[hr][center][color=palegreen][h1]Sagepaw[/h1][/color][/center]
[center][color=palegreen][b]Location:[/b] The Clearing[/color][/center]
[center][color=palegreen][b]Interacted With:[/b] Tigerfall [@Polaris North], Frostwhisker[@ViolentViolet], Softwillow [@The Elvenqueen][/color][/center][hr]
It was a crisp, cool night as Sagepaw faithfully tagged behind his mentor, Frostwhisker. The scenery was further highlighted with the swarms of fireflies that put on a dazzling display of lights against the cool blues and purples of the night sky. Despite witnessing this event every Greenleaf, Sagepaw found it impressive nonetheless. He made sure not to become too enraptured by the performance of the fireflies however, as he didn't want to get left behind. The natural elements that played out with the seasons were always fascinating to him, but giddy excitement paired with a tense nervousness overdrove his reverie. Tonight was his first gathering and nothing, not even these fireflies, were going to delay him from his first gathering.

A cat would have to be blind not to notice Frostwhisker's ever expanding belly. Anyone could tell she was pregnant, even so, she was still a very talented and wise mentor in Sagepaw's eyes. He noticed he was slowly encroaching the space between he and his mentor and distanced himself a few steps to try and give her some room. Normally he would not get so close to another cat, but he trusted Frostwhisker well enough to approach her and speak to her as if she were an older sibling or parental figure. Sagepaw knew his clanmates wanted him to keep an eye on Frostwhisker. But, despite his internal motivation to do anything he could for her, he couldn't help but feel rising levels of inadequancy wash over him whenever he thought about the task he had at hand. He always looked up to his mentor, but felt himself at a sore loss when it came to accomodating for her. 

Then the apprentice saw it, the largest clearing he'd ever gazed upon. The glade looked serene and calm, a clever façade over the hidden tension he could feel condensing in the air around him. Despite it being a gathering, he could easily tell the different clans apart by the way the masses of cats sat apart from the others, mostly keeping to themselves. Sagepaw was preoccupied with taking everything in that he barely heard Frostwhisker point out the different areas where cats of specific ranks rested. The movement of her tail caught his attention once more. The amicable bounce his pawsteps had carried as he tagged along after her disappeared when he saw the other cats. Despite his efforts to straighten his stride and pace his canter with confidence, the small cat became Frostwhisker's shadow. He simply gave a small, curtious, if slightly weak, dip of his head as Frostwhisker introduced him. 

Sagepaw's inquisitive gaze studied the two cats his mentor introduced to him. Softwillow's pale blue eyes seemed to dance with liveliness and her tone of voice and friendly pitch indicated she was on good terms with Frostwhisker. The apprentice noticed that the affable she-cat was looking at him. He listened intently to her, soaking the knowledge up like a sponge. 

[color=palegreen]"It's nice to meet you. Everyone seems pretty nice so far."[/color]

Sagepaw let his tail sag a little lower, feeling less anxious about this gathering after meeting Softwillow. As soon as he did that, he heard another voice speak up, a tom. His eyes darted a little too quickly to the source of the noise. He hadn't noticed the other cat standing next to Softwillow. His pelt reminded him of a polished river stone. This cat gave all the required courtesies when speaking to him, but nothing more and nothing less. Sagepaw could feel a budding respect for this cat, Tigerfall. Sagepaw got the sense that the tom was older than all the other medicine cats in this group, he at least acted very mature and serious. The small framed cat bowed his head slightly to Tigerfall. 

Then a silence descended over the clearing. A large black cat perched before them had spoken and every cat seemed transfixed by his mere presence. [i]That must be one of the leaders, certainly not ours.[/i] Sagepaw shot a quick glance at Frostwhisker before sitting down and focused his attention on the large black tom.