Duckpaw's Moonstone Journey

The cape of snow that covered the camp's ground was painting the earth with a thick cap of white that the tom didn't dislike. It was nostalgic and it brought good memories. But it wasn't good for every cat. Snow meant cold and cold, most of the time, meant less prey and more sickness. Hopefully, this leafbare wasn't as harsh as always and the only that had to bear with this weather in the night were the young apprentices ready to go on a Moonstone journey, like Duckpaw.

Jaystream left the medicine den and waited for the young cat to come and meet him at the entrance so she would eat the travelling herbs before leaving. Ivystar's apprentice, huh? She must be a strict but good mentor, he thought to himself as he waited.

So, today was actually the day. Like, today was not a metaphorical day... or a day that seemed special but actually wasn't special... it was an actual, legitimate special day. Duckpaw had tried her hardest to contain her eagerness and excitement for the past few days, and now it was finally here. Now that it was actually time, she actually felt more nervous than she did excited. What was there to be nervous about in the first place? The chance to travel to the Moonstone, a sacred place to all the Clan cats, and a chance to speak with a StarClan cat should be something that's looked forward to. What if she ended up messing up in front of a StarClan cat? StarClan cats were nothing to joke about. The spirits of the Clans' warrior ancestors to be respected, and if Duckpaw ended up making a fool of herself, would that be a good sign for the future? Now, she was just making it all worse for herself. No matter how nervous or eager she felt, Duckpaw tried her best to swallow back everything she was feeling and seem calm on the outside. The RiverClan apprentice gave her paw a quick lick before swiping it over her ear. After shaking at her pelt in an attempt to perhaps shake the nerves away, she padded out of the apprentice den and instantly noticed Jaystream near the camp's exit.

She swiftly padded over after thinking it would be rude to keep the deputy waiting any longer. While the cold temperature of leafbare wasn't the most comfortable weather to travel in, Duckpaw knew that it would all be worth it. She was an apprentice, after all, and not some whining kit. She had to keep her problems to herself and find out how to handle them own her own. The brown cat respectfully dipped her head in greeting towards the RiverClan deputy.
"Hi- er, uh, greetings, Jaystream." She began, quickly trying to correct her speech to something more formal and courteous. She had no clue if the herbs that the deputy had with him were the herbs that she was supposed to eat, so she figured she'd wait until he told her to eat it.

"Good night, Duckpaw. I guess you're ready to go." Jaystream dipped his head too as a greeting and smiled to the young she-cat. With a movement of his paws, he pushed one of the packs of herbs to the she-cat. "Eat this. It's a long trip and you'll need energy and strength. They're not yummy but they're eatable despite its bitter taste." The deputy put those herbs on his jaws first so the apprentice would that there was nothing to worry about except for the taste. But, for a cat that had already eaten those plants a lot of times, he didn't mind at all how it was the flavour. The warrior just gulped them quickly and waited for the apprentice to do the same.

Duckpaw seemed nervous and a bit anxious about this and the tom understood that. He was like her when he was an apprentice and, actually, he hadn't changed too much since then. But now, he could fight his insecurities and step forward thanks to the help of his first and best friend. Probably, that was what the apprentice needed: someone she could trust during the travel and he would make sure that she felt safe and sound.

Jaystream flicked his tail and stood up when the apprentice was about to finish. With a kind and friendly smile, the tom spoke to her again. "Are you ready to go?"

Duckpaw listened intently to Jaystream before she looked down at the herbs with an inquisitive glitter in her eyes. Well, it was better to get it all over with quick instead of chew it slowly. The apprentice lapped up the traveling herbs with one swipe of her tongue. Immediately, her taste buds picked up the bitter, repulsive taste of the herbs. Duckpaw desperately attempted to disguise the disgust that she felt towards the herbs with a serene, emotionless smile. The she-cat swiftly swallowed it down, but there was still the aftertaste. She figured that it would stay there for a while, but at least it wouldn't be as strong as the herbs themselves. Duckpaw quickly shook her head, and it looked like she was shivering, as she felt bile rising in her throat after the traveling herbs had gone down.

Duckpaw took in a small breath and let it out. Well, there was no point in saying no, so...
"Yes," The brown cat started with a steady voice, "I'm ready, Jaystream."

The warrior was used to that kind of reaction from the apprentice after they had their first taste of herbs. It was obvious that the she-cat disliked them as much as everyone else but he didn't say a word about it because there was no use on that. He turned his body to the exit of the camp and with a flick of his tail that told Duckpaw to follow him, he started the trip. "Let's go."

Together, the two cats crossed the frozen streams and the reeds of their territory under the moonlight. Nothing new was in Riverclan's territory since the she-cat already knew them by now. But the real adventure started with the Twoleg bridge, the end of the clan's land. "We don't use the Twoleg bridge because dogs crossed it sometimes and are dangerous. We use the stones over here." The warrior pointed the place next to the bridge where a bunch of stones created a safe path for anyone that was willing to cross it. Jaystream approached it and jumped to the first rock, making sure to claw off the ice so it wouldn't be so slippery for the young she-cat. "Jump from rock to rock and be sure to always keep your claws on the stone. It might be slippery so please be careful" He said those words remembering how he had to save Sweetpaw from drowning when they travelled to the Moonstone together. He couldn't risk the life of another apprentice like that.

Duckpaw, despite her calm exterior, followed the deputy with an eager glimmer in her green eyes. The two of them crosaed through the territory, and Duckpaw couldn't help but look around at everything as if she was a new apprentice. She knew the territory so well, but it looked different at night... like, all of the foliage and snow had been blanketed with shadows and darkness. It was more interesting than it was ominous, but the night did make small, harmless things seem tall and intimidating.

When the deputy and the apprentice reached the Twoleg bridge, Duckpaw couldn't help but wrinkle her noise just upon hearing the word 'twoleg'. A small shiver went through her spine when the word 'dog' went into her ears. There were no predators now, but images of foaming, snapping jaws danced around in the she-cat's thoughts. She was more than relieved once she found out that they'd be using stones instead, but that relief didn't wash away the entirety of her fears. Of course, there was still the fact that the rocks would be slippery due to the cold ice. The she-cat unsheathed her claws, taking note of Jaystream's words. The last thing the apprentice wanted right now was to fall into the ice cold water and either drown or freeze to death. She bunched her muscles, and then she jumped onto the first rock; the closest one to her. Her claws helped her steady herself, and her tail was standing straight up in the air, too. A quick expression of panic passed over her features as she wobbled to the left a bit, but once she regained balance, Duckpaw shot Jaystream a sheepish smile.

The warrior smiled back, seeing how she managed to stand up in balance on the rock. Then, he continued jumping from rock to rock, making sure to destroy the ice under his paws and finally, the deputy reached the other shore safely. His green eyes looked at the brownish she-cat who was still in the river. "Use the stones where I moved, Duckpaw. Those haven't ice on them." He mewed holding his tail up so the apprentice would notice that he was trying to catch her attention. At least, it seemed like she was being more cautious than Sweetpaw so it was less probable that she would fall like her. However, Jaystream still was getting his muscles prepared for jumping into the water if it was necessary once more time. If Duckpaw fell in, he would only have a few seconds to get her out and save her from death but her trip would have to come to an end because she would need the help of the medicine cats. The tom really wished that that wasn't the case.

Duckpaw kept her claws in the rock to keep her steady as she heeded Jaystream's words. Now, it would be a lot easier for her to cross. That didn't mean it would be completely simple and effortless, she still had to be careful on the rocks. Maybe other apprentices had tried to rush along the stones because of their excitement and eagerness, and maybe if Duckpaw had a death wish, she'd do the same. The brown she-cat didn't want to keep the deputy waiting, so she started to pick her way across the river stone by stone at a pace that was steady but not irritatingly slow. All the while, the RiverClan she-cat kept her claws unsheathed to steady herself as she hopped from one stone to the other. Her tail streamed out behind her whenever she jumped, and it stood up tall and erect when she landed. Finally, the brown cat leaped off of the final rock, across the rest of the river, and onto the snowy ground. She was far more than gratefully to finally be away from that river, considering how dangerous it was. She looked at Jaystream once she had mentally calmed herself down.
Maybe, if you had actually tried instead of worried about nothing, you could've crossed that river a lot quicker.
Her brain, as usual, began to hurl thoughts of negativity straight at her. The she-cat immediately frowned and shuffled her paws in response to her own thoughts, but she swiftly covered it up with an unexpressive and tranquil expression once she remembered that Jaystream was there.

The deputy watched silently all the steps of the apprentice and contained a sigh of relief when her paws were finally on the grass. He noticed a brief frowning and the tom barely lifted his head a bit confused by that kind of reaction. At first, Jaystream that she could get hurt in some way while crossing so he searched for any wound or anything in her paws but there was nothing and Duckpaw soon returned to that calm expression of hers. It was almost like she was hiding a personal thought from him... because he did that too in the past when he wanted what he felt. The deputy smiled at the young she-cat, something that no other cat did for him when he had such bad thoughts."Good job, Duckpaw. You did it perfectly! Actually, you're the first cat that actually listens properly to my warning and doesn't take unnecessary risks. It seems that Ivystar taught you well." He purred, holding his tail up proudly before starting walking again. After all, they had a travel to finish.

Jaystream guided Duckpaw through the grassy neutral territory, always following the Twoleg path but not using it. Soon, the tall trees where they usually gathered every full moon appeared in his vision, announcing that they were close to their next stop: the Thunderpath. The warrior stopped his steps a few paws away from the hard grey path and held his tail as a sign to Duckpaw that she should stop now. "I doubt you have visited the Thunderpath before, Duckpaw. Almost every Riverclan get to know it during this trip so let me tell you a few things about it." He started, crouching a bit in the bushes.

"This path in front of yours is harder than the usual Twolegs paths and during Greenleaf it gets really hot. In this place, warriors and apprentices from different clans have died under the body of the huge monsters that cross it at high speed. They never stop and is impossible to fight them. So, the only we can do is avoid them by being careful." Jaystream moved one of his paws and pointed with it to Duckpaw's before he continued. "You will probably sense the monster with the trembling of the ground before seeing it so trust more in your paws and your ears when you're aiming to cross. When you're finally sure that it's safe, run to the other side and don't ever stop or look back because that could be a fatal mistake. For this time, you'll run with me when I tell you, okay?" The Riverclan warrior didn't wait for an answer and turned his sight to the path, focused. He prepared the muscles of his legs slowly as he tried to sense the slightest trembling and when he was sure that there was nothing, he finally opened his mouth.

"NOW!" He yowled, jumping to the Thunderpath and starting running as fast as he could to the safe ground. His heart beat faster inside his chest, being filled with the usual adrenaline of the moment, and he could only calm down when he felt the snow again in the Windclan's territory.

Praise was something that every apprentice wanted and appreciated, and while Duckpaw wasn't greedy for compliments, she was still glad that the deputy had given her a compliment. This time, it was hard to camouflage her joy with her common neutral expression, so her sharp green eyes still glittered with pride. However, she still knew that their journey wasn't at an end, and there was still more to come. The brown she-cat politely nodded after the deputy finished speaking to her, "Thank you, Jaystream."
It felt great to have something nice said about her considering that her own thoughts were always the ones that were trying to drag her down. It was always like she was trying to attack herself. That's why she kept her emotions hidden. Duckpaw was the kind of cat who didn't appreciate large amounts of attention, so she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself by sharing how she truly felt with another cat. She could help her own self, right? The apprentice had been doing a fine job at concealing everything from others, so there was no point in trying to stop doing something that she was already good at. Once Jaystream lifted his tail and started the journey back up again, Duckpaw flicked her brown tail and followed after the deputy.

Fourtrees was a familiar sight for the apprentice, even though she had only seen it twice in the span of two moons. She couldn't help but look over at the four tall trees that surrounded the Gathering clearing and gave it its name. Duckpaw almost padded straight into Jaystream once he paused, but she quickly stopped herself to avoid doing so. When the Thunderpath was brought up, the RiverClan cat flattened her ears against her head. She had never actually seen it before, but she had heard warriors and apprentices talking about it. Because of that, she had known that she'd have to cross it sometime in the future. Apparently, that time was now. Even though Duckpaw nodded slowly and took silent heed of Jaystream's words, the scent of fear still came off of the she-cat. That was something that she couldn't suppress, no matter how hard she tried. When Duckpaw noticed that the deputy began to crouch a bit, she did the same. A shiver went through the she-cat from the tip of her ears to the tip of her long tail. While a lot of cats would say that crossing the Thunderpath marks the sign of a warrior, Duckpaw saw it as no such thing. She wasn't in this for the honor of surviving the path, she was in this for what awaited her on the other side: the Moonstone.

The young she-cat remained silent as she took in all of the RiverClan deputy's words. She could hear her heartbeat thumping harshly and quickly against her chest. This time, instead of insulting herself, her mind began to remind her repeatedly to run as fast as possible, never stop, never look back, and run when Jaystream said to run. When she heard the tom yell at her to run, Duckpaw leaped out onto the Thunderpath and began to streak across the dark, dangerous path with her tail streaming out behind her. The she-cat had never run faster in her entire life than in this moment. She felt her muscles begin to ache. With one final push, she hurled herself across the final stretch of the path and straight into the soft snow on the other side. While the fumes of the Thunderpath burned her nostrils, she could still pick up the faintest scent of WindClan, which must've meant that they were in WindClan territory, now. Duckpaw's breathing was quick and short, she tried to slow it down by inhaling and exhaling slowly. At first, she felt relieved that it was all over... then she remembered that it would all have to be done again on the way back.

Once the tom was sure that Duckpaw's was okay, he walked again, but this time, through the snowy moors of Windclan. If before the grassy territory seemed lonely and plain, now it was worse with all that snow stopping the usual movement of the grass caused by the soft breeze. This was the least favourite part of the trip but there was nothing he could about it. There was no other way to arrive at the Moonstone.

After some time walking, the mountains stood firmly in front of the two cats who were walking directly to them. The deputy searched with his green eyes the entrance of the cave he was looking for and when he found the Mouthermouth, he looked back at the she-cat with serious eyes. "This tunnels will lead us to the Moonstone but we cannot be careless. Inside there, you will not be able to see anything, even your own paws. So, to not get lost, stay next to me all the time, follow my voice and hear my steps." Jaystream focused again on the cave and entered it with no fear after all the times he had been there. He already knew the right path by memory but sometimes he had to stop just to be sure that Duckpaw was still by his side.

Moving through the complete darkness, the deputy guided the young apprentice until his eyes finally gazed the light at the end of the path. Soon, the lean cat stepped into the main cave where the bright stone where shining as always in the moonlight. This was the end of the journey for him but for Duckpaw it was only the beginning of one the most important experiences in a apprentice's life.

Duckpaw swiftly followed the deputy as he continued to head towards Highstones after the two of them had crossed the Thunderpath. WindClan territory seemed to be an endless stretch of snow that covered the grass. There were little to no trees on the moorland, and that bothered the RiverClan apprentice. Somehow, it made the cold seem colder. Duckpaw fluffed up her fur a bit to keep herself warm as she continued to follow Jaystream. She silently told herself that this would all be worth it once she made it to the Moonstone.

Heartbeats passed, and both the deputy and the apprentice made it to the mountains. To Duckpaw, they seemed like tall silhouettes that cut into the darkness of the night like the claws of a cat. She blinked, staring at them in awe, before looking over at Jaystream as he spoke to her with a certain seriousness in both his gaze and his voice that made the RiverClan apprentice stiffen. She silently nodded and walked side-by-side with the tom as they entered the dark cave known as Mothermouth. While the mountains that Duckpaw had seen only a few moments ago had been a sight, the apprentice knew that the true sight was awaiting her at the end of the black tunnel. The entire time, she kept her ears perked so that she could listen to Jaystream's pawsteps and follow along beside him. Once she spotted some light at the end of the cave, she squinted her eyes a bit. Seeing the glow in contrast to the darkness startled her eyes.
The Moonstone...

There it was...
The main cave held the most beautiful thing that Duckpaw had ever seen in her entire life. Illuminated by the natural moonlight, the Moonstone was right in the center of everything. The entire cave was glowing with the white, milky light, and Duckpaw looked down at her paws and over at Jaystream only to see that the light was leaking onto the two cats that were there, as well. The apprentice didn't even notice that her jaw had dropped and she was staring at the large stone in utter awe. Maybe, if she had any idea of what she was doing, she'd try to hide it like she usually did. The brown she-cat took a small step towards the Moonstone so that she could touch her nose to it, but she paused and looked back at the deputy for approval. She certainly wasn't planning on doing anything wrong... not in the presence of StarClan.

The tom didn't have to say a word and the apprentice was already approaching the Moonstone. Jaystream smiled, happy to see that she was already ready for this moment... ready to talk with her ancestors and receive advice from them. However, she hesitated and her eyes looked at him like she was asking a silent question. The deputy nodded, without saying anything because he knew she would understand. Duckpaw was doing everything perfectly and soon her mind would fall into a deep sleep that would allow her to speak with Starclan.

The deputy laid down on his usual spot and glanced at the she-cat once more time. "Close your eyes when you do it, Duckpaw. When you open them again, Starclan will welcome you. Good luck." He purred, saying those last words before the apprentice could enter into that world of dreams.

Duckpaw nodded, but she still didn't say a word. She felt another shiver go through her spine, and those nerves from the beginning of the journey came back to her. She knew that she was in front of a warrior, the deputy, so she couldn't just stand there and let her nervousness get the best of her. After sucking in a large breath and letting it out, the RiverClan apprentice shut her eyes and pressed her nose against the stone. The Moonstone was cold to the touch, but she didn't flinch. She didn't feel anything strange or out of the ordinary. It was basically like Duckpaw was going to sleep in a normal way. She remembered what Jaystream had told her about the fact that StarClan would be there once she opened her eyes again. Was she actually ready to meet StarClan? What if she messed up, like she did with a lot of things? She'd have to wake up at some point in time... so... she supposed the moment was now.

The she-cat's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a couple of times in order to clear her mind. It was as if nothing had happened. The she-cat was still in the main cave, and the Moonstone still glowed brilliantly with white light. She glanced around in confusion, wondering what had happened.
"Uh, hello? Greetings?" She quietly called out, "Is... um... anyone there?"

When Duckpaw awoke, Willowwhisker took a few slow steps forward, trying not to scare the young she-cat. "Hello, little one." Her starry pelt glistened in the light of the moonstone, and she took a few steps even closer to Duckpaw."You don't know me, but I've been watching over you. I'm Willowwhisker." She could tell that Duckpaw was nervous, so she added a little tidbit to her last statement."You've got nothing to worry about." She'd give her a second to fully wake up again, then they could talk more about what was really important.