Mooneye: A Warriors Character Story

Morning

Moon had shared the piece of prey with his brother, who looked on in sympathy as each bite became an excruciating task. 

"You should get some rest," he murmured softly. Though Moon knew the pain he was feeling in his mouth, looking at Mud, he knew his pain must be much greater. The burly brown tom had suffered deep scratches to his shoulders and belly, and was doing well to not move much more than was absolutely necessary. 

"Stoneteller talked to me when we carried you back. He says you will be the next Stoneteller, after him. Is this true?" His brother finally asked.

Here we go...

Pausing, Moon glanced upwards at the brown cave guard, "That is what he has told me. I will not be training with Ant any longer, I suppose." The words were weaker than he would have liked them to be, and he sighed softly.

"This doesn't feel right, Mud."

"I know it doesn't," his brother admitted, before leaning forward and giving the grey prey hunter to-be an affectionate nudge, "You just need some sleep. Get some time to heal with us, and then you'll be back on your paws and feeling well in no time. Your mind will be clearer when the pain has worn off."

Taking another breath, Moon stood and gave his brother the last bite of the piece of eagle flesh they shared, and turned to head back to his nest.

The last thing I need right now is sleep.

-

"No, put your paw here," the voice of the Teller of Pointed Stones, sharp and cold as the rock they sat on, cut through the chilly air of the cave. Ant was beneath him, laying on his side. A deep gash lanced across the back of his neck, where teeth marks had dug into his scruff. 

It had been another battle waged, and two more lost to the enemies' claws.

How much longer could they take in this war? The rogues were encroaching on their hunting grounds, stealing prey that wasn't theirs, and every time the Tribe cats tried to retaliate, they were met with death. It had been four moons since he had trained to be a prey hunter, and now, if he wasn't training to be a cave guard with his brother, Moon was with Stoneteller, peering at the moon or the clouds that scudded across the sky, telling him what he thought of them.

I think, they look like clouds. He thought bitterly back to a time in which Stoneteller had spent an entire half day watching the clouds and asking Moon what he  thought of them. Clouds! Did the ancient cat have bees in his brain?

Moon pressed his forepaw to the cut, where rough moss soaked up the blood. It was spilling slower now, the pressure helping it to clot as Stoneteller chewed tansy with his nose wrinkled.

"Must we throw bodies at the enemy?" He asked the much older cat. Stoneteller glanced at him, the patter of water dripping from the pointed stones into the puddles and pools on the cave floor the only thing to break the silence. 

After a moment, he licked the herb into the cut and drew his head back, "We cannot back down from opposition. The stars do not give way to the darkness when then moon is new, and we shall not falter in this battle just because it seems that we cannot hope to win."

"We are not stars, Stoneteller," Moon argued softly, tail tip twitching. The distant rumble of he waterfall was pounding through the stones. 

"You are wrong, Moon Watcher," Stoneteller's eyes flared dangerously as irritation pinned his ears to his head. The grey tom shifted his paws uncomfortably as the thin-pelted leader rose abruptly to his paws, brushing past him to pace in a tight circle. 

"Do you think that so long ago, we came here because we followed our own paws? Do you think that what the wind says and how the grass trembles, do you think that does not matter any longer just because we have escaped troubles in the past?"