Chapter Eight
Basilpaw sat in the back of the medicine den, deftly sorting through the pile of herbs in front of her. Valerian, chamomile, passionflower... she mentally recited, pushing the herbs into corresponding piles as she worked.
She had been training as a medicine cat a for little over a half moon. Already the herbs- their smells, their shape- were familiar to her. A few days before, Skyfern had approached her and told her how valuable as a medicine cat she was. Despite the uneasy feeling Basilpaw got from the deputy, she had glown under her praise.
Basilpaw frowned as she worked, remembering the gathering she had missed the half moon before. Weedkit had been sick with some sort of panic-sickness; out of the blue his breathing had become haggard and sharp, and his eyes had started flickering around in panic. It was scary, working to heal a kit only a few moons younger than herself, but Basilpaw and Goldenfur had managed to heal him.
"Good job," Goldenfur meowed from behind her.
"Thanks," Basilpaw replied. She started wrapping the sorted piles of herbs into small bundles, securing their ends together with thin pieces of grass. She turned back as she worked to look at her mentor. "What herbs are good for travelling again?" she meowed.
Goldenfur purred. "You must have the half-moon gathering on your mind," he meowed in slight amusement. His eyes rolled upwards as he recalled. "Let's see... burnet would be good. Yarrow's also useful." Basilpaw saw the older medicine cat from the corner of her eye, plucking herbs from the walls of the medicine den as he named them off. "And chamomile. Chamomile is my favorite."
"What do you think was wrong with Weedkit?" Basilpaw asked. Though Weedkit's breathing had eventually fixed itself and he seemed to recover fully, there was still the question of what exactly had afflicted him in the first place. It definitely wasn't sickness- there had been know signs of infection, nor had it spread to any other cats- and his illness had cured too fast for it to be a lung infection.
Goldenfur flicked his tail in motion that Basilpaw had quickly learned, what she considered 'medicine cat irritation'; the frustration a medicine cat feels when the complex build of the cat's body goes beyond their knowledge. "It might be a mind sickness," he answered, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Usually cats who come back from battle experince those kind of symptoms- shortness of breath, quick heartbeat- but I don't know why a kit would experince panic like that." Goldenfur sighed. "We just have to hope it doesn't happen again. Us medicine cats aren't suited to dealing with abnormalities of the mind like that."
Basilpaw's nose screwed up, and she was glad she was facing away from Goldenfur. Medicine cats should be able to heal every sickness, she thought. If we can't help our clanmates feel better, what good are we?
"Anyway," Goldenfur continued, "Thrushstar just gave us permission to head out to the Moonglow. Grab some travelling herbs and we'll start our journey."
"It's already that late?" Basilpaw said, looking out of the den for the first time all day. To her surprise, the sun was already setting, filtering reddish gold light into the leaf-covered entrance of the medicine den.
"Yes," Goldenfur chuffed good-naturedly, crossing the den to retrieve some chamomile. "I remember when I was first a medicine cat apprentice. I was always avoiding the sorting jobs, wanting to fool around with the other apprentices until there was an injured cat to take care of..." Goldenfur trailed off, and Basilpaw turned around to face him. He had a far off look in his eyes as he continued. "Anyway, I'm glad you're dedicated. My mentor was always cursing me with having an apprentice as unattentive as I was."
"I like learning," Basilpaw replied, plucking a few sprigs of burnet from the medicine store.
Basilpaw stood in the middle of camp, almost quivering as she stood next to Goldenfur. She wondered if her mentor could feel the sparks of excitement shooting through her pelt. I bet StarClan is looking down on us right now, Basilpaw thought, peeking through the foliage overhead. I bet they're getting ready to meet me!
The creamy she-cat's heart jumped when she saw Thrushstar and Skyfern emerge from their den, leaping from branch to branch until they reached the center of camp. The two cats came to stand before the medicine cats, their tails intertwined.
"We're ready to begin our journey," Goldenfur meowed with a respectful nod to his leader. Thrushstar dipped his head in return. "Be safe," he meowed solenmly. "May StarClan light your path."
Skyfern broke away from her mate and approached Basilpaw. The apprentice had to force herself not to shy away as the deputy pressed her pelt against hers. "This is such an exciting night for you," she purred, sounding overly-joyful. Her lips pulled up into a wide grin, and Basilpaw backed away slightly as the older she-cat leaned in. "I'm sure StarClan has dreams in store for you," she whispered. Her eyes were glinting, but not with genuine excitement. What is she talking about? Basilpaw asked, panic starting to set in as Skyfern held her gaze. Why is she even talking to me?
"Basilpaw? Are you ready?"
Skyfern pulled back at Goldenfur's voice, her still-smug face a little bit less alarming at a distance, and Basilpaw realized she had been holding her breath. She turned to her mentor, momentarily basking in the familiar golden warmth of the older tom's presence before answering.
"Yea. Let's go." Basilpaw meowed, trying to ignore Skyfern's eyes burning into the back of her head as they left.
The two medicine cats bounding down the winding, sturdy tree branch that led from their camp in the canopy to the ground. Basilpaw landed with a satisfying crunch on the forest floor, leaves and grass conforming to her pawsteps.
"How long is the walk?" Basilpaw meowed, trotting to keep up with her much larger mentor.
"Long," he meowed. "GladeClan lives further from the Moonglow than any other clan. We need to cross over the river into SteppeClan territory, then it's quite some distance to the coast. After that, we follow the beach until we meet the cliffs, then down the cliffs to the Moonglow."
"Wow," Basilpaw meowed. She had barely seen the border, back when Goldenfur had taken her to the meadows to gather goldenrod. She could scarcely imagine the largeness of the clan's territories, and beyond that? A farm, apparently, and some twoleg dens that had rare herbs.
And past that?
"How far has any cat ever travelled?" Basilpaw asked Goldenfur.
The tom mreowed in amusement. "Well, there's stories of cats who have travelled to high mountains, where cliff faces climb high into the sky, and dark pits go down deep, with no end in sight."
"Scary," Basilpaw replied. "I wouldn't want to go there."
"Neither would I," Goldenfur meowed. "Now, save your breath. We have a long way to go, and we got a late start."
After that two cats moved quickly, silently, occasionally climbing branches and leaping from tree to tree to avoid denser underbrush and shrubbery.
Soon Basilpaw picked up the sweet, delicate scent of flowers, and moments later they broke through the edge of the glade and into the meadow. The meadow was even more beautiful at night; the grass and flowers were all varying shades of silver-blue-purple, bathed in the pale newly risen half-moon light. She filled her lungs with the scent, bathing in it for a few moments before bounding to catch up with her mentor. Tiny moths fluttered around her as she waded through the belly-length flowers. Beautiful.
The meadows tapered out, ending in a soft slope where the river dividing SteppeClan from GladeClan met the river dividing GladeClan from FloodClan. Goldenfur shimmied up a large, smooth-barked tree, weaving his way onto the lowest branch. Basilpaw followed, moving quickly so her tiny claws wouldn't have a chance to unhook from the bark. She heaved herself onto the branch, but when she finally had a chance to look around, she noticed Goldenfur was already leaping from the end of the branch onto a branch of a tree on the other side of the bank.
I'll be okay, Basilpaw thought, staring cautiously at the dark water swirling beneath her. I'll be fine. In one swift motion she dashed to the end of the branch, launching herself over the water to the branch on the other side. She braced herself, and her claws dug into the bark as her paws hit the surface of the branch. She steadied herself, feeling the traveling herbs churn in her stomach as she looked down at the void below her, thinking of the pits Goldenfur had told her about-
And then she caught her balance, and Basilpaw scurried on, leaping nimbly down the tree and onto the opposite bank. "Good job," Goldenfur meowed with a simple nod.
They walked. For a while they travelled through the pine fields of SteppeClan territory, then through the sparse, sandy grasslands of CoveClan land. They seemed to walk forever, finally reaching the end of CoveClan's scent. "This is the edge of clan territory," Goldenfur explained.
"Are we almost there?" Basilpaw asked, trying not to sound impatient. To her relief, Goldenfur nodded. He waved one paw ahead, and Basilpaw tried to make out what he was gesturing at; it seemed like, up ahead, the grassy ground ended and gave way to nothingness. She bounded curiously over to the anomaly. It's a cliff, she thought, looking over the edge. Far below, waves churned against the stone, and she could make out a white beach nestled in the cove. There were a few silhouettes on the beach, leaving pawprints as they crossed the sand and approached what looked like a cave, carved into the bottom part of the cliff.
"The Moonglow!" Basilpaw exclaimed. She was so close she expected to feel the light of the moon filling her up, but the air was strangely still and quiet. There was none of the starry energy she had been expecting.
"Yes," Goldenfur said. "Follow me."
The golden tom led the way down a path in the cliff, weaving expertly down the well-worn path. They were about halfway down when Goldenfur paused.
"Don't be upset if you don't dream tonight," he meowed slowly.
At first, Basilpaw was shocked into silence. She wondered if her mentor was playing some sort of mean trick on her, but but he kept his eyes to the ground, and there was no playful glimmer in his gaze.
"Why- why wouldn't StarClan speak to me?" she asked. Her heart filled up with despair. "Do you think I'm not meant to be a medicine cat?"
Goldenfur glanced up, almost looking offended. "Of course you are!" he meowed. "You have a natural talent for healing. That's obvious." He sighed, then hesitantly continued. "I should have told you sooner. The truth is... StarClan has not spoken with us- with any cat- in moons."
"What?" Basilpaw breathed. She was absolutely stunned. For a few moments, the only sound was the ocean lapping below them. Goldenfur said nothing, so Basilpaw continued. "Why would they stop speaking to the clans? Are they angry?"
The older medicine cat shrugged limply, and for a scared moment, Basilpaw thought he looked very old, and very tired. "Who knows?" he asked. "There was no warning, no sign that they would go silent. One night, the other medicine cats and I gathered around the pool, and we slept. But once we awoke, we all realized that none of us had dreamt at all."
Basilpaw looked up at the sky, trying to process what she had just heard. The stars, which had always kept her company, now felt lonely and dead- just tiny flecks of light in an inifite black and blue expanse.
"We still come to the Moonglow every half-moon," Goldenfur continued, starting down the path again. "Just in case." Basilpaw followed after a few heartbeats, feeling dejected but not knowing what else to do.
They reached the bottom of the path and crossed the soft, white sand of the beach. She let her mentor take the lead heading into the cave, and as soon as she stepped onto the smooth, stone floor, she knew something was wrong. It was still here, extremely still. Basilpaw's fur pricked on end.
The cave was glowing, pale light emanating from the bottom of a small pool in the middle of the den, covering the ceiling in rippling light. Cats were gathered around speaking to each other. A small, lanky gray tom was the first to greet them, bouncing over to meet the two.
"Hey, Goldenfur!" he meowed cheerily. His gaze flitted over to Basilpaw. "So you're the new apprentice! You weren't at the last gathering. I hope your ward recovered?"
Basilpaw nodded. "He's fine now," she said. "What's your name?"
"Olivepaw," the tom meowed. He turned to the other medicine cats and drew their attention with a waved tail. "Hey, everyone! Goldenfur and his new apprentice is here."
The cats turned, seeming to notice them for the first since they had entered the cave. Unlike Olivepaw, the older cats seemed grave and worried.
"Greetings," Goldenfur meowed, dipping his head. "This is Basilpaw."
"Nice to meet you," a sleek, elegant brown she-cat meowed. "I'm Sunspots. Olivepaw is my apprentice."
"I've been a medicine cat for three moons already," the tom boasted.
"You've been training for three months," a gray-brown tom corrected him. He turned to Basilpaw and introduced himself. "Rosethorn," he meowed, and flicked his tail to the white and gray she-cat sitting beside him. "And my senior, Irisblossom."
"Welcome to the Moonglow," Irisblossom meowed politely.
"And my name is Mellowsong," a long furred gray tom with white paws meowed.
"It's nice to meet all of you," Basilpaw said, and she truly meant it. She felt kinship with these cats- healers, not fighters, like the rest of her clanmates. It would be nice to have other cats to talk to about herbs and dreams-
And then she remembered that StarClan was silent, and her tail fell slightly in disappointment.
"Well... I guess it's time," Irisblossom meowed. She glanced around at the other medicine cats, and there was a shared look of defeat as they pressed their noses to the glowing surface of the pool.
"Remember what I said," Goldenfur meowed lowly, bending down to the water. "Don't take it personally if you don't dream."
All the other cats were dozing, sleeping peacefully, no indication that they were dreaming of anything at all. Basilpaw stared at her reflection in the pool. It was distorted by the rippled, her face cut into silvery pieces. Is this what my future as a medicine cat will be like? she wondered. Sleeping next to hopeless cats, waiting for a message from cats that died a long time ago? Praying over dead stars?
The creamy she-cat shook her head. No, she thought determinedly, I'm a medicine cat. Even if StarClan isn't speaking, they're still out there, somewhere. And one day I will see them.
She pressed her nose against the water and drifted to sleep.
It smells like flowers.
Basilpaw opened her eyes and found herself standing in a huge field of violets. It was night time, but the full moon shining overhead lit up the meadow. It stretched on and on out of sight, and she felt very small under the endless night sky.
She scented the air and caught the smell of lavender and violets. She caught the scent of water as a cool breeze blew over her face. Basilpaw realized that there was a stream- no, a river- in front of her, twenty or so foxlengths away.
The apprentice suddenly realized where she was. She was in the meadow on the edge of GladeClan's territory, looking over the river towards the plains of SteppeClan.
Suddenly, Basilpaw's fur stood on end. There was the paralysing sensation of being in a storm right before lightning strikes- electricity sparking through her pelt causing the hair in her ears to tingle uncomfortably.
Somewhere, not far away, grass shifted. Fear filled the young she-cat's heart.
Something is here, she realized. Her fear had become pure, primitive, instinctual terror. I'm being hunted.
And then, across the river, there was a light.
At first Basilpaw thought it was the sunrise. It was all red and golden, like fire in the sky. And that's exactly what it was.
The fire raged, coming closer and growing bigger every moment. What had started as a pale golden shine grew into a fire that engulfed the entire opposite bank of the river. She tried to shy away from the blaze, but her paws were glued to the ground.
The fire stopped on the opposite river bank, roaring with heat. Basilpaw watched, helpless, as the fire started to leap over the bank at her, individual tongues of fire shifting into the shape of fiery cats. They flew through the air towards her, their claws extended, mouths open, eyes blazing in the night-
Basilpaw opened her eyes with a short, gaspy breath. The other medicine cats around her were also just rising, blinking the sleep out of their eyes.
That was terrible, Basilpaw thought, her heart still thumping. Could that have been a message from StarClan?, the she-cat considered. But that feeling of being hunted- that something bad was watching just out of eyesight- well, she refused to believe that that was the StarClan her mother had told her of.
"Anyone have any word?" Irisblossom asked. She looked around hopefull at the rest of the medicine cats, but they all shook their heads. Basilpaw wondered if she should say something, but she couldn't convince herself that StarClan had spoken to her.
"Maybe next time," Rosethorn meowed gently, laying his tail on Irisblossom's shoulder. The she-cat looked absolutely crushed.
"StarClan has abandoned us," she meowed brokenly.
No cat challenged her.
"We'd better head home," Mellowsong meowed. "The moon will be setting soon."
Rosethorn left first, supporting his hurting mentor. Basilpaw would never forget the look in her eyes- a mix of sorrow, fear, and utter hopelessness.
"It was nice meeting you," Olivepaw whispered to Basilpaw as he left with Sunspots. "I'm sorry tonight was so terrible."
"It's okay," she whispered back.
Mellowsong and Goldenfur went next, talking worriedly to each other. Basilpaw followed quietly, thinking about her dream. If it was some kind of message, it would probably mean SteppeClan was some sort of threat.
But if her hunch was true, and that wasn't a sign from StarClan?
Her pelt prickled again, and she had the familiar feeling of being watched as she exited the cave.
Heyo everyone! Sorry this chapter took some time to go up, I've had a little bit of writers block and I'm in the process of trying to move out of state. Anyway, this is a chapter I've been looking forward to writing for some time now- I saw Basilpaw's dream so vividly in my mind and I hope I did a good job translating what I saw. Also, here's something my boyfriend wrote about Basilpaw: her origin story.
Chapter Eight
Basilpaw sat in the back of the medicine den, deftly sorting through the pile of herbs in front of her. then she tried to discretly turn a pepperoni pizza into a basil pizza with no sauce! how could she do such a thing? hence forth from the day she was born she loved basil...
So yea that's it for this update. If you feel so inclined, I love reading your reviews and comments. See you all in the next chapter!