and yet, the sun still shines (closed)

It seemed that the forest had wept ever since Dacedream's death, the sky clouding over and letting loose days of rain. The tan tabby she-cat could hardly find it in herself to eat, or get out of her nest, but as much as she wanted to curl up in her nest and forget that the events of the past quarter moon had happened, she had other matters to attend to. With a big sigh, she slowly pulled herself out of her nest and onto her paws, her joints screaming with discomfort from disuse. As she stretched, she felt a hole yawning in her chest that hadn't gone away, no matter mow much she'd curled up in her nest and tried to forget that the world didn't exist. But it did, and she couldn't neglect her duties, so she forced herself to pad over to the apprentice's den and poke her head inside. Forcing a smile, she called over gently,
"Hey, Moonpaw, time to begin your training!"

She backed out of the apprentice's den and sat down by the fresh-kill pile, and began to groom herself for the first time in days, smoothing out clumps that were sticking up, and removing the bits of moss that clung to her pelt. The pit in her stomach had persisted ever since her mother's death and had prevented her from eating, but she knew she needed to have her strength up if she were going to train her apprentice well. She reached over and grabbed a mouse from the top of the pile, and forced herself to take a bite. That first bite reminded her of how hungry she was, and she had to tell herself to take time and not scarf it down. When she finished the last bite of the mouse, she buried its remains, and looked up to the sky.

The clouds that had hung over the forest for the past quarter moon shifted, allowing the sun to peek through, casting a sunbeam down over the camp, and Cherryblossom thought,
ThunderClan has weathered a lot of hardship and death over the past few moons, and yet, the sun still shines.

Someone called Moonpaw's name, and she woke from her light sleep, glancing around. Wait... this wasn't her den. Where was she? Suddenly, memories rushed through her mind, becoming an apprentice, sleeping in the apprentice den. Right. She was an apprentice now, sleeping in the apprentice den. Padding silently out the entrance as not to disturb her denmates, Moonpaw noticed her mentor sitting near the fresh-kill pile, looking up at the sky.

"I'm here!" Moonpaw called excitedly. Her first day of training! She hoped she didn't do anything bad and disappoint her mentor. Noticing something was off with Cherrblossom's forlorn expression. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, unsure of how to comfort her mentor.

When Moonpaw pushed her way out of the apprentice's den and headed Cherryblossom's way, the tan tabby looked over when her apprentice called out to her. She smiled and stood as Moonpaw joined her, and let out a little chuckle as she asked her if she were okay. A lot of answers would have sufficed, but she didn't want to worry her apprentice, but she also didn't want to lie.
"I've seen better days. I still miss Dacedream a lot, but it'll get better over time, and I'll be okay. I won't let this get in the way of your training though, don't worry."

She then turned to lead the way into the forest, flicking her tail for Moonpaw to follow. While walking, she thought about what she should do first in terms of training.
Hmm... should I teach her to hunt, or maybe do battle training? I think hunting would be best to start with.

Not sure how to comfort the other she-cat, since Moonpaw had never lost someone she loved, she stayed silent as she followed her mentor into the forest. Momentarily forgetting about her mentor's grief, Moonpaw mewed, "Wow, this is so cool! I've never gone out of camp before. I wonder what the entire territory looks like." The tall trees kept Moonpaw in the shadows, and there was new growth everywhere. Tiny leaves were sprouting on the tree branches, and there were plants pushing their way out of the earth.

The scents were overwhelming. Plants, creatures, and other things assaulted her senses, making her dizzy. Suddenly a leaf crackled under her paw and Moonpaw shrieked, jumping nearly a fox-length into the air.

Moonpaw's enthusiasm about venturing into the forest for the first time was a welcome change of pace in Cherryblossom's life, and while she was lost in thought, the apprentice's shriek quickly brought her out of them. She too jumped in response, and she turned quickly, expecting to see a predator, or worse, a StarClan warrior sent to kill her. She was relived to see just Moonpaw, fur on end, and nothing but a crushed leaf underpaw. She felt a laugh bubble up inside her for the first time in a quarter moon, and chuckled, "It's all right, it's just a leaf."

When she realized that Moonpaw was eager to explore, that gave her a better idea.
"Do you want to go around and see the territory, or learn to hunt first?"

Hunting or exploring the territory? Hard choice. Although Moonpaw wanted to learn how to hunt, she thought it would be better to know her way around first. "Do you think we could explore the territory first? Then hunt?" the apprentice asked eagerly.

Cherryblossom nodded at Moonpaw's words, doing a mental route around their borders.
Let's start with the border with SkyClan, then go to the Thunderpath, Fourtrees,- She suppressed a shiver at the thought of Fourtrees, about what had happened at the Gathering -then the... then the river.
If Cherryblossom never returned to the river, it'd be too soon. However, she knew she had to face the river someday, and that day was today, even if she wasn't ready yet.

"Sure thing. Let's go."
She smiled at Moonpaw and took the lead towards Tallpines and the SkyClan border. When the pair neared the border, she slowed down and began to speak.
"Smell that? That's SkyClan scent. They live in the pines beyond here, and while they live among trees as we do, they specialize in climbing them. We climb trees too, but they make their lifestyle out of it. I've heard rumors that they can cross their entire territory without touching the ground."

The foreign smell of... SkyClan cats assaulted Moonpaw's nose. She wrinkled her nose. "They smell weird." Her eyes widened slightly when she heard that they could cross their entire territories jumping through trees like squirrels. "That's so cool!"

Cherryblossom smiled at Moonpaw's enthusiasm, and began to lead the way along the border towards Snakerocks. As the pair gave a wide berth around the pile of stones, she whispered,
"Be careful here. Adders like to nest in those rocks, and they come out to bask when the sun rises over the trees, especially in newleaf and greenleaf. They tend to go back to ground in the colder seasons, but they can be woken up if one gets too close to the rocks."

She continued along the border, making way towards the Thunderpath. As the stench grew stronger, she slowed to a stop when the hard black surface was visible.
"Now this is the Thunderpath, another place to treat with caution. Large beasts that we call monsters use it to travel on, though where it goes and why, only StarClan knows. They don't usually leave the path though, and if you stay a safe distance away from it, you'll be okay."

She lifted her head and sniffed the air, catching a whiff of ShadowClan scent.
"Beyond the Thunderpath lies ShadowClan territory. They reside in the marshes, and they carry out most of their operations in the night time, as opposed to the day, as the other four Clans do."

Adders! Weren't they poisonous? It made sense no one would want to go there then. As they passed Snakerocks, Moonpaw began to feel tired. She had never been out of camp before, other than the one time she tried sneaking out, secretly of course, but she didn't get far. The long walk around the territory was taking its toll, and Moonpaw's paws started dragging on the ground. Still, she continued forward, not wanting to look weak or anything. How big was the territory, anyway?

Suddenly, something foul-smelling reached her nose. She wrinkled her nose at the odor as her mentor explained what the Thunderpath was. "Didn't the monsters kill lots of cats who went on the Thunderpath?" she asked without thinking. "I can barely smell ShadowClan from here. And ShadowClan cats smell so... weird." If the ShadowClan cats did stuff at night, how did they see? Moonpaw had seen lots of plants and other stuff that could trip or hurt her. If she couldn't see anything, she was sure she would have walked into a thorn bush by now. And marshes? That would mean muddy fur and wet paws, and an unbearable stink. She shuddered at the thought. How did ShadowClan manage to live in marshes?

While Cherryblossom was a new warrior, she had the stamina of one, and their journey through the forest was of second nature to her. However, she could tell that Moonpaw was beginning to tire out, so she led the way to a little alcove a short distance from the Thunderpath. She cured up in it, and beckoned for Moonpaw to join her, allowing for the apprentice to catch her breath and rest her paws.
"We can rest for a little bit, and then I can show you the rest of the borders."

She flicked her tail as she thought to herself,
Even though I'd rather avoid the river.
"Don't worry though, soon enough you'll be able to patrol the borders with no problem! Stamina just takes time to build, and with enough time and practice, you'll be as strong as any warrior."

"Oh, okay," Moonpaw mewed, shuffling her paws in embarrassment. She padded over and curled up next to her mentor.

After a while, Moonpaw felt rested enough and leaped to her paws. "I'm not tired anymore! Can we continue?" Her eagerness returned, and so did her strength. She bounded in a random direction, not caring that she was probably going the wrong way. She didn't know the forest yet, anyway.

Cherryblossom let out a purr as Moonpaw curled up to her, and she wrapped her tail around the apprentice, who was about as big as she was. The pair rested for a while until Moonpaw rose to her paws again and bounded out of the alcove, her energy restored from the brief respite. She too, rose to her paws and followed the apprentice, and caught up with her, taking the lead as she headed towards Fourtrees.
It's probably useless to hope for quiet Gatherings from now on, considering what happened at the last one.

As the pair approached Fourtrees, she struggled to keep her hackles flat as she felt Vixenstar's tail brush against her back, a phantom of a phantom's touch.
Foxhearts, the lot of them. They're not truly StarClan, no matter what they say.

Then the moment was past, and she shook her head as she stopped on the hill that led down to the sacred meeting-place.
"This is Fourtrees, though you've been here before. All five Clans meet under the full moon in a truce." Or so I thought. "StarClan can end the Gathering as they please if the truce is broken, however." As they so gladly demonstrated last time...

Moonpaw shuddered when she remembered the last gathering. She imagined Fourtrees full of cats when suddenly five StarClan cats appeared to kill the WindClan leader. "What happened then?" Moonpaw mumbled, afraid. "Those StarClan cats are wrong. Blood doesn't mean anything." her voice took on a firmer tone. "They definitely weren't the ancestors I know."

"I don't think I ever want to go to a Gathering again. Ever." Moonpaw whispered, fear trickling into her voice as she stared at the Great Rock where the leaders had sat. "Can we go? I..." she trailed off, then shook her head. "Let's go somewhere else! I wanna see more of the territory!" Moonpaw forced herself to act cheerful.

Cherryblossom wrapped her tail around Moonpaw as she too recalled the events of the previous Gathering. She agreed with what the apprentice was saying, but she didn't want to dwell on what had happened.
"Afterwards, they usually just send the Clans home." I wish they'd just sent us home...

"Yeah, let's go. I don't want to linger here." With a nod, she began to lead the way away from Fourtrees and to the last place in the territory that she wanted to be. The river.

The babbling of the river did little to ease the growing emptiness in her chest as the pair made their way along the ribbon of water that split the landscape. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and began to speak.
"There are two more Clans that live alongside us, WindClan and RiverClan. WindClan takes residence up on the wind-swept moors, proudly boasting the speed that allows them to chase down and hunt rabbits and hares, their prey of choice. They don't have trees and undergrowth to stalk their prey through, so they have to make use of speed to catch their prey."

By now, the pair was passing the place were Dacedream was reportedly slain. She felt herself choke up, and she shook her head, clearing her throat before continuing, tears pricking her eyes.
"Last, but certainly not least, we have RiverClan. They make their prey out of the fish that swim in the river, and they're the only Clan that proudly swims. Their pelts don't soak up water as easily as ours do, likely due to the oils in the fish they eat."