Bursts of golden light flared against her eyelids, and her eyes sprung open, revealing a familiar meadow. Her senses returned to her in individual pinpricks, first the spongy soil beneath her paws, then the murmur of a brook wreathed in birdsong, and finally the scent of fresh grass.

   Then awareness.

   Duskelle turned her head, expectancy running surely through her thoughts, and there the large brown tabby was, sitting besides her. His light amber eyes were focused on the forest ringing the meadow, as intent as if he were trying to look through the trees.

   "Hello," she told him, and his gaze snapped away, coming to rest on her face.

   "Duskpaw." He blinked slowly and his muzzle curved into a smile. "I told you we'd meet again. You remember me, of course."

   "Yes," Duskelle responded. It was cold in StarClan today, even with the brilliant sunlight beaming down. "I don't think...I don't think my experience with you was something I can ever forget."

   A low chuckle rumbled through Hawkripple's chest, and he shifted his paws. "Indeed not."

   "Why have you called me?" Duskelle asked, her breath coming out in misty puffs as she spoke. She knew that visits to StarClan were not common - Graysplash's reaction had confirmed as much.

   Hawkripple rose, and beckoned her with his tail. "I will show you. Follow."

   Duskelle copied his movement, and adhered to his command, trailing behind as he padded towards the trees, sleek fur rippling. As they ventured into the woods, the cold bit deeper; the canopies formed by wide leaves didn't allow the sun onto the forest floor. With every beat of her paws against the ground, the sound of the brook became clearer.

   Until, eventually, they emerged onto its banks. There was sudden movement, and she realized that they'd startled someone who'd been sitting at edge of the creek into rising. It was a tom, with a thick coat of dusky black fur. 

   "Raventuft," came Hawkripple's voice. "This is Duskpaw."

   Raventuft's eyes were pale yellow and kind as they lighted on her.  A smile wavered on his muzzle, and strengthened when she tentatively returned it.

   "Duskpaw." An incline of the tabby tom's head. "Raventuft."

   She nodded, and Hawkripple continued, turning his attention to Raventuft. "She's the Twoleg." There was a pause. "Clearly."

   Raventuft chuckled softly, and dipped his head to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Duskpaw."

   "The same to you," she replied, attempting to replicate his gesture. She must've looked comical, because his calm smile widened.

   A glimmer in the corner of her eye caught her attention and her head jerked sharply to the sight. It was the creek. Something struck her as being different, but she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Something about the water...

   There was something growing inside of her, an urge, deep and pure. Closer, it told her. Come closer, and she complied, padding forwards. Her nostrils flared reflexively at the sharp scent of the water, but still she brought it onwards, closer and closer until she stopped, just at the edge of the creek.

   The water was a kaleidoscope of shimmers that drew her focus into a concentrated pinprick, and the current seemed to pick up, rushing faster as she reached out a paw towards it.

   With a sudden flash of understanding, she realized that there were stars swimming amongst it...not even amongst it, but...

   They made up the water, and they were the water. They were liquid stars.

   Her paw dipped closer to the rippling glassy surface, but a harsh exclamation from Hawkripple made her cringe backwards.

   "Stop!" Her gaze jumped sideways and connected with his glaring yellow one. "Do not touch the water! The other spirits will call - they will take your spirit away and it will dissolve."

   Duskelle jerked away from the water, and the connection broke, scattering her mind a hundred different ways. Dissolve her spirit? That didn't sound particularly pleasant...

   "My spirit?" she asked, her eyes darting anxiously from Hawkripple to Raventuft and back.

   "Yes," Hawkripple responded, his tone hard, his paws twitching. "Your spirit. Every living thing has a spirit — they are a sort of...energy. Felines have particularly powerful spirits, and that is what allows us of StarClan to live on after our mortal bodies have passed."

   "Really?" Duskelle asked, cocking her head. "That's interesting..."

   "Indeed..." he trailed off for a moment, seemingly troubled. "The longer a spirit like me, one that no longer has a body, survives, the weaker it gets until eventually, it collapses and dissolves. Then, it joins the Endless Waters, cycling through StarClan in the River of Stars, heading out to sea." 

   He gestured at the creek. "Sometimes, spirits can be...assimilated, sort of, by other spirits. A weak spirit from StarClan could assimilate a powerful spirit when its body dies, and that could allow for it to survive longer."

   Duskelle noticed that Hawkripple's tail was jerking, as if he wanted to lash it angrily, but was controlling himself. Raventuft was giving him a worried look, but Hawkripple was steadfast in ignoring him. Curiosity took the place of her earlier shock.

   But another question was on her mind. "Hawkripple?" she asked, and his gaze, now marred by mysterious annoyance, met hers.

   "What does sea mean? Seapaw is named after it, I think, and I've never come across the word before..."

   Raventuft's expression cleared, and he shifted his pale yellow eyes back to her. "Ah, the sea...those of RiverClan only hear of the sea. They know it as an endless stretching of water, all the way to the horizon, and it is that, I suppose...but one does not learn the true meaning of the sea and what it is until they become one of StarClan and traverse our hunting grounds."

   Duskelle opened her mouth to respond, even more curious, but Hawkripple spoke.

   "That's not relevant right now," came his curt interruption. "You've come here to be told about something of far more gravity."

   "What's that?" Duskelle asked, stepping away from the water. Shreds of the call that had drawn her in before still grasped at her from its banks.

   "You heard what happened the other day - the Elder Ones have decreed that you will become a part of RiverClan. You have been assigned a mentor-" He stopped abruptly, voice cracking, and looked away, unable to meet her gaze.

    She winced as she imagined the memories that must've silenced his voice, but Hawkripple seemed to swallow his pain in a matter of seconds, and continued.

   "Graysplash. Graysplash is your mentor. But that cannot be enough - we of StarClan have decided that you must have further training, for here in our hunting grounds, you can become whoever you need to be..."

   Duskelle blinked. Something had changed, he'd done something...

   With a gasp of surprise, she realized what had happened. She'd turned into a cat, the transition so quick and smooth she hadn't even noticed it happen. She stared at the fur on her paws in awe, taking a step back to gape at them better before forgetting that they moved with her.

    Duskelle waited a second - for it to disappear, for her to change back just as she had done before - but it didn't happen. She was a cat and staying as such, for who knew how long. She reached out and flexed the muscles in her paw wonderingly.

   "There is not much in hunting and fighting that your mentor can teach you, at least not in practice - they will teach you by word in your world, and we will teach you by claw and fang in our world." He cast a glance at Raventuft. "I must admit, I'm not quite exceptional at hunting...Raventuft will be providing assistance with that."

   Duskelle looked up at him - she could only half-understand his words...was he saying that they'd train her in this form?

   The two toms met each other's eyes, and began a vow together. "We, Hawkripple and Raventuft, vow to teach you, Duskpaw, all that we know as warriors of StarClan." Each of them stepped forward in turn to lightly touch his nose to her own completely alien one.

   She stumbled backwards, amazed at the way soil crunched under her paws, her real paws...she was feline. Feline. And all she could do was wonder.

   "Your training in StarClan will begin the same day as in your world; we will train whenever we deem it necessary, for it will tire you just as training outside of your dreams will," Hawkripple told her.

   "Alright," Duskelle breathed. She flicked her tail and almost jumped back in surprise. Her tail! She had a tail now! She tried in vain to turn around to look at it.

   "Duskpaw" She looked up at Raventuft's deep voice. He was smiling at her, his eyes light with amusement. He jerked his head towards the forest, which beckoned with lush green leaves and soft crumbly dirt. "Go."

Duskelle smiled brightly at him. Go, he'd said. She'd go...

She flexed the muscles in each of her paws, and then ran, ran like she never had before, fur streaming behind her, tail shooting through the air, paw pads slipping against dirt, smells ranging through the air towards her sensitive nose, colors that she'd never before seen highlighted in her vision...

She ran like a cat.