Flintpaw's Moonstone Journey

Mothpaw liked to think she was getting pretty good at pushing aside her darker thoughts during the day. As she was now, gathering up a bundle of traveling herbs for yet another apprentice - the second of Thornstar and Asterspark's kits (which meant they were in a confusing place for her, family-wise, though she'd more or less settled on treating them as younger siblings) to go join her on a trip to the Moonstone.

"Flintpaw!" she called out, wondering how it would go this time. The journey with Sparkpaw had been pleasant, after all, but they'd also already had previous interactions to build on. Then again... Mothpaw personally looked forward to these trips, despite their exhausting nature, as a chance to get to know her Clanmates. Doubly so when it was her kin; even if she was mostly asking the same few questions. It was the answers that made them special, after all. "Are you almost ready? C'mon!"

Flintpaw shook his pelt as he stepped from the apprentice den, glancing at Mothpaw. "I'm ready, Mothpaw," he meowed with a curt nod of his head in acknowledgement. He had heard about these Moonstone journeys - Sparkpaw had already been taken...But while he was curious, he also found is expectations lacking. To him, this was simply something to be done and over with - he had heard it was a place to get wisdom that you were seeking from the stars themselves but...He didn't find pressing matters worth speaking of. And so, he was simply curious to see what would transpire if he had nothing to ask the stars.

"Not quite ready yet," Mothpaw purred, nudging the traveling herbs towards him. "You've got to eat these first. Then we can leave. If you don't, you might... I don't know, fall asleep halfway there? And we can't have that happening, it'd be dangerous." Truth be told, Mothpaw had little idea what would happen should the apprentices refuse to eat the traveling herbs, and she honestly preferred it that way; never stopping long enough to consider it. Memories of icy snow and a much smaller Silentpaw were the closest thing she had to the situation, and it wasn't something she'd wish on any of her Clanmates. Instead, she offered bits and pieces of cautionary tales. "Imagine if you fell asleep halfway across the Thunderpath," she added gravely.

Flintpaw halted as the pile of herbs was pushed toward him, glancing down at it before he raised an eyebrow at Mothpaw. He wasn't that tired - he doubted he would somehow fall asleep on his own paws but nonetheless, he bent his head and lapped up the herbs. "Alright, then, now I am ready," he said as he finished, seeming not even effected by the bitterness as he licked his lips to remove any scraps that remained. There was one thing that perked his interest and that was the fact that they would have to cross the Thunderpath.

He reflected on when he had helped that WindClan cat back over after a misunderstanding...Now it was going to be his turn to finally step foot on that blacken path. He really hoped that they wouldn't come across a monster thought, he couldn't stand their roars as it always made his head ache if he was too close to the roaming beasts while they patrolled...

"Wonderful. C'mon, let's get going," Mothpaw said brightly, leading the way out of camp and through the territory and trying not to show how her recent near-sleepless nights had weighed on her. "And while we're walking, why don't you tell me about what it's like being Lynxscar's apprentice? You know, after I became a medicine cat, he was the first cat I guided to the Moonstone like this."
~
Some time and a very quiet Thunderpath crossing later, the two cats finally approached Highstones; and Mothpaw led the way up with practiced ease until they reached the entrance tunnel. "Stick close," she warned, guessing that Flintpaw would appreciate the simplicity over her attempts to explain the intricacies of why. Should he ask, though, she wouldn't mind explaining. "Until you see the Moonstone."

Which wasn't much later. Mothpaw moved swiftly, if carefully, through the pitch-dark tunnel; and finally came to a halt in the Moonstone's cavern. She remained uncharacteristically silent, allowing the apprentice behind her to form his own opinions of the place.

Flintpaw quietly followed after the medicine cat, content to simply walk together in silence...But then she asked a question. Hm, he suppose he couldn't be that surprise - they were family and the two barely knew each other. "Lynxscar is a fine mentor," he said simply, keeping his eyes out for anything that was lurking in the darkness of the marsh. "Brave, a good teacher...Wants to make Thornstar proud." He didn't have much other then for that to say and so he simply fell silent for the rest of their talk other to to bluntly answer whatever questions the medicine cat apprentice would throw his way.

-------

His ears perked at the sound of Mothpaw breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between the two for some while, turning his attention to the giant mountain that loomed above them. Huh. He had seen glimpses of this on the horizon but he had never gotten a scope of how large it truly was. He nodded his head as he fell into step behind her, entering the dark tunnel. The further that went on, the more quiet things got - the sounds that had graced the air outside being cut off. It was only the faint sound of their paws...And when they entered the cavern and stopped, it became pure silence.

While Flintpaw enjoyed the silence of spending time with another, the nearly absolute silence felt...Weird. Wrong. His ears perked, struggling to grasp onto some sort of background noise and settled for the faint dripping of water from the ceiling high above in some corner of the cavern. Once that was solved, he focused his eyes on the Moonstone. He had always wondered what it had looked like but yet found the simple beautify of it in full moonlight to be breathtaking. "Amazing," he murmured softly to himself, before glancing at Mothpaw as he waited for her to speak.

"Isn't it?" Mothpaw purred. "The first time I saw it, it took my breath away. All you need to do now is touch your nose to the stone and close your eyes. Then StarClan will speak to you." With her tail, she gestured encouragingly toward the Moonstone. "I'll be here when you wake up, to lead the way back to ShadowClan."

Flintpaw slowly nodded his head in agreement, taking a couple pawsteps forward as Mothpaw explained the next step in this journey. That...Was simple and he was a bit surprised. That was all that it took to speak with StarClan? He had heard about StarClan growing up, but he had quickly gathered that his mother held some sort of disdain for them...He wasn't sure that was the right word, but he knew that she wouldn't always speak of them in favor. He supposed perhaps this would be when he finally decided on how he would view the stars that watched over them.

He padded up to the rock, gently laying down as he pressed his nose to the cool, slick surface. He closed his eyes, focusing on the gentle dripping of water until it faded...His ear twitched as the gentle ambiance of the marsh slowly picked up around him. His yellow eyes flickered open as he found himself sitting on a rock in the ShadowClan territory, the faint croaking of frogs, the sound of birds high above and the faint bubbling of the muddy water. He found himself relaxing in the gentle sounds, but kept focus for whatever StarClan cat would show themselves.

Flintpaw's ears perked at the sound of a voice, glancing over his shoulder at a large, strange tom who had appeared from the grasses, single eye glowing. For a second, he was thrown by how much the stranger looked like his mother, slowly picking up traits that both shared...And traits that he shared. The thicker neck fur, for one and perhaps even their size - it was hard to tell with Flintpaw still growing. "Hello," he greeted coolly, his gaze focusing on the single eye. He...He recognized that color. It was the same hue of his mother's eye - the one surrounded by the scars. There was no questioning it, this tom was family. "This place is certainly nice, yes," he answered in regards to the question as he spared a glance out at the territory, ears perking as he listened to the faint sounds of the marsh for a few heartbeats before he turned back to the tom. "I imagine you are the StarClan cat that was sent to talk to me, yes?"

Flintpaw watched the tom in silent, saying nothing even as he sat down next to him. This tom was...Strange in many ways. Ignoring his questions, having a slightly strange way of speaking. Strange...But yet comforting, somehow although he couldn't put a word to why he felt that way other than perhaps it was the fact that he could just sense that he was family. "I do suppose there is something charming about the territory," he responded, enjoying the soft sounds. He hadn't gotten a good glimpse of the other territories, but he imagined that he wouldn't feel at home in them. The marsh was all he had known and he had a feeling that the slight changes would be terrible for him - seeing how he had grown so accustomed to the noise and didn't seem to do well with the sudden absence of what he had grown to used to.

"...You have something to tell me, yes? I imagine you did not come here just to make small talk," he meowed as he finally broke the gentle silence to glance at the tom. There had to be something more to this, he knew it. He had doubts that family or not, that this tom had left the heavens for even a moment just to make small talk. What had Mothpaw said...No, she had simply stated that StarClan would speak to him but certainly there had to be a purpose here. A waste of his time if it was just small talk, to be honest.

His ear twitched at the dodge, a soft huff escaping him. Really? "You're family, I imagine," he retorted, eyeing the tom. Yes, that much was clear as the moon - looking strikingly like Thornstar, the same green eye as one of the leader's mismatched eyes even! His scruff of fur around his neck mirrored what Flintpaw had, having seen glimpses of it in the murky reflection of the marsh water. But...That was as far as he was able to guess. He sat there, thinking it over... It was pretty clear that the tom had no relation to Sans and Poppyheart, he was related to Thornstar if the family thought rung true. But Thornstar had rarely spoken about her family, never mentioning a sibling...

But the Clan had. He blinked, recalling whispers he had gathered from when he would linger outside of the nursery and apprentice den. He had always found himself listening to the conversations - something he hadn't put much thought into until his first Gathering. He had noticed some cats would glance toward where his mother was, whispering underneath their breathes sometimes. Whispers about her mismatched eyes, of how her lighter one looked like her brother's - her brother Sootstrike...Who some whispered that she had killed. "You're Sootstrike, Thornstar's brother, aren't you?" he finally said slowly, glancing at the tom. He certainly fit the name but he couldn't help but wonder why Thornstar never mentioned him...He had never believed the rumor that Thornstar had taken her brother's life - or at least if she did, he believed that there had to be a reason.

So that raised, the question...What did Sootstrike want to talk to him about?