Echoes Off The Wall - Warriors.

Chapter Nine

It was the Halfmoon, therefore, Skypaw would have to be returning to the Shining Stone to catch up with what's been happening with StarClan, except .. he would have to be going alone this time around, because there was no Toadleap in MapleClan anymore. Skypaw winced just thinking of his mentor, and he sighed. Skypaw looked through the herb storage in the back of the Medicine Cat's den until he found what he figured was Chamomile, the herb that you used in order to travel, considering that the Shining Stone was rather far away from the Clans' territories, and even more so for MapleClan.

Skypaw ate the herb reluctantly. It tasted terrible, but he didn't want to literally fall asleep on the way to the Shining Stone. He then padded out of the Medicine Cat's den and looked over at the fresh-kill pile longingly, but he knew that he couldn't eat before he visited StarClan. Then again, maybe one bite wouldn't hurt? He shook his head and walked over to Loststar, whom was currently sitting on the top of the Highrock, watching over her Clan. "I'm leaving to go to the Shining Stone, since it's the Halfmoon," he murmured to her from below the Highrock. Her ears perked, indicating that she could hear him even from up there. "I have to get my Medicine Cat name, afterall," he frowned. Loststar nodded and blinked, zoning off to think about Toadleap, from as far as Skypaw could tell.

Skypaw exited the camp and made his way towards the Shining Stone. First, he would be required to leave his own territory, of course, and then he would have to go past MeadowClan's territory, and they weren't exactly the nicest Clan in the forest; however, they had enough sense not to bother the Medicine Cats' when they were on their way to the Shining Stone.

Skypaw walked past the waterfall, gazing at it for a minute before ordering himself to stop sightseeing, considering that he's seen MapleClan's territory lots of times in his life, so he really shouldn't be in such awe at it anymore. But, the waterfall was MapleClan's main attraction, and lots of times, you could spot loners, rogue's, and even kittypet's there, looking at the waterfall with amazement sparkling in their eyes. Sighing, Skypaw realized that he could barely even hear his own thoughts from the roaring of the waterfall. He turned away, heading towards the Shining Stone once again. 'At least try not to get distracted this time,' he thought quietly to himself as he walked along the MapleClan border until he reached MeadowClan.

Once he reached MeadowClan's border he stopped, panting just a little bit. Then he continued on, and eventually he met up with MeadowClan's medicine cat, Foxflight, and his apprentice, Nightpaw. Foxflight looked at Skypaw with pity. "I heard about what happened," he murmured, resting a tail on Skypaw's shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't need your pity," Skypaw snapped, making Foxflight blink at him in surprise. Skypaw sighed again, directing his gaze on the ground, and continued walking forward, ahead of Foxflight and Nightpaw. However, Nightpaw caught up with him in just a few fast strokes of her legs.

"I know that's just your way of dealing with things," she whispered, looking at him while Skypaw tried his best to block out her voice. "It's okay, Skypaw - it's okay to show your feelings. It really is - no one will judge you. I won't judge you. The other medicine cats won't judge you. And if they do, well, they're not a very good medicine cat, if you ask me," she chuckled a bit, obviously trying to get him to speak to her.

Skypaw frowned. "I-I ... whatever." Though his voice this time, it wasn't dripping as much venom as it had whenever he had spoken to Foxflight. Though, Toadleap's death wasn't the only reason that he was feeling this way - it was also the fact that he, was a murderer, even as a medicine cat.

The CloudClan medicine cat, currently without an apprentice, jogged up to them. Her name was Roseleaf, and everyone thought that she was a very pretty she-cat. However, she, for one, stuck to the Warrior Code at all costs, and would never try to become mates with someone, since she was a Medicine Cat and medicine cat's aren't supposed to have mates.