Squinting her eyes to protect them from the wind, Larkwing gazed into the distance. Against the horizon, obscured by the morning mist, she could make out the greyish silhouettes of a long line of trees. Probably another forest, but she would soon find out anyway. After all, today was the day she would set off with the reconnaissance patrol to search for the Skydens.

The thought of leaving her familiar territory and setting off on a journey whose destination was still in the dark made her feel a little queasy.

But I'm not alone, she reminded herself and let her gaze wander gladly over her fellow travellers. Lakepelt, her Clanmate and dearest friend, who had lost two of the most important cats in his life because of the Shadowless. Crowshadow, who had been banished from SnowClan because Specklestar refused to recognise that they had to do something about the danger that surrounded them all. Leafwind from MoonClan, whose Clanmates had not returned since a simple search for LaurelClan.

And last but not least, Redleaf and Cloverdapple, former deputy and medicine cat, and Splashfur. The last known LaurelClan cats who had lost their Clan from one day to the next to the cruel yet mysterious Shadowless.

Doubtlessly, the path that lay ahead of them would be an arduous and dangerous one. Nevertheless, Larkwing knew that it was the right decision. They would find answers — answers that would help them understand the Shadowless and ultimately discover their weakness.

Now Lakepelt padded towards Larkwing and sat down beside her in the flattened grass. "So this is the Foreign Lands of LaurelClan."

"Looks at least as big as ours." Larkwing twitched an ear.

"Much flatter, though."

That was the first thing Larkwing had noticed when they had reached their meeting place. Tree-lengths of flat meadow stretched out before them. There were only flat hills, if any, and scattered bushes. Not a very appealing place.

Again and again she peered over at Redleaf and Cloverdapple. The two had been standing together for quite a while and seemed to be discussing something.

Eventually, after what felt like a snail-paced eternity, they returned to the rest of the group.

"We should set off now if we want to get to the trees back there before sunset," Redleaf announced. His short, mackerel ginger pelt was fluffed up against the cold. "There's probably a chance we can hunt there, if it's not already claimed territory, and find a place to sleep for the first night."

The prospect of hunting relieved Larkwing. Earlier, she had spontaneously managed to catch a dormouse on RoseClan territory, but now her hunger was coming back. Must be the stress, she mused. She had always been able to cope with rarely eating, but now she felt as if there was a big hole in her stomach.

Crowshadow rose to her paws and arched her back, her mouth wide open in a yawn. "About time," the black she-cat with the long fur grumbled.

Redleaf simply ignored her snide comment. "Remember to stay close together and always keep an eye on your surroundings. In such flat and, above all, unfamiliar terrain, it's easier to fall victim to a surprise attack," he warned.

That's true. Larkwing's paws tingled with unease. It would also mean that they had a better view of the surroundings than in a forest, but other cats or other animals knew this area better and knew how to conceal themselves.

Gradually, they started to move. The grass felt strange, alien somehow, even though it was the same type of grass as always. With every step Larkwing took, she moved further away from the Clan territories.

It's really happening. Her heart was pounding like crazy. I'm going away.

Larkwing tried to ignore the oppressive feeling in her chest and just keep walking, one paw in front of the other.

But she couldn't resist the urge to look over her shoulder. The Forest Mountains, where her familiar territory was — and that of SnowClan too — seemed strangely distant.

I have a task to fulfil, Larkwing reminded herself and forced herself to avert her gaze. Letting myself be lulled by homesickness will only mean that I can't concentrate on the journey.

***

As the sun slowly began to set, they reached the tree line, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a very small forest.

At last! Larkwing could hardly wait to rest her sore paws. They had been running almost non-stop across the vast grassland. The few breaks they had taken had been extremely short-lived and characterised by constant alertness. They were lucky that they didn't have to deal with any nasty surprises.

Now Larkwing opened her mouth slightly and drew in the familiar scents of the forest. The smell of bark, mud, moss and squirrels — but it all seemed so strange all of a sudden.

"No border markings," Redleaf noted. He had ventured to the edge of the small patch of forest and walked along the outermost tree line with his ears turned forwards, then returned to the rest of the patrol. "It looks like this really is just a forest."

"Does that mean it's safe to hunt here?" Crowshadow inquired as she kneaded the ground with her claws. She ran her tongue over her mouth several times and peered between the trees with wide eyes.

Mockingly, Larkwing twitched her whiskers. Is she that starved? Still, she had to admit that she too had had enough of being plagued by hunger. And since this forest wasn't occupied territory, hopefully that meant it offered enough for them all.

Redleaf turned his head towards the forest. "I guess so," he replied. "First, though, we should look for a place to camp."

With a quiet snort, Crowshadow narrowed her eyes, however she didn't say anything back.

Splashfur shook his front paw. "I think there's a thorn stuck in my pads," he noted between clenched fangs.

"Let me see." Cloverdapple was immediately on the spot and pinned Splashfur's paw to the ground. "Yes, there's something there," the brown and white tom confirmed. "Can you wait until we've found a camp? Don't put too much weight on the paw until then, so that the thorn doesn't sink in deeper."

This prompted Larkwing to inspect her paws herself. Although they hurt slightly, she couldn't find a thorn or anything similar. It's handy to have a medicine cat with you, she thought with a sideways glance at Cloverdapple. I doubt any of the rest of us have any knowledge of healing plants, and here, far from the Clans, any injury can be life-threatening.

Her neck fur ruffled slightly, she followed the rest of the patrol between the trees. She kept sniffing with her mouth open to make sure there were no hostile cats here after all, but the only thing her vomeronasal organ detected was the long-awaited scent of voles and other prey.

On closer inspection, the forest seemed rather sparse. The trees, most of them birches, all had thin trunks and branches, and there were almost no bushes. It didn't seem like a place where anyone would want to settle down for a longer period of time.

After a while, they discovered a larger bush growing around a tree. However, the lack of foliage and the open front made it seem too unprotected as a camp.

"No wonder this forest is practically uninhabited," Crowshadow meowed. "Shouldn't we better look for another place to sleep?"

But Redleaf just shook his head. "It will probably be enough for one night. Besides, we shouldn't waste our energy looking for a place to camp."

Even though Larkwing secretly approved of Crowshadow's suggestion, she had to admit that Redleaf was right, too. They were no longer in their large, safe camps, so they would have to make do with what they found, for better or worse.

Cloverdapple was already pawing out a few hollows. "You just go hunt while I take care of the nests," he meowed in focus without turning around. "Not you, Splashfur. Or did the thorn suddenly vanish into thin air?"

Splashfur rolled his eyes slightly and sat down.

Instinctively, Larkwing looked around for Lakepelt. She was aware that this first hunt was the perfect opportunity to get to know her other patrolmates better, especially those she had never had anything to do with before. Still, she felt more confident at the thought of hunting with her Clanmate. She couldn't afford to be inattentive while she searched for food.

"Let's look for prey over there." Larkwing nodded at Lakepelt, whereupon he rose to his white paws.

Silently, the two of them stalked through the strange forest, all of their senses sharpened. We have no experience in hunting in this area, Larkwing reminded herself. Therefore, they had to proceed with extreme caution.

An occasional bird chirped in the treetops above their heads, but Larkwing wasn't interested in them. They were out of their reach anyway.

I bet Silversky would have no trouble catching one of those birds. Larkwing twitched her whiskers in amusement. She had always admired her former mentor's extraordinary climbing ability. He was able to reach heights that were too risky for other cats, and he made it look as simple as a walk.

Just then, at the last moment, she noticed that Lakepelt had slowed down his pace and was now staring at a spot between two roots of a birch tree, his ears pointed forwards.

Holding her breath, Larkwing could make out a small hole from which a faint odour of vole was emanating. "Should we wait for it to come out?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, as soft as a breeze.

"I guess we won't have to wait anymore."

That was when Larkwing spotted the small brown head sticking out of the hole in the ground, distinct against the white bark of the birch behind him. The vole's nose and thin, short whiskers twitched and its gaze went straight to the two cats. It froze.

Oh no, you can't get away from us now. Larkwing didn't know what was happening. In any case, she ducked to the ground almost as if in a trance and pushed herself off with her strong hind legs. She glided low over the forest floor. The next moment she felt her front claws digging into the brown fur of the squeaking vole.

"I've got it!" Larkwing heard herself meow in surprise and lowered her head to make the killing bite.

With her first prey in her mouth, Larkwing pulled herself to her paws and leapt back to Lakepelt.

The dark grey tabby tom with the white chest fur and white paws stuck his muzzle out to inspect her catch. "You handled this fantastically. Your reflexes are really exceptional," he commented approvingly, whereupon Larkwing's chest swelled with pride, as if she were an apprentice who had just had her first hunting success.

"Thank you," she purred, "I couldn't let such easy prey get away from us like that."

Lakepelt nudged her playfully against the shoulder with his muzzle. "Next time, leave it to me to kill the prey, okay?" There was a glint in his eyes. "Can't be that you're doing all the work."

Larkwing dropped the vole so she could meow more clearly. "Oh, you don't like being useless, do you?" she taunted.

Immediately afterwards, with a happy whoop, she dodged Lakepelt's paw, which came flying towards her. Staggering a little from the surprise effect, she hopped to the side, but Lakepelt was quicker. With their paws and tails whirling, they rolled across the ground, entangled with each other.

Larkwing did her best to never stay down for too long, drumming steadily with her hind paws at Lakepelt's belly. In the end, it was nonetheless him who gained the upper paw.

With the tip of his tail twitching, he pushed Larkwing down so that she no longer had a chance to fight back. "You don't react so quickly now, do you?"

Larkwing's eyes widened in astonishment. There was no way she was going to put up with this! "Just wait," she growled as she snapped aimlessly at Lakepelt. Pleasure flowed through her like a wave of warm sunlight. For a moment, she could simply forget reality and indulge in her light-heartedness.

Then she expelled the air between her teeth, panting. "Now get off me or I'll go flat as a leaf."

Half-heartedly, Larkwing buried the vole before they continued their hunt. A while later, as the last of the daylight gradually faded, they captured another greenfinch, prevented from flying away by Larkwing biting its wing, and killed by Lakepelt.

Those feathers are a real nuisance. Larkwing rubbed her tongue against the roof of her mouth several times to get rid of the scratchy feeling in her mouth.

"That'll do," Lakepelt surmised, his voice muffled by the plumage of the greenfinch he was still holding in his mouth.

On their way to collect the vole, the two happened to pass a tree that stood out from all the others here due to its extraordinary height. Blinking, Larkwing stared up at it. An idea struck her.

"I'll climb up for a moment and see if I can see something already," she announced and began to pull herself up the trunk.

Below her, she heard Lakepelt meowing. "Aren't you afraid of heights?"

Larkwing gritted her teeth. Shut up, I have to concentrate!

Ignoring him, she continued clawing her way upwards. Soon her paws began to ache. She would have loved to rest on a branch, however, they all looked as if they would carry the weight of a mouse at most.

Just a little further. The moment Larkwing saw that she was only a few tail-lengths away from the highest point she could reach, it fuelled her strength one last time.

With all four legs, she clung convulsively to the trunk, which was swaying dangerously up here. "Okay, don't look down now," she muttered, her voice rough and shaky. "Just... don't look...down..."

Larkwing closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. As soon as her crazily beating heart had calmed down, she dared to look again.

From up here, she could see incredibly far. Very small in the distance, she spotted mountains that appeared as small as hills and were dark grey to black like shadows except for the white summits. She could also see scattered trees and groups of trees, small lakes and a meandering river.

But there was something else. Something that didn't harmonise with the landscape.

Tall, squarish and holed structures, some of them so crooked that they gave the impression of collapsing at any moment.

"By my tail and whiskers," Larkwing murmured, her neck fur half bristling in fear, half in awe. "Are those really..."

Suddenly she realised that she hadn't been given a clue what the Abandoned Skydens even looked like.

And yet she had a feeling that told her they were very close. These strange structures surely harboured the answers they needed.

Awkwardly, she slid down the birch trunk. The rough bark scraped against her body and little bits got caught in her fur and between her claws, but she didn't really pay attention to that.

"I think I saw them!" she gasped, even before her hind paws touched the forest floor.

Clueless, Lakepelt tilted his head. "Saw what?" he enquired.

"The Skydens!" Larkwing's voice was high-pitched with excitement. "Do you know what that means? We're really on the right way!"