From the looks of it, another sleepless night lay ahead of Larkwing. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon quite a while ago, making way for the sparkling lake of stars in the dark blue sky. The sounds of crickets could be heard here and there.

While all the cats around her must have already sunk into deep dreams in their dens, Larkwing was still curled up wide awake in her nest, her tortoiseshell pelt fluffed up and her black tail resting in front of her face. She breathed in, breathed out — concentrating only on that to prevent herself from thinking about anything at all.

Unfortunately, it was no use. Like a gruesome nightmare, the events of the past day replayed countless times in her head. The moment when her claws had suddenly sparked on her paws and almost injured Topaz. When Splashfur had looked at her with that strange expression and refused to go back to camp with her. The unbearably frightened expression in Phoebe's amber eyes.

Not to mention the agitation she had felt when Cirrus had attacked Dove. A short, suppressed sob escaped her mouth. Oh StarClan, what should I do? I know I'm not a medicine cat, but can you at least send me a sign this one time on how to get through all this?

She sniffed. StarClan would never be interested in the problems of a normal warrior. If she could be called 'normal' at all.

With the continuous sounds of crickets in her ears, she finally closed her eyes. No doubt it would drive her even crazier if she continued to stay awake. At some point, her body just had to fall asleep on its own.

"Hello there, Larky. Are you still awake?"

Larkwing lifted her tail a little and caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy silhouette. With a snort, she tucked her muzzle between her front paws. "What are you doing here at this time?" she grumbled. "Can't you see I want to sleep?"

A cold, damp touch on her flank made it twitch. "But you're not sleeping," Lakepelt stated.

"I was just about to, you incomprehensible nut."

"So please! You're a complete loser when it comes to insults!" Lakepelt snapped. "In case you didn't know, nuts are brown. What's brown about me?"

Oh mousedung on top of crowfood, why does he have to be right about that? Larkwing gritted her teeth. She lifted her head and looked at Lakepelt more closely. In the darkness of the night, his stripes weren't visible, so that his fur looked solid black and he could almost blend in with the shadows. Only the white paws and the white chest fur stood out clearly.

"All right, then... then..." Larkwing thought for a moment. "Then you're just an incomprehensible burnt stick with snow on it. Well, what do you say to that now?"

Lakepelt narrowed his blue eyes. "No, that's not it."

Larkwing flattened her ears with feigned indignation. "Now tell me, what are you doing here? Not to test how well I can insult you, is it?"

"Exactly. Maybe you're not so stupid after all," Lakepelt purred. "You know, I just wanted to check up on my sweet little platonic mate."

Larkwing drew her head back in disbelief. Sweet? What's sweet about me, she thought. I once killed a cat — okay, not of my own free will — and scratched out the eyes of another. If you only knew what else is going on in my head! I'm not sweet, I'm your walking nightmare. If it goes on like this, I'll be the one you're afraid to encounter alone in the forest at night. I'll be the one that queens tell scary stories about to their kits.

The thought of it made her feel uneasy. Every cat wanted to be remembered for as long as possible; she was no different, but she definitely didn't want to be remembered for the wrong reasons.

The only thing she couldn't argue with was that she was little. Because that was simply the truth. Her shoulder height was three whole paw's widths below Lakepelt's, though that was definitely due to the fact that they had different sex-specific anatomies. It could also be ruled out that she would still grow. Her size had certainly not changed since her warrior ceremony.

"I know what you want to ask," she meowed coolly. "But the answer is still: no, I have no idea what's wrong with me."

As she said this, she immediately felt doubt. She trusted Lakepelt immensely and loved him more than anything else in the world. Besides, he had rescued her from the hole and tried to escort her to the forest. Wouldn't it be appropriate for her to confide in him?

Lakepelt paused for a moment. One of his hind paws shifted slightly backwards.

Fine, just go and let me sleep in peace. Larkwing laid her head on the moss and closed her eyes.

"You're not just going to go to sleep like that, are you?" Lakepelt hissed. He must have stepped closer to her nest again, because a paw swipe hit Larkwing's flank. "Move over!"

Before Larkwing could even react, Lakepelt climbed down into the hollow and settled down beside her.

Larkwing moved back until her back bumped against the edge of her nest. "Don't you have a nest of your own? I have no more room here like this!"

Without responding to her complaint, Lakepelt moved after her, wrapping all four legs around her torso and pulling her so close that she couldn't breathe for a moment. "See?" he meowed and rubbed his nose against her muzzle. "It's alright like this, don't you think?"

Larkwing wiggled around slightly to breathe more freely again. It was a strange feeling, sharing a nest with another cat. As far as she could remember, she had only ever slept alone since she had joined RoseClan. She hadn't even shared a nest with Amberhaze back then.

However, she soon realised that it didn't feel so bad. Quite the contrary: The warmth of Lakepelt's body enveloped her and involuntarily she began to purr. Holy StarClan, so this is snuggling!

After a while, however, she stopped purring and tilted her head suspiciously. "How long do you want to stay here now?" she wanted to know.

"All night, of course," Lakepelt replied. "I'm worried about you, Larky. That's why I came here in the first place. There's something going on with you since you came back."

Larkwing stiffened. Yes, because I'm becoming a Shadowless.

She had to tell him. She couldn't keep this secret much longer. Sooner or later she would have to confide in a cat.

"Cirrus thinks I'm traumatised and that's why I have this—" Larkwing paused. This urge to hurt and kill. Nausea rose in her throat.

Lakepelt's eyes narrowed. "How could that be the reason?"

"I don't know!" All at once, Larkwing was plagued with the urge to jump up and run away. But as long as she was in Lakepelt's embrace, there was no way for her to escape. "I mean it! And I don't want to be reminded all the time that there's something wrong with me. I'm already aware of that."

As soon as the last word was spoken, she deeply regretted it. Lakepelt in no way deserved to be treated like this. Remorsefully, she buried her muzzle deep into his white chest fur. It felt incredibly soft and fluffy and she inhaled his familiar scent deeply.

"I didn't mean it like that," Lakepelt reassured her, his chest vibrating at the sound of his rough, dark voice.

Larkwing only sniffled. And yet it's true. Something is very wrong with me.

A fierce, deep purr made Lakepelt's body shake as he licked Larkwing's head. "You'd better get some sleep, Larky. You're the greatest warrior anyway, but when the Shadowless return and you haven't slept enough all this time, even you won't stand a chance against them."

Larkwing's whiskers twitched. "Death to all Shadowless, or something," she murmured.

"Exactly," Lakepelt confirmed. "What other way is there to defeat them? You can only kill them — or at least try."

Try. Larkwing's fur bristled at that word. "But it can't go on like this forever," she objected. "What about the spaceships? They're the reason why the Shadowless exist in the first place. If it's possible to track them down, surely we could find a way to get rid of the Shadowless once and for all!"

"Do you even know where to find them?" Lakepelt replied sharply. "Or what they even look like — and what they're capable of."

Larkwing bit her lower lip. She knew very well what the spaceships looked like. Gigantic, round, rigid, black creatures with long tentacles growing out of their backs and flanks. That was what she had seen in the Ancient Stone's memory. Besides, if they were the ones controlling the Shadowless, they couldn't logically be very far away.

With an agonised groan, Lakepelt placed his muzzle on Larkwing's head and wrapped his tail around hers. "Whatever. Listen, maybe you shouldn't hold back in the fight. Remember, these aren't normal cats anymore. Sticking to the code of combat at all costs is pointless."

An uncomfortable tingle made Larkwing's fur bristle. "You don't want to kill all the Shadowless, do you?" she breathed.

Her thoughts raced. Even if she hated and feared the Shadowless, they couldn't possibly go on like this forever. If only there was a way to cure the infection! Then all the Shadowless would return to their old selves and there would be no more needless deaths.

"Want to, yes, but it is impossible," Lakepelt replied with a strangely cool undertone. "The Shadowless haven't taken anyone from you yet. Sure, you saw Reedclaw die, but for me and Elderpelt she was simply gone from one moment to the next. It should never have come to that."

Larkwing was extremely reluctant to remember the fateful night when she had first met the Shadowless. She had been just eight and a half moons old when she had seen Reedclaw die in the cruelest way a cat could imagine.

They tore her apart. Larkwing swallowed down the nausea that rose in her throat. They didn't just kill her with a bite like prey, they tore her to shreds until she was barely recognisable.

She didn't know what was worse: witnessing it herself or having to see her own sister's remains being carried back to camp. However, she didn't even want to know what the second felt like.

"I guess I can't stop you," Larkwing murmured as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Lakepelt licked over her head. "You'd better not try," he purred.

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A shorter chapter for once :)  The next ones will be longer again and more things will happen, don't worry! I just wanted Lark and Lake to interact in a very cute way. Now you also know that Lake is really affectionate. If he could, he would just cuddle Lark all the time. He is the definition of clingy, but so far he hasn't / I haven't really had the chance to show that.

BUT remember their conversation. The topic of it will play a significant role in a later chapter.