Ravenpaw's Moonstone Journey

Very, very slowly, the smile slipped off Ravenpaw’s face. He’d walked all the way to the Moonstone to be lectured about rules? Sure, there were parts of the warrior code that held up—but the thing was older than he was, older than Brookclover, probably as old as WindClan itself. In their lives by the lakeside lay proof that they didn’t need to live separate. He had never fought off an intruder, yet WindClan stood as strong as ever. His first friend was a ThunderClanner, his next from SkyClan and RiverClan; Ravenpaw couldn’t imagine laying a paw on any of them with intent to harm, nor the thought of chasing them off the territory. They weren't spies or prey-thieves, and neither was he—most cats weren't—yet none of them could set so much as a paw across the Gorge or over the Thunderpath. Any code that demanded such strict standards wasn’t one he could follow. Not when he had seen the Clans getting along fine without most of it.

That this might be one of the mistakes Lilacfall was referring to didn’t cross his mind. There were living cats who agreed with him, and theirs were the thoughts that mattered most.

Though he was certain of how he felt about these starry cats and surer still that he didn’t care about winning their good opinion, Ravenpaw was all too aware of the weight of their judgment. It was hard not to be in a place so drowned in their influence. The small apprentice’s voice had gone soft, carrying only the barest suggestion of an argument. ”The important stuff changes sometimes, doesn't it? Maybe the world’s different now.”

"And maybe it isn't," Lilacfall offered softly. Her own views were more nuanced than that - ultimately, she had given her life for the sake of half-ShadowClan kits, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again - but her thoughts of morals and rules and guidelines weren't what Ravenpaw needed to hear. "Maybe it's the cats living in it that have changed; for better or worse. In the end, what you do is yours to choose, Ravenpaw... But you should remember that while it's alright to make mistakes, consequences often follow. Are you ready for that?"

Ravenpaw seemed to wilt at Lilacfall’s response. In a way, this reminded him of his conversation with Finchstar—it made him miss his conversation with Finchstar, anyway. While he’d struggled to understand some of what Finchstar said, at least it had felt less like he was trying to defend his point. Maybe that was because they were similar, a pair of would-be explorers bound to WindClan by at least one shared tether, surprisingly close in age despite their difference in rank. Here, none of that applied; he had no idea how old Lilacfall was (or had been? Ravenpaw vainly tried to remember if he'd ever been told how StarClan cats age), nor did he know her thoughts on traveling. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. It was like his first day of training again; he felt foolish, out of his depth.

”What you do is yours to choose.”

Here and now, making that choice was almost too easy. If following his rules had consequences, well, what could he do but face them? It had worked out well so far. ”Ready as anything.” Ravenpaw's ear twitched. Distantly, he wondered if the stars had found their way into his fur as well as Lilacfall's, but looking would have meant taking his eyes off of the starry she-cat. "Um...is that all?" Half of him hoped she had some other, easier-to-swallow advice; the rest wanted to rejoin Swiftstep and put this place behind him.