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THE moon was so pale that it looked sick against the endless, black sky. It's disease struck out in many bright white streaks, infecting the hopeless heavens with a contagious hug. The quick-footed she-cat found herself weaving throughout the dark trees, twisting and turning around the gloom. Her claws gripped onto the shadows, pushing her forward while the moon tried to reach out and pull her back.
There was a horrific chill in the atmosphere; a deathly wind followed the feline all the way down to the lake. It teased her long red fur, whispering a promise of death. When Larkmoon came to the sandy shore, she slid to a sudden stop. The murky water slept right before her paws, it was so still, Larkmoon thought it looked like a hole into another world. Her eyes slowly lifted up. From the grand opening of the lake, she had a striking view of the moon. It tormented her in the sky, dangling it's freedom right before her hungry jaws. She was desperate for the taste of freedom.
Larkmoon's eyes lowered to look at the water once again. She studied herself in the waves, watching as her reflection washed back and forth. Larkmoon didn't recognize herself anymore; she loathed the face she saw in the dark lake. What had she become? Drown. There was the answer. Still staring down, the voice of guilt spoke up. Drown. You are no good while you are still breathing.
Larkmoon couldn't deny the voice. The guilt piling up within her was like a seastorm ready to sink ships. She could no longer live knowing of the lives she had stolen. She needed to wash the blood from her claws and the only way to do so was to drown. Her mind was made up. The she-cat took a long, last look at the stars. They burned in the night sky like thousands of wary eyes- they knew everything, they had seen everything.
Larkmoon pushed herself into the lake. Her paws left the safe soil and succumbed to the cold lagoon. When she was sucked under, she didn't bother to fight to keep the breath in her lungs. Her life was running out and so she let it. Deeper and deeper, she sank. She passed pieces of ice beginning to form from the freezing temperature but it was nothing she wasn't used to. Her heart was already frozen. There were seconds left- there was a hunger in her lungs as her body was begging for a slice of breath. A blur clouded over her eyes- Larkmoon never thought that she would ever feel death twice.
Suddenly, a sharp tooth nipped at her scruff. Jaws settled into the soft spot of her fur and dragged her to the surface. When the she-cat's head was hauled above the water, she was shocked into wakefulness.
"Larkmoon!" A familiar voice screamed out her name in despair. "What in StarClan are you doing?"
With her heart-thumping and her eyes still blurred by death, Larkmoon searched around frantically. Her eyes scanned all around and eventually fell on the soaked figure of Beetleleap. His soggy fur camouflaged in the dark water though it brought out the color in his eyes. His eyes flashed like a lighthouse under the nightfall, blinding Larkmoon with a shimmery green glow.
"What are you doing here?" Larkmoon watched in confusion as he floated back to the shore and heaved his heavy body from the lake. He shook his fur rapidly, wishing to clear any drop from his thin coat.
"Saving you!" Beetleleap cried back. "What were you thinking?"
The russet she-cat stayed in the freezing water, her legs paddling to keep her head above. She shot a vicious glare at her friend, "I was trying to die!" She shouted back, her anger echoing through the forest and rattling the brown leaves from their trees. "I'm supposed to be dead."
The WindClan tom looked at Larkmoon as though she was senseless. His eyes formed into thin slits as a frown gripped his face, "But why when you have been gifted a second life? Not everyone has the privilege to do such a thing." He exhaled an aching sigh, displeased that his friend wasn't seeing eye to eye. "Please, Larkmoon, get out of the water."
"You don't understand-"
The purple-coated tom interrupted her very sharply, "Of course I understand!" He was maddened now; standing beside the cool lake, Beetleleap was painted in a fiery light. "How much does it take for me to show you how much I understand you?"
Larkmoon, who was now rising lazily from the water, shook her head. His words bewildered her- her mind was left in a baffled spin fighting for a clearer answer.
Beetleleap started again, his voice subsiding to softness. He turned his face away, almost ashamed as he admitted, "I followed you around StarClan, I followed you into the lake of fire, I followed you through the Place of No Stars. I followed you out of death and into life." Beetleleap finally rotated back to gaze at Larkmoon and when their eyes met, it was like the waves had shipwrecked the sun. "I would follow you anywhere if it meant that we would be together."
"And why would you do such a thing?" Larkmoon still didn't understand. Frustration was glowing red in her veins and what was worse, all of these caged up emotions were an alarm to the real beast within: Deadrush.
"Because I am in love with you, Larkmoon."
As if the night couldn't get more death-like, his words left behind a funeral for all things sane. The monster itched at the ends of Larkmoon's claws, wrestling to get loose. Rather rapidly, she could feel herself losing control of her body. She spun around, resisting Deadrush's awakening. "You need to leave-" She warned her friend, unsure about how much longer she could battle him off.
"What?" Beetleleap mumbled, circling around to meet his friend's face again. He wore a concerned expression, his whiskers were dripping in distress. "You can't make me run away-"
"Go before it's too late."
The purplish tom cocked his head to the side. His eyes wandered up and down Larkmoon's crouching frame, searching for a hint. "Too late for what?"
Finally, Deadrush had possessed her being. Her frame changed instantly now that he was in charge. Larkmoon's body was no longer a shivering rabbit, instead she perched like a villainous predator. Her claws were unearthed and put on display for the stars to see. Larkmoon was now simply a pair of eyes within her own body. She could only watch what Deadrush would do.
Beetleleap's nervous voice spoke up, "L-Larkmoon?" He quivered.
She was gazing straight into the friendly eyes of Beetleleap; the two optics she had learned to love while in heaven. Would she ever see them as the same again? Collectedly, Deadrush responded to the other tom, though when the words rolled from his tongue, it sounded like Larkmoon's soft voice. "I'm just so scared."
Beetleleap inched closer to the she-cat, finally dropping his guard down. He rested his head atop of hers, exhaling a long sigh of safety as they embraced each other. "You don't have to be afraid around me," He purred gently. "I love you." Beetleleap closed his eyes as he soaked in the warm moment. He wished he could live like this forever; nuzzling the one he loved most under the angelic moon. Heaven was nothing compared to the feeling Larkmoon's love gave him.
Meanwhile, Larkmoon was fighting a war from within. She was thrashing back for her control, brawling to throw Deadrush from her system. But her struggle was no hope. Whatever vile spell he held over her soul was too strong to snap in half. All Larkmoon was able to accomplish was to croak a heartbroken, "Beetleleap!" Before she suffocated once again under Deadrush's curse.
Still nestled beside the she-cat, Beetleleap peaked open his innocent eyes. He waited patiently for Larkmoon to break the silence, he waited for her to tell him how much she loved him.
But the words never arose. Instead, Deadrush, using Larkmoon's feminine voice, growled the last thing Beetleleap would ever hear, "You should have never followed your heart." At once, Deadrush plunged his dagger-like claws right into the heart of Beetleleap. He struck deep, forcing his claws to steal the life from the tom's chest.
Beetleleap staggered out of the embrace in momentary shock. His movements were agonizingly slow as his eyes traced down to pore over his wound. His eyes bounced back and forth, he looked at his chest and then at Larkmoon. At his heart and then at Larkmoon again. His tongue was silenced by shock but his eyes did all the talking for him. There was a look of absolute betrayal on his features; it was deeper than the red dribbling onto the sand. Then, as quickly as he was summoned into this life, Beetleleap collapsed to the ground, dead.
Larkmoon instantly returned to her body and everything came flooding back. The weight of the world returned to her shoulders and her guilt stole the thoughts from her head. Sickened by the image of her dead best friend, Larkmoon cried out in pain. She pressed her bloodied paws against Beetleleap's still side, trying to nudge him back into life. Wake up, wake up, wake up! She begged though it was useless. She, nor Beetleleap, were stuck in a dream. It was all too real.
"Larkmoon!" Her name was suddenly shouted from across the bank. Standing, many lengths away from her, was the owner of two very well-known, golden eyes. Hollowhawk. He must have seen everything.
Larkmoon felt faint, she could no longer feel her grip on the ground. She collapsed beside Beetleleap and was welcomed into a familiar, dark world. "Larkmoon!"
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