Larkwing simply had to follow this voice. Although, to be precise, it could hardly be described as a single voice. Rather, it was a choir of a bright, feminine-sounding, synchronised singsong that rippled through her body like a small yet powerful wave, taking control of her paws.

Completely out of breath and with lungs that seemed to be on fire, Larkwing plunged into the cave of the Ancient Stone. Half expecting to meet other cats here - perhaps the ones whose whispers had lured her here — she let her gaze wander through the darkness.

A little disappointed, she let her bushy tail hang down. There was no one there but her. I could have guessed that! Annoyed with herself, she bit her lower flew. Listening to a voice in my head has never ended well, as we all know.

Nevertheless, something was different, she could feel it. She couldn't explain it and yet she was convinced that there would be no negative incidents this time. The voices just sounded too honest, too friendly for that.

As always, the stone glowed faintly purple in the pale light. Larkwing looked at it indecisively. Would it really do any good to touch it? She lowered her head and brought her nose very close to it. In all this time, the thought had never occurred to her.

Touch the stone, the voices urged again.

Larkwing whirled around reflexively. Again, there was still no one there. "Touch the stone," she repeated, tilting her head confusedly, "why would I do that?"

When she received no answer, she snorted contemptuously. Nevertheless, her curiosity was now piqued. Surely nothing bad would happen if she gave the stone one quick nudge.

The dark mottled warrior narrowed her eyes, sent a final prayer to StarClan and touched the stone with her nose.

Immediately she was overcome by an indescribable pain. Her body seemed to burn, to freeze, to be torn apart and pierced by spikes. Full of panic, Larkwing opened her mouth, but before she could scream, she fell into an eternal darkness.

***

When she regained consciousness, she was strangely dazed. All the pain was gone, as if swallowed up by air. She no longer felt anything.

Nothing at all.

For she was floating — above a deep crevice from which faint, light violet rays were rising.

What... what just happened here? Caught up in her bewilderment, Larkwing couldn't move. Where had she landed? Was she dreaming?

Questions upon questions swirled around in her head, so that she almost missed the bubbles drifting upwards between the beams of light.

As if controlled by an external force, Larkwing floated towards. She paddled with her paws as if she were swimming, even though she had never done that. Nevertheless, she moved about in this strange world as naturally as if she had never done anything else.

As she approached, she realised that the bubbles were not transparent as she had first assumed. Instead, various scenes were taking place inside them. A small one flew straight past her, close enough that she could make out a section of the MoonClan camp in it.

For a moment, she was paralysed with astonishment. A heartbeat later, she paddled like an insane cat after the bubble. No! Wait for me!, she wanted to call out.

Determined to see what this bubble was showing, she stretched one paw far forward. One last, powerful push with her hind legs and she touched the bubble, which then burst, surrounding her with a dazzling brightness.

However, this was only short-lived. Little by little, Larkwing's senses returned to her. The sweet smell of heather reached her nose. A gentle wind freshened her fur and fluffy-looking clouds drifted above her in the blue sky.

Low, strangely muffled voices reached her ears, whereupon she looked down.

Immediately afterwards, she gasped for air. The MoonClan camp! This realisation flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning. How on earth is that possible?

She was hovering an estimated tree-length above the ground, which meant that the cats moving around the camp could only be seen as small, colourful specks. Without further ado, she flew closer.

But just as she was level with the hills surrounding the camp, her front paws suddenly bumped into something hard. It seemed that an invisible barrier was stretching across the camp.

Larkwing pressed her flews together in disappointment. Then, unexpectedly, she heard a high-pitched voice that sounded strangely familiar.

"I bet if I jump off that hill, I can fly all the way over there!" a tiny, fluffy kit announced, chest puffed out boastfully. She had a funny look: her back and flanks were mottled black and red like flaming flowers, but she had a large, light reddish-brown tabby patch on her right shoulder and her right front leg was the same colour.

Three other kits scurried out of the gorse into the open behind her. "Don't do that, Larkkit!" a reddish-golden she-kit pleaded in a squeaky voice. "Otherwise we'll get into trouble with Swallowfern."

In astonishment, Larkwing forgot to breathe. That's me! She looked down at her much younger self with a mixture of fascination and horror. That really is me, when I still lived in the MoonClan camp.

So it was clear that she was not only back with the Clans, but had travelled back several moons into the past. Larkwing involuntarily wondered if that was the power of the Ancient Stone — to show the cat who touched it their past. However, she couldn't remember anything about that particular day.

"Oh, now be quiet, Amberkit," Larkkit crowed and began to scramble up the hill in question.

Mewing, Amberkit, Dashkit and Leafkit gathered at the foot and put their heads back. "This is so going to go wrong," Dashkit whispered.

Leafkit poked her in the flank with a small paw. "Don't be a spoilsport," he retorted indignantly.

As she hovered above them, Larkwing purred in delight. Of course, Leafwind — or should she say Leafkit? — had often supported her vigorously when she had one of her crazy ideas.

By now, Larkkit had reached the highest point of the hill. Full of pride at her achievement, she jumped around in circles, exuberantly cheering. "Look, I'm in the sky!" she announced.

Obviously too loudly. Snarling, Dashkit rose up on her hind legs and whirled her white paws through the air. "For the last time! Get down from there! Otherwise you'll get into serious trouble with Swallowfern."

All at once, Larkkit fell into silence. Very slowly, she turned to Dashkit. Her downy pelt bristled. She glared at the silver-grey tabby she-kit with an almost creepy look from her still dark blue eyes.

"Swallowfern is asleep," Larkkit argued simply. Without paying any further attention to Dashkit, she pulled her paws under her body and wiggled around. "Watch me, you cats damned to the ground!"

It was clear to see that she was putting all her strength into this jump. She was trying so hard that her face, contorted with exertion, was almost funny to look at. Time seemed to slow down and Larkkit rose into the air. Her body was exactly a mouse-length from the ground, then she plopped down like a stone with a startled grunt.

Immediately, Amberkit, Dashkit and Leafkit scurried around her in disarray. Each of them meowed something so that it was hard to recognise what they were saying.

But when a single coo, deeper than the kits', rang out, they were all silent at once. A black she-cat rushed towards them, her sleek, short fur ruffled. "What's all the commotion about?" she inquired.

Larkwing's heart stopped in shock. Her chest tightened. So many moons. So many moons had passed since she had last seen her, breathed in her scent, felt her warm fur.

Swallowfern... it really is you!

Alive and just as Larkwing had remembered her, Swallowfern stood there, close enough to touch, if it weren't for the invisible barrier.

And so Larkwing could only watch helplessly and with gnawing jealousy as her younger self was allowed to enjoy time with Swallowfern, while she herself was pulled away as if by imaginary tendrils.

The image before Larkwing's eyes blurred, distorting unnaturally until the bubble floated before her and away. It flew steadily towards the abyss, and as soon as it had disappeared, Larkwing found herself back in the cave.

Dazed, she shook her pelt. She had just travelled back in time, just like when Goldenstar had haunted her! So was the Ancient Stone a gateway to the past? It was so small and seemed so insignificant at first. How wrong she had been.

With tingling fur, Larkwing climbed out of the cave and made her way to the main camp. Her curiosity wanted to tempt her to touch the stone again and try to slip into another part of the past. But she also realised that she had to share this knowledge with the others as soon as possible.

Perhaps it would turn out that the stone would not only show her past, but that of the whole world. Because if that were true, they would have reached their goal in one giant leap — and they could go home again!