Nightpaw's Moonstone Journey

If there was one nice thing about having an apprentice, Beechface thought, it was the lessening of her worry at leaving the clan alone while she took an apprentice to visit the moonstone. She quickly gathered two bundles of traveling herbs and stepped outside the den, the pre-dawn air cool and thankfully not humid. That would change all too quickly, but the early part of the journey would be decent.

"Nightpaw, time to get up!" She called into the den, and as she waited for the dark tom to join her outside, Beechface ate her portion of the bitter traveling herbs. The taste hardly bothered her anymore, but that wasn't the case for most apprentices who had the misfortune of needing to eat them.

"Eat these, they're bitter but they'll keep you from getting hungry or tired on the journey to highstones. We ought to get moving." A heavy paw pushed the herbs towards Nightpaw as he finally made his way out of the den, offering little room for argument on the matter.

Nightpaw blinked slowly as he was roused from his sleep. Sleepily, he avoided stepping on his fellow apprentices and met Beechface outside the den. It was cool, and it felt nice on his fairly short fur. Any colder and it might end up uncomfortable, but at least he didn't have to deal with the Greenleaf heat yet. Spotting the herbs that Beechface was eating, he stepped closer. As her paw pushed them toward him, Nightpaw looked at them and decided to get it over with. They were very bitter, and Nightpaw's face scrunched up in disgust, but he did not moan about it. They were just a part of the process. "Those were pretty bitter. Uh, thanks for giving them to me though." Just because they were bad, didn't mean he didn't appreciate her giving them to him, if they were to allow him to make the journey, then so be it. Besides, she had to gather those herbs, the least he could do was thank her for it.

Beechface offered the tom a sympathetic, if slightly amused look at his expression after eating the traveling herbs. She turned to lead the way out of camp, deciding to stop at the creek that ran through Skyclan's territory for a moment. The water was cool as she lapped at it, and she'd allow Nightpaw a moment if he wanted to get the taste out of his mouth before moving on.

"You were apprenticed to Birdsong, right? How has training been?" She asked after a few moments, curious to know how the apprentice was faring. She received basic updates from the mentors when they thought their apprentices had progressed in their training, but hearing the perspective of an apprentice was often quite different than what their mentors thought or focused on.

Nightpaw nearly jumped when he heard Beechface's voice, perhaps just not expecting it. He was happy to talk about his mentor though, he thought she was great at it. "Oh, uh, Birdsong's been great! I really like her, she's good at mentoring. We, uh, also fought off a hawk! That was interesting I guess. I didn't really want to fight anything, but since it attacked us first we sorta had to." Nightpaw's tone turned disappointed at the end, fighting was a means to an end, and he wanted to protect his mentor as best he could in the moment, but it still saddened him that his training had turned violent that day.

"Did you like your mentor, when you had one?" Nightpaw looked at Beechface with an inquisitive gaze. Maybe she had liked her mentor too? Or maybe she didn't, he knew nothing about the former Skyclan medicine cat. Still, he was curious nonetheless, and the medicine cat seemed interesting to him. Besides, she had been around a while, she probably had some stories to tell!

Beechface found herself smiling softly, a decidedly uncharacteristic expression on her face as Nightpaw spoke of training with Birdsong. "I'm glad to hear that. She's a good cat." She mewed, "She detests combat too... Sometimes it's necessary, though."

The pair continued to walk, and Beechface glanced Nightpaw's way at his question. "I was Wolfstar's apprentice back when he was the deputy. I miss that. Sagelight wanted me to be a medicine cat, sign from Starclan which I still think is nonsense, and I never really appreciated all he did until he was gone." There were days where she definitely didn't appreciate sorting herbs and tending to the injuries her clanmates received through sparring or from their own recklessness. Most days, really. Beechface fell silent once more, and picked up their pace a bit.

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By the time they got into Windclan territory the sun would be scorching, and the moors offered very little relief from it. She'd keep them as close as she could to the thunderpath, where they could remain on the border of Windclan's territory and the occasional tree offered spots of shade. Eventually they'd have to cross it though, and from that point on there would be no relief until the sun set and they had reached mothermouth.

"Alright, stick close to me and be ready to move quickly. I don't like crossing the thunderpath but we don't have much of a choice." She said, coming to a stop at the edge of thhe strange dark rock that only ever lined the thunderpath. Monsters roared past, blasting the pair with an acrid, hot breeze, and the medicine cat's lips curled in visible disgust as hard yellow-green eyes scanned both sides of the thunderpath, waiting for an opening.

"Go! Quickly!" She ordered the apprentice when there was a break in the passing monsters. With that she bounded forward, and once on the other side stood panting for a moment, turning to look over at Nightpaw. "Returning will be easier, there's less of them in the early hours of the morning usually." And with that, Beechface continued to lead him onward, the terrain becoming steeper as they made their way up highstones.

Nightpaw found himself enjoying the time spent with Beechface. Most times he had seen her, she had seemed troubled, or grumpy. She was smiling though, and that made him happy. Perhaps she was fond of Birdsong as well, maybe they were friends? If anything, Nightpaw didn't ask, enjoying the walk ahead of him. He had been momentarily surprised that Beechface thought of Starclan's sign as nonsense, but accepted it quickly, understanding that she probably hadn't wanted to be a medicine cat. He knew that could happen, but he hadn't thought it had happened to Beechface! That saddened him, but Nightpaw didn't ask about that either. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, especially if it was a sore topic.

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Picking up his pace, Nightpaw followed Beechface dutifully through the territories of the clans, giving an occasional glance to the Thunderpath. It seemed... not great. The acrid smell caused his nose to scrunch up, and focused on that, he nearly bumped into the medicine cat as she stopped. Realizing it was time to cross the Thunderpath, Nightpaw focused. "Ok, I'm, uh, ready!" Fear laced his words, but since he didn't want to get hit, he did his best to ignore it. His green gaze swept the Thunderpath, watching, and waiting.

When he heard her words, Nightpaw ran. The stench of the Thunderpath permeated his nose, and his paw pads felt like the ground was scratching them every time they made contact. After a few moments of all-out sprinting, he was across, and alive. Panting, he looked to Beechface, if only to make sure she was there with him. "I'm very glad returning will be easier!" With that tired exclamation, he followed Beechface, feeling the grass beneath his paws turn rockier, and steeper, as they went.

"Agreed." Beechface sighed, glad that she and her clanmate had made it across without incident. As they continued the trek to highstones, the ground became steeper and rougher underfoot. The sun was finally sinking below the horizon, and that meant they had made good time. It wasn't long before they'd made the last climb to mothermouth, a dark hole in the mountainside.

"Stick close and use your whiskers, the tunnels will be too dark to see and they're very tight in spots. When we reach the moonstone, touch your nose to it and lay down. Ready?" Smaller cats probably didn't have as much of a problem, but Beechface was not a small cat. She waited for Nightpaw's confirmation, then turned, striding into the dark entrance of mothermouth.

It took only a moment for the cats to be plunged into complete blackness, but the smooth stone of the winding tunnel had become familiar enough over the moons that Beechface knew the path. Eventually Nightpaw would be able to make out the outline of her ears as a faint light emanated from somewhere ahead, and a few turns saw the tunnel open up into the cavern that held the moonstone. The moon was visible through a gap in the ceiling high above, and the moonstone shone brightly. Beechface stepped to the side, beckoning Nightpaw forward with a wave of her tail.

Finally, they had reached their destination, and it was less grand than Nightpaw had expected for some reason. Just a dark hole, though he trusted Beechface to lead him through safely. "I'm, uh, I'm ready." His words were jittery with nerves, and he strode after Beechface as she began leading the way through. It was dark, and Nightpaw couldn't see his own paws in front of him. Maybe it was because he was all black? Or maybe it was just that dark. It was the kind of darkness that almost felt unnatural, like it shouldn't exist. At night you could always see, just a little, but through this? It was pitch black and disturbing. Thankfully, Nightpaw's slender form allowed for ease of movement, despite his height. He had to stoop down, but there were no problems with him bumping the sides of the tunnel.

Once he could see the outline of Beechface's ears, he knew that they had arrived through the darkness, into the light of the Moonstone itself. His green eyes appeared before the rest of him, light being refracted through, as his body stepped into the cavern. Nightpaw's immediate thought was that it was beautiful, and that he understood why this place was sacred. As he was beckoned forward by Beechface, the apprentice slowly approached, taking in the Moonstone in its entirety. Respectfully, Nightpaw dipped his head as he laid his body down near the stone, finally touching his nose to it. Nothing happened for a moment before sleep began to take the young tom, and the next time he opened his eyes, he would be in Starclan.

Among the looming trees, next to a shimmering ghost of the moonlit creek, was the tiny shadow of a little black and white tom. His wide eyes peered deeply into the gently running water. For a moment, he almost missed the arrival of the young cat that he'd been waiting for. It was shortly after he awoke in the world of the stars that the late warrior glanced up. A pleasant smile was written across his maw. Tipping his head and gesturing with a paw, he called Nightpaw over. At this time, his tailless rump became painfully obvious.

"There are little fish in there if you look hard enough." He remarked, breaking the silence and returning to looking across the creek, "Not worthwhile enough for a meal, but pretty enough to watch. Oh, sorry, I suppose I should introduce myself... I'm Mumblefoot. I was a warrior when Rippedstar was leader of Skyclan. Probably feels like moons ago now, huh, Nightpaw?" His whiskers twitched, further amplifying his laidback and warm demeanor. With the level-manner in which he spoke, one might have not assumed he was a cowardly and bumbling warrior so many seasons ago.

Nightpaw opened his light green eyes to a world of more beauty than he imagined, an environment filled with stars. He slowly rose to his full height, in complete awe of the world around him. Suddenly, he saw the cat that was, he assumed, going to speak to him, and he jumped slightly. He didn't see him in all the stars! With a sheepish look, Nightpaw trotted over to the ghost of a cat. His eyes went wide when he was spoken to, slightly startled by the fact that he was being spoken to. "Oh! Uh..." He craned his neck, looking down at the fish, as beautiful as the rest of this place. "Yeah, uh, moons I think! I just know it was a long time ago." Mumblefoot... What an interesting name! Nightpaw sat down gently, as to not disturb the environment in which he found himself. It was too beautiful to disturb.

Mumblefoot's maw twisted into a fanged grin before glancing back down. That had been so many moons, so many seasons ago, easily multiple times the apprentice's age. It was strange to think that he had been gone for so long, contented to watching from above. When he spoke again, it was a gentle meow, so as not to startled the entranced young tom, "Do you like it? It might seem strange but stopping to appreciate these things, well, it's good every now and then. You can touch it too. The fish scatter but-" He lifted one paw to dip it gently into the top of the stream. The water parted around his paw and the little flickers of silver dashed away in new pursuits, "It always returns back to normal eventually."

The little forepaw retracted. As his words faded, the simple scene slowly reverted back to the serene flow. Mumblefoot swore that he could watch it forever and thankfully, he did have a forever. But this was ultimately a moment that was being shared with a cat on borrowed time. He turned back to study Nightpaw's face and tilted his head, "What have you come to Starclan for, Nightpaw?"

Nightpaw watched in wide-eyed silence as the fish scattered at Mumblefoot's touch. Starclan really was a magical place, one worth revering. In the silence between them, the apprentice watched the small stream go back to the way it had been, before Mumblefoot had place his paw in. Could be a life lesson worth learning in itself, but he knew that the Starclan cat would have some wisdom for him, like Starclan had done for cats before him. This was why, Nightpaw tilted his head when Mumblefoot asked what he was here for.

"Oh! I, uh... I guess I'm here for wisdom from Starclan? Maybe something about being less nervous, or braver, or something to help me protect my family?" Nightpaw squeaked this out, still feeling dazed by the fact that he was in Starclan. Talking to a Starclan cat. It was so overwhelming, so amazing! It was hard to even know where to begin.