The hiss folded her ears back. She was careful not to be too noticeable atop the medicine den, poking her head out behind the rock that held the fake-fur up. When it stopped, she sat and watched as it lurched back up again. It moved no faster than she could walk, but made enough noise to wake up a few of her comrades. Most of it had yet to pass by her, but the mechanism moving the itself and the rest of the snake-monster was too hard to miss. It easily towered over the medicine den, and was well over half the height of the bridge. The light mounted to the front illuminated everything ahead of it. It bellowed smoke from the top and steam from the sides, blocked by large sheets of silverwood. The whole of it was painted black, save for the bright-red wheels and everything that moved them. The detail in the long drum was lost to her, but she could see the silhouette of a twoleg in the tiny nest at the end. The other twolegs were walking behind it, able to outdo its pace, and grabbed tools from the black carriage that rolled behind the mechanism. She could feel the heat it gave off. And behind that were two other carriages without any moving parts and made only more noise to her. They were painted black as well, each baring the twoleg's red star on the side. It hissed again as the wheels lurched on its icy path. The night was almost ruined by the lights the twolegs set up, pointing them ahead along with the snake-monster's. As it lurched ahead, they took mallets and hot water to the silverpath. Another would brush it before the snake-monster itself rolled over.

Blackleaf glanced behind her; the she-cat's pawsteps were lost to her in the noise of the twolegs. But she looked into Angelika's bright, blue eyes; it was a moment before she realized she had been noticed. Her ears fell.

"Do you want to be alone?" Angelika said.

Blackleaf turned away, glancing at the snake-monster and flattening her own ears. She shook her head.

"Can I watch with you?"

"Sure," Blackleaf said.

"I-If I'm disturbing you—"

"You aren't," Blackleaf snapped. She took a deep breath. "What kind of medicine cat would I be if I didn't listen every once in a while?"

Cautiously padding forward, Angelika sat next to the medicine cat, staying her distance. The two did not even glance at each other, keeping their eyes firmly planted on the snake-monster. It lurched forward again, hissing as one of the twolegs began yelling at the other inside it.

"So, have you ever seen this before?" Angelika said meekly.

"Once, when I was three moons," Blackleaf said. "I hardly remember."

"Well they sure are dutiful to their monsters, aren't they? They're even cleaning the silverpath as they go along towards the bridge."

"I don't know why they even bother."

Angelika glanced at Blackleaf, spotting a scowl. "Well, they have to keep the bridge maintained. If it's one thing I learned as a kittypet, it's that twolegs hold their nests and structures in the highest regard."

"Other twolegs just come knock them over," Blackleaf said.

"Well," Angelika said. "Only sometimes."

"How old are you?" Blackleaf said.

"Huh?"

"You're old enough to have seen the Great Sky War, right?" Blackleaf said. "Don't other twolegs just come and take them, or destroy them, or force them to move?"

"I have a feeling this isn't just about my age." Angelika slid her paw to Blackleaf's; the responding growl made her retract. "I can just… see when something is wrong. I'll give you time—"

"No!" Blackleaf mewed. "Just… I told you before you aren't bothering me. You can stay."

Angelika dared not look at her. "Sorry if I'm a bit, um…"

"Touchy-feely?" Blackleaf said.

"I was going to say too old," Angelika said. "I know clan cats keep friends their own age."

"Are you saying you have no friends? Or that you're too old to be mine?"

"Um, both, maybe? Am I?"

Blackleaf shook her head. "The closest thing to friends I have in this clan are all Axin Mess survivors. And you're much younger than they are."

"Well, born right when the Great Sky War ended, so not too much younger… but I really don't want to make things weird between us. Not that we're 'us' but I just don't want to scare—"

"Are you this much of a mouse around everyone?" Blackleaf growled.

"No," Angelika mewed. "Just you and Solestar. And the other medicine cats."

Angelika shrieked back as the snake-monster loosed a hiss and steam in their direction. It lurched forward and echoed a ping that made the other onlookers turn tail before nervously going back to watching. Blackleaf yanked the other cat back against her.

"Don't let the twolegs see you," Blackleaf said. "They might come up to you if they do."

"They'd just want to pet us," Angelika purred. "It's not so bad. Their paws are great at scratching and—"

"You're shaking," Blackleaf said.

Angelika slid herself away from the medicine cat, keeping a paw's length between them and keeping her head down. "And you just said you didn't like touchy-feely. Sorry."

"It's fine," Blackleaf said. "You got startled."

"You'd think living around twolegs would make you more used to their stuff, right?" Angelika said, flicking her tail about and accidentally hitting Blackleaf. Her ears folded back. "Sorry, sorry again."

Blackleaf sighed and shook her head. "Look. I don't care how much older you are than me. And I'm just not used to… your kind of affection. It's not that I don't like it. And that I won't get used to it. But seriously, I'm not going to bite you. So, don't be afraid of me, okay?"

Angelika nodded. Blackleaf grabbed her muzzle and looked her in the eye.

"Okay, Angelika?"

She nodded harder, letting her eyes linger on Blackleaf's. Another bout of steam from the snake-monster broke their gaze, the mechanism clanking to a halt further ahead of the medicine den. The carriages lingering behind it were in front of her now, more twolegs emerging from it. Tools in their paws, they headed for the bridge, beating them against the silverpath as they did.

"Was that all you came here to say?" Blackleaf said.

Angelika nodded.

"Well, you were off to a good start when you saw I was irritated with twoleg structures," Blackleaf said.

The former kittypet purred, sliding close but not close enough to touch. "Maybe I can groom you while you talk. Would that make you more comfortable?"

"I groom myself under leaking silvertubes," Blackleaf said. "I wouldn't be very scentless if I let others do it."

"Okay." Angelika took a deep breath, forcing her eyes onto the snake-monster instead of the medicine cat. "Okay! Are you… okay?"

"Sort of," Blackleaf said. "Hey, you don't hate the under cats, do you?"

"What?" Angelika's fur shot up. "Of-Of course I do. Doesn't everyone hate those… dirty mouse-hearts?"

"You don't care about UnderClan, do you?"

"You wouldn't hate me if I said no, would you?"

Blackleaf stayed silent, waiting for the older cat to look at her.

"No," Angelika sighed. "I wasn't born into your war. UnderClan doesn't bother me. But being a loaner in some filthy hovel of a twoleg nest does."

"I assume Wolfgang didn't care you didn't hate UnderClan when he recruited you?"

"Between you and me, I don't think he cares, either."

"Doesn't care about what?" Blackleaf snapped.

"Oh, is he a friend?" Angelika said. "I-I shouldn't have said anything bad about him. But I shouldn't be saying anything bad about any of our comrades, right?"

Blackleaf's ears flattened. "Yeah. And he's not a friend. Yet. More of an acquaintance I have things in common with."

"Like what?" Angelika moved a bit closer.

"Oh. I didn't think you'd ask." Blackleaf glanced at Angelika, who eagerly looked at her. She brought herself back to the snake-monster, still plodding along the silverpath behind the twolegs. "He's kind of a loner, even among comrades. People speculate about him all the time, and not because he's an Axin Mess survivor. He can be rude and distant, but I think he's just misunderstood. He's been through a lot. And he seems to avoid me. Because of my age."

"Isn't one of the Axin Mess survivors your mother?" Angelika said.

"Both my parents are. Christa and a tom named Karl who left to be a wanderer."

"The story of the Axin Mess came from a wanderer, right?"

"Specifically, Fleetheart and the other survivors. I heard most of it from Wolfgang, since Flyfoot and Fleetheart don't like talking about it."

Angelika nodded. "I'm sure Wolfgang will warm up to you."

"How so?" Blackleaf said.

"If he's patient, like you, maybe you could just approach and talk to him. Like the next time he goes out on patrol, you could keep him company."

"Not like I haven't tried."

"But you have a way with older cats. And he's a tom. Maybe you can even lay on the charm if words don't work. Hah!"

Blackleaf's eyes narrowed on Angelika's. The older she-cat curled back.

"I, um, was just joking."

The medicine cat kept staring.

"Are you not…?"

Blackleaf's eyes widened and darted away.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll just stop talking now."

"That's a good idea," Blackleaf sighed.

The snake-monster came to a stop again. The light on the front flickered off. The twolegs in front of it pulled out smaller lights of their own, staying put. The one walking next to it started yelling at the one inside of it. After a few moments, he walked up to the front of the mechanism and slammed the back of his tool against the light. It flickered, but not for long. He threw his paws up and started hitting it again, making the twoleg inside yell even louder.

"Guess sometimes you don't need to knock them down," Blackleaf said.

"Oh my!" Angelika slid away from Blackleaf. "I made this conversation go all over the place. You mentioned something about twolegs knocking down their nests."

"It's okay," Blackleaf said.

"I'm sorry. We can do that right—"

"I said it's okay. I thought of my own answer, anyway."

"Oh…" Angelika's ears flattened.

The snake-monster's light flashed back on, the twolegs further in front cheered and proceeded towards the bridge again. The whole thing lurched forward and started moving. The twoleg inside was still yelling at the one who was hitting it; He was riding on the front and seemed to intentionally ignore it. Only when the mechanism bellowed hot steam did the twoleg jump off and start yelling again, throwing his tool on the ground.

"Twolegs can be an odd bunch," Angelika said. "One time, when I was a pet, one of their kits—"

Blackleaf tapped Angelika on the shoulder. She stopped talking and faced her.

"Listen to me."

"Okay."

"Everything I'm about to do is for my comrades. I pray it is."

"Wait, what do you mean by—"

"I hope you still believe I have their best interests in mind."

Angelika's ears perked up when Blackleaf turned tail and started walking away. She stared until the medicine cat was away from the top of the medicine den and around the hole in the roof to call out, but the snake-monster hissed again. Blackleaf pause and swiveled her ears back. She waited for a while before looking; Angelika was waving. She kept walking as the snake-monster hissed and sent another blast of smoke and steam upwards.