Desperate Measures (C)

As hard as it was, Basilbloom needed to keep trying to reach StarClan, not just for the sake of the clans but for her sake as well.  Living without the stars filled her with such tension and anxiety she could hardly stand it, and so it was with a determined look in her eye that she told Snowpaw to come to her den.  Once the young she-cat arrived Basilbloom spoke to her in hushed tones, pushing a couple of small seeds towards the apprentice.  "Snowpaw, since we can't go the Moonstone we're going to try and speak to StarClan here.  I don't know if it'll work, but we have to keep trying to find them.  Here, take these poppy seeds.  They'll replicate the same type of sleep you'd experience at the Moonstone, it might help."  Sitting down Basilbloom waited for the apprentice to swallow the seeds, her heart pounding.

Snowpaw nodded, kind of in a dull shock. She’d awaited this day for so long, but now she merely felt numb. After all, StarClan was dead. She only knew two cats who might be there anyway, her mother and Amberdawn. She wasn’t even sure about her mother. Licking up the poppyseeds, she padded to the corner and curled up in a ball.
Sinking into her dream, Snowpaw was surprised to be lucid at all. However, instead of finding StarClan, she simply found nothing. More than nothing even. The lack of something that should have been was palpable. It almost felt like the nights she cried herself to sleep as a kit after losing her mother.
Snowpaw awoke and simply shook her head. “There’s nothing left we can do, is there?”

As Snowpaw fell into sleep, Basilbloom couldn't help hoping a bit, her eyes darting between the she-cat's form and the sky above.  However, when Snowpaw awoke and shook her head, the medicine cat felt her ears droop.  She kept a smile on her face though and nuzzled Snowpaw's head.  "Maybe, but if we give up trying we'll never know if there's something we could've done.  Thank you for trying Snowpaw, I'll make sure Murkystar knows of the great help you've been."  Her words sounded confident, hopeful even, but Basilbloom knew that the odds were not in their favor.  Even still, they had to keep trying.