Hopepaw's Moonstone Journey

Rookfire had been working hard recently, so when he asked Murkystrike to accompany apprentices traveling to the Moonstone she had readily agreed. She hadn't quite realized that the first apprentice she would accompany would be one of her own adopted daughters however, but as she made her way to the apprentice den with two herb bundles dangling from her jaws, she supposed she wasn't too surprised. Hopepaw had been an apprentice for a while, after all.

Gently nudging her daughter awake, she purred as she explained softly. "Hopepaw, it's time to get up. We travel to the Moonstone today. I'll be waiting for you by the camp's entrance." She quickly withdrew from the den, careful not to step on any tails or paws of the other sleeping apprentices. She then waited by the entrance of camp, both herb bundles waiting patiently at her paws.

Hopepaw bounced awake at the sound of her mother's voice. For a moment she didn't register that it was a call for the Moonstone as she hastily shook her head to wake herself, before registering her mom's words. Didn't Rookfire usually take Apprentices to their Moonstone Journeys? Not that she was complaining, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat concerned.

Hopping out of the den, Hopepaw bounded over to Murkystrike, beaming brightly. "That's awesome!" She exclaimed softly, eyes shining. A momentary pause. "Is Rookfire okay? I heard that he was usually the one who accompanied Apprentices to their Moonstones. Of course, I don't mind you!"

Murkystrike's eyes softened as Hopepaw emerged, and she nuzzled her ears gently before pushing forward the herb bundle for the apprentice. "Here, eat up. These will help boost your strength and stamina for the journey. Heads up, they're pretty bitter." She mewed, lowering her head to eat her own herbs, her nose scrunching up at the bitter taste. She had forgotten just how bad the herbs were. They'd find something to drink from along the way to help get rid of the lingering taste. With a wave of her tail, she led the way out of camp, turning her paws in the direction of Highstones.

~~TIME SKIP~~

They reached Highstones as the moon was rising, the stars shining brightly against the dark sky. She had explained the expectations as they climbed up the rocky terrain towards Mothermouth, having traveled in silence through WindClan's territory. Now as they stood before the dark entrance to the tunnels that wound to the Moonstone, she looked back to the she-cat. "It's time." She led the way into the tunnel, her form quickly swallowed by darkness as she followed countless generations of pawsteps towards the brilliantly glowing stone. Once in the cavern that housed it, she moved to the side to watch over the apprentice's dreaming form and wait, giving her a nod to proceed.

Now fully awakened, Hopepaw followed Murkystrike into the the cavern, the bitter taste of herbs finally fading from her mouth. Heading over to the Moonstone, she contemplated for a moment what she wanted to do when she spoke to a StarClan cat. Maybe she would tell them that their efforts in StarClan dealing with Apprentices coming to them all the time was appreciated. After all, she didn't particularly have anything in mind for advice she wanted, now did she?

Lying down before the Moonstone, Hopepaw touched her nose to it and closed her eyes.

Buzzardclaw materialized in front of Hopepaw when the ShadowClan apprentice opened her eyes. The ginger tom wasn't the best at social interactions, even at death, which made giving advice that much more difficult. "Uh, I'm Buzzardclaw," the ginger tom blurted out. Of course he couldn't gather any confidence when talking to the apprentice. He could always count on himself to fail when it mattered most. "Do, er, you have anything that you, uh, want to talk about with me? I can listen in if you have any concerns."

Hopepaw materialised into the StarClan grounds, and almost immediately she saw the cat who was speaking to her. Her face flashed into a bright grin. "I'm not really in need of advice, I just wanted to talk to you guys!" The other cat seemed nervous, so it seemed like a good idea to be delivering her words. "You guys work so hard, trying to deal with every Apprentice that comes to you to ask for advice. And you're doing a very good job with it! You're taking the time out of your beyond-life-time to speak to us, and for that, I really appreciate you! Thank you so, so much for putting up with everyone!" Her face seemed to glow with excitement as she spoke, bright eyes peering up at Buzzardclaw.