More, Give me more, give me more... [JJ]

Morningstar slipped out of camp in the early morning after yet another night of no sleep. He never tired anymore. He never hungered and never thirsted. He had never imagined how maddening it would have been to never need sleep or never be capable of it again. Sleeping was nature's reset button, a way to get away from reality for just a little while. Morningstar's reality was that he finally had everything that he thought he wanted. He realized that just Skyclan and Smokefeather's death was not enough. His eyes went to the sky, the pale, slate blue morning hanging overhead. Still no stars... His yes went back out to what was in front of him. A small cluster of sparrows suddenly lifted off in a flurry, only to have a Sparrow Hawk fly in from out of nowhere and snatch one. Morningstar stopped to watch, watching as the Sparrow Hawk destroyed the smaller bird with brutal swiftness. It was a young one, still in it's juvenile plumage, when suddenly another sparrow zipped by, just a little too close. The Sparrow Hawk released the dead body of the original sparrow, captivated entirely by movement, and snatched the second sparrow from the air in a flash of predatorial acrobatics.

With two kills, the Sparrow Hawk hobbled back over to the original sparrow and stood on both of them together. It must have wondered if there was another sparrow coming, as that was what happened last time. Alas, no third sparrow came within range of it. The Sparrow Hawk almost looked disappointed before it set it's beak to work on it's two kills. Morningstar began to walk again, leaving the tiny hawk to it's meal. That hawk will always have sparrows to chase. It will have a goal at the beginning of every day and new challenges to look forward to. He thought, then was surprised to find himself jealous of the bird. He flicked his tail as if that would banish the emotion from his heart, but it remained. It wasn't lonely at the top... it was miserable. Even killing all of Skyclan on a whim didn't appeal to him anymore. Even if with a single word he could wipe out the entire forest, and he could with his current power, he knew that he would find it more boring than satisfying. Then where would he go? At least if the clans were alive he might be able to find some form of mild entertainment from making them miserable, but unable to escape their misery without death.

A soft, barely audible noise of leaves lightly being crushed some fox lengths behind him made him stop. His ears swiveled backward and lingered, but he made no move to actually turn to look. It wasn't worth the effort, he was sure.

"I know you're back there. You may as well come out." He called lazily to the cat that was stalking him. Maybe they weren't stalking him on purpose... maybe they were. He didn't know, nor did it matter.

All night, Spottedfrog had been waiting for him to leave. Despite declaring himself their leader that first night, when Smokefeather had met her end, her half-brother had spent just as much time outside of SkyClan as within it, which had made it hard for her to catch him at an opportune time. It was impossible to get him alone... the wraith cats were all around, and Morningstar seemed to be an expert at watching his back. That was probably a good trait to have when the entire forest was out for your blood, she reasoned... but it made it frustrating nevertheless.

This morning, she'd been awake when he slipped out of camp, and silently, she gave pursuit. She managed to trail him for a short distance, far enough away from camp at least that anyone was unlikely to interrupt them, before she screwed up and misjudged a step. Cursing herself silently, she froze, ears twitching, half expecting the dark shadows to close in around her... but they didn't. He simply called out, completely blasé. Spottedfrog hesitated for only a heartbeat before she pressed forward, through the bushes.

"I was following you," she said, voice firm though her heart was in her throat. "I want to talk to you."

Morningstar finally, finally turned to look at her, though it was a lazy stare over his shoulder more than anything. "Ah. I wonder what about." He would allow her to approach and come up beside him, or stay behind him if she wanted. "Things are very different from the last time we met, isn't it?" A small smile appeared on his lips, recalling the time he had taken a few of Wolfstar's lives before he was interrupted by this particular she-cat claiming Bloodstrike was on his way.

That said, that seemed so far in the past, practically a lifetime ago, that he felt little to no animosity toward his younger sister for that incident. None of that mattered now. It would never matter again.

"I don't even know your name." He realized, saying this realization out loud. Might as well know what to call her other than "sister".

Emboldened by the unexpected lack of anger or bitterness, Spottedfrog moved forward. Her brain screamed at her, caution! caution! but she ignored it... if he wanted to harm her, or if he wanted the stinking shadows to harm her, there was nothing she could do about it, anyway. She'd crossed that line already just by following him out here alone. Exhaling quietly, the she-cat listened to him talk. Yes... the last time they'd met, she had left with this scar across her face, and the one from his friend, hidden beneath the long fur on her belly.

She kept at his shoulder, but a tail length away, her green-gold eyes slanted in his direction. Now that she was here, though, indecision held captive her tongue... she truly hadn't expected to make it this far. "Spottedfrog," she said quietly at the request of her name.

There was silence for a while, as she gauged his demeanor, reading body language, deliberating... before she finally spoke again. "I want you to teach me." Spottedfrog never took her eyes off him, though her feathery tail flicked occasionally with poorly disguised anxiety. "You're strong. You can do whatever you want." Her paws kneaded the ground. "So teach me... I want to learn."

At the response to her name, he smiled just a tiny bit. What a Shadowclan name that was... and yet a throwback to his great grandfather that Bloodstar had despised so much. How ironic. What she said next surprised him enough that the smile faded away from his face. He finally found the motivation to turn and look at her more than just over his shoulder lazily.

"Teach you?" He stared at her for a long moment, wondering what exactly was going on behind her yellowish eyes. "I have gotten so much power I no longer have enemies to face. It's not as satisfying as I thought it would be, I admit. Intelligent cats thrive on challenge, not necessarily success, but I found that out a bit too late. I'll teach you if you insist, but you have to understand that power comes at a price. I lost the love and trust of my entire clan and all of my mates. Only a small few of my kits love me too, but all of that sacrifice got me to where I am now. Is that truly something you could give up in pursuit of being strong enough to do what you want? Because that is the price and it always will be."

He spoke as if he had been through many lifetimes because he had. He had lied, murdered and cheated his way to where he was now. He wasn't entirely sure if he regretted his actions or not just yet. Perhaps his only regret was not having more enemies to contend with. No smarter cats than he that he could try to outwit, with the stakes being his life or theirs. He missed it. All of the power in the world put him on top... and it was lonely at the top.

Alas, he could see this as a challenge, should Spottedfrog accept his offer. Could he turn someone at least fairly respectable into another version of him?