Dawnpaw's Moonstone Journey

With a stifled hiss of pain, Beechface forced herself to her paws, wearily making her way to the herb stores towards the back of the medicine den. While she recovered, life went on for the clan. Apprentices trained, warrior ceremonies were held, and moonstone journeys were undertaken. The last was what had her up early now, alongside a stubborn refusal to sit idle and let others do her job for her. She'd been cooped up in the medicine den enough, and while her movements were achy and stiff to anyone who cared to look, Beechface was done. Bloodstrike, Wolfstar and Muddythorn wouldn't be happy with her, she was sure, but the medicine cat was far from caring as she gingerly scraped together two herb bundles. One was sweetened with honey (not that it did much, but for her niece, Beechface would at least try), and the other was strengthened with ragwort and lamb's ear. Beechface stared down at the dwindling herb supply, cursing under her breath at the state of Skyclan's stocks. That needed to be fixed, and she'd gather what she came across on the way back.

Beechface made her way from the den in silence, sparing a glare for the dark sky above as she limped towards the apprentice den. Setting the herb bundles down, she ducked her head inside, "Dawnpaw, time to get up." Her usually brisk tone was tired, and Beechface retreated, lapping up her own portion of the traveling herbs and unceremoniously shoving the other bundle towards Dawnpaw when she stepped out of the den.

"Eat those, and let's go." She said. A warrior had slipped from the den, either an unfortunately early riser, or they'd simply been a light enough sleeper to wake at the sound of quiet voices.

"Really? Moonstone journeys?" The warrior growled, "Let Muddythorn or Bloodstrike do them, you're in no condition to be leaving camp." And the tone cinched it, the medicine cat balking at the warrior's words.

"I don't take orders from you." Beechface growled back, though the warrior also wasn't wrong. No, they were completely right. Beechface had only just started to walk around camp just to get out of the confines of her nest. Every muscle was still stiff and sore, and right now she moved more like an elder might have rather than the young and fit cat she'd been. It wasn't just the stiff aching and constant pain, but adjusting to a sudden lack of depth perception was also proving difficult. Things she thought were right in front of her turned out to be a bit farther away, and things she thought were farther turned out to be closer than she thought. She'd found herself sometimes stumbling over nothing, startled by movement that she would have seen much earlier had her vision not been effectively halved.

To say it was beyond infuriating was putting it mildly. Anger and resentment burned in her chest at the idea of it, the fluffy medicine cat was unused to these new limitations, and every moment was a reminder of them whether she wanted it to be or not. The very thought of taking an apprentice to the moonstone seemed more harebrained than ever, considering that Starclan had done this to her. And Bear... Bearwhatever-her-name-was. Beechface didn't care and would be happy to never interact with that mistake of a warrior ever again.

"It's not safe-" The warrior began, yet Beechface could here the hesitancy in their voice. There was good reason to be hesitant, and his words made her want to claw the warrior's ears off.

"Do you think I'm a kit incapable of fending for herself?" She snapped, teeth bared in an unfriendly snarl, "Well- I-" The warrior stuttered, ears flicking backward.

"I'm going whether you like it or not, we are wasting time." She huffed, "Dawnpaw, let's go." She mewed, turning towards the camp entrance.

And like an annoying mosquito, the warrior trailed after them. Beechface glared at him for a heartbeat longer before letting out a frustrated sigh. For all that she was putting up a front, she didn't have the strength to argue, especially not with the suddenly daunting task of dragging herself and Dawnpaw to the moonstone now before her.

At least the traveling herbs would begin to kick in soon.

Dawnpaw woke at the sound of Beechaunt’s rather raspy voice. For a moment she lay still, head still groggy with sleep. Oh. Moonstone journey? Eergh. Obediently, she followed Beechaunt out of the den and quickly swallowed the foul tasting herbs. Suddenly, somecat came up to them and started talking to Beechaunt. Dawnpaw stayed well out of the way. Apparently both cats had woken up on the wrong side of the nest, and she was still waking up and had no desire to be tangled in the prickly briars of an argument.

Beechaunt headed out of camp and Dawnpaw scampered after her, breathing in the morning air. Or what would be morning air soon- right now it was more nightttime air. Flavored with a bit of the promise of sunlight, like honey.

Wait, wasn’t Beechaunt hurt? Should she really be taking Dawnpaw to the Moonstone? Probably not- but stars knew Dawnpaw wouldn’t be able to stop her. Still, she’d better at least- “I don’t have to go to the Moonstone, Beechaunt, not if it’d be better to wait. I’d really, honestly, prefer to wait- is this needed? I mean, not that I… no offense.” The golden she-cat slowed her steps a bit, yawning to hide the slight change in pace. She could run quick and far (Hawkuncle had made sure of that) but Beechaunt… couldn’t, right now. And if Dawnpaw had to drag behind a bit to make sure Beechaunt took care of herself, she would.

Dawnpaw slowed her pace slightly, and Beechface reluctantly slowed to match her. She wanted to rush this, going to the moonstone left very little time for stopping and resting when she usually left camp at the crack of dawn, and today she'd even gotten up a little bit earlier. She knew she was moving slower than usual, and it irked her. It said a lot about her current condition that her tail wasn't lashing back and forth, but doing so would simply be a waste of energy that she was already lacking. Dawnpaw spoke up, and for a heartbeat, Beechface considered turning around and going back to camp. Dawnpaw had even given her a good excuse to do so.

And then she caught the smug expression on the face of their oh-so-generous escort. Clearly, he agreed. "All apprentices have to make the journey sooner or later, and you're ready for it." She responded, deliberately obtuse. Dawnpaw was very much like her mother in that she couldn't quite manage to hide her concern, and while Beechface appreciated it, that wasn't changing that she was going to the moonstone today. Dawnpaw deserved a warrior name far more than Bearwhatever, anyways. The only thing standing in the way of that was the trip to the moonstone, and Beechface, for all that she thought it was pointless, did what needed to be done.

"I'll be fine, Dawnpaw. Don't worry about me." Beechface added with a sigh. She would be, though, she had to be. Sheer stubbornness had gotten her this far, it could take the medicine cat a bit farther. Bloodstrike had enough to do without needing to take over her duties as well. They had reached the creek that ran through Skyclan's territory, and Beechface dipped her head, lapping at the cool water (and giving Dawnpaw a chance to get the taste of herbs out of her mouth, if she wished) before continuing onward. Beechface led the apprentice towards the Thunderclan border, the warrior that had assigned himself so graciously to this trip trudging after the pair in silence. Riverclan was probably still plagued with their twoleg problem, but aside from that they'd made it clear they were enemies, just like Windclan. Beechface was not particularly looking forward to being out in the open on the moorland for any length of time, and while she had slowed her pace for Dawnpaw now, she fully intended to push back up to something more reasonable once they hit that leg of the journey.

Around them, the undergrowth grew thicker as they crossed into Thunderclan territory. The thunderpath wasn't far off, but at this early hour the rumbling of the monsters that prowled it was infrequent. That would change soon enough, and Beechface was going to firmly ignore the anxiety that churned in her gut at the idea of crossing it once they hit Windclan's outer border.

“Yes, Beechaunt.” Dawnpaw mewed, tail drooping. She wished she could get out of this. She didn’t like dark. Or StarClan (at least not very much). Sorry. At least this meant she’d be a warrior soon, though she wasn’t too exhilarated about it. Warrior, apprentice, what was the difference? Merely a slight difference in age. It was perfectly possible to be an apprentice and be older than some warriors.

Dawnpaw was very tempted to reply that she was worried about Beechaunt and that she couldn’t stop her from worrying, but refrained. That wouldn’t help any. “I don’t really like the tunnels, Beechaunt… do we have to go this way? Can’t we just go on the moors?” She hated the tunnels. Hated them, and hate was something Dawnpaw never felt. Although… it wasn’t the tunnels’ fault…

If they could just walk on the moors like everycat did, Dawnpaw would be overjoyed. But… if she had to go underground, underneath WindClan territory, she would… but she wouldn’t be happy about it. She was more worried about Beechaunt. She was bigger than Hawkuncle, and the underground tunnels would be far more difficult than just walking across the moors.

Beechface watched as Dawnpaw's tail drooped, and she sighed, allowing herself to drift closer and let their pelts brush briefly, a silent apology.

Dawnpaw's question surprised her, and Beechface blinked, glancing over at her niece in confusion. "We don't take the tunnels to go through Windclan's territory... What makes you think that?" Her eye narrowed as she thought. What in the void would make her think that Beechface would use the tunnels? "The only tunnel we have to go through is the one at highstones, to get to the moonstone. There's only the one, and you'll have me to guide you through it. I could walk the path in my sleep at this point." There was a hint of bitterness in her last words that Beechface didn't care to hide. She had never wanted the responsibility that required she walk that tunnel every half-moon and with every every apprentice. She didn't like making a two-day trip out of something that Starclan had proven could be done from their nests just as easily. It reeked of self-importance, and after what had happened, what they allowed to happen constantly, Beechface wasn't sure there was a point to even going to the moonstone at all.

"You'll be fine, I promise." She added gently. As they continued to walk, the sky continued to slowly lighten, pre-dawn giving way to sunrise, and Beechface kept up with a methodical, if somewhat plodding pace. The pain was tolerable with the herbs she'd added, and walking did help the feeling of stiffness in her muscles. They were nearing the end of Thunderclan's territory and approaching fourtrees, and Beechface tensed only slightly, though she pointedly avoided looking towards the four great oaks as her fur bristled.

The medicine cat paused, giving herself a shake. Now was no time to get caught up in... whatever that feeling was. Her goal was to get Dawnpaw to the moonstone, and then back to Skyclan's territory in one piece. Nothing else was important.

Dawnpaw beamed at Beechaunt as their pelts brushed.”Well, that’s the way we went, coming from Ghostplace to SkyClan. There’s another way without all the tunnels?” The thought overjoyed her, and Beechaunt’s comforting words only served to brighten her spirits even more. The sun was rising, a new day was breaking, and… breaking. Why was it breaking? Dusk would fall, a gentle, comforting curtain, but day would break. A jarring thing. Shattering. Sky falling. The world breaking apart… but it hadn’t yet, so Dawnpaw supposed it wasn’t going to.

Beechaunt had fallen slightly behind, Dawnpaw guiltily realized. The apprentice slowed down, another question hovering on her tongue. “Is StarClan… nice?” They hadn’t seemed nice, from all she’d seen. But stars knew she’d give them, as she gave everycat, the benefit of the doubt.

"Starclan..." Beechface muttered, Dawnpaw didn't need to hear her vitriolic ranting, and Beechface had never been shy of such when it came to other cats asking her about it. She wouldn't lie and say that Starclan were all sunshine and roses, however. They had faults, just like the living... And for being dead cats, their faults were even more destructive. "Are difficult and frustrating. Some of them are nice as individuals, but on the whole? I don't know. I don't think they have our best interests at heart, us or the rest of the forest."

As the forest gave way to rolling hills, Beechface forced her paws to move a bit faster. The sun was high overhead, and they needed to get to mothermouth by sundown. She also simply didn't want to linger anywhere near Windclan territory. The traveling herbs had done well, but she wasn't at full health and definitely didn't have the energy she normally possessed, either. She kept the trio close to the border that Windclan shared with the thunderpath, not wanting to encroach on their miserable territory any more than strictly necessary. Beechface turned as a second thunderpath met the one along shadowclan and windclan's border perpendicularly, glancing back towards her companions. "Dawnpaw... Have you crossed a thunderpath before?"

Her gaze turned back toward the narrow strip of gray stone. Monsters ran single-file in both directions, and Beechface grimaced. She never liked crossing the thunderpaths, and now she was realizing that her newly limited vision was about to make itself known. She had to turn her head to see the monsters that ran from her right... And even with the herbs she didn't think she'd be able to run as fast as she normally could. She wasn't Windclan fast by any means, but her normal was still much less pain-stricken and slow.

The warrior that had accompanied the pair had remained silent for the journey, and silently stepped up on Beechface's right. She flinched slightly at the unexpectedness, ears twitching back in frustration.

Dawnpaw nodded at Beechaunt’s words. Just like the Clans of the forest- mayhaps death gave little knowledge. It was the cats you knew in life that could be trusted. Well, and anycat, really. If they hadn’t given her a reason to dislike them, she wouldn’t. Dawnpaw’s long, WindClanesque stride was checked as she fell in step with Beechaunt. She didn’t like WindClan territory and would prefer to be off it as soon as possible, but she wouldn’t ever leave somecat behind. Least of all Beechaunt.

Finally, they reached the Thunderpath. “I’ve crossed,” Dawnpaw replied, glancing around nervously. “Hawkuncle said sometimes the monsters go off the Thunderpath.” He also mentioned that you’d need to be alert. And Beechaunt simply couldn’t be alert, not with a missing eye. “There are lulls, aren’t there?” They’d have to wait for one then run for it- unless one of WindClan’s tunnels ran under the Thunderpath, which she doubted. Dawnpaw locked gazes with the warrior, a silent message in her gaze. “Tell me when to run, Beechaunt.” It wasn’t her she was worried about. The medicine cat was the injured one. Still, Dawnpaw didn’t like the Thunderpath. Loud, it made her head hurt, and the acrid stench hurt her nose.

Beechface wrinkled her nose at the acrid breeze of a monster rushing past, disgust plain across her face. She could tell Dawnpaw and the warrior felt the same way, and it was only natural. The thunderpath was a vile thing and it did a good job of blocking the cats from smelling anything else.

"Going off the thunderpath is uncommon, but it can happen." She muttered, "Saw that mostly in twolegplace, when we lived there after the fire." Beechface nodded at her next words. "There are lulls, and the monsters also stop whenever there's a sharp bend in the path and move slower. We'll wait for a lull and make a break for it. They're usually predictable." At night and when the sun hadn't quite above the trees, the thunderpaths were quiet. Often around sunhigh they were quieter too, but there were a few hours before sunset that were quite busy. They'd arrived at the tail-end of this time frame, and Beechface sat, gaze sweeping back and forth unhappily as the amount of monsters began to dwindle. Crossing the thunderpaths was a battle of patience and awareness. To misstep would prove disastrous, and Beechface didn't intend for today to be the day she make a misstep.

"Be ready, we'll need to move fast." Beechface mewed, glancing between Dawnpaw and their escort. The warrior nodded. "On my signal, then. I'll flank you." Beechface wanted to argue with him and tell him to flank Dawnpaw instead... But Dawnpaw had said she'd crossed them before. Steeling herself, the medicine cat got back to her paws, claws flexing. As predicted, there was a lull, a window of opportunity where the monsters at the bend in the path were stopped and none were approaching from the other direction.

"Ready? One, two..." The warrior began, "Go!" Beechface forced herself to run, rough pads burning as they hit the hot, gray-black stone of the thunderpath. As the three cats made it across without incident, throwing themselves under the sparse bushed on the other side of the path, the medicine cat lay there panting for a moment, gaze flicking over to Dawnpaw, making sure that she was okay, before flicking over to the warrior for the same reason.

"Not much farther, now." She panted, "Rest a moment and then we'll get moving again. We're on track to make it by sundown, at least."

Dawnpaw waited tensely, ready to spring and sprint across the Thunderpath. She gave Beechaunt a nod, eyes fixed on the grey rock. At the warrior’s signal, Dawnpaw sprinted across the Thunderpath like her tail was on fire, reaching WindClanesque speeds, fueled by adrenaline. She skidded to a stop on the other side, only to find she’d rather outpaced Beechaunt… whoops. She nodded again to Beechaunt, panting. Hopefully Beechaunt wouldn’t think she was mad- she wasn’t. She just needed to get her breath back.

Ooc: short Srry mobile

((No worries lol, once you post after this, your starclan cat may join in <3))

Dawnpaw had outpaced her, she realized, and already stood panting hard. "Catch your breath." She mewed gently, working on doing the same for another few moments. Once the trio had all gotten their breathing under control, Beechface would start forward once more, though that sprint across the thunderpath hadn't done her any favors. In the back of her mind, she was regretting not just letting Bloodstrike do this, just a little bit, but those thoughts would remain in the back of her mind. It was necessary, foolish, but necessary. She soldiered on the last, painful climb up highstones, and once they'd reached mothermouth, Beechface sat, panting as she eyed the last rays of the setting sun. At this point, the herbs couldn't quite combat her exhaustion, and the pain that had been dulled to a tolerable ache was starting to make itself known again.

Beechface turned her attention to Dawnpaw once more, taking note of the apprentice. She didn't like the tunnels, so she'd do her best to make this as painless as possible. She thought she remembered mom mentioning that she'd been scared of the tunnels during her own visit to the moonstone, but that conversation had been long ago. Every cat reacted differently to them, and she couldn't blame anyone for being apprehensive about the whole thing.

"Okay... The tunnels are dark, and you won't be able to see in them. Close your eyes if that makes you more comfortable, and use your whiskers, or you can grab my tail. I won't let you get too far behind me, and the path down is fairly straightforward. The chamber the moonstone is in will be brightly lit when we get to it, and you press your nose to it and lay down. Starclan will come to you in your dreams." She explained, heaving herself back to her paws to step into the entrance of the tunnel, looking over her shoulder at Dawnpaw now.

"Ready?" Beechface would wait until Dawnpaw said she was, then would lead her down the dark tunnel towards the moonstone. At some point she'd learned to simply close her eyes as she made the trek through the tunnels, it was easier that way, not like anything could be seen beyond the first tail-length or so of mothermouth's entrance, anyways.

Shortly before they reached the moonstone, if Dawnpaw had her eyes open, she'd be able to see a faint outline of Beechface's ears in front of her that slowly became clearer the closer the medicine cat and apprentice got to the moonstone. The moon has risen as they made their way into the mountainside, and by the time they reached the chamber with the moonstone itself, it was brightly lit, bathed in the soft light of the moon that shone through a gaping hole high above the cats' heads.

"Step forward, I'll be here when you wake." She told Dawnpaw, stepping aside once she'd entered the chamber, then gently nudging her niece towards the moonstone.

From Highstones, she could see everything. But not Hawkuncle. Where was he? Was he even in the forest? Dawnpaw squinted, as though she expected to be able to see his golden pelt from here. At Beechaunt’s words, she turned to face her. Oh. Tunnels. A nervous glance to Mothermouth. You can’t be a warrior if you can’t face a cave. You can’t live up to Dawnhawk. She could face the cave… even if it did look unnaturally like a gaping mouth, ready to swallow her whole.

“Ready,” she mewed quietly, unable to stop her fur from bristling. The trek through the dark was… terrifying, as always. It was only the walls on either side that stopped her from stumbling. As soon as a faint promise of light showed from further down the tunnel, Dawnpaw strained to see it, focus on it, and her fear scent slowly subsided. The Moonstone was… awe-inspiring, a sheer column of flashing ice in the moonlight. For a moment, Dawnpaw wondered if she was allowed to climb it- probably not. With a nervous glance to Beechaunt, she lay down in front of the Moonstone and touched her nose to it, instantly falling asleep.

Blossomstep was perched in a tree branch, looking over the star-filled forest when the small shape started to form at the base of the tree. She jumped from the branches overhead, landing neatly on her paws and trotting to sit down in front of the apprentice as she started to wake. This was the first interaction she had with the living since her death at Dawnhawk's paws, accidental though it was, and she was excited and a little apprehensive about speaking with Dawnpaw. As the she-cat's eyes opened, Blossomstep smiled and tilted her head slightly in welcome. "Hello, Dawnpaw. Welcome to StarClan. It's so good to see you again, my dear."

Dawnpaw wasn’t surprised to find herself lucid dreaming. She was surprised, however, on where she was, and… oh. Oh. Oh oh. StarClan. Yes. Right. Out of nowhere, a somewhat familiar pelt approached. “Hello! Its good to see you again too! How’ve you been?” The small she-cat couldn’t quite remember how, exactly, Bloss…Blossomstep was related to her, but she was related to her. Somehow. Dawnpaw sat down, curling her tail around her paws and looking around in wonder. Things were weird, in a good way. She could look up quickly without her head throbbing, for one. But the stars were the fun part. “Am I allowed… to… climb?” She looked up at Blossomstep with big eyes. The trees looked like the perfect place for a run. She could go as high as she liked- she couldn’t hurt herself in a dream. Some memory stirred vaguely in her head. Right, she’d told Hawkuncle she’d do that. “Oh, and Hawkuncle said to tell you… something… it’s been a while… maybe to stop bothering him? But I’m sure he didn’t mean that! Sometimes when you wake him up on accident he’s pretty grumpy,” she mused.

Blossomstep smiled as Dawnpaw seemed to recognize her, pleased she hadn't yet been forgotten by those she had been taken from. "I've been... As well as one can be. It can be rather lonely here. I have my kits and kin that passed before me, but I left so many as well. I wish I could still be there physically to walk with them through their struggles." She mewed softly, following the apprentice's gaze up to the tree tops. She nodded, smiling as she voiced her question to climb. "Yes, you may. Just be careful still, and I'll follow you." She mewed, pausing as Dawnpaw continued. Her ear flicked in surprise, eyes widening slightly as she hummed, a little concerned. "I do not walk in Dawnhawk's dreams, as much as I wish to see him to reassure him I am unable to reach him. His path has diverted too far from my own." She frowned, paws scuffling the ground.