Snowpaw's Moonstone Journey

Another dawn came over the sky, wiping the velvety blue hues of twilight away and replacing them with pale pinks and reds. Spiderquill was once again already up and about, having been awake since about Moonhigh in preparation for another apprentice's Moonstone journey. It was overkill, he knew, but he didn't really care. He didn't even feel that tired, though he probably would once he returned from Highstones. Ah well. Stepping into the pale morning light and blinking his fatigue away, he padded over to the apprentices' den for the second time. "Psst, Snowpaw, you ready?" He whispered to the fluffy white tom, sliding a bundle of herbs towards him before eating his own.

Snowpaw, who had, unbeknownst to him, been awake nearly as long as Spiderquill, had finished grooming himself for maybe the twentieth time and was just settling down to take another stab at sleep when he heard shuffling near the den’s mouth. Spiderquill’s soft voice followed soon after. He raised his head to stare blearily in the medicine cat’s direction. It’s already time to leave…? He’d been ecstatic to hear he was ready for his Moonstone, but now that he had to face it head-on, the idea of speaking with StarClan one-on-one was…intimidating. His biggest comfort was that he could be sure his paws were clean—both morally and physically. ”Mmmgh,” he called back, and dragged himself to the den’s entrance. There, a small bundle of herbs waited for him. Snowpaw nosed at them, then, deciding not to prolong this in case they tasted as bad as he’d heard, began to chew. Sure enough, they were awfully bitter, but to his surprise, he found he didn’t mind them too much. Maybe his mouth was still asleep. ”I think I’m awake now,” he said once he’d swallowed the last of them.

Spiderquill smiled brightly, waiting for Snowpaw to down the last of his herbs before slowly padding towards the camp's exit. The other tom seemed very tired, though Spiderquill wasn't one to judge given the highly visible dark circles under his eyes. They walked at a slow pace, neither of them awake enough to walk any faster than the average hedgehog. Knowing that this would be a long journey, Spiderquill turned to Snowpaw. "So, what's it like? Being an apprentice? I've never really asked anyone, but I'm really curious. Is it really different from being a medicine cat apprentice? Do you get to hunt your own food? Are your mentors very involved, or do they just help out when you need it? Do you know anything about herbs? Sorry, not being rude, I didn't mean that you don't know anything, I just wanted to know if you learn about medicine at all? Or-" He cut himself off, his brain finally catching up to his mouth and realising that this was far too many questions for anyone to process in one go. He gave Snowpaw a sheepish smile. "Uh, sorry, I just got excited. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

They set off, adopting a meandering pace rather than the patrol march Snowpaw had been expecting. He preferred it this way. What was the point in a once-in-a-lifetime journey if he didn’t have time to enjoy the scenery? A motion to his right caught his eye, and suddenly, a flood of words burst forth. He’d never known Spiderquill to be so talkative. Then again, all he knew about Spiderquill was that he usually smelled like herbs, so it wasn’t too surprising. Snowpaw beamed. ”Are you kidding? I never get to talk about my training!” Looking forward again to ensure he wouldn’t miss Spiderquill’s response, he tilted his head. ”Being an apprentice is…kind of tiring, actually. My mentor—Stormbringer—taught me a lot at first; now it’s mostly about getting better at the stuff I already know. Usually I end up training with her, but when she’s busy, I have to patrol with the other warriors. I guess we do hunt our own food, but we don’t get to eat until we catch enough for the kits and elders.” He hadn’t found a way around that part of the code; now wasn’t the time to start looking. The white-furred tom fell silent, then, the tip of his tail waving idly as he thought about Spiderquill’s last question. A frown passed across his face. ”I…know cobwebs? Are those still herbs?”

Spiderquill's sheepish smile grew into a happy grin as Snowpaw replied, glad that the apprentice wasn't put off by his bursts of energy. "Stormbringer? Really? She's cool! She's my mo- er, my friend." He ducked his head slightly, realizing he still wasn't quite sure what Stormbringer was to him. "Well clearly your training pays off, seeing as I haven't starved to death yet. I can't even catch myself a beetle." He snorted at Snowpaw's answer to his last question, immediately realizing how rude he sounded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. I suppose cobwebs count, they are the most important object in my den." He zoned out for a moment, out of things to say. As they walked, they came ever closer to Highstones.

Spiderquill stumbled over his words as he talked about Stormbringer. Snowpaw eyed him with open curiosity, but didn’t press. To him, Stormbringer had always seemed larger than life, an opinion that had only been reinforced by his training with her. It was hard to imagine being friends with a cat like that. Then again, Spiderquill was older; he’d probably known her longer. As Spiderquill went on, Snowpaw’s smile widened. Feeding the Clan was more a job than anything. Everyone did it. Still (or maybe because of that), being recognized for it, even in a small way—and even with his traveling companion snorting at him—was nice. He accepted the apology with an unaffected half-shrug. ”Then I probably know as much about herbs as you do about hunting. But I could show you,” he said, eyes brightening as if he'd had some sort of grand revelation, ”when we get back. I’m pretty good at catching fish. And beetles.” They continued onward. The scenery had shifted; the mountains he’d always seemed from a distance loomed higher than ever before. Snowpaw wasn’t sure where they were now, but it definitely wasn’t RiverClan. ”How long is this supposed to take, anyway?”

Spiderquill nodded along as Snowpaw spoke. Learning to hunt? He was sure to be rubbish at it, but it sounded like fun. Plus, Snowpaw was quite nice to hang out with; he made a good conversation partner. "That would be awesome! I can teach you a thing or two about herbs, if you'd like. It might be useful if you're ever in a pinch." It would be nice to have someone close to his age to share things with. Ivystar, Stormbringer and Honeytongue were very kind, but they were on a totally different level. He could use more friends like Softpaw, especially those in the same Clan as him.

At Snowpaw's question, the small medicine cat looked around. They were probably around WindClan at this point, judging by the scent. Softpaw was somewhere near here, he thought to himself. "We're fairly close now. You see those mountains there in the distance? Yeah, those. That's where we're headed, Mothermouth is just in front of those." The conversation dwindled into small talk for the rest of the journey as they finally left WindClan territory and approached Mothermouth.

After finally getting to the dark opening and navigating the tunnel for the umpteenth time, a soft blue glow filled Spiderquill's vision. As usual, he turned to Snowpaw and gestured towards the stone. "Go ahead ant press your nose against it. You'll visit StarClan for a bit, I'm sure you've heard about it from others. I'll be waiting for you when you wake up, then we'll head back."

With Snowpaw’s question answered (and a few lessons to look forward to once they returned home), the journey continued. Most of what they discussed wasn’t important—it was more fun that way. Tawnypaw and Curlpaw, the cats Snowpaw had followed into apprenticeship, were long gone. How long had it been since he’d gotten a chance to just talk to someone outside of his family? He’d missed having a friend. Best of all, talking with Spiderquill helped him keep his mind off the journey’s end and the fearsome cats awaiting him there.

As the pair of RiverClanners approached a cave tucked near the front of the mountains, their conversation faded. This could only be the Mothermouth; its entrance was as dark and menacing as the maw of any predator Snowpaw had learned about during his training. But Spiderquill padded ahead with the confidence only someone who’d walked these caverns before could carry. Snowpaw fell into step behind him, shivering each time he brushed against the tunnel’s cold, smooth walls. After several minutes (though, honestly, it felt more like several moons), those walls opened up. Snowpaw hurried to Spiderquill’s side in time to hear the medicine cat’s instructions, stopping only to marvel at his own pelt—he’d taken care to keep it as clean as possible during the walk, but now, it was glowing.

Then he looked toward the Moonstone. Wonder and fear tussled back and forth in his chest. He felt as if he’d spotted a fox across the river. Though he hadn’t done much to draw the Righteous Few’s attention, all it would take to change that was a crack of a branch, a single misplaced step. They’d killed Torrentstar and those other leaders so easily… With every step, Snowpaw half-expected a StarClanner to appear, yet no one did, not even when he finally knelt a whisker’s length from the shining rock. Allowing no more room for second thoughts, the white-furred tom pressed his nose to the Moonstone and slept.

Ah, the joys of being a Medicine Cat. Fallowlight had been watching over Spiderquill and Snowpaw carefully as they made their way to Highstones, giddy at the prospect of speaking to an apprentice- a living one, at that. It had been moons since she'd been able to, and she couldn't wait for Snowpaw to make his appearance. Their journey seemed to take forever, so when the young tom finally touched his nose to the stone and began to materialize near her, she leaped to her paws and rushed to his side, her tail tip twitching anxiously. After forcing herself to calm down, she sat down at his side as he groggily regained consciousness. "Hi! I'm Fallowlight, I was a Medicine Cat of RiverClan before your time." She said in a peppy tone. It wasn't like he couldn't tell already- the scent of herbs still surrounded her, and her paws were still stained green from moons of healing.

The chill of the caverns had fallen away with the rest of the world. Snowpaw found himself comfortably warm, as if he’d dozed off in his nest rather than the unforgiving rock floor he knew was beneath him. Spiderquill had said he’d wake up in StarClan… Was he there now? How could the Righteous Few be so angry all the time if they lived in a place like this? That thought woke him up the rest of the way; it took most of his focus to make sure his fur stayed flat. He’d put so much work into it, after all. Snowpaw glanced to his right and promptly went rigid to the end of his tail. A she-cat he’d never met had sat down beside him.

During his training, he’d learned to lean on his nose and eyes, perhaps more than his denmates had to; now, with starlit lands surrounding him, he put that training into practice. Though the she-cat’s—Fallowlight’s—scent was hard to place, the smell of herbs shone through. The green stains on her paws reminded him of the color beginning to appear on Spiderquill’s bare ones. Snowpaw stared at her for a long moment, eyes searching her face. Then, very quietly, he said, ”You’re not one of them, are you? Can you tell me?” She sounded nicer than any of the Righteous Few, but he had to ask.