Falling Moon- A Warrior Cats Fanfiction

Chapter 21

It was moon-high, but once again, Moonpaw couldn't sleep.

The apprentice had fallen asleep early, having spent the rest of the day learning basic herbs. She could only just remember them now; catmint, marigold, horsetail, chervil, dock, borage... Their uses would come later, and Moonpaw was grateful; recognising them from scent and sight alone was already tiring.

Silverleaf had set out the six herbs and performed various memory excersises that pushed Moonpaw to the very threshold of her abilities. If Moonpaw had been told that she had white fur and yellow eyes, she would've panicked and been unable to cope with the information she'd had to take in that day.

Moonpaw padded silently outside the apprentice's den, maneuvering carefully around a snoring Palepaw. She made sure that she wasn't disturbing anyone, but couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something- no, someone, she corrected nervously- was watching her.

She shook out her pelt when she was outside of the den, peering around.

The camp looked different when bathed in the moon's gaze. Almost beautiful.

Bumblestar's rock shone like molten silver in the pale light. The bramble barrier around the camp let in light only where gaps were, between the thorny tendrils of bramble, making the camp's light look like shattered ice. Or a shattered moon, Moonpaw realised. She looked at the camp through new eyes, a strange dream from before plaguing her thoughts.

"What are you doing up this late, Moonpaw?" Moonpaw jumped, spinning around. It was Sunflame's voice.

She shuffled over a bit to make room for her father, who sat neatly beside her. "Couldn't sleep," she murmured softly. Then she instantly fired back, "What are you doing up this late?"

Instantly her father looked a bit uncomfortable. "I couldn't sleep." He curled his tail around his daughter. "I never sleep well when I can hear pawsteps outside; I'm always waiting for a non-existent battle yowl."

Moonpaw shivered suddenly. She hated the idea of battle. Always had.

Awkwardly she sat there, not knowing quite what to do; it was only a few hours ago when she persuaded him to let her be a medicine cat apprentice, and she knew that he strongly disliked that idea.

Then, a sudden inquisitivity nagged at her, stubbornly clinging to her mind until she was forced to ask, "Why don't you want me to be a medicine cat? I get that you don't want me to be without battle moves and training, but I feel like there is more to that. Medicine cats recieve basic training, after all."

Sunflame seemed to tense, as if a great presence had settled upon him. But then he smiled. "Moonpaw, a father's instinct is to protect their kin, isn't it? If I knew something could potentially harm you, why wouldn't I do everything in my power to stop that?"

Her father looked down at her warmly. "I never thought that I would love anyone as much as I love you, Palepaw and your mother. I can't help but want to keep you locked away from everything."

With a quick shake of his head, he turned his gaze to the camp. "It looks like broken ice," he noted, blinking at the almost strangeness of the sight; the moon's pale glow transformed the cool, dusty-brown earth into perfect, opaque sediments of light. Moonpaw couldn't help but agree; she had never actually seen ice, but from her mother's descriptions it seemed familiar. In fact, she had thought so herself earlier.

Moonpaw felt the urge to fill the almost uncomfortable silence. Her tail flicked nervously back and forth as she prepared to speak, but was instead cut off by a question.

"Moonpaw, are you happy?"

She was shocked at the sudden question, but answered honestly and quickly. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Her father nodded silently, watching her with his gold-amber flecked eyes. Through the intensity of the gaze, she noted sub-consciously that there was a dark rim around those amber infernos, much like charcoal remaining once the raging heat of a forest fire had dissipated.

"If you weren't happy, you know I'd do almost anything to make you happy, don't you." She nodded silently, but still said nothing.

After a while longer, Sunflame nodded. Moonpaw had looked away, but she could've betted that his warm gaze darkened somewhat.

Without another word, Sunflame got to his paws and padded into the warriors' den. She could hear a nest rustling as he supposedly climbed in. A few minutes later snoring echoed from the den, snoring that she recognised as her father's.

"At least he's asleep," she murmured to herself, looking almost enviously at the den where her father had disappeared into.

With one last sigh, she returned to her den, laying down in her nest.

It was a while before she finally found her way to sleep, and by the time that had happened, it was just an hour off dawn.