Lightningpaw's Moonstone Journey

Plumleaf was getting overwhelmed. The past few moons had certainly been... a lot, and it was getting harder and harder to stay on top of things. Wolfblossom and Birdstar helped out where they could, as did all their clanmates, but it was time to face the facts: Plumleaf needed an apprentice. Sooner rather than later, hopefully, but for now all she could do was continue her duties and hope that Starclan would send a sign soon. Speaking of duties, it was time for another apprentice to visit the moonstone. It seemed like the apprentice den had been practically overflowing with cats lately, so she was glad some of them were on their way to becoming warriors. She gathered her bundle, wrapping it neatly in a dock leaf and making her way to the den.

"Lightningpaw!" She called. "It's time to go. These herbs will give you strength for the journey ahead." She explained, patiently waiting for the apprentice to swallow the herbs before leading the way out of camp. The walk was short but pleasant, and before long they had arrived.

"This way." She instructed, leading Lightningpaw into the cave. The darkness swallowed her like a comfortable, well-worn blanket, and in no time a bright light up ahead signaled their arrival. "Touch your nose to the stone, and close your eyes. When you wake, you'll be in Starclan's hunting grounds."

The herbs were bitter. She'd known they would be, but she had perhaps underestimated just how much.

The walk, though, wasn't too bad.

Taking it easy and living one day at a time had its perks, but as time passed Lightningpaw found herself missing the cats that had filled the empty space within the apprentice den. True, there was Juniperpaw and Emberpaw and the rest of them, but Creamsky and Rainfrost and Crookedlight had all moved forward. She had thrown herself back into her training full-force, without a shred of hesitation, and now-

This was the last big step, wasn't it?

StarClan was- not scary, exactly, but intimidating. What would they think of her? SkyClan accepted her, liked her as she was, but was that enough for the warrior ancestors?

More importantly, did it matter? She had her home, she had her family and her friends. Her life was full of love and laughter, and she had nothing to fear: they wouldn't cast her aside, even if the cats of StarClan disapproved of her; or at least she'd like to think so.

The Moonstone shone brilliantly in the darkness of the cavern, illuminating the space around it.

She touched her nose to it and closed her eyes, letting thoughts of her first night in the warrior's den carry her to sleep.

Mr. Worm watched as the farmland wheat field gently faded away into tall trees dusted with stars to make it feel welcoming and familiar to the SkyClan apprentice. He stood, tail resting over his paws, waiting for her to approach him. "This is a pleasant surprise! I didn't think we'd meet again so soon."  
He knew what to expect with this one and was wholly prepared for the barrage of words that would spill out the moment her mouth opened. "Are you here for your moon stone?"