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"What do you mean, LaurelClan was overtaken by those — what did they call themselves?"
Bewildered, Wavesplash had jumped to her paws and glared piercingly at Palestar on the Roserock.
"They're called Shadowless, whatever that name means," Smoketail whispered helpfully to the elder.
It was the next sunrise after the last Gathering, and Palestar had just called a Clanmeeting to report on the incident with Larchleaf. Larkpaw could barely keep her eyes open from exhaustion. She would have preferred to retire to her nest now and sleep until the next evening. However, she also really wanted to know what RoseClan would do next.
Now Palestar returned Wavesplash's blue gaze wearily. "At least that's what Larchleaf said."
"We don't know if that's true at all," Stormpool meowed in between. "LaurelClan would never have allowed it to be taken over. How can it be that it happened so quickly anyway?"
Patternleaf tilted her head thoughtfully and scraped one front paw in the snow. "Even if they are usually rather isolated, LaurelClan has always been robust enough to deal with any problem," the tortoiseshell cat-in-command of the Hunters' Circle reminded the others. "However, these Shadowless are completely new enemies."
Flareblaze flicked his orange-red tail in agreement. "We don't know everything about them yet, but the attack on the MoonClan camp has given us a rough idea of what they're capable of, and that's not something to take lightly."
He's absolutely right about that, Larkpaw thought, shuddering. If it was up to her, she wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and the Shadowless.
"But there has to be something done about that," Flutterflight interjected, who had just come from the nursery. Her fur fluffed up because of the cold, she turned round and shooed back Owlkit, who had followed her.
The ginger queen's exclamation was met by an uncomfortable silence. Every cat realised that they had to do something about the Shadowless. But as far as they knew at the moment, it would only lead to their deaths.
"I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty that no one here, and no one from the other Clans, agrees with this crime," Palestar mewed reassuringly. "I too wish we could find a solution. But think of Reedclaw! And of Mapleblossom and her kits. None of them have ever had anything to do with the Shadowless before. And yet they were killed by them."
"And don't forget that Eveningstar is dead now, and that Redleaf and Cloverdapple have disappeared without a trace," Honeyclaw added, his ears flattened in concern. "Without them, it was probably easy to subdue LaurelClan."
The golden tabby tom's words gave Larkpaw food for thought. There was no doubt that the three highest-ranking cats were essential for the smooth functioning of a Clan. Nevertheless, she couldn't quite believe that such chaos would break out without them.
