twilight || medicine cat gathering [01]

There they gathered, the medicine cats of all five Clans, weaving and chattering and purring among each other as if the concept of borders or loyalty held no meaning. Blueberry's ice laden gaze roved over the lithe and bouncy form of her small charge, and onto the practically permanent scowl of Nettleheart, and the wide eyed excitement of Tigerpaw.

A feeling of tight unease wrapped its way around her heart, feeling almost as if a coil of worms had buried their way deep within her chest. Watching the friendly exchanges, the light quips and polite sharing of herbs and everyday news, Blueberry came to the rather heavy realization that she'd never felt more awkward before in her life.

Gatherings were one thing - warriors being warriors, the Clans uniting in a friendly, but distant, communion, in honor of their starry eyed ancestors above. As a warrior, born and bred to her very marrow, Blueberry could relate to such a meeting. But nowadays, returning to her temporary position as a medicine cat of ThunderClan, their customs, ways and garble sung almost foreign to her ears. These cats have different ideals compared to me. Whereas they value pacifism, its the Warrior Code that I hold dearest of all.

It was as if ants were crawling beneath her fur; a heavy, awkward sense of being out-of-place, of not belonging. And yet Blueberry remained as stoic as usual, her countenance betraying nothing more than a mere drop of interest. Carefully she turned on her tail, and began to lead the way up the rocky hill.

Blueberry did not speak, even as the chatter burbled on and on behind. Rather, the warrior turned healer directed her thoughts onto different topics - rather, the upcoming ceremony that she'd be participating in for the first time in a long while. Despite consciously sticking out among the crowd like a weed among daisies, there was one part to the half moon Gathering that sent her heart beating fast with anticipation.

Seednose. I'm coming.

Blueberry halted before the yawning entrance to Mothermouth; not a drop of moonlight pierced its murky darkness, not a sound seemed to come from the depths of its maw. With a flick of her tail she summoned Peachpaw, gaze not once leaving the empty black of its jaws.

"Follow my lead." Her voice came out a soft murmur, as she finally tore her gaze away from Mothermouth, and fixed the sprightly she-cat with eyes of glinting sapphire. "Once we set paws in that tunnel, remain quiet until I give you the signal." A shard of amusement broke the serious glass of her face, and she added, with the faintest rumble of a purr, "consider it a test of your patience." With naught a word uttered more, Blueberry shifted her muscles beneath a pelt of thick gray, as if readying herself for what she would soon encounter within the misty clouds of her dreams.

She plunged into the darkness, the cavern swallowing her heavy form whole.

It still came as a shock to Blueberry, after moons of being a warrior. The cold slated stone beneath her paws, the stale air that clogged at her nose. Everything felt cold; from the rock under her feet, to the walls at her side, pressing closer and closer together with every passing step, hugging at her muscles until it felt as if she were being strangled, until she had to crouch down the steadily sloping hill. All felt quiet, strangely so, with not even the owl's mournful song reaching them so far below ground.

Finally the walls began to open up. The slope started to straighten, and Blueberry found she could breathe easy again. A brush of fresh wind stroked past her flank, carrying with it the mingling scent of grass and air - a scent that Blueberry already found herself missing oh so dearly.

And as the tunnel fell out of its slope, so did the darkness finally evaporate, like mist caught in the early drops of morning sunlight. A piercing white fire burned at her eyes, and for a moment Blueberry thought that the shapes of their starry ancestors had appeared before them in misshapen form; but as her eyes adjusted to the blazing shine, she realized it was, rather, streams and flickering beams of pure moonlight, bouncing off a sheen crystal seated in the very middle.

Her heart rose. A flicker of excitement betrayed her stoicism, memories of Seednose almost overpowering her senses. Another chilly breeze wafted past, and the medicine cat could almost swear she tasted her brother's musky odor on its back. Visions flashed bright and vivid before her mind's eye, as clear as if they'd only happened yesterday; gleaming white fangs of a dog, the fur of her brother striking past as he rose to meet it...

It was only the thudding pawsteps of the others behind her, as they all emerged into the wide open cavern, that broke the mystified she-cat from her reverie. Quickly she glanced over her shoulder at Peachpaw, suddenly feeling an uncharacteristic impatience rising up from within her stomach.

Patience, Blueberry. All will happen in due course.

Yes - what was important now was that she showed Peachpaw the ropes. Blueberry remembered her own first medicine cat Gathering, and it had certainly been an intimidating experience. Forcing the eager itch to move on with it all down to the bottom of her pads, Blueberry tilted her head and flicked her tail tip in the direction of the Moonstone, her eyes reflecting the blaring white light reflected off its surface.

"Touch your nose to the Moonstone." Even her eerie whisper seemed to echo off the cavern's walls, loud and ringing. Blueberry cleared her throat, continuing quickly on; "close your eyes, and StarClan will do the rest." It was at this point that she'd already padded up to the glistening crystal, her heart thudding violently against her chest with every shimmer off its surface. Above, the blaze of the moon splashed down, painting the cave in a starlit white.

Slowly she settled herself down at the base of the rock, every breath quiet and fast as she touched her nose gently upon its sheen facet. Eyes closed, and soon all Blueberry could hear was the quiet breathing of the other medicine cats, and the steady plop of water dripping from the stalactites.

Blueberry didn't know how long she waited. One moment everything felt normal; not a sound stirred, not a wind brushed by, not even a cicada buzzed. And the next, suddenly, her senses were assaulted by a vast array of sounds and smells. Shard blue eyes flung open, wide, to absorb the expansive landscape of grass that seemed to stretch on for all eternity before her.

Instinctively the female's head whipped to and fro, steely orbs seeking even the slightest glimpse of brown spotted fur. "Seednose?" came her quiet rumble; her voice seemed to echo off nothing, hanging long and dry in the air long after the name had left her mouth. Something constricted tightly in her chest, squeezing hard at her heart until her lungs felt as though they might pop; something's not right. The silence, the aching emptiness, the foreboding that seemed to resonate from every rock and blade of grass...Ears twitched back against her skull, back arched and the fur fluffed along her spine as claws slid from their sheaths, ready to meet any attacker head on -

"You haven't changed one bit, haven't ya, sis?"

Blueberry spun around, her lips drawn back into a threatening snarl. She didn't exactly know whom she was expecting to see - was it a cat who did not belong in this starry heaven? Was it an intruder from below? All ridiculous ideas, in retrospect; but Blueberry had the blood of a warrior running thick in her veins, and as the mere thought of peril raised its ugly head, she couldn't resist allowing her fighter's instincts to emerge.

But there was no shadowy figure she'd have to fight; no enemy warrior from another Clan. Instead, the shimmer of a million stars glistening in his all too familiar pelt, there stood a tom she'd thought had been relegated to nothing more than a memory. Her heart lurched, painfully sharp, within the tightening confines of her chest, and she felt her mouth run dry, the emotion of it all almost too much for the she-cat to handle.

"Seednose..." Blueberry's tone was unusually soft; constricted by grief and longing, choked by the sheer sentiment of it all. Her usual mask of stoicism fell, to reveal a countenance brimming with emotion, eyes glimmering as she took in each subtle curve of his form, every minute flick of his tail. Her brother looked healthier than he had in life, with a full belly and a warm, confident smile.

Blueberry couldn't resist. She sprung forward to meet him, energy flooding anew through her bones as though she were an apprentice once more, and they met in the fields of StarClan with deep, rumbling purrs. She rubbed her flank against is, her voice dying within her throat; what could she say? What was there to say? Seednose had sacrificed himself so that she ought to go on living. And yet, simultaneously, she was also the reason he'd lost his life.

Seednose pulled back first. His purr had died down to a backdrop of a rumble, and his eyes twinkled with the same mischievous mirth he'd possessed in life. "Now, now, Blueberry. Public displays of affection are so not your style."

Immediately she scoffed, an inkling of pride returning with a flash. "And I see your tongue is still as slimy as a worm. How quaint." Seednose chuffed at that, and though Blueberry's tone was sharp, the warmth in her gaze betrayed how happy she was to see him again.

Together they spoke. It was about nothing, really. Blueberry relayed what had happened to her after that fateful incident with a stray dog - and though she knew Seednose must've known all this already, he listened carefully and uttered naught a sound. When Blueberry had finally spoken what felt like a moon's worth of words, she looked to him, still quite unbelieving that of all the cats he was the one to stand before her right now.

Seednose seemed thoughtful. His head tipped, gently, as he brought up a paw and rasped a tongue along the fur. "So you're the medicine cat now?" he mumbled, in between drawling licks. "Y'know, I never saw you as a medicine cat type. You were always about fighting for what's right - justice and all that, y'know?"

She nodded, unable to dispute his words. "And that hasn't changed. But ThunderClan experienced a...slight predicament. I'm merely their temp."

"A temp eh?" A chuff of a laugh escaped his throat, though it was whipped away by the wind, and he cowed slightly under the scathing gaze that Blueberry shot him. "Well...either way. I'm sure you'll make a fantastic temp medicine cat." The teasing look he threw her was enough to send a familiar burble of annoyance coursing through Blueberry's veins, though she just couldn't find it within herself to be truly mad with him.

A sudden silence fell upon the two, like the warmest of summer blankets. Blueberry closed her eyes, holding this wonderful moment as close to her breast as possible; sooner or later she'd have to wake up, to face the reality that ultimately awaited her return.

The seconds became minutes. The silence stretched on and on, its depths becoming increasingly tight, and soon Blueberry cracked open her eyes, hoping to her dear ancestors above that her time had not yet ended with Seednose. And for a moment she was convinced that it very well might of.

But there he was, further away now, a proud figure perched upon the cusp of a hill. Blueberry's heart froze within her chest. "Wait! Is that...is that all?"

Seednose glanced back down at his sister, ears perked and tail raised to the sky. Slowly his eyes trawled to the starry heavens above. His eerie silence only added to Blueberry's mounting anxiety, and reluctantly she followed his gaze.

A piercing squawk cut through the brittle night air. The half moon above disappeared, blotted out by a dark shadow as it sailed across the starry sky. Wings beat hard against a backdrop of black and white; Blueberry glimpsed amber eyes set deep in a menacing face, as it circled lower and lower to the ground below.

Seednose followed its ever so slowly drifting form. "Even the mightiest of flyers must one day land," he murmured. Blueberry threw him a confused look, but Seednose barely seemed to recognize her now. A shard of sadness had alighted within his dark green eyes. Blueberry felt her bones stiffen painfully beneath her thick pelt.

Suddenly the bird let out a piercing screech. Its wings folded in, and like a stone dropping from the sky it fell. Plummeting to earth, the dark form crashed painfully hard into the ground, its impact rattling the stones beneath her paws. Blueberry bit back a gasp and sprung back, just as the dust cleared to reveal nothing more than a single dark feather.

"Do not be afraid." And like the mist Seednose had materialized at her side once more. "An era may end, but another will begin. Such is the way of our life."

"Is there...is there anything I can do to stop it?" Blueberry's voice escaped as a tight croak, and her heart sunk further when Seednose sadly shook his head.

"Destiny is predetermined. What must happen will happen." A tail flicked up to touch gently at her shoulder blade. "But all will end up well. I promise you that."

It was only then that Blueberry noticed Seednose disappearing before her eyes. His brown fur turned transparent, his mossy orbs began to wane and flicker like the death of a flame. "It was good to see you again, my sister," he purred, as the grass and meadow began to fade along with him. "Until next time we meet. Whether it be in dreams, or death."

"Wait -" Her strangled voice escaped as a pitiful mewl. But nothing she could say or do could prevent the sudden blindfold of darkness encasing her in its icy depths; tendrils of death cold fingers grasped at her paws, and the vague sound of hissing flickered like ghostly whispers within her ear drums, but no matter how much she twisted or turned, the darkness remained, suffocating and cold.

"Seednose!"

Blueberry awoke with a jolt.

For a moment she could briefly taste his warm scent hanging within the air, and her heart hurt with the longing to be by his side once more. But as her sleep drenched vision sharpened and cleared, revealing the usual sights of the Moonstone and the other sleeping medicine cats, Blueberry realized with a sigh that reality had finally called her back home.

Peachpaw should've been stirring by now. Gently, so as not to awake the others, she picked her way among their snoozing forms and found her ginger apprentice snuggled up. A paw prodded sharp into the small cat's ribs, the urgency of her eerie dream making her much more abrupt than usual. "Come now," the medicine cat murmured, and a feeling of dread struck deep into her marrow; had something terrible happened while they'd been away? Pushing down the painful stone within her belly, Blueberry flicked her tail towards the exit of Mothermouth. "It's time to go. Say your goodbyes, if you must."

Blueberry's paws kneaded fervently at the stone firm ground below. The sooner they returned to Camp, the better.

skyy and her socks, tikker ♪ ♫, @lost, @july, ame, @hawkpaw, hallelujah