Stag's Moonstone Journey

Dovefrost shoved himself out of his nest, not really wanting to leave the warmth of the moss that surrounded him, but he had a job to do. A journey to make with another apprentice. Carefully he bundled the herbs together that was needed for their long trip, eating up his own without issue before making his way to the Apprentice den. He didn't know much about this particular apprentice other than the fact that he didn't have the typical name. "Stag?" He called into the darkness of the den. "It's time for your trip."

The white tom backed out of the den, sitting next to the entrance with the bundle of herbs in front of him, ready for Stag to eat. "Eat these and then we can get going." The medicine cat said.

The sound of a familiar voice woke Stag from his sleep. He sat up in his nest, eyes wide as he looked for the cat who had called his name. A tuft of white fur at the den entrance gave him a clue, and then he remembered. His moonstone journey would be today! Scrambling from his nest he rushed outside to see Dovefrost, and in front of him the infamous traveling herbs he had heard about. He gave a slow nod to the medicine cat at his words, and he slowly bent down to eat the herbs. The moment their bitter taste registered on his tongue his nose scrunched up. Never had he tasted something worse, he'd rather eat crowfood than these herbs. Eventually he finished eating the herbs and he looked to Dovefrost. "I'm all ready to go!"

A small grin appeared on the tom's face at the reaction to the herbs. He had gotten used to their bitter flavor long ago, so seeing the reaction to the herbs from the apprentice always amused him. "Alright then, let's get this long journey started." Dovefrost said, before standing to head to the entrance.

---

It took a little longer than what Dovefrost would have thought to get to the moonstone this time, but they still managed to get there in time. "Alright, just press your nose to the stone, and Starclan will do the rest." The fluffy tom turned and set himself off to the side in the cavern.

After the long and, in Stag's opinion, unnecessary journey, he finally stood in front of the moonstone. Although he personally didn't get how he could communicate with dead cats through touching his nose to a rock, a certain part of him was excited and hoped that it would work like Dovefrost had explained to him. Another part of him was doubtful, telling him that he would just fall asleep, and that if a cat showed up it was just a part of his imagination. The apprentice sucked in a deep breath and stepped forward, nodding at Dovefrost's words. He looked cautiously over the moonstone before settling down in front of it. After a moment he touched his nose to it and began to doze off, falling asleep while thinking of the many things he might see in his dreams.

A large, bearlike tom sporting long fangs and enormous paws emerged from the dark corners of StarClan's forest, and with a sheepish half-smile he greeted the apprentice, meowing his hellos. Quietly, he observed Stag for a few moments. He was not of ThunderClan born, but he could have fooled Beecloud. The long-furred tabby apprentice seemed to have adjusted well to life outside of the Asylum, and carried himself the way clan cats did... the way Beecloud did, once. This was not the little thing that once prowled ThunderClan's camp as an intruder, shrouded in the pelt of another creature. The warrior never thought he might see it happen, that the kits who were stolen could one day find their roots again.

Beecloud did not look into Stag's past to try and see for himself the tom's true heritage. It didn't matter. This was a ThunderClan cat, through and through. "Hello, Stag," he said gently. "You grew up, didn't you? Was it hard?"

The StarClan warrior lowered himself to his haunches, sitting a foxlength from Stag, but inviting him closer. "It was hard for me, but... I guess it was nothing compared to what you had to do. From the stars, we're all watching the taken kits. You all walk the same unknown path, but you're walking it differently. I wish... I wish we could have done it differently. I'm sorry that we took so long to find you."

Out of all the cats Stag had expected to see, Beecloud was not one of them. The apprentice looked up at the larger tom when he came into view, an overwhelming feeling of guilt washing over him. Even if Stag thought this was a dream, how he felt toward Beecloud was real.

Stag expected Beecloud to be angry at him for what he had done all those moons ago, for him to give him a lecture of some sort as if he were his mentor. He'd always imagined that Beecloud would be upset with him, at least. What Beecloud said surprised him, though. Although, it might have confused him even more. "What?" Was all he could respond with. What did he mean by 'you grew up'? Of course he grew up, every cat did.

As Beecloud continued speaking, what he meant became more clear. For the longest time, Stag would try his best to simply forget about his past, the fact that he had been a part of Asylum at all. And soon, his past began to stop affecting him so much. If any cat had a problem with him because of his relation to Asylum, they wouldn't let him know. Was this his mind's way of making him confront his past? By making him think about it through his dreams?

"Beecloud..." He stepped forward, letting his eyes fall to his paws. "I don't see why you're sorry about something that nobody, not even I, knew. Not even my parents knew." Whoever they may be. Stag would never be this open to a real cat. Why not let it out in his dreams instead. He wanted to this this off of his chest anyways, and Beecloud was the perfect cat. "And what do you mean you're sorry. If anything, I'm the one to be sorry. I'm the one who helped the Asylum and I'm the one who held you down while Eris tore you to shreds" He winced at the memory. "I guess I just want you to know that... I regret a lot of what I have done, and that I'm sorry."

Thoughts shifting, he let out a small chuckle. "I just think it's funny that I met you of all cats in my dreams tonight. Dovefrost said that I'd speak to Starclan, but how am I supposed to know that I didn't just dream you up?"