Duskpaw's Moonstone Journey

When Mossbloom woke up, the white blanket of snow that greeted her outside the den greeted her with it's silence. She stared at it for several heartbeats, feeling the fur along her back rise with uncertainty and fear, ever since the day she had been abandoned in the forest she had loathed heavy snows. The banks it created.... She closed her eyes as she tried to force the memory from her mind. The possibility of postponing the journey for another day crossed her mind before she shook that away, rising to her paws and heading for the herb stores. No, Duskpaw had earned this. Snow or no snow, these journeys would have to continue, and besides, at least it wasn't actively snowing right now. Hopefully it would stay that way. Pulling the herbs out with paws shaking from the cold, she piled them neatly before consuming her pile and wrapping the second. She paused for one last deep breath before she stepped into the white snow, paw breaking through the thin, cold crust at the top before sinking almost to her belly. ThunderClan had seen a huge snowstorm recently, early for the season, and it just hadn't stopped. Resisting the urge to draw back with a hiss, she narrowed her eyes and forged onward, cursing the snow silently in her mind as she reached the apprentice's den. 

Setting the bundle of herbs gently on the surface of the snow, she made sure it wouldn't fall through before she continued into the apprentice's den, only poking her head in to try to prevent bringing snow in with her. The apprentices wouldn't appreciate that, she was sure of it. "Duskpaw, it's time to wake up, we must be leaving soon." She mewed before pulling back, making her way over to the herbs still sitting neatly on the snow. She sighed, her breath cast in front of her jaws like a small cloud of fog. Who would Duskpaw see? Her mother? Mossbloom's tail flickered. What if Flintfang had gone to StarClan after all? Would he visit Duskpaw, despite avoiding Mossbloom? She stared down at her paws, the white fur blending into the snow around them. 

Nest, den, ferns, snow. Duskpaw had made a habit of naming her surroundings ever since her sight had returned. She decided that if she needed to fight a fox again, she'd want to remember everything around her. The small she-cat hoped no beasts would try to take her eyes again. But if they did, this time she'd remember Dacepaw's face, and the worms in the ground. Although it seemed no worms were outside today. Head full of questions, Duskpaw found Dacepaw's ear, ready to ask her where the worms had gone, when Mossbloom's head appeared from the drying foliage. The apprentice giggled at the sight, finding the small calico surrounded by leaves to resemble lions from the stories. "Mossbloom?" The dusty she-cat asked as she crawled from her nest, waving a silent goodbye to her good good friend Dacepaw. "Where are the worms? Do they not like the snow?"

She followed the medicine cat out into the clearing, still excited at the sight of layers and layers of white coating the clearing. It had snowed not all too long ago, and Duskpaw had spent what felt like moons playing in the white fluff. It had taken her and Dacepaw until sundown to get the balls of frozen snow out of her fur. But truthfully, Duskpaw liked the company. No one had told her of snow and why it came. The apprentice trailed behind Mossbloom and decided she'd like to ask her StarClan cat why the sky brought snow. Today was the day of her moonstone, and this Duskpaw was told about. She was more excited to see WindClan's territory and the new Thunderpath than she was to talk to StarClan. But both seemed to send excited prickles down her pelt. "Do I have to eat those stinky herbs? Houndheart told me you'd make me eat stinky herbs."

Her attention was pulled from trying to decide where the fur of her paws ended and the snow began by a question, one that caught her by surprise but made her whiskers twitch slightly in amusement. "I don't believe it's the snow, necessarily, I think it's the cold. They're so small, you know, they would freeze quite quickly I imagine. They probably hide under dirt and leaves to stay warm - and unlike us they can stay there because they don't have patrols or duties!" The thoughts of Flintfang had dissipated for the time being as she imagined the small creatures that Duskpaw found such fascination in.

It didn't take long for the apprentice to make her way over, and the next question made her huff in slight exasperation. "Houndheart is going to scare all of you into never taking herbs again with that talk.... They do stink, but they're really not so bad. I added some honey, to help with the cold as well. We have a long journey before us, and the cold air will scratch our throats if we're not careful. I don't want an outbreak of whitecough this early." She nudged the herbs closer with her pale pink nose, the frigid leaf scittering across the snow with a soft crinkle. "I promise the taste doesn't last, and we can eat some snow to get the taste out of our mouths faster if you'd like." Shuffling her paws to try to warm them slightly, she glanced towards the entrance to the camp, a heavy feeling falling over her.

"Okay." Duskpaw shrugged, satisfied with the answer Mossbloom had given her. The apprentice bent down to lap up the greenery placed before her, nose wrinkling at the strange taste. Houndheart had been right. Duskpaw wondered if Houndheart was given any honey on his moonstone herbs. Maybe it would make him less grumpy. She followed Mossbloom closely as they padded from camp, watching the white flakes drift from the sky, spiraling downwards. Despite stopping to bat at some frosty leaves and sniff at some squirrel droppings, Duskpaw had continued rather quickly.

The forest looked far different when it was covered in white. It was easy to see the pawprints of every patrol and animal. The trees were cold with their leaves gone, and the apprentice determined that the pine trees were the warmest and strongest of all the trees. They had a big green pelt that did not fall off in the winter. She decided she liked pine trees and made a point to tell Mossbloom so. "What's your favorite tree?" Duskpaw asked a while later, paws growing more frosty with each step.

Duskpaw ate her herbs with little more than a nose wrinkle, and as the two padded out into the forest she felt the twinge of uncertainty return. Flintfang's true daughter walked at her side, keeping pace. She paused to wait during the couple side stops that the she-cat made, allowing her the chance to explore them thoroughly. After all, it hadn't been long since the she-cat had regained her sight. The she-cat had earned the right to explore to her fullest. 

They were nearly to Fourtrees when Duskpaw's voice broke the chilly silence, and she blinked slowly. So Duskpaw preferred pine trees... That made sense. Mossbloom considered for a moment, thinking of all of the trees in the forest. "My favorite is probably... An oa-" Her voice cut off suddenly as her throat closed, the vision of her father's, no, their father's body impaled on the gnarled roots of the fallen oak tree between ThunderClan and SkyClan. She looked away as tears welled in her eyes and she choked out a different response. "An aspen tree." 

The pair walked silently through the snow, frost crunching over their paws as they padded onward. Soon the treeline broke and revealed the vast stretch of moor, endlessly large. Duskpaw watched with curious green eyes, breath caught in her throat as she saw leafbare birds flurry over Fourtrees. Mossbloom beside her seemed cold. Not physically, but the moisture in her eyes sparked something in Duskpaw's body. "Why is there water in your eyes Mossbloom?" Duskpaw asked, watching with interest. Cats who were sad had water in their eyes. Why was Mossbloom sad?

The apprentice's fur billowed in the wind, sky growing darker with leafbare's days. She gently placed a paw over that of her medicine cat's, gazing at it as if it was a worm. Maybe Mossbloom was hurt, or tired. "Do you want me to find you a squirrel? Are there thorns in your paws?" Duskpaw blankly found she couldn't relate to the she-cat's emotions. Water never came from Duskpaw's eyes.

Mossbloom flinched slightly as Duskpaw's paw found hers, and she raised her green eyes to meet her sisters. She was silent for several long heartbeats, shaking her head slowly before her mouth opened. "No... No thank you, Duskpaw... I'm fine, there's no thorns in my paw, don't worry... I just..." Mossbloom hesitated, swallowing hard as she pushed on towards the moor, crossing into WindClan's territory with a shiver as the chilling wind cut through her pelt.

"Duskpaw... Did you know that we are related? Not by blood.... But Flintfang and Falconwing adopted me and my sister, Lilypaw, as kits. Lilypaw went missing many moons ago, before I became a medicine cat apprentice. Flintfang was my father too, though. I... I just miss him. Oak trees used to be my favorite... Now they only hold memories of his death."

The apprentice stood for a long time, gazing into Mossbloom's eyes, imagining her father standing next to the medicine cat. Duskpaw never knew her father, he had died before she was born. She did not want to be like him either. He had been killed by a beast, and Duskpaw was not going to die. She only wanted to avenge him. To kill the owl that took his life. Not from anger, nor in the name of revenge. But because he did not have the chance to survive as Emberheart did. He didn't get to look at worms, and play in the snow. He was in the dirt now, cold. Duskpaw pressed her face into Mossbloom's chest, eyes still open as she tried to fathom the life that had made hers. "I'm sorry Flintfang is dead Mossbloom. Hazelpaw is dead too. You can be my sister if you'd like! I'll bring you prey and spiders. Someday I'm going to kill the owl that killed our father. I promise."

The apprentice stepped back and gazed at her relative. What would have stunned most cats seemed only like a commonality for Duskpaw. She did not know who Flintfang was. But she was learning. An awkward grin formed on Duskpaw's maw, toothy and strange. Her green eyes meant Mossbloom's and the she-cat wondered of all the adventures life held.

The medicine cat stood still as the apprentice moved forward, pressing her face into her chest. She was usually the one to do that, in fact, the last cat to have done it to her was Lilypaw... Hesitantly, she lay her chin on top of her younger sisters head, a shaky purr starting to rumble in her throat. "... I'm sorry too. You would have made him proud, I'm sure. I'd... I'd like that, if you'll have me." Duskpaw's next words shocked her, and her head tilted in confusion and concern. An owl? Where had Duskpaw heard that?

The scene leading to her father's death replayed in her mind, the owl's feather falling to the ground as Flintfang took his final breaths. Is that what she had been told? After a long time of stunned silence, Mossbloom shook her head lightly and continued to walk across the moors. "Duskpaw... Who told you how Flintfang died?"

Duskpaw bounded several paces ahead of Mossbloom, tail high as they continued their journey. Her sister's purr was warm like her nest, but the apprentice had begun to itch to see the moonstone. Gusts of wind blew snow flurries across the moor, and the birds grew silent. "Bonewatcher!" Duskpaw squeaked to Mossbloom's question, catching the foreboding in her voice. "He said there were owl feathers where he had died..."

Duskpaw frowned and padded back to Mossbloom, retracing her steps. When Duskpaw was a small kit, Bonewatcher had said he went to the place Flintfang died. Littlesun had heard news from ThunderClan that he was killed. Duskpaw gazed at Mossbloom and felt small. She wondered if there was something missing. Duskpaw wished she knew. She squeezed her eyes shut and thought for a long, hard time, but there was nothing. Duskpaw didn't know what laid between the lines. But her curiosity would stop at nothing to find out. "How did Flintfang die?" Duskpaw whispered, eyes impossibly wide.

Mossbloom nodded slowly, her mind traveling to Bonewatcher. What had happened to the tom? It had been moons since she saw him... Maybe she just missed him in the daily activities. It was easy to do, with how busy she'd been. So Flintfang's kits thought the owl had killed him... She sighed to herself, content to drop the subject as they neared the far end of WindClan's territory the sun quickly descending. It signalled there was not much time remaining.

Just as they had crossed the farthest border of the clans lands, nearing the Thunderpath, Duskpaw came back to her side with a frown on her face. Oh stars, now she'd done it... Wasn't it fair for Duskpaw to know the truth though? Or was she still too young? No, she had been around Duskpaw's age when she had watched her father's blood drain into the ground.... It wouldn't be fair of her to keep the truth away from the she-cat. After all, they were family...

Mossbloom stopped, sitting to face Duskpaw, meeting those impossibly wide eyes with a heartbreaking expression. She took a deep breath before looking back towards the forest for a heartbeat. "An owl... Played a part. It wasn't what killed him though. He... He was impaled on a tree root. There was nothing anyone could do... I was there, along with Amberdawn, SkyClan's medicine cat at the time, and Beartooth... He had told me he was leaving for good, and I thought he was gone for the forest... But then Beartooth and I came upon him as he leaped for Amberdawn. Beartooth reacted, throwing him off of her,
he didn't realize... None of us realized what happened until it was too late. Our father died on the roots of the Fallen Oak. From what I learned after, an owl had flown to attack Amberdawn, and Flintfang tried to protect her... But Beartooth thought he was attacking her."

Mossbloom's head lowered and she stared at the ground, feeling the nauseau rising in her throat at the memory of how Flintfang had looked, the expression in his eyes during his final moments. "It wasn't intentional, at all... Just... A horrible misunderstanding, coupled with a terrible reaction. I'm so sorry Duskpaw... But you deserve the truth...."

No snow fell from the sky as the realization dawned on Duskpaw. No birds sang, and the sun made its dues. It dipped below the earth, enveloping the moor in a bleak gray. All the color drained from the forest, hues dimmed by the rising stars. Duskpaw watched Mossbloom's face and blinked, body still. "Beartooth?" She whispered, imagining her mentor throwing her father onto a tree. Duskpaw was not sad. She did not know her father, and she did not feel a pang at the thought of his blood. She wondered if he bled crimson onto the forest floor. She wondered about Amberdawn and the owl. But most of all, her mind drifted to Beartooth. Beartooth had killed her father. Beartooth had taken a life too soon, like the fox Duskpaw had broken. The apprentice imagined throwing Beartooth from a cliff as she did her beast and blinked, taking a few steps back. Did Beartooth have to die? It was the first conclusion her mind came to, the ultimate punishment for taking the life of another. A trade. The fox had traded for Hazelpaw's life. Would Beartooth trade for Flintfang's?

Duskpaw shook her head and started to pace, leaving lines in the snow as she retraced her trails. Beartooth had killed her father. Beartooth had taken his life too soon, and Flintfang now slept in the ground. Was Beartooth a beast to be conquered? He had killed, he had drawn blood, and yet he was her mentor, her deputy. Ranks meant little to Duskpaw, but the thought of his sad face did. Beartooth would be sad to die, he wouldn't be able to see the snow and catch squirrels. But he needed to pay his end of the bargain. He had made a trade. He had killed Flintfang, and now he would be killed in turn. Duskpaw stopped her pacing abruptly and gazed into the sky, clouds forming overhead. She did not want to kill Beartooth. Beartooth was Duskpaw's friend. But the sky was darkening and the moon was rising. Their journey needed to continue.

"Come on, Mossbloom. I want to see the Moonstone."

Mossbloom gazed back, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she nodded slowly, before taking a step forward, attempting to comfort her sister. "He never meant for it to happen... We had initially thought he had attacked Amberdawn, a medicine cat. It was just... When he was thrown away from her, he landed... It was terrifying, honestly. We tried so hard...." Her voice softened, breaking off as the tears threatened to overwhelm her. "But once again, he didn't stay. He chose something else... Over everything he had." Was that a hint of bitterness in her mew?

Duskpaw began to pace, and Mossbloom felt helpless, unable to do anything more than watch as the realization and truth sank in. Oh, how she wished to comfort her, but truly, what comfort could she bring? Duskpaw had only found out moments before that they were siblings by heart, rather than blood. As the moon began to rise, Duskpaw's voice broke the silence, and Mossbloom nodded silently. "Alright, then let's go."

Silence surrounded the two cats as they finished their journey, being broken only once they stood in the cavern that housed the brilliantly shining Moonstone. "Here it is, Duskpaw... All you have to do is lay next to it and press your nose to it's surface, StarClan will do the rest." She hesitated for a moment, a paw scuffling in the dirt. "And, Duskpaw? If you see dad... Err, Flintfang, please tell him... Tell him I.... I'm sorry." Looking away, she put extra attention into choosing her waiting spot, too nervous to see the reaction she would receive. Maybe Flintfang had just been running from her, like he always had.

After all, she knew him too well.

The moonstone was brilliantly bright, brighter than the sun. Duskpaw stood in awe, having forgotten the final steps to Highstones, and the tunnel that had guided them down here. Her thoughts were entangled and strange, and the apprentice had a million questions. Her claws unsheathed into stone as she gazed at Mossbloom with a flash in her eye. "Don't be sorry Mossbloom." Turning away, Duskpaw sat down quietly in front of the blinding bright stone. There was no hesitation in her actions as she pressed her nose against the vast plane of stars.

She didn't know who or what would come to meet her. Duskpaw only knew she had questions. Constant questions. It was simply her state of being. The dusty gray she-cat found her paws on solid ground, sparkling in an eternal light above. The long grasses were silver, and the trees seemed to stretch into the very sky. Duskpaw wondered where the snow had gone, and found she missed the dried leaves that ceased to exist. The different textures of ThunderClan's forest were not prominent here, it was so pretty, but it was not home. "Hello?" Duskpaw mewed quietly, her voice drifting off into an echo. Perhaps a fox would come and speak to her. Or maybe a big bear. The splitting of the grasses behind the apprentice had the small she-cat turning on her paws, inquiries at the ready.

Beepaw had found the plains Windclan favored to be his favorite. Not much got in his way this way as he paced the moor....at a full sprint. But today, there would be no running. Instead, he was supposed to see some new kit... Or, apprentice, he guessed. Whatever. Ah, there she was, materializing in the grasses, exactly where she was supposed to. "Duskpaw, huh?" He greeted. "I gotta say, you've got one heck of a life. Good thing you landed in Thunderclan though, they'll accept anyone." Beepaw stretched and lashed his tail in a carefree fashion. "Anyway, I'm Beepaw, your good old deputy's adopted brother. I'm here to chat with ya." He introduced.