That night, Crystalpaw dreamt once more. This time, all her mentors faced her, including Frostclaw.
"Hey!" she purred, hurrying forward to greet them.
Dovewing touched her cheek affectionately.
"You fought well against WindClan," Lionblaze told her, his eyes gleaming with pride.
"Yes," Frostclaw nodded. "I'm very proud of you."
Crystalpaw blushed at their praise.
"No more of that mushy stuff!" Jayfeather hissed, covering his eyes. "I can't bear to look."
Crystalpaw smiled at the grumpy old medicine cat.
"Today, we're going to try spotting and talking to normal cat spirits," Jayfeather told her.
Crystalpaw's spirits lifted and she bounced up and down in excitement.
So far, she knew of three different classifications of creatures found in the Grey World.
The Broken. These were dangerous animals that died while they were made crazy by some kind of disease, or simply by rage. The Broken tend to have circular torsos with their head, tail and limbs drifting above or underneath them. They had the ability to shoot out these limbs in lightning fast ways and sever a cat's spine just with a flick of their mental consciousness. Animals like this were the only spirits in the Grey World that had real thought. They were also vividly colourful, as if they were still alive - and they killed for fun, not because they had to eat. It didn't matter anyway - the Grey World was the final afterlife, if a dead animal died there, it would be ressurected.
Ghosts. It had seemed slightly unfair to Crystalpaw that Twolegs would get their own category in the Grey World, but once she saw how creepy they were, she didn't feel that way anymore. Ghosts were more rare, but they were basically stiff, grey-coloured Twolegs with their eyes wide and unblinking and their limbs pinned to their sides. Crystalpaw had only ever seen one of them, bobbing casually in the air. It was so terrifying it gave her nightmares for a week. She even preferred battling The Broken then having to even look at a Ghost. Thank goodness they only just floated in the air like pieces of dust, and rarely ventured onto the ground - in fact, they only really hovered around the Twolegplace.
The Zephyrs. Jayfeather told her that 'zephyr' was really just another word for 'small wind.' He had looked even more grumpy than usual as he said it. Apparently, he had suggested the name 'Breezelings' but Firestar had vetoed it. Personally, Crystalpaw had thought Jayfeather came up with the better name, but she was wise enough not to say it - his ego was already quite inflated! Anyway, Zephyrs included creatures like squirrels, mice, and most importantly, cats. Only half of their body was visible (the one with their head) and the rest crumbled away into grey smoke, while the visible half was bright and colourful. They were all over the Grey World, but had very little conscious thought and were inclined to be distracted easily. To bring one back to StarClan, Crystalpaw had to hold its concentration long enough to take it back to the pool where she and Jayfeather (and sometimes Dovewing) appeared from almost every night to access the Grey World. Easier said than done.
Jayfeather had always told her she didn't have enough experience to be making communications with Zephyrs, especially since calling out to them would undoubtedly bring Broken with them. But now, she had trained hard for almost two moons - up to the middle of her apprenticeship with Lightstep. Crystalpaw felt more than ready.
"Lionblaze and Frostclaw will be coming with you, should the worst happen," Jayfeather said. "We don't want to attract the Broken, but we may have no choice."
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.
"Means I can't smell anything."
"Okay Crystalpaw," Lionblaze said. "Frostclaw and I are going to follow you - just pretend we're not here. If anything goes wrong, which it shouldn't, run back to the pool immediately."
"Should I go to the RiverClan camp?" It was the only other moderately safe place here.
"No," Lionblaze said. "The pool will get us more directly to either StarClan or the living world - if something goes badly wrong, we don't have time to fade away."
"Fade away?" Frostclaw said, trying to keep her voice calm. "That doesn't sound like the safest method of escape."
Lionblaze snorted at her. "It's not. It's much safer to go by the pool, but if you wanna get out of here, there are two ways. Number one is the pool, which we do need a better name for. Anyway, you find where the pool is in the Grey World and you jump in, which takes you immediately back to StarClan. Or, you try to concentrate on the living world instead of the Grey World, and if your concentration is strong enough, your form in the Grey World will fade away and you'll eventually go back to where you belong. However, only Jayfeather, Dovewing and Crystalpaw know how to use this method. For us, it's far safer to go by the pool."
Frostclaw nodded.
Crystalpaw had already begun stalking through the trees, only half listening to her mentors' conversation. There were several Zephyrs darting around in the air, but no cats so far. Suddenly, she spotted a flash of a ginger cat pelt weaving through the trees. Prickling in excitement, she dashed after it with Lionblaze and Frostclaw hot on her tail.
As she got nearer to it, Lionblaze suddenly tackled her and she tumbled to the ground.
"Hey!" she hissed. "What was that for?"
"That's not a Zephyr, you mouse-brain," he whispered. "That's a living cat! Frostclaw, get down!"
Frostclaw obediently pressed herself against the mulch, flattening her fur so that not even Crystalpaw could see her.
The living cat turned around, and his face lit up.
"Crystalpaw!" he cried, pelting towards her.
She felt stunned.
"Flickerpaw?" she asked.
"Wait a minute," Lionblaze said. "You know this cat?"
"This is Flickerpaw, Flickerpaw, this is Lionblaze."
Flickerpaw looked at Lionblaze with interest.
"I've heard stories about you," he said. "I'm Firestar's kin as well - the line keeps winding long."
"That's irrelevant," Crystalpaw said. She stared at Flickerpaw. "How did you get here? Living cats aren't supposed to be able to."
"Well I was here before, wasn't I?" Flickerpaw pointed out. "When I was deathly sick, Jayfeather said I accidentally slipped into the boundary between StarClan and the Dark Forest. I guess once you're able to do that, you can forever do that."
"How often do you go here?" Crystalpaw asked.
"Well considering my first slip-in into the Grey World was just last night, only two times."
"Right," Crystalpaw said, feeling embarrassed. So much had happened, her fight with the badger and her meeting with Flickerpaw had seemed many moons ago. "Of course."
Flickerpaw grinned crookedly at her.
"And you can fade as well..." Crystalpaw wondered to herself. "Like you did last time."
She whirled around to face Lionblaze.
"Are you sure he's not part of the prophecy?" she demanded accusingly.
"Certain," Lionblaze growled.
"But perhaps I'm meant to help you with it, or something!" Flickerpaw suggested. "It seems awfully exciting."
"It's really dangerous!" Crystalpaw hissed. "And you don't have the training or tools to survive here. Lionblaze should take you back to the pool immediately, while I get on with the mission."
"Oooh, what's your mission?" Flickerpaw said, unfazed.
"Come here, young cat and I'll explain it to you," Lionblaze said, guiding him away in the direction of the pool. Lionblaze shot a look at where Frostclaw was hiding, as if to say, Don't mess up.
Then, the golden-pelted warrior disappeared into the bushes, with Flickerpaw bounding at his heels.
Frostclaw straightened up and stared at Crystalpaw. "You like him."
"I don't!" Crystalpaw said, feeling hot underneath her pelt.
"Sure you do," Frostclaw said, with a smirk. "I can tell."
Crystalpaw turned her back. "It doesn't matter anyway. We're from different Clans, and I have a prophecy to fulfil."
"There was the Light in the Mist addition to the warrior code. You could use that."
"I said it doesn't matter!" Crystalpaw snarled, then felt guilty as she saw the hurt look in Frostclaw's eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. Let's not worry about this now, I have a Zephyr to catch."
Frostclaw fell silent as Crystalpaw sniffed the undergrowth. Dovewing had taken her here and shown her different scents. The Broken reeked like crow-food, Ghosts smelled oddly like nothing, but the Zephyrs had the closest scent to that of their living counterparts - light and airy with a hint of whatever creature they were. She breathed in deeply, then her eyes opened as she smelled cat. Crystalpaw looked up.
A female, tortoiseshell cat Zephyr was frolicking in the wind, occasionally coming down to swoop on the top of bushes. Crystalpaw watched her carefully, then as the Zephyr came around for another dive, she pounced. The Zephyr struggled under her claws for a while, but eventually fell still.
Its formerly blank eyes were now balefully glaring at her.
"Zephyrs don't have conscious thought until something provokes it," Jayfeather had said. "Violence is the best method."
"Can you hear me?" Crystalpaw asked, shaking the tortoiseshell and sinking her claws in.
The cat gave a barely perceptible nod.
"What is your name?" Crystalpaw snarled, twisting her claws inside the flesh.
The Zephyr gave an airy laugh. "I don't even know anymore."
"How long have you been here?"
"No clue. Last memory I had was of a fox sinking his fangs into my neck."
"Can you think before that? Back to when you were alive?"
The Zephyr snorted. "Can't. I know where I am, little cat. You might not. I'm in the land of the doomed!"
"What if I told you I could reverse that?" Crystalpaw said desperately feeling the Zephyr's concentration slip away like the breeze it was named after. "What if I told you I could bring you back to life?"
"Smarter than the average badger, aren't you?" the Zephyr spat. "But you can't fool me!"
Then, with a powerful thrust of its front legs, the Zephyr pushed itself off Crystalpaw's body and whisked away, out of sight.