It felt odd, standing – well, sitting, really – atop the leader's rock. The thick outcrop of rock stuck out proudly over the main camp of Palmclan, offering a wide, bird's eye view of the camp from above. If it wasn't in such dire circumstances, he probably would've been amazed to see the sandy valley from such an angle, able to look down and see all of the dens disappearing down beneath the earth, decorated in shells and seaweed. Although the camp was definitely worse for wear after the hurricane that had struck it, things were at least beginning to return to normalcy – which wasn't something he could say about the group as a whole. The disaster had wiped out all of their high positions, as well as a large amount of their warriors, and others. He supposed he should've been glad that anyone survived, but he still couldn't help but feel like he was drowning. The only senior warrior left after the hurricane, he had been forced to step up as leader to pull things together, and while the last few days had gone alright, he still hadn't gone to receive his lives, nor gone to consult with Starclan. He could only hope they could forgive him for holding a meeting before he did... although he couldn't say he was overeager to go see them.

Digging his claws against the smooth rock beneath him, Rhine took a deep breath inwards, holding it in for a moment before he called out, "All cats old enough to brave the waves, gather for a meeting!" He then waited anxiously, watching as various warriors, apprentices, and practically the entire clan came peering out of their dens, looking up at him expectantly. It was what he had called for, yet he still felt his heartrate pick up because of it. He bit down on the inside of his cheek, focusing briefly on the pain before he shook out his fur, continuing, "Thank you... as I'm sure you all know, I'm Rhinestoneeyes. Rhinestonestar now, I guess. I had to take over, after the hurricane, since I was the only senior warrior left." He glanced over the crowd, wincing as they gave him confused looks. Why was he introducing himself? They knew him! Scuffing a paw against the outcrop, he spoke, "I know that things haven't been... great, lately, with the hurricane and all. But... we're recovering. The camp has finally drained of water, and it seems as though we're well on our way to rebuilding. Soon, I'll be going to the Starshell to receive my nine lives, and commune with Starclan... hopefully they'll tell me what else we should be doing." He winced at his own mention of Starclan, resisting the urge to scowl. Why had they allowed the hurricane in the first place?

Shaking his head, he moved on. There were more important things to be worried about, after all, "In terms of things we can do now, though... well first, I'm going to be doing a roll call of everyone in the group. That way, we know who made it through the hurricane and who... you know. Didn't." He frowned at the thought, but stubbornly pushed through, "And as I'm also sure you know... we lost nearly all of our high positions because of the hurricane. Because of this, I'm going to have to pick new ones, especially a deputy and a medicine cat. I'm afraid I won't be able to please Starclan by picking someone today... but I'll be keeping my eye out for people who fit those roles, so be sure to be around, please." He knew there were plenty of qualified warriors out there, he just needed to... see them, first. Starclan was pretty strict on the whole "picking a deputy immediately" thing, but Rhine didn't exactly feel like now was the time for rash decisions. Or ever, really.

What was next? Oh, right, the rest of the goings on. Things that weren't so... life and death, or stressful. Rolling his shoulders, he enthusiastically jumped into them, his tone lightening a bit, "Otherwise... well, we made it! The hurricane is gone, there's still plenty of us left... this is a rough patch, but we'll make it through. For now, I just want to see everybody around. Make patrols, restock our food, rebuild the dens that were damaged... anything you can think of that would help out. Hopefully by the next meeting, things will be back to normal, and I'll have plenty of good news to share with you all." He could only hope, since he wasn't sure that he'd be able to handle having to do another meeting following an emergency directly after the last one. Sighing softly, the smoke feline sat back on his haunches, saying simply as his tail came to rest over his paws, "Aside from that, meeting dismissed. Unless any of you have any questions for me regarding... anything, really. Just... feel free to call them out." That was a little more unconventional than how meetings had been done in the past, but it felt right. He didn't want people staying silent just so they could be forced to head down to his den later.

( welcome, everybody, to Palmclan !! This is the official first meeting of the group, which means after this, you can feel free to go out and post and make open threads as much as you'd like. Until our tag is finalized, please remember to put Palmclan in your thread titles in some way, and once our tag is finalized, please remember to correctly mark threads for convenience! in terms of an ooc recap;
> palmclan was recently hit by a hurricane and is just now recovering ; rhinestone is the new leader, and encouraging everyone to get out there and rebuild!
> rhine is doing a "roll call" of everyone who is left within the group, which is actually the palmclan cenus! if you have one (or more) active characters in palmclan, please go submit them there so it's easy to keep track!
> rhine (and i) are looking for new hps for the group after the hurricane! as such, we have hp tryouts going on rn! feel free to head over and apply if you'd like to try and snap up a position!
> that's all for this beginner meeting, but characters are welcome to icly ask questions! if you oocly have any questions, feel free to pm [member=6838]stilly.[/member] or ask them in the palmclan discord! )

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Should he technically be here? Quite honestly, Hailkit wasn't sure if he was qualified to be here during a meeting, considering the words "old enough to brave the waves" were uttered. The hurricane was proof of that, considering the fact that he couldn't swim just yet - fortunately though, once the warriors of PalmClan were aware of what was going on - they got the kits and elders to safety first, so Hailkit hadn't gone under the water at all and was mostly just shaken at how quickly the water had risen and how afraid the adults were.

Regardless, the long-haired kit was being nosy and was listening to Rhinestar's words, trying to wriggle his way free from an NPC queen who had offered to care for him.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

The first to speak amongst the crowd was none other than Vixenvenom, a warrior that Rhinestonestar knew well of. Not only because she was one of the experienced warriors still remaining after the hurricane, but also because of her reputation for hunting snakes. When they had been younger, hearing talk of her exploits had frightened Rhine, who had very little intention of ever growing close to the sharp fanged, potentially venomous beasts. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though she had any ill will towards him, or his sudden ascension to leader. Or, at the very least, if she did, she had the good nature to not simply blurt it out. The question that she asked was a reasonable one, and the tom found himself dipping his head before he spoke, firmly, "You are right about that... many mentors were lost in the chaos. As a result of this, we have many apprentices who no longer have anyone to train them. Thankfully, we do still have some warriors who can take on apprentices, so if anyone out there is an apprentice who needs a mentor after the hurricane, come and see me after the meeting. I'll figure out someone to pair you with." It wasn't the most elegant solution, especially since it seemed likely that some of them would be forced to double up on apprentices, but it was making do with what they were left with that was important.

The male was then ready to leap from the rock to let everyone have some time to relax, but it seemed as though some were not yet done... voicing their opinion, to say. Rhine winced when Coconutpaw's voice cut through the air, slightly squeaky and indignant over the group's current situation. A heavy sigh left Rhinestonestar as he looked down at the apprentice, a frown curled on his muzzle. Part of him simply didn't want to engage, but he also didn't want anyone to think that he would just ignore them. So, after a long moment of calming any frazzled nerves that were keen to snap, the new leader responded, "I understand that this might be... difficult to adjust to. But I wasn't chosen just because I am, in your words, some old clam. I was chosen because I was the only senior warrior left. And senior warrior doesn't mean old, it means experienced. I was taught some things about how to run a clan, and while this certainly happened much earlier than I ever wanted... I promise that I'll lead Palmclan well." He had his doubts about Coco respecting or liking that answer, but it was the only one that Rhine had, at least for now.

Nameless sat quietly as the leader spoke to his fellow small ones, he could feel the sadness in the atmosphere and he was loath to interrupt - though he knew his newfound presence here likely did so by default, but he kept to the outskirts as well as he could, to give them time to their grief.

The leader had mentioned something about naming him - and as Nameless watched Rhinestone speak, he thought that this was a leader he could follow - not matter how small, it was what was inside that counted.

The arrival of the nameless spinosaurus to the meeting caused Rhinestone to lift his head, slightly unnerved by the fact that the other could meet his gaze easily, even atop the rock. Despite this, he kept his wits about him, remembering his earlier promise to the dinosaur. He had promised the other a proper name, one befitting of a warrior living within Palmclan. Many saw it as a sign of disrespect or incompetence for a fully grown male such as the reptile to not have a warrior name, much less no name. So, it only seemed proper that he did something about that. Padding up to the front of the rock, the rather new leader sat up to straight, chin held high as he spoke to Nameless, "N... Nameless, please step forward. Although you have not been here long, it hardly seems proper that, as a warrior of Palmclan, you continue living here without a name for us all to call you by. So, hopefully with the blessing of Starclan, and Palmclan as a whole, I present you with your name. From this day forward, you will be known as Stormspine, a fully fledged warrior of Palmclan." Perhaps Stormspine had not truly gone through the clan training that it took to be considered a real warrior yet, but the tom was fairly sure Stormspine could handle himself well, even without it.

With that taken care of, it only seemed proper that Rhine also address the other subject on his mind. The one that had been brought up mere moments ago. Taking a deep breath, he stated firmly, "As mentioned earlier, with many mentors lost, apprentices will need new warriors to continue their training. As such, after a great deal of thought, I've decided what the reassignments will be. First... Sanguinepaw. If you'll have me, I will be your new mentor, for the rest of your training." He nodded his head to Sanguinepaw, his heart rapidly beating in his chest. Despite having apprentices in the past, it always seemed oddly exciting, having a new one. Still, he needed to move on, "Coconutpaw... I am going to assign Vixenvenom as your mentor. She is a very experienced warrior, and I believe that she will be very skilled at dealing with your... quirks." Coconutpaw certainly seemed to have a great deal of fight in him, and hopefully Vixenvenom's patience would be able to combat that. There was one last apprentice to deal with, but Rhine felt anxiety at the mere thought of opening his mouth, his tongue tied until he finally wrenched his jaws open, "As for Sunpaw... I'm afraid that your injuries have made training... difficult. Because of this, I'll be taking some extra time to think on where you should be within the clan, and who might be your ideal mentor." He had a feeling he knew where the boy would end up, although he wasn't sure if Sunpaw would be happy about it.

Tail twitching anxiously behind him, the tom then finished curtly, feeling a sense of relief flood through him as soon as his words hit open air, "This meeting is now dismissed." He fluidly moved to climb down the rock, his entire body still jittery with excitement, and anxiety. He could only hope he had done well, for his first ever meeting as leader.