Robinpaw's Moonstone Journey

Birdflight carried a bundle of traveling herbs she got from Maplepaw and placed them down at the camp entrance where she was to wait for Robinpaw to show up. She had told her the day before that they would be going to the Moonstone today. "Robinpaw! Time to head out!" the warrior called. She was always happy taking apprentices on the life-changing journey. It was a nice day too despite there being a bit of snow around. New-leaf was showing up though. That was something she looked forward to.

Robinpaw walked calmly over to Birdflight. She was extremely excited, since her warrior ceremony was long overdue. She thought it must have been her injuries, but a little voice in the back of her head kept telling her it was because she wasn't good enough. She firmly pushed away these unwelcome ideas and nodded in respect to the warrior. "Hello, Birdflight." She glanced down at the herbs. "Am I supposed too eat those?" She asked.

Birdflight nodded and smiled. "They're traveling herbs. They'll keep your hunger in check and will provide you the strength needed to make the journey." the warrior explained. She sat down and began to speak again, "We'll leave once you're finished. We're going to travel at a nice, quick pace so we can make it to the Moonstone at a good time."

Robinpaw nodded and obiediently bent her head. She lapped up the herbs and recoiled immediately at the bitter taste. Those were disgusting! She swiped her tongue round and round her mouth repeatedly, before licking her paw vigorously, hoping that would rub off the foul taste. She pulled a face when she was finished. ”Those tasted disgusting!” She exclaimed. ”Well, I guess I’m ready to go.” She told Birdflight, getting to her paws.

Birdflight giggled at Robinpaw's reaction to the bitter tasting herbs. The warrior beckoned the apprentice to follow her out of the camp. Their journey was beginning.

~Time Skip~
The two she-cats had left Thunderclan territory and passed through Fourtrees. Currently they were treading quietly through Windclan territory. Robinpaw was by her side as she had told her to do. Even if Thunderclan and Windclan weren't on bad terms, she had to be safe. As the they were finally exiting Windclan's territory, the Abandoned barn loomed before them. Birdflight turned to the apprentice and signaled her to stay close. Anything could jump out at them from the barn. They were dodging and weaving their way through the barn. Soon they found themselves looking directly at the Thunderpath. She looked around for any incoming monsters. As one was about to cross, the warrior turned to address Robinpaw. "Okay. When I say run. Run as fast as you can! I will be alongside you." She turned back to see the monster roaring past. "Run Robinpaw!" she yowled. The calico she-cat darted across with the apprentice hot on her heels. The two made it safely across. She looked at the she-cat and dipped her head. "I'll let you rest before we head over to Mothermouth." Birdflight said as she sat down.

Robinpaw listened carefully to Birdflight’s words, nodding. She prepared herself to spring across the Thunderpath. She curled her upper lip at the foul stench the monsters gave off as they rumbled across the hard black stone, their merciless paws would surely crush her. At the warrior’s words, she sprinted as hard and fast as she possibly could across the path, landing safely on the other side. Panting, she sat down and lifted a paw, licking it thoroughly to cleanse it of the foul grit that had collected there. After her little rest, she got back to her paws. ”I’m ready to continue.”

Birdflight nodded and led the apprentice towards Mothermouth. The two she-cats finally made it to their destination right when Silverpelt had moved to the sky. The calico warrior smiled and turned to look at Robinpaw. "I'm sure you're more than ready to enter but it's very dark so stick by me okay?" Birdflight began to enter and lead the apprentice down the long and pitch black tunnel. They made it to the cavern that held the shining Moonstone. The she-cat made herself comfortable by the entrance. "Okay Robinpaw, touch your nose to the Moonstone." she instructed. The warrior then began to wait for the she-cat to finish.

Robinpaw nodded and followed Birdflight into the gaping hole, her pupils widening drastically as they tried to find an adequate light source. She was a little scared, but excited! Anyway, hadn't Shrewheart always told her never to be scared? She walked onwards through the rapidly narrowing passage. At one point, her whiskers brushed against the sides of the cavern, and so did her fur. She was grateful when she saw it widen up, and narrowed her eyes immediately. The shining, vibrant light of the Moonstone was different to the suffocating darkness she had felt in the tunnel. The apprentice watched the sacred stone sparkle with curiosity. It was so breathtaking! She looked to Birdflight before settling down, touching her nose to the stone and letting her eyes close.

“So...” After a few moments of silence, a familiar voice rang through the air. Unlike how other StarClan cats appeared to apprentices, he did not seem overly wise or ancient. In fact, it was clear it hadn’t been too long since he had passed, and even more clear that he knew Robinpaw quite well already. The little green tall grass danced around his fluffy brown fur, the silvery starlight illuminating that his leg was no longer twisted. His classic smirk lay on his face, and his yellow eyes were still as bright as when he had been alive. To one who wanted it enough, he would seem exactly the same. But he wasn’t. If anyone looked very closely, they could just barely see through his fur, which seemed to glisten with the silver light more than if it was just reflecting it. Other than that, the only thing that seemed different about him was the love and care in his eyes, which had always been there, but had never been shown this clearly. Shrewheart padded towards his apprentice, a grin slowly taking over his features. “How’s my favorite apprentice doing?”

"Shrewheart...."

What could she say? Robinpaw turned to face him, her eyes shining with longing. She missed him. Her mentor never deserved to die. She took a deep breath, trying to summon up her feelings into sentences. She should tell him about the recent events, right? But didn't all StarClan cats know about those kind of things? Should she tell him how scared she was? No, Shrewheart was never frightened. Well....maybe she should just tell him what was bothering her.

"I....I don't know if you know, but... RiverClan came into our camp. They told us that two of their cats had been killed by two of ours. I don't remember their names. One of the murderers was Flickerpaw. They took her away to their camp. The other one... It....i-it was..." She took a deep breath. "Specklefang was forced to eat deathberries after she told them it was her. I don't believe she did it, but what could I do? Flickerpaw's siblings stood up for her, one of them trying to make them take him, another swatting at Ivystar, but nothing seemed to work." After she had explained, she could feel tears pricking at her eyes. "S-shrewheart..... I'm scared!" she burst out. "They killed grandma! Such a strong warrior! They could easily kill me too!" She was panicking now, her breaths coming in quick, short gasps as she tried to blink away her tears.

At first Shrewheart just stood there, face soft with emotion at being with Robinpaw again. He had missed her almost as much as his family. But her words surprised him. Of course he knew what had happened, StarClan watched as things went on in the world. That wasn't something that he could just forget. Death was a powerful tool. Both clans were using it irresponsibly. Even as a dead cat he could do nothing about it. After all, he had died as a reckless young warrior rather than as a leader or valiant hero. The apprentice was right. Specklefang hadn't even killed Rowanpaw, but he would rather die five more times before say who the actual culprit was. As the smaller she-cat's words became more and more fearful, he realized that war was effecting the clans way worse than it seemed from up her. He knew she was a bright and promising young member of her clan, and seeing her reduced to this was downright depressing. He had been the one who had decided to speak with her, and no one had argued. In doing so, he had agreed to help clean up this big mess that two warring clans had created. Every apprentice counted. Especially this one. When he was alive he was sure she would grow up to lead the clan into greatness, and now he had to make sure she didn't stray from that path. His fluffy brown tail wrapped around her in a comforting gesture, sitting down and signaling for her to do the same.
"Robinpaw," he began, voice soft. Fear wasn't something he understood, but he had dealt with it before. "What RiverClan done made no sense, and ThunderClan's response didn't either. In fact, both clans would have done nicely listening to you and your siblings more than my rage blinded relatives. Flickerpaw and Specklefang didn't deserve what happened to them. But your a smart cat. They were murderers, or at least thought to be. RiverClan thought that meant they were pure evil and should be dealt with that way, and ThunderClan acted like that right along with them. You have the ability to help ThunderClan become a better place to live. Don't let these mouse brained accusations drive you to hide in a corner and cower in fear. On the contrary, stand up. Do something about what you don't like. You're scared?" Here he paused, looking straight into her blue eyes. "Use that as determination. Stand against what is wrong. Soon you won't be just an apprentice anymore. Don't be stupid and yell obvious angry things from the sidelines. Go right in the middle and state the truth calmly, but firmly. Then cats will listen to you."

Robinpaw sat down, feeling comforted that Shrewheart cared. She listened closely to his words, looking out over the starlit plains. "Yes, you're right. I won't get anywhere from the sidelines. " She agreed, turning to look directly into his eyes. The apprentice blinked away the tears, a smile appearing across her mouth. " I will. Thank you, Shrewheart. " She leant her head on his shoulder, feeling peaceful at last. StarClan was amazing. Here, she was safe from all her Clan's drama. Once she returned, she would likely be hauled back headfirst into the war. She didn't want that. She sighed with contentment, resisting the urge to close her eyes. Because she knew that when she opened them, she would be sent back to reality.

"You're welcome," Shrewheart mewed simply, not reacting much when Robinpaw put her head on his shoulder. That small sign of affection proved to him that living cats still cared about him, even after he had died. During his life he had managed to make a difference in at least a few others. StarClan was great, but it was also infuriating to be able to watch all the cats he loved be hurt and not be able to do anything about it. His lack of a high status stopped him from even visiting leaders. There were still rules that had to be followed up here. But then he sensed it. Somehow he could tell that it was almost sunrise, and that their time was almost up. "It was a pleasure to see you again, and I've missed you. But our time's up, so you gotta go.Just remember not to do anything stupid, alright? Bye." Slowly, the starry scene began to fade, and the fallen warrior with it.