Sandpaw's Moonstone Journey

Aspenheart was well acquainted with the tunnel across the Thunderpath by now, and he had settled into a familiar routine. Like Ploverpaw, his guest today was an old soul. The wind called her home. Sandpaw had seen lots of hardship in her time away from the clan, but the medicine cat was glad to see her adjusting well. She deserved to finally be a warrior after all of this time. When sunhigh arrived, he found the apprentice in camp and pushed a packet of travelling herbs towards her paws. "Eat up and we'll head out! I'm sure you've walked longer and farther than this before."

Sandpaw dipped her head to Aspenheart. The tom had finally earned his name - as a medicine cat - and it was time to earn hers soon enough. She knew the past few moons of being an apprentice was just plain formality, due to her long absence and she had not been offended. However, it was time enough to meet her ancestors. In reality, Sandpaw had a doubt that she would meet a StarClan cat. If they existed, why had they not shown her the way earlier. Dutifully, she ate the herbs.

Soon, the pair had headed off. Sandpaw happily created small talk with the tom... mainly about the tunnels of course.

The walk was long and largely uneventful, but Aspenheart found himself very much on edge. There was a lot on his mind, but when wasn't there? By the time they made it into the cramped tunnel, it was nearly moonhigh. The stone was aglow. A sense of peace overwhelmed Aspenheart.

"Just touch your nose to it. The ancestors will do the rest." The silver tabby took a final glance at the rock before retreating to the site of the cavern to rest his eyes on the stone floor. "Don't get your hopes up too high. Sometimes they don't give you what you want."

Sandpaw was ready to finally be done walking, at least for a little bit. Dutifully, she laid down and pressed her nose to the rock.

Waking up in StarClan, Sandpaw would say you could color her surprised. So StarClan did exist.

Sandpaw's surprised features came as no surprise to Willowwhisker as she watched the young molly awaken in StarClan. She'd been keeping an eye on this one for a while- she'd been through such an arduous journey, and just like her dearest Ploverpaw, had made it back to WindClan in one whole piece. For that, Willowwhisker was quite thankful. Smiling gently, she approached the she-cat slowly, dipping her head in greeting. "Hello, Sandpaw. I'm Willowwhisker." She sat down a tail length from the WindClan apprentice, waiting for her response before speaking again.

Sandpaw dipped her head in respect to the StarClan cat. "I am Sandpaw, as I am sure you kne that." She sat next to the she-cat, but a good tail length away.

"I see no reason to dilly dally, so I'll just cut right to the chase." Kneading her paws on the lush grass a bit nervously, Willowwhisker shuffled in her place a bit. She'd never had to give such a... blunt message to an apprentice before, and she wasn't quite sure how to go about it. "You've got a history, of, um, well... You can be a bit dense sometimes, one might even say dense." Sighing a bit, she continued reluctantly. "I suppose what I'm trying to say is that you've got to be careful, Sandpaw. All decisions have consequences, and whether they be good or bad you've no choice but to deal with them." Shutting her eyes for a moment, she thought back to when she was an apprentice. "When it comes down to it, consider your options carefully, and don't rush any decisions that could change your life as it is. Good luck, Sandpaw. and I'm glad you found your way back home." Lifting herself to her paws, she touched her nose to the WindClan apprentice's ever so slightly, sending her back to reality in the cold cave.