Mistypaw's Moonstone Journey

Flintstar grumbled softly as he stepped into the apprentice's den, not thrilled to be taking more time to perform such duties. He was no good with this - it was awkward enough to interact with his Clanmates most of the time. One-on-ones with apprentices he didn't know and so much time to fill... This wasn't suppose to be his job, but yet it fell upon him. He padded over to the 'lucky' apprentice of the night, somewhat gently prodding Mistypaw awake. "Wake up," he huffed as his tail flickered. "Its time for you to see the Moonstone," he said simply as he turned and left. Of course things would align that this would fall upon his shoulders...He felt like Mothglow had to be smug in StarClan, forcing such interactions on him that he couldn't escape from. Tsk...

Mistypaw grumbled as a... rather large paw prodded him awake. One dark blue eye cracked open in the sort of irritation that could only be gained by being unceremoniously prodded awake, focusing on a large form. Wake up at this hour? What could possibly require--

Oh. Moonstone! And-- Flintstar had been the one to wake him.

The lanky, dark-furred tom more or less bolted upright as both the words and the cat speaking them registered, giving his fur a quick shake as he quickly but quietly hurried out of the den, ears twitching back in the mortified realization that he was about to go on a long walk with someone he hardly knew. He could trust Brighteye or Ebonysong to walk in a companionable silence, further, he was comfortable with both of them. Batpaw and Vinetail too, even. But Flintstar? The clan leader? His fur was already prickling with uneasiness.

"So... Err... What should I expect from this?" He asked, glancing up at Flintstar. He knew the moonstone journey was something all apprentices had to do, but his thoughts were more focused on training rather than... whatever this meeting with the ancestors would be for. And maybe if he asked about that, Flintstar wouldn't feel the need to ask any questions of his own like'how was training?' and other small talk.

Flintstar had settled at the entrance of the camp, eyes fixed on the apprentice as he came scampering out. He pushed the loose pile of herbs toward the apprentice, having already eaten his own share before waking him up. "Eat this," he meowed simply, kneading at the ground as he considered Mistypaw's question. What was he to expect... "We will head to the Moonstone and reach there before moonhigh. There, you will speak with StarClan. As for anything else..." he pushed himself to his paws, whiskers twitching. He didn't like this one bit - he wasn't sure what to say at all. He wasn't even sure what was to be expected, his own has been so many moons ago and it was hard to know if his was 'normal' or not. There hadn't been a lot of talking but he hadn't wanted to talk to Mothglow much back then. He just... "...Ah...Nothing, truly. Lets just...Get on with this. The sooner this is done, the better."

Mistypaw eyed the herbs dubiously for a moment. They didn't smell like anything edible to him, but then, he was no medicine cat. Gingerly, the young tom lapped up the loose herbs, then had to fight not to gag as he choked them down. Bitter didn't even begin to describe their taste, not at all.

"What..." He coughed, "what am I being punished for?" Because surely, the only way those herbs would be inflicted on someone is if they were being punished. It was the only explanation that he could think of as he stared at his leader, an almost-betrayed expression crossing his features. Here was a leader, supposed to protect his clanmates, and he had fed him the most vile-tasting thing Mistypaw could ever imagine. Suddenly, frog and lizard seemed like a tasty snack in comparison. He'd never complain about eating them again, that was for sure.

Mistypaw lifted a forepaw, swiping his tongue across it in vain.

"I... Ugh." He grimaced, "Yes, the sooner we get this over with, the better." Maybe actually moving would help keep his mind off of the absolutely horrific taste. Or even better, finding a stream to drink from. Anything was better than standing around awkwardly like they were now, though.

Flintstar blinked as the tom started to lap up the herbs, questioning what he was being punished for. ...Punished? The leader blinked, confused as his mind raced to find out why. Why would the tom think he was being punished? The herbs were suppose to be helpful, it was required. Had he gotten the herbs wrong? Had he... Oh. The taste. Flintstar had always recalled the taste being referred to as...Bitter. It had never been nice but it had also never gotten much of a reaction out of him - another thing he was numb to, he supposed. "You...Are not being punished," the leader explained awkwardly as he turned to lead the tom from the camp, following along the familiar path from the few times he had taken it. "The herbs do not...Taste nice, yes, but they are good for you. They will help you survive the walk...Something about...Keeping you from falling asleep halfway there?" he meowed, a suddenly little uncertain but he remembered Mothglow saying something about that when he had taken his trip those moons ago. At the thought of his sister, a shadow crossed his face as he tensed his shoulders. She ought to be doing this... She would know what to say...Would have explained the bitter herbs first, he bet. Then again, he didn't recall her ever mentioning the taste to him... Ugh.

Mistypaw listened to Flintstar's explanation. That... Made sense.

"Well the taste alone did the job, I think..." He commented wryly. Doubtless there was a more technical explanation about the herbs themselves, but he was no medicine cat and neither was Flintstar. So long as he didn't wind up dropping dead Mistypaw decided he could deal with the unpleasant taste.

The silence stretched on uncomfortably as the pair walked, and Mistypaw floundered for something to break it and make things... less awkward. Or maybe silence was the less awkward option. For now, Mistypaw was going to hedge his bets on the latter being true as he followed the larger tom.

"Hmmm," the leader hummed at Mistypaw's comment, but his gaze remained fixed on the path ahead. There was little else to say - he had nothing else to day. He didn't understand the herbs, he simply had relied on his best memory to grab the ones that were needed - there had been a couple times where he had stopped into the den while Mothglow was preparing the bundles to know which herbs to grab. There was a new frustration to this entire situation, one that caused his heart to ache even more at the loss of his sister. He didn't know what to do - his Clan was without a medicine cat and there was only so many ways that he and Ravenmist could. "...I'm sorry," he finally huffed as they neared the Thunderpath, ears remaining perked for the sound of approaching Monsters. "I-I am not...Good with this type of thing. Talking. Being social. Freckleface encourages that I get to know my Clanmates but I am just left...Unsure of what to say," he admitted, giving a shake of his head. "But please understand that I do not mean anything by it. I know this tends to be...Erm, good time for the apprentice to get to know the medicine cat but Mothglow is... Was much better at talking to others then I ever will be. I cannot hope to perform this task even close to as well as she did." He blinked, ears slicking back slightly as he huffed. "I'm...Sorry. I simply wanted this to be...Acknowledged. To maybe put...Uh, understanding on if this Moonstone journey is an...Strange one. Awkward. Nothing more has to be said if you so wished, I simply wanted this stated."

Mistypaw's ears pricked as they neared the thunderpath, the acrid scent of both the path itself and the monsters hung heavy on the foliage that bordered it, making his lips curl slightly in distaste. Maybe by the time they made it back to camp, his nose and tastebuds would be completely dead.

Ah, awkwardness, fumbling over words and not knowing what to say... At least the pair had something in common. "It's fine... I get not knowing what to say, at least." Mistypaw shrugged. Getting to know your clanmates was probably a good idea, but words were hard.

"I'm sorry about... Mothglow. I know you and Batpaw were closer to her than I was." He'd hardly spoken to the medicine cat and only really known her in passing, but that at least seemed appropriate enough to say.

Hm...There was some comfort in Mistypaw admitting that he, to, had no idea what to say - a soft reminder that the awkwardness of the leader was not contained to only him. But as the apprentice offered his condolences, the leader fell sharply silent. He had nothing as he waited for the Thunderpath to be clear enough to lead him across, only finding the words to speak once they were safety on the other side and properly in WindClan territory. "Perhaps I was not as close with her as I should have been," he said, his voice low and quiet - more to himself than to his companion. After that, he fell completely silent...But this silence was not as awkward - a new understanding of its purpose between the two toms.

Soon enough, they had reached the base of Highstones, the leader wasting no time in slipping into the entrance. "Stick close," he said, sparing a glance behind him as he stepped into the dark tunnel. "Its easy to get lost if you do not know the path." Flintstar barely knew the path himself, not that he would outwardly admit it...But he had walked it twice and it felt almost like something was leading him, giving him faith in his pawsteps, head bent as the tunnel size wasn't the most forgiving to a cat as large as he was. Finally, the tunnel opened into moonlight - the moonstone reaching toward the opening high above that framed the still, glowing moon high in the sky. "Here we are," he huffed, stepping to the side to take a seat. "Put your nose to the Moonstone, StarClan will take care of the rest."

Mistypaw stuck close to Flintstar's side as they scrambled across the thunderpath, fur bristling as they made it across without incident. Keeping pace with the leader wasn't difficult as they traversed the rocky terrain ahead in a silence that was far less awkward than it had been previously. He relaxed a bit as they continued on, and it wasn't much longer before they reached the mouth of the cave.

Nodding to Flintstar, Mistypaw slipped into the tunnel after the leader, whiskers lightly brushing stone. He wasn't particularly claustrophobic, but the tom couldn't help the slight tension that crept into his shoulders, betraying some discomfort at the press of stone. Soon enough he couldn't see a thing, even to his Shadowclan eyes the darkness was impenetrable...

...Until it wasn't. A faint blue-ish light soon outlined Flintstar's ears ahead of him, and the tension in Mistypaw's shoulders vanished once more as they slipped into the cavern that held the moonstone, blue eyes wide.

Doing as Flintstar instructed, the tom pressed his nose to the oddly warm stone and laid down, falling into sleep far quicker than he had any right to do so.

“You’re Mistypaw,” crowed a voice from behind the apprentice. Emberspark’s appeared out of the shadows, amber eyes warm. “So if you were wondering how this works, we just talk and stuff. You can ask me questions, rant, whatever, I’m kinda chill about the whole Moonstone thing.” He sat down comfortably, shrugging a little. Frog had been this way during his Moonstone journey, albeit a bit more harsh, and his mannerisms took after hers. “Oh, and I’m Emberspark, former warrior of ShadowClan and blah blah blah. If you’re curious, I died not too long ago. Got trapped by a Twoleg’s dog near the SkyClan border and couldn’t escape because of the fire.”

Mistypaw jumped slightly as he opened his eyes to shadow, a voice from behind him calling his attention. The apprentice turned to face the cat, noting the starry fur as he seemed to melt out of the shadows.

"Talking? Oh, lovely, my favorite thing." Mistypaw's tone was one of dry amusement as he listened to the other tom speak. He finally introduced himself as Emberspark, a cat who had died not long after the fire on Skyclan's territory. Something about that statement jostled his memory, and his mind flashed back to the hunting patrol with Ebonysong, where they'd been attacked by a snake. The dark she-cat had mentioned a clanmate that had gone missing around that time, and Mistypaw had to wonder if this was him. The timing was accurate, if nothing else.

"Ebonysong mentioned someone went missing a while back, that was you, wasn't it?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.