[Abyss]

Rustpaw

Rainclan She-Cat

I'm talking with a big smile

Day 12: Change is happening in the valley; the leaves are beginning to turn gold, and fog envelops the moor, nearly cloaking LightningClan territory completely from sight. The fog spreads through the rest of the territories and remains through the night.

Wide amber eyes looked to the sky, a giant smile plastered across the young she-cat’s face. So many colors danced above her head in the branches of the trees. Vibrant yellows and golds, orange, red. So many warm colors, all moving together with each light breeze. The valley was beginning to shift from Greenleaf to Leaffall, and this was her first time seeing it herself.

“Dewfrost, it’s so pretty!” The mostly white and brown Medicine Cat watched the small rusty she-cat prance forward, her eyes hardly leaving the trees above. With a light shake of the head, she followed behind, their destination not too far now.

When the ruddy Apprentice finally turned her chin back down, she was met not with many colors, but with the light gray fog that coated the valley in a rather gloomy feel. The fog wasn’t as interesting as the leaves above, but she needed to focus. She had something else exciting to focus on. I get to see Starclan’s Claws for the first time!

As the two she-cats walked on, the land slowly began to rise slightly, signalling that what they were looking for was right over the hill. Although she had the urge to rush forward, Rustpaw turned to look to her mentor, a spark twinkling in her eye. She could see a small sigh fall from the she-cat’s maw, but she nodded nonetheless. Her bright smile growing brighter, the rusty she-cat ran forward up the hill, though her paws, as per usual, betrayed her halfway up the incline. A front paw slipped backwards, causing her front to fall forward, red and black nose smacking against the ground. With a shake of her head and a moment to recover, the she-cat got back to her little paws and continued on.

As she reached the top of the hill, there it was: Starclan’s Claws. Five large stones jutted up from the ground and pointed to the sky, a large boulder right at the center. It was somewhat harder to see due to the fog, but it was still very obvious what she was looking at. Every time this place was described to her, it was always told as having many cats from all of the clans gathered, the Leaders standing atop the large boulder. But this time there was no one. The clearing was empty, which allowed one to focus on the stones themselves.

Wait, what is that? Something moving? Glancing to the right, Rustpaw caught sight of a dark figure moving through the fog. “Who is that?”

Dewfrost stepped forward alongside her, looking down to also look to the dark figure. It appeared as though they were alone, which was somewhat interesting. But it seemed as though the Medicine Cat may know who this was, for she began to make her way down the hill. Ears perking, Rustpaw followed after her, her speed beginning to grow faster as she went down the hill. Soon she was fumbling passed her mentor, small paws unable to control her speed or slow her down. Similarly to the other side of the hill, she found her paws folding underneath her, her front falling forward. Though, unlike the previous slip-up, she wasn’t just falling forward and stopping; she kept going.

By instinct, she curled her body into a ball, allowing herself to roll forward into the clearing. When she finally came to a stop, her eyes were closed and her body remained curled. But, with the sound of pawsteps, amber eyes opened and peered behind her. She found not only the form of her mentor coming into the clearing, but the other dark figure as well. Emerging from the fog came a fluffy black she-cat with a very proper look about her.

“Ebonyheart.” The greeting was very short and formal, but it was still a greeting nonetheless from Dewfrost. It seemed her mentor was in fact familiar with this cat. With that knowledge in mind, the rusty she-cat jumped up and approached the two she-cats.

“Hello!”

but they haven't got a clue.

668 | Ghost the Undead Goddess KARAZHAL | Notes

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

Ebonyheart,

Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams

Wide, flat paws carried the large she-cat through a familiar route. It was one that her clan traveled during the night of the Full Moon as the whole valley met as one for the Gathering. It was also a simple path that she, as a healer, had roamed several times before during her ventures to both Starclan's Claws and other territories as was her right to move as she pleased. 

The barren landscape below fell away to harsh grass and sparse shrubbery before the softer undertow of the forest floor pressed against the black pads of her well worn paws. It wasn't often that she stepped foot onto a more gentler territory, seeing as Stoneclan was aptly named for it's rocky landscape. 

Even the journey to the Moon Tree with the other Medicine Cats of each clan required the lengthy climb up mountainsides and moving along sharp stones and boulders. Yet, despite the difference, the softness of the path to Starclan's claws was comforting and soothing for the ebony healer as she silently made her way towards where the massive claw-like boulders waited, shrouded in shadow and fog. 

An ear flickered as noises breeched the sensitive hairs within, causing the Stoneclanner to rotate her head to the side. With even the faintest of Leaf-Fall breezes trickling through the trees, Ebonyheart could taste the tangy scent of Rainclan. It wasn't often that warriors wandered here unless meeting during the sacred truce but perhaps it was simply the cats who held the same ranking as she did. 

Curiosity, always running beneath her length coat, pushed Ebonyheart forwards as she padded near silently through the open space as the canopy of leaves shielded the sky above her head. Unreadable mossy pools flickered slightly as the molly made out the distinct shape of Dewfrost and a more rambunctious youngster at her side, eyes wide and mouth agape. 

A new apprentice, perhaps. 

It seemed that all the healers were moving onto a new part of their journey. Medicine Cats normally held their position for the entirety of their life, and if successful, only mentored one cat that would eventually take over. The process would be repeated until the end of time, as Sandblaze had once mentored her before stepping down due to ailing health issues. 

Falconstorm had recently taken on the ward of a rather interesting feline by the name of Sagepaw, and now it seemed as though Dewfrost also decided to finally spread her wings and mold the mind of a youngster. In due time, Ebonyheart knew that she too would find a young kit, be it molly or tom, that would train within her shadow. To help guide their leader, to speak to Starclan, to heal the sick, the wounded and the old. 

It was a heavy job with lots of sacrifice... something that weighed heavily within the ebony she-cat's mind as she drifted back to the dream she had in previous days as well as the confusing emotions that ran ramped within her heart. 

There was a sudden collage of sound that caused Ebonyheart to pause and her attention returning to that of the other two she-cat across the clearing from her. The ruddy colored apprentice seemed to loose control of her limbs and went rolling through the damp grass as she curled into a ball. The large black molly twitched her tail nub before taking a step to the side, watching as the youngster unfolded herself with a gleeful expression upon her young face. 

Another ear flickered as she returned her attention to Dewfrost and respectfully dipped her head to the older healer. "Dewfrost." Her tone was proper and rather sharp, but there was no hidden meaning aside from the fact that was just how she spoke. Pale green pools shifted from elder molly to younger, "And you must be her apprentice?"

27 Moons StoneClan Medicine Cat Apprentice

Abyss KARAZHAL || Made by Fawn || 662 Words

[KARAZHAL]

Some days were harder than others to keep up the front that everything was okay and that her mentor didn't act like she was a useless piece of lichen attached to him. Sometimes he was nice and other times he was insufferable; it made Sagepaw question why StarClan chose her. She sort of resented the idea that a little molly like her was supposed to just fix him or something, and that would make her apprenticeship easier to swallow. She knew he was a lesson in itself, teaching her that patients wouldn't always the grateful-for-saving-me type. She might come across a hurt cat who'd be bitter and irrational, and it would be against her medicine cat code to ignore a cat in pain.

Still, it hurt. Either he didn't think of her as having potential or he thought she was just a nuisance. There really was no winning.

She lied and told him she was going to get something to eat, but really, Sagepaw left TreeClan camp completely, even without an escort. She fixed her face into a pleasant smile to make sure no one questioned her on her way to the dirt-place, and after she'd spent a few moments covering her pile and making sure no one was coming in either, Sagepaw climbed through the gap in the blackberry thicket. Steeling her nerve, she exhaled angrily through her nose and picked up her pace, scurrying along the deer path all the way to the stream, quickly wetting her paws to mask her scent. She followed the marshy border that separated her Clan from NightClan, hardly giving the enemy patrol a second look when she saw them on the other side of the water-logged trees. She plodded through the fallen leaves that choked the stream until finally it joined the river that flowed heart-blood through the whole valley. Sagepaw's feet sank into the cold silt on the riverbank.

It jolted her somewhat back into reality, forcing her to question just exactly what she was doing out here. She felt a little stupid, having come this far without an escort, and she had an awful sensation that she was going to be caught by her own clan's patrol and then get into trouble. In the distance, she heard voices. Sagepaw ducked into a huge hollow log that formed a bridge across the river. Keeping low so that her ears couldn't be seen, she hastily crossed to the place where the Clans held their Gatherings: StarClan's Claws. It was neutral territory, so she wasn't breaking any codes by traveling there, but she still had no business being there. She just wanted to escape being seen by that approaching patrol. She scurried through the tall grass and gray fog that thankfully obscured her sleek blue Somali form.

Only when she mounted the hill did she realize that she wasn't alone here, and all of Sagepaw's fur went on edge. Her nostrils flared, whiskers flicked, and slowly she took in the scents of three cats. She recognized two of them, but she hesitated on approaching, feeling almost as if she was intruding upon this grouping of she-cats. Falconstorm would claw her ears off if he was chatting with Kindleflare and she burst in on them excitedly out of the blue.

It seemed like Dewfrost--the cat smelling of RainClan--was introducing her new apprentice to Ebonyheart. Sagepaw's ears perked. She wasn't the youngest apprentice anymore? She scooted forward slowly in the damp grass to get a better look at the rusty-colored she-kit. Sagepaw's eyes softened at the cute molly; it was easy to forget her own troubles when she gazed upon the younger generation. She decided to go for it. She found some tansy nearby and bit it off, giving herself the alibi of gathering herbs.

Swallowing, Sagepaw forced herself up on all fours and quickly groomed her chest flat before shoving her face through the curtain of grass. She shook the dampness off her cream and gray pelt, lifting her fluffy tail high in greeting. "Oh, fancy meeting you all here," Sagepaw chirped around the stems in her mouth. She sounded friendly enough, although Ebonyheart would've definitely recognized the forced cheer from the poor TreeClan medicine cat. "Hello there!" She tilted her head at Rustpaw. "You're new, huh? Well, my name is Sagepaw! I'm from TreeClan over there." She flicked her tail in the direction from whence she came.

Abyss Ghost the Undead Goddess

[Abyss]

Rustpaw

Rainclan She-Cat

I'm talking with a big smile

Despite the fact that she was currently nine moons old, it was slightly sad in her mind to think that she had never truly met any cats from the other clans. She had heard others coming from patrols talk about running into the other clans, but she hadn’t ever done so herself. Rustpaw had dreamed of the day that she would get to go to one of the Gatherings. She was told all the time how the clearing in which Starclan’s Claws resided would be filled with cats from all of the valley’s clans. All of the different scents and faces would clash together into one, a meeting in which there was peace. She, in her early stages of being in the Nursery, had heard rumors of things not always being necessarily peaceful during the Gatherings. But those were a while ago, so surely they weren’t like that now.

Looking to the large black molly in front of her, obviously she was not from Rainclan, that much was plainly clear. But it was interesting to see someone who was from a different territory with different landscapes. Bright amber eyes examined the dark she-cat, taking note of her giant paws, her super soft-looking fur, and the intensity of her eyes. And, more of a playful thing to notice, she spotted the lack of a tail, at first assuming that she had no tail. She couldn’t help but lean sideways a little bit, looking behind the other feline.

“You have no...oh.” Her words were quiet, but there was no doubt that they were heard. Her statement quickly dropped when she saw that this non-Rainclanner did have a version of a tail, but it was small rather than long as she was used to seeing. There were a couple cats in Rainclan that had tails like that, but it was almost different seeing a cat from another clan who had a similar trait. She couldn’t help but wonder. Do all Stoneclan cats have no tail?

She heard a throat clear and glanced back with a lowered head. She spotted the clear look of disapproval that crossed her mentors face and turned back quickly.

“S-Sorry! I just don’t know many cats who have a short tail!” A goofy toothy smile pushed through her maw, a slightly awkward chuckle falling from them. She went to open her jaws to speak again, in an attempt to make up for her actions, she heard shuffling shrubs off to the side. Her wide gaze turned sideways to see yet another cat not from Rainclan approach the group. Though, upon seeing this feline, she rusty red she-cat seemed to freeze in place, her jaws slightly parted and her eyes a mixture of emotions. Her ears blocked out whatever was said in that moment. She saw the new she-cat’s mouth move, but she heard nothing. This cat...looks like…

Rustpaw! Her own voice within her head brought her back to attention, her eyes blinking quickly as she remembered that she was not alone. She listened in, truthfully this time, to what the other cat had to say. Similarly to herself, this she-cat seemed younger, and carried the scent of trees on her pelt. Her suspicions confirmed when she introduced herself.

Her face formed into a bright smile, and though she didn’t know it, at that moment, it wasn’t just Sagepaw who had to put on a smile.

“Yeah! I’m Dewfrost’s new Apprentice!” She looked back and forth quickly between both the large black she-cat and the other female who looked like a much lighter version of herself. “I’m Rustpaw!”

Then, she finally realized something she hadn’t before: Sagepaw was carrying something. Looking closer, they were herbs...of some sort. She didn’t actually know what they were, or if it was just grass, but it still looked like herbs to her. It was this sight that caused a thought to occur to her. Her ears perked and she looked between them once more.

“Are both of you Medicine Cats too?”

but they haven't got a clue.

670 | Ghost the Undead Goddess KARAZHAL | Notes