Chapter Eight- The Moonstone
Gingerpaw woke when a paw prodded her stomach. She sat up and saw Talonclaw's fierce amber eyes right in her face. She sat up and leaned back. "Talonclaw! What are you doing here?"
"Get up," he said gruffly. "We're leaving soon." Gingerpaw looked at her brother. He was just sitting up like she was. She looked around her. The sky outside was still dark. She could just make out the other three apprentices sharing a den with the litter-mates. Sagepaw's stark white pelt stood out, but Shellpaw and Rushpaw-who had darker pelts-were not as easy. It seemed, however, that they hadn't woken their younger denmates.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"We're going to The Moonstone. Or did you forget?"
Gingerpaw shook her head. "I didn't forget."
"Good," he growled. "Now get up." With that finalizing things, he turned and padded out of the den.
Gingerpaw looked at Spottedpaw. He shrugged, answering her unasked question. He knew just as much as she did. Gingerpaw stretched, than padded into the clearing. It was still dark out, but she could see the streaks of gray in the distance. Dawn was near.
Geckotail was sitting with his tail wrapped around his paws. In front of him, on the ground, sat two leaves with a set of herbs on them. Briarstar sat beside him, calmly observing the apprentices. Lichentooth was sitting placidly in the background, her face expressionless as usual. Talonclaw paced restlessly between Lichentooth and Briarstar, amber eyes harder than usual.
"Eat these," Briarstar ordered, indicating the herbs in front of Geckotail. "They'll give you strength for the long day and prepare you for a day without food."
Gingerpaw looked at Spottedpaw and held back a whimper. No food?
Briarstar did not comment on their nervousness. "It occurred to me yesterday that Talonclaw did not make his own journey to The Moonstone before being made a warrior. He will be joining us, alongside Lichentooth." The brown she-cat tilted her head at the sound of her name, but other than that, did not react. "This is just another assessment for you two, and we want to see how you do."
Gingerpaw crouched next to her brother and ate the herbs, then gagged. What a most disgusting taste! She stuck out her tongue and coughed, trying not to cough up the herbs. She looked at her brother. He too looked sickly from the herbs.
"Those are traveling herbs," Briarstar chuckled. "They'll make you feel sick, but they're good for those who need to travel long distances in short times."
Gingerpaw nodded absently. "Are we ready?" asked Lichentooth quietly. Talonclaw lashed his tail and looked up eagerly. Gingerpaw and Spottedpaw lifted their tails to show they were. The brushy senior warrior looked at Briarstar and Geckotail.
"Let's go," Briarstar said. "We've got to get going. I want to be past Fourtrees by sunhigh."
Gingerpaw fell in step behind Lichentooth as the cats slipped out of camp. Geckotail walked next to Briarstar, followed closely by Lichentooth. Spottedpaw and Gingerpaw walked side by side, and bringing up the rear was Talonclaw.
"Actually, Briarstar, I know a different path," Geckotail murmured quietly. Lichentooth flicked her ears with interest.
"What different path?" asked Talonclaw. Briarstar pricked her ears.
"Instead of cutting through WindClan territory, why don't we head toward the small Thunderpath on the edge of our territory, near Carrionplace, and cross the field there?"
Briarstar narrowed her eyes, appearing thoughtful. "That might be better. I mean, we wouldn't have to deal with Breezestar and his warriors...can we be sure that it'll lead to Highstones?"
Geckotail nodded solemnly. "Swanfeather and I have used it many times."
Briarstar lashed her tail, appearing a bit annoyed of her Medicine Cats' secrets, but she said nothing of it. "Lead the way then, Geckotail. I pray to StarClan you know what you're doing."
Talonclaw growled. Gingerpaw through him a look over her shoulder. He didn't notice, for which she was thankful. She loathe think of what he would have said. It would have been thoroughly embarrassing.
The ShadowClan cats trekked on, following the path that lead to Fourtrees. Suddenly, they veered off the path and headed through the thick marsh. Gingerpaw narrowed her eyes. There were signs that cats had traveled here-stale smells and old paw-prints-but there was no obvious path. It was confusing to follow a route that didn't really exist.
Ahead, she could see the marsh thinning. On the other side was a small, unused Thunderpath. Instinctively she bristled. Although there were no monsters traveling on this thunderpath, she was untrustworthy of the stinking black mass. She drew her ears back and looked at her brother. He was plodding on, staring at his paws thoughtfully. He had said on their first day of battle training that he wouldn't let anything hurt her. As she looked at him, she let herself calm, drawing strength from his past promise. He wouldn't let anything hurt her, not even a stinky thunderpath.
They paused and looked both ways. Briarstar looked at her medicine cat worriedly. "No monsters?"
He looked up, ancient eyes full of wisdom. "The Thunderpaths are quiet today."
Briarstar drew her ears back, clearly disturbed by his melancholy tone.
"Is it a sign?"
He tilted his head. "It is a sign...for me. StarClan is telling me something." Briarstar looked like she wanted to ask, then thought better of it. Before she could give the command to go on, however, Talonclaw interjected.
"Well?" he growled. "What is this sign of which you speak?"
Lichentooth's amber eyes flashed. "Medicine cats are not required to tell us anything."
"It's the word of StarClan!" he disagreed. "This is kind of important. Should we keep moving forward?"
Geckotail's face was still calm. "StarClan wants us to keep moving."
For a moment, Talonclaw seemed unsure. He didn't argue, and let Briarstar lead them across the silent Thunderpath.
...
They were crossing the field when sunhigh hit. The bright sunlight filtering down made Gingerpaw think of hunting. Because of the herbs she'd taken earlier, she wasn't hungry. Thoughts of food still made their way into her head. She tried not to dig her claws in as she traveled with her group.
Ahead, the grass began to waver. What a strange breeze, she thought while watching. Then she lifted her tail. There was no breeze.
The others had stopped. The apprentices stopped too, and looked at each other. Spottedpaw's face was grim. Then, there was a sudden keening from ahead. Briarstar took a step back, face dark.
"What's going on?" asked Talonclaw. He lashed his tail.
"Rats," answered Lichentooth breathing through her mouth to catch the smell. Gingerpaw quickly took a deep breath. There was the stench of rats from Carrionplace, only with a fiercer, wild smell to it too. "Nothing we can't handle."
"Yeah," she agreed boldly. "We hunt rats all the time! We can take them."
Talonclaw hissed. "Have you ever fought a wild rat?" Briarstar glanced at him.
"Have you?"
His broad golden head stood still has he stared at his leader unresponsively. She turned back ahead. "Geckotail, did you know these rats were here?"
He looked at her placidly for a moment, then nodded. "Swanfeather and I have run into them, from time to time. When we brought Hailfur and Swishtail through here, they helped us fight them off."
"And you brought us here anyway?" Talonclaw spoke up again. "With your leader?"
Geckotail shrugged. "They've never been problematic before. Why should they be now? Briarstar has many lives left to live. What are some silly baby rats going to do?"
Briarstar crouched and watched the cats imperiously.
"Rats could take one of her precious lives!" spat Talonclaw. Geckotail did not give.
"If two apprentices could have fought them off without harm, what are they going to do to a Clan leader?"
"They're not," Briarstar said, rising to her feet. "Let's keep moving, and stop wasting time. Those rats are not going to stop us." Nobody argued with her. "Let's go. If they give us trouble, I want Gingerpaw and Spottedpaw to help Geckotail out of the situation. Talonclaw, Lichentooth, and I can fight them off with no troubles." Gingerpaw shuddered inwardly. She'd wanted so desperately to fight, and she was going to flee! But looking at the frail medicine cat, it occurred to her how important her job was. Geckotail was never a warrior. He'd always been a medicine cat, and he'd always been concerned with medicine cat business. That did not necessarily mean he was weak, but it did hinder his warrior abilities.
Another thing was that Geckotail was old. He was nearing retiring age. In fact, that was probably what their journey was for. Geckotail would want to properly retire, leaving Swanfeather to face StarClan alone for the first time on her next journey to the Moonstone with the other medicine cats. His brown and red tabby fur were patched with gray, and he had gray whiskers. Gingerpaw felt awe and respect build up inside her. as her respect for this old tom grew, she distantly wondered if she would ever get to retire herself.
All wonder left her as the began to move forward again. She pricked her ears, trying to pinpoint the rats that lived around here. The slanted light created new shadows, and Gingerpaw did not recognize any threats. Instinctively, she predicted their were some, and she bristled, standing between Geckotail and the inferred threat. He blinked appreciatively as Spottedpaw and Gingerpaw edged him away. Briarstar, Lichentooth, and Talonclaw followed closely, and soon, they were past the field of rats.
As they continued on, with the sun now setting, Briarstar sped them up. "Here we are," Geckotail said, pointing with his tail to a dip in the ground. Gingerpaw narrowed her eyes. This didn't look like the Mouthermouth she'd always heard of.
Briarstar seemed to recognize it, though. She dipped her head thankfully. "Thank you, Geckotail. We made it here in good time. Now, I want Spottedpaw and Geckotail to come in with me. Gingerpaw, Lichentooth, and Talonclaw, you can wait out here." Lichentooth tilted her head and nodded respectfully. Talonclaw lashed his tail and sat. Spottedpaw looked at Gingerpaw, eyes flashed with wonder and fear. Gingerpaw flicked her tail and peered down the slope. Her eyes then widened too. The ground seemed to drop sharply into a dark, ominous hole. She shivered involuntarily and leaned back. What a horrible looking place! She did not envy Spottedpaw, who had to go in.
Briarstar flicked her tail. "Come on, Geckotail and Spottedpaw."
"What?" Spottedpaw asked, voice choked with apprehension.
"It's time," Geckotail said. He smiled his old, encouraging smile. Spottedpaw looked at Gingerpaw one last time. Gingerpaw didn't know what exactly he saw in her gaze, but he seemed to relax looking at her. He then turned, confident in his step, and followed Briarstar and Geckotail in.
...
Gingerpaw wanted to lay down and sleep. Weariness weighed her down, and exhaustion tugged her toward dreamland. She many-a-time felt herself drifting into sleep, only to be awakened by Lichentooth.
"No sleeping," Lichentooth growled.
"I've been up since before dawn!" Gingerpaw complained.
"No sleeping. How are you going to be able to handle night training if you can't even sit up awake to guard your leader and medicine cat at The Moonstone?"
Gingerpaw held her ground and blinked heavily, trying to keep her eyes from rolling again. She was too tired to really register when the sun came up. It was as though she blinked, and the sky was gray with dawn. She heard the soft brush of paws on stone, and turned to see Briarstar, Geckotail, and Spottedpaw emerging from The Mouthermouth.
"How was it?" Lichentooth asked, dipping her head respectfully.
Geckotail nodded deeply, thoughtfully. "StarClan and I are on good terms. We were right to come." Talonclaw leaned forward, but Geckotail did not go on.
Spottedpaw bounced over to his sister. "It's sucks that you had to miss it, Gingerpaw. That was awesome!"
Gingerpaw could see how excited he was, so she asked, "What was it like?"
He lashed his spotted tail. "It was amazing! The stone was at least three tail-lengths high, and it...it glowed!"
"Did you see StarClan?" she teased. His blue eyes grew wide, and his face grew serious.
"I can't tell you."
Gingerpaw purred. Her brother was such a jokester. Is it possible that he did see something, and he's not telling me? She looked into his face and thought inwardly, not possible. Spottedpaw's just an apprentice, after all.
They trotted back toward camp slowly, wearily. They were all tired, and it was clear. Gingerpaw found herself walking next to Geckotail at some point. She looked up at him. "So you're retiring?"
He nodded solemnly. "I hope to have the ceremony tonight, when we return to camp."
"Wow," breathed Gingertail. "What's going to happen to the Clan when you're not medicine cat anymore?"
He purred. "Swanfeather's going to be medicine cat."
"I know," she said, nodding. "But what if something happens to her?"
He looked at his paws, eyes dull. "Then I'll have to return to my duties to train a new medicine cat apprentice."
Gingerpaw sighed. "It mustn't be easy."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's not easy." There was an awkward pause. "You know," he started awkwardly. "I remember when you were born."
Gingerpaw pricked her ears, suddenly more interested. "Really?"
"Yeah," he chuckled. "It wasn't actually that long ago, if you think about it from my point of view." Gingerpaw didn't respond, feeling embarrassed. To her it felt like forever. "You were so little, and so adorable."
She blushed and smiled. "Thanks, Geckotail."
The continued to pad forward. Gingerpaw looked forward to getting back to camp. It had been a whole day since she'd eaten the strengthening herbs, and her hunger was catching up to her.
"Can we hunt?" she whined as they continued. Talonclaw flicked his ears and ignored her. Briarstar stopped and nodded.
"Yes, Gingerpaw, good idea. I want Lichentooth to take you two apprentices and catch as much prey as you can." Gingerpaw dipped her head, standing next to Spottedpaw who did the same, then turned and followed the brown she-cat through the marsh.
...
Gingerpaw, Spottedpaw, and Lichentooth caught enough prey to feed everyone. Gingerpaw caught two mice, and a sparrow. When she arrived back to the others, she stooped and dropped the sparrow in front of Geckotail. "Why thank you," he purred affectionately. Gingerpaw blinked at him, her admiration gleaming in her eyes, as she settled to eat her two mice.
Briarstar got a finch and a toad from Spottedpaw, while Talonclaw and Lichentooth shared two field voles. Gingerpaw ate her mice, the delicious scent coming from them making her mouth water. She bit into the juicy prey, and relished in the taste. When she was finished eating, she licked her lips and looked at the others. Briarstar had also just finished her fill, and stood up. "All right cats, we need to get a move on," she decided. "We can't stay here. We're almost near the border, and I would like to get home and speak to Swanfeather."
"Myself as well," Geckotail added. "I'm getting tired, and would like to get home and make my new nest."
The cats stared at Geckotail as Spottedpaw and Lichentooth finished up eating. "Now," Briarstar said. "Let's go."
They trampled through the marsh and crossed the tiny unused Thunderpath. They were then in ShadowClan territory. Gingerpaw's excitement grew. She looked around them, toward the WindClan border and froze. She had forgotten all about warning Briarstar about Quailpaw! She bounded forward caught up with her leader. "Briarstar!" she cried urgently. Talonclaw hissed and lashed his tail.
"What are you doing?"
Briarstar flicked her tail calmly. "Please get back, Talonclaw. Gingerpaw here cannot do anything wrong. Are you implying that she might?" Talonclaw narrowed his eyes, then fell back. "What is wrong, Gingerpaw?"
Her stomach prickled as she wondered if she could get in trouble for this. She decided, then, that it didn't matter. She had to be fair to her Clan. "You know when I was hunting for my assessment?"
Briarstar nodded and purred, abruptly. "How could I forget? You made a great addition to the fresh-kill pile."
"Well..." she shuffled her paw awkwardly. "I didn't just hunt near Carrionplace. I first went to Fourtrees, to see it." Briarstar flicked her tail, indicating that Gingerpaw should go on. "While I was there, this WindClan apprentice came down. He said that he too was hunting for his assessment, but I wasn't sure. It felt like he was following me! He watched me smelling the RiverClan border-I just wanted to know what the smell was!-but I think he thought I was spying, or something." She paused, not wanting to tell Briarstar how awkward it was between them. Instead she told her of his implied threat. "He at first said he was going to tell on me to Breezestar and Shiftwing, but then he abruptly changed his mind, and asked me not to tell you he was there. I don't think he wanted you to know."
Briarstar nodded solemnly. "Then it's a good thing you did tell me! WindClan spying on us and then demanding we not acknowledge it is not acceptable! Very good job reporting it, Gingerpaw." Gingerpaw waited for her to reprimand her for not telling her sooner, but it didn't come. Instead, Briarstar fell back and in step with Lichentooth and Geckotail. Talonclaw watched with hungry eyes, and glared at Gingerpaw.
I wouldn't tell that fleabag what happened in a million years! She fell in step with her brother and began to talk with him about The Moonstone. "So...did you see anything at the Moonstone?" He looked at her with wide blue eyes and shook his head, unwilling to speak. "Did you fall asleep?" He lightened up.
"No, I didn't fall asleep. Did you?"
She held her head proudly. "Nope." Though I wanted to. He smiled, his eyes widening brightly.
"Do you know what this means, Gingerpaw?"
She looked at him, a little confused. He groaned as though it should be obvious. "We get to start our night training!" Gingerpaw froze excitedly. She had forgotten all about night training, but now it dawned on her how close she really was. Spottedpaw continued on. "It's gonna be great, but tiring. I'm not sure I'm gonna like it, now that I know what it feels like to be up all day and night!"
Gingerpaw shook her head. "I'm sure that Brightblaze and Lichentooth won't keep us up too long!"
Spottedpaw flicked his ears and looked at Gingerpaw. The look in his eyes told her that there was something he wanted to say, but he wasn't saying it. She looked ahead at the path, and realized that camp was just down the hill. "The hollow!" she cried in delight. Spottedpaw looked down into the clearing, but Gingerpaw couldn't wait. She'd missed camp too much.
She bounded down the hill, and halted outside the entrance. The warm smells of ShadowClan were enticing. She wanted so bad to brush past the camp wall and see her Clanmates again. Instead, she waited for Briarstar and Geckotail. The leader's eyes were distant as she brushed through the gorse and into the camp. Gingerpaw followed.
Swanfeather had padded out of her den, the smell of herbs fresh on her brown fur. Whitebirch was sharing tongues with Marshwhisker next to the fresh-kill pile. Most of the warriors had gathered already around Briarstar's usual spot. Skydapple was sitting in his spot just below the meeting rock, his kind eyes staring at the Clan in wonder. Briarstar made her way through the crowd and jumped up onto the meeting rock.
"ShadowClan cats, gather for a meeting!" she called. It was unnecessary. Already the Clan had gathered. "StarClan have spoken! Geckotail is free to retire, and will now be moving into the elders' den and making a nest there. Swanfeather will be making the next journey to the Moonstone with the other medicine cats as ShadowClan's lone medicine cat!" There were cheers as the Clan gathered around the old medicine cat to pay respect. "I would like my senior warriors to gather with me in my den. I need to speak to them. But before we do, I would like to congratulate Gingerpaw and Spottedpaw on their amazing vigilance throughout the journey. They are now free to begin their night training!" The Clan cheered again, and Gingerpaw ducked her head in embarrassment. "Senior warriors, to my den!"
Marshwhisker, Whitebirch, Gorsefur, Cedartail, Lichentooth, Brightblaze, Palemist and Skydapple followed Briarstar to her den. Acornblaze padded to the nursery to see Leapwing, and Cloverspirit sat watching her kits play. They were four moons now, and almost old enough to be apprentices.
Molefoot quietly approached Gingerpaw. His eyes were gleaming. "Hey Gingerpaw," he greeted her softly. She purred in welcome. "Want to share prey with us?" he indicated Hailfur, Swishtail, and Shellpaw with his tail. Gingerpaw wasn't hungry, but sharing tongues with her Clan was just what she'd been looking forward to. Then she'd have to rest, because she knew that tonight, she'd begin her night training.
I've only gotten one review to answer my question. It is quite disappointing. Please review! I do like critiques, just not flames. Telling me my story is sh*t isn't cool, but telling me why it's sh*t is something completely different. And when I ask a question, I genuinely want to know your opinion. Please, feel free to comment.
-Cara Lea
