The tension Starlingpaw had expected on the way to the Moonfalls was mostly nonexistent; Tawnypaw occasionally spat out a sarcastic remark, but Larkpaw was there to quiet her. Blizzardstar was oddly nervous, and he was largely silent, his eyes flicking from side to side as they walked along the river to the great waterfall.
The group reached the Moonfalls rather quickly, and Starlingpaw's breath caught for a brief moment as she looked upon the mouth of the river for the first time in her life.
Ahead of her, a towering cliff sat at the end of their territory, stretching as far as any cat could see. It was so steep that she could barely see the top of it as it stretched into the sky. Moss blanketed the rock face, and it was so thick where the cliff met the ground that she could barely see the stone through it. From the top of the cliff, a cascade of running water fell, white as snow. Below the waterfall was a pool of unknown depth, being fed directly by the falling water and flowing out into the river that split the territories. Starlingpaw took a step closer, only to be sprayed with the tiny droplets that were created when the waterfall met with the pool. She took a quick moment to appreciate the sight of the beads of water as the sun reflected off of them, making an array of dancing lights before her.
"Here we are," Blizzardstar stated. He turned to the apprentices. "Two of you can enter with me, but I'll need someone to stay outside and keep watch. If you go in, you'll have to swim and go under the waterfall."
"I shouldn't go, then. These two have much shorter fur," Tawnypaw responded quickly. Starlingpaw wondered why exactly she had refused so quickly. Was she really just afraid of getting her fur wet, or did she want to be alone for some reason?
"Okay. I'll go in with you, then," Starlingpaw meowed. She was glad that her swimming lessons were truly paying off; she had total confidence that she could make the swim. Hopefully, Larkpaw knew how to swim as well.
Blizzardstar nodded and padded toward the Moonfalls as Tawnypaw settled herself outside. The leader quickly submerged himself into the pool, his long and fluffy fur flattening against his body. He was much smaller without the extra volume that his pelt gave him. Starlingpaw followed quickly behind him, slipping into the water with the grace of a snake and paddling smoothly to Blizzardstar's side. She looked back to see Larkpaw waiting at the water's edge, poking the black water with one paw.
"Come on, Larkpaw!" Starlingpaw called from a fox-length or so out into the water. "I don't think it's all that deep, but you probably can't touch the bottom. Just use your paws to swim!"
Larkpaw took a deep breath and plunged himself into the water, going under the surface for a moment before his head broke through. He shook his head wildly, flinging water droplets off of him. "It's much colder than I expected!" he meowed, his tone high and shrill.
Starlingpaw laughed, but she did agree. Without another word, she followed her leader as they swam toward the waterfall.
As they approached the falls, the pool became shallow, and they waded to the edge, standing just before the great rush of white water. Its pounding filled Starlingpaw's ears, so loud that Blizzardstar's voice was drowned out by it. Before she could ask what he had said, Blizzardstar leaped through the curtain of water, his body pushed down for an instant by the pressure, and disappeared beyond it.
Fear tingled in her paws, freezing her limbs in place. The huge weight of the water was more than she had expected to face, and she worried that it would be too much for her. But, no, surely the muscle she had built up in her training and swimming sessions would pull her through. She took one swift breath and ran into the waterfall.
The pounding water knocked her to the ground, throwing her off of her already unbalanced legs. She laid for a moment beneath the falls, the water crushing her as she sat under it. Starlingpaw tried to rise to her paws, but she couldn't bend her limbs well enough from their stiffness to get up. Before she could do anything else, a large force slammed into her from behind and she slid across the slippery rock surface into a shallow cave.
Larkpaw pushed through the waterfall just behind her, and she realized that he must have shoved her through.
"Thanks for that!" she mewed breathlessly, still recovering from the colossal weight of the water. "I guess I wasn't prepared for that much force."
"Probably, but it was your gait too. I saw your legs splay out from underneath you–they were fully straightened. I had to bend my knees to stabilize myself, so…"
Starlingpaw nodded, then whispered, "Blizzardstar doesn't know, so I'd like it if you could keep quiet, okay?"
Larkpaw twitched his whiskers in agreement and turned to look at the cave they were seated in. Starlingpaw followed his gaze.
Blizzardstar sat just beyond them, where the cave widened into a larger room. In that cave, tiny stars lit up the rocky walls and ceiling, their light bouncing off of the dripping stone, covered in water from the nearby falls.
"Stars?" Starlingpaw breathed, her voice soft as she sat in awe. "How did StarClan warriors end up in a cave?"
Blizzardstar purred, which made her fur stand on end. "They're not stars, just tiny crystals. The sun and moon both cast their light into this cave through the falls, and they catch the light and sparkle."
Upon closer inspection, he was right. The stars were small, pale-colored gems embedded in the stone, and their dazzling lights were hidden in places of shadow. Starlingpaw still found them remarkably beautiful.
"To visit with StarClan, a cat must place their muzzle in the water of the Moonfalls and wait for a dream sent from our ancestors. You two can wait back in the crystal cave while I dream," Blizzardstar explained, his voice calm and smooth.
The apprentices watched as their leader walked to the mouth of the cave, which was set just enough above the pool that it wasn't submerged in water. He stretched out his neck, his fur sodden and flat, and touched his nose to the rushing veil of white water, which flung droplets even into the crystal cave.
Starlingpaw soon became bored of staring at her motionless leader as he crouched low on the ground and examining the numerous gems in the little cavern. She turned to Larkpaw for entertainment.
"So um, we're at the Moonfalls! Pretty exciting," Starlingpaw meowed, at a loss for interesting topics to bring up.
"Yeah, we're right next to StarClan," Larkpaw replied, but his obvious statement didn't help that much.
Starlingpaw hissed. "Oh, I know I shouldn't be, but I'm so bored! All we can do is sit here and stare at Blizzardstar's tail as he dreams."
Larkpaw turned to face her, his ears pricked. "I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"I still don't think this is a good idea," Starlingpaw whispered to her brother as she stood at the mouth of the cave. The waterfall was so close that the spray from it was soaking through her fur and into her bones.
"Go on! Don't be a coward," Larkpaw teased from back in the cave. She bared her teeth at him in mock anger and he purred with laughter.
Starlingpaw looked to her side, just a mouse-length away, where Blizzardstar lay low to the ground, his snout barely touching the flowing water. With one last uneasy glance at Larkpaw, she slowly settled herself to the ground, tucking her limbs underneath her body to keep her purchase on the slippery stone surface.
Her eyes closed, Starlingpaw stretched her neck outwards and touched her nose to the water.
The moment that the tip of her snout connected with the falls, the environment around her fell away and shifted.
She was standing in a forest–DawnClan territory–and before her was the river. It was late into the night, the only illumination above her from a shining crescent moon partly covered by wispy clouds. She looked down at her paws only to find them an entirely different color–black and white. In a flash, her fur changed again, and suddenly her paws were deep crimson. With a gasp, she realized their color was from the blood that soaked her fur. Turning away from the river, she saw a clearing that she barely recognized under the piles of dead cats. All of their pelts were torn into pieces, shredded by claws and teeth. Starlingpaw gagged at the pungent odor of blood that filled the clearing; her head spun with the gruesome sight of so many mauled bodies, but she didn't seem to have control over her paws. She walked into the mess of death, her legs moving without her saying so, her paw pads skimming pools of scarlet blood and stepping over mangled corpses.
Her trail stopped at one specific cat, its thick fur colored deep red. Her paws reached out slowly to the body, and she realized with horror as she touched the cat that it was still breathing despite its gaping wounds. She turned it over unwillingly and recognized who the cat was as soon as she saw its face. The cat's bright blue eyes opened slowly, its pupils turning to slits as they saw Starlingpaw's face. She couldn't say or do a thing, only watch, as her claws extended and dug into the cat's throat with a rage so strong that her eyes burned.
Blizzardstar didn't last long with her jagged claws through his neck, and she watched, oddly devoid of emotion, as the life drained from his eyes.
Her eyes flew open, revealing the Moonfalls exactly as they had been, and Blizzardstar alive beside her. She jumped back from the waterfall, the image of the blood-soaked clearing ingrained in her mind. She could only smell the death that had filled her nostrils moments before, and without thinking she leaped through the Moonfalls with alarming speed and plunged into the pool of dark and murky water, submerging her head in the icy liquid in an attempt to kill the scent. When she resurfaced, the odor was mostly gone, replaced by the sharp, clean smell of the river, but she could still feel the taste of blood in her mouth. She gulped down a mouthful of water, drowning her taste buds, but it remained even after she swallowed.
Frantically, she swam to the edge of the pool to the grass where Tawnypaw sat, oblivious, and dragged herself onto land, trying to put distance between herself and the vision.
Tawnypaw jumped at her presence, leaping into a battle stance, but calmed down when she realized who it was. "Starlingpaw! You look like you've been running from a flood of rats! What's wrong with you?"
Starlingpaw shook herself violently to get the scent off of her fur, but when she turned to groom the water out of her pelt, she tasted death again.
She yowled in frustration and fear, still reeling from what she had seen, and sat down hard on the ground, burying her head in her paws. What did it mean? Was her vision a message from StarClan? It had to be, if it felt so real to her and lingered after she had seen it.
"Starlingpaw, you're not answering my question," Tawnypaw hissed. "What happened?"
The sable apprentice was still too shocked to speak. All she could think of was the thick air that was filled with blood and the terrified expressions of the dead.
Tawnypaw released an annoyed huff. "If you won't tell me, I guess I'll have to ask Blizzardstar."
Starlingpaw's head jerked up away from her paws and she sat up straight, her fur bristling. "No! Don't do that," She worried that Blizzardstar wouldn't exactly be thrilled that she had used the Moonfalls. When she first touched her nose to the water–she shivered at the memory of what came next–Starlingpaw hadn't expected anything to happen other than her snout getting wet. She supposed that StarClan must have intended to tell her the message; Starlingpaw didn't think it was possible to force her ancestors into giving her a prophetic vision, if that's what it really was.
"Why not?" Tawnypaw asked, her voice annoyingly gleeful.
"Oh, come on!" Starlingpaw hissed, rolling her eyes. "Why do you do this?"
Tawnypaw shot her a confused glance. "Do what?"
Starlingpaw groaned, and she realized that she did not have the energy to explain Tawnypaw's faults while she was grappling with the most horrible sight she had ever experienced. "Nothing. You'll just have to figure out for yourself why no one likes you."
"W-what?" Tawnypaw spluttered. "How dare you! I'm perfectly liked. Larkpaw likes me."
Starlingpaw answered curtly, trying to end their conversation and still very occupied with the memory of her leader dying beneath her claws. "Yes, he really likes you, and it's horrible that you string him along like you do."
This time Tawnypaw was silent, though Starlingpaw didn't enjoy the quiet as much as she thought she might. Being alone with her experience only made it more overwhelmingly terrifying. She wondered if this was how Birchpaw felt about his past, constantly poking through her consciousness to taunt her with its horror. A chill crept down her spine, a stream of ice running along her back, as she remembered the color of Birchpaw's pelt. Black and white.
"He's just… not to insult him, but Larkpaw is just too eager to please," Tawnypaw meowed, quieter than she had ever spoken before. "And maybe that's why I'm so angry all the time. Every cat in the Clan keeps shoving us together, and I can't shake him off."
Starlingpaw was only half-listening, but what she heard didn't surprise her. Larkpaw was always tripping over his own paws to impress Tawnypaw. What she didn't expect was for the ginger she-cat to keep talking.
"I feel like I'm failing them. The whole camp. They want me to be with Larkpaw and have a ton of kits, but I don't want that."
The younger apprentice was shocked to hear that Tawnypaw was actually affected by others' opinions. She always seemed to shove them off of her if she didn't agree with them, and this side of Tawnypaw was too real. Starlingpaw had to admit that she never treated Tawnypaw like she had any feelings; she was so rude and abrasive to everyone that Starlingpaw tended to ignore her. Not to mention that Starlingpaw had pictured Tawnypaw and her brother as mates from the day they became apprentices. "Well, so what?" she meowed. "I mean, you don't have to have kits with him."
"I know. That's kind of the point. I like another cat."
Starlingpaw looked up, her ears pricked. "Who?" She couldn't imagine such a sarcastic and proud cat being in love.
Tawnypaw was quiet for a moment before she purred, "Mosspetal. I like Mosspetal a lot. We talked for hours when we were both apprentices. She's the best. She's so smart and beautiful and she makes me happy," Her eyes were wistful as she spoke, shining with emotion. "We've already decided. I'm going to become her mate as soon as I'm made a warrior, which is long overdue."
At that moment, everything about the ginger apprentice came together. "That's why you were so angry this morning in the apprentices' den." Tawnypaw's general anger and rudeness were all because she couldn't be with the she-cat she loved. Mosspetal had been made a warrior moons and moons ago, before Starlingpaw had discovered her kit-gait, and Tawnypaw must have been driven mad by the distance between them. Starlingpaw figured she would do the same if–no, she stopped her thought before it could fully develop.
"Yeah. Becoming a warrior means a lot more to me than it does to Birchpaw."
Starlingpaw didn't interject this time, because Tawnypaw was right. Sure, Starlingpaw and Birchpaw both wanted to become warriors, but so did every apprentice in the history of the Clans. Tawnypaw becoming a warrior would mean a lifetime of happiness, hopefully.
"Well, congratulations, Tawnypaw," Starlingpaw purred, for once genuinely respecting the she-cat. "You have life a lot more figured out than I do."
"Oh, come on. You must have someone in mind," Tawnypaw meowed, her tone implying that she already thought she knew the answer.
Starlingpaw hissed. "Don't make it weird. I'm just friends with him."
"I didn't say anything!" Tawnypaw responded teasingly.
Starlingpaw suddenly realized that she hadn't been thinking about the vision for a good while. The joyful mood of their conversation disappeared in an instant and as she spoke she could only think of that bloody pile of bodies. "So who's going to tell Larkpaw?"
There was no answer. Both she-cats knew that it would shatter his world, but he needed to find out sooner rather than later before he completely submerged himself in love.
"I think he needs to hear it from you, Tawnypaw," Starlingpaw meowed after a long pause.
Tawnypaw sighed. "You're right, but it's going to be hard."
"Yes, but if you wait too long, it'll get even worse," Starlingpaw advised her, all light-hearted joking gone from her.
"Fine," the older apprentice said, her tone tired. "I'll tell him when we get back. I want to enjoy one last trip of his stupid groveling before it's gone."
"Don't bask in it too much, or you won't want to end it."
"Hey!" A voice called, and the she-cats whipped their heads around to meet it. Larkpaw was paddling towards the bank from the waterfall, occasionally dropping under the surface as his legs faltered. "Blizzardstar just woke up! We're going back soon!" the tomcat managed to meow when his head struggled back above the surface.
Starlingpaw shot a meaningful glance at Tawnypaw, who rolled her eyes and began to groom her fur. Larkpaw emerged from the water and stared happily at Tawnypaw, fully unaware of how different his life would be when he found out that his abundant feelings were not reciprocated.