The lonely shadows swallow my body. I can feel the gentle, soothing touch of the darkness taking the place of the harsh light as I move deeper into its soft caress. This, I am used to, and completely comfortable in. I live my life in literal shadow. I speak in shadow, hunt in shadow, love in shadow- or, that is how it should be. I should be content in the lightless ways of my kin.
When I saw Sadir turning away from me, his own dark shadows tugging at his body, I knew that neither of us would be quite the same. It wasn't meant to be this way, and even as I watched him shiver before me, I could see how we went wrong. He was the light that chased away my darkness, but I was the darkness that chased away his light; literally, and figuratively.
It really wasn't natural for us to be so close to each other, to care like we do. It hurt us in ways that would be unimaginable to the others of our species. We were different than the others, though. We were something very, very, different. We were something dangerous.
Light and dark should never touch, it is the only way. One must overpower the other, for it is impossible for the two to mix. To see them do so would only bring suffering to both parts of the whole.
This was what every Shadowed Being of the forests, as well every Light Toucher of the plains, learned as instinct, and lived by for centuries. How strangely, how easily that rule could be broken, and now that we had broken it, we could feel the changes. Though no amount of 'suffering' or 'peril' had truly touched us physically, perhaps there were other ways it could erupt into our lives.
I look down at my forepaws as I flee the sight where I left him. Here, in the darkest parts of our forest, where the trees have grown thick around the border, I can see, there, changes to my appearance, caused by our contact. I swallow nervously, staring forlornly at the faint glow to my skin and scales. I imagine that he will have experienced the very same alterations to his features, though inverted. Where is touch leaves a white-hot mark on me, mine leaves a darkened burn on him. His light had dimmed, just as my dark had lightened.
If we had kept this up much longer, we would have, perhaps, changed too far, and it would have been impossible to return home without causing suspicion.
My ears twitch with anxiety, and I tear my eyes away from myself. I lean down on all fours, and begin to run. It is faster like this, and I have easier control of my speed, closer to the ground as I am. I know I need to return home before someone realizes I am gone.
  I flit as quick as the wind between the closely knit trees of my forest home. I am a Shadow Knight, once proud to be one. My kind are lithe, cunning creatures that live in pure darkness, seeking solitude from other creatures, in this place where sunlight does not reach.
  There are hundreds of thousands of our kind dominating the dark spots all over this Earth. For thousands of years we have been forced to live side by side with the Light Touchers, more commonly known among my tribe as Light Hawks. Maybe it wasn't always like this, but none are old enough to remember when it wasn't.
  Light Hawks are heavy, stilted, dangerous. When at all possible, they tend to feast on us- use us as bait for their own deeds. They leap on the chance to take young Shadow Knights who stray too far from the border or find themselves trapped in half-light, and are in danger of burning to death. I've lost count of how many of my own have met their demise because a Light Hawk dragged them out of the forest while they were defenseless.
  But of course, I cannot condemn them. If there are enough Shadow Knights, we can easily overcome the Light Hawks on their own territory during half-light. Mostly, when at all possible, we tend to keep to ourselves, an they keep to themselves, because we cannot travel from the confines of our forest without heavy protection from the heat of the day.
   We two species live in a sort of lazy, half fought war for land that is mostly acknowledged in our minds. We cannot control where the sun goes, but we cannot help but engage in combat when we can.
  Light Hawks take most of the surface as their own. They touch much land, control a lot of area, simply because the sun favors them. Wherever there is light, there are Light Hawks. Similarly, wherever there is dark, there are Shadow Knights. We constantly battle for territory, but neither side usually wins. Where true, unblemished light touches one of my own's skin, it leaves a terrible mark. The same rule goes for any Light Hawk, of course, so when night comes roughly every 240 hours, they migrate to brighter areas, and we Shadows can run free. But then, too soon, the sun shows up over the horizon and chases us back to the confines of the natural darkness.

   A trailing tendril weaving across my path momentarily slows me down. I had been so caught up in my thoughts I must have forgotten to take sense of my surroundings, and have twisted my claw. I continue my journey, forcing myself to focus. Now is not the time to be lost in sentiment for something that was lost before it ever started.
I can feel the shadows lightening, if only by a degree. It warms my skin uncomfortably, but is not strong enough to cause me pain, yet.
I am approaching an obstacle, one that has been keeping other Shadow Knights wary of coming too close to the specifically safe place where Sadir and I always meet- used to meet. It is a break in the forest.
I come to a complete stop and move to balance on my two hind legs for a moment. My rough-skinned paws are just a whisper on the black dirt beneath me as I carefully begin to creep foreword again, paying close attention to everything this time. I sense my way, rather than see, through the tree trunks having little need for eyes in this place (though I still have two).
Nearing the disturbance only makes my skin crawl worse, senses tingling with the steadily heightening degree of soft gray light in the air. My pace falters a little.
My mouth twists into a grimace as my feet bring me closer. Though I am really trying to skirt around it, my oath brings me dangerously close to the break in the forest. Only feet away away from me, I am avoiding a fallen black-tree, where in it's absence, cruel unblemished light seeps into the forest.
The body of a careless and unlucky young Shadow Knight lies crumpled and charred in the sun's deathly rays, where his fellows cannot reach him. He ran straight through the trees unsuspecting, and now his story will be used to frighten many a youngling from careless travel. He did not stop to sense the shadows, and met his inevitable demise. His burnt body lets off a terrible and frightening smell, one every Shadow Knight will learn to recognize. My body tenses at the sickly aroma.
I let out a breath of relief when I leave the gap behind, shivering gratefully as the coolness of the night envelopes my figure once more.
My mind unwilling turns, as it often does these days, to Sadir and his kind. It is harder for Light Hawks to move around sometimes than it is for us. I have navigated their territories over the short period of night that falls over the planet every ten sleep cycles. I imagine that as the great sun moves over the sky, certain areas cast a shadow that moves, and it becomes as dangerous to them as a fallen tree is to us. We always hear stories of Light Hawks who chose a careless place to nap and woke to find that a blanket of shadow had fallen over them. I used to think it was funny when a Light Hawk froze to death during the daytime.
Things are different now. Something changed.