Lynxpaw's Moonstone Journey

Pricklepaw waited, bored, by the camp entrance with two small bundles of bitter herbs. His tail-tip flicked in impatience, paws sinking into the melting snow beneath him. This weather annoyed him to no end, as did the constant stream of Moonstone journeys that never let up. He didn't want to wait all day!

Lynxpaw trotted towards the sandy-furred tom, his tufted ears twitching. "Sorry I'm late," He mewed hurriedly. "Shall we go?"

"That's fine," Pricklepaw mewed dismissively, pushing one bundle of traveling herbs towards the other apprentice. "Eat these, they'll give you strength. They're a little bit bitter, but nothing you can't take." Without waiting for a response, he gulped down his own herbs, barely noticing the taste he was so used to.

Lynxpaw nodded, trying his best to keep his expression neutral as he choked down the bitter-tasting herbs. Suppressing a shudder, the young tom looked wordlessly up at Pricklepaw, nodding ever so slightly. The sooner they moved, the sooner he'd be distracted from that awful taste.

Pricklepaw nodded dismissively and flicked his tail for the apprentice to follow as he stood up, and walked out of camp. The snow was slowly turning to slush, and wetness clung uncomfortably to his paws as he stepped in it. An unpleasant chill hung in the air, getting under his prickled pelt and lingering there. The sooner they got to the Moonstone the happier he'd be.

**Time Skip**

Finally, they were at Mothermouth, the opening to the Moonstone's cavern. Icicles of stone hung like sharp, foreboding teeth in a set of gaping jaws. But Pricklepaw stared the chilling sight down, no fear in his gaze as he turned back to the other apprentice. "It's dark, but follow me. The Moonstone is in here." Without another word, he darted into the cold, night-filled tunnels.

Lynxpaw nodded, padding after Pricklepaw without hesitation. His large green eyes widened at the sight of the Moonstone, his tufted ears twitching as he stepped closer without waiting for the medicine cat apprentice to respond.
"I just... touch it with my nose?" The apprentice mewed, leaning forward to nudge it as he spoke.

---

When he woke up, it was clear that he wasn't in the mysterious cave that he had fallen asleep in. "Hello?" He called, staring around as if searching for some sort of landmark.

The bobbed tail tom stuck out in the land of the stars like a mouse in a snowdrift. The soft sheen of silver did not rest on the shoulders of the golden t as they did the soft furred tom that stepped forward from beneath a gentle branch of starlight. A soft smile on his orange muzzle.

"Greetings, young Lynxpaw." The orange tom greeted kindly. His green eyes vibrant with the stars that glittered around them. "Welcome to Starclan... For the best reason. " He padded over to the apprentice, then around him before slightly shoving him forward with a soft purr. "Come, follow me."

He padded away from Lynxpaw now, leading the young tom towards a soft roaring sound that seemed to increase with every pawstep. Yet at the end of the journey was no monster, but the sight of a small waterfall, which glowed like liquid moonlight as it fed into the starry river below. The starry trees rustled above them gently as though moved by a small breeze.

Lynxpaw's green eyes grew wide as an orange tom stepped forward, his pelt glistening with an otherworldly sheen. "H-h... h... hi," For the first time in his life, Lynxpaw found himself at a loss for words. This was a Starclan cat?
The small tom felt... odd. It was almost like he had déjà vu, but everything he was experiencing felt totally new. Still, there was something itching at the back of his mind as he tottered after the tom, feeling both numb and incredibly awake.

"How, uh... how do you know my name?" The large-eared tom sat at the edge of the river, staring into it pensively as he struggled to think of something to say. This was all too weird.

Featherheart's smile never faltered as he turned his gaze to the river below the small ledge they were sitting on.
"Although she strayed from StarClan's ways... I could never leave my mother to be alone." He began slowly. Memories flooded as to what he had seen, but also the most important things. Where Sharptooth had been exiled, she had ultimately stepped up and held strong. She had helped when she could, and aided even though it risked her plenty, even her life. He turned his head to the bewildered apprentice. "My mother is Sharptooth." He explained calmly, as though those simple words explained everything.

"Now... she too walks the sky." He paused, then chuckled softly. The rich sound reflecting off the starry water. "Forgive me, it has been a long time since I've had the pleasure of speaking to an apprentice. You are here for wisdom, not to hear a starry warrior's laments." He turned, facing the apprentice. "Tell me, what is a warrior to you?"

Lynxpaw's large, tufted ears twitched as the orange tom spoke. "My mother is Sharptooth." Of course- his eyes were almost exactly like hers. Staring up at the star-furred tom, Lynxpaw mentally berated himself for missing something so obvious.
"A warrior..." He began, casting his mind to think of everything he'd heard. "Is someone... brave, and strong, and... someone who always does what's right. Someone who knows where they came from, I guess, and... and was always supposed to belong."
Not like me.
His mother hated him. That was why she abandoned him and his siblings.
His siblings were perfect, of course, so it was obvious that he was the problem. Something about him was different. Flawed. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the clan discovered whatever it was that made his mother leave him. He didn't belong in Thunderclan- he didn't belong anywhere.
The tabby stared into the river, his green eyes narrowed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He thought to himself. He doesn't need to know about... all that.
It's not like he's my ancestor, anyway.