Odd Eye

Chapter Seven - Crystalpaw

Frostclaw looked extremely nervous, her ears twitching. Crystalpaw realised that she had never even seen the Grey World before, and fell back to talk to her.

"The Grey World is very disorienting at first," she told her mentor. "As a living cat, your senses of hearing and smell will be significantly dulled."

"Does that happen to you?" Frostclaw asked.

"Nope, and not to Lionblaze either. He's a StarClan warrior, of course. But I'm the only living cat built to survive in the Grey World."

"That makes sense," Frostclaw said. "Crystalpaw, I just want to say sorry about my Clan's invasion of your territory."

Crystalpaw gaped at her. "You're deputy."

Frostclaw shrugged.

"It doesn't mean I agree with each one of my leader's decisions."

"In fact," Frostclaw said, her voice dropping so low that Crystalpaw had to strain to hear her. "Talonstar is on his last life, and he intends to use it to make a bang. If that means breaking the warrior code, then sure, whatever."

Crystalpaw gasped. "Why are you telling me this?"

Frostclaw smiled sadly at her. "I'm reassuring you. Talonstar's vicious assaults will not stop. But once he dies - and that will be soon, with all the fights he's picking - I will become leader. And WindClan supports me."

Crystalpaw nudged her cheek. "But why do you look so sad? I bet you've wanted to be leader all your life."

"That's true," Frostclaw admitted. "I'm just disappointed that my rule will start off so bloodily. And I miss the leader Talonstar was, before his ambition overtook him. Once, a long time ago, I thought we might even be mates."

"Mates?" Crystalpaw said, trying to disguise the horror in her voice. "You are way younger than him, and far prettier!"

Frostclaw laughed. "I was a young, idealistic and impressionable apprentice, while he was one of the Clan's greatest warriors. A match made in StarClan, I thought. But Talonstar never wanted a mate. He's the oldest out of the leaders - the others still have plenty of time to find love."

Crystalpaw shuffled her paws awkwardly.

"Do you want to find love?" she asked quietly.

"I do," Frostclaw said. "But the senior warriors respect me too much, and the younger warriors love me but fear me. So probably not in this lifetime, or ever. Maybe StarClan will have some warriors good for me."

Crystalpaw felt a pang of sadness for her mentor. Otterpaw trailed behind her all the time, while Clearpaw looked at Flutterpaw with hope in his eyes. Even Deerkit seemed to think that Crystalpaw's brother, Pikepaw, was the most special cat in the world. How easy it was to take all these for granted when other cats had given up hope of ever feeling the same way.

Lionblaze stopped abruptly beside the pool, interrupting her thoughts.

"We're going in," he announced.

Lionblaze and Frostclaw simultaneously twined their tails around Crystalpaw's, and she led them in, stepping further and further into the pool before even her whiskers were nearly submerged. Then, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and dived in.

The sensation of vertigo was overwhelming this time as the Grey World spun into view. Beside her, Frostclaw gasped for breath, her eyes filled with a mixture of wonder and terror. Crystalpaw could see her ears twitching fast, and every few seconds she kept opening her mouth to taste the scent.

"You're right," Frostclaw murmured. "I feel like I'm deaf and anosmic."

"That's a big word," Crystalpaw teased.