Rabbitpaw's Moonstone Journey

Muddythorn had already done this before, so there was a lot more confidence in his movements as he only double-check the herb bundle, rather than triple-checking. His trip to the moonstone with Beetlepaw had gone fine, why would this be any different? Herbs completely, definitely ready now, he padded towards the apprentice den, eyes searching for a silver tabby. Soon enough, he spotted Rabbitpaw through the gloom, and carefully picked his path towards her, waking her with a gentle nudge. "Hey, Rabbitpaw? It's time to go to the moonstone, I'll be outside when you're awake." As a second thought he added, "better if that happens sooner rather than later!" He laughed quietly, and left the den. Starclan, the amount of nights of good sleep he'd lost to this job.

The medicine cat waited patiently for the apprentice outside, eating his own bundle of herbs. Starclan, the amount of tastebuds he'd lost to this job. The things was, he didn't really mean all of his complaining about lack of sleep and taste, but he couldn't help finding those things funny. It wasn't an annoyance, just a quirk of being a medicine cat.

She felt bad for thinking this, but she felt awkward in the den with Beechfa- er, Beechpaw there. Not that she didn't like the medicine cat, even though they've hardly interacted. It was just, her being an apprentice when she was so much older than the others..... it was weird! So leaving to the moonstone was a welcome relief. And she didn't mind Muddythorn's humor, either!

Giving a smile as she joined the medicine cat, although she quickly lost said smile as she gagged on the herbs, she stood, ready to go. "This is going to be so much fun! It is like going on an adventure!"

A look of pity crossed Muddythorn's face as Rabbitpaw gulped down the herbs, but he quickly started walking, the long journey ahead in mind. "An adventure? Sure, I guess - you'll get to see parts of the forest you haven't before. But it looses some of its excitement after you've done it hundreds of times." He was definitely exaggerating; he hadn't even been a medicine cat very long, or at least that was what not felt like.

The pair set off into the rapidly lightening forest, Muddythorn thankful for the herbs that meant they didn't need to waste time on hunting. And with him hunting, it would be a lot of time gone. "How's your training going? I mean it must be well since you're coming to the monotone with me." He asked. "Bloodstar's your mentor, isn't he?"

Padding after the medicine cat, Rabbitpaw couldn't help but wonder. "Is being a medicine cat really all that bad, though? You get to help cats in the most wonderful way! You heal us when we are hurting! And you get to talk to StarClan all the time!"

The topic had moved onto her own training, and she immediately lit up. "Oh yes! It's going great! Bloodstar has taught me so much! Look at what I can do now!" Immediately, the apprentice raced off, charging at a tree. Except instead of running into it, she raced up, before twisting off, claws extended, and landed back on the ground. "Isn't that the coolest?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I was never great at being a warrior apprentice, honestly still have no idea how I earned my warrior name. Starclan can sometimes be a bit tricky, but it's nice to know I'm helping cats." Muddythorn said, trying his hardest not to get his train of thought stuck on the prophecy he'd received last time had had visited the moonstone. The medicine cat was caught off guard by Rabbitpaw's demonstration, and at first was worried she would run directly into the trunk. "Be care-" He started, but quickly cut himself off when the apprentice practically flew up the tree, new skills clearly working.

In all honesty, Muddythorn couldn't really see her as she flitted through the branches, her being slightly too far away for his vision to clearly see. When she rejoined him, he warned, "Don't go using up all your energy now, we haven't even left the territory yet! We've got to get all the way to Highstones by moonhigh." With that in mind, he picked up his pace slightly, feeling like they were a little short on time.

Aww, Muddythorn didn't even comment on how cool her move looked! It took her ages to be able to flip like that! That was no fun! She hardly had time to mope before the medicine cat took off again, and Rabbitpaw had to race to keep up.

Of course, it would not be like Rabbitpaw to hold much of a grudge, and this was no different, as she had already pushed the situation aside. Now, she was showering the tom with questions, with seemingly no end.

"What is the moonstone like? Does it really glow? How big is it? I heard it was as big as 3 dogs! And that is really big, isn't it?! Oh, and what is StarClan like? Do you know what cat I will meet? I don't think I know that many dead cats, not that I'm complaining! I'm happy I didn't see any cats die! I have Dawnfeather, and Dandelionflight, and Oliverain, and Hollowpaw, and I never ever ever have to let them go! But does that mean no cat will visit me?"

Muddythorn listened to the apprentice's onslaught of questions, waiting to answer them all at the end, since Rabbitpaw was asking them so rapidly. "The rock itself doesn't glow, but if the moonlight hits it at the right angle, the moonbeams reflect off it. It is beautiful." No matter how many times he visited it, he was convinced it would never lose its wonder to him. "I don't know about that - I mean, I've never seen a dog up close before." Usually, the thing to do when you saw a dog was to run in the other direction. He hesitated at the next comment, flashes of his father's bleeding body, one he was too late to save. Yes, Rabbitpaw was right. She was very lucky, and Muddythorn hoped that it would stay that way for her. Although, knowing how life was, it was unlikely.

"It isn't always a cat you knew in life. I've spoken directly to Starclan cats three times: once when, like you, I was a warrior apprentice, again when I became a medicine cat apprentice and once again when I became a full medicine cat. Each time I spoke to a different Starclan warrior. One was a Skyclan warrior who died long before I was born. The next was a Thunderclan elder who had recently joined the stars, and the third was my uncle, who even then I didn't know that well." He explained. The apprentice's endless questioning had led the two quite far and now, to Muddythorn, Highstones were more than just a grey smudge on the horizon. Night had already fallen, and the first few stars were peking their way through the clouds.

"Ok, but that has to be bigger than a dog, right?"

Staring up at Highstones, her jaw completely dropped. They were huge! She felt like an insect next to them! Was this how prey like tiny birds felt when they were being chased by cars like Bloodstar? It sure made her feel pretty small thinking about it!

"And we are climbing all the way up there? Or wait, no, that's not what the others said. There is a cave, right? And we are going inside it? I heard it's really dark and spooky, even a ShadowClan cat has a hard time seeing! Is it really that dark in there? How do you know where you are going? What if you get lost in there? Wait, what if I lose you?! Could I be stuck in Highstones forever and ever? Would I never see StarClan?! And what about the Clan, what will all of my friends think when I don't come back?! I don't want to be lost forever!"

Muddythorn couldn't help but laugh at the apprentice's excitement, "Don't worry, there's a cave about half way up, the moonstone is in there. You won't get lost, I promise. No apprentice has ever been lost in highstone's tunnels as far as I know." It was understandable that the young she-cat was nervous, even if she did show it in an unusual, hyper-questioning way. The climb itself wasn't far, but after the amount of energy they had used getting there, the travelling herbs were starting to fade ver so slightly, and the tom's pace had slowed.

The entrance loomed in front of them, and Muddythorn explained, "Just stay close to my tail, you can grab on if you need to. If you want to turn back at any point, just shout, okay?" He was aware that not everyone knew the tunnels and what to expect in them, and felt bad for the Windclan cats used to open moor, having to squeeze through a tight space. With Muddythorn in the lead, it didn't take long for them to reach the cavern.

"There it is, the moonstone." He whispered, the light already hitting it and illuminating their surroundings. "Lie down and press your nose to it. I'll be right here the whole time."

With a nervous gulp, Rabbitpaw followed Muddythorn down into the tunnels, making sure she was close enough for his tail to brush her nose. It tickled, but it certainly made her feel better. She didn't like how dark and scary it was in the tunnel, and she was too scared to even speak. What if something was watching them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike? What if her making any noise would be what brought danger to them?

Thankfully, it did not stay dark for long, and they quite literally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. She still sort of had a lump in her throat, so she just silently followed the medicine cat's instructions.

And it felt like the ground gave way beneath her. For a moment, there was nothing, and yet she didn't fall. She was just....floating. And then a new world appeared, one more beautiful than she had ever seen before. She forgot she was even supposed to speak to some car, she just sat there, staring in awe.

"Wow!"

Rabbitpaw's eyes widened with awe. Twin yellow eyes peered after the young apprentice, watching her, regarding her with interest. It had been some time since the she-cat had interacted with an energetic young soul and not some indignant kit that needed to be taught a lesson. Each interaction with the living was interesting in its own way - she supposed. Wolffang finally decided to reveal herself after a moment, slipping from behind the memory of a tree as the scene shifted to become something akin to Skyclan territory. The afterlife was a mysterious creature but it seemed to value the comfort of its audience. Her whiskers twitched as she piped up, hoping to finally draw the attention of their visitor, "Had enough of your gawking yet? It's not as exciting as most cats think. Especially after sitting around for several seasons."

The Starclan cat was the size of an apprentice, physically unimposing, but carried herself with a confident - or careless - air. Star crossed her pelt, displaying how unkind life had been to the little grey tabby. She waited with an impatiently flickering tail for a response to come.

The molly had jumped a few tail lengths in the air when she heard a voice speak to her. Allowing her heart to slow, she took in the owner of that voice, shockingly not much larger than herself. In fact, Rabbitpaw might have even been the bigger of the two, although she wasn't a good judge of height. She was a pretty cat, though, she knew that much.

"Right! I'm so, so sorry! Uh, this is my first time here, or uh, I guess you know that! And it is really pretty! You're pretty too! I love your coat! It looks so shiny! Are all StarClan pelts that shiny? Oh! Uh, I'm Rabbitpaw, by the way! Or, I guess you knew that too? Do StarClan cats know everything? I mean, I guess you are always looking over us, right? So you must know everything!"

And this poor StarClan cat was suffering an earful.

"Pretty? You got something wrong with your eyes, kit? Might want to have that medicine cat of your check your eyes out. I'm as pretty as a clawed up badger." Wolffang snorted, narrowing her eyes at the young cat. She supposed it was a nice enough thing to say and berated herself internally. Such hopeful youth had hardly been preserved in her own kits. It was almost off-putting to witness, perhaps a reminder of her many mistakes, or even a jealousy of sorts. She sighed and softened slightly, "Starclan sees a lot but not even we know everything, kit. Sure would be a nice thought, though, huh? All we can do is guide paws and hope the forest ends up walking the right path. But even then, the stars can only do so much. We're condemned in a way. You know what that means?"