Ivypaw's Moonstone Journey

Leopardclaw dropped the familiar bundle of traveling herbs in front of the apprentice's den, and called out into the narrow opening in the brambles; "Ivypaw, it's time to head out!"  Another clear day, another Moonstone trip, but today was a bit special.  Another one of his kits was about to take a big step towards their warrior name, and the golden tom couldn't be more proud.  Even though the brown tabby she-cat was not related to him and Lichenfang by blood, he considered her just as much a part of their family as any of his other biological children.

Ivypaw sprinted over to her adoptive father. She recognized the herbs she had to eat. All the other apprentices complained about them. She ate them, trying hard to not make a disgusted face. ”Er.. I’m ready!”

Leopardclaw nodded with a slight purr, before turning on his paws and leading the way out of camp, up the ravine, and out into the snow-burned forest.  His bright golden pelt stood out starkly against their pure white surroundings, as they pushed their way through the deep snow towards Fourtrees.  Once they reached the clearing where the clans gathered in peace once a moon though they didn't stay for long; they crossed over the WindClan scent markers and began the steady upward climb onto the moorland.  Taking a deep, refreshing breath of crisp air, the spotted deputy glanced back at Ivypaw as they traversed the fields of WindClan land, curious what her reaction might be.

”Weird..” Ivypaw murmured. She wasn’t used to being in such open plains. It felt too open. She much preferred have trees to sort of shelter her. ”How can the WindClanners stand being in such open plains?”

Leopardclaw let out a soft laughing purr, and slowed down to walk beside his daughter.  "They must like seeing the open sky just as much as we ThunderClanners love the trees standing overhead, protecting and guarding us."  As he spoke though, the spotted golden tom couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed; he loved the moorland, and seeing the open sky was always something he appreciated.  As much as he cherished the territory that he called home, there was nothing like seeing an almost endless expanse of sky stretched out in front of you, like a bright blue lake that clung to the wrong side of the earth.  After a moment of walking and taking in the sights, the deputy began to speed up a bit, and continue to lead down the path towards unknown lands.

-timeskip-

At long last, he and Ivypaw came to a halt outside Mothermouth, it's inky blackness both warning away and beckoning visitors to explore it's depths.  Their walk had been long, and the moon was already starting to rise in the half-cloudy sky.  "Follow me."  Scenting the musty air of the tunnel, Leopardclaw took a step inside - signaling for his daughter to follow behind - and vanished into the darkness.

Ivypaw frowned at the sight was the dark cave. How would they see in there? Though she trusted Leopardclaw very much, so she followed him in there.
She felt a little claustrophobic in the narrow dark tunnel-like cave. She just carefully followed her father’s scent, and stayed close enough that she could sense him with her whiskers.

Leopardclaw led them through the tunnels at a steady pace, but always made sure to not wander too far ahead, so that his scent and faint form could help guide the brown and white tabby she-cat.  It didn't take long at all though before a light began to shine ahead, and the tunnel opened up into a large cavern.  The Moonstone stood in front of them, a beautiful shining crystal that washed everything in the cave - including them - in a holy shade of white.  Wasting no time, Leopardclaw meowed; "Step forward and touch your nose to the Moonstone Ivypaw, and our ancestors will speak with you in dreams.  I will be here when you wake up."  Nuzzling her head affectionately, the deputy stepped away and stood, watching his daughter proudly.

At first she still couldn’t see anything. But the moonstone lit up so quickly Ivypaw almost jumped three feet in the air. Though she relaxed a little at the words of the golden deputy. She touched her nose to the glittering crystal, which was shockingly cold. She then curled up beside the large stone, and drifted away into a deep sleep.

She opened her eyes to find that she was standing in a starry field. She glanced around, and only saw endless plains. Even in WindClan territory you would occasionally see a little lone tree in the distance and was more hilly there. but here it was just and endless land of flat plains with nothing else to see.
She directed her attention to forward where the shape of a cat started to form.

"It's pretty dazzling, isn't it?" A soft creamy tabby meowed as her took shape on the starry fields. Her green eyes were so full of life, but in life, she'd been so lacking in life, it was ironic. Hawkstrike delighted in sharing tongues with an apprentice now that she wasn't so weak from her hellish life. Here, death didn't quite have the same sting, and the hardships of clan life faded into relaxing days spent in the starry plains. Ivypaw wouldn't get to share this luxury of eternal peace for many moons to come, but Hawkstrike could at least share some wisdom in these hard times for ThunderClan. "How is hunting going for you? I know the fire took much from our clan."

Ivypaw was shocked at first of the sight of a StarClan cat. Her presence felt so powerful. ”The hunting? I mean, it’s alright. Harder, but alright. I feel like I haven’t been doing quite as well, and my warrior ceremony is somewhat soon so I want to improve. Or improve again. I don’t know,” She replied. She really wanted impress her clan, was she? She wasn’t sure.

"Improvement will come with experience, and you're still so young, Ivypaw, you shouldn't fret so much. Perhaps you should bring up this concern to your mentor? You don't need to face the whole world alone, little one." Hawkstrike meowed softly, she was a former queen after all. She was good a noticing these little sighs of concerns and smoothing them over with motherly advice.

”I-I know,” Ivypaw mewed. Though she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t talked to her mentor about these things. And she was young. Hawkstrike was right. Ivypaw didn’t really know why she had anxiety a lot lately. She had her whole life ahead of her, she shouldn’t worry about being perfect. Perhaps if she could cut herself some slack, she’d do better because she’d be more relaxed. Less anxious you are, the easier it is to do things. ”Yes, I understand. I’ll do that.”

"Good, never feel afraid to speak to your clanmates about concerns. I made that mistake in my life, and it cost me dearly. No clanmate doesn't want to help you, my dear." Hawkstrike meowed warmly at the apprentice, licking her forehead in a reassuring manner. Ivypaw had a lot on her shoulders as the daughter of a deputy, Hawkstrike knew that feeling well. Her father had been Duskfall after all, she'd been consumed with the need to work harder to make him proud. It was a difficult burden that they both shared, but hopefully, her words would help this apprentice. "Now, is there anything else going on in your life? Perhaps a special tom or she-cat in your life?"

Ivypaw made sure to remeber the StarClan Warrior’s advice. She almost chuckled at her question. ”No, not really. Haven’t found me a special tom yet. I mean, I kinda liked Foxfire but he is with Daisyheart now so I’m over-“ great she was rambling about toms to a dead cat. ”-uh anyway no, there is nothing else really.”

"Unrequited love is hard. Cats get so caught up in survival, we forget that we're living breathing creatures with hearts. Don't neglect yours, Ivypaw. I'm rooting for you." Hawkstrike had loved Frozenflame for all her life until her grief driven depression had driven her beloved away from her. Personally, she was glad he'd found love in another eventually, though Ivypaw's case was different. It was plain unrequited love, which was hard to bear. She swore to watch over her, nudge her in the right direction when she could. What was the point of being a StarClan cat without having a little power to help out a lonely heart.

"Dappledpaw is pretty handsome?" She teased.