𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥𝗦ᶠᵃⁿᶠⁱᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ 一 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔷𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔱 [𝟑]

❆☾𑁍𓆱ᥴhᥲρtᥱr 𝟺𝟹𓆱𑁍☽❆

I never wanted this to happen.

Numb to all the impressions around her, Larkwing stumbled out of the camp. She only felt the crumbly earth between her toes and heard her loud, ragged breathing.

How could she ever erase Phoebe's horribly frightened face from her memory? Only now did she realise how much she had grown fond of the little dark brown and white tabby tomkit. Not to mention Amaranth and Crystal. Ever since she had rescued the three of them from the tree, they seemed to adore her as well.

But now everything was different. She was turning into a living horror and had no idea how long it would take before she finally lost herself completely.

Without a specific destination in mind, Larkwing wandered around the forest in a zigzag pattern. She knew that despite everything, she had to carry out the task she had set herself, but her head was literally buzzing with thoughts.

The worst part was that it seemed incredibly nerve-wracking. She didn't even want to worry so much. If she could, she would simply distract herself, as she always did. It was just unfortunate that this time, nothing helped.

Suddenly, her front paws stepped into thin air, and before she knew it, she was up to her neck in a stream. "StarClan-damned mousedung!" she hissed irritably and jumped out of the water. Her pelt was heavy and wet, sticking to her body. She shook herself vigorously to dry off.

Cautiously, she scanned her surroundings. Hopefully no one had seen her literally overlook a stream because of her carelessness!

Shivering from the cold water, she collapsed on the shore. She had never felt so lonely before. It was as if she were the only cat in the whole world.

I wish Lakepelt were here. A deep, aching longing came over Larkwing. Since they had met again a few nights ago, when he had confessed that he wanted her to be his platonic mate, her affection for him seemed to have grown even stronger. Every moment she could be with him made her forget reality.

It was crazy, because she never would have dreamt that she could love another cat so much that she couldn't bear to be apart from them. Subconsciously, she had always assumed that only romantic love could be so strong. Despite her clear rejection of anything to do with it, she had sometimes secretly wondered if she was just fooling herself. What cat told their best friends that they loved them? What cat licked their best friends on the muzzle?

At the same time, she was aware that she didn't have to let herself be pigeonholed. If she was disgusted by romance and could still feel love, then so be it. For many other cats, differences in relationships might be black and white and clearly defined, but she was slowly realising that it could be much more colourful and complicated.

Finally having certainty was a real relief. Besides, she didn't mind the new term as much as she thought she would. They were simply platonic mates — at least until they could think of a better term.