Magical time skip (two weeks)
Snowpaw's P.O.V
A few weeks had passed and Snowpaw was proud to say that she was a quick learner. She had managed to memorize the basic herbs within two weeks and was happily moving along to more advanced and complicated herbs and poultices. Warriors had started to come to her with their health problems and Snowpaw had to get over the nerves that overcame her when she had to tell senior warriors what to do and what not to do.
Snowpaw stared with concentration at the herb stores. After a few heartbeats of thinking, she confidently pulled out a few tansy plants. She set them down in front of Nightfoot.
"Eat them up and if the cough persists, come back tomorrow for more," Snowpaw instructed. "It should go away by tomorrow evening."
Nightfoot bent over and lapped up the tansy. He swallowed and gave Snowpaw a grateful glance. "Thanks, Snowpaw," Nightfoot mewed. "You're turning out to be a great medicine cat!" Snowpaw purred and thanked Nightfoot as he left.
She began to sort through the herbs when Leaffeather walked in the medicine den with a large bundle of herbs in her jaws. She dropped them on the ground and began to sort through them. Snowpaw took half of her bundle and sorted through them as well.
"You know," Leaffeather meowed. "Tomorrow night is a half moon."
Snowpaw stopped for a heartbeat, processing what she just said. "Wait," Snowpaw mewed slowly, confused. "How come tomorrow night's half moon will be my first one to attend, but I've been your apprentice for two weeks now?"
"That's because you were apprenticed right after a half moon," Leaffeather explained. "So you missed that one and you had to wait until another one."
Snowpaw nodded in understanding. "Alright," she mewed before her tone became more excited. "Are you going to introduce me to Starclan then?"
Leaffeather purred. "That's right," she mewed. "You'll get to meet your warrior ancestors." Snowpaw purred happily. "You'll also get to meet the other medicine cats."
Snowpaw pricked her ears in interest. "Who are the other medicine cats?" she asked.
"You'll know when you get there," Leaffeather replied firmly.
"Okay," Snowpaw mumbled. She knew there was no arguing with Leaffeather. If Leaffeather told you to jump, then you jump.
"Now," Leaffeather's mewed. "What would you do if a cat had the hiccups?"
Another magical time skip (next day)
Snowpaw finished off treating Emberclaw's torn claw. She looked up to see the sun begin to set over the horizon. Suddenly, she remembered that tonight was a half moon, and she was about to go to the Moonrock to meet Starclan and the other medicine cats. Leaffeather prodded her out of her thoughts.
"It's time to go," she mewed. Snowpaw nodded nervously and walked outside the medicine den.
Leaffeather followed her outside before mewing "I'm going to tell Mountainstar we're off." before bounding towards his den. Snowpaw decided to take the time to tell Silverpaw as well.
Snowpaw walked over to the edge of the camp where Silverpaw had just finished eating and was now grooming herself.
"Hi Snowpaw," Silverpaw greeted her sister.
"Hi Silverpaw," Snowpaw replied. "I'm off to go see the Moonrock."
"Have fun!" Silverpaw mewed. "See if you can tell me about it later." Snowpaw nodded before hearing Leaffeather call her from across the camp and trotted away.
The Moonrock was in a small cave in the mountains called the Mooncave, so small that if a loner or a rogue were to pass by, they most likely wouldn't have seen it. Since the Mooncave was just behind Mountainclan territory, it didn't take long for Leaffeather and Snowpaw to make it there.
Leaffeather walked along a rocky path before stopping in front of this strangely flat stone with vines growing in front. "This is it," Leaffeather mewed. Snowpaw stepped forward and looked closely and realized there was a cave behind the large tangle of vines. Before she could say anything, Snowpaw heard pawsteps behind her and turned around to see three cats: a silver she-cat, a brown tabby she-cat, and a silver tabby with golden stripes. They each mewed a greeting to Leaffeather, who greeted the three medicine cats in return.
The pretty silver she-cat tipped her head and gave Snowpaw a curious look. "Who's this?" she asked.
Leaffeather padded to stand by Snowpaw. "This is Snowpaw. She's my new apprentice."
"Hello, Snowpaw. My name is Frostleaf." Frostleaf introduced herself. She flicked her tail at the brown tabby. "That's Petalleaf, and her apprentice is Streampaw." She pointed at the small silver tabby. Snowpaw shyly meowed a greeting at them.
"It's time to share tongues with Starclan. I also have to introduce Snowpaw to Starclan as well." Leaffeather interrupted. "Let's go."
The five medicine cats pushed through the vines and padded into the cave. Snowpaw was instantly hit with a wave of darkness and she turned around to barely be able to see the light coming through the thick mess of vines.
"Follow my scent inside," Leaffeather instructed before Snowpaw heard her pad deeper into the cave. Carefully, Snowpaw followed Leaffeather through a narrow tunnel before they broke out into a clearing that was dimly lit by a hole in the roof that let in some moonlight.
"Ready?" Snowpaw nodded. After waiting a few moments, Leaffeather began to speak.
"Snowpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of Starclan as a medicine cat?"
Snowpaw gulped before speaking. "It is."
"Then come forward." Leaffeather padded forward a few paces and Snowpaw followed suit.
"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 of your will."
Suddenly, a bright flash of moonlight hit the Moonrock and the Moonrock lit up, causing Snowpaw to blink.
"Lie down and touch your nose to the Moonrock, so you may share dreams with Starclan." Leaffeather mewed before pressing her nose to the stone and curling up in front of it. The other medicine cats did as well and Snowpaw touched the Moonrock, feeling the cold rock against her nose. She curled up next to Leaffeather and closed her eyes as sleep overcame her.
Snowpaw opened her eyes. She stood in the middle of a grassy clearing with trees surrounding the area. In front of her was a small pool of water. Snowpaw looked up to see the stars shining brightly in the sky.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Snowpaw jumped with surprise as a voice next to her spoke. She whirled around to see a beautiful silver tabby standing next to her, staring down into the pool's reflection.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" Snowpaw asked.
"Do not worry," she purred. "You are in Starclan. You're safe. As for who I am, my name is Twilight. I am one of your ancestors."
Snowpaw tipped her head. "Are you a Mountainclan warrior?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, but I was connected with Mountainclan. A Mountainclan cat told me about Starclan and when I died, I was allowed to come here so I may watch over him and his clan."
"Who?" Snowpaw pressed.
Twilight ignored her and continued. "Look,"
Snowpaw looked into the pool and saw a small clearing of land and a fallen log. It was as if she were a bird and was gazing upon the land from above. She watched as a brown tabby tom raced through the rain and reached a silver tabby. It didn't take long for Snowpaw to realize that it was Twilight. Snowpaw saw the brown tabby and Twilight speaking, along with a tortoiseshell she-cat, but Snowpaw couldn't hear a thing. After a while, she saw Twilight give birth to two small kits. The brown tabby looked so happy as he groomed Twilight, but the tortoiseshell looked sad. The brown tabby continued to speak, and looked at the tortoiseshell, then to Twilight, before he lifted his head up and opened his jaws as if he were yowling to the sky. She saw Twilight rest her head limply to the side on the ground as the two kits squirmed about. Snowpaw stretched her neck forward before jerking back with shock. The small silver kit was Silverpaw! That would mean the other kit was her! She gasped out loud before realizing that Twilight was her mother. She quickly turned around to where Twilight was sitting next to her only to come to the realization that she had disappeared. She returned her attention back to the pool and saw the tortoiseshell padding away with the two kits as the brown tabby brought Twilight out of the log to bury her. The pool faded back to her own reflection and she gazed at it, trying to make sense of what she saw.
Suddenly, a paw prodded her in the side and she jerked around and woke up and saw the amber eyes of Leaffeather. Snowpaw got up, shaking her pelt. "It's time to go," Leaffeather mewed before walking quickly back to the tunnel, following the other medicine cats. Snowpaw shuffled quickly, pushing through the mess of vines again and breaking outside into the dawn light. The medicine cats mewed quick goodbyes before leaving Snowpaw and Leaffeather. Leaffeather said nothing as she led the way back to camp and entered the camp.
Silverpaw came rushing over to her sister, touching noses with her. "How was it?" Silverpaw mewed.
Snowpaw opened her mouth to speak before Leaffeather called her over to the den. Apologizing, Snowpaw scurried to the medicine cat den. When she entered, Leaffeather turned and gave her a serious look.
"There's something else you need to know. Medicine cats are not to share their dreams from Starclan with the clan, except for the clan leader. You cannot tell anyone about your apprentice ceremony at the Moonrock. It is a sacred ceremony that is not to be shared with anyone." Leaffeather mewed, giving her a knowing look.
Snowpaw dropped her head. She told Silverpaw everything, and now that she was a medicine cat, she couldn't anymore? Nodding, she walked back outside to see Silverpaw sitting expectantly.
As she approached, Silverpaw leaped to her feet. "Well?" she asked. "What happened at the Moonrock? How was the ceremony? Did you see our ancestors?"
Snowpaw waited for her to finish before speaking. "Leaffeather says I can't tell you what happened. I'm sorry," Snowpaw mewed, upset.
Silverpaw nodded. "Okay, I understand. It's fine." she mewed.
Snowpaw gave Silverpaw a grateful look before Silverpaw padded away to the apprentice's den. Snowpaw sat, thinking about her dream before she came to the conclusion that she'd have to disobey Leaffeather. Snowpaw raced over to Silverpaw and called out to her.
"Silverpaw, I have to tell you something," she mewed.
Silverpaw gave her a confused look. "I thought you're not allowed to tell others about your dreams."
"I'm not," Snowpaw admitted. "But my dream involved both of us, so I think it's important enough to tell you."
Silverpaw nodded and gestured her to speak, but Snowpaw's eyes darted to the sleeping form of Crystalpaw before walking outside. Snowpaw brought Silverpaw out of camp and behind the medicine den.
They sat down and Snowpaw shuffled her paws. "When I was at the Moonrock, I woke up in a clearing. There was a pool in front of me. That's when a cat appeared next to me. Her name's Twilight. She had me look into the pool. I saw some pretty interesting stuff."
"What'd you see?" Silverpaw pressed.
"It was pretty long, but I'll break it down." Snowpaw mewed. "I saw a brown tabby, Twilight, and a tortoiseshell. I could see them from above like I was flying, but I couldn't hear anything. Basically, Twilight had given birth inside a fallen log. She had two kits and the tortoiseshell and the tabby were talking and then all of a sudden the tabby just cried out and Twilight died."
Silverpaw's eyes widened. "That's not all," Snowpaw meowed cautiously. "This is the important part." Silverpaw nodded. "I looked closely at the kits and it was us."
Silverpaw's jaw dropped in shock. "So Twilight is our mother?" she asked, nearly shouting.
Snowpaw glared at her. "Keep it down!" she hissed quietly. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this, remember?" Silverpaw nodded.
"Who's the tortoiseshell and the tabby then?" Silverpaw asked, whispering.
"I didn't see. I'm sorry," Snowpaw mumbled.
Silverpaw stepped closer and pressed herself against her sister comfortingly. "It's okay. We'll figure this out together." Snowpaw nodded, closing her eyes and taking in her sister's scent. Snowpaw felt safe with her sister, as they both vowed to find their father.