𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥𝗦ᶠᵃⁿᶠⁱᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿ 一 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔷𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔱 [𝟑]

❆☾𑁍𓆱ᥴhᥲρtᥱr 𝟺𝟺𓆱𑁍☽❆

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?"