Ravenpaw's Moonstone Journey

Pricklepaw felt no emotion but resignation as he gathered the traveling herbs into their customary bundles, tied snugly into large blackberry leaves. Moonstone journeys were routine now, and not really of consequence unless he knew the apprentice in question. He didn't really know Ravenpaw, so hopefully this journey would be uneventful. The spiky-furred tom padded out to the entrance of camp, herb bundles snug in his jaws, then sat on his haunches to wait. The she-cat would be here soon.

The young she-cat padded rather slowly out of the apprentice´s den... ever since her adopted mother, Dawnpetal, died in the jaws of a fox, the depression hit Ravenpaw rather hard for a long time, she almost became i´ll for refusing to eat anything... no surprise, she heard how her birth mother was killed by twolegs, and then her adopted mother died too... she deeply believed she had some kind of curse on her, she was afraid of coming close to any of her clanmates, even her own remaining adopted mother, Emberheart, in fear any of them could die near her...

But... she couldn´t stay depressed forever and die... Dawnpetal always had wanted to see her as a warrior... so, if she was up there in StarClan, watching her... she couldn´t make her wait any longer.

So, she went to the camp entrance, avoiding talking with anyone yet, she didn´t felt... ready... he walked by the same entrance she and Emberheart dragged Dawnpetal's lifeless body into the camp... she shook her head, don´t think about that anymore, focus.

She went with Pricklepaw.

Pricklepaw pushed a bundle of herbs in front of the empty-eyed apprentice, wondering what exactly had her so down. "Here, eat these. Then, we can go." Hopefully, nothing was seriously wrong with Ravenpaw. Not that he would care, he lied to himself.

"Thank you"

Stars, even her voice sounded hoarse from the lack of talking at all, it really took a long while for her to get over her depression.

She slowly ate the given herbs, making sure to eat every single one, once she was finished, she looked over the other cat.

"I´m ready"

Pricklepaw blinked in acquiescence, then turned to go, beckoning for the she-cat to follow. They walked for a while in relative silence, across ThunderClan territory and through the overtly familiar Fourtrees, until they were at the Thunderpath. The strange black surface that he could never quite get used to stretched an unfathomable expanse before him, reeking of strange, Twoleg-like scents. Pricklepaw turned back to see that his charge Ravwnpaw was still there, then spoke. "Okay. So we need to be very careful here, or we'll get trampled by monsters. First, we look both ways-" His spiel was interrupted by a monster screeching by, eyes glaring as it rushed in front of him, giant and imposing and absolutely terrifying. The medicine cat apprentice took a deeper breath, then continued. "We look both ways to make sure we don't see any monsters. Then, on my mark, we run. Okay, Ravenpaw?"

Ravenpaw, being silent, was altert too, she never got out of the camp at night, she couldn´t know what kind of predators were outside at this time.

Lucky, they didn´t had any predator encounters, maybe she could relax a bit.

That´s until they approached the Thunderpath.

She listened carefully to what her fellow apprentice said, and when the monster passed by, she couldn´t help to flat her ears and growl, glaring at it, but as soon Pricklepawbegan talking again, she focused her attention on him once again.

"Alright, ready when you are"

The silence was tense as Pricklepaw waited a few more moments, just to make sure that they were completely safe. After the smoke from the monsters cleared, his eyes narrowed. "Go!" he ordered tersely, taking off like a shot across the hard black path. The second he made it across, he glanced behind him, wanting to make sure the young she-cat had followed him.

The second she heard the command, she darted fast behind the other cat, eyes facing forward and not daring to look to any approaching monster.

Once they made it to the other side, she sighed in relief.

OOC: Sorry for the delay! (:

When he saw that Ravenpaw had made it, he immediately turned to keep moving. There was never any time to waste. "Just across WindClan territory from here," he called back. "Mothermouth is up ahead." They walked for a while on the moor hills, through long grasses and heather bushes. Then finally, when they got to the large cave entrance, Pricklepaw stopped for a moment. "It's pretty dark in there, so just follow me. I'll lead you to the Moonstone, then when we get there, lie down and touch your nose to it. StarClan will do the rest." Then, he set off through the caves.

OOC: no problem nwn

Ravenpaw just followed close from the other cat, her ears moving at any sound, keeping herself alert.

When they made it to the cave entrance, she listened to the instructions and noded, entering in the cave behind Pricklepaw, since she couldn´t see anything, she had to follow him using her nose.

Pricklepaw walked somewhat slower than his regular pace, making sure not to lose the apprentice behind him in the caves. Though they were dark and cramped, the number of times he'd had to travel through them had made him memorize every pawstep he had to take. In no time at all, they were at the Moonstone. The tall monolith of glittering crystal had long since ceased to amaze him- all he felt when he saw it was a shallow resentment towards the starry fools who'd made him take this job. "Okay, Ravenpaw," he said eventually. "Here we are. Lie down and touch your nose to the stone. Then... StarClan will visit you." The word was touched with a barely traceable amount of bitterness.

The young she-cat watched, a bit amazed to the great stone and how the moon light iluminated it, she listened to the instructions and nods again.

"Alright..." she was a bit nervous but obeyed.

Ravenpaw laid down in front of the stone, closed her eyes and touched it with her nose, and waited.

Once the young molly opened her eyes, she found herself within the beautiful fields of StarClan's realm, where the warm wind blew gently and carried the scents of newleaf, stirring up the little fireflies that rested within the soft grass underpaw. Overhead, where the stars shone brighter than ever before, a few of them began to glisten and swirl, descending down to earth. The stars then began to take shape, and the outline of a very familiar queen with a pale sandy-yellow coat and bright amber eyes.

Dawnpetal smiled warmly down at her daughter, a purr rising in her throat. "Welcome to StarClan, Ravenpaw, my dear beloved kit."

Ravenpaw watched in awe the beatiful scenario she was in, everything seemed calm, like there was nothing to worry about... when the stars started moving, she could only watch... that´s until she recognized the shape and the cat in front of her.

"M... mom...?"

It was her... Dawnpetal, she couldn´t believe it... she could´t help it, she ran towards the older she-cat.

"Mommy! Mom!" she started crying.

Dawnpetal welcomed her adopted daughter with open paws. She nuzzled deep into the tabby's fur, rasping her tongue lovingly over her ears and head. "Oh, Ravenpaw, my kit. I've missed you so very much. I'm sorry sorry I had to leave you for so long. I hope you can forgive me."