The sky had turned to a deep scarlet, washing away the soft blue daylight and replacing it with the hard glint of blood-red and lavender. Flutteringpaw's eyes drifted over the dark, rippling waters of the lake and allowed her gaze to rest on the tall, shadowy pines that once housed ShadowClan beneath their branches.
There is no more ShadowClan...
ShadowClan...it was a strange feeling that now tightly grasped her heart in its jaws. A longing for everything that once was, everything that she never learned. After everything ShadowClan had been, everything they had done to WindClan, Flutteringpaw longed for them to once again live and roam among the pines, their shadowy forms slinking through the darkness as they hunted and fought just as they did all those moons ago.
Flutteringpaw dug her claws into the soft, rotting bark of the tree bridge that stretched out beneath her, over the shining silvery waters of the lake that lapped gently against the shore. Although she knew she could do nothing, she could feel, deep within herself, that the Clans had to be restored.
WindClan should once again race across the moors, the wind whistling in their ears and their paws eating up the earth as they ran. She should feel the open sky above her once again, instead of looking upward and feeling trapped beneath the hundreds of thick, towering branches that wove together above her, blotting out the sky.
"There you are!" Flutteringpaw winced at the sound of Risingwish's voice piercing through the silent dusk air as the ginger tom padded out onto the Tree bridge to stand beside the place where she sat, her tail swinging down over the water. "Sunnyflight and Shyskip have been looking everywhere for you. What have you been doing all day?"
"Thinking." Flutteringpaw murmured, refusing to take her eyes from the bleeding sky before her. She could feel Risingwish's amber eyes fixed upon her, almost as if they were staring straight into her soul and reading her deepest thoughts.
Risingwish didn't reply immediately, but instead slowly sat down beside her on the rotting log, his pelt nearly touching hers. They sat in silence, watching as the lake slowly turned to blood with the reflection of the sky above them, then slowly drained to a shimmering misty grey as the sun dipped back behind ShadowClan's trees.
"It's sad. For all the generations it's been here, and now it finally starts to fade."
At first, Flutteringpaw thought Risingwish meant the sun, but she dug her claws deeper into the bark beneath her as she realized he meant the tree bridge. The bark was soft and moist, unlike the bark of the Great Oak, or the healthy trees that grew on the island.
"Risingwish," Flutteringpaw whispered finally. "Did you ever attend a gathering?"
Flutteringpaw knew that the Great Oak had once been the setting of countless gatherings, where cats from every Clan would join together on a night of peace, and share gossip, news, and stories while their Clan leaders announced births or recent ceremonies.
How nice it would've been to have had cats of every Clan know of my apprentice ceremony, instead of just the birds and trees on the island.
"Yes, I did. If only I had known it would be my last. I might've valued it more." Risingwish replied, a hint of regret in his voice.
"Maybe it wasn't." Flutteringpaw suggested quietly. "There could be more. We could meet with the other camps at the Moonstone, or on the moor."
"The others would never agree to that. Gatherings are simply a thing of the past, Flutteringpaw. Come on, let's get back to camp." Without another word, the ginger tom rose to his paws and ran lightly across the tree bridge, plunging into the dark bracken that waited on the pebbly shore.
Flutteringpaw hesitated a moment, once again casting her gaze over the far shore.
Do you care, StarClan?
With all her heart, Flutteringpaw wished for an answer. For some sign, some signal, that StarClan was still there, looking down on them, watching over them, guiding their paws long the path they should follow.
The Moonpool!
If StarClan is still with us, then I can speak with them at the Moonpool!
Casting one last glance toward the island, Flutteringpaw turned and raced across the bridge, her paws carrying her to horseplace and the distant moor.
Flutteringpaw grimaced as the marshy earth seeped between her unsheathed claws, caking uncomfortably between her paw pads. Ahead of her, she could spot the dark form of the horseplace rising from the plains, blocking out the stars of Silverpelt. Beyond that, although not visible in the dark of the night, she knew lay the moor and the Moonpool.
Prying her paw from the wet earth, Flutteringpaw continued slowly forward. Above her, the stars glowed faintly in Silverpelt. But instead of feeling warmth and protection in their shining gaze, she felt only a blank, empty stare. They seemed so, so far away...so distant and shut away from the troubles of the cats that looked up at them from the world below.
Slowly, the earth hardened to a dusty plain with scrubby, brushy plants growing in thick tufts along the way. Flutteringpaw lengthened her stride as she neared the looming, shadowy form of horseplace.
I'm almost there! Moonpool, here I come!
In almost no time at all, Flutteringpaw found herself standing on the open the moor, the wind whistling around her, and the tall moor grass bending and rising with the swell of the wind.
This is where I should be. She thought, digging her claws into the familiar earth beneath her. Without thinking, she pressed her nose to the earth, and inhaled the scent she had come to miss so much: the scent of the wind.
Hurry up! She scolded herself, quickly looking back up at the shining snowy crescent. It was nearly moonhigh. I have to hurry to make it back to camp before dawn!
Although Flutteringpaw had never traveled to the Moonpool herself, she had watched every half moon as WindClan's medicine cats had made their way across the moor to visit the ancient pool. Once, when Quailpaw took her out of camp while his mentor was out collecting herbs, the two had crouched together on the ridge just above the place where the Moonpool lay, as Quailpaw described the silvery, rippling waters of the Moonpool.
Pushing away her thoughts, Flutteringpaw streaked across the moor until she came to the place where she and the young medicine cat apprentice had sat, hardly daring to whisper as they looked down at the cavern that housed the Moonpool. Flutteringpaw could almost picture his mottled grey fur as he explained everything about his first visit to the silvery pool.
StarClan?
Flutteringpaw slipped uncertainly into the dark cavern, only to blink in surprise at the brightness of the moon and stars reflected brightly in the water. The ginger apprentice felt her paws slid into the many pawprints of ancient cats that had come before as she crept up to the glassy surface of the pool. Hardly daring to breathe, Flutteringpaw lowered her muzzle and gently pressed her nose against the icy waters.