Slipping below the waves [ w i p ]

[Bramble]

Past cats giving Blackstar his 9 lives:
Owlstar: Former Leader - Giving the gift of justice and fairness / Died of natural causes
Tigerpelt: Father - Giving the gift of hatred and ruthlessness / Killed by his son
Honeyfur: Queen - Giving the gift of protectiveness / Killed by a badger
Eagletalon: Brother - Giving the gift of swiftness and endurance / Killed in a raid on ThunderClan
Fernpool: Former medicine cat - Giving the gift of compassion and faith / Died of green cough
Redpaw: Former Apprentice - Giving the gift of mentoring and intelligence / Drowned in overflowed river
Leopardclaw: Deputy - Giving the gift of confidence and calmness / Killed by Blackstar
Dawnkit: Sister - Giving the gift of hope / Killed by a fox
Reedpaw: Rival - Giving the gift of strength and gracefulness / Killed by green cough

I padded forward leisurely, taking my time as usual. Tonight was when I would finally be recognized as the leader of RiverClan. The doubts would be cast aside, although I wasn't thrilled about seeing dead cats. The sky was littered with stars, reminding me all the more that I might encounter some of the cats I had betrayed. 'None of that matters now. You have power. Nobody besides you and StarClan will know,' a voice whispered in my head. Despite the large amount of stars, the darkness seemed to descend upon me. If my sight hadn't been as good as it was, my trip would have had to be made a lot earlier. The thought of reaching Highstones by afternoon and waiting till moonhigh made me shiver with anxiety. The grass below me scratched my worn-out pads, bending beneath my weight after a moment. I reached the Highstones at last and I paused. The wind blew hard on the moor, ruffling my fur and causing the tall grass to make a rustling noise. I looked up to the ill-lit sky, noticing that the moon was almost at moon-high. Time to get this show on the road.

I turned to the entrance to the Highstones, trotting forward. The walls seemed to close in on me until my shoulders were brushing up against both sides. I wondered briefly if I had might have to back up and not carry through with the ceremony. The darkness led on forever, although the walls stopped creeping in on me. Inside the tunnel no wind blew, and time seemed to almost stop. The world felt like it was dead and I was the last survivor. Right as I felt that my shoulders would get stuck I felt the walls expand, and the next thing I knew I was in a large room, with a good-sized rock in the middle of it. So this was the Moonstone. I had been to the Highstones as an apprentice, but I hadn't been one of the cats chosen to venture inside. The ground underneath me was cool and sleek as I padded across it to the center of the room, where the Moonstone was. Above the Moonstone was a hole in the roof, where a slight amount of moonlight leaked into the room. I knew from Mistwing, my medicine cat, that the moonlight would enter the room from that hole, and give everything in the room a silvery cast. Reaching the Moonstone, I took a moment to look at it. It wasn't as great as I expected it to be. The Moonstone in my head glowed with a white quality, even on nights without a moon. This stone was seemingly useless and had nothing special about it.

After what seemed like centuries, the moon finally was fully visible through the hole in the ceiling. I got up from my position a couple feet from the Moonstone and padded up to the stone. Remembering what Mistwing told me, I laid down, pressing my nose to the cold stone. My eyes closed, shutting off the light from the moon.

My eyes opened, to find myself in a clearing.