Hazelpaw's Moonstone Journey

Another day, another moonstone. Thankfully, the deputy's side had been mended with the help of his own medicine cat, alongside Riverclan's. It was not a bad day. Besides, he was ready for the chance to spend some time with Hazelpaw. She was one of the apprentices he knew the least.

After collecting the herb bundle from Mintpaw, Rippedsky trotted towards the apprentice's den where the young she-cat had been allowed to rest. The journey was long and there was no sense in having her be exhausted along the way. After swallowing down his own bundle of herbs, the tom padded into the den and nudged her awake, "Time to go Hazelpaw. I have your herbs outside and then we will head out. They don't taste too good, but they will keep you strong for the journey and the favor will fade." He nodded and flicked his tail for her to follow him out, and waited by aforementioned leaves.

As soon as she had forced them down, the deputy led her out of the camp walls and in the direction of highstones.

Hazelpaw lifted her head, but then jumped to her feet as she realized it was time. She had been looking forward to this trip for moons! She looked at the herbs and scooped them into her mouth, not think they would be too bad. But she wrinkle her nose and forced the bitter herbs down. ”Ew! I hope I don’t have to eat those again!”
She quickly padded after Rippedsky, still making faces because the flavor hadn’t gone away just yet. ”I bet I didn’t need those! I strong, I can walk through whatever distance and not feel hungry!” She declared, though it probably wasn’t true.

"You likely won't have to eat them again," He remarked, glancing back at her for a moment, "But, your stomach and muscles would certainly not thank you for ignoring them. I've traveled enough to know how much they help..." The tom's whiskers twitched in amusement. Her desire to appear strong reminded him so much of Eagleheart, his former clanmate. It was that which reassured him this was the right decision. Hazelpaw would be a good warrior just like the late tom had been. Although, he hoped maybe a bit less reckless.

The pair traveled and he only offered up a light conversation about how training was going. He made sure to stick to the edge of Windclan territory and not cross into it at all. They needed to travel on the borders as much as possible to avoid any confrontation. Rippedsky made sure to keep reminding her until she was likely sick of it. But, with the various alliances and wars in the territory right now, it was necessary.

As they reached the rocks, he let out a soft sigh of relief that he did not know he had been holding in. Every other part of the tom's demeanor portrayed confidence. However, it was different being out near the other clan's territories. Especially, and weirdly enough, he felt strange being out under the open sky now. The deputy waited for Hazelpaw as he picked his way up the rocking path and mulled over their journey. His head seemed to be in several places at once as he padded silently towards mother mouth. Once there, he stopped and meowed, "Follow close to me, Hazelpaw. It will be dark and we cannot talk once we are inside. Press your nose to the moonstone while you sleep and Starclan will visit you in your dreams. I will be here when you awaken." As the moon began to rise into the air, he headed straight for the pressing blackness ahead. It was time.

Hazelpaw proudly walked beside the deputy, taking in his instructions. She nodded, carefully following Rippedsky into the dark dark tunnels. She felt claustrophobic and nervous in there, but when the tunnels got wider and they found the moonstone, glowing bright and sparkly, the tabby apprentice felt relieved, and immediately did what Rippedsky has told her earlier, and touched her nose to the stone, laying down and quickly drifting off to sleep.

She woke up in a starry forest, alone. The place was beautiful, more pretty than anything Hazelpaw had seen. A cat appeared in front of her. ”H-Hey! Who are you?”

A shimmering bi-color she-cat stepped forward, seemingly out of thin air, and bent her head to the apprentice in a friendly nod of greeting. Her murky green eyes flashing with sparkles of starlight, Pansyface smiled and held Hazelpaw's gaze firmly; "Greetings Hazelpaw, my name is Pansyface. I was once a warrior of SkyClan...welcome to StarClan." She fell silent, but her gaze never lifted from the young cat's face. Beneath her usual curious aura, a faint hint of severity could be detected, and her words were unusually curt.

OOC: ismshsjdn sorry I thought I replied to this :’3
IC:
Hazelpaw narrowed her eyes at Pansyface. ”Hi,” she meowed simply. ”So, any amazing advice you’d like to give me? Any ways of making me a better warrior?” She smiled slightly, but eagerly. ”I’m already better than the other apprentices, and I am an awesome fighter. So not even sure if I need any tips,” she boasted, smirking.

OOC: short and trash

(occ: it's okay ;D)

With a flick of her sleek tail, Pansyface seated herself on the sparkling grass, and nodded curtly through a narrowed gaze.  "Yes, it just so happens I do."  For a moment she was silent, and gazed down at the smaller she-cat through judgmental eyes, as if sizing Hazelpaw up for a fight.  The moment passed though, and the patched she-cat finally meowed;  "Hazelpaw, you will never be the 'best' warrior as long as you hold such stupid arrogance in your heart.  You are a promising young cat...but if you don't learn to hold back your ego such baseless confidence will lead to your downfall."  With a haughty flick of her ears, Pansyface continued on.  "I must admit, in life I wasn't always the best at doing that, and sometimes I let pride get the better of me...but.  I was wise enough to see that in order to be the best I needed to learn from the best.  The best warrior Hazelpaw, is humble, and listens to the advice and experiences of all her clanmates.  Arrogance and ignorance leads to dark paths that no living cat should ever want to tread.  Do you understand, Hazelpaw?"

OOC: ahh sorry! I forgot about this ;;
IC:
Hazelpaw narrowed her eyes at the StarClan warrior. Arrogance? Her? Well, she could see it a little, but surely her ego wasn’t that big? Either way, Pansyface’s advice was probably accurate, but Hazelpaw didn’t need it! She had nothing ‘stupid’ to hold in her heart. However, this was a StarClan cat she we talking too. Don’t they know best? Perhaps she should listen a little. But dont blame me if I forget. Even if I do, what difference would it make?
”I understand,” the tabby she-cat mewed.

She opened her eyes to find herself back in the cavern where the moonstone sat. She carefully got to her paws.

OOC: it makes a lot of differences, Hazelpaw. Lol writing this after everything that has happened is just... xD