January Medicine Cat Meeting 2021

Stars glistened overhead, silent as they were every other night. As the half moon peeked over the horizon, though, they almost seemed to be closer than usual. The air seemed suddenly tense, as though there was a revelation that was poised to be had. Given the circumstances of the last moons, would tonight hold a glimmer of hope for the clans? Or would tonight's dreams be filled with a similar message of hope and unity? As the medicine cats settled in their nests for the night, some drifting to sleep quickly while others lie awake until the moon was high in the sky, StarClan waited for each ones arrival in their hunting grounds.

tl;dr: moon out, go sleep, have dream

Beechface curled in her nest, giving the half-moon a glare. The last dream of Starclan she'd had had been absolutely useless. What was hope if there were no solid answers to be had, if Starclan admitted they had no control over the Asylum? Beechface wasn't here to be given empty words of hope when her paws were tied, or false promises. Tonight, she wanted answers, a way to actually do something useful about this entire mess.

Now, would she get those answers? It bothered her to not know what was going on, and after the last 'message' Starclan had given her, she wasn't so sure they weren't just toying with the living for their own ends. They had power, but for the moment it seemed like they weren't going to use it in any helpful manner.

Sleep came, eventually, and Beechface found herself in Starclan's territory just as she had last time. None of the other medicine cats were there, that she could tell, and her fur prickled with both impatience and unease. All she could do was wait for Starclan to maybe make themselves sort of useful, and the medicine cat hated waiting.

Rookpaw sighed. It had been just a few days since his mentor's death, and he felt less upbeat than normal due to that fact. However, at least he learned enough to be a suitable medicine cat for ShadowClan. StarClan seemed to give him wise information about 'finding his stable ground'. Really, with the death of Iniko, Rookpaw's connection with the Asylum wasn't as strong as it once was, especially with his second outburst at Tanglerose - an Asylum recruit - the day of Iniko's death. Unlike Iniko, he didn't like her. And he was sure that she didn't like him back.

Either way, the medicine cat of ShadowClan fell asleep in his den. When he woke up, he was in the familiar starry landscape where StarClan resided. Tanglerose - or Tavora, if that's what she called herself now - was wrong. There would still be hope, still would be a fire in his heart. Above all else, he realized, he was a ShadowClan cat. Not an Asylum cat, like Iniko wanted him to be. Yes, the calico tom was kind and compassionate, and Rookpaw couldn't ask for a better mentor. However, there was a reason why he had taught Rookpaw stuff only Asylum cats would know.

Perhaps the shifting sands that Rookpaw had been on had solidified sooner than he thought.

Either way, the black tuxedo waited patiently for StarClan to arrive with a message, one that might turn the tides of Asylum's occupation. It's not bad, per se, but there's no way that they will give us autonomy over our own lands. He didn't want to accept that as the truth, but he knew that it was true. "StarClan," he shouted, with less of the kit-like energy he had in his first meeting with them. "Tell me, what does ShadowClan need to do to survive?" He believed that the starry-pelted cats would give him the answers that he needed.

Smallbean was officially her apprentice, and tonight, he'd commune with StarClan. To be quite honest, Softbreeze was rather unhappy with her ancestors. They'd told her nothing. Aspenheart had even told her to stand down. As if. Truthfully, there were only three cats she wanted to see. One most of all.



Her name seemed to echo off each and every wall, clouding her every thoughts. It filled the silence until every sound, every heartbeat, every whisper was about hER. The fractured remains of Softbreeze's sanity had been slowly dwindling since Spiderquill's disappearance -- truthfully, she didn't think he was dead. If he had been he most definitely would've found a way to contact her and she would've felt it in her heart -- and now it truly had crumbled. The sorrow, pain, hurt, anger, fear, resistance, hatred, and grief had reached a boiling point.


The constant stream of tears at night. The smiles she simply didn't have the will to fake. The bubbling laughter that never left her lips anymore. The resentment. Then they were gone.


They'd both left. and they hadn't invited her. She would've followed them to the ends of the earth. Perhaps that was why they'd said nothing to her. But she still couldn't help but feel hurt. Maplewhisker had known, had helped them escape. No matter how hard she pleaded, the brown molly would look away guiltily and say that it was not her place to tell.


Softbreeze had taken to silence, remaining in the shadows of her den all day. Not even a pesky Asylum rat could get her to move or even blink. Downtuft, her dear, beloved brother, could scarcely get her to eat, and she knew he was worried. All her Clanmates were worried.


Every shred of willpower Softbreeze had had evaporated the day she'd found out Olive and Morning were gone. She'd been getting better, really, socializing more after Dappleshine's death at her paws. It had seemed like things would be okay. And then they weren't.

But, then again, since we're things ever okay on the moors? Morningdove had nearly died for peace only a few moons ago -- although admittedly it felt like years -- and now she was gone. Olivestar had lead WindClan so well. And now she, too, was gone. Goldengale, Clovertwist, Barleytuft, Graybriar, Dappleshine, Raventail, Aspenheart, Finchstar, Sagelight, Mothglow, Wildflower, Spiderquill, Honeysong, Eveningpaw, Mistleshine. What more did she have to lose? Downtuft, Mossbloom, Daisybloom, Maplewhisker, Smallbean, Hayglow, Violetpaw.

So few of her loved ones remained. And yet, even for them, Softbreeze could not find it in herself to live life fully. The drab cave walls were all she could remember now, the feel of heather beneath her paws and wind tussling her fur forgotten.

Although he would probably never address her about it, Softbreeze's recent behavior had been worrying Smallbean. Many things were on his mind that night, but this thought was the most prominent. The presence of the Asylum had given everyone a change of mood, but Softbreeze's didn't seem as though it was about the Asylum. It was almost as if watching his past self when he looked at her. The way she was acting- he knew it all too well. He had been in a dark place like that before. Back whenever the very thought of Larkflight would bring tears to his eyes and would make the deep wound in his heart fester and ache. The thought of what happened after that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew from experience that only one thing could bring a cat from a hole as deep as what she was in, only one other cat. The tom wanted to reach out to Softbreeze every day, try and help her from that hole- but he wasn't the cat to do it. He could only hope that Softbreeze could find a cat to pull her from the depths of her mind, like Cedarheart had done for him.

The thought of the Thunderclan she-cat made that sour taste in his mouth grow bittersweet. Most nights he would have dove into his past without a moment's hesitance, to think over everything he could have done differently- but tonight was too important. As far as he knew, the night of the half-moon was the night that the medicine cats would have their meeting with Starclan. He assumed that they would visit the medicine cats through their dreams, just as they met with apprentices through their dreams. A small frown crossed his face at the thought. He still blamed Starclan for everything that he had been through. For taking Wildflower away from him, for taking away Crowspirit, Splashkit, Heatkit, Larkflight, and Raventail, for bringing Cedarheart's kits into this world, knowing that their father was a worthless, good-for-nothing cat. Frankly, he didn't think he could face Starclan- he didn't want to. But even so, he knew he would eventually fall asleep, and he would eventually wake up on Starclan's plains to receive his first prophecy.

Finally breaking his thoughts, the tom turned his head from looking toward the ceiling to looking across the den. From the depths of the den, he saw the faint rise and fall of his mentor's flank. He attempted to match his breathing to the same pace as hers, hoping it would help him fall asleep faster. Even though he had started to grow more comfortable with the Asylum's presence, he still had thoughts of being killed in his sleep lingering in his head. Especially considering what they had done to Dappleshine it wouldn't surprise him. His thoughts broke again as sleep weighed down his eyelids, causing him to subconsciously lower his eyelids. If it were up to him, he would refuse to sleep to avoid speaking to his ancestors. Eyes slowly closing, the last thing he remembered before drifting off to sleep was the angle of the moonlight shining between the cracks and crevasses of the den roof.

Daisybloom wasn’t expecting much to happen this moon. Last time there had been a vague (as always) message about how things would get better. But they seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. The Asylum had been tightening down on them, and the clans had in no way gotten used to it. Resentment was building up, practically bubbling to get out. She had felt a sick sinking feeling in her stomach as she looked out at camp and saw so many outsiders in the place she called home. It seemed that they couldn't go a few moons without something happening. First the Righteous Few, and now this. She had been keeping track of the moon, and as the sun started to set she headed dutifully back to her best.

She sat for a few moments, thinking. The days had started to blend together, and admittedly it didn’t seem like there was much difference. But on the inside, she knew they all felt it. She didn’t like change, or surprises, or anything that was out of her comfort zone. And the past moon or two had been nothing but that. She sighed, laying down in her nest. Moments later, she was fast asleep, and her eyes opened on that strange territory again. She had been hoping to see her fellow medicine cats, to make sure they were okay, to get news. She stood alone, waiting nervously.

Softbreeze awoke in a misty area, a grassy expanse under paws. She was alone, as far as she could see, which wasn't very far thanks to the wall of fog that seemed to twirl and dance before her. Suddenly, a silver she-cat burst through the misty area, blue eyes wide and a frantic expression on her face. She was searching for something, or rather, someone. Her eyes finally landed on the familiar pelt, and she quickly made her way over to the she-cat, looking slightly relieved but still worried and nervous. Once Dappleshine finally stood before Softbreeze, she paused to catch her breath, touching her nose lightly to the medicine cat's head before stepping back and opening her mouth to speak. Her voice was warped, the words distorted and echoing. "ot sorry its soisicend thta wath suht hatt eoknbr nlac ouyr hsa htead nstdrduane eend airerp ot mI on reetzeobSf tbu ouvey uryosefl go ultaf ellaFrew twnsa ebotzfeSre sarst oot aiadrf adn mI yuro ckab tdnure adn dybnoe tonef dear uory My nbee eth ltea ehav yoru uyo os uesneqscocne adn oysrflue..." The she-cat stopped, her head tilting as she registered the incoherent babbling that had come from her maw. Her shoulders drooped sadly, and she shook her head in a slow, wide arc, closing her eyes and lowering her head as if grieving. Touching her nose gently to Softbreeze's head once more, she turned and walked silently away, tail trailing behind her as she disappeared back into the wall of mist.

---

The rest of the medicine cats find themselves standing in their respective camps, the shadowed outlines of nests and dens surrounding them as the night sky hung overhead. The quiet sounds of soft breathing and the occasional rustle as a clanmate shuffled in their slumber was all that disrupted the still air. For several heartbeats, all that was seen was the steadily falling snow, but then the air around them took on a shimmer as a multitude of voices spoke. "Those that were once lost can now be found, closer than you think but still out of reach." A stiff wind whisked some of the snowflakes up and away, out of camp and to the areas beyond. The air stilled once more, and the dream vanished as the medicine cats were plunged back into darkness before waking in their nests.