✨ Cheetahspark ✨The time has come to decide our champions for the June Gathering of 2021! 🌊 Will it be the Orcas, Clownfish, Dolphins, or Hermit Crabs? These past two days were a blast and I can say for sure that whatever the outcome, every team did a phenomenal job ☀️
Time for a quick recap! We started out Saturday’s events with Guess the Word, Riddles, and Guess that Country, hosted by the fabulous Rainie 🌸 The Orcas started out strong, dominating both Guess the Word and Riddles before starting to lose steam during Guess that Country. The Clownfish were the opposite, earning no points during the first game, but slowly gaining ground until they claimed victory in Guess that Country 🐳 The Dolphins tied with the Orcas during the first game, and took a small dip in points during Riddles before coming back stronger in Guess that Country. The Hermit Crabs were relatively consistent, going strong throughout but especially shining during Riddles 🦀 So far, the Orcas and Clownfish are tied for first, with the Hermit Crabs in second and the Dolphins in fourth. Will the Guest-Hosted Contests turn the tide? (Tide. Like the ocean. I’m hilarious.)
After a quick break, we returned with Lilypearl’s Name that Description, Lupinetail’s Warriors Ancestry, Meadowdawn’s NTA, and Fernpaw’s Guess that Quote. The Hermit Crabs crushed the other teams in three of the games, but during NTA each team was relatively equal in points 🐠 The Clownfish were unfortunately low in stamina during this round of games, at most earning 3 points during NTA, while the Orcas rode a sort of rollercoaster by starting out relatively high in points, getting lower during the next two games, and then picking up the pace once again at the end. The Dolphins stayed consistent and peaked during Guess that Quote 🐬
Here are our scores so far! The Hermit Crabs are taking the lead–will the other teams manage to catch up?
| Omnipotent Orcas | Cantankerous Clownfish | Dignified Dolphins | Heroic Hermit Crabs |
| 27 | 23 | 27 | 40 |
On Sunday I hosted Name that Picture, Name that Tribe Cat, and BlogClanner Trivia! Each team was relatively equal in points in Name that Picture, while the Orcas took the lead in Name that Tribe Cat with the Clownfish hot on their tails 🏖 The Hermit Crabs bested BlogClanner Trivia while the Orcas and the Clownfish were not far behind (BlogClanner Trivia seemed to be more like a contest between Redblaze and Eagleflight to see who could answer the fastest, so I propose for our next Gathering our teams should be called the Red Blazes and the Flying Eagles 😛 ).
Our next round of games went a little off schedule when we had to improvise and replace Guess that Cat, Name that Item, and BlogChat Wipeout with Warriors Trivia, Emoji Ships, and good old fashioned NTA 🐳 Special thanks to Waffleheart, Fallowheart, and Littleleap for hosting games on the fly–you guys rock! 😀 The Clownfish and Hermit Crabs were in the lead during Mapledrift’s LGBTQ+ Headcanons contest, while the Clownfish and Orcas dominated Warriors Trivia and Emoji Ships. Finally, the Orcas and Hermit Crabs tied for the win during NTA.
| Omnipotent Orcas | Cantankerous Clownfish | Dignified Dolphins | Heroic Hermit Crabs |
| 70 | 66 | 43 | 71 |
And here’s where the games led us! As you can see, the Hermit Crabs are winning, but the Orcas are extremely close behind 👀 Now let’s talk a little about team spirit 😀
The amount of team spirit during this Gathering was astounding. By making up rhymes, chanting team names, and overall being supportive of fellow team members, every team showed team spirit 🎉 But I’d like to award 3 extra points to both the Omnipotent Orcas and the Dignified Dolphins! The Orcas were probably the most numerous, taking over BlogChat with Orca profile pictures multiple times, so I often felt like I was drowning in Orcas 😛 Y’all really showed how proud you were to be Orcas! And even though there weren’t many Dolphins around, each one of you showed a ton of support to your teammates and showed pride in your team 🐬 Now onto the art and writing contests!
The prompt for the art contest was the ocean! Every single one of the entries for the contest was amazing, and I wish you could all be first place. If you didn’t win, it doesn’t mean your entry was bad–it means we had so many talented creators that picking only three was insanely difficult. Everyone give it up for Rainie, who narrowed down the winners 💙
In 3rd place for the art contest we have HURRICANEPAW!!!
I love your art style! The expressions on the cats’ faces are priceless, you can really tell how surprised they are to find gold lying around 😛 3 points have been awarded to your team, the Cantankerous Clownfish!
In 2nd place we have PINEBLOSSOM!!!
The background is absolutely stunning, it looks so realistic! The way you drew the ocean and the sky especially had me wondering if that was actually art or just a picture 😛 5 points have been awarded to your team, the Heroic Hermit Crabs!
And finally, in 1st place we have DARKWING!!!!
This concept is insanely creative, I absolutely adore how you turned BlogClanners into clownfish! 🐠 You nailed the cats’ (catfish? clowncats?) expressions and movements–they’re so adorable and playful! 7 points have been awarded to your team, the Cantankerous Clownfish!
In 3rd place for the writing contest we have FALLOWHEART!!!
But it wasn’t, because the boat wasn’t home.
Nearly four seasons ago, Lightwillow and her family wandered onto the boat, and it set sail with them still on it. A friendly cat who said the twolegs called him Captain tried to help them get back to the shore, but a storm blew them in the opposite direction. They had been terribly lost ever since.
“Mama!” Marigoldpaw cried. “Rabbitpaw stepped on my tail!”
“It was an accident!” Rabbitpaw objected.
Lightwillow sighed sharply. “Enough,” she meowed. “Rabbitpaw, apologize to your sister please.”
Rabbitpaw frowned. “I’m very sorry, Marigoldpaw,” he grumbled.
Lightwillow was about to add more when Darkcloud trotted over to them.
“How about we see what shapes we can find in the clouds?” he suggested.
Cinderpaw lifted her head from where she was organizing the seashells. “Yeah!”
Marigoldpaw bounced on her paws. “Okay!”
Even Rabbitpaw didn’t seem to have any complaints.
Lightwillow blinked gratefully at her mate. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
Darkcloud grinned and nodded in return.
Lightwillow turned back to the sea, watching the sun rise into the sky. Her heart ached as she gazed out at the endless sea. The scenery might have been beautiful, but she longed for the comfort of home. She closed her eyes, breathing in the strange, salty air when she heard a quiet cough behind her.
“Hey, Cap,” she murmured.
The scrappy brown tabby tom gave her a lopsided smile. “What’s on your mind, Lightwillow?”
Lightwillow shook her head, the wooden boards creaking underneath her paws as a small wave gently rocked the boat. Back in the Clans, the ground never moved. It was steady. Secure. She missed it with each passing day. “Oh, nothing.”
Captain raised one eyebrow. “You’re a terrible liar,” he mewed dryly.
Lightwillow let out a short laugh in spite of herself. “I’ve just been thinking about home more often these days,” she admitted. “It’s been so long.”
Captain nodded in understanding. “I know. But we’re close, I can feel it.”
A soft breeze ruffled Lightwillow’s pelt. “You think so?”
Captain looked out, as if he was seeing something wonderful. His amber eyes were filled with hope. “I know so. Look.”
Lightwillow followed his gaze, her breath catching in her throat. “Darkcloud!” she cried. “Marigoldpaw! Cinderpaw! Rabbitpaw! Come quick!”
Her family scampered to her side.
“What? Is something wrong?” Cinderpaw fretted.
Lightwillow was so overwhelmed with joy that she could hardly find the right words. “No… no! Quite the opposite. Look over there!”
In the distance, a coastline came into view. It might have seemed like any ordinary coastline, but Lightwillow saw it differently. It might have been close to a year, but she had memorized every valley dip, tree, slope, and curve of her home. She knew it better than her own shadow. And she knew—she knew—that the coastline was no ordinary coastline.
It was her home.
Lightwillow gathered her kits closer to her side and intertwined her tail with Darkcloud’s. “Finally,” she whispered. “We’re going home!”
This was super heartwarming 🙂 Spoiler alert–I love how it had a happy ending and Lightwillow got to take her family home! 3 points have been awarded to your team, the Cantankerous Clownfish!
In 2nd place we have NIGHTWISH!!!
A silvery she-cat had struggled in a cage as a huge white ship had slowly turned and had begun to sink as the storm continued.
Whiterose had grabbed the cat’s paw, struggling to grab her and pull her out, but all she could see was the pouring rain splattering all over the ground.
She had clawed the cage until her claws had ripped, the rain washing away all the blood that had poured from it. The only thing she had heard was the fear erupting inside her like a volcano as her only kit struggled.
“I’m going down!” A wave had crashed over Whiterose and she took in a huge gulp of water. Coughing, she shoved the cage harder and bit it, her only hope of letting the cat escape.
Another wave had knocked the breath out of Whiterose, but she still clung onto the cage. She could feel her strength ebbing away as her muscles screamed, but she couldn’t let go.
“Hold on, Silvermoon!” Her cry had hardly been audible through the crashing thunder and continuous rain, but she was sure that her only kit had heard it. “I got you!”
But she hadn’t.
One wave had made her lose her balance.
Another had made her lose her grip on the cage. The lock flew out and splashed into the ocean, but she had lost her grip completely.
A final wave had made her fly across the clearing and land hard, on a fallen tree.
And when Whiterose finally looked up, the only thing she could see was the pouring rain and her only kin being washed away into the black sea.
***
As the memories faded away, Whiterose stepped forward and ran her paw over the white ship. The one that had taken Silvermoon, her only remaining kit’s, life. It had reappeared next to OceanClan’s camp a moon later, and now she was standing in front of it.
A tiny fire of anger rose up inside Whiterose, but she pushed it down. A tear slowly trickled down her cheek, and she clung onto the ship with all of her might.
A small tinkle made her look up, and blinking through her tears, she was able to locate a tiny, silvery object.
It took Whiterose a moment to recognize it, but when she did, her heart stopped.
It was the lock. The one that had freed Silvermoon and had led her towards her watery death.
Anger washed over her again, but when she looked down, Whiterose saw the gleaming, happy blue eye of Silvermoon. I’m watching over you. She blinked again, and it was gone.
Uncontrollable tears rushed out of Whiterose’s eyes, but she swallowed and clutched the lock with her remaining strength, her everlasting grief.
It was the only thing she had left.
The only thing she had left of that stormy day and the abandoned ship.
And Silvermoon.
Ahhhh this was so sad! You wrote this beautifully, and I could really feel Whiterose’s anguish when losing her family. 5 points have been awarded to your team, the Cantankerous Clownfish!
And finally, in 1st place we have LILLYPAW!!!!
The cold bars of the cage bit into her paws. No matter where she shifted, she couldn’t get comfortable. The twolegs had left what felt like moons ago. All she knew now was the whimpers of terrified cats. The scent of salt and fear. Blood and tears.
Rain had come. Attacking the ship, mercilessly beating down upon it. The ship had given in, it had cracked the night before. Now, water flooded the bottom, drizzled in the top.
Her paws slid now, unable to find purchase on the slick ground she’d been forced to call home. The cage was sent careening across the room with the most recent shift of the ship and it slammed into a wooden wall with a crash. Splinters burrowed into her paw pads as the bars of her prison swung open. Bent and torn. They could’ve been her.
The noise from other cats had died off when the water came. She’d been ‘lucky’ in a way, on top of the stack as opposed to pinned to the bottom like most of the others. Another wave of water came surging in, sending icy prickles across the parts of her unlucky enough to get drenched. A shiver wracked her small body.
Help, help, help– the words had been a relentless melody pounding in her mind. She forced her aching bones into motion, ignoring the cold that seemed to have sunken into her bones. Bones that seemed very brittle now. Her claws dug into the softening wood as she climbed for a shaft of light that flashed through the fog of mist that’d settled across the ship. One paw, then another. She moved. Movement meant life, life was what she had to focus on.
Broken glass marked the remnants of a window, she peered through the hole, careful not to let her rain-slickened fur catch on the pieces. Waves sloshed across the remnants of the ship, beating at a large crack on it’s side. Pieces of wood drifted through them, pieces of what little remained.
Lightning gleamed and thunder shook, knocking her off her precarious perch and sending her falling into the waves below.
~Now~
Broken.
Drowning.
Falling.
Falling.
Down.
Into the waves below.
They swallowed her whole.
Tumbling, terrifying waves.
White crests capped the tops of stormy, grey water. Hollypaw cried out. And out. And out. No answer but the awful cracking coming from the ship, almost like it was screaming too. She couldn’t piece coherent thoughts together. All she knew was the wind. The waves. The ship. The pain. A cacophony of sound surrounded her as she was tossed throughout the ocean. The ocean of her thoughts and the ocean of ice. Both terrified her as she sank into their depths.
No, no, no. Life, you have to focus on life. Hollypaw wasn’t sure if a life like this was one worth living. Claws hooked into her sodden, heavy coat, the pain a welcome bite. It reminded her she was still here.
“It’ll be okay,” a voice whispered as she was pulled from the trenches.
~Later~
“Where am I?” Hollypaw managed to whisper, voice hoarse from salty screams.
“We are the Hermit Crabs,” said a voice that felt achingly familiar, “And you are here with our Clan.”
“You saved me,” she rasped.
“Of course we did,” came the voice again. Her eyes flickered open and she was met with the welcome sight of other cats.
“Your ship happened to crash the same day as we were having a Gathering with the other Clans. We were the best choice to rescue you as we are so obviously the superior Clan.”
“Of course,” she agreed readily.
~Present Day~
“And this is the story of how we won the Gathering that year,” Dewberry finished softly to the young kits settled around her.
“You were right,” exclaimed Mistkit, “We are the best Clan.” Dewberry purred and nodded in agreement.
“This story proves it.” She said decisively, cream tail curling around them as her cloudy grey eyes closed for a nap. Hollypaw had been her closest friend all those moons ago, and now that she was gone, this story was all she had to keep her alive.
I love how you incorporated your team into the story, as well as telling the story through labeling the passage of time. You’re great at conveying emotions through your words, which made your writing very captivating! 7 points have been awarded to your team, the Heroic Hermit Crabs!
And the final tally is…
* insert drumroll here*
| Omnipotent Orcas | Cantankerous Clownfish | Dignified Dolphins | Heroic Hermit Crabs |
| 73 | 84 | 46 | 83 |
I did not see that coming, honestly 😛 Go Clownfish! I always knew we were the best team. Just kidding. Kind of. But in all seriousness, I’m so proud of all of you! Whether you hosted a game, participated in a game, participated in one of the contests, or just showed support for your team even if you couldn’t be here this weekend, I’m so grateful for all of you for making the Gathering as fun as it was. Rainie and I were so happy to be a part of this experience and we can’t wait until the next one! ☀️
🩵🦅 Eagleflight (Aquila)🍃🎶
❄️🐍Viper Inc: Arson & Tax Fraud🐍❄️
Embers of a Spring Dawn (Emberdawn)![[a full-body design of Goosefeather laying down and looking off to the side]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/goosefeather_by_cat_patrisiya-d79jjrn.jpg)
![[Deku, Bakugou, Ochako, Todoroki, Kirishima, and Tsuyu leap towards the upper left, ready for action]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/my-hero-academia-key-art.jpg){kind=small}
Congratulations to the Clownfish for winning! 😀 I wanted to say that I had a great time at this Gathering, and enjoyed playing with all of you! Also thanks to the hosts – you all did amazing jobs! 😉
Also congratulations to the winners of the artwork and stories! I could write at length as to why I am so b l o w n awAY but I will save that so this won’t get terribly long 😛
Wow the clownfish knocked everyone out in the contests. Congrats!!
Us hermit crabs were so close aaa 😩
This gathering was so fun and I can’t wait to do another in the future! Tysm moddos for organizing everything, you guys are awesome 😀
aaAAAAHHH LET’S GO CLOWNFISH!!! and great job everybody, y’all did fantastic!! sorry I wasn’t there for the actual thing though live chat scares me sdlkfjs
oh mannn thank you so mUCH for first!! you’re so sweetttt ahhhhh I’m glad I was at least able to contribute a little haha
and y’all!!! your entries were SO GOOD I love them all <333
Just wanted to pop in to say that your art is SO GOOD and the clownfish tails are so creative seriosuly cool okay ‘bye 😛
slkdfjs thank you!! 😛
good job, your entrie was so detailed and amazing!
thank youuuuu
YAYYYY CLOWNFISH! sorry I wasn’t there for live chat, I had a lot of things going on 😀
also all the art and writing is FANTASTIC, I love it soososo much and you are all so talented 😀
Congrats Clownfish, well played! 😀
I’m super proud to be an Orca though, our team was awesome.
And Cheetah I approve of those suggested team names for the next gathering. 😉 😛
Well done to all the teams. Everyone did great and it was an extremely fun experience.
YAY CLOWNFISH!!!!
Wooo! Even though I eneded up missing the gathering I’m really happy to hear about the days! Great job Clownfishes, you deserved it!
Ah! Hermit Crabs lost by 1 point!!! But it’s fine because I had fun.
no YOU rock<3
WAIT
OH MY GOSH WE WON???? HAHAAAAAAAAAA CONGRATS CLOWNFISH I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!!!!!!<333
FRICK I MISSED THIS BECAUSE OF EXAMS AAH
Ah well, seeing the results afterwards is fun too :’)
YEAH! Even though I wasn’t there, we pulled through 😀
Congrats clownfish! I feel sad I couldn’t be there for most of the gathering, but good job to every team and everyone! ✨ And thank you moddos for hosting this great gathering!! Can’t wait for the next one! 😀