Brightpaw waited with Cloudheart at the stream near ThunderClan that led to the Moonpool. "Now, when we get there, once I finish your medicine cat ceremony, we will all lap up a few drops of water from the Moonpool and go to sleep. We will then share tongues with StarClan. Once that is over, we will wake up and we cannot tell anyone about our dreams, do you understand?"
Brightpaw nodded briskly. Brightpaw saw two cats approach them. One was an older cat, she had dark gray fur and blue eyes while the other cat had very light ginger fur, almost looking pink with amber eyes. "Cloudheart," the older cat greeted.
"Bluestream," Bluestream gestured to Brightpaw who cringed back. "This is Brightpaw, my apprentice."
"The clumsy one, right?" she asked, "He became your apprentice?"
"Yes, he showed great potential," Cloudheart explained.
"Well, nice to meet you Brightpaw, this is my apprentice Lilypaw, she's not much older than you, this is her first time here, she was apprenticed four sunrises ago," Bluestream explained.
"Hi," Lilypaw said quietly to Brightpaw, his river blue eyes meeting with her beautiful amber eyes.
"Hello," Brightpaw replied with the same volume.
"Both shy eh?" Cloudheart chuckled. Brightpaw cracked a small grin that then faded. Bluestream sat down beside Cloudheart and Lilypaw next to her. Then, another pair of cats arrived; they smelled of the swamp that made Brightpaw recoil slightly. "Silentsong, Amberpaw," Cloudheart dipped her head in a greeting.
Silentsong and Amberpaw did the same, "Glad to meet you." Amberpaw nodded and finally the last medicine cat emerged with his apprentice. It was a tom, he was obviously very old as his fur was turning gray. His apprentice was a she-cat with light brown fur and stripes all over her body.
Silentsong acknowledged him. He nodded. The eight medicine cats and apprentices began to pad upstream. Amberpaw began to speak to the younger apprentices.
"Just apprenticed I assume," she stated.
"Uh, yes, I was apprenticed technically five sunrises ago but, it wasn't made official to the clan until yesterday," Brightpaw said silently.
"I was just apprenticed four sunrises ago," Lilypaw responded.
"Well, being apprenticed for five moons so far, I can say, being a medicine cat apprentice is tough, but has its own rewards," Amberpaw began, "It's hard to make sure you use the right herbs and poultices, sometimes we don't have enough herbs, though, that's not really a problem for ShadowClan right now."
"Really, why?" Lilypaw asked.
"Well, right now, we don't really have many warriors, but kits are on the way, though, some of them will be born during Leaf Bare," Amberpaw said solemnly.
"Oh, well, do you have thyme and borage leaves?" Brightpaw asked.
"Well, er, yes," Amberpaw responded surprised.
"Give it to the queens, the thyme will give them strength and the borage will help them produce more milk for their kits even with little food,"Brightpaw explained, "Then ragwort could be given to the kits as a poultice to soothe the aches that the cold winds will cause."
"I-I never thought of that," Amberpaw said silently.
"Wow, you know so much already," Lilypaw said surprised.
"When I was a warrior apprentice," Brightpaw felt his fur tingle with embarrassment, "I got sent to the medicine den a lot and eventually, it just seemed clear what herbs were what, at least, the basic ones, then, I picked up on the others rather quickly."
"Impressive," Amberpaw said, "You were a warrior apprentice? Why did you become a medicine cat apprentice?"
"Well, I was a bit to clumsy to be a warrior, but I seemed to be good at medicine cat duties and StarClan sent Cloudheart a sign and I became her apprentice." They reached the Moonpool and the cats settled around the pool of water. Brightpaw was next to Cloudheart, Lilypaw next to Bluestream, Amberpaw next to Silentsong with ThunderClan's medicine cat and his apprentice next to Silentsong.
Bluestream cleared her throat. "Lilypaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"
"It is," Lilypaw said immediately.
"Then come forward," Lilypaw and Bluestream came closer to the Moonpool. "Warriors of StarClan, I present to 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." Lilypaw bent her head down and lapped a few drops of water from the pool and laid down.
Then, Cloudheart spoke, she turned to her apprentice, "Brightpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"
Brightpaw hesitated, then, It's the only thing I'm good at, he thought, "Yes, it is," he replied half-heartedly. Why did he respond so weakly?
"Then, come forward," the two cats came closer to the Moonpool, then, Brightpaw saw something in the water, he couldn't quite make it out. "Warriors of StarClan, I present to you with this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan in accordance with your will." Brightpaw then, took his cue to lap up a few drops of water and suddenly, the Moonpool's crisp, clean water, tasting exactly like the moonlight, caused his eyes to feel heavy and he gladly laid down letting sleep wash over his body.
Muahaha! Brightpaw's fate has been sealed! Though, it's not that bad of a fate. The next chapter will have your minds exploding. Yep, brains everywhere. Good job Guide, good job. ThunderClan's medicine cat's identity is being debated right now... (This means, even I don't know who he is, but, he'll be revealed in time)
Brightpaw: What's going to happen? Will my brain explode? *puts paws on head*
Guide: No, no, it won't you'll be fine young one.
Brightpaw: That's a relief.
Guide: Well, sweet dreams.
Brightpaw: Wait but, I'm awake right *hit with a frying pan* *thud*
Guide: Not anymore. ;)