Ebonypaw's Moonstone Journey

In the days after the Gathering, there was much to be done. Herbs needed restocking, cats needed healing, and life carried on. It was as life carried on, and as Mothglow carried yet another bundle of herbs back to camp, that she realized what she'd been overlooking - ShadowClan was filled with apprentices that needed to visit their ancestors. Hastily, she cobbled together a pair of travelling herb bundles, swiftly lapping up the ones meant for herself, before seeking out the first apprentice she could recall.

"Ebonypaw," she called out. "It's time for you to visit the moonstone. You should eat these before we go."

Ebonypaw was a really light sleeper. As soon as she heard Mothglow call her, Ebonypaw shot up from her nest in panic. “Wha—oh! Ok...” Her voice lowered to a whisper so that she wouldn’t wake the other cats up. Tiptoeing out of the den, Ebonypaw sniffed the bundle of herbs carefully, hoping that they wouldn’t be tooooo bitter. Screwing up her nose, she lapped the herbs up, resisting the urge to make a weird face. “Mhmm...ye okey leth go.” Ebonypaw mumbled through the herbs. Swallowing hard, she followed Mothglow as the medicine cat lead her out of camp...

Mothglow led the way to Mothermouth, grateful for the overall uneventful nature of the journey. It was long, certainly, and some might have said the relative uneventfulness was boring. They would be wrong, of course - she was just happy that there wasn't anything else to worry about it. She led the way through the tunnels and into the cavern as the moon reached its highest point, bathing the Moonstone in shimmering light. "Just touch your nose to the stone, Ebonypaw, and StarClan will speak with you."

Ebonypaw nodded, then took a deep breath...and touched her nose to the Moonstone. Darkness swirled around her, and she collapsed onto the cold, stone floor of the cave. Blinking, Ebonypaw discovered that she was in StarClan’s hunting grounds. Turning around, she surveyed her surroundings curiously. “Uh...hello? Anyone in here? StarClan?” Ebonypaw asked, tilting her head in confusion. She swished her tail, rather curious about who she would meet.

The dark shape slowly solidified from the shadows. Breezepaw's gray tabby form approached Ebonypaw, and he flicked his tail. "Betcha didn't expect to see me, huh?" He sat down, wrapping his striped tail over his paws, and grinned dryly, gauging her reaction. "Welcome to StarClan, I guess."

Ebonypaw jolted in shock as she saw Breezepaw solidify in front of her. “B—Breezepaw? You...what...out of all the StarClanners...Anyways, how’s it uh, going?” She asked the tabby awkwardly. They didn’t really know each other well, and his sister was kind of mean to her, too. Smiling a bit, Ebonypaw shifted on her paws a bit. “Oh, and uh...your siblings are doing great! I think they’ll be earning their warrior names soon.” With a nervous smile at Breezepaw, Ebonypaw looked down at her paws, flushing with embarrassment. Wow...is that how you greet someone, Ebonypaw? She thought to herself.

Breezepaw's ear twitched. "I know they've been doing well, but I appreciate you saying so," he said, tone dry but with a tinge of amusement. "Often you have something to ask me, or something you need advice about. So, what is it?"

Ebonypaw sighed, and glanced at Breezepaw. “Well...you know, Ashpaw...she hasn’t been the friendliest. I don’t know what I did wrong, but she hates me now. Her being your sister and all...do you have any advice to give me on being friends with her? I don’t hate her...I just really don’t know what I did wrong.” Ebonypaw thought that Breezepaw would probably take this as an offense, and would probably just laugh at her for being so naive and overtly friendly.

Breezepaw let out a snort. Out of all the things she could've asked, of course it's about getting other cats to like her. "Not every cat has to like you. And she's like that to almost everyone."

“Right...sorry bout that. That was a stupid question.” Ebonypaw’s pelt grew hot with embarrassment. “Hey. Breezepaw? Uh...this might not be very fitting to ask...but what happened? How did you...” She trailed off, feeling very awkward. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know you really well. I know you were at the Gathering, that was really courageous of you. But...I never really knew how you died.” Lifting her face up, Ebonypaw looked at Breezepaw. “What happened? Are you...are you enjoying life in StarClan?” She couldn’t help it. Ebonypaw was just friendly, and always wanted to know what was wrong.

Breezepaw's eyes narrowed. "I got hit on a monster on the Thunderpath, and I don't want your pity." He remembered the gathering, tail twitching. "Ah, the Gathering, a fun time... for me, at least." His tail twitched. "StarClan is fine. And since you aren't making good use of this time, I'll give you some advice. You're really oblivious to some cats that like you. Yes, plural." His eyes glinted with amusement.

Ebonypaw blinked. Then blinked again. “Cats that...like me? I don’t know what you mean...” She trailed off, frowning as she tried to recall anyone who was getting close to her. “Any...hints? Because the only “friends” I have now is my mentor. Marshcloud.” Was she really that oblivious? Did she not know that some tom-cats “liked” her? “Okay...yes maybe I am a bit oblivious.”

Breezepaw's tail twitched. "Yep." He flicked an ear as Ebonypaw started to fade. "Ah, that'd be you leaving. Bye." And good riddance. The brown tabby scowled as Ebonypaw disappeared. Then he turned around and vanished into some stalks of long grass, glad to have that over with.

Ebonypaw blinked dizzily as she woke up with a start, her eyes adjusting to the dark. “Did I...really just see Breezepaw?” She thought in bewilderment, icy-blue eyes widening as she realized that there were toms that...no. That couldn’t be right. Everyone hated her because she was too friendly. “Well...at least he told me one thing...I should be paying more attention to the cats around me.” Standing up onto her paws, Ebonypaw padded away from the Moonstone, before hesitating and looking back one, last time. “Breezepaw? I’ll tell your siblings that you’re okay.” With a small smile and a sigh of relief that nothing had went horribly wrong, Ebonypaw padded out of the Mouthermouth to reach Mothglow. Nodding at the medicine cat, she said, “Alright. I guess it’s time to go back now.”