#anyways Fernpatch's image file is ivypatch bc i blanked until later oops

[official-hawknose]

Orchardclan’s main heads!

Pikestar is the leader of Orchardclan - hard-headed and intense, she’s usually the main aggregator at gatherings. She’s pretty loud and out there, and has her fair share of scars from scuffles during her warrior days. Fernpatch is her deputy(and one of the two -patch deputies lol) He’s much more level-headed than she is, and more often than not, is the only one between her and a potential war, really. He’s pretty laid back, but is fiercely loyal to his clanmates, and leader, and won’t hesitate to use his claws if someone insinuates she’s a poor leader. Orchardclan hasn’t been stronger than her leadership, in his opinion.

And Duskflower! The herbalist of the clan, she’s one of the taller cats in Orchardclan and... Often times scares her clanmates. She has a bad habit of lurking in the shadows and scaring them when she moves. She’s quiet, if only because she spends much of her days restocking her supplies, Fernpatch is a close friend to her though! It's tradition in all clans for herbalists to be close with their leaders and deputies, in a close bond of three friends(a few stories say more, but no one can agree whether it's ethical to force three cats to be in a relationship. Most cats say it’s not ethical.) to ensure that the clans are portrayed by a united front! As a result, the herbalists aren’t separate from their leaders and deputies during gatherings. While deputies must stay at the base of the stump, herbalists stay on the ground near them, most herbalists only stay when the clans are called for the reporting, and wander off during the actual speaking.

There are some older elders that get affronted when the clan heads aren’t mates, and their kits and grandkits tend to try to talk to them about it and insist that its REALLY not ethical.

Gatherings function differently, too. The leaders, deputies and herbalists all sit in different positions along the tree stump, with leaders traditionally being on top, where it was felled, deputies taking the assigned root gnarls below them, and herbalists on the ground in front of the tree. The gathering is in three sections - the initial meeting, when the clans first enter the gathering place and mingle until the final clan joins. After that, the heads of the clans go to their assigned spots, and the second portion begins, the reporting portion. This time is for full attention for warriors, older apprentices and any elders that attend, and is where the leaders will announce births, deaths, new apprentices, warriors, deputies, and assignment changes within their clans, as well as news of hunting, and predators sighted or scented. The final half is generally the longest portion of the gathering and when all the clans mingle, friends share personal news, apprentices meet others from different clans, and most of it is shared while grooming.

While the clans aren’t buddy-buddy, the modern clans try and avoid conflict reasonably. After Froststar and Swallowstar died, the gatherings were held in stoic silence, and it wasn’t until Rainstar passed away, that Pikestar got fed up and demanded things go back to normal. For moons after Froststar and Swallowstar died, the clans were walking on eggshells around one another - particularly Thicketclan and Creviceclan. Even now, its very rare to see any Thicketclan cat with a Creviceclan cat.