Vision of Uncertainty [Mossbloom]

Beechpaw had opted to wait for Mossbloom and Daisybloom to emerge from the moonstone's chamber, rather than dashing back to her own territory as she might have wanted. The dream she had pulled insistently at her thoughts, the uncanny clarity she'd had for a few moments in the dream giving rise to uncertainty in the waking world.

She padded at Mossbloom's side for now, slightly chafing at the slower pace. Beechpaw was large, and had the long stride to match. It was something Primroselight often complained about, and so she tried to adjust so that her shorter, older companion could keep up with her.

Eventually Cinderpaw split from them, leaving just the two of them. She and Beechpaw hadn't spoken, and that was fine. The air between them hung heavy with awkwardness and tension, and Beechpaw simply hadn't felt comfortable asking Mossbloom about the dream she had until they were in relative private.

"It felt different than a normal dream, and different than when I had my apprentice ceremony." Beechpaw gave Mossbloom a quizzical look.

"...It was odd, somewhere in twolegplace? The surroundings I found myself in were entirely unfamiliar. I recognized Spiderquill, or thought I did. He was hissing at a twoleg, and seemed like he was wrapped in... some sort of pelt? He was panicked, but it's like the twoleg didn't even notice as it picked him up and set him on his paws. Something was very wrong with the way he moved as if he wasn't using one of his legs. I couldn't get a clear look, though." Even now, Beechpaw's voice betrayed her uncertainty at what she'd witnessed, or thought she had witnessed. She'd never been one to put much stock into her dreams, although her encounter with Aspenheart after her apprentice ceremony had certainly been interesting.

Beechpaw could only hope that Mossbloom might be able to shed some light on the nature of the dream.

Mossbloom had padded alongside Beechpaw and the others, the journey passing in relative silence as they all walked together. After Cinderpaw split off towards ShadowClan territory, Beechpaw finally broke the silence. Mossbloom had wondered if something was going on, she had been surprised to find that the she-cat had waited for them, and chosen to walk alongside them on the way back to their camps. However, she wasn't going to press, so she waited for Beechpaw to speak first. She spoke of her revelation, or dream as she put it, and mentioned Spiderquill. Mossbloom pondered as she spoke, she hadn't seen the medicine cat there, and had originally thought that he had been unable to make it. But if that was what Beechpaw saw....

"That was your first revelation. StarClan gave you knowledge of something, but unfortunately they aren't always totally clear. If something did happen to Spiderquill, then we would be safe to assume that it was him you saw, and he has been taken by twolegs for some reason. You said something was wrong with one of his legs?" She mewed, a thoughtful expression on her face.

A revelation...? Hmm. Hadn't Sagelight mentioned something similar, when Starclan had...? The apprentice shook her head, dismissing the thought. But if what Mossbloom was saying was correct...

"Definitely some sort of injury, though I couldn't make out what exactly." She responded thoughtfully as Mossbloom's words brought her back to the present.

"He wasn't at the meeting last night..." At least, Beechpaw hadn't seen him among the other medicine cats when she woke. She'd'd thought he was just late, like he normally seemed to be.

Yellow-green eyes turned to the older medicine cat, oddly troubled. She hadn't liked Spiderquill much, but to be taken by twolegs for some reason, and injured? That was worrying. He wasn't one of her clanmates, but his clan had let Skyclan stay in their camp after the fire. And he was a medicine cat, not a warrior, if he was injured and couldn't defend himself...

"Hmmm..." Mossbloom mewed thoughtfully, wincing as she stepped on a sharp twig in her concentration. "For him to be that shaky, perhaps it is something pretty bad... I didn't see him either, now that you mention it, I didn't see Thornpaw either." Her ears flattened slightly. Something terrible must have happened... "I'll ask Daisybloom when she returns if she saw or heard anything from either of them. They could have been running late, and if we can speak to the two of them soon enough, we may be able to avoid that fate. Thank you, for bringing it to my attention. I'll ask Daisybloom and try to let you know what I find out, okay?" The older medicine cat tried to look and sound reassuring, but the worry and concern in her mew was clear. Was Spiderquill alright?

"Okay." Mossbloom's words were somewhat reassuring, at least. Maybe the Riverclanners had just been late. After all, it wouldn't be the first time. Still, if anything bad were to happen, Beechpaw wouldn't wish ill upon the Riverclanners. They'd allowed them in their camp, and for all that Beechpaw disliked Spiderquill's chatty nature, he'd always been kind and helpful.

Something Mossbloom had said caught in her mind, though.

"Is it possible to prevent what Starclan shows us from happening?" Beechpaw was curious. Preventing things from happening, if at all possible, would absolutely be better than just allowing them to occur. Maybe there would be some way of helping the situation, for once.

Mossbloom blinked, clenching her jaw for a moment before sighing. "I wouldn't necessarily say prevent, but sometimes we can prepare, or brace ourselves and our clans to what may be coming. Unfortunately, it's not common for us to know if an event has already happened, is ongoing, or has yet to come about, so we have to use our best judgement in that regard. It is why communication between us and our leaders and deputies are so important, and our relationships with them must be steadfast, even when everything else seems shaken and falling apart. With that said though, sometimes our preparations or advise help us shift something terrible into something less so, if it is something that can be changed. Not every sign for StarClan is something we can change, or even figure out, the stars know that there are so many that are still unsolved for me.... However, we learn, and we grow, and we become wiser from each one." She mewed, stopping to sit down. She turned over her slowly bleeding paw, staring at it quietly before lapping at the welled blood in between her toes.

"Pricklebush, my mentor... So many of us were warned that night. We were returning from the meeting, myself, Pricklebush who was my mentor, and RiverClan's medicine cat Mistleshine... Then Mistlepaw. We all got the warning, but there wasn't enough time. We were ambushed by a fox, and other predators. Bad luck, it was said at first.... But something about it seemed so planned, so thought out. I lost my mentor that night, as a barely named medicine cat. Mistlepaw, who he had been training..." She trailed off, uncharacteristic bitterness tinged her mew as she placed her paw down and looked to the gradually lightening sky before continuing. "Mistlepaw lost her mentor as well. I had to pick up where he had left off, and then she was injured... I don't know what happened to her. I fear she's in StarClan with him. It all happened so fast, and nothing could be done. I blamed myself, if only I had pieced it together, if only I had been faster, maybe he would have survived." Her gaze rose to land back on Beechpaw's and she smiled slightly, sadly. "I'll help you decipher your signs as best I can, but please keep in mind that we can only do as much as we can, and sometimes there are things we can't change, no matter how hard we try."

Tufted ears rotated, catching Mossbloom's words as the older medicine cat spoke, and Beechpaw found herself sitting as she did, head turned to watch the calico she-cat.

Mossblooom went into some detail about her own past, and Beechpaw blinked up at the older medicine cat in surprise to hear the bitterness tinging her tone. But then, the medicine cat was older, had lived through far more than Beechpaw had. She wasn't so naive or self-absorbed to think she was the only one to be bitter over events she couldn't change. It was more that she hadn't expected such to come from the seemingly put-together calico in front of her.

"What's the point of warning us but not giving us the time or ability to do anything?" Beechpaw's tail lashed once in frustration. Why bother at all, then?

"I guess the chance of being able to prepare is better than nothing..." She conceded finally, though her ears still twitched back a tiny bit in dismay at the thought of not being able to prevent what Starclan showed them.

The corners of Mossbloom's mouth rose slightly in a bit of a half-smile as she shrugged. "That's a very good question, one I've asked myself many times. I'm not sure why, honestly, and if I'm being truthful I'm not always certain that StarClan is sure why either. I trust our ancestors have our best interests in mind, and will do what they can to help maintain the warrior code and peace... But those two things don't always line-up, you know. It's hard to always have peace while supporting a code that separates us as clans and individuals. In addition, they also have a tendency to make.... What word should I use..." The calico fell silent as she thought for a moment before continuing. "Sometimes their choices and judgements can be a bit out of touch. The forest changes just as we do, as each leader rises into their position another falls, and the clan along with it. ThunderClan is not the same ThunderClan it was under Leopardstar, or even Oakstar. WindClan is not the same WindClan it was under Finchstar. And SkyClan is not the same SkyClan it was under Tinystar. Though Tinylegs does survive, his clan has changed from his time as leader. I sometimes think that StarClan has a tendency to recall how things were when they walk among us, and fail to take note of the changes that have occurred, and the reasons behind them."

Mossbloom's tail looped loosely around her paws, her ear twitching slightly. "There's so much that I understand, and far more that I don't. I think the only thing we can do, is our best. If we fail then we fail, we learn and grow and move on. It's a hard thing, to feel like you couldn't do it, you weren't enough. Unfortunately it's nothing something that can only happen once, either. I've lost many cats that were under my care, my own mother included. She died as she lived, protecting her clan, protecting me. There was nothing I could do to stop StarClan from claiming her. Attempting to decipher and understand prophecies is similar in more than one, and there never seems to be one right answer. Don't be afraid to speak to someone about your visions, especially your leader and deputy. Never forget that you are a team, leading and guiding the clan together. If one piece is missing, the rest risk crumbling, and if I've learned anything about you in this short time that we've known each other, it's that you won't hesitate to put either of your companions in their place if they're being a mousebrain." Mossbloom purred, her eyes squinting slightly as the first rays of light filtered through the leaves, the sun having rose above the edge of the horizon. "I apologize, Beechpaw, I've been talking your ear off without even realizing it." She mewed, lowering her head in a silent apology.

Beechpaw quietly focused on the Thunderclanner's words, listening to what the elder she-cat spoke of.

"That... Makes sense." She mewed, "It honestly didn't feel like things had changed much when Wolfstar became leader, he'd been our de facto leader for moons already. I suppose it's easy to say things haven't changed just from that alone, but that wouldn't be the whole truth, would it? That doesn't stop the elders from lamenting on how things were under Crowstar and Tinylegs, of course... And Tinylegs chose to stay in Riverclan." The last was added more as an afterthought, she hadn't known the little elder all that well. Starclan, much like the elders' den, was filled with cats from a different time.

Mossbloom's next words startled a laugh out of Beechpaw.

"Someone has to keep them in line, might as well be me... I used to think I'd be some great warrior and follow in Wolfstar and Bloodstrike's paws. I don't know how Sagelight had the patience to deal with me and my brattiness on top of everything else." As time passed, Beechpaw found herself growing less bitter and slowly appreciating all that the former medicine cat had done for the clan.

"I... Think I needed to hear it, though. So thanks, Mossbloom." She waved off the apology, a quick smile crossing her face for the first time in a while.

As Beechpaw revealed that Tinylegs had stayed in RiverClan, Mossbloom couldn't help the surprised look that crossed her face. With everything that Marmalade had told her about the old tom, she never would have expected him to stay in a clan that was not his own. Had he finally learned from his past mistakes? It was none of her business, really, so she simply tucked away the information for now. "Sagelight was a warrior when he received the sign from StarClan, did you know that? He had just been named within the same moon. The medicine cats before him, Amberdawn and Mintwhisker, left SkyClan. Amberdawn was conflicted, following Tinylegs trial, and Mintwhisker..." Mossbloom trialed off, her eyes shadowing as she recalled the terrible look in the old medicine cat's eyes moments before she struck out at Sagelight. "I'm not entirely sure what happened. She went insane, with grief, maybe guilt. The night Sagelight joined us was the night she lashed out at him, and I've never seen her again. That was when I stepped in to train him. It was horrible, and I know it troubled him greatly. If he had the patience to put up with that and having to learn from me, when I was running between ThunderClan and SkyClan, I'm not surprised he had the patience for you. I'll miss him dearly." She confessed quietly.

"He wasn't the only one of us called from the path of a warrior, my warrior ceremony was interrupted by Pricklebush. I was moments away from receiving my warrior name, you should have seen Leaopardstar's face." Mossbloom purred, chuckling as she recalled the confusion and anger on the passed leader's face. "You're welcome though, I'll always be here to talk if you need it. Even when I'm retired or gone, you can count on me, okay?" She mewed, green eyes sparkling kindly as she got to her paws. "We should probably get home now though, before they send out patrols searching for us." She joked lightly, smiling at the medicine cat apprentice. "You'll be a great medicine cat, Beechpaw."

Beechpaw listened quietly, eyes and ears trained on the older medicine cat as she spoke of Sagelight... having been a warrior first? Beechpaw blinked, trying to make sense of the words. The information wasn't anything she'd ever heard before, Sagelight had seldom spoken of the past, and so the names of the other medicine cats were foreign to the apprentice.

She couldn't imagine leaving her clan, or... attacking a clanmate. The second part of that sentence was a lie of course, but she'd been acting in self defense. Beechpaw knew that Honeysong, Sagelight's former apprentice, had disappeared too. With all of that, Sagelight truly must have been desperate to find someone to step into the role. Beechpaw wondered if her inability to imagine leaving her clan was part of why she was chosen, it was the only way it made sense with how reluctant she'd been.

Mossbloom continued, and Beechpaw felt her whiskers twitch.

"I couldn't imagine my warrior ceremony being interrupted like that!" She mewed, "I had no idea about... any of this, really." Here she'd been, throwing tantrums over it, even.

The large apprentice stood. It had grown lighter as the sun slowly rose, she hadn't realized how long they'd been sitting there.

"Thank you, Mossbloom." She mewed, "And I guess I should head back too. Stars know what my mother will have done to my den in boredom." Though Beechpaw didn't think her herbs would be at risk, Smokefeather wasn't Adderflare, after all.

Beechpaw turned, glancing back at the older medicine cat briefly, offering a quick smile once more before she made her way towards Skyclan's charred territory.