Cats in the Cradle [P]

[Poprock]

Moonpaw
Apprentice || He/him || 9 Moons || Purrks: Chill of death || Silver tongue

A moon and a half. Much longer than he would've liked to stay away from Momma and Pops and Greemaw, but in all his pretending to get lost in the territory... Moonpaw actually got a little lost. Oopsies! After leaving behind the blood pile that was Goopywhisker, Moonpaw trekked further into abandoned lands and made himself a little hide out. Far enough away that Shadowclan patrols wouldn't find him, but close enough that he could find his way back to the scent markers. Until then he could practice his fighting moves, talk to himself, plot the Leech's demise... all sorts of fun things!

Being a rogue was fun for about three days, until Moonpaw realized he was completely unequipped to live alone.

He knew very little about hunting - only surviving the last moon and a half on toads too stupid to notice a cat racing up behind them. Maybe once or twice he tried a bite of crow-food but no one could prove that. Nothing was as good as food from the prey pile, but that was probably because that stuff had already been caught for him.

It was all thanks to the will of Starclan that he was still alive today. Every night before bed he sent a quick goodnight prayer to Smoke and Wolverine, knowing that they would never allow him to perish before his prophecy was fulfilled. Moonpaw wasn't sure if it was his excellent nose that led him home or his starry pelted brother.

---

The second he was welcomed back into Shadowclan, amber eyes searched for one cat. The only cat whose greatness rivaled his own. Whose brilliant silver fur shimmered brighter than all the stars in the sky. The one who held the kindest heart in the forest (even if Moonpaw thought it was a bit too big.) Momma. Finding her and wrapping himself up in her arms would make the memories of this last moon and a half vanish in an instant. All the fear and panic and hatred he felt would be gone. Everything would be normal and good and fine and no one would be suspicious of him for anything ever.

But his paws couldn't carry him much further than the fresh kill pile, immediately diving mouth first into the first toad he could reach. Oh stars he had been so HUNGRY. And food caught by someone else was oh so yummy.... om nom nom.....

The toad was almost completely inhaled by the apprentice when a dark figure caught his attention. It wasn't Mama, but that was ok. For now.

"Pops."A lazy paw waved in the air, too stuffed to get off of his tummy. "I missed ya Pops. Did you miss me? I uh-" A final big chomp to the toad, unsure of how much he wanted to reveal about his moon long disappearance. "- Did I miss anything?"

@Dark