.ೃ࿐ 𝐅lurrygrace remained in the shadowy nook of the cliffside for several moments once Sprucestar left, feeling almost as if she had to catch her breath. She had no idea if that had been a successful conversation. She had said all she had been instructed to say, but the leader seemed to dismiss it for his own notions. Eventually, she turned away. She better gather her cats and return to camp soon.

Her eyes scanned the socializing warriors, wishing now that she had set up some sort of rendezvous for the end of the night. She had likely lost them among the mesh of UmbraClan attendees. With a tired sigh, she picked her way over the frostbitten stone and searched.

A shout from several fox-lengths away caught her attention and she stopped, followed by a fusion of hisses and irritated voices. Unfortunately, Flurrygrace's first assumption was that she had found one of her warriors— Cinderflare.

She strode towards the noise with a pace about as quick as Graycedar's, consequently bumping flanks with Specklepine and apologizing casually. It seemed the rest of her warriors had arrived here as well, drawn by the sounds of confrontation from someone they knew all too well.

Flurrygrace's arrival seemed to only stoke the hostility. Cinderflare was facing off with a yellow she-cat, who looked to the pale VerdantClan warrior as she approached, hackles raised. "Would you look at that! There she is!" The unfamiliar feline cried.

Flurrygrace felt the comment pull at her insecurity. Were they talking about her? Setting her jaw and undertaking a harsh expression, she looked between the two. "Let's not fight. That's not what the Gathering is for," She meowed.

The yellow she-cat rolled her eyes, lip curling. "Then perhaps VerdantClan shouldn't have come," She retorted. "Everything is a fight when you're making our lives such a living hell!"

To Flurrygrace's dismay, this reply got several rallied meows of agreement from the UmbraClan cats who had become absorbed in the act. When she attempted to speak, only a wobbly syllable emerged. She wasn't used to being treated like this. The UmbraClan she-cat laughed astringently.

Cinderflare swatted her across the face and she recoiled.

"The only ones making your lives hell are you!" The black warrior hissed. "Get over it! VerdantClan won the garden, fair and square. Figure it out! And have some more respect for Juniperstar's daughter."

The opposing warrior seemed a hair away from making a leap at Cinderflare, but something held her back. Flurrygrace's gut twisted as the feline's brown eyes glared at her sideways.

She seemed to turn all of her attention to the white she-cat. "Oh, please," The warrior cooed. "She doesn't need you to defend her. I bet she can do it herself."

With that, the yellow-furred warrior lunged directly at Flurrygrace.

That had escalated fast.

All she heard were the gasps of the crowd as she fell backwards and hit the rocky floor, the wind rushing out of her and her vision blurring. A grimace contorted her maw, her opponent's ivory claws pricking the side of her face, though the pressure only lasted a moment before lifting. There was the sound of someone flung aside and more cries erupted from the surrounding cats.

Flurrygrace rolled limply onto her side, ringing reverberating in her ears. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clambered slowly to her paws, merely propping up her upper half. She carefully adjusted her vision, the sound in her ears fading and being replaced with a throbbing in the back of her head. Motion seemed to whir around her.

Her eyes landed on Sprucestar, front and center among the crowd, watching whatever scene had unfolded.

Surveying the rest of the clearing, she spotted Cinderflare locked in a tussle with the other belligerent warrior. So she had been the one to knock her away.

"S-stop," Flurrygrace croaked. The cold air was helping her come to her senses, though could only do so much to ease the pain from her unexpected fall. She sent a curious glance to Sprucestar, who was now staring directly at her. Her gaze lingered on him firmly until eventually the blue tom turned back to the scrimmaging she-cats.

"Brightvenom, enough!" He called forcefully. "Break it up!"

Although the yellow warrior seemed stubborn, she at least listened to her leader. Pulling herself off the ground she parted ways with Cinderflare. Her face portrayed a nasty look and blood oozed from the tip of an ear.

The leader's eyes once again fixated on Flurrygrace, glimmering with a stoic anger that immediately brewed discomfort. "I suppose we should expect nothing less from VerdantClan cats," He growled lowly. "Get home, Flurrygrace. Now."