The days dragged on, and with them came snowfall. One morning, tiny, fine flakes fell from the sky. It was nowhere near enough to cover the world in a layer of white again. What's more, they melted into miniature puddles as soon as they touched the ground.

Shivering, Larkwing, crouched in a hollow under a dried fern frond, fluffed up her pelt and tucked her paws under her body to keep warm. Lakepelt had settled down beside her as well, providing at least some warmth.

The only one who didn't seem to mind the cold was Crowshadow. No wonder with her thick fur, which protected her perfectly against the snow. While her patrolmates, all with shorter pelts, shivered, she had made herself comfortable between the roots of an oak tree and looked around expectantly.

Today, the cats of the reconnaissance patrol had decided to meet in the forest and discuss what they had been able to find out about the ruin cats so far.

Larkwing was particularly interested in this, especially because as the supposed Guardian of the Ancient Stone she was outside the camp most of the time and therefore hadn't learnt much yet. She hadn't even learnt anything about her task. She barely saw Sunray, and apart from that, the ruin cats always acted terrified when Larkwing approached them. Therefore, she had had nothing better to do in the past few days than stare at the stone and occasionally wander around the forest.

What a great prophecy cat she was.

"They only hunt individually," Splashfur reported confusedly, tilting his head. "I asked them a few times if I could join them, but they just looked at me funny and left."

"They don't patrol borders either. If they have anything that could be called a border," Redleaf added thoughtfully.

In her mind, Larkwing repeated what she had heard so far. The ruin cats don't form hunting patrols. The ruin cats don't care about borders. If they marked their territory like normal cats, the Clan cats certainly wouldn't have run into them just like that.

"I don't know about you, but they don't seem like a real group to me." Cloverdapple looked around with bright green eyes. The medicine cat of LaurelClan made a pitiful impression as he crouched curled up in a half-heartedly dug hole. His short, brown and white spotted tabby fur was already partly wet.

Larkwing felt sorry for him. At least I have thicker fur myself. "They probably all live in one spot to be less vulnerable to enemies," she surmised on a hunch. "It doesn't necessarily mean they're a real group."

That sounded reasonable to her ears. Not reasonable in the sense that she could understand such a way of life, but that she couldn't explain it any other way.

"Good, and why haven't they formed a group long ago if they already share a camp anyway?" Crowshadow retorted.

Larkwing didn't have an answer to that. She hadn't considered that, and now that Crowshadow had said it, her theory seemed a bit pointless.

Redleaf flicked his tail in agreement. "I think they are a group. They just live by different rules than we do."

At that moment, Larkwing wished she was as small as a shrew and could just disappear into a hole. I try to say something helpful and then it's something really stupid.

"But group or no group, it doesn't matter right now." Redleaf had risen to his paws and was pacing up and down. "The Shadowless, did you—" He flattened his ears in resignation. "You probably couldn't find out anything either, could you?"

As feared, the cats remained silent.

Now Larkwing couldn't resist the urge to interject something. "No wonder they don't talk about it casually. I mean, we're talking about the Shadowless here." Her tone became slightly reproachful. "Why would they remember something that traumatised them?"

"Because we need to know!" Lakepelt meowed as soon as she had finished speaking. "We can't just wait for them to get round to it themselves. They'd better be forced to, otherwise it'll all have been for nothing."

Larkwing scowled at him, sulking in offence. "You don't understand!" Her voice grew shrill with exasperation. Once again she had said something that even her best friend didn't agree with, but this time she wasn't going to be swayed from her opinion so easily. "Forcing them to do it won't help. How are you even going to do that, by violence?"

Her flanks moved quickly. She had the impression that her fur was burning, an expression of her anger. The determination to save her patrolmates from doing something they would later regret swelled inside her like a storm surge. "The ruin cats are so afraid of the Shadowless that they call them soulless as a warning to all generations to come. If you seriously think you can convince them by force, then you've got it all wrong! Somehow we'll get the information we need, but the ruin cats will have to trust us."

Now she had said everything that had been on her mind and she felt strangely empty. At the same time, she was incredibly proud of herself. However, the feeling disappeared again as soon as she realised that no one seemed to agree with her. She couldn't recognise a trace of understanding in the looks of the others.

"I'm sorry, Larkwing, but I don't think we can wait much longer either." Redleaf flicked the tip of his tail apologetically. "It's time to act."

Signalling that the meeting was over, he disappeared between the trees. One by one, the rest of the cats left. In the end, only Larkwing and Lakepelt were left.

Still indignant that no one agreed with her, Larkwing grudgingly dug her claws into the frosty ground. Damned, mouse-brained, flea-infested, mud-spattered crowfood-eating mousedung cats. In her mind, she cursed her patrolmates with the every single swear word she could think of. No existing insult could describe them adequately enough.

"Are you going to sit there and turn into a snow cat?" Lakepelt purred, but Larkwing glared darkly at him.

"If you want to go, then go!" she snapped. Only now did she realise that the snowflakes had grown larger and denser and that her back was already covered in a thin, brittle layer of white. Nevertheless, she didn't move. "Can't you see that I'm in a really bad mood right now?" she added.

She hoped that this would force Lakepelt to leave. She really needed some rest at the moment.

The dark grey and white tabby tom took a few steps back before stopping again. "Lark—" he raised his voice.

Tear his throat open.

All at once Larkwing's heart was ruled by shadows. As if in a trance, she eyed the white chest fur of the cat in front of her. Everything around her fell silent, only this single command played over and over in her head.

Tear his throat open.

Larkwing tensed her hind legs. Her unsheathed claws glistened in the faint sunlight that barely penetrated behind the clouds - cream-coloured, sharp enough to kill with.

I must do the tentacles' bidding. I must destroy all those who are not worthy to live on. Who are not worthy of belonging to us.

Her soon-to-be victim mewed something, the words distant and indistinct. A bolt of lightning flashed through Larkwing, a bolt that caused her urge to kill to skyrocket.

I will always obey the tentacles. With this clear certainty, she pushed off with her hind paws, ready to see a cascade of dark red blood pour from her target's body.

No! Larkwing opened her eyes wide in horror. I... I... What just happened here? She felt a piercing cold penetrating her fur, as if she herself had become one with the frost and snow. Why was she lying here on the ground? Why were her claws unsheathed?

Imaginary thorns pierced her chest, taking her breath away. Why... why... why are you looking at me like that?

"Larkwing... What has become of you?" Lakepelt sounded desperate, his light blue eyes reflecting deepest distress.

But Larkwing couldn't utter a word, as if her tongue had been torn out.

It has happened again.

She hardly noticed what came next. Her mouth was moving, so she must have said something. Shortly afterwards, she was alone in the forest.

Breathing heavily, Larkwing didn't move from the spot, her gaze fixated on her still unsheathed claws. There was no doubt about it: she had just lost control of herself again.

It was just like when she had tried to flee from the supposed Shadowless. Then, too, a strange voice had suddenly appeared in her mind. It had manipulated her, inflicted pain on her until Larkwing had done the most terrible, the cruelest thing, which was a violation of the code of combat, against all reason.

It was then that she had concluded that the tendrils that twined around the skydens were to blame. However, there were no tendrils to be seen around here.

Her head full of restless thoughts, she decided to trot through the forest for a while. The snow made all the sounds seem much quieter. To distract herself, Larkwing tried to think of other things, anything that would make her forget this day-time nightmare.

Bramblepaw, Shadowpaw and Mistpaw are twelve moons old now, she thought. Are Shadowpaw and Mistpaw still convinced to prolong their training to get their warrior names along with Bramblepaw?

Then she remembered how inseparable the three of them were. No matter how eager they were to finish their training, they were guaranteed to be considerate of Bramblepaw. Larkwing didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like if she and Amberhaze had been appointed warriors at different times.

Hopefully I'll be there when it happens, she added silently. Never in her life did she want to miss her best friend's warrior ceremony. I wonder what name Palestar would choose for her? Brambleheart? That would certainly suit her. Or Brambleshine, named after Lightshine. After all, I was also named after my mother. Or Brambleflower, Brambleleaf, Brambleshade, Bramblecloud, Bramble...

Numerous names swirled around in Larkwing's head. Her whiskers twitched with excitement. She could hardly wait until Bramblepaw was a warrior too. After everything she had been through, she truly deserved it.

Shadowpaw... how would Palestar decide about him? Larkwing tried to remember the grey and black tabby tom. Shadowsky? Shadow... rain? Shadow... Oh, this is far too complicated!

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, it came back, the memory of the meeting. Larkwing felt a shiver run down her spine. She was still annoyed that no one had agreed with her. She was firmly convinced that she was the only sensible cat. She had probably just not been taken seriously because she was the youngest of them all.

Snarling, she kicked up the leaves with one forepaw and whirled them into the air. She didn't care that she was behaving like a tantruming kit who didn't get its way. She had been angry and offended and hurt. There was nothing to deny about that, but she was an adult she-cat, for StarClan's sake! Of course she didn't think it was okay if she wasn't listened to.

It was only when meows reached her ear that she stopped in surprise. It was a she-cat. She could pick out individual words, but not enough to figure out the subject.

What's going on? Gripped by curiosity, Larkwing crept along the path, always following the sound of the voice. Shortly afterwards, she spotted two cats behind a hedge, one so well camouflaged by her fur colour that she almost didn't notice her.

In a wide arc, Larkwing padded to a tree and pulled herself up onto one of the centre branches. There she carefully crawled forwards until the branch began to sway slightly. From here she had an excellent view of...

Lavender?

Larkwing had to stuff a paw into her mouth to stop herself from gasping out loud in astonishment. She had never expected to see that love-crazy mouse-brain here.

But something wasn't right here.

Lavender was huddled up, her ears pressed tightly to her head. In front of her, a brown tabby she-cat strutted to and fro, tail lashing, an expression of deepest disappointment paired with abhorrence in her amber eyes.

"I just want to understand! Didn't I try to do exactly what you raised me to do?" Lavender howled. "You always wanted me to find a mate and carry on my family's legacy. So why—"

An angry growl interrupted her. "A Clan cat!" the brown tabby she-cat snarled at her. "You may still be young and reckless, Lavender, but stay away from the Clan cats." She bared her teeth and bristled her neck fur. "It's bad enough they found us in the first place. Remember one thing: they're dangerous. They would betray you without hesitation, no matter how much they have pretended to be loyal to you."

"No." Lavender's voice was soft and brittle. "Do you remember my dream many moons ago? I dreamt I was standing in a meadow of flowers, under a starry sky. I was there with a tom who had the most beautiful blue eyes and the softest fur the colour of thunderclouds. We were together. We were in love, so much in love. It felt so strange when I woke up, like a hole had been torn in my heart. Until then, I thought it was nothing more than one of many dreams. But then Lakepelt appeared and I realised that the dream had predicted the future."

A dream? The longer Larkwing listened, the more perplexed she became. So she thinks she was dreaming about the future? Stars in the sky, your brain just went a little crazy! If Larkwing hadn't been spying on two cats in what was obviously a secret, she would have loved to jump off the branch and give Lavender a good shake. Why does she think it has to be Lakepelt of all cats? There are plenty of dark grey toms with blue eyes.

"What? I don't understand you!" Lavender just shouted. "You may hate the Clan cats, for whatever reason, but I'm convinced that I have a future with Lake—"

The brown she-cat glared at her. "How long have you two known each other? A moon? And he hates you." Her tone was full of venom and scorn.

Lavender seemed to grow even smaller in response. "That worries me too," she admitted meekly. "But I'm not going to give up! I'll keep trying, and sooner or later, Lakepelt will fall in love with me too. I promise you that. I won't let my family die out, just like you always wanted me to."

The brown she-cat had nothing but a mocking snort for her determined, powerful speech.

Larkwing felt nausea rising inside her. She could hardly stand it here any longer. If Lavender should actually succeed in forcing Lakepelt into a romantic relationship with her...

Hold on a moment. Larkwing narrowed her eyes. That brown she-cat... Where do I know her from?

Everything about the she-cat seemed strangely familiar to her. Her striped pattern, her petite stature, her light amber eyes.

And then, quite unexpectedly, the memories came flooding back.

Bright! By my tail and my whiskers, that's Bright!

Larkwing's eyes almost fell out of their sockets in astonishment. Actually, she had thought she would never see her again. Although Larkwing had still been a kit at the time, she remembered very well how Bright had blamed herself so much for not being able to save Heatherleap from the loss of both of her eyes that she even left the Clan voluntarily.

After that, Larkwing hadn't really thought about her anymore. Subconsciously, she had assumed the whole time that she would never see Bright again. How wrong she had been. Now Bright stood here, very much alive and hateful.

"You're nothing but a disappointment," Bright growled just then. "If Violet and Cascade knew about this, they'd turn over in their graves."

She hissed at Lavender one last time before turning back and leaving the lilac tabby alone.

"Haven't I done everything for you?" Lavender's voice was quiet, full of pain.

Bright must want her to find a mate at all costs and have kits with him.

For the first time, Larkwing felt pity. Maybe Lavender didn't realise that what she had been trying to do all this time was wrong.

I'd best have a word with her. With a courageous leap, Larkwing pushed herself off. Too late she realised that she would probably frighten Lavender.

And so it was. Larkwing hadn't even touched the ground before Lavender flinched, her eyes wide with fright. She bared her fangs warningly. "What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice resembling the squeak of a mouse.

Larkwing hastily stretched out a paw. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Only now did Lavender seem to realise who was standing in front of her, because she let out a gasp. "Guardian of the Ancient Stone!" she meowed and immediately threw herself to the ground, her muzzle buried in the already thin layer of snow. "What are you doing here?"

Oh, I'm just spying on you after I got possessed and nearly killed your — urgh — supposed true love.

But of course Larkwing was only saying that in her mind. Instead, she nudged Lavender. "My goodness, you'll catch a cold that way," she meowed sternly. "Besides, my name is Larkwing, and I prefer it if you call me that too."

Lavender raised her head hesitantly. "Okay... Larkwing," she mumbled uncertainly as she wiped the snow off her nose.

Larkwing purred contentedly. Well, there you go. "Who was that just now?" she enquired.

"Bright," Lavender replied curtly.

I knew it! Larkwing had to pull herself together to keep from jumping around triumphantly. "And what was going on?" she continued.

Lavender tilted her head sceptically. "Did you overhear us?"

"What was going on?" Larkwing repeated more forcefully. "Is she forcing you to do something you don't want to?"

Lavender suddenly looked panicked. "W-why do you want to know?"

Overwhelmed, Larkwing remained silent. How stupid she was. It was inappropriate to question a cat she hardly knew like that. Nevertheless, what she had just seen was extremely worrying.

"Listen, you can trust me. Really!" she affirmed. "It seems to me that you have a few problems with Bright..." Anxiously, she waited for Lavender to answer.

"All right." Lavender shifted uneasily from one paw to the other and let her gaze wander over her surroundings. "Bright joined us when I was just one moon old. That's why I can't remember where she came from, and she never talks about it."

Of course, Bright doesn't mention that she was once a Clan cat.

"She always seemed strange to me," Lavender continued. "Very quickly, she took an interest in my family. Especially my mother's father. His mate died of greencough in the last leaf-bare before my siblings and I were born. After the death of a mate, you're expected to find a new one as quickly as possible."

Larkwing wrinkled her muzzle disapprovingly. "You don't replace mates just like that," she contradicted.

Lavender shrugged. "This custom is deeply ingrained in our way of living, so why change it? And so it didn't take long for Bright to become the mate of my mother's father. I was still a kit at the time and couldn't understand how this could have happened. I thought everyone would find her as strange as I did. Before that, I had hardly seen them interact with each other. One day they were mates, just like that. I felt like I'd missed out on a significant part of the story."

Hm, that does sound rather strange. I wonder if that's why Lavender has such a twisted view of how to become mates?

"Bright became an accepted part of my family, but my littermates and I thought she was obnoxious. There was something wrong with her, something tainted. We tried to make our parents understand this. To no avail, though. Bright had somehow cast a spell over the adult cats. Made them blind to her evil intentions."

Lavender sniffed bitterly. "Unfortunately, there was no way for us to prove it. For days we watched Bright non-stop, hoping to catch her doing something that would disgrace her. Well, in the end she was probably just mean, but not evil."

Although Larkwing felt deep inside that she could believe Lavender's words, she could not prevent a little doubt. That Bright could be evil in some way didn't fit at all with the faint memory Larkwing had of her.

As Lavender continued with her story, her fur bristled. "When my littermates and I were five moons old, the soulless cats attacked. We didn't... We didn't stand a chance." Sniffling, she faltered. "Our parents tried to get us to safety, but..."

The pain in her voice was unmistakable. It hurt Larkwing's heart to listen to her remember this tragedy. Oh Lavender! I had no idea what you had to go through.

"But the ones without souls were everywhere. I remember when we reached the edge of the forest, my mother shouted that we should run as fast and as far away as possible and hide somewhere. I was so terrified at that moment. I thought I was going to die. I only realised far too late that I couldn't see my littermates anywhere."

Now Lavender was only whispering, her voice nothing more than a wisp of wind. "I waited until the following evening before I dared to go back to camp. Bright was waiting for me at our ruin. They were all dead. My whole family."

Larkwing had to swallow. Exactly what I feared. She stood there helplessly, unable to do anything. It must have taken her a lot of effort to remember all that again. Larkwing wanted to say something comforting to show her empathy, but her mouth felt as dry as a sandy cave.

"That's... I'm sorry about that," she murmured in a raspy voice. "It must have been terrible for you, wasn't it?"

That was all she could manage to say, but Lavender didn't seem bothered by it. "It was like my worst nightmares had come to reality," she replied. "And it didn't get any better in the time that followed. From then on, Bright monitored my every pawstep. She soon began to persuade me that it was my destiny to continue my family tree. After all, I was the only one left, so I had to find a mate as soon as possible. I wanted to listen to her, of course, so as not to upset her."

All this time, Larkwing had listened in silence. Now she raised the tip of her tail, signalling to Lavender that she wanted to say something. "Even though you didn't trust Bright from the start, you still wanted to make her happy, didn't you?"

Lavender nodded slowly.

"So she's eager to keep a family alive that she once forced herself into from the outside," Larkwing murmured, more to herself. She wrinkled her muzzle.

Lavender nodded again. "There's nothing wrong with that," she defended herself. "I don't want my family to die out either. It's my duty to keep it going."

Larkwing had to pull herself together to keep from growling at Lavender in anger and disbelief. "But you don't have to be in such a hurry for that. You still have your whole life ahead of you," she objected. "Besides, no one will want to be your mate if you impose on them like that. I don't know anything about love and all that stuff, but there's so much more to a relationship."

Intimidated by her harsh tone, Lavender pressed her ears to her head. At the same time, confusion entered her gaze. "That surprises me. Sure, you're the Guardian now, so you're probably not allowed to have a mate. However, you are such a pretty she-cat. Hasn't a tom had his eye on you yet?"

"Um, no, not that I know of," Larkwing replied in surprise, hoping that this was true.

"No?" Lavender's eyes grew large and round.

"That's right. I'm not the type of cat whose priority is to find a mate," Larkwing confirmed. "Oh, what am I saying. I do not want to find a mate at all. That's perfectly fine with me. I don't need to chase after anyone, and I don't want anyone to chase after me either. I want to be able to determine my own life, and a mate would only get in my way."

Half-heartedly, she expected Lavender to understand this explanation. But the opposite happened: the small she-cat gasped for air and stared at Larkwing as if she had said that the world would end tomorrow.

"I could never do that!" she meowed admiringly. "But I'll just keep trying with Lakepelt."

No! Please, anything but that. Larkwing winced. "Stop!" she hissed before she could think about it. "You cannot do this. I'm sorry, but you have to look for another cat. Lakepelt won't be your mate. He does not want to be your mate, or anyone else's. Ever."

Lavender's eyes began to gleam sadly. "Why are you saying this?" Her voice sounded quiet and squeaky. "How can you be so sure about it? You have no idea about love!"

You neither. Besides, I'm the one who has been knowing Lakepelt for her whole life. To calm herself down, Larkwing took a deep breath. "Listen, you have to understand that not everyone has the same desires like you. And above all, you can't just force someone to love you because of a dream. This is not how it works."

With a rueful feeling, she noticed Lavender's eyes growing bigger and bigger.

When she raised her head, her eyes lit up. "Thank you for making me realise that. It will probably take me a while to recover from this news, but then I will continue my search for a mate. I just have to do everything I can to make Bright happy..."

Her voice trailed off and Larkwing remembered why they were having this conversation in the first place. Lavender was truly a strange cat. She was naïve, had no idea how things worked and wanted to please a cat she disliked at all costs.

With a flick of her tail, Lavender turned to leave. "Shouldn't you be watching over the Ancient Stone?" she meowed.

Sure, I'd love to go look at a stone again. Larkwing almost blurted that out when a voice suddenly sounded.

Touch the stone. Touch it and you touch the past.