Here comes a new chapter! I have several written in advance now, so who knows, I might update more often... But I won't promise anything.
"I found the Moontree."
Webhollow's words rang in the leader's den and Pricklesong froze. A quick look told her that the other three weren't faring any better. Gone for a moon and a half on the grounds of bad feelings and all at once she was back with the most precious way to communicate with StarClan? It sounded too good to be true. But Webhollow had no reason to lie about this…
Heatherrump, the oldest – and most probably the wisest – of their small group, calmly took the lead of the conversation, leaving them time to regain their bearings.
"Are you sure? You have never the Moonstone that the old Clan used, you were too young…"
"I have heard the stories. The tree… It was normal one moment, and the next, it was shining, sparkling like stardust covered it's needles. Exactly when moonlight fell on it," she hesitated, but the older cat's gentleness seemed to reassure her. "And I… I slept in it."
Pricklesong saw the young warrior's eyes darken with grief and suddenly she pieced it all together. The incomprehensible distress, the frantic apologies…
"Maybe you should go there?"
Heatherrump soft mew was clearly destined to Blossomstar, but the leader's eyes were glassy and it was obvious that she wasn't listening. Pricklesong was ready to shake her out of it when she abruptly came back to herself.
"Get out, all of you. I need to think."
Never before had her friend chased her out so coldly, but before she could argue, the other medicine cat pushed her out. Webhollow bowed her head lightly and made her escaped right before she exploded.
"Has she got bees in her brain?!"
"Not here," Snaildapple cut in. "Not where anyone overhear, please."
They settled for the medicine cats' den, where she began to walk in circles. The deputy stood awkwardly, tail batting the air. Only Heatherrump sat calmly.
"Give her time."
"Time?! Time for what? We need to go there, you know it."
"She's not ready, you saw that as well as I did."
"Just before, she was worried that none of us could talk to StarClan! You'd think it would have quelled her doubts!"
"Wait, what do you mean?"
She threw a furious look to the dark grey tom before taking a deep breath. It wasn't is fault, and she shouldn't be taking her frustration out on him.
"We've been on our own since we settled as MistClan. Our ancestors… They were forgiving enough to grant Blossomstar her nine lives, but they told her she would have to make do without them. Apparently, it also included us medicine cats. We haven't had dreams or visions for moons now."
He gasped and sat down heavily.
"The situation has changed, Pricklesong," the other medicine cat insisted, and she couldn't help the glare she sent him.
"Oh yeah? Enlighten me then!"
"Bluestripe…" Heatherrump gently squeezed one of Snaildapple's front paws with his tail, "Bluestripe just died when they were together. She has sworn to protect us and she failed. And now, our youngest warrior comes back with a message furthering the idea that StarClan would rather talk with anyone else. How well do you think she's taking it?" An uncomfortable silence set over them before he continued. "Besides, she just died herself. Maybe she saw something…"
"Sitting around isn't going to change anything either."
"I know that you're used to having her listen to you right away, but she is our leader. Sometimes, we need to trust her to make the right decisions on her own."
Pricklesong grumbled as he approached her to rub their cheeks together. She hated to admit it, but he was right. Blossomstar needed time to make her decision? Then so be it. There was no reason to fight her on this as long as her choice didn't hinder the Clan.
"Heatherrump! Heather- oh, sorry!"
All three cats turned towards the den's entrance. Baykit stood there, awkwardly shrinking under their scrutiny. She came by a lot these days, and it was increasingly obvious that she would be MistClan's first medicine cat apprentice. Pricklesong planned on taking the necessary measures – which mostly meant asking for the leader's permission – soon.
"It's fine, dear," the white tom mewed. "We were wrapping up our discussion. Come here, take a look at these roots."
Later, as she came back from the dirtplace, she found Blossomstar alone in the deserted clearing, staring at the night sky. Claw-moon had passed a few nights before, leaving it up to the stars to lighten the darkness. When she looked back at her leader, their eyes met and Pricklesong suppressed a shiver. Blossomstar's pupils had eaten away all the green if her irises, leaving behind two dark wet pools of despair.
"Did you know, as the leader of MistClan, I'm the star that should lead us all in the right direction. But I fear to have doomed everyone to eternal darkness instead…"
By the time she had registered the words, the light grey tabby was already gone. Even without these cryptic words, it would have been easy to draw a conclusion. Something was very wrong.
The next blow that Blossomstar had to suffer came before anything else could be solved. It was more of an emotional one, and Pricklesong had seen it coming but with everything else, she had to admit that she had pushed it to the back of her mind. She was abruptly reminded of it when Flipspot appeared in her den, asking for a way to relieve her aching joints.
"I spoke to Blossomstar," the tall she-cat mewed, "about the pain in my paws and shoulders. About the fact that I'm too old to continue like this."
"How did it go?"
"She'll do the ceremony. Tonight, probably. Tomorrow, if she doesn't have time," she paused, considering. "There's something weird about her, don't you think?"
The medicine cat hummed, taking advantage of the comfrey root in her mouth to avoid answering. Now, on top of it all, their leader would feel abandoned by her old mentor, like she had lost support. Spitting out the tangy paste, the brown and white she-cat resolved to bring Blossomstar to the so-called Moontree, dragging her by the scruff of her neck if she had to.
Flipspot's ceremony was very moving, but it was a bit sad to see her go alone into the – until then empty – elder's den. Obviously, Grasslilac would probably join her to sleep, but until he felt ready, she would be the only official resident.
This time, Pricklesong thought as she saw the leader disappear in her own den, no way that she was going to let things go as easily. She slipped out of the crowd to follow her friend.
"Blossomstar-"
"I know what you're going to say." The tabby she-cat had rarely looked so tired. "But what if StarClan has really given up on me – on everyone because of me? I was ready to bear the consequences when it came to myself but, except you, no one else made the choice to come with all the information."
"We'll manage," Pricklesong declared, and as he words came out, she realised that she truly believed it. "It's been fine up until now. We've done all we could. StarClan or not, we have all protected our Clan together. And no dreams would have saved Lichenkit and Bluestripe. We need to focus on the cats who are still alive, and to do that, Snaildapple, Heartherrump and I, we need you. Stop dwelling on the dead, there's nothing more we can do for them."
"Maybe you're right…"
They stood face to face in silence for a while. Then, the leader curled up on herself, not even bothering to walk to her nest.
"We'll go. To the Moontree, I mean. You, Webhollow and me. Just let a few more sunrises pass, to arrange everything with Snaildapple."
Blossomstar's mumble agreement sounded hollow, like she was admitting defeat, and Pricklesong didn't have anything to say to reassure her.
Now, waiting was the only thing to do.
The time Webhollow had taken to come back had led Pricklesong to believe that the tree would be farther away. But the sky had yet to darken when the young warrior led them into a pine forest, claiming that it wouldn't be much longer before they got there. And truthfully, their little group reached the correct place by sundown. When she shared this observation, the golden tabby narrowed her eyes, ears slightly flattened on her skull.
"It was a lot of ground to cover for a single cat only guided by vague gut feelings."
All things considered, it seemed more difficult indeed.
Moonlight shone, shedding its rays on the needles and, just as Webhollow had said, the tree steadily began glowing. Pricklesong and Blossomstar- who had been suspiciously quiet during the whole day – were left dumbstruck for a moment, before getting a grip on themselves. The medicine cat climbed to one of the lowest branches, happily sinking in a nook of the trunk; a bit higher, her friend was doing the same. From her position on the ground, the young warrior addressed her a nod; she would be on guard duty. Completely at ease, she closed her eyes.
StarClan's territory was just as she remembered it. A little emptier and blurrier at the edges maybe, but still akin to a dream come true.
"Glad that you still like it," a voice said, nearly making her jump in fright.
Bluestripe looked at her good-naturedly, fur shinning and seemingly covered in star dust. In between her front paws sat Lichenkit, who despite her childish manners was now clearly wise beyond her age. Pricklesong purred.
"I'm happy you found each other. Do you know where Blossomstar is?"
"You should leave her be for now," Lichenkit mewed. "She is with Springfur."
"Springfur? She is here?"
"She's the one who guided us here, to the new StarClan she created to follow MistClan. But we're all new to this, so I hope you'll forgive our mistakes."
"Some things shouldn't have happened," Bluestripe added. "I died almost at the same time as Blossomstar, you know?" Springfur had to make a choice, because she was alone – Lichenkit wasn't ready – and still learning. She chose to guide me, because Blossomstar would have a chance to go back to the living… She didn't know that waiting for me would send her sister's soul in a darkness so deep that she would fear for MistClan's dead."
At least, it explained her friend's strange behaviour. But another thing troubled her.
"And Webhollow?"
The kit snorted. Her mother gently flicked her ear with the tip of her nose.
"Do not be rude." Turning towards Pricklesong, she sighed. "We don't really know. Webhollow has always been prone to stress and dark thoughts, but it seems that it might also be partly our fault. She is strongly attuned to StarClan, more than anyone else in MistClan. Remember to not disregard her intuition."
"It's time," Lichenkit piped up. "Make good use of the Moontree in the future. And if you could tell my father, sister and brothers not to be too sad…"
"I'll tell them that you're both watching over them, don't worry."
Blinking, Pricklesong awoke gently. By the time she reached the ground, Blossomstar had also opened her eyes and, for the first time in what felt like forever, there was that light in them, the one that had convinced a handful of cats to follow her into the unknown.
"Take a nap, Webhollow, we'll go back after," she announced, full of a new enthusiasm. "I have future mentors to talk to and new apprentices to name!"
"What have you planned?" the medicine cat asked to make small talk – for all of Webhollow's discretion and apparent strong link to their ancestors, serious conversation would have to wait for a more private setting.
"Honeykit with Tornacorn and Springkit with Crookedflight."
"Interesting choices."
"I know," she mewed mysteriously, "but the future will prove that my choices are the right ones."
"So sure of ourselves, are we? And what of Baykit?"
"With you of course!"
"I haven't asked you anything about that yet!"
"My friend, I was preoccupied, not suddenly bat-blind!"
The way back was much livelier and they joyously entered the camp at sunset. Blossomstar winked at her before rushing to the warriors' den.
"I have two warriors to talk to, then I'll call a Clan meeting to make announcements – yes, also about the Moontree. Don't forget to talk to Snaildapple and his kits."
As if Pricklesong was suddenly mouse-brained! But watching her retreating back, she found herself unable to hold it against her friend now that things finally looked brighter.
That's all for today! I hope you enjoyed it.
Further down the line, some chapters are really short and really slice of life-like, completely different from the three that we just passed...