July Medicine Cat Meeting

Pricklebush felt a small ray of happiness and a large twinge of guilt when Mosspaw came into view. It wasn't like he'd abandoned her or anything... but in a way, he had been consciously avoiding ThunderClan, and therefore her. He didn't want to be in the camp where he'd played with Ridgelight as a kit, the camp where Beartooth organized patrols and was praised by everyone, the camp where Hailpaw wasn't. However, it was also where Mosspaw was. And he honestly missed her. When she got to Mothermouth, he awkwardly made his way over to her, feeling mildly apprehensive that she might be offended. "Hey, Mosspaw," he said, warmly but uncertainly. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well. How is the rest of ThunderClan? And... how is Houndkit?"

But even as he walked up to talk to her, the other medicine cats began going down into the caverns, including Mistlepaw. After her answer, he realized that he should go down too so that he wouldn't miss the timing, and so he could keep an eye on everyone. "I'll talk with you more once I'm finished,"he sighed with slight regret, remembering why he was technically here. Not wanting to leave, he walked down just in front of her, eyeing the Moonstone with distaste once he reached it. Glimmering, shiny, beautiful, blah blah. All he could remember was Nightfire, smug, condescending, telling him he couldn't trust his friends. Controlling him. The medicine cat bristled at the thought, but knew he had to do his duty... and for the sake of the cats he still loved, hopefully getting what vital information he could. Though, it got harder and harder to come back to the stupid starry cats every time they mistreated him or expected him to do exactly what they wanted. He shuddered, but controlled himself, lay down at the stone and touched his nose to it.

-

Unsurprisingly, once he opened his eyes, he was no longer in Highstones, but in the recognizable plains of StarClan. Not his favorite place. Starry fields, cold dark sky, wet grass whipping at his paws with the wind. Every time he came here, it seemed to get more restless, more stormy, more discomfiting. Pricklebush's great shoulders rose and fell with a massive sigh, and he turned around to face the cat whose presence he could feel without effort. Nightfire stood there, eyes glimmering with a smug, "do it I dare you" sort of look, stars shining abrasively through his scruffy, scarred dark pelt. Watching him. As always.

"So, now you're spending all your time in RiverClan cause your brother got the deputy position," the former medicine cat began with a grin, knowing just how to cut him to the quick.  "Boo hoo, poor you. Perfect excuse to avoid your untrustworthy apprentice. I'm impressed."

The familiar sensation of rage pricked at his pelt, but he controlled it down to a slow, simmering boil of annoyance. However, he felt his claws unsheathe and slowly dig into the soft muddy earth beneath. The tom's voice came out in a low growl. "He's not my brother."

Nightfire's smile only widened. "Oh? Then why are you so indignant that he mated with your sister? Or is that because you blame him for the fact that she murdered four kits?"

"You've gone too far, Nightfire!" Pricklebush yelled, standing up in one fluid movement but not going any further. Oh, how he would love to run forward and rip that expression off of the dead cat's face. But that wasn't an option. He can't do anything to you, you can't do anything to him, it's just a dream. Play into his stupid fantasy of having power over you and just get out of it. With a massive effort, the large tom sheathed his claws, and controlled his breathing, but his sage-green eyes were hot pinpricks piercing into Nightfire's. "Just... give me your mouse-brained prophecy, already."

He looked a little disappointed, but with a single wave of his tail, the dark and dreary scenery around him abruptly shifted. Bleak, dark skies melted into bright blue, wet green grass blurred into soft golden fields. In the distance, a large and dilapidated building. The Abandoned Barn. WindClan territory. Though he only passed it occasionally on his way to Highstones, Pricklebush recognized it immediately. In the distance, he saw the forms of cats moving in and out of the Barn. Lots of cats, actually. How strange.... Nightfire had vanished, but his voice rippled through the grass like a current of wind. "Not all those who wander are lost."

"What does that mean?" he demanded of the air, whipping around to see if the tom was anywhere. But among all the cats he saw as he gradually moved closer to the Barn, none were large, grizzled black medicine cats. He barely recognized any of them from Gatherings, actually. But- no. Wait. A flash of calico? He squinted at the Barn's entryway, only for another strong gust of wind to throw him off balance.

"Cats estranged by the rules we follow," the voice said solemnly. "Torn free by the winds of change. At least, they think they are free. But they are not lost... they only wander. Stray from the path." Pricklebush felt himself blown forward by the wind, and the entrance of the Barn zoomed into closer view. Cats from all Clans were there, mostly young cats, very few he'd seen before. Surprisingly, he recognized Amberdawn there, which would have caused him to stop and think... But the tom was straining for a view of the vaguely familiar flash that had crossed his gaze earlier. The calico pelt he'd seen... As he searched, the voice echoed once more, seeming farther away. "And those who stray from the path, we cannot trust." A smallish she-cat, a bundle of herbs by her feet. Talking, laughing with the other cats there. The tom gasped as he saw the cat's face.


"Mosspaw?"

Then, he was awake, laying by the Moonstone and feeling the cold and damp cave stone beneath him. Frustration washed over him, and he sat up and stalked outside of the cavern. What had that been? All those cats... Amberdawn, Mosspaw in the Barn... what had Nightfire been talking about? Wandering? Lost? Strays? And then that fox-dung about trust again. And in the beginning, rankling him with stupid insults just to put him off his guard. Annoyed with StarClan and with himself, racking his brains to try and decipher the prophecy and also wishing he could make himself not care, he waited for his apprentices to wake up. He was so lost in thought that he didn't initially notice Mistlepaw emerge from Mothermouth.

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'StarClan Revelation' :

The calico apprentice swallowed hard, hesitating in her steps as Pricklebush approached her. His voice was warm, though, and a small, rough purr shakily came from her throat. "You too, Pricklebush... How are things in RiverClan? Have you seen Hailpaw at all?.... Things are going well enough in ThunderClan, I suppose.... So much has happened at once, but Leopardstar seems to be getting stronger by the day, and Houndkit is growing well. He's a pawful, that kit.... Always sticking his nose into things." She laughed lightly, leaving out the attitude the kit had been prone to carry. No sense in mentioning it now, Pricklebush would find out for himself soon enough, wouldn't he? Surely he would come back soon... There was still so much for her to learn... 

She couldn't stop the slight frown when it was time to descend, interrupting her little time with her mentor, and she padded down through the tunnels after him with her head hung low. She was so tired..... It felt like moons since the last time she had spoken with their starry ancestors. 

Mosspaw's dream that night was dark, filled with turmoil. No StarClan cat presented itself, but it seemed to be merely her own inner thoughts and feelings presenting themselves at StarClan's command. It wasn't long before she woke up, tears streaming down her face, feeling lost and alone. For a moment, she wasn't entirely sure of where she was, or even which direction was the correct one. She sniffled, rising from her spot next to the Moonstone before she heard heavy pawsteps, and turned just in time to see Pricklebush's fluffy tail disappear into the tunnels leading back to the surface. Her legs shook as she followed his scent back out of the cavern, away from the Moonstone that had provided no answers to her, and instead only made her feel worse and even more unsure of it all. The tears continued to stream into her cheek fur as she emerged from the tunnel, stepping out into the night and looking for the recognizable fur of her mentor, which was distinguishable even with her blurry vision.


She padded over to him slowly, shakily, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened her. Shoulders hunched, she pressed her face into his broad side, the lump in her throat becoming to much to bear as she sobbed silently into his fur.

He was still lost in the reverie of thoughts when a she-cat buried herself into his fur, tears streaming into his pelt. Not an experience he was unfamiliar with. Instinctually, unthinkingly, Pricklebush embraced the she-cat, putting his tail comfortingly around her. Was this what he was meant for? Helping others, and never having happiness for himself? With that depressing thought swirling around his confusion at StarClan's antics, the tom looked down for Mistlepaw- but it wasn't Mistlepaw he was embracing. It was Mosspaw. A jolt of shock spiked through him, making his tail temporarily slip from around her shoulders. The vision of a calico medicine cat sitting in the Barn flashed across his eyes. Then, angry at StarClan and himself, he drew her closer into an embrace. "I'm here," he murmured simply, shame filling him for what he had been doing. Neglecting his apprentice and ThunderClan because of what had happened. He wasn't the only cat who had been hurt by Ridgelight, by the dead kits... what would it have been like to find the bloody scraps of fur? He couldn't imagine. But he couldn't go back there...

Nightfire's cryptic words ran through his brain again, and the medicine cat looked thoughtfully down at his apprentice. "Mosspaw, I want your thoughts on something," he began. Maybe he could get some insight on this and distract the poor she-cat from her woes. "StarClan gave me a prophecy, and I can't make heads or tails of it. He showed a lot of cats in the Abandoned Barn, and told me something about cats who were straying from the path, some nonsense about estrangement and rules. 'Not all those who wander or lost.' I... didn't really recognize any cats there...." He choked on the lie slightly, but there was no way he was going to tell the pure and innocent she-cat that Nightfire thought she was untrustworthy. That he was beginning to think she might be untrustworthy. Hopefully this act of faith would negate the subliminal pressuring. "Do you have any idea what he was talking about?" he concluded in a whisper, looking searchingly into her tear-filled green eyes, wondering whether the apprentice would have some sort of insight for him. Mistlepaw had completely left his mind.

Pricklebush had immediately embraced her, which only made her shoulders shake harder. His tail slipped away for a moment before returning, and two simple words left him as he pulled the calico in closer. For several long heartbeats Mosspaw sobbed silently, the bitterness, fear and sadness all culminating in those moments as she hid herself in her mentors long fur. After those moments, her sobs shifted into sniffles as she struggled to compose herself, realizing that the other medicine cats were probably still around. As Pricklebush broke the silence, she sniffled and turned her gaze up at him, watching him as he described the dream he had. Her face furrowed in thought as she raised a paw to wipe her eyes. "A lot of cats in an abandoned barn? Is that somewhere by Highstones?... Or maybe that weird, falling down twoleg nest we stayed in by the shores of the lake after the flood? No, there were twolegs and dogs there.... I doubt cats would go there..." She murmured, her eyes looking towards Pricklebush but almost as though she was looking through him as she thought. "Not all who wander are lost... Maybe.... I doubt it, but maybe Flintfang? You said that you didn't recognize anyone?"

After a few more heartbeats of thought, her eyes lit up a small bit. "Maybe it has something to do with that StagClan, weren't they turning their backs on the code? Perhaps they're going to leave the territories, and ShadowClan can go back to normal? That doesn't really explain the 'not all that wander are lost' though.... Do you know where this abandoned barn is? Maybe we could check it out together, if it's close, to try to find out." Wrapping her tail around her paws, her eyes focused back on Pricklebush as she finished, but she still looked deep in thought about the prophecy he had shared, another sniffle accompanying her words.