It was nice, for it to just be her and Wolfblossom again. Ever since her training had really picked up, it felt like Juniperpaw hadn’t had any alone time with her adoptive mother at all, only seeing her in patrols or hunting parties. She hadn’t expected Wolfblossom to be the one to take her to her Moonstone, but she surely wasn’t complaining— she took the herbs given to her with grace, only slightly grimacing at the taste, and silently padded along behind the large grey she-cat as she led her out of camp and towards Mothermouth.
—
Juniperpaw had stayed mostly silent the entire trip, just basking in Wolfblossom’s presence, but just dozing off to StarClan without a word seemed a little rude.
”It’d be nice to wake up to you again.” The ragdoll molly mewed softly in reply, giving Wolfblossom a soft nudge wit her nose. Juniperpaw was far more nervous about this entire experience than she wanted to give off, but it was clear that her mother could read right through her. Wolfblossom always knew how to comfort her.
”Thank you for taking me all the way here. I’ll see you when I wake up.”Turning her soft downy head from Wolfblossom to the Moonstone, Juniperpaw was momentarily blinded by its glimmer. It wasn’t blindingly bright, but it’s glow and shimmer bounced across the walls of the cave in the most mesmerizing and distracting way. Slowly, as if she’d wake it up, Juniperpaw tiptoed over to the rock, before laying herself down at its base. Her nose stung a little from it’s cold surface when she pressed it against it, but it was almost a welcome feeling— she had already slipped away the moment her eyes had fluttered closed.
It wasn’t long before that icy feeling on her nose faded away. Juniperpaw’s eyes blinked open slowly— surely the Moonstone was still in front of her, pressed against her nose— but instead of Mouthermouth all Juniperpaw could see for miles was fog and glittery stars. It was beautiful, so pretty that Juniperpaw was so busy looking around that she didn’t notice the little scraggly she-cat hobbling out from the mist.
”Hello.” was all the she-cat said, like nothing about this entire situation was odd in the slightest. She was tiny, smaller than Juniperpaw, and there was a certain youth about her that hung on her face. She was missing most of it, actually— where the left side of her pretty brown face used to be, there were thick and twisting scar tissue, all wrapped around an empty eye socket and a nub of an ear. These scars were etched all over her body, marring her long coat so the hairs stood up all over the place. She smiled at Juniperpaw, so soft and so
pitying.
She was beautiful. And she must have died so, so young. Juniperpaw’s heart broke.
”My name is Maplepaw.” The she-cat continued, clearly aware that Juniperpaw was too stunned to speak.
”I was an apprentice of SkyClan many many moons ago, just like you. And just like you, My mother was not from this clan.” Maplepaw took another wobbly step closer to Juniperpaw.
”My mother was Briarstar, the leader before Birdstar, though I knew her as Briarthorn then. My father was Bloodstrike— I think you may know him. Back when Bloodstrike was Bloodstar, he brought my mother to SkyClan, as Briarthorn was a warrior of ShadowClan then. They had met and fell in love and had children; all as warriors of different clans.”Juniperpaw had little idea of what Maplepaw was talking about.
”I felt so lost.” Maplepaw pressed, giving Juniperpaw a look she couldn’t decipher.
”I didn’t feel like I belonged to SkyClan. My sister— my own blood hated me. My own blood murdered me. My life was nothing but feeling so, so lost. All because of my parents and their frivolousness.”Juniperpaw continued to just look at her.
”Oh, don’t look at me like that!” the brown tabby she-cat suddenly snapped, making Juniperpaw jump.
”I’m trying to warn you, mouse-for-brains! Listen to me!”Juniperpaw blinked a couple of times. She was certain that this was against some kind of StarClan code. What kind of StarClan guidance was this?
”Warn me about what?””The future, you idiot!” Maplepaw growled, swatting Juniperpaw over the head. The molly hadn’t noticed just how close she had gotten.
”Don’t go snooping your nose into other clans’ business, and DON’T come crying to me when it all falls apart!”With an annoyed hiss and a flair, Maplepaw turned around and hobbled back into the mist, and with a start Juniperpaw awoke again in Mouthermouth. Wolfblossom was behind her, just as she said she would, and the memory of her experience in StarClan started to fade away. An alarmed ringing in her ears and chest throughout the entire trek home and then some, but Juniperpaw could not for the life of her remember exactly why.
