"Frostpaw, wake up." The medicine cat apprentice groaned, shifting her position in her moss bed to face away from the voice. A single ray of moonlight shone onto her silver fur, illuminating it to a pure white glow. She had been busy all day with her new duties, from gathering herbs to memorizing uses of herbs to learning about even more herbs.
Then a paw roughly prodded her, and she gave up her resistance, blinking away sleep.
"Wha…huh?" she grumbled, pushing herself to her paws and turning to face her mentor.
"It's time for the half-moon meeting, come on," Shadefur informed her, nudging her until she stood outside.
As soon as her tired blue eyes took sight of the bright moon hanging like a beacon in Silverpelt, only half of its light visible, she felt energy and excitement crackling in her paws. She turned to see her mentor already padding out of camp, and quickly scrambled after him, feeling renewed.
The moon lit the way through the forest, casting its brilliance upon the world below. Soon they stood before the Thunderpath, which was eerily silent and vacant of monsters. As Frostpaw waited for Shadefur's signal to cross, she stared at the strange and reeking path in fascination. She had never seen it before.
"We're good to go," Shadefur announced, and they quickly ran across, the hard surface stinging their pads. Just after they crossed, a black monster roared past, two beams of light brighter than the moonlight flashing as it raced ahead. She watched it fade into the distance before dashing to catch up with her mentor again.
"We are on the border of ShadowClan territory now," the medicine cat told her. "But we medicine cats are allowed to cross each other's territories in order to get to the Moonstone, so don't worry about being caught."
Frostpaw nodded. The ground beneath her paws was wet and spongy, and the trees looked different. All of a sudden, a dark ginger tom materialized before them. She leaped back in surprise, and the tom mrrowed with laughter, falling alongside Shadefur and matching his pace with him. Frostpaw quickly recovered and padded behind them, feeling a little embarrassed.
This must be the ShadowClan medicine cat! she realized.
"Is that your new apprentice? You've been talking about getting one for moons now!" the dark ginger cat meowed as he walked.
"Why, yes, she is, Duskwind," Shadefur replied, glancing back at her. "Her name is Frostpaw, and I've known she was destined to be my apprentice the very moment I first saw her peeking into my den."
Frostpaw stood a little straighter, delighted at the praise.
"Well isn't that just dandy," Duskwind chuffed. He glanced back too. "She's awfully pretty for her age, isn't she?"
Shadefur shot her a look, and the tom burst out laughing again. Frostpaw now stared down at her paws, amused and humiliated once more at the medicine cat's remark. When Duskwind finally calmed down, he added, "You know, it's about time I got an apprentice of my own too. I'm starting to get a bit old."
Frostpaw started to tune them out when the first sight of Highstones appeared behind the cover of the trees. She still heard Duskwind shout, "I mean look at all these gray hairs around my muzzle!" before she drifted deep into her thoughts. What would it be like, to share a dream with her warrior ancestors? She could only imagine what it would be like meeting them, and what would they say?
She stared hard at the beginnings of Highstones as they drew nearer. The tall stones jutted out proudly from the ground and into the starry Silverpelt. Soon the trio was close enough for her to make out the dark, gaping hole which she had been told led to the Moonstone. Four figures stood before it, as if waiting for them to arrive.
Finally they came to a stop before a gray tom with a calm brown and white she-cat at his side, and two she-cats, one tan with black spots and the other white and pacing impatiently. Frostpaw immediately knew that these were the other medicine cats and their apprentices. Apparently Duskwind was the only one without an apprentice.
"We're here!" the ShadowClan medicine cat announced, staggering towards the cats that awaited them. "And look who got himself a pretty little apprentice!"
Frostpaw flattened her ears and shifted her paws uneasily. Would he quit embarrassing me?
However, it was clear that the others were used to the ginger tom's behavior. The white she-cat roughly nudged him, snapping, "Go find yourself one already."
Duskwind thought this was hilarious, and while the two argued further, and Shadefur went to speak with the gray tom, the two apprentices came to greet Frostpaw.
"Hello!" the brown and white she-cat mewed. "Been enjoying the start of your apprenticeship?"
"Oh, yes, very much!" Frostpaw replied just before the black-spotted tan she-cat approached her, rather unexpectedly greeting her with a nuzzle and a throaty purr. Her soft amber eyes took her in, a smile on her face.
"She likes you," the first apprentice translated. When she saw the bewildered expression on her face, she added, "She's as mute as a wriggling worm."
Instant sympathy for the mute she-cat overtook Frostpaw as she looked at the apprentice again. How must it feel like, to be unable to speak? She couldn't imagine how she could live like that, devoid of that sense.
"I'm Robinpaw, by the way," the brown and white apprentice told her. "From RiverClan." Then she turned to the mute cat, who met her gaze instantly. "And this is Honeypaw, from WindClan."
"Frostpaw of ThunderClan," Frostpaw returned. "Well met."
Robinpaw nodded. Then the white she-cat, looking slightly frustrated with Duskwind, turned from the tom, who bore a mocking expression, and yelled, "Let's head on inside, shall we? It's about time."
Robinpaw and Honeypaw turned from Frostpaw and started to follow the medicine cats inside. "Come on, you'll never see anything quite like it," Robinpaw meowed over her shoulder. Frostpaw quickly caught up with them.
They entered the dark tunnel, so black that it took an especially long time for Frostpaw's eyes to adjust to the gloom. The rock beneath her paws was hard and spoke of many other cats who had padded on across surface in the past. The ceiling height always varied, sometimes so slow that she had to crawl by, and sometimes high enough for her to walk straight and unbent. Her whiskers often skimmed the cavernous walls. As the tunnel stretched on and on, Frostpaw began to feel a little afraid that it would keep going on forever, and that she would never leave the dark and eerie passage. If not for her exceptional night vision, then she would not be able to see the cats ahead of her, thus making her very grateful.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the walls gave way to an open cavern wide enough for the party to enter together without too much trouble. A single, black stone stood in the center.
Frostpaw was confused. She had heard tales of the brilliance and beauty of the Moonstone, but as she gazed at the stone before her, she questioned this. Was this all there was to it?
Then she noticed Honeypaw watching the roof of the clearing, an eager light in her eyes. Frostpaw followed her gaze, taking note of a crack that revealed the night sky there. Then, suddenly, it happened. A ray of white moonlight filtered in from the yawning gap in the ceiling, shattering the gloom and lighting the Moonstone, giving it life. It transformed from a dull black stone to a glittering wonder. Frostpaw's eyes shone as she took in the sight. It looked as though a thousand raindrops had fallen upon the Moonstone, dazzling and proud.
"Wow," she gasped, in awe. Shadefur quickly put his tail her mouth, signaling her to be quiet. Frostpaw nodded, and he removed the tail. Then the medicine cat moved behind the Moonstone, looked up at the gap in the roof, and meowed,
"Frostpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"
"It is," she mewed firmly.
"Then come forward," Shadefur told her. She padded towards the medicine cat, and the Moonstone in front of him.
"Warriors of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice," Shadefur announced. "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."
Then he turned to her, and meowed, "Now kneel and touch noses with the Moonstone, and then StarClan will speak with you." He gestured to the other medicine cats and their apprentices, or lack of. "We shall do the same."
Frostpaw nodded, and watched as they crouched before the dazzling Moonstone, and reached forward to touch noses with it. She then dropped to her paws to do the same.
Taking in the beautiful stone, she closed her eyes and sighed softly. Be calm, she ordered herself, trying to cool her excitement. Then she leaned forward, and the cold surface met with her nose, and she felt herself being lifted far away from her body…