Beetlepaw's moonstone journey

Moonstone journeys. In the past medicine cats handled them, before the clans decided that the Deputies would handle them. And in all honesty, Grasssnake was not prepared.

The brown tabby tom padded towards the apprentices den, a bundle of herbs in his jaws, given to him by Driftpaw. He stepped over the sleeping bodies of all the tightly packed apprentices, before arriving at Beetlepaw. He nudged her with his paw, hoping to wake her up. "Beetlepaw, wake up. Its time for your moonstone journey." He mewed, his voice muffled by the herbs in jaws. He then turned around and walked out, sitting outside of the den, to wait for the apprentice.

Beetlepaw hissed as she was jostled awake from a paw pressing into her shoulder to rouse her, but before she could launch herself at what she briefly thought was her attacker, the scents of Shadowclan camp bringing her to her senses before anything could be done. Grunting as she got to her paws she stepped over her den-mates, though not as carefully as she could have been, almost deliberately bumping her paws into them or stomping on tails. Beetlepaw nodded at her deputy as she poked her head out, eyeing the bundle that Grasssnake held, suddenly apprehensive. Beetlepaw never especially cared for Starclan or what they had to say about her, or if they were watching her at all, but suddenly she was going to meet them. Was she going to get guidance from them? Would they scold her? Praise her? The uncertainty was making her heart-ache, almost with fear.

Beetlepaw took the bundle from Grasssnake, avoiding his gaze as she did so. Beetlepaw choked it back painfully, never really having been a vegan to begin with. Once she stopped trying to throw it back up she nodded at her deputy, "Let us get this over with" She mewed, her chest aching some more at the thought.

Grasssnake nodded, and turned around and started walking out of camp. He looked back towards the apprentice. "You excited?" He asked.

Beetlepaw followed after him, looking at him from the corner of her eye. Squinting a bit from suspicion, did he know that she was anything but? "Yeah...super excited to meet Starclan." She mewed, trying to force a happier lilt to her voice as she answered him.

"That's good." Grasssnake meowed, as his paws treaded on the muddy ground. "You know, when I was an apprentice, I was shaking in my pelt excited to see Starclan. And when I got there it was amazing. Just you wait until you see the moonstone, its amaz-" He then cut himself from speaking anymore. He was rambling. "Sorry did I talk too much?" He asked, his ears flopping down nervously.

Beetlepaw almost groaned when Grasssnake starting rambling, her legs shuddering with the urge to run run run but she remained. Starclan must really not like her if she was doing her journey with him. But when he started back-tracking, embarrassed and ashamed, Beetlepaw almost sighed with relief but figured she could use the social skills that she learned over her months as an apprentice to good use. Sort of. "Yeah, you kind of do talk a lot." She mewed, letting him squirm in his shame before she spoke again, "But so does everybody else, especially my sister, Splashpaw, no one beats her when it comes to yacking ears off." Beetlepaw chuckled briefly, her jaw tightening at the thought of Splashpaw constantly yacking her own ears off.

Grasssnake lowered his head when Beetlepaw did note that he talked alot. "Yea sorry." He mewed. He slowly lifted his head and sighed in relief, that he wasn't the only one who yacked. I'm glad I'm not the only one who talk alot. "Sooo, how's your training been going? Maplestar told me it was going well, but I wanna hear who the one doing her training is doing." He asked.

Beetlepaw felt the curl of pride in her chest as she shut down the deputy, it took almost all her willpower not to sneer or smile when his head lowered. But it didn't last long, Grasssnake despite expressing nervousness when realizing they were talking a lot, continued to talk a lot! Outrageous! "It's been going fine, I've got a knack for hunting, I caught a rabbit on my first hunting trip!" Beetlepaw couldn't help but boast, catching it had been the most exhilarating thing she had done since fighting Lightningstar by the Thunderpath. She looked down at her paws, remembering the tearing of fur and flesh and her hackles briefly raised. She wanted so badly to brag about it, or, brag about the 'fox' she escaped from, but she knew how badly that'd go for her. To talk about it so much would only lead to details slipping, thankfully she was never a talkative cat to begin with. "Other than that it hasn't been very exciting," Lies, she loved it, she always had to hold back her claws but in her battle training, she was always especially vicious, swift with her small size and biting with her claws. She wanted to terrify cats, she lusted for it, but she'd never tell anyone that.

"That's good. I also understand what you mean. Praticing the same moves over and over can get pretty boring." Said Grasssnake.

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Grasssnake sighed as they entered mouthemouth. "Stick close, okay?" He said, as they walked. As they walked, Grasssnake could feel the walls closing in on him, as they drew closer and closer. Suddenly, a bright flash of light hit Grasssnake's eyes, as he padded out into the cave, giving a quick glance behind him towards Beetlepaw, before gazing upon the moonstone, in all its glory. "Its breathtaking isn't it?" He whispered, as if scared that if he talked to loud, he'd take away the beauty of the moonstone. This was his second time seeing it, and it was amazing.

He turned his head towards Beetlepaw and smiled. "Touch your nose to the stone and lay down. Soon you'll fall asleep, and you'll see Starclan." He instructed.

Beetlepaw paused outside of mothermouth, slowly looking up at the stalactite teeth, and the cold, stale wind whistling against her whiskers. Beetlepaw's legs shook as she took in what this meant for her, there was no turning back. If she were to turn and run, she would be known to be a coward, they would probably watch her more than they do, wondering why she feared the stars. Beetlepaw didn't know why her fear only grew and grew, sure she was nervous about what they would say or think, but the throat choking, chest-swelling sensations seemed to try to tell her otherwise. Taking in a gulp of air she followed after Grasssnake, what felt like an eternity of a moment was no less than a few heart-beats in reality. She dove in.

Everything was mounting, her heart was pounding, her head swimming, her hackles raising as the tightening of the tunnels drove her onwards. Beetlepaw couldn't hide her fear any longer, but she was forced to go forwards, there was no room to turn around in the tight tunnels now. Soon, the stones were touched with shades of blue, for as they rounded the bend, the apprentice was blinded by the bright crystal of the moonstone before her. There it was, in all its religious glory, so bolstered in appearance from tales and stories that it seemed almost lackluster. All Beetlepaw felt, upon seeing it, taking it in, was cold. This was it, she had to do it. Beetlepaw's sharp amber eyes looked to Grasssnake from the corner of her eyes, too scared to respond with some witty, sly remark. Her mouth was dry. Then he told her to touch it, to fall asleep and lay herself bare before her ancestors. Beetlepaw's breath picked up, she started to heave and puff, her legs shook and everything seemed to darken a little bit. She looked to her paws and watched them rattle dazedly, as if not quite realizing how hard they trembled.

It felt like years before she calmed down, and she padded towards the stone. She stood just before it for a brief moment before she settled herself down and pressed her nose to the stone.

Beetlepaw woke in the starry plains and fields on Starclan, petrified.

Padding towards the young apprentice, a black and white tom approached and it was none other than Thunderstar himself. Thunderstar, Lightningstar's father and the founder of ThunderClan, was remembered as one of the most courageous and compassionate founding leaders, having developed the sympathetic components of the warrior code. He hoped to be able to pass down such attributes and beliefs of the code to the next generations of cats for many more moons, but after watching Beetlepaw from the stars above... for whatever reason she didn't seem to be like the other apprentices that he'd met for their moonstone journeys.

Giving a dip of his head to the hazel she-cat, a soft smile was held on his black and white tom's muzzle. "That was some stunt you pulled; attacking a leader," he began untraditionally, his voice light-hearted as he remembered watching his son and the young apprentice skirmish. 'And Lightningstar of all cats...' he thought to himself. While the ThunderCLan leader had mellowed out compared to his days as Deputy, it was obvious that he stilled enjoyed a good battle every once in a while and just remembering how rambunctious his son used to be made Thunderstar purr.

Beetlepaw looked up at the approaching tom defensively, shaking a bit as her previous fear was still taking hold of her. He was unusually kind, throwing her a bit for a loop, not at all what she was expecting. Beetlepaw looked the Starclan cat up and down, looking for weaknesses, assessing him for whatever she could use in a fight. The cat before her was smaller than Lightningstar, and that meant she couldn't really rely on her size since they were similar in height and possibly speed, but Beetlepaw had grown in her six moons of training, she was strong and swift. If it came to it, she could take him. "Yeah? And what of it?" Beetlepaw hissed defensively, her ears flicking back as she struggled not to snarl, turning her fear into anger. A much fiercer weapon.

It was clear that the apprentice wasn't very comfortable with his presence, but hopefully he could change that or at least attempt to since Beetlepaw seemed to be on the more stubborn side. "Whoa there, don't get your claws in a bunch. I was just making conversation, that's all," the built tom mewed calmly with a shrug. Giving his pelt a shake, he lifted a paw and gave it a lick before meeting her amber gaze once more. "I'm Thunderstar, former leader and founder of ThunderClan. No need to introduce yourself though, I already know you are," he spoke before turning around. "Follow me," Thunderstar mewed before trotting off. She seemed quite unsure of him and StarClan, but he knew that even she of all cats would follow after him, unless she wanted to look like a scaredy-cat of course.

Making his way up a small hill, Thunderstar came to a stop as he stood overlooking more star-filled plains bellow, his black and white tail flicking back and forth. In the distance, as if almost perfectly split down the middle, the dimly lit plains faded into a misty darkness. From where they stood, the sight of the glinting eyes of the exiled through the grey, hazy fog, was able to be seen, but if one were to go even closer to the darkness, their taunting, whispering voices could be heard. Luckily for them, they weren't about to go anywhere near there.

Once Beetlepaw stood beside him, obviously still keeping her distance, he turned his gaze towards her and then back towards the ominous darkness that sat in the distance. "Do you know what that is?" the StarClan tom asked, his tone filled with a bit more seriousness than before.

Beetlepaw followed of course, for she knew she would have no choice but to do so. Beetlepaw kept her distance, away from his claws should he turn on her, and for some reason, her shoulder scars burned. Beetlepaw looked down at the thick line of fog that cut into Starclan's plains, weary eyes looking up at the two on the hill. The appearance of the thick wall of fog striking some hidden memories of elder tales, but they were just stories, or so she thought. "I had heard from my elders of a place where bad cats went after they died when Starclan didn't accept them into their ranks. Is this it?" Beetlepaw mewed, her eyes narrowing as she leaned forwards to get a better look, hoping to see some cats through the mist. She imagined that perhaps they were decayed or looked evil to the naked eye, with long ragged claws and snaggle teeth.

Listening as she spoke, Thunderstar nodded along. The elders were doing good carrying on the tales and stories they'd been told and he wished that he could tell them thank you himself, though he knew that time would come soon enough.

"That's right; it's the Place of no Stars," he began, his voice solemn as he spoke. He couldn't help but internally shiver at the thought of any-cat being sent there, it must've been miserable compared to the lush, star-covered plains that him and his loved ones resided in. "It's where cats who fall away from StarClan go, and trust me when I say it's nothing to brag about. Cats who lose sight of who they are in themselves and their clans end up there. So never let your beliefs of your loyalties in your family and clan falter, little one," Thunderstar instructed. He didn't know how exactly, but Beetlepaw had a long journey ahead of her and if she accepted his wisdom... hopefully she could walk down the right path.

'Never lose sight of who they are huh?' Beetlepaw thought. Thunderstar continued to tell her not to let her beliefs and loyalties falter and it was at this moment that Beetlepaw felt confidence and certainty wash over her for the first time since her trip. With steeled yellow eyes seeming to turn to the colour of hardened amber she looked unwaveringly into the Starclan cats eyes. "I've never been certain of who I am or what I believe." She stated strongly.



"I will do whatever I can for Shadowclan. Any means necessary."

Listening, Thunderstar tried his hardest to not look worried or even a bit dissapointed. She was a strong willed cat of ShadowClan, couldn't she see how much potential she had? Well, even so, that wasn't his place to say and he just prayed to Silverpelt that wherever her path took her, she mad the right decisions...

"I wish I could help, but unfortunately that is something you must discover on your own," the leader mewed, shaking his back and forth before letting out a sigh, standing up a little straighter, and meeting the she-cat's cold gaze. "May StarClan light you path, Beetlepaw" the black and white tom mewed with a nod of his head, a smile having replaced his slight frown from earlier. Turning around, he began to walk off, his form disappearing into nothing but specks of shimmering stardust as he left the apprentice to return to the physical world bellow.