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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Duskelle gasped awake abruptly, heart thudding. She'd tripped over a root and tumbled into darkness...
"Duskpaw?" came a feminine, lilting voice, and she realized that she was back in her native form. It felt both comfortable and restricting, different and not, all at the same time.
"Duskpaw," came the voice again, and she finally looked up to see Lilacfeather watching her from the den entrance, light outlining her figure. Morning had arrived. "Are you alright?"
"I am..." Duskelle trailed off as she struggled to push herself to her feet. She winced at the stabbing of pain in her ankle, and braced herself against the wall.
"Duskpaw, you'll hurt yourself," Lilacfeather spoke, rushing to support her. Duskelle allowed her to help her stand and support her as she limped to the other end of the den, where she could sit.
Lilacfeather finally eased Duskelle down, and sat besides her, curling her tail over her paws. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm mostly alright," she responded. "Except for this leg."
"That should heal soon, by my calculations," the medicine cat responded. "I had one of the warriors versed in these things take a look at it too — I'm not too sure about Twoleg bodies."
"Mm..." Suddenly, a thought struck Duskelle. "Lilacfeather? Isn't the medicine cat supposed to be connected to StarClan?"
"Yes," Lilacfeather said, turning her pale blue-gray eyes onto Duskelle. Her exquisite features twitched. "That is true."
"I've visited StarClan in my dreams," she told her. "Twice now."
The she-cat's face morphed in surprise. "Really? You?"
"Yes."
"That's odd...no one other than a Clan cat has ever spoken with StarClan, nevertheless a Twoleg." She paused abruptly and slowly continued, her nose twitching. "Except for a single notable exception. But he is...different. The medicine cat is the path in between RiverClan and StarClan, the one for whom both ways are always open."
"Always open?" Duskelle asked, leaning forward curiously. "So you're saying you can visit StarClan whenever you wish?"
"Not always, but if I wish to speak with my ancestors, they are often able to sense it. I also visit the Moonstone every half-moon, as every medicine cat does — it is a holy place, where the pawsteps of our ancestors are worn into the ancient rock," Lilacfeather said, her tail swishing. "But you — why were you there? Who talked to you?"
"Hawkripple," Duskelle said, and Lilacfeather suddenly seemed as if she understood, as if the answer were now obvious. Her eyes softened.
"To thank you?" she asked.
Duskelle nodded. "And the second time — he told me that he would be a second mentor for me, because StarClan has declared I need more training...he turned me into a cat, Lilacfeather."
