Rookpaw's Moonstone Journey

Rookpaw looked up at Willowwhisker, taking in all of her features. She was filled with joy and wonder. Her ears were turned forward in anticipation for what important piece of wisdom she was about to receive from her ancestor. Her eyes locked with the she-cat's, wide and curious. Then the dirty words were spoken. or a moment, she was in disbelief. Was this a joke? It had to be! Until the other made a move to close the distance and comfort her. Her heart sank, sank lower than she had ever thought possible. Then it began to hurt, as if some invisible badger had torn it to shreds. Tears sprung to her eyes and she whimpered. How could everyone have lied to her like this?!

As the WindClan apprentices eyes started to prick with tears, Willowwhisker wrapped her starry tail around her, putting as much effort into comforting her 'granddaughter' as she possibly could. "All things happen for a reason, Rookpaw. I've been in your paws before, and I have faith in Quailfeather and Silentstrike. Don't ever forget it Rookpaw, they love you as their own." The she-cat, in all her time as a StarClan cat, had never had such a feelsy encounter with an apprentice. But she didn't mind. If encouragement was what the young she-cat needed, she'd give it to her.

As she cried into the shoulder of the StarClan cat, the world around her began to fade. She did not want to leave and whimpered. She did not want to go home to cats who pretended to be her kin. She did not want to desert this moment and this comfort. But it was fading fast now, and she barely caught the words of wisdom she received. All things happen for a reason? Was that why she ended up in WindClan...? Suddenly, she gasped, opening her eyes. As she looked, she once again saw the bland and dark cave walls surrounding her. The feeling of suffocation returned, but now there were tears staining the fur of her face.

"Brindlewhisker... where did I come from?"

Remaining curled against a jagged outcrop of smooth stones, Brindlewhisker's muscles ached slightly from being seated for so long. Ears pricking as Rookpaw began to stir, the brindled she-cat apprehensively began to shift her weight around in an attempt to combat her oncoming stiffness. Why did the Moonstone cavern always have to be so cold? She was getting too old to handle constantly bouncing in and out of the frigid little cave. Forcing herself to straighten up to her full-height, she did her best to will away the chill-induced aches.

Rookpaw's sudden gasp and flurry of movements made Brindlewhisker's attention return to the matter at paw, her fully-adjusted gaze easily picking out the dark fur of her apprentice. The teary statement made her head tilt in confusion, a slight frown twisting her mouth. What had StarClan spoken to her about? "What do you mean? You're from WindClan, same as any kit." She answered, the wary tone of her voice echoing sharply off of the hollow space all around them.

"But who were my parents? Willowwhisker... she... she said Silentstrike and Quailfeather weren't my parents..." Rookpaw begged, looking more lost and sad than she ever had. After a few moments of her yellow stare piecing into Brindlewhisker, her head drifted down. She sighed. They were dead, weren't they? They were probably dead and lost from StarClan, or something. Quietly, she stood up and swished around. "We should probably head back to camp." 'I want to question them' was left unspoken.

Bewilderment still radiated from Brindlewhisker, made all the more prominent by the baffled expression that had overtaken her features. That couldn't be possible, could it? A cold pit opened up deep within her belly as she desperately tried to sift through her memories- had she even seen Quailfeather grow heavy with kits? The majority of her recollections were quite fuzzy, albeit she could still recall Silentstrike and Quailfeather showing off Rookpaw when she had been only a few sunrises old. Stiffly thrusting herself back into an upright position, the brindled she-cat tried to ignore the nagging worm of distrust that was now nipping sharply at her. "We should. Remember to stay close behind me." Brindlewhisker simply offered, her voice holding a strange, chilly tone as she turned her back on the Moonstone, paws hardly making a sound as she vanished into the maze of tunnels once more.

Thus, Rookpaw followed Brindlewhisker through the subterranean labyrinth that brought them back outside. Back into the open air. Yet it felt like her heart was still trapped beneath that cold mountain. Whatever was left was hollow, empty, and aching. There was anger as well, at StarClan and at her parents-- if she should even still give them the honor of that title. They weren't her parents any more than she was WindClan, probably. It made a knot form in her stomach. Everything was a lie. Her kithood, her apprenticeship... she was not fit to be considered a WindClan warrior. But where else would she go? All she knew was loyalty and running the moors. Was there any place for her in the world? Was there ever a place for her? Her mind drifted to Swiftpaw. At least he was born into his Clan; she resolved that she should stop seeing him, give him the chance to live a good, pure life without the deception that hers had been built on. But would anyone back in WindClan ever be willing to take her as a mate? Would she let herself? Her blood was polluted, she thought solemnly.

The ground gradually grew soft underpaw once more, the harsh, stone-flecked earth slowly giving way to gently sloping hills littered with sparse grasses and brittle foliage. Muscle memory easily guided Brindlewhisker along the unseen trails, her paws instinctively settling into the routine that she had adapted over the course of several moons. A sour silence hung heavily between the two WindClanners, each of them much too caught up with their respective thoughts to bother with the pleasantry of small-talk. Silentstrike and Quailfeahter couldn't of been this stupid, right? There was no possible way that two senior Warriors could've been this thoughtless. Maw twisting into a weary frown, the Deputy's attention was diverted at the unfortunately familiar sound of the approaching Thunderpath- it sounded much busier than it did whenever they first had passed through.

"We're approaching the Thunderpath, so stay close." Brindlewhisker finally mewed, her absent words partially drown out by the harsh rumbling of the overly active road.

Rookpaw followed thoughtlessly as she wrestled with her own thoughts and feelings. The warning that was offered to her by Brindlewhisker was hardly registered. She looked up to gauge the Thunderpath, but did not wait to see if there was anything coming. Instead, once they were close enough and the dark, awful-smelling pathway was in sight, she decided to go ahead and leap forwards to clear it quickly. Unfortunately, her quick and sloppy calculation left her only about halfway across. She was about to finish bounding past when her ears prickled, detecting the sound of a monster coming. Her eyes widened as the glowing eyes locked onto her, its prey, with her heart trembling almost as hard as the ground. Quickly, she tried to duck out of the way, but it was too late. She felt the horrible paw of the monster strike her hindquarters, sparing her from death, but shattering her bones. It passed by without a second thought to collect its catch.

Limping, Rookpaw made a few movements forward, then collapsed into a pain-wracked heap.