Slightpaw's Moonstone Journey

(ooc: set before the flower herb hunt)

Muddythorn couldn't believe how quickly time was moving. Hailfall, who had only recently been taken to the moonstone himself, had already trained an apprentice who was nearing the end of apprenticeship. The medicine cat sought out Slightpaw's white pelt amongst the other sleeping bodies, and gently nudged the apprentice awake. "Hey, Slightpaw? We need to get going. I'll be waiting outside when you're ready."

Even though the darkness of the night had mostly lifted, the sun was still only just lifting over the horizon, painting the cloudy sky with streaks of pink and orange. Muddythorn shivered as he surveyed the camp, where few cats were out of their dens yet. The fresh-kill pile dwindled due to the harshness of the season, and the tom remained somewhat paranoid about any cat falling ill. It was a lot of weight for one cat to bear. He had already eaten his own measly bundle of herbs, and hoped that what he had would be enough to see the pair through to their return.

"Here are your herbs," He explained when Slightpaw emerged. "They keep your strength up, but try your best to ignore the taste."

Slightpaw swallowed the herbs without gagging, and got to his paws. He walked silently to the camp entrance.


OOC: sorry for the short posts!

Muddythorn had to say, he was impressed. He didn't know is he had ever seen an apprentice swallow travelling herbs with such little issue. It had taken the medicine cat himself many tried before he could teach himself to ignore it. He definitely appreciated how Slightpaw didn't go rushing off into the forest, wasting precious energy that was boosted by hard-to-find herbs.

"So how's your training going?" He inquired to make conversation. The tom had never enjoyed walking in complete silence. Not too long ago, Skyclan had had a plethora of apprentices and barely enough warriors to train them, but now, after many trips to highstones, there were less apprentices than ever, and instead plenty of warriors.

Slightpaw wanted to grind his teeth with Muddythorn. did he insist on having conversations? "Fine. I've plenty of ugly scars now thanks to all those predators," he snapped. his beautiful long silk-like fur was now bearing several notches and nicks. he had tried his best to cover them with feathers, but in leafbare there was barely any feathers to spare.

"Hey, I don't know about 'ugly' - every warrior ends up with scars eventually, some just more than others. Look at Bloodstar, for example. His tell an important story, and I'm sure yours do too." Muddythorn said encouragingly. What he pointedly didn't add was how terrified he'd been of the leader when he had first met him. Despite the tom being his grandfather, he hadn't met him until he was a young apprentice, and that was when he'd been fresh out of imprisonment by Asylum.

"You're quite a lot like you mentor, you know." He commented as they continued to journey, the distance to camp stretching out behind them. It wasn't;t clear what he meant by that, but felt the need to point it out.

Slightpaw could name many differences between himself and Hailfall. For one, Hailfall was so much more passive, and soft to other cats. Also, Hailfall didn’t have a close friend like he did. His mind wandered back to Batpaw. Ever since the two met he couldn’t get the black she-cat out of his head. It was as if she had taken over his mind. He shook out his pelt and quickened his pace.

Okay, Slightpaw clearly wasn't interested in conversation. Muddythorn eventually got the hint and stopped trying to talk, instead just accepting the silence and speeding up to match the apprentice. In the silence, the path stretched out far ahead of him as the sun travelled across the sky. After some time, the pair drew nearer to highstones, and began the climb up to mothermouth.

Despite the quiet of the walk, Muddythorn still gave his explanation like he would with any other apprentice. "The tunnels get very dark the deeper they go, so stay close behind me the whole way. Grab on to my tail if you need to. When we reach the moonstone, lay down beside it and you will meet with Starclan. Good luck!" He turned, disappearing into the darkness.

Slightpaw quickly grabbed Muddythorn's tail between his jaws, ignoring the medicine cat's cry of pain. he wasn't about to let this huge tom know that he, Slightpaw, was just a teeny tiny bit scared of enclosed spaces. and unusual and troublesome fear for a Skyclan cat, with all the trees and undergrowth.

as they reached the end of the tunnel, and it opened into a bigger cavern, the white apprentice leaped past the medicine cat and hurriedly laid down beside the giant stone. he tried to calm down his heartbeat as he waited for "Starclan" to appear.

Blossomstep waited patiently for the young cat to arrive, her tail curled loosely around her paws. As he slowly materialized in front of her, she smiled warmly. Waiting until he started to wake up, she greeted him with a welcoming purr. "Greetings, Slightpaw. Welcome to StarClan. My name is Blossomstep, I was a SkyClan warrior not so many moons ago." She mewed, lowering her head in greeting.

Slightpaw glanced at the she-cat before him. "Hello, Blossomstep," he said. was this supposed to be this awkward? no sudden bursts of great wisdom to prepare him for warriorhood? honestly, he was surprised Starclan even existed. maybe he was just hallucinating, like every other insane cat in the forest.

Slightpaw didn't seem awed, or even fully convinced that they walked among the stars. Blossomstep gazed at the young cat quietly for a moment before rising to her paws, motioning for the tom to follow her. "You've grown into a fierce fighter and strong hunter for your clan, Slightpaw. However, even the best cats can find themselves blinded to reality by the belief that everything is fine. Don't ignore warning signs, thinking you can handle everything, acknowledge them and prepare, and rely on your clanmates to assist you along the way." She mewed softly, looking back to the tom briefly.

Slightpaw scrambled to his paws at the sign to follow the she-cat. Was she going to show him some wonders of the stars? he scoffed at the words that spewed out of her mouth. so even death doesn't bring wisdom! who will help him in his clan? only by himself can he live and thrive. his clanmates are no better than rouges, other than their dumb belief of uniting.

The young tom behind her scoffed, and she narrowed her eyes as she looked back. "You don't seem convinced, Slightpaw. Why is that?" She mewed, searching his gaze thoughtfully. She had seen what could become of a cat that didn't have the support they needed... Was SkyClan repeating similar mistakes?

Slightfrost shrugged. "In the end, it's every cat for themselves, isn't it?" he murmured, his mind wandering to his clanmates. he was capable to taking care of himself, but he would starve if he continued to feed those useless elders and queens.

Blossomstep stopped, turning to face the tom and tilting her head. "Of course it's not. What kind of mouse rained idea is that? Perhaps if you're a rogue, surviving in your own, but as an apprentice of your clan, as a warrior, you are there to help each other. From the youngest kit mewling for it's mother's milk, representing the future of the clan, to the oldest warrior, having spent their youth defending and feeding the clan and now spending their days peaceful, every member of your clan is your family, and should be cared for... Including you. If you were to get sick, your medicine cat wound tend to you, and your clanmates would bring you and the medicine cat food and water, and pick up your responsibilities until you were better. And you would, should, do the same for them."