Diagnosed with a developmental disorder at a young age, Duskelle Waterlee has always been special - but not necessarily in a good way. Even at the age of fourteen, she is still unable to truly grasp human ways of life.
Her only relief is River, a st...
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"What does she need, Duskelle?"
"Um...uh....elder leaves?"
"Correct! Get me some!"
Lilacfeather was wrapping up a new poultice for Seapaw. She was to be up and about by next sunrise. In the process, she had been asking Duskelle questions about what kind of herbs to use, testing her. Being a medicine cat isn't so bad, Duskelle thought. Well, maybe that was only in the beginning. Once you learn everything and do the same things over and over again, it couldn't stay fun. She padded over to the pile of elder leaves and grabbed some in her right front paw. Her weird paws were actually helpful. They let her hold the leaves easily. She limped back to Lilacfeather on three legs.
"Here," she said, handing them to the medicine cat, who took the bundle in her jaws and started chewing them into a paste. That was the worst part. Chewing the herbs. They always tasted so repulsive! Duskelle watched as Lilacfeather spit out the dark green paste onto Seapaw's forepaw and patted cobwebs on top of it to keep it in place. A scuffling sound came from outside and Duskelle turned her head, curious. Brookpaw padded into the den, an irritated expression on her face.
"What happened, Brookpaw?" Lilacfeather asked. Her lilting tone had an amused note in it.
"Oh, um, I just tripped over a root," Brookpaw answered, looking flustered. "And anyways, I came over to tell you that Minnowstar's called a clan meeting and she wants-" she cast a derisive glance at Duskelle "the Two - it - her to be there. Come quickly." The young she-cat turned and fluidly ran out of the den. Irritation rose up inside of Duskelle at Brookpaw's manner, but she quelled it easily. It was understandable. After all, Duskelle wasn't one of them.
"Well, come on, Duskelle!" Lilacfeather called, heading towards the entrance. Seapaw looked up from her paw.
"I want to come too!"
Lilacfeather shot her a look. "You, young apprentice, are not in any shape to walk anywhere."
Seapaw persisted. "Can I at least watch from the entrance?"
Lilacfeather sighed. "Okay, but don't hurt your paw even more getting there!" She headed back to the apprentice, supporting her on one side while Duskelle helped her on the other side. They slowly limped together to the entrance. When they got to the shadow of the entrance, Lilacfeather stopped.
"That's it. No more. Go on, Duskelle."
Duskelle swallowed hard and headed to the middle of the camp clearing. All the cats in the clan were gathered, and staring at her. Minnowstar stood on a high rock, towering above the others. Duskelle could see the side of the rock, where the rock had many indentations and cracks. It was a clever way to climb up. Then she realized she had stopped and been staring at the rock. Her face heated up and she hurried to stand in front of Minnowstar. The other cats cleared a way for her and she was finally left standing in from of their leader. Minnowstar stared down at her, no emotion evident through her beautiful face. She started to speak.
"Duskelle Waterlee, you have come as a stranger, a twoleg, a loner turned rogue, to our clan, RiverClan. We have looked at you with fear, anticipation, disgust, wariness, and foreboding. But now, it is time. It is time to put all these aside. Put these all aside and welcome you into our clan as one of our own. Look at you with friendliness, loyalty, love, and and most importantly of all, a sense of feeling that you belong here. With us."
Minnowstar looked at Duskelle again. "Duskelle Waterlee, from this moment on, you will be known as Duskpaw."
Minnowstar gestured to a cat at the edge of the group. "Graysplash, you are ready to take on an apprentice." A dark gray tom with deep amber eyes came forward. It was Seapaw's father. Duskelle was surprised and deep down, she felt a little good. If Seapaw was so accepting of her, surely her father, Graysplash, would be too.
Minnowstar continued. "You will be mentor to Duskpaw. Graysplash, you have shown yourself to be a loyal and strong warrior, fearless in any situation. Do you accept to do all that you can to pass on what you know down to Duskpaw?"
Graysplash looked a little bit nervous, but he spoke without hesitation. "I do." Duskelle realized that he must've been told about this already. Obviously he would. Minnowstar would've needed to know if Graysplash accepted or not, and it would be a blow to her leadership if he had refused in front of the whole clan. Graysplash came forward and touch noses with Duskelle. His nose was soft and moist. He drew back almost jerkily, but not quite. It was dead silent in the camp. Everybody seemed to waiting for something to happen. The silence was broken by Seapaw's loud voice, back at the medicine cat den. She was yelling, "Duskpaw! Duskpaw!" over and over again. Duskelle realized that it was probably a tradition, to welcome a new apprentice into the clan by crying out their name over and over again. None of the other cats seemed as eager to do that for Duskelle as Seapaw was. Soon, a musical voice joined Seapaw's. Lilacfeather. And then, a slightly gruff one with an accent. Sunspring. Slowly, other cats started to join in. Duskelle was glad that at least some of them accepted her. But there were still many who did not, giving her glances full of anger and distrust. It would be a long time before the whole of RiverClan came to trust her. A long, long time.
