Larkpaw's Moonstone Journey

Placing an assortment of traveling herbs into a nice, tight bundle, Fallowpaw narrowed her eyes and glanced across camp to try and catch a glimpse of Larkpaw's unfamiliar pelt. Fallowpaw knew all of her Clanmates, of course, but with such large numbers she was forced to try and maintain relationships with each of them, which could prove rather hard at times. Larkpaw didn't seem to get into too much trouble, whether it be skirmishes or otherwise, so there was never much reason for the tom to find himself in her den. When she found him, she trotted quietly over to his side and dropped the bundle at his paws. "There's a long journey ahead, so make sure you eat all of them, okay?" Not mentioning the fact that she was unable to put extra honey or heather nectar to his collection of herbs because of shortages in the sweet liquids, she glanced at her paws for a moment. This would be her first time taking on a Moonstone Journey since Shade's death, and she wasn't sure if she was happy about it or scared. She figured what she was feeling was an amalgamation of both, but all she could think of was dread that something else was lurking in the shadows.

Larkpaw walked up towards Fallowpaw, and he could see the bitter herbs used for strength. ”Okay,” Larkpaw said, eating the herbs up reluctantly. The taste was so awful that he almost threw up. Trying to control himself, he ended up eating the herbs without regurgitating them. Larkpaw then told Fallowpaw, ”I’m ready to go if you are.” The brown tabby realized that there was no honey or heather nectar, probably because of the lack of herbs overall.

Nodding her head quickly, Fallowpaw turned to face the entrance to camp. "I see no purpose in stalling. Let's be on our way." Padding out of camp, Fallowpaw checked behind her every so often just to be sure that Larkpaw was following closely behind her.


--


When the pair finally stood outside of Highstones, she looked over to the young tom accompanying her and nodded towards the entrance. "It's gonna be extremely dark in there, so stay as close to me as you can and listen very carefully for my pawsteps. When we get inside, touch your nose to the stone. You'll get extremely tired very quickly, don't fight it. When you wake up, you'll be able to speak with our ancestors." And with that, the tiny she-cat padded inside, making sure she could hear Larkpaw as she navigated the path expertly. When they finally reached the Moonstone, she settled down next to it and looked to Larkpaw before settling down and closing her eyes.

Larkpaw followed Fallowpaw towards Mothermouth.  Although he had heard tales about it, his frequent sickness caused him to never see this before.  The brown tabby tom followed Fallowpaw’s footsteps towards the Moonstone.  Just like Fallowpaw said, Larkpaw got really tired, really quickly.  The old apprentice closed his eyes when sleep overcame him.

~

When Larkpaw woke up, he was in a different place.  He saw a ginger tabby start to approach the brown tabby, which unsettled Larkpaw.  ”Hello, Larkpaw,” the cat said, which the apprentice recognized as a she-cat’s voice.  ”My name is Tigertail, a former warrior of RiverClan.”  Larkpaw realized that the she-cat had stars in her pelt, so she was definitely a StarClan cat.  I guess that’s why she knows my name, Larkpaw thought.  After a long silence, Tigertail said, ”Your time here is brief.  I need to tell you that...”  Larkpaw, confused, asked, ”Tell me what?” but the land started to fade before Tigertail could answer.  The ginger she-cat, Tigertail, started to fade away as well.

~

Larkpaw woke up, uncertain in what Tigertail was going to say.  Walking up to Fallowpaw, he said, ”I’m ready to go back, Fallowpaw.” I think.