Icepaw followed behind the deputy, his whiskers barely brushing the tom's pelt along the journey, from camp to Highstones, especially as they delved into the mouth of the cave, their vision blocked by a darkness so deep, not even their strong eyes could spot an inch of light. They padded quickly, his body squished against the cave walls before he spotted the etchings of light ahead and they erupted into the clearing.
His turquoise eyes blinked as they adjusted to the light, before resting on the Moonstone. It was more beautiful than he imagined. But now was not the time to admire its shine. As Swiftstep commanded, he inched towards the stone, settling down on his stomach and pressing his nose to its cold form. A chill shot down the apprentice's back on contact.
Within seconds, his eyes closed themselves and he felt himself drift somewhere far away from where he fell asleep.
Icepaw woke with a jolt, his eyes filled with the familiar image of WindClan's grassy plains. While he felt the ease and comfort of the tall grass whisking across his pelt in the wind, the sky above carried more stars than he could count. He had never seen so many stars. Before he could become hypnotized by their entrancing dance in the sky, one began to fall. Its speed grew as it fell closer and closer to the ground before it crashed with a thunderous roar, only foxlengths in front of him.
"So you're the third. Nice to finally meet you kid," a rough voice chuckled through the grass. Squinting, the tom padded forward, pushing away the stalks before coming face to face with a cream-coloured she-cat. Her tabby pelt twinkled like the stars above them, while her icy stare bore deep into the grey tom's soul. He opened his mouth to speak but her tail swiftly shot over it. "No, don't say a word. No questions for you, it's my turn to speak." His face scrunched up in frustration, but he could tell this she-cat would not be happy if he spoke. Accepting her demands, he sat down and directed his attention to the lilac tabby.
She paced around the area, tail flicking back and forth methodically. "Ahhh, it's been so long since I've spoken to a living cat. I think the last time was... well when I left WindClan. I was so frustrated about my father's mania, so I decided to run away. Not the best choice in the end. Leaving home without a medicine cat was a fox-hearted move, but I was an obnoxious apprentice. Of course, I was too stubborn to come back. Ended up dying alone in a cave many moons later. I refused to even speak to any of those nasty rogues and loners. They all called me a crazy old cat, but I just accepted it." Icepaw swallowed. Who was this she-cat, and why was she telling him her life's story?
Spotting his confusion, she stopped mid-step and turned to the solid tom. "Right. My name. Icepaw. Ex-medicine cat of WindClan, daughter of ye old Stormstar and Raccoonstar. Yes, I know, take it in. It's not often you find yourself face to face with a celebrity. It's funny that your mother would name you after such a distant aunt but I suppose she just had good taste and knew the potentional of an Icepaw," she spoke with a wink. "You're not even the first Icewhisker to exist. Our long gone, beyond great-grandpa was named Icewhisker. He was also a medicine cat. Ended up getting killed by his sister if I recall correctly. Mated with his mentor from ShadowClan. That was a surprise. Sure messed their kits up when they found out."
The tom cocked his head. "I'm not the first Icewhisker? But I'm not a warr-" A cold gaze cut the tom off. "I said don't speak. And yes, Icewhisker. I suppose you should make sure Brindlestar doesn't name you something dumb, like Iceriver." She chuckled as if she knew something the tom did not. Despite his clearly confused state, she continued speaking, rambling on about the old Icewhisker and her own life stories.
After enough time of her ranting passed, he found himself frustrated. "Did you bring me here just to talk about your life? I thought you were supposed to tell me something useful." His supposed ancestor groaned and pawed at the ground. "Isn't the name thing useful enough?" He shook his head. "Fine, fine."
"You want useful? Don't bother trying to find a mate. The one you were supposed to end up with is gone. Disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to her. StarClan thought it would be fun to pair you up with some girl in ShadowClan just like your namesake. She even shared a name. Ebonypaw. But since she's gone, you're doomed to a life of unfulfillment in the romance department. Maybe if she comes back you'll get lucky. Even then, cross-clan romances don't ever have happy endings." His blue-green eyes opened wide as she spoke. W-What was she saying? Soulmates exist? And his was some missing she-cat from ShadowClan? There had to be some sort of mistake, he would never break the code like that.
"Oh, and just chill out a bit, will you? You're so stiff sometimes. Take everything one day at a time and have some fun. You'll kill yourself one day if you try so hard to be what you can't." Without another word, his world flashed black and he opened his eyes to find himself back with the Moonstone and Swiftstep.
"What in StarClan's name was that?"______________________________________
magpiepaw ┗━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━┛ greenpaw
