Sagepaw's Moonstone Journey

"These herbs will be bitter, but they provide the energy needed to make the journey to Highstones and back." She smiled sweetly at the young apprentice as she mewed out her instructions. Another set of paws on their journey to become a warrior... ShadowClan was thriving. There was no doubt about that.

Sagepaw stared at the herbs for a moment, but took a deep breath. It was only a temporary discomfort... it was no big deal. And in one fell swoop he devoured them. His face screwed up and he visibly shuddered from head to tail, but it was over and done. The herbs had been swallowed. "Alright... I'm ready." He said with a confident gleam in his pale eyes. Meeting Starclan... he was just excited as he was nervous.

***

Sagepaw passed through the Mothermouth, feeling with his whiskers as instructed, until his eyes set upon the only source of light in the cave: The Moonstone. His breath caught in his throat but he willed his paws to keep moving forward. At Heatherberry's instructions, he lie down and pressed his nose to the Moonstone. The stone was cold and it gave him a bit of a shock, but he was immediately transported to the a world of starlight. Prey was everywhere... big fat things that could easily feed an army of cats. Starclan...

He was in Starclan...

"You look excited to be here. Welcome." A limber, flame-pelted tom with a coat that bore several star-speckled scars approached Sagepaw. The warrior's vibrant green eyes were warm despite his rather neutral expression. As he stood before the apprentice, his neck craned to meet Sagepaw's widened gaze, "My name is Flamestrike. I was once a warrior of Starclan, like you will be soon."

Seeing the young tom's similar appearance reminded him of his own sons and there was a pang of sadness at the memory of watching them earn their warrior names. His head tipped to the side as an idea came to him, "Care to hunt with me, Sagepaw? The prey won't quite fill your belly when you wake, but it is plentiful." Firestone had once been his apprentice, moons ago, and the pair had hunted together, practicing traditional Shadowclan stalking techniques. A brief smile tugged at the edges of his maw. Those had been pleasant times.