Warriors: Shattered Blossom

Chapter Eight

Cragpaw peered past Minnowsong's shoulders, his heart thundering in his ears at the sight of the yawning dark cavern. Moonlight shone off of the stone in a silvery sheen of light and painted the cats gray. The older medicine cats nodded to each other, and one by one, they slipped into the cave.

    Nightpaw hurried after Stumpwhisker, leaving Cragpaw to linger outside of the entrance.

    "Come on, what are you waiting for?" Dapplepaw mewed, glancing over her shoulder. "StarClan won't wait."

    Swallowing his nerves, Cragpaw pushed into the dark space. Shadows closed around him. He couldn't see anything, and he could hear the faintest drip of water echoing off the walls. His fur brushed against the walls and the tips of his ears touched the ceiling. Pawsteps shuffled ahead of him, and he caught the slightest murmur of voices—but it wasn't from his fellow medicine cats. They whispered from the walls, drifting wordlessly into his ears. His spine prickled.

    A faint breeze flushed against his skin as they passed by what he could only presume to be another corridor, branching off into infinite darkness. He had no idea where he was going, and felt blind and afraid. It was reassuring though, touching his nose to the tip of Dapplepaw's tail. At least he wasn't alone.

    As they edged deeper into the mountain, coldness began to creep beneath Cragpaw's fur. His pelt rose slightly to protect himself from the chill.

    The blackness gradually began to lighten. A faint silver glow silhouetted the figures ahead of him, and gradually, the thin walls began to stretch wider.

    "Wow," Cragpaw breathed.

    The cave stretched before him, and the medicine cats slipped around the large blue stone that decorated the center of the room. It glittered faintly in the starlight that twinkled down from a round, yawning hole in the ceiling, but the glow was scarce. Stumpwhisker beckoned Cragpaw to join him, and he slowly padded over, taking in the beauty of the Moonstone.

    Cragpaw parted his mouth to inquire, but Stumpwhisker shushed him with a flick of his tail.

    "We wait," the tom said quietly.

    Cragpaw nodded and settled beside his brother. His breath was bated with excitement and he felt a tingle growing in his paws. He condensed his excitement into the barest twitch of his tail and squeezed his eyes shut.

    The darkness behind his eyelids grew brighter.

    Cragpaw's eyes shot open and he gasped. The half-moon had begun to shift towards the hole, cascading a bright glow onto the large, glistening stone. The stone caught in the light, shooting rays onto the walls and turning the clearing into a stunning bluish white. The half-moon slid into complete view. The glow it reflected from the rock was nearly blinding.

    "Cragpaw, Nightpaw," Stumpwhisker mewed loudly. "Is it your wish to enter into the mysteries of StarClan as medicine cats?" The two apprentices nodded as one, their pelts glowing silver in the stunning moonlight. "Then come forward."

    They approached. Cragpaw's feet tingled with nerves as he stood before the menacingly glowing stone. Stumpwhisker turned to the Moonstone. "Warriors of StarClan, I present to you these apprentices. They have chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant them your wisdom and insight so that they may understand your ways and heal their Clan in accordance with your will."

    He smiled, and indicated to the young toms. "Lie down, and press your nose to the stone."

    Cragpaw curled his paws beneath himself and shot an uncertain glance past his brother, who had already pressed his nose against the rock. Stumpwhisker nodded encouragingly, the other medicine cats staring on from behind him. Flicking his ears, Cragpaw shut his eyes and leaned forward.