Badgerpaw’s Starclan Dream

Daisybloom hated the shadowy figures lurking. They were always watching, always only pawsteps away. It made her feel so much more anxious, made it so much harder to do her job. She could no longer go on her herb hunts alone, always there was one of them with her. They had denied her Moonstone trips, which meant no communication with Starclan. But that was a part of becoming a warrior, so they had to compromise. Earlier that day, she had given Badgerpaw some news. She had told the apprentice to come to her den, feigning sickness. Soon, the apprentice came padding into the den. The medicine cat nodded, then said aloud, "You can take a den back there."

She hope that this would work. If Starclan was watching down at all, then they would see her. Even if they couldn’t do it the normal way, the ancestors needed to communicate. For the sake of the apprentices, for the sake of the clan. Maybe they could give them some guidance in these confusing times. This was a small act of rebellion, one that she could do. By doing these, she was showing that they were still Thunderclan. Never the Asylum.

It wasn't difficult for Badgerpaw to feign sickness at Daisybloom's request. Ever since the Asylum cats had shown up, the apprentice had worn a constantly morose expression. She was annoyed, and she was sad, and most of all, she was angry. The Asylum cat she'd attacked had batted her away as if she was nothing more than a fly. She was weak, to them, which meant she had to get stronger. But she couldn't do that with the stupid-face Nightstrikers showing their stupid ugly stupid faces every time she so much as stepped a paw out of camp.

She wanted to fight them all. And she would. She just needed to become a warrior first. With an annoyed sigh, the dappled she-cat slunk to the medicine cat den, tail dragging the ground, ears flat against her head. "Daisybloom?" she called inside.

Daisybloom smiled as the apprentice approached. It was uncanny how much she looked like Dacedream, and she knew so many in her clan were reminded of that. They had never been super close, but they had talked and the she-cat had been nice. The warrior had meant a lot to Stormpaw, too. Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she dropped her voice into a whisper, "Just sleep here tonight, hopefully something will happen." Her voice was unsure, and a bit shaky. Taking a few steps away to go back into her nest, she curled up, watching Badgerpaw. Hopefully this worked. Because the medicine cat wasn’t sure how the clan would survive if they were cut off from Starclan.

Bagderpaw nodded at the medicine cat, finding a corner of the den to curl up in. As her body heat began to warm the cold nest beneath her, the apprentice closed her eyes, hoping that whatever was supposed to happen... well, would. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep so soon, but almost as soon as her lids dropped, she did...

And when she awoke, she wasn't alone. As the dappled apprentice opened her eyes, she was greeted by another set of deep blue ones, staring at her from above. The calico tom that stood before her tilted his head, and Badgerpaw mirrored the movement. "Hello."

"Hello, little one," he said. The tom's voice was light and airy, and full of affection that Badgerpaw didn't understand. She squinted at him, and he squinted back, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.

"Am I in StarClan?" she asked, rising to her paws. Badgerpaw padded in a half-circle, her attention more on the lush, soft grass at her feet than the tom whose coat shimmered with stars standing not a fox-length away. She kneaded the ground, the feel of warm, thick grass foreign to Badgerpaw, who had spent most of her short life so far in between Leaf-fall and Leafbare.

"You are, yes," he tom replied.

Badgerpaw lifted her eyes to look at him, her expression curious and thoughtful. "The Asylum cats say we aren't allowed to talk to StarClan..." she told him, but her brow knitted rebelliously, and the apprentice's eyes shined with belligerent enthusiasm. "But you're here. How? And why, if StarClan hasn't abandoned us, haven't you come to help?" Badgerpaw's bottom lip poked out in a pout, and she gave the tom an accusing stare. "I heard stories, that StarClan rescued the clans before... when those mean star-cats attacked..."

"It's... not quite that simple, little one," the tom replied sadly. "I... StarClan..." he shook his head sadly, his tail curling over his paws as he sat down. "StarClan cannot prevent every bad thing that happens, Badgerpaw... and sometimes, it's best for the clans to rescue themselves."

Badgerpaw frowned, sitting down, too, and staring at him as if she wanted to argue. But in the end, she settled for a simple question instead. "What do I do?"

"You'll be a warrior of ThunderClan soon, like I once was," he told her. "And a good one, too, I imagine." The tom smiled, stood, and approached Badgerpaw slowly. He touched his nose to her forehead, and she didn't flinch away. "Sometimes, things don't make sense... and it's hard to understand why things happen the way they do, or did," he murmured. "But it will all make sense, eventually... I promise. Just be strong. Stay strong. And trust your heart above all else."

"Okay," Badgerpaw whispered. The tom smiled, and the apprentice noticed his coat was growing lighter, as if he was fading into the stars themselves. "Wait!" she called, and he met her gaze. "What's your name?"

"My name is Jaydream."

The warmth of StarClan had faded when Badgerpaw woke in the real world, her nose tucked into her belly, tail over her face. She lifted her head, blinking slowly, and then glanced around in search of Daisybloom.

Daisybloom watched as the apprentice fell asleep suddenly, dropping like a fly. She sighed. Sleep had been hard to come by for her lately, and it was probably the reason she and been feeling so off lately. That and the obvious, the Asylum also had something to do with it. Hopefully Badgerpaw wasn’t just sleeping, but tne way she had fallen asleep reminded the medicine cat of the way cats fell asleep at the Moonstone.

Not too long later, Badgerpaw stirred. Daisybloom glanced over, then got up and carefully walked over, praying the guards outside her den wouldn’t notice. "D-did it work?" she whispered, tabby tail flicking. If it had worked, this would mean that they could still communicate with Starclan, they could still get help from their ancestors. If not, well, they were cut off. She had a feeling though, that it had worked. The air of peacefulness that had surrounded the molly had been too perfect to have not been a coincidence...right?