Hi! That wasn't such a long wait, was it?

This chapter is really long (but really poorly written, haha, no seriously I think its rushed but I'm not a writer so whatever) but a lot of stuff happens!! Really excited!!

also

WE'RE HALF WAY DONE?

It's hard to believe we're already coming to the end of the story. Next chapter will be a quick filler-ish chapter and then stuff starts hitting the fan. Im excited!! Thank you all for taking a moment of your day to read my little book. It may not be the best but it means a lot to me, so thank you :'>

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When Badgerheart first proposed the idea of becoming his apprentice, he hadn't mentioned the ceremony it would require.

"Step forward." Cardinalstar's booming voice echoed over the muttering of cats who surrounded him. Ash quivered in fear as his soon-to-be-mentor stood amongst the crowd, giving an encouraging smile once in awhile. It didn't really help, as Ash just wanted to get this over with.

Cardinalstar stood on a towering boulder, one that he could see everything and everybody in camp. It also made him seem taller, more fierce and commanding. Next to the rock was Brickjaw, the large aggressive brother of Badgerheart. He had learned that he was the "deputy", or rather the second in command of Thunderclan. He sneered angrily and his short tail was flicking. Ash was in no hurry to get closer to him.

"I said, step forward." Cardinalstar said again, louder this time. His patience was clearly already thin, so Ash inhaled some courage and took a couple paces toward the rock that loomed before him.

The leader spoke again, not quite as loudly. "Ash," he said his name like it were poisonous. "You have been living with us for nearly half a moon now. Do you wish to become a full time apprentice and part of Thunderclan?"

Not really. He thought silently, not daring to say that out loud. He just tried to remind himself of everything Badgerheart promised him. My mother. He breathed in and answered quietly, "Yes, I do."

Cardinalstar blinked, and raised his gaze to the crowd around him. "Then from this day on, until you are trained proficiently in the way of a medicine cat, you will be known as Ashpaw." Ash's heart jolted. Wait, no! I don't want a new name! He wanted to scream, but instead he just looked desperately at Badgerheart.

He didn't look back though, as Cardinalstar addressed him. "Badgerheart, you have convinced me to let you train this apprentice. I will trust your judgement, and I hope you can pass on your wisdom and nobility for Thunderclan onto him."

Badgerheart nodded, and stepped through the crowd towards Ashpaw. He leaned in to touch his nose to his, but Ashpaw just buried his face in his pelt to seek comfort. He seemed startled, but just calmly wrapped his tail around his apprentice and pulled him closer into the embrace. He didn't even hear when the cat's half-heartedly cheered his new name.

That had been almost a moon ago, and nothing exciting had happened since. Badgerheart started to teach him basic remedies and herb names, and like he had originally predicted the clan cats started to care less about Ashpaw's presence. He even managed to treat one of the elders for ticks without getting his nose bit off.

It was sunhigh now, and although it was considerably warm outside, the den was cool and musty as always. The two nests they slept in had gradually grown closer together. Ashpaw hadn't even noticed it. He had become so comfortable living with the medicine cat that he almost felt as if he were home.

Almost.

"Which one of these is chervil?" Badgerheart prompted him from beside him. Ashpaw carefully examined the two identical herbs laying in front of him. He outstretched his paw, touching the herb to his left. "Very good! You're a natural at identifying herbs." Badgerheart said in admiration.

Ashpaw shrugged. "The other one just smells different." He mumbled. This praise was nothing new. Everything he did Badgerheart acted as if he were doing something special or unique. He was grateful for the praise, but all of it was unnecessary. He wasn't even that interested in herb duty, he just wanted to know Badgerheart's plan to find his mother.

But the old tom hadn't talked about it since that night on Sunning Rocks. Any time Ashpaw tried to bring it up, he would just change the subject or make him do work. He had only agreed to this apprenticeship for the chance to find his mother, not to take care of cats he didn't care about. He sighed, and blinked tiredly at the ground.

"By the way, I was meaning to tell you," His mentor started talking while sweeping up the herbs, "tonight is a special night. You've been training for half a moon, and tonight at last the moon is halved."

"A half moon." Ashpaw corrected him.

"Right," He nodded. "There are medicine cats in the other clans too. Each half moon we travel northwards toward Highstones together, a large mountain on the edge of the clans. Once we're there, we will see...something."

Ashpaw's ear flicked curiously, and waited for his mentor to continue. But when Badgerheart did not elaborate, he asked cautiously, "So...what is it we'll see?"

He only smiled ominously. "It's a surprise."

When the evening came and the day began to grow cooler, Ashpaw was given a small mixture of herbs from Badgerheart. He sniffed it, and he could smell sorrel and chamomile in it, as well as some other herbs. "What's this for?" He asked, pawing the odd bundle with a paw.

"It'll give you strength on our trip to Highstones. Hurry and eat, we're leaving in just a moment." and so he did, but not without a struggle. The herbs were bitter and tough, and it was hard to swallow. When he finally gulped it down, and Badgerheart had done the same (his smelling considerably more like marigold), he and Badgerheart walked together out of camp.

They walked in a new direction. Ashpaw had been out of camp many times since his apprenticeship began, but he had never gone this way before. The trail they walked on was barren, flattened by centuries worth of cats walking up and down it. Wherever this lead, it must have been important.

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, the sun was nearly set. They stopped on the edge of a small dip, and Badgerheart beckoned him forward eagerly. Ashpaw came to see what could have been so interesting, but his eyes stretched wide when he saw it.

Four towering oak trees sat in each corner of the hollow, each reaching higher than any other tree he'd seen before. In the center of this clearing they sheltered a large, shining boulder that glinted in the dying sun. It was breathtaking to say the least.

"This is Fourtrees." Badgerheart said. "It's where each clan gathers once a moon to meet in peace. It's a similar tradition to what we're doing tonight, only this meeting is for medicine cats only, and is much further. You might attend the gathering during the next full moon."

While listening to his lecture, Ashpaw thought he saw movement from behind the rock. A tail? It was long, thin, and gray. It couldn't be. Ashpaw darted down the slope, despite hearing Badgerheart holler out after him. It couldn't. It can't be her. He told himself this as he sped towards the rock.

But when he turned the corner, he saw a large gray tabby cat, much bigger than his mother. They turned to face him, their hard blue eyes wide and teeth bared in the beginning of a snarl. Immediately Ashpaw skid to a halt, and doubled back to run away. The cat began to give chase, but stopped when they saw Badgerheart bounding down the slope towards them.

"Ashpaw! What's the matter with you?" Then he looked up and saw the gray tabby. "Oh, I get it. This is Longstream, he's the medicine cat of Riverclan, not an intruder." Ashpaw hid behind his mentor and shook. That wasn't exactly what he was thinking, but he wasn't about to admit that.

Longstream nodded his broad head. "Indeed I am. And who is this young fella?"

"This is my new apprentice, Ashpaw." He proudly flicked Ashpaw's ear with his tail, as he always did. Ashpaw was a little scared by Longstream, he was big, although not as big as Badgerheart. A small scar nicked one of his ears. "Where's the troublemaker tonight?" He asked teasingly.

"Oh, she's' with the others up the hill. We're all here already, but I stayed here to greet you first."

"Well, thank you very much." Badgerheart laughed, and the two walked steadily together across the clearing. As Ashpaw followed more quietly behind them, he began to realize that these two must have been old friends, and felt a little excluded from their group.

As they climbed the opposite hill, Ashpaw took note that this grass was coarser than the grass in the forest. When they reached the top Ashpaw could see why. A wide, barren landscape covered in tall, spindly grass stretched for as far as he could see. There was no visible trees, and it contrasted everything that made up Thunderclan's territory.

The two seemed unwavered by it, and continued walking. There was so many new scents and sights for Ashpaw though, and he stopped to investigate everything. A small bunch of blue flowers, a prickly burr patch, a strange hole in the ground. It was all so fascinating to him. I wonder if my mother has ever been here? Part of him wanted to be the first one here, so he could brag about it to her once he found her.

"Ashpaw, keep up!" Badgerheart shouted from far ahead. Forcing himself to ignore all the interesting new terrain, Ashpaw sprinted to catch up to them. But just before he reached the two cats he was thrown sideways by a heavy blow to his ribs.

He rolled, and he felt a weight land on him to keep him from moving. When he looked up he saw a small tortoiseshell she-cat standing over him, grinning impishly. "Who are you?" she asked, although she seemed more excited than malicious. Ashpaw was still terrified though, and he just blinked rapidly in response.

"Asterpaw, get off him!" Longstream called out, running back to grab the small cat by her scruff. When he had dragged her off, more cats came up to meet them, Badgerheart along with some others he didn't recognize.

"Oh for Starclan's sake..." Badgerheart rolled his eyes and helped get Ashpaw to his feet.

The she-cat struggled in Longstream's grip. "Let me go! I wanna meet him!"

Longstream dropped her and growled. "Then be more polite about it!" As soon as she was free, she came up to stand in front of Ashpaw, her fluffy tail swishing excitedly.

"Who are you?" she asked again, but before he could respond she said, "I'm Asterpaw. This is Longstream." She pointed her tail to the others. "And that's Morningtide, Crowthroat, Badgerheart-"

"Asterpaw!" Longstream growled again.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm just really excited to meet another apprentice!"

"I'm...Ashpaw." He finally said when she had stopped speaking.

A tall golden and white she-cat stepped forward and pushed Asterpaw aside. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Morningtide from Windclan. It's good to see Badgerheart finally got an apprentice." He heard a quiet complaint from his mentor when she said that.

Another cat, a sleek black and white tom stood where he was from behind Morningtide. "And I'm Crowthroat, Shadowclan medicine cat. Can we get a move on already? It's already getting dark." And he looked up towards the sky. It wasn't completely night yet, but the sun had entirely set and the stars were beginning to appear.

Badgerheart nodded from beside him. "Yes, I think we've all been acquainted by now. Let's get to Highstones before the moon is fully risen."

And as everyone silently agreed, they all began walking together. Ashpaw tried to stay near his mentor, but eventually began to fall back as the others wanted to talk to him too. These cats seemed friendly enough, or perhaps that was just because they didn't know of his origin. Either way, he was glad they weren't threatening. He still preferred not to talk to them though.

"So new guy," Asterpaw said as she walked beside him. Ashpaw took note that she was slightly bigger than him, both in height and width. "What do you think of being a medicine cat so far?"

"It's fine." he shrugged, he didn't tell her about how boring it was or how he'd much rather just go home. She probably wouldn't understand him anyway.

She sighed dramatically, "before you came I was the only apprentice. Even in my own clan, I didn't have any friends my age. Everything has been so boring, but now you're here-" she batted a paw at his face playfully. "-I finally got a friend! You will be my friend, right?"

Ashpaw swatted her paw away and looked at her large, pleading green eyes. He had no reason to say no, but he hardly knew her. The only thing she had done so far was pounce on him and annoy him. But she seemed nice, and Ashpaw was grateful for once not to have teeth at his neck.

"Sure." He nodded. She tripped up on her own paws as she skipped excitedly. Longstream called out to her to be careful, but she quickly got back up and she seemed like she were dancing the whole way on their journey.

As the group continued, they passed unnatural stone paths, and went through strange tunnels. But as the mountain grew ever closer, the grass became sparser and turned into craggy stone. The moon was nearly at it's peak when they came to a large cave entrance on the side of the mountain.

"This is it." Badgerheart said to Ashpaw. The others walked into the cave confidently while the other two held back and stared into its beckoning jaws. Ashpaw gulped as he watched Asterpaw's tail disappear into darkness as she slipped past the teeth of the cave.

He felt Badgerheart press himself against him and he whispered, "Don't worry, just follow my scent and stay close. What you are about to see is something only ever witnessed by few eyes, and must not be spoken about outside of here. Follow me." He stood, and walked confidently into the shadows of the cave. Ashpaw followed, more skittish and desperate to stay close.

The walls of the cave were narrow and damp. The fur of Badgerheart's tail tickled his nose in front of him, but at least it meant he was still going the right way. He heard nothing but the shuffling of others and the sound of his own heartbeat. After awhile of walking blindly for what seemed like ages, a faint light was visible against Badgerheart's figure. How could there be light when they were deep into a cavern like this?

As the passage opened more, Ashpaw came to stand in a grand opening next to the other cats. He had thought Fourtrees was impressive, but this was something entirely indescribable. A tall, crystallized rock towered above them, glowing with light. From the top of the cave, he could see the moonlight shining down, illuminating this rock.

"Welcome to the moonstone." Badgerheart breathed from beside him.

Crowthroat looked back at them, and rolled his eyes. "Thunderclan. So dramatic." he went and sat with the others near the base of the rock. Morningtide was whispering something to herself, while Asterpaw and Longstream had their noses pressed against its reflective surface.

Ashpaw followed Badgerheart as he too went to stand beside the moonstone. "Was this the surprise?" he asked quietly, too afraid to speak louder in the sacredness that the air held.

Badgerheart smiled. "Not quite. Press your nose to the stone, and close your eyes, then you'll see the surprise."

Ashpaw felt anxious about what more could possibly happen, but he complied as he crouched low and pressed his nose to the stone. It was cold, freezing even. But he held still, and clenched his eyes shut tight. He waited, hearing nothing except his own breathing. Nothing was happening, but he was too afraid to open his eyes just in case he ruined it somehow. Alone with his own mind, he tried to slow his worrying thoughts.

Then something changed.

He wasn't sure what, but he felt...different.

"Hey, get up." Badgerheart said from beside him, no longer whispering. "Open your eyes already you little furball."

Carefully, he pried his eyes open. The moonstone had vanished, and instead he was lying in a lush meadow. He would have thought it were mid-day if not for the wide expanse of stars circling above the trees. The contrast was overwhelming and his vision felt hazier here. Was this a dream? He swallowed, trying to catch his bearings. Somehow he came to the conclusion that this wasn't a dream, but he wasn't completely awake either.

"Remember when I said we could find out if your mother is alive?" He said, watching Ashpaw's reaction. "Well, this is how."

As he said that, the clearing somehow got even brighter. Ashpaw squinted his eyes to shield from the light, but when they adjusted he saw shapes, glimmering outlines of tens, no, hundreds of cats filling the meadow. Starlight speckled their pelts, and danced when they padded around to get a better look at him.

Badgerheart, who acted unwavered by the scene as if he had experienced this all before, continued his speech. "This is Starclan, the cats of the clans who have passed on, each from different generations and families. They live here among the stars, and guide us when times are hard. If your mother has passed on, she may be here."

Despite his bewilderment, Ashpaw understood. If he couldn't find her amongst the dead, she would have to be amongst the living, and that would mean there was still hope to find her. And if she was here, at least he could talk to her again.

He stood, his tiny white paws shaking in both fear and excitement. As he stepped cautiously towards the crowd, they moved around him, weaving in and out among each other and staring curiously at him. He examined their pelts, none of which were familiar to him, but he knew this wasn't a delusion. These cats had once been alive.

"H-hello?" he asked them. He wasn't exactly sure how to greet them. He was literally talking to ghosts. He looked back at Badgerheart, who was staring blankly at him. Go on. He seemed to say. He took a deep breath. "Uhm, Hello, I'm Ashpaw, I'm training to be a medicine cat in Thunderclan, and uh, I was just wondering if any of you knew my mother?"

The cats looked at each other, not saying a word, but rather communicating through gestures. Some blinked, while other's whiskers twitched as if they were snickering. "She was a rogue," He continued, "She had gray fur like mine, and she was really pretty, and really nice. I just want to know if she's here?"

Again, the cats seemed unhelpful. He noticed cats look at each other, as if they did know he was talking about, but they did not respond. Some even began to leave, as if Ashpaw had wasted their time. "Please, you must know her!" more cats began to leave. "Even if she's not here, some of you must have known her once before, right?" the clearing was nearly empty. "Please! I just want to see her again!"

The last of the cats skirted out, leaping into the gorse surrounding the meadow or bounding into the shadows of the trees. By the time they had all left, Ashpaw stood defeated in the center of the clearing. His one chance at finding his mother, and it hadn't helped a bit. For a moment, he felt as if the world was going to crash down on him, when he heard Badgerheart move behind him.

His mentor stood still, his eyes closed but a small smile on his face. "Ashpaw, don't you see?" he looked up, his eyes carrying a strange glimmer. "She's not here. Your mother is alive."