The rain was pattering down on the canopies in the form of heavy, cold drops when several howls roused Larkwing from her sleep.

"We've seen them! They're on their way here!"

With a tingle, Larkwing's fur bristled. The time has come. The Shadowless are about to attack.

Beside her, Lakepelt stirred and pulled himself to his paws. His light blue eyes glowed like two thin rings. "It's new moon," he realised, "and they're actually coming on time."

"At least they weren't here earlier," Larkwing added.

She slipped out of her den. Within a few heartbeats, she was dripping wet. The rain was so strong that she could barely see far enough. In addition, there was a wind that swirled the drops around, and thin veils of mist.

This is the worst possible night for a battle, she thought, shivering. It was bad enough that no moon was shining tonight. But the weather was also throwing a huge spanner in the works. That was why she refrained from checking the air for the approaching Shadowless, even though her nose itched to do just that. Under these circumstances, not even Amberhaze could make out a scent.

Suddenly, something cold and wet brushed against her flank. With a high, startled mew, she hopped to the side. "You dung-covered piece of crowfood!" she gasped, arching her back. "You're all wet!"

Provokingly, Lakepelt stalked around her and whipped a load of drops into her face with his bushy tail. "Unfortunately, I'm not waterproof. But you're already wet anyway. You can't get any wetter."

"Can you be anything other than mean?" Larkwing retorted snappishly.

A paw hit her on the head. "No, actually, I can't."

Oh, just wait! Larkwing threw herself forwards in a flash and rammed Lakepelt over. Despite his huge size, he was surprisingly easy to bring down, but she wasn't fooled by this and pressed his head down with her front paws, just as she had learnt from him.

Lakepelt snapped at her in vain. "Have I told you that you're really heavy? How much do you even eat?" he complained.

With feigned indignation, Larkwing gasped. "Certainly less than you! You're already stuffing yourself with everything you can eat."

"Have you ever considered that it's because I'm larger than you?"

"Have you ever considered that you're just a glutton?" Larkwing replied and sat up.

Lakepelt shook out his black tabby and white fur. "First you say I'm mean, but you're not much nicer yourself."

And who started it? But before Larkwing could say anything, Redleaf beat her to it. "Seriously, are you kits?" the orange tabby and white tom rebuked them while coming over, his ears flattened. "You'd better get ready for when the Shadowless are about to come."

Then he disappeared into the rainy mist again. Larkwing's tail tip twitched, but she realised he was right. She was a warrior and should behave accordingly. Especially when they were about to fight completely new opponents.

The kits! Alarmed, Larkwing spun in circles as she tried to make out where Topaz's den was.

"Is everything alright with you?" Lakepelt inquired.

Larkwing lowered her head. "I'm just worried about the safety of the nursery," she explained.

Lakepelt purred. A cold, dangerous-sounding purr that made any traces of the playfulness that had lasted until just now disappear. "Larky, if any of the Shadowless think about even looking in that direction, I will personally tear them into little pieces and scatter them everywhere."

Oh great StarClan! He really takes his duties as a battle strategist very, very seriously! Except that normal thinking cats wouldn't literally tear anyone apart.

All of a sudden, Larkwing's head started to pound. With a stifled gasp, she bit her tongue. It somehow felt as if countless voices were talking to her at the same time, even though no one was actually speaking. In fact, she couldn't even make out any real words, just the hatred and aggression in the sound of the voices.

The Shadowless are getting closer and closer. She instinctively realised that. Those voices had to be coming from them. They were made to fight, to kill and to infect more cats.

And now that Larkwing was becoming a Shadowless herself, she could make out their presence before she could even see, hear, or smell them. There were many of them, so many and so close together like a single entity that she wasn't even able to recognise individuals.

Are all the Shadowless, no matter where they are, interconnected?, Larkwing wondered. That would at least explain why they all disappeared together every time, even though I never heard them call for a retreat.

However, there was another presence that she could clearly perceive. Isolated from the other Shadowless. She was out there in the forest somewhere, waiting.

Sunray. A low growl rose in Larkwing's throat. How very well chosen of the golden spotted she-cat not to take part in the attack of her Shadowless herself.

Torn between her plan to finally take revenge on Sunray and her duty to stay in camp and protect it, Larkwing froze for a brief moment. What was she supposed to do? Was it really right to leave the camp just before the battle, when every single claw was needed here?

Don't forget what she did to everyone, a voice whispered deep in her subconscious. You can't let a cat like that live. She must suffer, just as she made you, Crowshadow and the ruin cats suffer.

Larkwing's claws twitched. The ruin cats would manage without her for a little while, as long as they stuck to the things they had learnt in training. I just hope they don't freeze in fear because they have to fight their former campmates. She sighed silently. But by now they must have realised that there's nothing left to salvage from their old selves. No matter how much the truth hurts.

"I'll go out and look for Sunray," Larkwing meowed curtly, wanting to make her way silently and stealthily to the exit.

Lakepelt blocked her way. "Wait, why? You don't want to go out there all alone, do you?"

For a moment, Larkwing felt a twinge in her heart, as if someone was sticking a long thorn through it, and her breath stopped. "I have to do this alone," she emphasised. Shivering from the cold rain, but also from fear and worry, she stepped forward and lifted her head to touch her nose to Lakepelt's with a faint purr. "I can manage that. I'll be back very quickly. I love you. See you later."

As soon as she had said goodbye, she whirled around and dashed through the increasingly dense clouds of mist towards the forest. I will survive. And when this is all over, I'll finally tell you the truth. I will become a Shadowless. No more hiding. What do I care what StarClan thinks of me? Supposedly omniscient, but they don't even realise that I was infected against my will. 

Larkwing dashed tirelessly between the trees, dodging bushes and leaping over rocks, while her muscles seemed to pulse with the combined strength of numerous cats. However, the fog became thicker with every step, the rainfall heavier and heavier, so that she had to slow down and eventually only take small steps to find her way.

Damn rain! Can't it finally clear up? Annoyed, she peered up at the cloudy sky, where drops immediately fell into her eyes. Hissing angrily, she closed them tight. I can hardly see more than a tail-length in these weather conditions.

Nevertheless, she carried on running. She couldn't rely on her sense of smell right now, but the feeling of Sunray's presence alone guided her through the forest better than a scent ever could.

"Just this once," Larkwing muttered to herself. "Please forgive me, Cloudwind. I couldn't bear the knowledge that Sunray will be allowed to live on without ever being held accountable for her crimes."

The crack of a twig made her flinch. At first she couldn't recognise anything and she assumed that she had simply startled a mouse.

But then something much bigger than a mouse threw itself at her and with a startled scream, Larkwing landed back-first in the soaking wet, slippery leaves. Far too quickly for her to react, the emaciated figure of a dark brown tabby tom emerged from the wall of rain above her.

Quick-witted, she spread her hind claws and yanked them with all her might over his unprotected underbelly. Blood spurted from deep welts directly onto her hind legs.

The tom let out an unearthly cry and staggered back. Larkwing hastily pulled herself back onto all four paws. A single shadowless cat away from all the others? Is this a trap set by Sunray?

Even before the tom had regained his balance, she lunged at him, clutching his neck with her front paws and biting into the side of his neck while repeatedly kicking at his underbelly with her hind paws.

Urgh! Why don't shadowless cats actually clean themselves? Do I have to become a dirty, malodorous creature too?

The brown tabby tom dropped to the side, causing Larkwing to let go of him in surprise. Without looking away from him, she hopped backwards so as not to be in his direct attack radius.

She hadn't waited a heartbeat too long, because the Shadowless pounced on her again with frightening speed. Larkwing dodged even further back with a skilful spinning leap and landed right in front of the trunk of a wide, gnarled tree.

Without thinking twice, she leapt upwards, clutched the softened bark with her claws and pulled herself onto the nearest branch. Here she allowed herself to take a deep breath. Below, the Shadowless scratched at the bark and hissed angrily at her, but he didn't seem to know how to climb. For now, at least.

"What am I going to do with you, huh?" she sighed through clenched fangs.

A screech sounded in response. Larkwing winced. Things were not going at all as she had planned. She wanted to face Sunray while she was still unharmed and had all her energy. But if she had to fight another cat first, her chances of standing up to Sunray were diminishing.

Larkwing's throat constricted. I have no other choice. It's just a shadowless cat. There's no hope for him anyway.

Every fibre in her body tensed as she leapt down and brought the dark brown tabby tom down. She blanked out everything around her. Only this single thought repeated itself in her head: I have no other choice. I have to kill him before he can do the same to me. This is self-defence.

She didn't even know exactly how she was forcing her body to obey. She barely realised what happened next because her vision was blurred and her ears were as if covered with thistle wool.

When her vision became clear again, the shadowless tom lay beneath her. Limp, not breathing, with a deep scratch on his neck.

Nausea rose in Larkwing. I had no other choice. With a shudder, she turned away and ran on without even glancing backwards or at her paws.

By now, she could feel Sunray's presence as clearly as if she were touching her directly. She couldn't be far away. Larkwing slowed down again, feeling her way through the fog step by step.

The sounds of battle reached her ears from afar. Her fur bristled. Hopefully everything is okay there. The sooner I find Sunray, the sooner I can get back to camp. Great StarClan, where is she hiding?

But then, as if StarClan itself had heard her thoughts, part of the fog in front of her cleared for a tiny moment. It was enough to give her a glimpse of a golden spotted she-cat.

Found you. Letting out a wild battle cry, Larkwing jumped forward blindly and collided with Sunray at full force. Her claws dug into her shoulders as she grabbed the she-cat's right ear with her fangs and bit down.

Sunray jerked her head away, causing the tip of her ear to rip off. She hissed in pain. "Die!"

With frightening precision, she struck at Larkwing's throat with her claws unsheathed. Larkwing was just able to jump back.

Her heart was pounding faster. That could have been the end of me. I should have paid more attention to my own protection and not just focussed on the attack.

"No, you're the one who's going to die," Larkwing countered. She jumped forward again and knocked Sunray to the ground. This time, she made sure that the golden cat's paws couldn't reach her throat.

Sunray twitched and twisted like crazy, but she had no chance against a trained warrior. "How strong are you?" she gasped, anger and frustration in her voice.

"Definitely stronger than you'll ever be," Larkwing replied, digging her fangs into Sunray's other ear.

Even though she knew it wasn't true, she took it as a compliment. She was a small she-cat. Sometimes she looked at her reflection in the water and still saw the image of an apprentice. And even though she had developed a remarkably stocky and broad-shouldered physique, she still had to rely on her intelligence and tactics rather than pure physical strength.

Sunray rolled onto her side. "How can it be that you're still unharmed?"

Larkwing crouched down, ready to react. "So you were the one who put that lone shadowless tom in my path?"

"He should have weakened you!" Sunray cried. "Tell me, why are you unharmed? Didn't you fight him?" She pushed her muzzle forward and turned her scratched face directly towards Larkwing, as if she could still see.

Exactly, she can't see anything anymore. That means she won't notice if I attack her. With this thought in mind, Larkwing wanted to pounce on Sunray again.

But in the next moment, she landed flat and rather painfully on the ground. Did she dodge me?, she thought just as her back fur began to burn.

"Stupid little kitten!" Sunray snarled. "You may have robbed me of my sight. But my masters still guide me. It doesn't matter whether I can see or not. I haven't suffered any disadvantages because of it."

Once again, her claws tore open Larkwing's back. Larkwing opened her mouth in a suppressed scream. "You won't get away with this," she gasped. "You will die and pay for your deeds."

Teeth dug into the fold of her neck. "Do you seriously believe that my death will end everything? My Shadowless are in the process of raiding your puny camp. The ruin cats don't stand a chance against them, weak as they are."

Larkwing tensed. "You're wrong!" she replied vehemently. "They've been preparing for this fight for days. If anyone doesn't stand a chance, it's the cats you've infected!"

The sharp pain in her neck disappeared. Sunray must have let go of her. "H-how? But... How could you...?"

Larkwing took advantage of her brief moment of inattention to break free from her. "That's none of your business!"

Her bushy black tail lashed through the air. Sunray hissed at her with her back arched. Then the two she-cats rushed towards each other and rolled around on the forest floor, locked together.

Sunray displayed a strength that one would not expect from her. But Larkwing countered each of her attacks with twice the force. She could hardly see where she was scratching and biting Sunray. All that mattered to her was to weaken her as quickly as possible.

"You know, I didn't expect you to not become a complete Shadowless," Sunray hissed between two well-placed kicks with her hind legs. "But it's interesting how much you already resemble them. Normal cats won't notice unless they look closely, but other Shadowless will see you as one of them."

Shut up, shut up, shut up! Overcome by a violent wave of fury, Larkwing sank her fangs as deep as she could into Sunray's throat. Warm, sticky blood flowed onto her lips and dripped onto her whiskers.

Sunray reared up beneath her, twitching wildly. She opened her mouth, but instead of intelligible words, only a terrible croak came out, which ultimately ended in a gurgling sound.

As if torn from a trance, Larkwing released her fangs and staggered back. With her eyes wide open, she stared at Sunray, at the dark red blood that soaked the leaves.

"Sunray?" Her voice was little more than a whisper. Her stomach seemed to turn inside out.

"F-foolish kitten," Sunray hissed with her last ounce of strength. "It's already too late."

She took one last rattling breath. Then her head fell to the ground like a heavy stone.

Sunray was dead.

When Larkwing realised this, she collapsed. She's really gone. Forever.

For a while, Larkwing stared at Sunray's stiff flank, fearing that she would come back to life. Her heart was pounding wildly, as if it wanted to jump out of her chest.

She had finally achieved her goal. She had killed Sunray and punished her for her deeds. Never again would she be able to harm anyone.

Forgive me, StarClan. Please.