Scarletpaw's Moonstone Journey

Scarletpaw heeded Littlesplash's soft-spoken instructions, regarding the medicine cat with a respect that he mostly reserved for Poppyshine, Perchstar, and Mistwalker. He followed wordlessly through the tunnel, a silent gasp as he laid eyes upon the cavern deep within and the Moonstone itself.

It had earned its name: a glittering, glorious thing, absolutely dazzling and filling the space with brilliant moonlight.

"It's beautiful," he whispered softly, trying to commit the sight to memory.

He liked beautiful, dazzling things. Glinting scales and light that seemed to dance upon the water.

For Scarletpaw, this moment was a dream come true.

He took slow steps forward, savoring the view with each one, until gently touching his nose to the stone.

It was cool to the touch, but not unpleasant; like soft rain.

He closed his eyes, allowing sleep to claim him, and the stars to carry him to their domain; wondering what other wonderful sights there were to see. StarClan was bathed in starlight, wasn't it? Surely even a small portion of it could put the Moonstone itself to shame.

When he opened his eyes once more, he saw it: pools of water that seemed to glow and shimmer faintly, starlight dancing on the surface, and found himself entirely transfixed by it.

"Well, you certainly took your time, didn't you?"

The voice was one he didn't know, a cat who stepped forward to join him in front of the water; a near-match to his reflection. She didn't have his prominent scarring, and her eyes were mismatched--cool green and blue, a contrast to his warm amber--but the pattern of their well-groomed fur was similar enough; the calico patches of reddish-golden-orange and black. Her fur was short, while his was somewhere between short and long.

At a glance she was pretty; as beautiful as he had been, not so long ago. With the stars themselves woven into her pelt, she was even more so.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I've seen snails move faster," she remarked easily. "You throw yourself into your training with respectable diligence, but you refuse to take a real step forward. It's a new kind of cowardice you've invented, I think; I've never seen anything like it."

He bristled at that. "Who are you?"

She hummed with satisfaction, as if she'd expected him to ask and had her answer ready. "I am Flashlight; loyal warrior to RiverClan and defender of my beloved kin. A master of both skill and grace, and one with many claims: once-prisoner of the Aslyum, daughter to Waspburn, sister to Shrikefrost and Loonwhisper. But we aren't here to discuss my life or my accolades. No, we're here to discuss you; and all the absolutely fascinating ways you're failing yourself."

The pride she carried herself with didn't bother him, but the way she talked at him certainly did. Were all StarClan cats so patronizing, or had he simply been unlucky?

"Listen to me, Scarletpaw."

He was sort of surprised to realize she knew his name.

"You're a diligent student: you regularly drive yourself to exhaustion with your training. You should certainly take pride in your skill, and the effort you put into it. But you have discovered, seemingly entirely by accident, that all the talent and work in the world won't get you anywhere if you simply refuse to move."

Her tail twitched in obvious frustration; a movement he found himself mirroring.

"You have a great deal of potential. So why are you wasting it?" She narrowed her mismatched eyes at him. "Do you know how frustrating it is to watch your life? You hunt, you train, and you refuse to take initiative. It's so sad that I actually sort of pity you. Which is precisely why I'm here right now."

Finally deciding to interrupt the shimmering she-cat's rant, he tilted his head slightly. "Is this... What every visit to the Moonstone is like? Is this why no one talks about it?"

Flashlight ignored him.

"It's all exactly the same, day after day after day! You refuse to take the steps to finish your training. Whenever you're not training, you follow that other apprentice around like some sort of helpless fawn. Seriously, you don't do anything. Tell me, have you ever considered actually living your life, or do you simply expect things to happen around you? No one important ever got that way by sitting around and wishing for it, you have to go and do something."

He bristled again, the personal attack causing him to narrow his own eyes at her.

"You successfully defended yourself and your companion in a dangerous situation. That certainly caught my attention. But ever since, you've just been following the exact same routine and wallowing in self-pity! At a glance, you have less ambition and motivation than a baby bird."

She met his glare with a serious expression of her own.

"I see how you train. You're better than this, and you know it."

Before he could say anything in his own defense, the starlit landscape began to fade; and he closed his eyes without meaning to. Leaving Scarletpaw to wake back in the cavern of the Moonstone, its brilliance somewhat dulled by daylight, and leaving him with a brief but lasting impression of StarClan.