Lichen's Moonstone Journey

Beechface approached the apprentice den, setting the two bundles of herbs down before she ducked into the entrance.

"Lichenpaw, get up!" She called into the den, eyes landing on her brother's form. A small smile curved her lips, though she wasn't sure he'd be thrilled about their destination today. Beechface, at least, was looking forward to spending time with her younger brother. Since he'd been gone until Asylum's defeat, and then she'd been busy with the string of sick and injured (along with their father), spending time together hadn't been something she had done recently.

"These taste absolutely awful, don't say I didn't warn you." She smirked, nudging one of the herb bundles in Lichen's direction once he'd made his way from the den.

Lichen grunted heavily in response, gradually shifting up into a sitting position as he shrugged the sleep off his form. "Whaddya want..." he mumbled, swiping a damp paw over his face to quickly smooth his fur down. Obviously she needed something, else she wouldn't be waking him up at this hour. Groggy, the scarred apprentice padded out of the den, fixing his sister with a squint. She pushed something towards him and he blinked, his expression clouded. It was obvious he had mixed feelings about this.

"Oh, it's time for this, huh? I guess I finally earned it." Lichen bent down to sniff at the herbs at his paws, his nose almost immediately crinkling in disgust. "Ugh, do I really have to eat these? Can't I just grab a bird from the fresh kill pile or something? This looks awful." He gave Beechface a pouting look, but upon seeing that she was serious about it, he gave an exasperated sigh and lapped up the leaves. It took all his strength to not retch up the herbs immediately, but he managed to swallow them, a violent shudder running down his spine at the taste.

"Thanks for the warning, I guess...That was the WORST thing I've ever put in my mouth! Foxdung...Can we go now?"

"They'll keep you from getting hungry or tired, we need to reach the moonstone before nightfall, and it's well past windclan's territory, up in the mountains." She mewed, apologetic for the shudder than ran through Lichen's frame as he choked down the herbs. Briefly, Beechface pressed her cheek against her brother's shoulder. "You can drink at the creek, it'll help get the taste out." She added, turning to lead Lichen from camp.

"I've missed you, brother. How've you been? I'd meant to ask you earlier but... Every time I turn around there's more work to do." Taking cats to the moonstone seemed to be her only way of getting some respite from everything, strangely. And it gave her a chance to talk with others beyond a quick word here and there.

"Stars, please," he groaned, padding after his larger sister as they exited camp. His ears perked as she spoke, and he took a moment to think before replying. How was he doing?

"I missed you too, Beech. It's good to be back home and see everyone, honestly, but it's been kinda stressful. Don't get me wrong, it's great those Asylum foxhearts are gone, but now we're stuck picking up the pieces..." He shrugged, glancing over at the medicine cat to judge her reaction. "I'm kinda worried about Mom and Dad, too. They look pretty rough...But hey, Ravenclaw had kits, that's pretty cool! I haven't really talked to them much, but it's interesting being an uncle!" He laughed, grinning his crooked grin in Beechface's direction.

"Enough about my dumb rump though, how's my favorite sister doing?"

"Yeah they're... Not okay. At all." Beechface grimaced. "I... think mom was holding up okay until Featherkit... And then Mountainkit and Sneezingkit were snatched by a hawk in front of her and Ashstorm. Then dad came back and well... It's dad. Whatever Asylum did, it's bad, Lichen."

"I don't know what's going through either of their heads and I'm not sure I want to know. They're worrying me." They had reached the creek, and true to her word Beechface stopped to allow her brother a moment to drink.

Lichen mentioned Ravenclaw, and Beechface dipped her head towards the creek, her mouth felt dry.

"Yeah... I'm happy for Ravenclaw." A strange note of... wistfulness? Jealousy? crept into Beechface's voice, and she gave her head a quick shake as she hurried to continue speaking. "Birdpaw and Shadepaw seem like they'll make excellent warriors." She was as proud of the kits as Ravenclaw and Wrenspring were, of course, but it hurt to hear them referred to as Ravenclaw's. Lichen couldn't know the truth, neither could the kits themselves. It bothered Beechface, but this was the nest she had made for herself. Hopefully the emotion in her voice would go unnoticed.

For once, Lichen was quiet when they reached the creek, as he was busy gulping the fresh water to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. Refreshed, he raised his head, water dripping off his whiskers. "Yeah...I think we should gather the others, have some sort of intervention or something. I don't want this to go on too long, y'know?"

He was looking at Beechface when she spoke about Ravenclaw's kits, and one ear pricked. Even with all his boasting, he was well aware that there were cats much smarter than he. Even he could sense something was off, but he decided to leave it be. At least for now. That wouldn't stop him from thinking about it, though. Did Beechface want to have kits? As far as he knew, she couldn't. medicine cats were forbidden to take mates. Lichen cocked a grin at that thought. Did Beechface even like kits? Or even anyone else in the Clan besides him?

The stocky tom gave his fur a hearty shake, flicking water droplets into the air. "We better get going, huh? Got no time to waste! Although, I bet StarClan can wait a bit longer, it's not like they're on a schedule." he sneered, rolling his eyes. All that StarClan nonsense was a bit over his head. Some part of him believed it had to be real to a degree, but he hadn't really seen much evidence for it at all, so why care?

(OOC: we can timeskip if you want now!)

"Maybe... I'm afraid it could make things worse, though. Mom didn't... React well after she found out I told the clan about what really happened with Featherkit. I suppose I can't blame her for not wanting to even think about it but ignoring things won't just make them go away, either." She mewed. Beechface understood that her mother hadn't wanted the inevitable pity and questions that followed the clan learning the truth. She hadn't wanted to be reminded of it, ever. And she'd been truly terrified of Dawnhawk and what he might do if the truth was revealed. But Dawnhawk no longer had an army, and he was just one cat.

"You and I don't have the tact for something like that. We're both loud and brash and... Nobody needs more stress." She sighed, setting off towards the borders once more. She rolled her eyes at Lichen's comments on Starclan, however. "Look, I'm not disagreeing with you, I think they're cryptic and beyond frustrating to deal with. But I've been slapped by one of them before, after I became a medicine cat apprentice." Her whiskers twitched in amused... not-quite-fondness of the memory. "Don't get yourself slapped, okay?"

---

They reached highstones at sundown, and Beechface scrambled up the last of the rocky slope and turned to glance at her brother.

"Alright, stick close to me when we enter the tunnel, it's really narrow and you won't be able to see a thing once we get more than a tail length past the entrance. When you get to the moonstone you just touch your nose to it and lay down." Beechface felt like she'd repeated a variation of this speech to most apprentices she'd taken here, and she was beginning to dislike the repetitiveness of it... But it was best he was warned beforepaw.

She turned to lead him down the path to the moonstone itself, and once she'd reached the chamber containing the moonstone, stepped aside to let him enter.

Lichen scrambled up the slope after Beechface and eyed the entrance to the cavern suspiciously, but held his tongue as his sister explained things. "Narrow tunnel, stay close, touch nose to the rock. Got it." he murmured to himself, padding after her as they entered the tunnel. Soon enough, the pair of cats reached the Moonstone itself. It certainly was big...but it just looked like a rock. Lichen was about to turn and remark about it to Beechface when the stone lit up, illuminated by moonlight. The apprentice couldn't hold back a gasp of awe as the room they were in lit up, fragments of glowing light cast along the walls of the cave.

Okay, maybe it wasn't just a rock. He swallowed carefully and stepped forward, touching his nose to the cold surface as he was told. He didn't remember falling asleep, just that when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a clearing of a forest much like the one in SkyClan territory. Lichen looked around for a moment. "Hello? Isn't there supposed to be someone here, to give me advice and stuff?"

The stocky tom nearly leapt out of his skin when a voice sounded behind him, and he whirled around to see an older cat blanketed by stars, a gray and brown tabby with bright blue eyes and scratch marks on his face. "Still your whiskers, kiddo," the StarClan cat purred, biting back an amused chuckle. Boy, did he remind him of himself. Taking a seat in front of Lichen, he continued. "My name is Sagelight. I was the SkyClan medicine cat before Beechface, she was my apprentice. You're...her brother, right?" Lichen nodded slowly, looking Sagelight up and down unabashedly. Sagelight simply smiled back and waved a paw, inviting Lichen to sit with him.

"Yeah, she's my older sister. Bloodstrike's our dad. I think I've heard of you, Beechface talks about you sometimes." he mewed as he took a seat in front of the starry tom. Sagelight simply nodded, smiling to himself. "Lichenpaw, unfortunately we're on limited time tonight, so I'll get right to it. Is there anything you want to talk about? I'm all ears, it's what I'm here for."

Lichen shuffled his paws, frowning as he thought about that question. He didn't necessarily want to spill his heart out to some dead cat, but he did want answers...

"Uh, I mean...I've been worried about Mom and Dad lately, that's something...They changed. Well, I was gone for a while, but...they're different, and not in a good way. I want to help, but knowing me, I'll say the wrong thing or make it worse...I'm not too sure how to bring it up to them." The apprentice looked up from his paws to find Sagelight staring at him with those big blue eyes, like he was staring into his soul. "...What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sagelight tilted his head slightly to one side, his tail flicking thoughtfully. "Is that all you want to talk about?" Lichen groaned and rolled his eyes. Of course the StarClan cat would know. "Okay, fine. Guess I can't slip anything by you guys..." He sighed and straightened his posture, steeling his nerves.

"Sagelight, I...I've been thinking. I know I'm young and I've got a lot to learn, or whatever, but...I want to be something. I want cats to look at me and go, 'wow, that's Lichen! He's--'...he's what? Like, Beechface is the medicine cat, that's pretty cool...and Dad is the deputy, and Grandpa is the leader. They're important. I dunno if I want to lead the Clan or anything, but...I want to be important too. To feel like I've done something special. It...it just feels like I'm always messing something up. Maybe I'm not, I dunno, but...foxdung, it feels like I am. Scat, sorry, I shouldn't curse--"

The old medicine cat raised a paw to quiet him, letting out a gentle purr of laughter. "It's alright, Lichenpaw, I won't tell anyone. In all seriousness, though... I don't want to sit here and tell you things you already know. True, you are young, and you've got a lot of life ahead of you. It's perfectly normal to feel this way at this time in your life, I felt the same way when I was your age. One thing I can say is to be true to yourself. Don't try to be something you're not. Like, take me for example. I was trained as a warrior before I became a medicine cat. It never came easy for me. I never really enjoyed battling or hunting. So when I got the message that I was to be the next medicine cat apprentice, it gave me a fresh start and the chance to find who I really was. I can't say what that will be for you, kiddo, but I'm sure it will happen. Be patient, it will come. You're smart and capable, you'll do amazing things, I'm sure of it." Sagelight rose to his paws and closed the gap between them, bumping his forehead against Lichen's affectionately.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, 'paw. You are more than you give yourself credit for." Before Lichen could properly respond, Sagelight's form began to fade, one star at a time. "Say hello to Beechface for me!" The last thing he saw was a bright, crooked grin startlingly similar to his own, and Lichen found himself opening his eyes to see the cave once more. Grunting, he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and got to his paws, stretching out the stiffness in his limbs.

Maybe this whole StarClan stuff wasn't so bad after all.

...Not that he would admit it, of course.