We’re On An Adventure (Stormwind)

“It smells normal,” Newton concluded, though he couldn’t take his face away from the great stone. For some reason, he was compelled to touch it.

Lady circled it, peering at it curiously.

Newton padded close to the stone, giving the glistening rock a few cautious sniffs.

“It’s beautiful,” Lady breathed, padding closer.

Newton’s eyes widened at the sight of the giant gemstone illuminating the cave. “...wow...”

Lady gave a surprised and awed inhale as her eyes took in the glowing Moonstone, night having fallen because of the time they spent talking and their trek downwards.

Newton sighed with relief when the tunnel opened up, glancing down in the direction of his paws. He realized suddenly that he could see them thanks to a faint glow from elsewhere, and looked up to try and find its source.

“Hmm?” The young she-cat sounded distracted, having an easier time in the tunnel than her friend but still starting to feel closed-in even through her strange feeling of peace. Just when it started to feel like they might not be able to continue, though, it opened up suddenly.

Newton only tensed up further when his shoulders began to rub against the cabebwalks. “Lady?” The tom Mewed blindly into the dark, worried for his friend. If this tunnel gets any more narrow we’ll get stuck!

Strangely, Lady seemed to grow more relaxed the deeper they went.

Newton’s nerves began to gnaw at him more and more as he felt the tunnel growing more and more narrow, relying on his sense of touch to continue. He couldn’t even see the cave walls as the tunnel became so tight his whiskers brushed against the walls.

Lady pinned her ears back a little as the blacknsss swallowed them up but she kept walking.

Newton followed, glancing cautiously over his shoulder before heading inside with The she-cat.

Lady shook herself and headed towards Mothermouth, pausing at the entrance before slipping inside.

Newton gave Lady a questioning look. “What?” He was ready to go, and now she was the one stalling?

Lady blinked at him, wide-eyed, like she hadn’t expected him to say that.

Newton glanced up at her. “If you’re going, Lady, then I’m going too.” He didn’t know what he would do if anything happened to his best friend, and he felt an obligation to follow her into the tunnel if that’s where she wanted to go. The whole reason he was here was to look after her, after all.

Lady glanced at him. “I don’t know...” she wavered slightly, feeling for some reason like she needed to go in there. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Newton wrinkled his nose at the smell of the stale air coming from the tunnel.  “Should we really go in there...?”

Lady startled slightly when Newton spoke, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Yeah, but they left moons ago. Ages before we were born.”

Newton blinked as he stared into the deep, overwhelming darkness of the cave in front of them. “Um...” The tom Mewed as he looked on, a little fear creeping into his mind as he wondered what could be lurking down in the depths, out of sight. “I don’t think a cat would go in there, Lady, much less the clans.” Glancing around, he Mewed “And we’re the only ones I can smell.”

It took hours of walking but when the sun was high in the sky and it was late afternoon, the pair finally reached Highstones. Lady stopped in front of the cave mouth and stared down the large hole with wide eyes, ears pricked.

Newton lifted his head and glanced towards the Highstones, blinking once as he realized they hardly looked any closer than they had from the barn. Those must actually be some pretty big hills, thought the tom to himself.

Lady’s frown deepened but she fell silent, swishing her tail through the air behind her as they walked.

Newton shook his head. “I’m not sure, Lady.” The tom looked forwards as they continued to walk. “I wish I knew, so I could make them stop.