by Brim » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:56 am
(ahah, no worries. my posts tend to start out decently long but fortunately/unfortunately begin to decline from there. let me know if, at any point, my posts get too short for you to enjoy the rp properly~ but for now, dear god have fun with this monster. i don't usually write this much, but i was excited xD)
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Coyotepaw was padding along rather closely to his new mentor, Addercloud. The half-moon was high in the sky, and the stars were shining brightly; the perfect night for a new medicine cat apprentice going to visit StarClan's Gift for the first time--or rather, the Blessed Ice, as his new mentor told him the medicine cats called it. Nonetheless, Coyotepaw found himself unused to travelling alongside cats from another Clan, despite knowing that these were medicine cats, and would never even try to harm him. But that brought up another point that worried the new apprentice. He had trained to be a warrior for a moon before just... Giving up and choosing to become a medicine cat instead. The brown and tan apprentice's tail swished nervously. What if StarClan didn't accept him for his reasoning? What if there were other reasons that StarClan didn't accept him, either?
Eventually, Addercloud shot a look at her apprentice, making Coyotepaw pause in his thoughts. Were his facial expressions giving away what he was thinking? What ever the reason was for his mentor looking at him like that, the apprentice shook his head to clear it. It was far too late to give in to self-doubt now. Besides, he was normally a confident cat. This shouldn't be any different than any other time. And so, he lifted his head up a little higher. "We've almost made it to the Blessed Ice," one of the other medicine cats announced, and it took Coyotepaw moment to realize that he was addressing him. The apprentice awkwardly dipped his head to him, and turned his gaze back to the trail ahead of them. Now, he couldn't help but feel a quickening in his step, his ears were perked, his tail was high, and he felt a small, growing bubble in his chest. Was he--was he excited? After another moment of introspection he supposed that yes, yes he was.
Through the trees' leaves, he caught a glimpse of the glacier known as the Blessed Ice. He wasn't even there yet, and already he was in awe! It was huge! Tail waving, Coyotepaw found himself bounding forward, much to the amusement of the cats behind him. He didn't have to go far before the Blessed Ice was before him in all its glory. He skidded to a stop to simply just stare. "Woah," he whispered to himself, staring at the ice reaching to the sky. Just standing on the top of the hill, it was already noticeably colder. His gaze slowly fell from the top of the ice to the base, seeing a small mass encased inside. Those must be the founders. The apprentice slowly looked around the edge of the Blessed Ice, seeing frozen ice leading the way to its base. The tan and brown tom glanced back at the other medicine cats with a wide, uncharacteristic grin. They were exchanging amused glances with each other, the younger cat's excitement obviously rubbing off on them. Addercloud gave him a nod of approval, giving him permission to meet them there. Coyotepaw didn't waste any more time in rushing down the hill and to the ice.
Immediately, he found himself sliding. The tom let out a yelp, paws flailing everywhere. He wasn't quite sure how he managed to regain his footing, but when he did, he was a lot more careful crossing to the Blessed Ice. Upon making it the the glacier's base, Coyotepaw found that he couldn't see the sky anymore when he looked up. Letting out a shaky breath, he turned to look for the other approaching medicine cats. But as he turned, the dark mass he had seen on the hill was clear. The tom softly gasped and slid back a couple paces. He stared at the three cats sitting in a circle, seeming as if they were talking to each other. They looked... So alive. He couldn't help but shiver, knowing that they had been dead for generations. "Taiga, Tundra, and Steppe," he whispered, reciting the names of the founders that he knew so well.
"That's Taigastar, Tundrastar, and Steppestar to you," came his mentor's laughing voice. Coyotepaw was caught unawares, and ended up jumping straight at the glacier. He grimaced in displeasure before turning to face them. He flicked his ears in greeting as Addercloud continued, "You know, the stories say that this depicts the moment the three founders decided to create their own groups of cats. Although, no cat's quite sure. All anyone knows is that one night, all three of the founders left their Clans on the same night. They woke up and searched for them, eventually finding them encased in the ice. It caused chaos. Some cats tried to claw through the ice to get the founders out, but the rest of the cats blamed each other, and thus started a bloody battle. It wasn't until some cat crunched the ice that the founders spoke to her. She went on to pass the message, and thus ended the war. Now, we medicine cats and leaders break off pieces of the glacier and allow it to melt. We visit StarClan for as long as it continues melting."
Coyotepaw blinked. He had been aware of the glacier's history, but he had never heard of how cats would be able to speak with StarClan. He supposed that would make sense though; it would be a well-kept secret. A secret that was now being shared with him. Another shiver made its way through his body, but not because of the cold this time, either. But there was one thing that bothered him. "So... We only get a few moments to share tongues with StarClan?" he questioned.
Addercloud softly smiled. "Oh, no. I suppose that would be confusing, but time runs longer in StarClan." Hesitantly, he gave a short nod before turning back to the glacier. "Are you ready, Coyotepaw?" Asked his mentor. After a moment of hesitation, Coyotepaw nodded. The light brown tabby she-cat nodded. "Good. StarClan will be pleased to meet you. Now, use your claws to scrape off a bit of the Blessed Ice, and allow it to melt in your mouth."
And Coyotepaw did just that. After placing the glacier's ice in his mouth, he curled up into a ball. The effect was immediate. When the apprentice next awoke, he was in a place he had never seen before, let alone fell asleep in. The apprentice got to his paws and looked around. Where was StarClan? Surely they hadn't rejected him...? "H-Hello?" he called out, ears flattened and tail swishing worriedly. Hearing no one return his call, Coyotepaw hesitantly chose a direction and began walking. Soon enough, something definitely happened. A small, orange she-cat leaped out of the bushes. The tan and brown tom stepped back in surprise, simply staring. *A StarClan cat!* his thoughts supplied eagerly, upon seeing the stars in her fur. *StarClan didn't reject me!*
But then... She didn't seem to know what was going on. He felt his tail droop slightly, but answered the small orange cat. "I-I'm Coyotepaw. The new medicine cat apprentice for TaigaClan," the tom looked at her, hoping that would jog her memory.