He had no idea how he’d ever been attracted to him; it had just been a night of grief and anger and lowered inhibitions, and then… another… and another… and another… Enraged and humiliated by his past weakness, and by the thoughts, Doe gave Pinesimmer another rough shove just for the sake of it, growling non-stop in his throat; but Doe wasn’t the strongest, and the medicine cat was far taller, so it felt more impressive than it looked. Honeystorm goldcrest

SHULE'S RENEGADE REGIME
Shule hadn't seen Sean since he'd attacked her, but Havilah would see a flash across her gaze as he said her ex-mate's name. "I'd say it's sad to see you like this, but you never did listen, did you. Keep the Regime name out of your mouth. You may attempt to lay claim to it, but you'll never be anything more than a poor imitation at best." For the moment, she kept her composure, but that was perhaps only because she knew how many eyes were on her. She'd spent plenty of time crying all on her own with Sean gone, enough to push aside how dead inside she felt, though her gaze betrayed her every step of the way. No longer could she hold that same stoic look, she looked like a shell more than a living being, a vengeful spirit of what she'd been. "I am Commander Shule Escale from now on. I'm still the Regime's leader, whatever you may try to lay claim to." Jadie

NIGHTCLAN
Pinesimmer was a noodle, but at least so was Doefreckle, so while the tom's shove did force him back half a step, it really wasn't much overall, as the medicine cat leaned down to his level with a sadistic little grin. "I can ruin plenty more before the night is over. Are you lining up to be first?" He answered swiftly, seemingly not at all fazed despite his missing eye and scarred cheek from his time in SummerClan. fox

PI

Eshek smiled at the moment between Ber and their son, feeling a sudden rush of closeness for their little mismatched family. But then a ruckus on the other side of the clearing caught her attention and she looked over with a distracted, jerking movement of her head, half her attention still on the father of her kits. And of course, it was Pine where he shouldn't be, doing what he shouldn't be doing. Brushing her cheek against Ber's, she purred, "good luck" with a sharp, teasing little grin on her face, jerking her nose towards the gaggle of leaders and leaders' mates and leaders' siblings at the base of the tree, and nudged her son gently with her paw. "You comin' with me, baby, or gonna go make some friends?" She gave him a soft, patient smile; she had an idea of what his choice would be. She'd never begrudge his clinging affection; he could be old and married and he'd still be her little boy. goldcrest achromatic

Giving him another smile that made it clear either option was welcome, she turned and, with a lash of her tail to get back into Eshek character, stalked over to Pine. Once she reached them, she clicked her tongue at Doe in greeting, flashing him a casual grin — and grabbed Pinesimmer's ear between her claws like a misbehaving apprentice. "C'mon," she reprimanded him, dragging him forcefully away by the ear before he could cause anymore damage. With Pine turned away from her childhood friend, she looked over her shoulder at him and, frowning in concern, mouthed 'you okay?' When Doefreckle nodded and waved a paw dismissively, looking flustered and annoyed and distressed and very much not okay, she kept her gaze on him for a moment longer before turning back to Pine. When they were a safe distance away, she let go of Pine roughly and only then finally gave him a smiling, bemused little frown, the scolding both amused and sincere. "Lay off him. It’s bad enough he’s in this mess and decoratin’ my League with flowers — did you know he hums? It’s awful, it’s ruinin’ the whole angsty vibe we got goin’ on — but he doesn’t need you bein’ a skeevy weirdo. Sleeping with you is already punishment enough.” It was said with nothing but love. Turning her head away, she muttered under her breath, “and literally everyone seems to have done it before I get to.” Honeystorm (and sunlight if you wanna drag him away for the pregnancy announcement <3)

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Letting out a shaky breath that was borderline tearful, both from stress and relief and how generally overwhelming and distressing and humiliating everything was, Doe averted his gaze from Eshek dragging Pinesimmer away and retreated back to Lily and Shaded, immediately collapsing most of his weight against his best friend's side and resting his cheek against his neck. "I hate weddings," he laughed to them, shoulders shaking up slightly, the joke weak and tired; he sniffed and brushed the back of his good paw against his nose. He just wanted to go home, wanted to limp into the familiar camp with all the early morning scents and quiet sounds after a Gathering and sprawl out beside Shaded in the warrior's den. But he didn't have a home anymore. So, he just turned his head, burying his face into Shaded's fur so he could forget for a few minutes and just be here, and let out a grieving sigh. Hidden away, his mouth downturned for a moment like he was going to cry, but he forced it away and pushed the feelings down. He'd cry later. For now, he was here with Shaded and their daughter, where he had a place; it was as alright as it would ever be.