It had been two weeks, and the time had come for yet another meeting to happen. Rhinestone had to admit that he was pretty excited for this one. While it wouldn't be quite as dramatic as the last one had been, he was excited for the changes he was planning on announcing, and hoped they would be well received by those around him. First things first, though, were the usual matters that came with a meeting. So, after reviewing everything he had to go over in his head, the serval leaped up atop the meeting rock, shaking off his blue pelt before he called out, "All those old enough to brave the waves, please gather for a meeting!" He then sat back on his heels, watching as various different members gathered down below. His deep black eyes flicked from face to face, until eventually he determined that there were enough members around for him to get started. With his short tail moving from side to side behind him, he began, "First things first... we've had several new members in the last couple of weeks. So, I'd like you all to welcome [member=16798]Hawthorn[/member], [member=16850]Scorne[/member], [member=16707]Cherry Noriaki[/member], and [member=16861]James A.M.M Fraser[/member]. I hope that all four of you enjoy your time in the Palm Glades, and if you have any issues or questions, feel free to come to me." He was glad to see so many new faces around – it showed that their growth had no signs of stopping.

Now that the usual welcomes were out of the way, it was time to move onto the most important part of the meeting – rank changes. Taking a deep breath inwards, the leader continued with a smile, "At the last meeting, I announced that I was considering changing our rank names, to signify our breaking away from Starclan. I was given a lot of amazing suggestions, but I eventually decided to go with ranks emulating an ancient human culture. They were known to be great warriors who did everything they could to defend themselves and fight hard, so I think the names will work well for the Glades." He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before he began to list off the new ranks, "For the most part, these ranks will have similar functions. Elders will become known as retired immunes. Queens, or any other non-combatant regular members will be known as signifers. Kits will be known as tirones, while apprentices will be known as discens. Regular warriors will also be known as immunes. As for our more high ranking positions, waverunners will become gladiators. The medicine cat apprentice will be the medici, and the medicine cat will be the medicus legionis. Senior warriors will be known as centurions, the deputy will be the primus, and I shall be the legate." He then paused to let all of that information sink in, knowing that it had been a lot. Plus, he needed a moment in order to catch his breath.

Once he saw several nods of understanding from within the crowd, he let out a pleased hum, adding on, "In addition to these, I'd like to add a new rank to the high positions. This rank will be known as keepers. Keepers will be the equivalent of centurions in that they will be assistant deputies, but they will instead be focused on social events and espionage, rather than on combat. This is to ensure that even those who aren't interested in lives of fighting will have a way to progress within the group." As it was, gladiators were sort of forced into a combat role if they wanted to progress within the group, and Rhine didn't like that feeling of being stuck. Once it seemed as thought that had been processed, he continued on, "Now that the actual changes are dealt with... shout outs and promotions. First of all, Quasar. I'm glad to see that you're around a bit more once again. Consider your warning wiped from the slate for now. In addition to this, I'd like to give shout outs to both Vaas and Foam. I hope that you're recovering well from your sickness, Foamkit..." The leader's blackened gaze temporarily moved downwards, filled with momentary pain. The other had only recently woken up, and Rhinestone really just wanted him to be alright.

Shaking that off, the legate let out a soft cough before he moved on, "Dovah, I'd like to offer you a choice. You've been active and helpful enough that I believe you can step up as either a keeper or centurion. Or, if you'd rather, you can step up as medici beneath Vaas, since I noticed you've been interested in helping him out lately. Whatever decision you make, I will respect it. Finally... I'd also like to ask if Medusa would like to step up as my primus. Ever since you arrived, you've been nothing but helpful and strong, and you've proven that you'd do anything to help the Palm Glades. So, if you'd like the position, I'd be happy to welcome you into it." As he waited for reactions and answers from the various others gathered around him, Rhinestonestar wrapped his tail around his front paws, muttering, "I have more news to come, but I'll give you all a moment to answer and process everything."

Quasar trotted over, sniffing the air and shaking his fur free of fresh snow. After the emotional turmoil from the previous meeting and all that angst at moving away from StarClan—a religion Quasar never quite wrapped his outsider brain around—he sighed in relief that things fell back to normal. Rank discussions. Welcoming newcomers. Nice, normal things with nothing to do with starvation via unexpected blizzard, casting aside religion, or an upcoming raid.

The vaporwave mess took a seat near the front, his fluffy tails flicking through the air. Despite the chilly weather, his coat protected him well enough, and he didn’t need any of his three tails for warmth. So, instead, he waved them around and unintentionally blocked people from sitting next to him. Which suited him fine, even if he lacked awareness on his own behavior.

Quasar nodded as Rhine addressed him, shrugging. Previous warning or not, he managed. Still, the relief at not being publicly shamed for mistaking a lion cub for a rabbit… he wouldn’t let that show on his face, though. He hated his mistakes more than anything else. The reminder of his warning paled by comparison.

At the mention of Dovah and Medusa’s promotions, he glanced around, yellow ears twitching, for the two. Medusa earned it, of course. But his feelings on Dovah were complicated—he’d injured the other, and he hated how this mistake literally haunted him around the territory. He couldn’t forget. Couldn’t move on. Guilt gnawed at him. And shouldn’t it, right? Since he’d taken the other’s sight; guilt was nothing compared to losing one’s vision.

As the crowd grew and gathered around him, Rhinestone was glad that there were no peculiar out of the blue outbursts at this particular meeting. Things finally seemed as though they were settling down for a bit, and the serval had to admit that he was glad for it. As he heard both Medusa and Dovah respond to his offers, he felt a grin curl on his muzzle, a happy hum leaving him before he addressed them, "I'm glad to hear that, from the both of you. Dovah, you can most definitely be a keeper. I'm sure you'll bring a lot to the rank." It didn't really surprise him that Dovah had chosen the keeper role, considering the other had always seemed like more of a social butterfly – now that he was recovering, anyways. With that out of the way, Rhinestonestar then moved on, "Onto group events... well, I'm sure you all heard, but recently we had Stryker show up with our raid invite. I'm very glad to those that decided to go, and also glad that we didn't have to cause much damage. I promise to keep you all updated on the Stryker situation... and when we'll be able to show him what we really think of him." Rhine certainly hadn't liked attending the raid, but at least none of them had been majorly hurt.

Shaking that off for now, the blue feline looked down in thought before continuing, "In more casual news, we had our first proper snowfall that wasn't a blizzard. We had an unintentional fire storm that was thankfully taken care of, and Cherry was even around doing some painting. It certainly has been an eventful couple of weeks, even with things settling." With a roll of his neck and a brief chuckle, Rhinestone tacked on, "We'll also be having a few winter and holiday related events in the coming weeks. Dovah will be handing out winter focused tasks, so if you want to be around to help out or just have fun, make sure you stop by when he does so." He had faith that Dovah could come up with some unique things for them all to do, especially considering he had chosen his event based role.

With another brief glance down, Rhinestone seemed to be going through a list in his head before he chuckled, purring, "I believe that is about all that I've got to say, aside from a big thank you to you all for being so active. As always, we're doing amazing in the activity department, and our new joiners are certainly a big boost to that as well. So everyone, please, just keep doing what you're doing." His short tail waved from side to side, reflecting his happiness, before he finished up, "Now then... unless there are any questions, this meeting is dismissed." He then leaped down from the main meeting rock, stretching out before keeping an eye on those around him, just in case any questions came his way.

DRIFTING - FEATHER

To say she was lacking was... an understatement. She hadn't attended the last meeting, refusing to face the serval. And by that logic she refused the promotion. So she was missing out. So what? Didn't matter to her anymore. She blinked lazily, distantly, from her perch on a rock, before hopping off and walking out of camp.