Pantherpaw's Moonstone Journey

Picking up a small bundle of traveling herbs from the medicine cat den that Oceanlight had set out for him, Tinylegs padded back to the camp entrance where Pantherpaw waited for him. Today, he would take another apprentice to the Moonstone.

Setting down the herbs at Pantherpaws's paws, Tinylegs looked up to the apprentice. "Eat these. They're not very yummy, but they'll help you on the journey," he mewed reassuringly. Leaning down, he scooped up his portion into his little muzzle and chewed away, trying not to show his disgust towards the bitter tasting plants. Even though he'd eaten them a few times before, their taste was still just as revolting as all the other times.

Trying to swallow down what was left in his mouth as fast as possible, the small white and grey tom looked back to the apprentice once more. "Ready to go?"

Pantherpaw waited patiently for the deputy but when he appeared with those herbs he couldn’t help to do a disgusted face. With a bad mood, the apprentice ate the herbs and gulped them quickly so he wouldn’t throw them away.
He turned his eyes to the short tom and nodded with determination. ”I am. Let’s go! I can’t wait to see the Moonstone with my own eyes.” he pretended that e was excited about the travel but the truth was that he couldn’t care less. Starclan was just a bunch of dead old cats that couldn’t do anything. They didn’t help their siblings so why should he follow them? The apprentice denied any possibility of being by their side. They were just like Batfang.

OOC: Sorry for the delay!

OOC: ak, sorry for the late reply.

IC: Padding out of camp with Pantherpaw at his side, the two of them began their journey to the Moonstone. The little tom lifted a non-exsistant brow when the apprentice spoke, skeptical if his words were true or not, seeing that Patherpaw had a reputation to not care for anything, but Tinylegs just replied with a purr, forgetting about any suspicions. "I'm glad to hear that you're excited to see them, it's definitely something you don't see everyday," he chuckled in reply as the two of them continued a steady pace towards their destination.

Pantherpaw followed the deputy close, keeping his eyes looking forward as they walked together. It was a long trip but he was willing to do it if that meant he could be a warrior sooner. When the short tom answered his words, a question appeared on his head. ”You have seen them, right? How do they look?” He asked referring to the Starclan cats. He wasn’t a strong believer in them but he couldn’t deny that he was a little curious.

OOC: aaahhh, so sorry for the wait!

IC: Perking his ears, Tinylegs looked to Pantherpaw and thought back to when he'd met StarClan. It was definitely something that left a cat's jaw dropped in aw, that was for sure. "They're pretty amazing," the small white tom started with a chuckle. "And as much as I want to tell you about them, I'd hate to spoil the surprise that we've traveled so far to reach," he added with a wink. With that, he picked up the pace and began trotting, getting himself excited just thinking about Highstones.

{time skip}

They kept walking for what seemed like forever, past the Thunderpath and some Twoleg homes, but soon enough, Mothermouth was in sight. The large Highstones loomed ahead, but the Leafbare sun still shone in the sky, lighting their path, though he knew night would be upon them soon.

Padding over to a spot closer to the entrance of the ominous cave, the little white and grey deputy settled down on a soft patch of a dirt to groom his fur and rest, letting Pantherpaw have free range to rest or explore the area.

After a little while longer of waiting, the sun began to dip low over the horizon and darkness enveloped the sky above them. "Ready to head in?" he asked the apprentice, standing up and giving his legs a stretch.

Pantherpaw followed the deputy without saying anything else until they arrived at the entrance of the cave. He walked around impatiently, waiting for Tinylegs approval to go in. He really wanted to finish this fast so he could go home an prepare himself for his warrior ceremony. When the short tom finally talked again, he smiled and nodded. ”Yes. Let’s go.”

Walking down the dark tunnel, it wasn't very difficult for Tinylegs to make his way through the cramped space, seeing that he was small enough that he didn't exactly need to crouch down. Able to feel Pantherpaw right behind him, he kept a steady pace, and soon enough, the two of them reached the Moonstone.

Lifting his jaw, the little tom took in the comforting, damp scent of the cave and sat down near the entrance that lead back through the tunnel. "Touch the Moonstone whenever you're ready. I'll be waiting here for you," he mewed with a smile and sat down where he was at the edge of the chilly cave.

OOC: were you the one who wanted Antdrop to be the StarClan cat?

OOC: Yes, that's me. By the way, can I ask for his warrior ceremony now or should I wait for this to end?

IC:
Pantherpaw walked behind the white-furred warrior, keeping a good distance between him and the older tom. When the light of the Moonstone showed up at the end of the path, he blinked a bit surprised by its brightness.

Following Tinyleg's instructions, the young apprentice made his way to the rock and he laid down in front of it. He closed his green eyes and then touched the Moonstone, not believing he would go anywhere since he hated Starclan.

That's why he was surprised when he opened his eyes again and the starry plains welcomed them. Pantherpaw looked around with emotionless eyes, wondering if someone would appear soon.

OOC: mmk, sweet. And uh, idk, I'd ask a mod.

IC: Most cats described StarClan as a utopia sort of realm, which was entirely true, but being like he was, Antdrop never really understood why everyone worshiped it so much, but even so, he wasn't going to complain.

The black tom's life had unfortunately ended too soon due to a hunting accident and now, he lived alone in the starry fields, wishing nothing more than to see his little brother and family again. Admittedly, he'd originally despised Tinylegs, but he hadn't realized how lucky he was until it was all gone. If only he could've changed his ways earlier, then maybe things would have ended differently.

Per usual, Antdrop sat alone on the empty, cloud covered moorlands, concentrating on something. His brother, Tinylegs of all cats had been appointed deputy in place of the sick Rippedsky and the StarClan warrior found tears forming in his eyes as he wished the small white tom the best of luck.

Noticing a shape begin to appear not far away from where he sat, the black tom lifted up his head from where it'd rested on his paws and focused his gaze on what seemed to be an apprentice. The young tom's pelt didn't shimmer with sparkling stars like those of deceased cats, which meant he was probably just visiting, which was good.

Standing up, he gave his pelt a shake, sending specks of stardust to fall back to the misty ground. With him being what looked to be the only cat around, he knew that he needed to go check the apprentice out. "What might you be doing here?" Antdrop asked stoically and he calmly made his way over to Pantherpaw. He assumed this was another Moonstone Journey, but it didn't hurt to ask. Like always, there was no emotion on his face even when "welcoming" a cat to StarClan. Even when he was among the living, the warrior had never been a very social cat and preferred to keep to himself, since that way, life was much more simple, and he was perfectly fine with things being that way.

OOC: Okay! :P

IC:

Pantherpaw looked at the warrior approaching him with serious eyes. He was a bit surprised that Starclan wanted to talk with him even when they probably knew that he hated them. At first, the young tom didn't answer and remained quiet, analizyng the black-furred tom. "I don't know. I don't want to be here in the first place but this dumb trip was necessary to become a warrior, so... here I am. If you are here to say something, say it quick. I don't care about Starclan's so called wisdom anyway." He said disinterested, looking away from the older tom. The tortie cat couldn't care less about this. The only thing that mattered for him was to become strong enough to kill his father and his family for what he did to him and his dead siblings. Were they here too, in Starclan?

Not surprised that his suspicions on this cat had been correct in that he didn't give a claw about StarClan, Antdrop waited for Pantherpaw to finish and simply flicked his tail in the direction behind him. Without saying a word, the warrior turned around and began walking away from the visitor, knowing that Patherpaw would soon follow even if he hated StarClan or whatever.

The young apprentice couldn’t care less about Antdrop leaving him until he started to notice that he wasn’t waking up as he expected. With an angered hiss, Pantherpaw ran behind the warrior after a few minutes. When his eyes met his dark fur, he unsheathed his claws driven by his anger. ”Hey! You! At least let me wake up so I can finish this nonsense and stop bothering you!” He demanded breathing fastly by the persecution.

Walking up a small hill and listening as the apprentice snapped at him, Antdrop stopped when he got to the top and waited for Patherpaw to catch up. "So whiny," he mumbled to himself, looking down to the tom with a bored expression on his face. "And I'm not the one keeping you here," the black tom pointed out plainly, not going any further with an explanation as to what he meant.

Moving on from that particular subject, he turned his head to look out onto the vast moorland bellow the hill in which they stood. While it was admittedly a beautiful sight, like everything, the twinkling starlit field didn't last forever. In the distance, as if almost perfectly split down the middle, the dimly lit plains faded into a misty darkness. If some-cat were to go close enough to the darkness, the glinting eyes of the exiled could be seen through the grey, hazy, fog, and their taunting, whispering voices, could be heard. Luckily for them, they weren't going to go anywhere near there.

Flicking his tail back and forth, Antdrop pointed his muzzle towards the ominous darkness that sat over yonder. "Do you know what that is?" he asked stoically, not turning his gaze away from where it sat as he spoke.