Chapter 9

Cometpaw trotted happily alongside Turtlespot, who was cautiously weaving his way between the dense undergrowth of the forest of the Moon glade. Before they had left the camp, Turtlespot had told Cometpaw to stay as close to him as possible, as it was easy to get lost in Starclan's sacred grounds. Eventually, Cometpaw would be able to navigate the forest herself, but until then, she would have to learn from Turtlespot.

Cometpaw had only been made an apprentice seven sunrises ago. She knew that that ceremony would stay fresh in her mind until the end of her days.

"Cometkit, do you wish to become the next medicine cat of Sunclan?" Shardstar's voice had rang about the clearing, like a gust of wind that tickled at her fur.

"I do." she tried to speak maturely, but a note of excitement still clung to her voice.

"Then at the next half-moon, you must travel to the Moon glade to be accepted by Starclan before the other medicine cats. Sunclan wishes you the best of luck."

At that point, every cat in Sunclan had called her name, as well as Birchpaw's, who had received Bloomlight as a mentor.

"Birchpaw! Cometpaw! Birchpaw! Cometpaw!"

She hadn't been very kind to her brother since that day a little more than a moon ago when he had accused her of only wanting to be a medicine cat because of Pineheart. She had spent time with him of course, but she was always short-tempered. Therefore, he spent a lot more time in the elders den than before, and she was normally in the medicine den. I have to admit though, she thought to herself, I feel a little bad for doing it. I must be hurting Birchpaw a lot…

Despite these constant worries, she didn't regret how she had acted. It's not my fault Birchpaw has no respect for our ancestors! If he did, then I wouldn't have a reason to be unkind to him!

But of course, now wasn't the time to be thinking about her brother. She was going to officially become the medicine cat apprentice of Sunclan! And in front of the other medicine cats too! Turtlespot had told her that the Moon glade was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Cometpaw had no reason to doubt him, this forest was enough to take her breath away.

The trees sat closer together than a cat's whiskers, and they seemed to be reaching into the sky. The topmost branches were shining claws, extending as far as they could to claw the moon out of the sky as easily as she could catch a butterfly. The ground was littered with large, feather-like ferns, some of them so big that they arched over the path that the cats walked on. The soft, forest soil was fluffy and somewhat damp, as if it had never been used before. Crickets chirped noisily in the dark of the night, and fireflies buzzed about, giving the forest a mystical feel. All this Cometpaw took notice of, and it gave her a sense of clarity knowing that someday she would be able to explore this forest herself.

At long last they reached the entrance to the Moon glade. There was a thick net of oak trees, brambles, and ferns of all sizes, the formed something akin to a wall around what Cometpaw assumed was the Moon's glade. Even the smallest kit would not have been able to get through the wall without having it's fur teared off in clumps. Despite the impenetrable wall surrounding the Moon glade, a faint light trickled through the branches of the oak trees.

Two cats came into sight, one whose white fur shined like a lone star in the time of no-moon, her green eyes wide with wonder. The other was a red and brown tortoiseshell she-cat, her green eyes staring intently at her partner with a faint look of disdain. The white one must be her apprentice. Cometpaw thought smugly. Turtlespot padded over to the two she-cats, his tail low to the ground, brushing the earth that stood beneath his paws. The white she-cat's eyes gleamed with uncontained animation.

"You're apprentice, Turtlespot?"

"Yes," Turtlespot purred, turning to look back at Cometpaw, "This is Cometpaw, who has wanted to become a medicine cat for quite some time now, Cometpaw, this is Glowshine, the medicine cat of Streamclan," he nodded to the white she-cat, "and Rosepaw, her apprentice."

What?! Cometpaw thought, shocked, Surely a full medicine cat wouldn't act so… so… giddy! Everything seemed to be reversed. Glowshine was acting as if it were her first visit to the Moon glade, her eyes shining, her tail curled up in delight. Rosepaw on the other hand, was simply staring at all that was going on, her green eyes dark and filled with disdain, her tail wrapped neatly around her paws. She seemed as if she would be unfazed by anything. Unbelievable…

While she was thinking all this, Turtlespot calmly placed himself down onto a soft bed of moss. "So, anything new in Streamclan Glowshine? Everything is about the same in Sunclan."

"No, not much." Glowshine answered after stifling a yawn. "A little incident with an apprentice and a kit, but luckily nobody was badly hurt."

"It could have been bad though." Rosepaw interjected, her voice venomous and filled with hate. "If Reedpaw had thrown her a only little bit farther, she could have landed on that rock in front of the dirtplace and cracked her skull open."

Turtlespot opened his mouth, as if to say something, but seemed to think better of it and stayed silent. Cometpaw couldn't take his lack of response.

"Who was the kit? What happened to Reedpaw?" she demanded. Turtlespot's eyes widened, and Glowshine flicked her tail with annoyance. Rosepaw seemed to want a question like that though.

"The kit was Echokit, and Reedpaw just flung her across the camp like a dead mouse! That dirty, awful, piece of frog-dung-" Rosepaw was yowling pointlessly into the forest by the end of her speech, but fell silent immediately when she saw Glowshine, who was glaring at her with a silent warning. Rosepaw shuffled her paws. She had stood up during her rant. "I guess it's a clan matter…" she muttered.

A few moments later, a tan tabby with almost-silver stripes, bounded up to the group.

"Sorry I'm late," he panted, "Dropletwish is sick again. She's old and frail, it won't be long until Starclan comes to take her."

Turtlespot bowed his head. "I'm sorry to hear that. She was a great and powerful warrior in her time."

"Thank you Turtlespot." he closed his eyes appearing lost in thought for a moment. "However," his eyes snapped open. "with every death, there is always new life. I see you have an apprentice Turtlespot." The tabby's gaze flitted over Cometpaw.

"Yes, this is Cometpaw. Cometpaw, this is Cedarsong, medicine cat of Shadeclan."

Cometpaw gazed into Cedarsong's eyes. They looked as if they were once a brilliant green, but were now covered by a thin, milky glaze. His eyes showed hardships beyond what Cometpaw could imagine, but also showed a great wisdom.

Cedarsong straightened up, flicking his tail irritably. "Lets go, we're wasting moonlight." and with that he padded away to start circling the glade.

Deciding to stay behind Turtlespot, Cometpaw followed silently, wondering how they would be able to get through the wall of thistles that surrounded the Moon glade. Cedarsong, who was leading, took a sharp turn right into a particularly prickly bit of holly bushes. He plunged right through as if there was nothing there, and Rosepaw followed doing the same thing. After Glowshine went in, Turtlespot made a move to enter, and at last it was her turn. up close, Cometpaw realized that the leaves that covered the entrance were actually oak leaves, not holly leaves that would prick and and tug at her pelt. She dived through.

That was when Cometpaw got her first view of the Moon glade. There was short grass that covered the clearing, barely taller than her paws. The crickets were louder here than they were in the forest, and the smell of earth hung in the air. The land sloped upward ever so slightly, and at the crest of the tiny hill a circle of moonlight shined down. In the center of the circle of moonlight, there laid a small stone with fireflies buzzing about it. The stone was only about as wide as the trunk of a fully grown oak, but it gave of a feeling of calmness and contentment. Turtlespot motioned with his tail for Cometpaw to follow him. He had her stand in the circle of light across from him, Cedarsong on her left, Rosepaw on her right.

Turtlespot began the ceremony. "Cometpaw, is it your wish to enter into the mysteries of Starclan as a medicine cat?"

"It is" she meant it with all of her heart. I'll be the best medicine cat Sunclan has ever had! Maybe even better than Pineheart…

"Then come forward." Cometpaw stepped up so that the moonlit stone was at her paws. Turtlespot continued.

"Warriors of Starclan, I present you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her clan in accordance with your will."

"Touch your nose to the stone!" Rosepaw hissed to her, quiet enough for nobody else to hear. Cometpaw snorted. Like I didn't know that! Nevertheless, she listened to Rosepaw and touched her nose to the stone. It was like touching the moon, cold but refreshing. Blackness engulfed her, and she felt as if she were swirling through the sky.

(line break)

Opening her eyes, Cometpaw was amazed to see that she was in a large field. The grass was long, just like in Sunclan territory, but several cherry blossom trees, in full bloom, littered the area. The grass waved delicately in the breeze, and a light gale made her fur and whiskers flutter. Knowing that Starclan would come to meet with her eventually, she sat down patiently, alert for even the slightest sign that one of her clan's ancestors was approaching.

Faintly in the breeze, she caught a strain of a meow, so quiet it was barely distinguishable. Perking up her ears, Cometpaw focused on the whisper of voices, which gradually got louder as if it were moving closer. She was able to identify two voices, one was unmistakably a tom, and the other was a she-cat.

"You've ruined it all with your insane idea! We should have just told the medicine cats and be done with it!" the tom sounded angry, ready to tear the other cat to shreds.

"Just because it's not going exactly to plan doesn't mean it won't work." The she-cat's voice was even quieter that the tom's. "This is my battle more than anyone else's. I won't lose." The she-cat also said one last thing that Cometpaw didn't catch, and then, "Have faith."

The voices stayed silent for a moment, and at last Cometpaw saw the silhouette of a cat on the crest of the hill, a she-cat. It must have been the she-cat who was talking, for there was nobody left in sight or within earshot. Up close, Cometpaw could see that she had a pure black pelt and a pair of fiery amber eyes, sharp and piercing. With a jolt, Cometpaw realized that this cat was giving her the same kind of first impression that she had gotten from Rosepaw. Are they related?

Other than this, there was one more startling thing that she noticed about this she-cat. She's fading… The she-cat's black fur was like a shadow of a cloud that covered the waving grass. Cometpaw could see through the she-cat's paws, right to the ground. Despite this, the she-cat's eyes were still as solid as ever. It made her all the more fearsome.

"So…" the black cat started, "enjoying your first visit to the Moon glade young Sunclan apprentice?" The she-cat sounded disdainful, as if she didn't care.

Cometpaw bristled. She didn't like this cat, despite obviously being a member of Starclan. It was just something about her that she didn't trust. "I have a name, why don't you use it? It's Cometpaw."

The she-cat bristled and growled. Cometpaw could have compared it to the war cry of the great leader of Lionclan, but she refused to back down. She didn't know what gave her the courage to do something so rude. It only made the she-cat even more furious. She didn't mention anything about it though. "Yes I know. Your name is Cometpaw." The she-cat sat down on her haunches, and glared at Cometpaw. "Listen Cometpaw, I don't have much time to chat with you, so I'll get straight to the point. There are two cats in the clans who I am concerned with. They both have great destinys. Starclan has watched these two since the day they were kitted."

At this point, the she-cat's eyes flashed dangerously, and she bared her fangs. "But there is an evil in each of their hearts, just waiting for the right moment to strike. It has already begun to take effect." The she-cat's shocking amber eyes locked with Cometpaw's green. Forest green eyes met fiery amber ones, and Cometpaw found herself unable to look away. "It will be tough and strenuous, perhaps impossible, but right now, you are the only one who can stop the evil that lies in these two cat's hearts. "

The black she-cat's words hung in the air for a moment, allowing Cometpaw to absorb them. I'm the only one? At long last, the black cat looked away into the distance. "I must go now, my time is up." She turned in order to begin trotting down the hill.

"Wait!" Cometpaw called. The she-cat turned.

"What?"

"What is your name?" The she-cat hesitated, as if unsure of her answer. When she did answer, it was in a low, mournful voice.

"Flicker. He never let me change it because of what I didn't know." And with that, the she-cat trotted down the hill, and Cometpaw began to swirl in the darkness once more.