So this is what the LaurelClan camp looks like.

Filled with overwhelming awe, Larkpaw couldn't take her eyes off the huge, multi-trunked oak tree in the centre of an almost perfectly crescent-shaped clearing on the shore of a small lake.

At least ten cats could be standing around it and the branches stretched out long and gnarled, forming a kind of roof.

Suddenly Larkpaw felt a light touch on her ear. "Keep your fur smooth and don't attract any negative attention," Dawnbreeze whispered.

Larkpaw nodded obediently. She had nothing else in mind.

It seemed that Gooseleap had heard her, because he added, "Even if they seem generous, they are very proud and resentful. So don't do anything that might offend them."

Larkpaw didn't doubt his words. The brown and white tom was one of the oldest warriors in RoseClan. So he must have enough experience with the other Clans.

A quick glance over to a group of three LaurelClan cats that had settled down next to a stunted hazel bush was enough for Larkpaw to know that she should behave as if she were standing on a thin layer of ice.

They look like they think we're here to take up their camp. Larkpaw was frightened by the cold expression in the eyes of the LaurelClan cats. Even on the way there, she had always felt the suspicious glances at her back.

Eveningstar and Redleaf trotted between two spreading fern fronds. Larkpaw flinched involuntarily when she saw that the LaurelClan leader had to be supported by her deputy. Her muzzle had grown more white hair and her green eyes looked empty, as if she wasn't really present.

How old did she have to be now? It was obvious that this she-cat had already experienced countless leaf-changes.

The grey-blue she-cat's nose twitched. "RoseClan cats? I can guess why you've come all this way," she murmured in a sharp voice.

"We would like to ask you to give us some of your supply of medicinal plants," Gooseleap explained. It hadn't escaped Larkpaw's notice that he looked nervous.

At first, Eveningstar showed no reaction. She just stood there and stared past Gooseleap. When she said something again, Larkpaw's blood froze in her veins.

"No." It was a simple word and yet it triggered so much anger and confusion in Larkpaw that her fur began to prickle.

There is no reason for Eveningstar to deny us herbs! They have everything in abundance anyway.

Then a blow to her ear snapped her out of her thoughts. Dawnbreeze hissed with narrowed eyes. "Keep your fur flat! Eveningstar is already irritated enough."

Now filled with shame, Larkpaw took a deep breath and struggled to adopt a relaxed posture. Nevertheless, she was still upset about Eveningstar's unfriendliness.

Redleaf scratched the ground with one paw and gave the RoseClan cats an apologetic look. "This is the first time she's refused."

"And I should have started this much earlier," Eveningstar growled. Suddenly she seemed wide awake. She arched her back and whipped her tail slowly, not even looking at Redleaf. "You've been taking advantage of us for far too long. Better to just take care of yourselves."

Larkpaw gasped for breath. Am I really having the honour of meeting the biggest burdock-covered, thorn-spiked, flea-infested, fallen-in-mouse-bile piece of crowfood of a cat?

Redleaf quickly jumped in front of Eveningstar to stop her from launching a possible attack. "Stop that!" the orange tabby tom ordered. His ears were flattened as if it would be embarrassing for him to have to keep the Clan leader under control in the presence of a strange patrol. "You can't just throw our principles overboard like that. Besides, it's up to Cloverdapple to decide which herbs we're going to give away."

In response, Eveningstar narrowed her eyes. "I'm still your leader," she spat, "and I'm telling you to get rid of them!"

Without twitching a whisker, Redleaf turned his head slightly to the side and meowed, "Splashpaw, can you look for Cloverdapple?"

Next to a fallen tree stump, a reddish-cream tom with yellow eyes, who had been sitting with a tortoiseshell she-cat, jumped up and disappeared into a gap in the bushes.

In response, Eveningstar backed away. Her green eyes blazed like fire. "I'm beginning to realise something. My whole Clan is turning against me. Is this the thanks I get for being a prophecy cat?" No sooner had she said this than she slipped out of the camp.

For the next few heartbeats, it was uncomfortably quiet in the clearing. Only now did Larkpaw notice the cats hiding in the shadows of the bushes. They had all been so still and motionless that Larkpaw hadn't noticed any of them.

"Wow, that wasn't normal," Shrubtail whispered.

To Larkpaw's astonishment, no one rebuked him.

"Larkpaw?"

The she-cat whirled around in the direction from which the call had come.

Meadowpaw ran towards her with her tail raised in the air. Larkpaw was a little relieved to see a familiar cat and that she even remembered her.

Gooseleap puffed himself up. "Don't forget that we came here for one purpose."

Larkpaw bit her tongue in disappointment. She certainly wouldn't be forbidden to talk to anyone. "We met at the last Gathering," she explained, hoping to show that Meadowpaw wasn't a stranger to her.

"Then have a chat if you really want to." Gooseleap flicked his tail absently. "Just don't say anything you'll regret later."

Larkpaw was flabbergasted for a moment. Now he's starting to act funny, too. But that's probably because of Eveningstar. Speaking of which, shouldn't Cloverdapple come wobbling up here already?

But when Meadowpaw led her to a patch of grass with shining green eyes, the tortico she-cat forgot all her worries.

"It's so nice to see you again," Meadowpaw purred.

Larkpaw frowned. What did the black she-cat mean? Of course she was happy about it too, but Meadowpaw seemed so excited that she was trembling and pawing non-stop.

That's annoying. "I agree," she replied, "but can you please stop wriggling around like a fish on land?"

Meadowpaw promptly fell into a stupor. "Of course!" she squeaked.

Larkpaw sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws while she looked around. "You have an interesting camp."

At these words, Meadowpaw stuck out her chest proudly.

"Where is Skypaw, by the way?" Larkpaw asked curiously as soon as she remembered the name.

"Training with his mentor." Meadowpaw rolled her eyes slightly. "There's Larchleaf over there and she's looking at me like I'm talking to withered weeds." She snorted, half annoyed, half amused.

Larkpaw followed her gaze to the dark brown she-cat, who was watching her from narrow eyes. By StarClan, we don't always have to be so hostile towards each other!

Meadowpaw parted the grass with a clawed tip. Every now and then she looked up, but said nothing.

Finally she meowed, "I'm sorry you had to watch that just now."

Larkpaw flicked her tail to appease her. "It's not your fault."

Meadowpaw shook herself energetically. She stopped examining the grass and sat up straighter. "Lately, Eveningstar has been behaving more and more strangely. No, 'strangely' is an understatement. She's more like..."

"Crazy?" Larkpaw helped her to find the right expression.

Shocked, Meadowpaw opened her eyes before leaning forward. "Well, that's the best way to put it. Eveningstar is no longer the way we knew her. All the time she finds fault with the way others speak or behave. That's why Petalpaw..." She pointed to the tortoiseshell-coloured she-cat on the tree stump, "came up with the — more or less — terrific idea of simply not speaking. But that wasn't right for Eveningstar either."

Only when Larkpaw looked over at Petalpaw did she notice how tense she seemed, as if she shouldn't be spoken to under any circumstances.

She sighed softly. It seemed like LaurelClan wasn't going through a good time right now.

"Tell me," she began, making sure to keep her voice as low as possible. "Eveningstar just mentioned that she was a prophecy cat. Do... do you know more about that?"

At first, Meadowpaw's expression turned to shock. Then she breathed, barely audible, "If her words are to be believed, Eveningstar was once chosen by StarClan to become the next deputy of the Clan."

Filled with awe, Larkpaw jumped to her paws with a jerk. "Really?" she squeaked, fascinated.

Meadowpaw looked around immediately, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. The apprentice relaxed again. "The elders say that Eveningstar used to be a good and remarkable leader. Well, and lately she's been acting rather strangely... crazily."

"Do you think it's because of her age?" Larkpaw looked up at the cloudy sky thoughtfully. The air smelled of rain. Larkpaw's pelt bristled at the thought of running through the forest soaking wet. Hopefully Cloverdapple would come soon.

Meadowpaw twitched her whiskers in amusement. "Of course! Eveningstar was already an experienced warrior when Finchheart, the oldest elder in the Clan, was born."

How must it feel to be so old, but still have a leader who is even older?

"I'm sure she even witnessed the creation of the world," Meadowpaw joked mischievously, her eyes twinkling.

Larkpaw purred happily before stopping abruptly. Out of the bushes, where Splashpaw had disappeared half an eternity ago, trotted a brown and white spotted tom — Cloverdapple.

Feeling lighter with relief, Larkpaw closed her eyes. Now she just had to trust that Cloverdapple was a sensible cat.

The next moment, Splashpaw slipped back into camp. For a moment it looked as if he was about to go to Petalpaw, but his gaze fell on Larkpaw and Meadowpaw and he trotted to them.

What does he want from us? For some reason, Larkpaw seemed to know instinctively that he wasn't good company.

Meadowpaw's ears perked up too, a definite sign to Larkpaw that she had to be careful with Splashpaw.

The light reddish-cream-coloured tom stopped no more than a tail's length away and twitched his nose. "Meadowpaw here told me about you," he meowed, not breaking eye contact. "I didn't want to believe her that you... have different coloured eyes. But I guess it looks like she spoke the truth for once."

"Hey!" Meadowpaw intervened, tail lashing.

Larkpaw's eyes narrowed. Splashpaw's motive was unclear to her. It was impossible to tell from his monotonous expression whether he was admiring her for her eyes or making fun of her.

Finally, Splashpaw turned away and trotted over to Petalpaw next to the fallen tree stump without saying another word.

"By my whiskers, has he been eating sticks or why is he in such a strange mood?" Larkpaw muttered.

"What's going on in Splashpaw's head is as unfathomable as a deep abyss," Meadowpaw replied, rolling her eyes. "I seriously wonder how that mouse-brain is going to find a mate later on."

Larkpaw tilted her head in confusion. "Mate?"

Meadowpaw looked at her in surprise. "Yes, of course! Well, I can hardly wait to have a mate," she gushed. "And to have kits! I'd love to have two litters. Oh, and I even have names already!"

"Isn't it a bit too early to be thinking about that? Your training isn't even finished yet," Larkpaw intervened.

Meadowpaw lowered her head in response. "You're right," she agreed. "But as a she-cat, it's my duty to have kits. That is our destiny."

The black she-cat's words made Larkpaw feel uneasy. She had never thought about it before, but she just couldn't imagine herself with a mate and kits. It is a she-cat's duty to have kits? She wrinkled her muzzle. I don't want to be anything but a warrior.

Still, she felt a little pang in her heart. Meadowpaw was probably right. One day she too would fall in love and a few moons later she would see little kits frolicking around in front of her paws.

But the thought still repulses me. Mousedung, I don't want to make a decision that will make me unhappy forever.

"Are your ears blocked with moss?"

Startled, Larkpaw whirled around. There stood Shrubtail with a bundle of stalks in his mouth.

Ashamed, she flattened her ears. Apparently she had been so preoccupied with the conversation that she had completely ignored her surroundings.

Shrubtail pushed a pile of leaves towards her. "Cloverdapple gave us all the plants we could need," he explained, "but you have to take something too."

Larkpaw hurried to join her Clanmates. Then she turned to Meadowpaw and meowed, "See you at the next Gathering!"

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again," Meadowpaw replied.

The RoseClan cats left the camp, surrounded by five LaurelClan warriors. Larkpaw tried not to let it stress her out.

At that moment, a raindrop splashed directly on her nose. By now, the air smelled even more humid than before. The older cats quickened their pace, so Larkpaw had to concentrate on keeping up with them and not letting go of her bundle of herbs at the same time. To her advantage, the forest was relatively light, so there was less danger of stumbling somewhere.

Suddenly her stomach grumbled so loudly that she grimaced. I'll die of embarrassment if the others find out!

But nobody seemed to pay attention to her and Larkpaw relaxed again. Only now did she really realise that she hadn't eaten anything all day. So much had happened that she hadn't noticed it.

As soon as we're in RoseClan territory, I'll catch something, Larkpaw decided. At least, if the rain has stopped by then.

For a while, she followed Dawnbreeze's tail tip in front of her while the mud splashed up under her paws and soiled her white chest fur.

I wonder where Eveningstar went. Larkpaw thought back to how the she-cat had behaved with discomfort. Maybe it really is time for a new leader. A younger one who can still make competent decisions. Oh, StarClan, who would have thought that a long life would be so disadvantageous?

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Read more about Eveningstar's inner monologue in that situation in the bonus chapter "Eveningstar's leadership"