Bearpaw's Moonstone Journey

The sky was still dark as Beechface padded from her den with two bundles of herbs in her jaws, the faintest smudge of color visible in a gap among the trees the only indication that sunrise was approaching sooner rather than later. She was to take Bearpaw on a trip to the moonstone today, and they would need to be well on their way before the sun actually rose for the day.

"Bearpaw," Beechface mewed, hoping her brisk tone would be enough to wake the apprentice. She stepped out of the den to wait, eating her portion of the traveling herbs. She hardly noticed the bitter taste by now, and truthfully she was too tired to really care either way. She didn't want to leave the wounded in her den for the two days this journey to highstones would take, but it had to be done.

"Eat these." She stated simply, nudging the second bundle of herbs towards Bearpaw as she exited the apprentice's den. Once she'd eaten the herbs, Beechface turned away in silence, leading the apprentice out of camp. After Spottedpaw's disaster of a trip, she had little desire to strike up conversation, and if it had been up to her, she would have remained in camp to tend to those who needed it instead of taking another apprentice to speak with ancestors who didn't exist to actually be helpful rather than pass judgement. This had been the task given to her however, so she'd do what was necessary, foolish and pointless as it seemed to her.

When Bearpaw flickered to life and lifted her head from her paws, she couldn't help but give the exit of the apprentices' den a sour glance. By now, it wasn't difficult to discern Beechface's voice in comparison to some of her other Clanmates considering the fact that the medicine cat seemed to constantly be making it known that she despised Bearpaw and her littermates, so it was only fair for the apprentice to be confused on why she was being summoned by her and not Ashstorm. The she-cat silently rose to her paws and skirted around the still forms of her denmates before padding out into the open. Despite the fact that she stood perfectly upright, her eyes betrayed her true tiredness, and her ears drooped slightly to the side.

Bearpaw blinked at Beechface's blunt order before staring down at the pile of herbs that had been given to her. She barely knew anything about traveling herbs, but she was aware that they would be bitter. She squeezed her eyes tight to brace herself as she lapped up the herbs and refused to reopen them until the terrible aftertaste that haunted her tongue finally faded away. That was when it hit her. Apprentices typically only had the chance to try these herbs before their moonstone journey, right? Perhaps it was time for hers. That was enough to cause the apprentice to smile.

"Thanks for the herbs." She said, sincerely.
She was still set on her ultimate goal to make Beechface smile. Whether it would be during this journey or by the time Bearpaw and Beechface were both in the elders' den, it had to happen sometime. Truth be told, her reasons behind wanting to see the medicine cat smile weren't out of spite or for a joke, it was because the she-cat just enjoyed seeing cats happy. It was better than being sad, after all, and SkyClan needed more cheer than ever considering the fact that the aftermaths of battle seemed to have people in such low spirits.

"You must be really busy with all the injured cats in the medicine den," She commented as she follow the medicine cat out of camp, "so are you sure you don't wanna do this moonstone thing some other time? I don't wanna be a nuisance."

"There's plenty of more useful things we could both be doing instead of going to the stars-forsaken moonstone." Beechface muttered, "Thanks for the reminder. Your mentor thinks you're ready, as does Bloodstrike. Putting it off would've still made more sense to me." Her tail lashed once in frustration, but her tone had given way to worry rather than bitter frustration. On the way back to camp tomorrow she'd be picking up as much herbs as they could both carry, Skyclan would need them sooner rather than later. Taking apprentices on trips to the moonstone had started to feel pointless and tedious given Beechface's own opinions of Starclan, but it had never felt more pointless and tedious than when so many in the clan were currently injured and in need of healing. Muddythorn was enthusiastic about learning, and logically Beechface knew he'd be fine on his own for the two days she'd be gone with Bearpaw. That didn't stop her from fretting, though. Something could go wrong, and with her luck, something would go wrong when she was on the other side of the forest and with no way of preventing it. For once, the medicine cat would have liked a half-moon to go by without some tragedy or another befalling the clan. Just once was all she wanted. Was that really too much to ask for?

Beechface made a brief stop at the creek to allow Bearpaw to get whatever lingered of the herbs out of her mouth. Every apprentice she'd taken to the moonstone had a similar reaction to their taste, but none of them would ever have to get used to them, at least. When the apprentice indicated she was ready to move on, Beechface set a quick pace through the territory. They'd keep to the side of the Thunderpath, and hopefully avoid any trouble that way. Beechface had no desire to run into a patrol from another clan at the moment, and staying on the border would obscure some of their scent as well, however unpleasant it was to walk next to the monsters that ran on the path.

Bearpaw was grateful for the chance to wash the taste of the herbs out of her mouth, and she was even more grateful to know that she would probably never have to taste such repulsive things ever again. She decided to fall into an uncharacteristic silence for the majority of the journey. If speaking was only going to annoy Beechface more, then it would be best to remain quiet. Padding beside the Thunderpath only reminded Bearpaw of her time with Smokepaw, and whether or not she would ever have the opportunity to see the she-cat on the other side of the border ever again. Unbeknown to Bearpaw, Smokepelt had died in the deep marshes of ShadowClan territory. The smell coming from the monsters was rancid, but the apprentice preferred this method over having to cross the dark and hard stone of the Thunderpath.

Before she knew it, she and Beechface had arrived at their destination. The brown apprentice gave a quick glance at the sky and flicked an ear as she noticed that the sun was almost completely below the horizon, and only a few streaks of red and gold seemed to be left in the sky. That journey must've been longer than Bearpaw thought! She glanced over at Beechface before the medicine cat could give her next set of instructions and let out an inaudible sigh. What she had said before the battle was true... she really did admire the she-cat. She was a valuable member of SkyClan, the one in charge of patching cats up and healing their wounds, and every cat relied on her because of that. On the other side of her spectrum, cats in SkyClan looked at her and her littermates and saw... mistakes.

The smallest flicker of hurt appeared in Bearpaw's pupils.

"Hey, Beechface... I'm sorry, by the way. I know why you and so many other SkyClan cats give me and my littermates odd glances, and I know that you aren't our biggest fan, but I really do want you to know that I didn't mean to cause any trouble for you or anybody else." She muttered before staring down at the terrain below her paws.

Beechface kept a brisk pace as she led the apprentice along the thunderpath towards highstones, though her unease at being away from Skyclan's territory for this long showed in the ruffling of the fur along her back. They reached highstones without incident, orange streaks slowly fading in a darkening sky above.

Beechface shifted on her paws in discomfort as Bearpaw spoke. "It's not... You... Don't need to-" She began awkwardly, breaking off with a huff and a shake of her head. This wasn't the conversation she really felt like having, not with the unwanted half-sibling, anyways. She knew that none of this was Bearpaw's fault, just as it wasn't Spottedpaw's. Still, the medicine cat couldn't seem to shake the bitterness that rose in her throat and she glanced away, towards the sprawling moor and forest below. Her claws flexed against the ground for a moment before she turned back toward Bearpaw.

"Come," Beechface sighed, "Stay close, the tunnels are dark and you won't be able to see a thing until we get to the moonstone. When we get to it, touch your nose to it and lay down." She paused at the entrance, giving Bearpaw a single moment to prepare herself, then padded into the darkness and led the apprentice down the winding passage. Once a faint blueish light became visible, Beechface sighed in relief, and stepped aside to allow Bearpaw into the chamber with the brightly shining moonstone.

Bearpaw fell back into silence once again as she pricked her ears to listen to Beechface's directions and followed behind the medicine cat. The darkness was suffocating, but she managed to stay close with no interruptions or setbacks. The light of the moonstone was enough to make her gasp in awe. It was far more mesmerizing than what she had pictured in her head, and that reason caused her to take a couple of heartbeats to stare at it in all its glory. The stone itself was cold to the touch, and Bearpaw couldn't help but be a bit surprised as she pressed her nose against it. That chilly feeling dissipated almost quicker than it had came as darkness consumed the corners of her vision and she fell asleep.

Time seemed to stay still and pass by at the same time as the apprentice waited for something to happen. Naps were nice, but that wasn't what she had come here for. She began to wonder if she would ever find herself in StarClan's territory before the darkness suddenly faded away and was replaced with star-kissed terrain. She took a moment to observe her surroundings and take in the beauty of it all. The elegance and perfection of StarClan's hunting grounds that cats told stories about were true.

She decided to sit and wait for her designated StarClan cat to appear. Yelling and making a commotion in the midst of the peaceful atmosphere would only be immature.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Gustpuddle had been called upon to speak with an apprentice at their moonstone journey. Not only that, but it seemed this she-cat had some internal conflict that Gustpuddle was familiar with, and she was excited- she may be able to guide this young cat toward making the right decision, and doing what was best for her. Shifting back and forth on her haunches, she not-so-patiently waited for the she-cat to arrive in StarClan, bicolor pelt shimmering with stars seemingly endlessly. Finally, Bearpaw made an appearance just ahead of her, and Gustpuddle began approaching and tied her best to keep calm. Clearing her throat, she called out to her, “Hello, Bearpaw! My name is Gustpuddle.”

Bearpaw immediately lifted her head once the voice of an unfamiliar she-cat reached her. She didn't rise from where she was sitting, but she did give the glittering she-cat a polite nod as she approached. StarClan was both fascinating and confusing to her. She barely understood their motives or the words that they spoke. They claimed to watch over the forest at all times, but Bearpaw never felt their presence. She respected the fact that StarClan's ranks were full of cats that had served their time and carried out their duties before passing away and moving to the afterlife, but she wasn't devout or reverent like some of her Clanmates were.

One thing for certain was that StarClan cats definitely were beautiful, though. The starry pelt and glittering eyes of the warrior by the name of Gustpuddle practically had Bearpaw in a trance.
"Gustpuddle... what a pretty name!" She started, a smile creeping onto her face.
"Hi, there. I'm Bearpaw, but I guess you already knew that. I'm not sure if you already know what I want to talk about, but if you don't, I've kinda had something on my mind lately..."

Bearpaw had never explicitly talked about these feelings out loud before, so perhaps it would be good to finally let them out. It wouldn't do her any harm. Besides, if the conversation ended up going awry, the chances of her seeing Gustpuddle again after today was basically nonexistent.