(...What is this? I've no idea, takes place between LOC 1 and 2.)

It was cold that night. The coldest I'd ever felt. I stood on the crumbling balcony, shivering and shaking. Standing out here in the cold hurt, but I didn't want to go back to the warmth.

"Cynder? Why are you out here? You're still weak..."

I snorted, glaring at my black forepaws like they were my greatest enemy. "I'm not glass, Ignitus. Don't treat me like it."

"So you have proven. If I was forced to do as you have done at your age, I would not have survived – physically or mentally. Please, Cynder, I've tasted blood before. I know how bitter it can be."

I turned hollow eyes to him. "Who am I? Who was I ever? It was so easy. First frogweed and spiders – who cared? They were just dumb animals after all, and if you cooked them just right they tasted damn decent, too. Then apes, dreadwings, giants and everything else. But now it's over and I'm stuck with nothing to do but think about this crap..." I shook my head.

I've been asked before to rely on faith alone on dark nights
to sing a song of salvaged hope, trust your shoulder to cry on
Be the hero you're all looking for
Keep fighting no matter how things go wrong

"Your enemies choose to fight you, to destroy everything you've ever cared about. They choose their own fates."

"Who are you to decide that? Who am I? We're no judge, no jury, and we sure as hell aren't the ancestors. I'm not a god to fool around with life, Ignitus. These ancestors, I know they're real – but why don't they help us?"

Why doesn't Kaboa do these things...

I've stayed out in the winter chill some nights
wishing I could catch a star to wish upon
Find the strength to fight your wars
No matter that they feel so wrong

"Do you regret it? Saving them?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes I want to be stupid and reckless and not care, but I can't. But caring hurts, and killing hurts. I don't know what hurts most. When I feel myself becoming a monster, how can I fight? But in the end, when I see all the blood flowing, how can't I?"

The blood on my paws keeps me awake some nights
Hearing a monster trapped within my heart
Lost sight of who I once was
Even as the pain tears me apart...

"Blood is bitter, no matter who spills it." I felt a great wing rest over me and, relishing my mentor's warmth, I shrank into it. He was so steady, so strong. I'd helped him turn back into this, hadn't I? Helped him find hope. "A warrior's bloodiest battle of all will always be the one that rages without real end, far from the eyes of any spectator. For us, it matters most of all, and it's one the Dark Master lost."

I blinked, confused. "I...don't get it. At all."

Who am I in the cold some nights
A beast some days, a saint on others
I've lost track of which is me these days
Demons flock in skies of my past, calling one another

A large paw raised to rest above my chest, one claw gently poking it. "The greatest battle of all is always, always in our hearts."

I lose sight of our dreams some nights
forget the things worth fighting for
But no matter how I'm ravaged
You're all worth me giving a little more

...The bloodiest battle of all lies within the hearts of those who do great good, great evil, or nothing at all in the face of the same.