hello hello hello!
we're approaching the endgame now. moonstar's mental state is not great in this chapter, so warnings for that i guess
also! we got some obab refs in this bad boy.
review replies:
minty: i love mintpaw a lot, so he's in this chapter quite a bit. and thank u! hopefully you'll find out next chapter tehe
eevee: unfortunately, we're nearing the end. i've got two more 'real' chapters to go, then one last chapter, which will probs be a significant time skip. and thank u!
storm: moonstar isn't the most... reliable of narrators,, but heheh and yes! they are!
duskspiral: nobody knows, least of all moonstar lol. thanks for the review!
wyldclaw: thank u for all the reviews! i rlly like their names as well, and flamespirit's tale is just,,, very spooky. i wrote a one-shot about her if anyone wants to check that out!
dragon: she is, she needs a cat therapist.
breezepetal: u left a ton of reviews so uhh
2- thank u! i'm probs going to end up rewriting this one at some point, but thanks anyway
3 - they should NOT but it does link up later i promise
4 - prophecy will get changed at some point, planning to go back and edit the first half of this fic
5 - thank u for the ocs, i'll see if i can squeeze them in/ put them in a future fic. but thank u!
6 - yes she is. she does this a LOt lmao
7 - thank u!
8 - smokeshadow in my mind is aromantic, and he's like double her age lol, but sure! i much prefer the pairing i introduce later :)
9 - thank u! she's a she-cat, her warrior name is bubblewhisper in case u were wondering.
"Honestly, Mintpaw, how do you end up looking this scruffy?" Lilypaw mewed, flicking her brother with her tail-tip. Moonstar huffed, and turned back to her careful grooming of her son.
Mintpaw's eyes narrowed, and Moonstar held her breath."I don't know Lilypaw, how do you end up looking so-" He started, and she had to cut in.
She sighed, and met Mintpaw's green gaze with a harsh look. "Thank you, Mintpaw." She interrupted. "I can't have you showing me up at the gathering." She went on. She was sure they wouldn't - Mintpaw's role basically relied on him being diplomatic, and Lilypaw was surely too shy to start something.
"I won't!" Mintpaw chirped, shrugging away from Moonstar's tongue. She decided not to pursue it. His fur was a lost cause. He was as fluffy as his father, but without Sheepskip's keen grooming habits, so his fur was constantly tangled with herbs, and matted with burrs.
"You will." Lilypaw said shortly, leaning over to groom her own fur.
"I'm just going to be with the other medicine cats, so I don't know how that's going to happen." Mintpaw retorted. Moonstar looked up.
"You'll have to introduce me." She mewed, looking at Mintpaw. She was vaguely familiar with most of the medicine cats already, and she felt like she'd known Lionpaw her entire life, the amount Mintpaw went on about him. She had no idea if the Shadowclan medicine cat apprentice knew about her son's feelings for him, but if he didn't, then he was sure to find out soon. Mintpaw was very obvious.
Mintpaw nodded. "I will! Bramblewing says it's very important that I know who everyone is." He said seriously. Lilypaw's eyes lit up, and Moonstar groaned inwardly.
"Is that why you never stop talking about Lionpaw? 'Oh, Lilypaw, Lionpaw told me a second usage for burdock root today, and I thought about becoming mates with him by the moonpool.'" She teased, putting on a voice for 'Mintpaw.' Moonpaw screwed her eyes shut, praying that the gathering was coming soon.
Mintpaw bristled. "I do not sound like that." He snapped.
"You two!" Moonstar hissed.
"Sorry." The two littermates said in unison, not looking very sorry.
Moonstar huffed, and went on. "Anyways, I'm going to have to politely ask Cherrystar why she thinks stealing prey is appropriate, so be on your best behavior." It wasn't her intention at all to be polite. In fact, her plan was quite the opposite.
She'd come up with a plan for her revenge. She wasn't sure how it'd play out, but the voices, the whispers wanted it. And they showed her her lost, loved ones, and she'd seen the bloody stains on her sister's paws.
She didn't want to hurt her sister. She just wanted answers, answers that the whispers were demanding her to find out.
She'd figured that it would be remarkably easy to corner her sister in the midst of a battle. And… and if it came to blows, it would be easy enough to pin Emberlight's death on a Skyclan cat.
(She prayed it wouldn't, but if that was what Finchpaw and Sharpgaze wanted… )
Lilypaw looked up, her eyes bright. "Skyclan have been stealing? Are we going to have to fight them? I learnt this great move from Fogstorm the other day-"
Mintpaw cut her off."How'd you even get Fogstorm away from Sunclaw?"
"Sunclaw was watching. He's not a bad fighter, y'know." She explained.
"I know. He used to try and engage me in mock-battles when I was a kit." Mintpaw mewed. Moonstar closed her eyes lightly, and thought of those days. She wished Finchpaw had been around to see her two kits. She felt like they would have got along well.
"He's a good cousin." Lilypaw remarked quietly, and the three of them sat in silence for a moment. Moonstar blinked rapidly, and stood up, shaking out her thick fur.
She looked at each of her kits in turn."Moving on, no fighting. Just be nice and civil. Be friendly." She aimed that one at Mintpaw, who smiled at her sheepishly.
"Mintpaw's going to get toooo friendly with Lionpawwww…" Lilypaw teased, before darting out of the way of Mintpaw's lashing paws.
"Shut up!" He hissed. Moonstar huffed again, and pushed Mintpaw away from his sister, before glaring at Lilypaw, a twinkle still in her eye.
"Lilypaw, leave your brother alone." She said, half-heartedly telling off the two apprentice.
Time skip.
"That's Shadepaw, and this is Lightpaw. Windclan has Hoppaw, and this is Lionpaw." Mintpaw said, tapping each apprentice with his tail on the shoulder in turn. Moonstar blinked at them all, and turned back to her son. He was still grinning at Lionpaw, and she sighed heavily. Starclan, was this how she'd acted around Sheepskip when they were apprentices? It was insufferable.
"It's nice to meet you, Moonstar." Mewed Lionpaw politely. He was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mintpaw now, their pelts brushing. Mintpaw was staring at him like Starclan themself had spoken, and Moonstar squeezed her eyes shut briefly. Apprentices.
"We've met before. You came to our camp a few moons ago." She mewed shortly.
Lionpaw nodded. "Oh. Yeah." He said, before glancing at Mintpaw, and looking away, his ear-tips red. Moonstar narrowed her eyes. Maybe Mintpaw's affections aren't one-sided. She thought, watching as Lionpaw smiled slightly.
"Is your sister alright? I can't see her…" Lionpaw suddenly asked, nudging Mintpaw. The pale brown tom started, and looked around, turning back to Moonstar,his green eyes shaded with worry. Moonstar blinked, and stood up taller, spotting Lilypaw in a heart-beat. She was sitting next to some young Riverclan apprentices, three she-cats. One was a ragdoll, with grey markings, the other a dappled cinnamon-brown, and the last one was a fluffy tortoiseshell. Lilypaw seemed enchanted with all of them, her eyes fixed on the tortoiseshell as the Riverclan cat gestured wildly, clearly telling some kind of story.
"She's talking to some Riverclan cats. She'll be fine." Moonstar dismissed Mintpaw's concerns with a sharp jab of her tail in the direction of Lilypaw.
Mintpaw reared up on his back legs, and looked around. "Is she? I can't see- oh." He realised where she was, and tried to wave to her with a forepaw. He became unbalanced, and he toppled over, knocking into Lionpaw. Moonstar snorted into her scruff, watching as Mintpaw scrambled up, eyes wide.
Mintpaw noticed her staring, and quickly remarked. "Don't you have to go and sit on the tree?" Moonstar followed his gaze, and noticed that three of the leaders were already waiting for her, staring pointedly down.
"I- yes. I do." She stumbled on her words, and rushed off, climbing the tree with ease. She emerged to the top, and dipped her head towards the waiting leaders.
"Moonstar." Whitestar mewed, looking her up and down.
Moonstar blinked."Cherrystar. Whitestar. Stormstar." She said, respectably nodding to each leader in turn. She turned to Stormstar. She'd always been able to get on well with the Windclan leader, for some reason. "Where's Nettlestar?" She asked.
Stormstar looked at her. "She's sick, sadly. Hawkshade will be taking her place tonight." He explained quietly.
Moonstar nodded, and glanced down at the deputies milling around the bottom of the tree. Sparrowthorn gave her a friendly smile, which she didn't return. She'd noticed something odd. "Why has Shadowclan got an apprentice as their stand-in deputy?"
Stormstar followed her gaze, and shrugged. "Hawkstone? He's quite the prodigy, apparently." He mewed.
"I see." Moonstar replied.
Stormstar coughed, and turned to the rest of the leaders. "Windclan will go first, if that's alright with the rest of you." He said, lifting his chin slightly. Whitestar nodded.
"Of course." The Windclan leader mewed, nodding at Stormstar to step forward.
"Cats of the clans!" He called out, and the gathering's loud chattering turned to whispers."Windclan brings with them three new apprentices: Tumblepaw, Stonepaw and Slatepaw!" He mewed this loudly, and Moonstar joined in with the chanting of the cats' names.
She flicked her ear towards Whitestar. "Whose kits are those?" She murmured. Whitestar looked surprised that she was talking to him, but he hesitantly answered her.
"Goldenpoppy's." He said, his voice clipped.
Moonstar just hummed in acknowledgement of his answer, and looked back at Stormstar.
"Sadly, two of our senior warriors were killed by a badger. Wolfthroat and Bluefrost hunt side-by-side in Starclan, now." The grey tom mewed sadly, and one or two warriors in the crowd gasped. She recognised the name Bluefrost, she felt like he may have mentored one of Sheepskip's littermates. Wolfthroat was a name unfamiliar to her.
Whitestar was still looking at Stormstar, but he muttered quietly to Moonstar, "They were mates, I think." with a downwards glance.
"That's sad. At least they went together." Moonstar remarked softly.
Stormstar shook out his pelt quickly, and sat up, trying to smile. "Sootheart and Rabbitbounce have also been made warriors!" He mewed optimistically. He paused, waiting for the gathering to call out the names. Moonstar obliged loudly. "That will be all from Windclan." He mewed, stepping back.
There was a brief moment of awkwardness, where no leader spoke, until Whitestar nudged Hawkshade, who was staring into space. "Hawkshade? You're up." He hissed, and the old deputy fumbled forward.
"Oh. Sorry. Um. Shadowclan are fine, I think. Nettlestar is fine. And- oh. Yeah, we have a new warrior. Congratulations, Hawkstone!" Hawkshade retreated backwards quickly, not waiting for the gathering to call out Hawkstone's new name.
Moonstar sighed, and turned to Stormstar. "If Nettlestar dies, Shadowclan are screwed." She muttered, and the Windclan leader chuckled softly.
"Whitestar, do you want to go next?" Cherrystar asked the Riverclan leader. He nodded, and stepped forward purposefully.
"Sure." He mewed, before addressing the gathering. "Riverclan is fine. We have a new warrior, Houndtooth. And my three kits are beginning their training to become warriors. Rosepaw, Bramblepaw and Duckpaw have been training hard." He let his voice rise when he said his kit's names, and he smiled down at the cluster of apprentices.
"Nice names." Stormstar remarked in her ear. She nodded, and kinked her tail, pointing downwards.
"They're talking to my daughter, look, down there…" She kept one eye on Lilypaw, who was enthralled with the littermates, whispering to them.
"Moonstar, do you want to go next?" Whitestar asked, stepping out of the way. Moonstar waved him off with a paw.
"No, no. Cherrystar can go now." She muttered, keeping one eye on Lilypaw. Her other kit was nowhere to be seen. Lionpaw isn't there either. She realised, and sighed again.
Cherrystar's eyes widened, and she bustled forward. "Huh? Okay." She mumbled, before facing the clans. "Skyclan doesn't have much to share. Rapidslash has given birth to three kids, and Smogpaw has become a warrior. His name is Smogflight." Moonstar muttered Smogflight's name under her breath, getting ready for what she was about to do.
"May I go now?" She asked softly. Stormstar nodded, and nudged her forward.
"Head on up, Moonstar." He mewed. Moonstar took a deep breath, and padded forward.
Immediately, she turned to Cherrystar, thinking of her sister's actions to summon pure venom in her eyes. "I believe that Skyclan has been stealing from us." She spat. Cherrystar started, and looked away. Moonstar smiled slightly.
She'd chosen Skyclan because of their leader. She was young - stepping into Swanstar's shadow, with no clue of what the role entailed. And while she was a capable leader, Moonstar had noticed that she wasn't the best at public speaking.
"Well, you believe wrong." She snapped.
Moonstar fluffed out her pelt, towering over Cherrystar. "Are you saying I'm blind? I saw- and smelt - the evidence." She hissed.
"Moonstar. We haven't stolen from you." Cherystar insisted. Her words were met with loud calls coming from both Thunderclan, and Skyclan.
"Whatever you say." Moonstar mewed quickly, before moving on. "Anyways, my kits have become apprentices. Mintpaw is a medicine cat apprentice, and Lilypaw is being trained to be a warrior." She waited to hear her kits names be called out, and was irritated to hear that their announcement was met with significantly less enthusiasm as the other apprentices and warriors.
"Is that all from Thunderclan?" Stormstar mewed curtly, the warmth in his voice gone.
She sighed, and went on. "Pebblepelt and Nightlark have both stepped down, and have joined the elders." With that, she stepped away from the very edge of the branch, and prepared to leap down.
"In that case, the gathering is dismissed." Whitestar said loudly, before pouncing down. Moonstar followed his lead, and was immediately met with an angry-looking Sparrowthorn.
"What was that?" He spat, his tail lashing. Moonstar decided to feign innocence.
She sighed. "What was what, Sparrowthorn?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.
"The practically threatening Cherrystar!" He said, spluttering with indignation.
Moonstar looked down at her paws. "I simply gave her a warning." She mewed quietly. She was beginning to regret this whole plan, to be honest.
Or she would have been starting to regret it, if throughout the entire gathering, her dead father, and niece, hadn't been staring at her with dead, cold eyes, and gaping wounds. That made her want to keep up her plan.
I'm doing it for them. I'm getting revenge. She told herself, trying to trick herself into thinking it was really Sharpgaze and Finchpaw, instead of some twisted ghost of them. It's for them.
"An unneeded warning." Sparrowthorn remarked. Thankfully, he couldn't argue with her anymore, because Lilypaw came barreling up to them
Moonstar smiled at her, and the tension lifted from her. "How did you find the gathering, Lilypaw?" She asked, sitting down.
"It was great! Duckpaw and Bramblepaw taught me this really cool fighting move!" She chirped, grinning.
"That's nice, they're Whitestar's daughters, right?" Moonstar asked.
Lilypaw nodded. "Yup! Rosepaw was quite quiet, though." She mewed thoughtfully.
"Huh." Moonstar grunted.
Lilypaw looked around, and glanced back up at Moonstar. "Where's Mintpaw?" She questioned, looking around, as though she was expecting her brother to emerge from behind Moonstar.
"He went off with Lionpaw." Moonstar said. Lilypaw huffed, and suddenly Sheepskip appeared at her shoulder. She greeted him with a small lick, and turned back to her daughter.
"For Starclan's sake." Lilypaw said, rolling her eyes.
Sheepskip chuckled. "He'll come back soon enough." He remarked, nudging Lilypaw playfully.
Moonstar narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? Or is he going to run off with him into the sunset?" She mewed, half-joking.
Sheepskip shook his head. "You're being overly paranoid, love. He's just being an apprentice."
Moonstar huffed, and commented quietly. "If that's all that is." Sheepskip opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Emberlight barged up to them, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Why did you start a war?" She asked, sitting down.
"I did nothing of the sort." Moonstar responded evenly. She looked away. She didn't want any kind of confrontation with her sister, not today, not tonight. Not now, when she could practically feel Finchpaw's breath on the back of her neck.
They were always with her, now. Her two loved ones. Occasionally, she'd see a ghostly hawk, circling overhead, reminding her of how Emberlight had taken her eyesight away from her. The want for revenge burned brighter inside her each time.
"You told me you'll ask her nicely!" Emberlight snapped.
"I was nice!" Moonstar retorted. Emberlight seemed to think she was joking, because she chuckled slightly.
"Starclan, it was almost like you want us to go to war with Skyclan." She remarked.
Moonstar's eyes gleamed. It was funny just how right she was.
yeahhhh moonstar isn't being entirely rational, but i think we're all used to that by now. also lionpaw and mintpaw are my boys n i love them a lot.