Finally, Shrubtail broke the silence. "I still don't understand what's got into Dawnbreeze."

"I've never seen her like this before," Larkpaw agreed and immediately remembered how caring and gentle the warrior had been. "But so many strange things have been happening lately. Smallblotch was so freaked out too, remember? Out of nowhere."

Shrubtail twitched an ear and turned his head away slightly. "I don't want to remember that. Smallblotch is gone. She wasn't acting like a Clan cat at that moment. You can't trust someone who acts like that."

Larkpaw dug small furrows in the ground with her claws, unsure. She had been rather taken aback by the tom's statement. She herself still didn't really know what opinion she should form about it.

So that means that Shrubtail is against a potential return of Smallblotch. I wonder what that says about him. It seems to me that he's not quick to forgive.

Suddenly, a movement on Willow Island caught her attention. Larkpaw instinctively tensed her hind legs to flee again if necessary.

Or to fight. She gritted her teeth. It would be better if they prepared for the worst.

When a cat stepped onto the bank, all tension immediately fell away from her.

It was Gooseleap. Fortunately, he's fine. "Come quickly!" she meowed shrilly. Without paying any attention to Shrubtail, she dashed down to the bank and crossed the stones.

She almost collided with Gooseleap. Startled, she took a step back and squeaked a half-hearted apology. At the moment, she was far too upset to care about politeness.

"Dawnbreeze," was all Larkpaw could manage to say. She wanted to say more, but it was as if her voice had left her.

Gooseleap held out a paw. "Calm down," he meowed. "It's all right."

Larkpaw stared at him with wide eyes. "Where is she? I have to see her!"

Behind her, Shrubtail jumped onto the bank. Larkpaw ignored his snort.

Without looking back, she dashed through the bushes - and immediately stopped.

Dawnbreeze crouched in a hollow, her ears flattened. She looked up at Larkpaw's arrival.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all right!" Larkpaw purred so fiercely that her body shook. "You scared me so much."

Tentatively, Dawnbreeze stuck her muzzle out and nudged her barely noticeably. "I can't remember anything," she murmured in a raspy voice. "Gooseleap told me what happened when I came round." She broke off and slid restlessly back and forth while her tail beat steadily on the ground. "The last thing I remember was that we had just crossed the log to the River Ravine and then I woke up here."

Soft pawsteps told Larkpaw that Gooseleap and Shrubtail were coming to them. She turned to face them.

Shrubtail kept his distance, still a little suspicious. "And you didn't notice anything?" he asked. Apparently he had overheard the conversation.

Dawnbreeze shook her head slowly, as if she couldn't believe it herself. "It was as if I was unconscious without even realising it."

Larkpaw tilted her head in confusion. Her thoughts were racing. What Dawnbreeze was saying made no sense.

A dark premonition crept over her. She didn't really know herself whether she was convinced, but at the moment it was the only thing she could think of.

I'm sure that a cat from the Dark Forest persuaded Bramblekit to become a medicine cat's apprentice. Invisible icicles pricked Larkpaw's fur as she remembered what the little she-cat had said about her ominous dreams.

Now Larkpaw strongly suspected that Dawnbrise's change of heart was also caused by a dark warrior.

Larkpaw looked at her out of the corner of her eye. Her idea immediately seemed mouse-brained to her. They couldn't do that. Impossible. Or... maybe they can?