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Even before Larkwing had opened her eyes, she could already feel the warm, dazzling light of the sun on her face. Something was crawling around in her fur — probably a beetle that thought her body was a mountain to be conquered. With a huge yawn, she opened her mouth and stretched out her legs with her claws spread wide.
She felt as if moons had passed since she had dozed off after sunset yesterday. Maybe it was because she was accustomed to waking up much earlier. Yesterday seemed to have sapped more of her strength than usual.
Larkwing sat up and began her usual morning wash, starting with her chest fur and front paws. Occasionally, she let her gaze wander around the den. It was a fallen tree, in the large crown of which the cats had made their nests. Sunray had offered them the option of sleeping in an empty ruin — as they called the half-destroyed, angular dens — but to the golden she-cat's surprise, they had rejected this offer immediately. Each of them was used to sleeping under a canopy of leaves. The mere thought of the ruins and the skydens was enough to make Larkwing shiver. Never in my life would I enter such a thing voluntarily! She thought back to how the ruin cats had entered and left the unnatural dens as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
In general, they seemed very secretive. Last night they had kept to themselves the whole time, hiding in the shadows. While the Clan cats had shared a rabbit, Larkwing was constantly aware of the staring, curious looks all around them. Except for Sunray, none of the ruin cats had approached them after their arrival, and she had only said that they should make sure to always share their prey with two or three other cats.
Is that why the ruin cats are so small, because they don't eat much?, Larkwing had wondered. Or do they have to eat less anyway because they are small by nature?
However, the explanation that they simply wanted to or even should be sparing with their prey seemed much more plausible. Of course, this custom also existed in RoseClan — and certainly in the other Clans as well. The Clan cats were careful to share, especially during leaf-fall and leaf-bare, or when prey was otherwise scarce. The difference was that no one had to teach them. It was an instinct to want to make sure that all Clanmates were provided for.
When she had thought about Sunray's request like that, Larkwing had had the really silly thought of whether they had to share even measly mice. But her mouth had been too full to meow properly, and before she had finished chewing, Sunray had already run off somewhere among the ruins.
In an awkwardly twisted posture, Larkwing ran her tongue over her belly fur. She hated this part of cleaning, as there was always a tuft of hair sticking out somewhere.
Finally, after Larkwing had almost licked every part of her body that she could reach herself, she sat down in a more comfortable position. She realised with amusement that her travelling companions were still deep in the dreamlands. Clearly the past day had affected them as much as it had her — or they were simply glad not to be shooed out of the nest with the first rays of the sun.
