One paw in front of the other Moonpaw made her way through the undergrowth leading away from the medicine cat den. The broad trees looming above dwarfed her, adding to that slight discomfort that she'd always felt when surrounded-- no matter if it was tall plants or fellow clanmates.
Her first day as a medicine cat apprentice had ended and now, for the first time, she was free to roam the territory she knew as home.

A sudden flutter of wings caught Moonpaw's attention and she turned to see a sparrow making its way from one tree to the next. It settled a mere few tail lengths away in a low branch, not seeing her black fur in the dim light. The same black fur was what branded her as a medicine cat-- an ongoing tradition that her clan honoured. Completely fixated on the bird, Moonpaw dropped into a crouch the same way she had watched the warriors do countless times before as a kit. She tried to duplicate the way their movements seemed to be both perfectly graceful but still efficient. She bunched her muscles and readied herself to jump.

"Hey Moonpaw!" a high-pitched voice from behind caused her to break out of her trance and spin around. Treading towards her excitedly was Brownpaw, a jumpy brown she-cat who was also newly apprenticed. Brownpaw stopped for a moment and looked at Moonpaw quizzically.
"What are you doing?"
Moonpaw looked back at the spot where the bird had been but was now long gone.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see a bit more of the forest," she answered after a moment of hesitation.

"Oh, okay, but you shouldn't go too far. After all, you haven't seen the territory properly yet and could easily get lost," Brownpaw responded earnestly. "Anyway, training is amazing. I got to see everything-- even High Hills. Sky Hill is so tall I couldn't even see the top. Foxfur says I'm a natural," Brownpaw finished, fluffing up her chest proudly. Suddenly her glance seemed more interested, "So what's medicine cat training like?"

Moonpaw thought back to her busy day of identifying herb after herb and how they could be used to cure cats of certain sicknesses or help them with injuries. Her mentor Nightpetal had made sure that Moonpaw learned as much as possible on her first day, deeming it vital for her to know the basics.

"Quite busy. There's a lot to learn," Moonpaw meowed truthfully.

"Oh you're being secretive. Nightpetal's always like that as well. I guess it's a medicine cat thing." Brownpaw turned away. "I'm going to go see if Birchpaw and Dappledpaw are back yet. See you at dawn."

Moonpaw watched as she sprinted back to the entrance of the camp before turning back to where the sparrow had sat on the branch. The moon now shone directly on the tree, giving it an eerie glow and tingeing the leaves in silver. Moonpaw regarded the tree for a moment more before dropping into crouch once again. Something determined inside of her drove her to extend her hind legs and push off the ground, sending her soaring through the air. In the blink of an eye she had landed on the branch. Stunned by her own jump, Moonpaw simply sat there, trying not to lose her balance.
She used to watch how the other kits attempted to jump on low hanging branches or climb the steep rocks at the edge of the camp, but never joined in herself. After all, why would she if, as a medicine cat, she would never need the skills?

Finally feeling passably stable, Moonpaw righted herself up so that she was now comfortably sitting on the branch. She lifted her head to gaze through the foliage at where the moon hung peacefully in the sky, illuminating the ground beneath. Moonpaw couldn't help but notice how beautiful the sight was and continued to stare, completely transfixed on it. As if in a trance, Moonpaw slowly blinked, eyelids heavy.

The world around her had changed; dense forest had been replaced by an array of blues and grays. Moonpaw now sat on cold stone floor in what appeared to be an old cave. The air around her was crisp but humid, with water drops spiraling down the walls like spider webs. A few paw steps ahead of her was a little pool of water. It seemingly had constant ripples marring the otherwise perfectly smooth surface. Legs feeling like twigs, she slowly stood up and walked over to where the pool was. Every step took more effort, as if she was wading through thickening mud. After what seemed like years, Moonpaw finally reached the pool. She looked down at her reflection; there was obvious strain in her features and something unknown-- almost alive-- was churning in her eyes. As she continued to stare, the silver streaks in her eyes started to drift away, like a river current, until they were gone completely and her eyes were left purely blue. That colour, too, began to fade as slowly another took its place, pale blue morphing into a dominant golden yellow. There was something in the depth of the colour that spoke of struggle and determination.

Moonpaw was distantly aware that something was very wrong, but, here and now, it seemed unimportant as she admired the extraordinary eyes. She continued to stare, unsure if the mesmerising eyes were her own, and slowly watched as the reflection in front of her blinked, even though she did not. It tilted it's head to the side, a small movement of calculated precision, and spoke in a voice not unlike her own,
"Some things are best kept secret."

Moonpaw jerked back, the words slicing at her sharper than any claw. The next thing she knew was that she was falling, falling until she hit hard ground as a small heap of black fur.
Fear coursing through her, Moonpaw sprang upwards to find herself no longer staring at a pool, but at the branch that she'd just fallen off of. Gone was the abnormal cave and her reflection that spoke.
Bewildered and uncertain, she simply stood unmoving, overwhelmed by what had just happened.
When her heart had stopped racing and she'd managed to even out her breathing, Moonpaw quietly placed one delicate poor forward and started walking back toward camp. On the outside she seemed composed, her strides only slightly hurried; on the inside a hurricane of questions and emotions took over Moonpaw's mind, any rational thought left far behind. Throughout it, two golden eyes with a determined gaze kept surfacing in her thoughts, leaving more questions in their wake.

She allowed herself a small moment of relief as she crossed into camp, and started running to where the medicine cat den was, hidden in the farther most corner.
Ducking past the signature blueberry bush which marked its entrance, Moonpaw halted in front of Nightpetal's sleeping figure. Almost shaking with what was mainly fear, she regarded how Nightpetal's breaths rocked her body evenly, unhurried. Nightpetal could help her right? She would know what had just happened to her; if it could possibly have been a vision sent to her by Starclan. Or something else.

Yet, as Nightpetal continued to sleep silently, a feeling came over Moonpaw suddendly; one as inexplicable as it was urgent. One of careful words and veiled unknowns:

Some things are best kept secret.

With that phrase robotically clinging to every inch of her, she did the unthinkable and turned away from the only thing which could assure her safety.

Moonpaw walked away, lay down in her unfamiliar nest and slept.

---

Hello, Leaf here.

This chapter was written by Clover and it's taken so long to upload because of that. The next one or two of Moonpaw's chapters will also be written by Clover but afterwards I will probably have to continue. So sorry for the changing writing styles.

xxx ~🍁

(Ps: if you like the way she writes pls let me know and I'll try to force her to continue because she's a Damn good writer 😂)