Quietpaw's Moonstone Journey

Beechface ducked beneath the entrance to the apprentice's den, gaze picking out Quietpaw's sleeping form in the gloom alongside the other apprentices. The others would get to sleep in, but the moonstone required Skyclanners leave camp at the unfortunate time of 'far too early for a respectable warrior to be up.' She hadn't spent much time with any of her nieces and nephews, but journeying to the moonstone would give them a solid two days to spend together, whether Quietpaw wanted it or not. Beechface knew that her name was fitting, and not much else, even though she had made it a point to shadow Bloodstrike training her, mostly so her feather-brained father didn't get himself hurt. Yet her duties had made shadowing the pair exceedingly difficult recently, so Beechface had resigned herself to only hearing the semi-frequent updates that most mentors gave her on training progress. Quietpaw had earned her mentor's praise more often than not. The apprentice had been upset after the last gathering, just as Ashstorm and Smokefeather had been, she knew. Beechface would ask her how she was holding up in a bit, once Quietpaw was more awake.

"Time to get up, Quietpaw." Beechface called softly, then stepped back from the entrance, quickly swallowing her portion of the travelling herbs. Once her niece had joined her, Beechface nudged the second bundle of traveling herbs at her.

"They'll keep you from getting tired on the way to the moonstone. They don't taste pleasant, though." She warned, and while she was sympathetic to the reaction most apprentices had for the herbs, Quietpaw would eat them anyways. Once the apprentice had, Beechface flicked her tail for her to follow her out of camp.

Quietpaw drowsily lifted her head at Beechface calling her name. She had fallen asleep just 30 minutes before hand, with her mind being far too occupied to fall asleep. Occupied with so many thoughts. Quietpaw let out a soft yawn, before getting up onto her paws, and padding over softly to her aunt.

Her baby blue eyes shifted down to the bundle of herbs Beechface had set out for her. She lazily lapped them up without a word, the taste feeling like a mix between sour and crowfood, before turning her gaze back to Beechface. Quietpaw then padded behind Beechface, as they headed out of camp.

Beechface led Quietpaw through the territory, pausing briefly at the creek to allow the apprentice to wash the taste of the traveling herbs out of her mouth if she wanted to. Beechface had grown accustomed to them by now, but she understood that most of her clanmates weren't.

"How've you been holding up after the gathering?" She'd been debating asking, but finally found the energy to speak once they were well past the creek and nearing the edge of Skyclan territory, the sun finally having peeking above the treeline. She adjusted her pace so that Quietpaw was at her shoulder rather than a few paces behind, ears flicking at the soft sounds of prey scurrying in the trees above, not that either cat would be doing any hunting today.

Quietpaw lifted her head at Beechface's question. The gathering? Oh right, The Gathering. She let out a huff, as she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I-I dunno. A m-mix of sad, l-loneliness, a-and-" Quietpaw stopped herself for a moment. What else could she say? A bit of happiness because due to her stupid mouth acidentlly gaining a new friend in Rosepaw, another synonym for sadness or lonelyness? Or should she do what she does best?

"I-I'm sorry, you probably wanted a h-happy answer." And with a quick sentence, Quietpaw had apologized.

"It's alright, Quietpaw. You don't need to apologize." Beechface sighed, briefly resting her tail across the young cat's shoulders.

"Maybe they'll decide to come back to us, one day." Ivystar at the very least had been furious about Spiderquill's lie. Maybe she'd encourage them to at least consider it. Beechface thought that a lot of Mountainpaw and Sneezingpaw's denial could've been due to how sudden it must have been for them. That they each claimed to have no memories of their real family was concerning... But Sneezingpaw at least had been taken young. Mountainpaw... Maybe the trauma had just been too much for her. She'd been a lively, playful kit once, who had been happy to throw snowballs at their mother... But that had been Featherkit too.

Beechface was content to walk in silence for a while longer, her path taking the pair of cats along the clan borders rather than cutting through the heart of Thunderclan territory. They had reached fourtrees, and Beechface couldn't help but curl her lip at the thorns that were still around the edge of the hollow. A place of peace, and Asylum had twisted it to inflict evil upon the clans.

"At the edge of Windclan's territory there is a thunderpath we must cross. Beyond that, highstones isn't much farther." Beechface mewed, picking up the pace a bit. She had never liked the openness of the moors, and she liked the clan who inhabited the moorland even less.

As soon as Beechface reassured her, Quietpaw felt shame rise in her back. She shouldn't have apologized! "Eep! I-I'm sorry f-for apologizing t-t-then!" She squeaked, her ears slightly drooping down for a quick moment, before flicking up again, looking down. Starclan, she apologized again, didn't she?! I should probably just stop talking forever! Quietpaw thought shamefully.

Beechface's voice threw Quietpaw out of her thoughts, as Quietpaw glanced up. Sneezingpaw and Mountainpaw coming back? That sure was a nice thought. Unlikely, with how freaked out the two had been at the gathering, but not impossible. "Yea, maybe."

After walking for a bit without a word, with Beechface instructing her on where Highstones was. "O-Okay. I've n-n-never been n-near Windclan t-territory before." She mewed. Sure there was Fourtrees, but that was more neutral ground. Plus Quietpaw was sure she'd never talked to a Windclan cat before. Oh Starclan, what if they hated her guts so much they wanted her dead?! What if they attacked her and Beechface?! Quietpaw felt her fur spike up with fear, and stumbled a bit. "W-Windclan w-w-won't a-attack u-us, r-r-right?" Quietpaw asked, stuttering with every word.

"It's alright, Quietpaw." Beechface gently flicked her tail across her shoulders for a moment as they walked.

"They won't attack us." She reassured. In the distance, a pale she-cat with soft tabby stripes on her face, legs and tail streaked across the moor after a hare. Beechface had to admit that Windclan's speed was breathtaking, as much as she disliked the clan.

The pair of cats crossed the border into unclaimed territory, then crossed the thunderpath. Beechface led Quietpaw to mothermouth as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

"Stick close to me, and use your whiskers. The tunnels are very dark. When we get to the moonstone, lay down and press your nose to it. Ready, Quietpaw?" When the apprentice confirmed, Beechface led her to down the dark path to the moonstone, gently nudging the apprentice forward when they reached the cavern where it was held.

Her nervous and scared thoughts were burned away when Beechface reassured her that, in fact, they weren't going to get attacked. A sigh escaped Quietpaw, as if to get rid of the worry of Windclan attacking them. Quietpaw wasn't so sure how well it worked.

Soon Quietpaw's baby blue eyes, widened as she saw the entrance to Mothermouth. It looked so big! Or Quietpaw was just very small. Could be either one, or even both.

"Yea, I-I'm ready." Quietpaw softly affirmed to Beechface. She then followed behind the medicine cat, each getting step more nervous and unsure, the deeper they got in. Quietpaw felt herself fumble several times, and was sure she almost tripped once or twice. Starclan pray, she'd never have to go here ever again. One trip was already nerve-wracking enough.

Quietpaw then squinted her eyes as bright light came in. And then suddenly, the source of the light was found. Standing before her and Beechface, was a large rock, with a blue color that looked so pretty, with it being lit up and all. Quietpaw's eyes widened as she took it in. Was this the Moonstone?

Quietpaw slowly padded towards the rock, fumbling as she did so. She remembered Beechface's words, and with a quick glance back towards her aunt, she laid down, and touched her nose to the rock, shuttering at the harsh coldness of it. She then rested her head on her paws, and let sleep drift in.

Her eyes then flittered open, as she found herself in a starry plain, where ever so often, a tree could be spotted. Quietpaw took in the new environment, as she stood up. It looked so peaceful, with the only sounds being of the soft, and quiet swaying of the grass. "Is t-this S-Starclan?" Quietpaw breathed out, as her eyes scanned the terrain. If this was really Starclan, Quietpaw could see why so many cats worshipped it.

"Well, I guess it is, fuzzy-paws," a drawling voice spoke to the apprentice. It curled like smoke, and almost seemed to goad the she-cat on. Out of the dazzling atmosphere trotted a tall-necked young cat, with a pelt of downy cream and mischievous eyes. "What'sa matter? You've never seen plains like this, have you? All that time in SkyClan, up in trees, I bet. You folks gotta get out more."

The StarClan warrior was tragically young and spoke with the cadence of a rogue. She tapped her nose to Quietpaw in greeting, before speaking again, "Lilyflight. I know your name already, but I'll let ya tell me anyway."

The voice of an unfamiliar she-cat, made Quietpaw jump in surprise. She fell onto her face, before scrambling back up again. She turned her gaze towards the souce of the voice, and saw the cat in question, with stars littering their pelt.

"H-hello. You must know m-my name is Q-Quietpaw t-then?" She asked, a bit nervous, with the Starclan cat knowing her name and all. "W-what clan a-are you from?"

The lithe she-cat snorted a little. With a toss of her large ears, she exclaimed, "SkyClan, Quietpaw, same as you!"

She plopped herself down to a sitting position and began fidgeting with her paws, pressing them into one another and flexing her claws. The question, though simply answered, seemed to spark a little bit of conflict in her. "Well, mostly," she nearly mumbled. "I took a little detour, but I got back to it eventually. SkyClan was a little different then. I got tired of it all, so... I ran. I'm not so proud of it, but I joined a little band of rogues and spent plenty of moons there. It was when I tried to go home that I ran into trouble."

Lilyflight lifted a paw to her throat and slid it across, implying very morbidly that her death had come from her betrayal of the rogues she lived with. She grimaced. "It's not all that interesting, really. I was a dumb apprentice. Even dumber rogue. I never really got a chance to do much else... but now, I get to be young and dumb for eternity."

"O-oh, really?" Quietpaw mewed, after in silence listening to the she-cat's story. Once a Skyclan cat, then a rouge, and now dead. "Y-your was b-bad. I-I'm sorry." Lilyflight didn't deserve that. If the rouges hadn't killed her, then Lilyflight might still be alive, or at least lived longer, safe in Skyclan.

"Nahhh," Lilyflight cackled, "Don't be sorry. I'm good to go!"

Her tail twitched fondly. There was not much to be said about her life and death that could not be summed up in a few words. She had been a whirlwind, quickly snuffed out. She had no unfinished business. She was happy. "You seem like you've got a lot you're worried about," she said, cocking her head. "You gotta loosen up. You'll run yourself into the ground like that. You know? You don't know how much time you're gonna get. Not everything has to be so serous."

Quietpaw perked her ears up. "Oh, uh s-sorry t-then!" She apologized. "Really? W-Well S-Skyclan has changed a-a b-bit, s-since you l-last saw it. B-bit d-dramatic nowdays. A-Always have to worry." She said, as Lilyflight told her to loosen up. It was true. The clan was always in a flurry with high alerts and drama. She wished she could take a break sometime. "B-but maybe I'll t-try your a-advice sometime."