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[Shadewing]

Orangestar ran back to camp, the three cats behind him. He wasn't sure if he made the right descision, but he prayed to StarClan he was right in who he picked.

His orange tabby form jumped on top of the rock on top of his den, as he called his cats. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey! Gather around the rock!" He yowled. He watched his wretched warriors, looking more tired and hungry than ever, march towards him. He could have sworn their faces were bloody and fractured, but a few blinks only showed their true, hungry forms.

"I have returned from the moonpool with my new name," he started, and was cut off.

"Orangestar!" a voice called from the crowd, and Orangestar had to bite down on the air in his jaw to prevent himself from grinning, as some other cats chanted his new name.

"More importantly, I have chosen the new deputy. May StarClan approve of my choice. We all know how great a cat that this old deputy is, and that she will lead WindClan well, if StarClan calls for it. For now, I see her as a great deputy who can lead us through these troubling times." He inhaled deeply. There wasn't any turning back now. He had already said the gender and..

"Snowpatch, from this moment on, you shall be the deputy of WindClan, once again!" he yowled. There was a moment of silence amongst the cats.

"Snowpatch, Snowpatch!" some WindClan cats called loudly, congratulating the new deputy. Orangestar nodded at the black and white cat, and then made the talking cease with a flick of his tail. He felt so powerful. Now he knew why some leaders went insane with power.

He breathed in, and looked down at his two sons. They didn't even know that the WindClan leader was their father. "There are two kits in WindClan who have waited a long time to become apprentices. Frostedkit and Slatekit, come to the rock."

The two apprentices ran up to the rock, paws quivering. Orangestar looked down at his two sons. Slatekit had a look in his eyes, which Orangestar decided to assume was determination. "These kits prove of WindClan's strength in the seasons to come. First will be the earliest born, Frostedkit. Frostedkit, do you promise to train long and hard as an apprentice, to become a loyal warrior of WindClan, and fight to defend your Clan, even if it means dying?"

Frostedkit nodded, and Orangestar nodded back. "Good. Then, from this day, until StarClan grants to you the name of a warrior, you shall be Frostedpaw. Your mentor shall be strong and loyal Winterwind. Winterwind, I expect you to teach this apprentice everything you know." Orangestar looked over at gray Slatekit.

"Slatekit, do you promise to train long and hard as an apprentice, to become a loyal warrior of WindClan, defend your Clan, even at the cost of your own life?"

"I will, Orangestar!" he purred proudly. Orangestar grinned at him, and continued.

"Then, from this day on, until StarClan grants you the name of a warrior, you shall be Slatepaw. Goldface, I want you to teach m- Slatepaw. You are a great warrior, and an asset to WindClan. Teach him well." Orangestar got down from the rock, and touched noses with both of the apprentices, and nodded at Winterwind and Goldface to touch noses with their apprentices.

[Twilight]

Goldface walked up to his new apprentice and touched noses with the newly named Slatepaw. He had not been ignorant to the leader's tiny slip up, almost calling Slatepaw his son. His eyes sparkled at the young leader, but he didn't say anything.

Woodencrane stepped forward out of the line of cats, her yellow eyes curious. "And what about the gathering? Who will be going?" she asked, her brown bodied frame still at least somewhat strong, but scarred and hungry.

Goldface looked back down at Slatepaw and meowed. "Well, this isn;t the best season to start training in, so I won't drill you as hard as I would if it were Newleeaf or even Greenleaf, but don't expect to become soft and lazy." Then his tone brightened. "What would you like to learn first, little warrior?" he asked, a purr rumbling in his deep throat.

[sandfire]

Snowpatch's pelt prickled with anxiety as she and her clanmates returned home, back to camp. She didn't know why she suddenly felt this wave of worry, but as she returned to the cats she all knew, it was brushed away. She held up her head and looked around at the others, Winterwind and Goldface, and her tail swished.

Starclan guide us... She thought contently, as Orangestar jumped up the rock. She had lived long enough to see four leaders, hadn't she? Her whiskers twitched. Maybe she would see just one more... She almost pray she didn't. Gathering at the rock with her fellow clanmates, she purred slightly as she watched Orangestar start his first meeting as leader. "Orangestar!" She yowled in echo of the first cat to start the call.

When he regained control of speech, her ears pricked. It was time to find out who was deputy. Her eyes watched Orangestar with intensity, and for a moment her paws tickled and her pelt rippled. Once before she had been deputy... Once before she had carried the honor. She was ready to do it again. She rose to her paws and dipped her head at Orangestar, before facing her clan.

She glanced back at Orangestar, although she would have liked to say something...this was his moment. She sat down as he flicked her tail. She gave a glance towards Woodencrane, her ear flicking, before looking back at Orangestar. She couldn't wait to begin her duties, to start the patrols. It would be a lot of work in such a difficult time, but she was up to it.

[Dewdrop]

Dainty looked up at the new leader. She was glad Orangestar was leader; he had always been nice to her, unlike Nightstar had been. Of course, she had pretended to be upset when Nightstar died, but she didn't really care. Dainty called out Orangestar's name with the rest of the clan and then listened to the rest of his speech.

So, the new deputy was Snowpatch. Dainty hadn't really interacted with Snowpatch and had no clue what she was like. But it was better than having Winterwind as deputy; she remembered him being less than nice when she first arrived and Dainty held grudges. There was that other cat, Goldface, but she didn't know him either. She made a note to herself that she needed to get to know more of these cats; there were so many.

She listened to the new apprentices being named and watched the cats touch noses with their new apprentices. These forest cats were so into their ceremonies and rituals and there were so many different ones too. They all honored 'StarClan' or something like that. Pfft. Dainty didn't believe in that mousedung. Orangestar might believe he had met them but they were probably just his imagination.

She heard a cat ask about the Gathering and wondered if she was going. Last time she went, she just sat there, in the shadows. No one had noticed her and she just observed the ceremony. If she went this time, however, she would be sure to use the opportunity to meet some of the cats from a different Clan. After all, she might be thrown out of WindClan if she didn't become a good hunter and fighter so she would need to know the nicest Clan to go to.

[Shadewing]

Slatepaw purred, and flexed his claw into the snow. He was atop the snow, due to his light weight, but after pawing a little bit, one of his paws fell through. "Will you tell me stories like the elders did and tell me all about the warrior code until the snow melts and we can run after rabbits?" Slatepaw asked, through excited yellow eyes. Finally, he was an apprentice! Next he'd be a warrior, and who knew, maybe next he's be leader or deputy..

He looked at his new mentor. One of the best warriors! He took Orangestar to the moonpool and I bet he was really strong and Orangestar's next choice! Slatepaw's wistful eyes looked up at his mentor for a moment, and then he turned his head to the mountains. "Tell me about everything!"


Orangestar flicked his tail, silencing all of the cats. "I thought about who to bring, and I think that I will bring all kinds of WindClan cats. Not the strongest, not the weakest, not the most charismatic." he scanned the crowd quickly, trying to read their emotions the best that they could, and recall all of their personalities. "Earthpelt will go," he meowed first, and loooked back at the crowd. "As will Goldface." He scoped out a few more cats. "Flowerpaw, Spotleg, Gladefeet, Silvertongue, and Hollythorn should be all. Oh, and I'll bring along the two new apprentices too, why not."

He had just thought of all of his descisions, and he hoped that they would represent him well. A new Clan willing to accept all sort of cats. They needed new blood that didn't belong to Crueleye anyways. We need to look friendly, and peaceful, though we'll also have a variety of cats. It'll make us look proud of every cat, and make the other Clans think twice of challenging us. He got down from the high rock. "The gathering is a few suns from now, however. I want us to seem calm and peaceful."

[Twilight]

Goldface purred, and looked proudly to his eager new apprentice. "I will try my hardest to do things like that, but many might think I am not to fit a mentor if I lay around with you all day telling stories so I will try to intertwine it into training." He meowed, cuffing his apprentice's ear softly, but yet playfully.

Woodencrane nodded, and sat back down, her curiosity satisfied.

Earthpelt perked up when she heard she was going to the gathering. She had been injured in the last fat, but she had alos injured a few opponents, which made her proud of her work.

[sandfire]

Snowpatch's yellow eyes glistened as the meeting drew to a near end. Orangesky- star- announced who would be going to the Gathering, and she rose to her paws once more to sweep around and see who would be left. It was time to get things done. She knew very well that everyone would need plenty of rest. She thought that a quick hunting(/boarder patrol, though that would be less obvious) would be good.

Then everyone who was left would have to get as much sleep as possible... She would stand guard tonight, though perhaps someone else should as well. Once that cats came back from the Gathering, they could switch out with two other cats. It would be good to keep up that constant watch, just in case. She wished they still have the old watchrock from the forest...

"Okay, cats who are staying," she meowed shortly, her voice curt, but contented for once- it's sharp, snapping tone lost. "I think our best course of action would first be to have a small patrol go out for hunting. Four cats at most." Her ears flicked. "If we can catch even a scrap of meat, that would be helpful as always. We'll also need two cats to keep watch... Maybe not stand guard, really, but to stay awake and watch just in case. We never know what Fireclan might be trying to pull..." Her eyes shifted slowly to the rising moon, which seemed...red. Her pelt prickled for a short moment.

"The rest of you can, and should sleep, and when Orangestar and everyone else comes back, we'll switch duties. I want everyone to be well rested for tomorrow... I'll stand first watch, anyone else who would like to join me? And who would like to be on the second watch?" She wondered for a moment if any cats would 'like' to join her... Oh well.

[Dewdrop]

Despite being slightly disappointed she wasn't going to the gathering, Dainty was a bit glad she was going to get a good sleep. It wasn't as if she had been doing a lot of work, but she did enjoy sleeping. When the new deputy, Snowpatch, announced a small hunting patrol, she started to edge her way to the place she slept. Dainty didn't like the thought of staying up to go hunting, though they did need it.

Guarding the camp didn't sound any better. She'd be standing there, bored to death and probably nearly freezing. Besides, she'd be no use in an attack. She didn't know how to fight anyway and Dainty was not naturally strong so that wasn't going to work out. She prepared these arguments in her mind just in case she was asked to do it.

[Twilight]

Goldface did not miss her trapsing back to her sleeping spot. He called out loudly to her. "Dainty! Get your butt over here!" he hollered, standing there, eyeing her with golden gems that held a pathetic disgust for a cat who didn't want to pull their own weight. His golden tail flicked back and forth, and his whiskers twitched in annoyance.

[[Sorry... Fail post... ]]

[sandfire]

"Goldface, it's fine," Snowpatch meowed, her whiskers twitching. Her tail swished with dismissiveness. It was likely that Dainty wasn't going to do a good job hunting, nor would she be keeping a keen eye...not if she didn't want to.

Right now, this she-cat didn't want to have to harp on unwilling cats. "She's likely tired, it's been a long day. Hasn't it Dainty? Get some rest. You're on dawn hunting patrol tomorrow." Tomorrow was a different story. She expected that... furball to do her best on hunting patrol the next morning. Otherwise, she would have to find some other way to get that cat in line.

[Dewdrop]

Dainty looked at Goldface and Snowpatch; one cat who was the deputy and one who was almost deputy. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to get on the bad side of these cats. She looked at Snowpatch and replied,"Uh yeah, um, it's been a long day. But I'll be up for the dawn hunting patrol tomorrow then."

Inwardly, she was sighing; that would mean she couldn't sleep for a long time as she had hoped and planned. A moon ago, she might have tried to keep sleeping when the time for the patrol came, but she had realized by now she would be dragged on the patrol if the other cats thought it was necessary to do so. This was just great; not. She wished she was going to the Gathering now. She would do anything to get out of that patrol.