This Is Wrong But It Feels So Right (Stormwind)

Blackstar glanced toward Mallowstar in surprise at the female’s angry yowl, sitting back down with his tail flicking as he focused his attention on his mate.

Mallowstar eyed him for another moment before she turned back to the clearing below them. She frowned when she saw the cats spitting insults at each other and generally seeming ready to start a fight. And she suddenly found she had hit the end of her patience, which had already been wearing thin after the past moon of dealing with her twitchy Clan. “Shut up!” She shouted down at them, uncharacteristically aggressively, and it got them to shut up.

Blackstar growled aggressively at Miststar, but backed down, turning back towards the gathering and trying to ignore Miststar.

Mallowstar glared at him. “So you’re going to sink to his level?” She asked pointedly. “Going to start invading my lands now, too?”

“This tom has no respect for the code, so why should I?” Growled Blackstar to Mallowstar, not loud enough for any other cat to hear over the din that had erupted in the clearing.

Mallowstar hissed softly and quickly stepped on Blackstar’s tail to hold him back even as she sent a scorching glare of her own at Miststar, who looked supremely unconcerned. “Blackstar, it’s still a Gathering.” Meanwhile, the clearing down below was erupting into a riot.

Blackstar let out a low, dangerous growl at the belligerent look Miststar gave him, feeling his claws extended as he got ready to leap on the other tom in the middle of the gathering.

Miststar arched a skeptical kittybrow, conveying with that single gesture his disbelief that they could stop even an invasion of squirrels.

“We wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, Miststar, but if you won’t stop your warriors yourself, we’ll be forced to do it for you.” Replied Blackstar evenly, narrowing his eyes at the leader as he finally admitted his clan’s guilt.

(*flails* But I don’t speak insane megalomaniac!)

Miststar narrowed his blue eyes under the combined glares of the of the other two leaders. Unlike when Blackstar has visited him a couple days after the previous Gathering, he didn’t try for innocence. “Who’s to say we can’t? You’re certainly not stopping us.”

Blackstar turned and faced the crowd.

“As much as I wish I could say the usual pleasantries and give the floor to my fellow leaders, there is some more important business we need to address.” The tom turned from the gathered cats to speak directly to Miststar, though he kept his voice loud and booming so the assembled cats heard.

“It has come to my attention that Forestclan cats are stealing prey from the territories of both Lakeclan and Meadowclan, Miststar. What do you have to say?”

The red-and-white leader shook her head and silently gestures for Blackstar to go ahead.

Blackstar glanced to Mallowstar, willing to give the floor to the older leader if she so chose. She would be more experienced in the realm of diplomacy, after all.

Miststar didn’t respond to Blackstar, sitting down and waiting almost serenely for one of them to start the Gathering.

“Good to finally have you here,” Blackstar grumbled to Miststar as the older tom took his place, the younger leader unable to resist taking a shot at the Forestclan ruler.

When ForestClan came it was late enough that the other leaders had almost decided to start the Gathering without them. Miststar looked distinctly unapologetic as he joined them.

Blackstar glanced over at Mallowstar as she leapt onto the Great Rock, giving the other leader a quick nod. He didn’t say anything else to her for now, though, instead focusing on the gathered cats as he waited for Miststar to appear.

Mallowstar’s expression didn’t change as she approached the Great Rock(?), leaping up onto it.

Blackstar’s eyes widened, then narrowed slightly with delight at the surprise sight of Mallowstar heading the Meadowclan contingent, The tom unable to suppress a soft purr as she padded towards him.

Bump

While Swallowflight wasn’t at this gathering, Otternose and his sister, Softpaw, were and the two followed Blackstar’s orders, mingling with the ForestClan cats.

When MeadowClan arrived, it wasn’t Rabbitfire that was leading them, but Mallowstar. While the white-and-red queen normally wouldn’t have come to a Gathering for at least another moon because of her kits, she had made an exception because of the situation with ForestClan.

Blackstar had talked to his contingent before they entered the gathering space. He’d told the Lakeclan cats to try and mingle with the Forestclanners and get a sense of what exactly was going on with them. Did any of them seem fragile or underfed? Were they pretending the trespassing wasn’t happening, or were they being snide about it? He made it the job of all of the warriors and apprentice’s present to find out, and he remembered this goal as he lead them into the clearing. He quickly climbed to his place, waiting, presumably, for Rabbitfire to join him.

An hour before the Gathering, all three Clans were busy gathering together and getting ready for it. LakeClan and MeadowClan were both preparing to throw their accusations at ForestClan but ForestClan was acting normally, as if they hadn’t been trespassing for a moon.

(Sure.)

(Being sick sucks.

Time skip now?)

Blackstar was escorted back to the border by a calico she-cat.