Dappledpaw's Moonstone Journey

(OCC: This topic takes place before Basilbloom leaves for the herb patrol, so that means it also takes place before the SC vs Forgotten Order battle)

Basilbloom could still remember the way-back day when Dappledpaw had been brought to camp by Frostgaze, a tiny scared kitten adopted by the kind-hearted warrior.  Now she had begun to grow into a strong, lovely young cat, and Basilbloom couldn't help but feel proud as she called into the apprentice's den with a sing-song chirp.  "I'm ready to go Dapple, when you are!"  When the pale-brown she-cat emerged, the tortoiseshell medicine cat pushed the pile of traveling herbs towards her with a purr.  "Eat these, hopefully they taste better than usual!  Deerpaw made me think of the idea of flavoring them with honey, let me know what you think."

Dappledpaw heard someone calling her name from the entrance of the den, and she started to get up. She left the den to see Basilbloom and remembered her Moonstone journey. She lapped up the herbs that were put in front of her. She listened to Basilbloom's remark and realized they did seem to taste better than other cats made them out to be. "They taste pretty good," She answered.

Basilbloom purred as Dappledpaw confirmed that her mixture had worked, but wasted no time on pleasantries.  "Great!  Let's head out then, it's a long way to Highstones."  Leading the way out of camp, the two cats began their journey.

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The moon was low in the sky by the time Basilbloom and Dappledpaw reached Mothermouth, and Basilbloom waited for a few minutes before leading the way into the cave.  Making sure the she-cat was following close behind, the medicine cat expertly weaved her way down the tunnels until vivid light shined ahead.  Emerging into the Moonstone chamber, Basilbloom breathed in the cold air and turned to Dappledpaw with a smile.  "Touch your nose to the Moonstone and StarClan will give you rest.  I'll be here when you wake up, good luck!"

Dappledpaw watched Basilbloom disappear into the dark tunnel of Mothermouth. The last flickers of moonlight faded as she followed her medicine cat farther down the tunnel. After walking in pitch black for what seemed like forever, a light started to shine farther along. It grew brighter until the narrow tunnel opened up to a large cavern with a bright, glowing rock in the center. She looked in amazement, before giving Basilbloom a quick nod and settling in front of the Moonstone. Dappledpaw dipped her head forward and felt the chilling touch of the stone, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Rosethorn was delighted when she found that she would be speaking with one of ShadowClan's apprentices. Though she may not have been born a ShadowClan cat, she had certainly lived as one, and it was nice knowing she got the same afterlife treatment as any other warrior. Of course, she still carried her regrets, just as any cat did, but she made peace with the things she did and didn't do in her life. And she was happy.

The apprentice coming to her today was not much different than her. Neither of them was born a warrior, yet there they were. Perhaps that is why Rosethorn had been asked to come here. Because she knew what it was like. She could relate.

"Hey! I'm Rosethorn! I'm sure you must have heard of me, of course Mistyfalcon and Murkystar probably talk about me a lot, since I got them together after all! So, yeah, I was a ShadowClan warrior, regrettably born Asylum but I swear I'm not a bad cat! Here, ask me any questions you want! This is a judgement-free zone, so don't worry! I bet ya don't need any bullying from StarClan, and we're supposed to be the good guys anyway!"

A large calico she-cat appeared and eagerly started talking. Dappledpaw listened patiently and was surprised to hear that she wasn't born in ShadowClan either. "I think I've heard them talk about you before," she responded. Dappledpaw stopped to think about something she wanted to ask. She felt there was so much to ask and yet she couldn't think of anything to ask. She finally meowed, "How can I be the best warrior I can?"