Larkpaw opened her eyes and immediately realised that it was still night because of the darkness.

Just as she was about to curl up again and go back to sleep, a movement in the other end of the den caught her attention.

Reedpaw had sat up in her nest and was now looking around among her sleeping denmates.

Strange that we both woke up at the same time. For a moment, Larkpaw toyed with the idea of speaking to her, but when Reedpaw stood up and headed for the exit, Larkpaw made sure to stay still.

As soon as the light brown tabby cat crept past her nest, Larkpaw hid her eyes behind her thick tail so that they wouldn't shine treacherously.

As soon as Reedpaw had disappeared, Larkpaw relaxed again. She surmised that she only wanted to go to the dirtplace and went back to closing her eyes.

But a feeling told her otherwise. If Reedpaw really had to go, she wouldn't behave so secretively.

Larkpaw could hardly lie still with curiosity and finally decided to follow Reedpaw. Perhaps she had been mistaken and her denmate was actually paying a visit to the dirtplace.

Outside the den, Larkpaw saw Reedpaw running towards the waterfall and scaling the small rock face with a quick leap before squeezing under the undergrowth.

At that moment, Larkpaw realised that Reedpaw had secretly left the camp. By wading through the stream, she was probably camouflaging her scent down below.

Larkpaw waited until she was sure that Reedpaw had gone far enough and left the camp the same way. She had to press herself quite low to the ground and lay her ears flat so that she didn't get caught in the branches.

The crawl ended sooner than expected and Larkpaw jumped out of the stream. Whew, that was cold! Her fur stuck to her body and made her feel disgusted.

It looked like Reedpaw was on her way to the upper part of the territory and she had already travelled a considerable distance. Larkpaw had to hurry if she wanted to catch up with her.

Ignoring her wet pelt, she ran off. She had to be careful not to make a sound. Reedpaw seemed a little too carefree, though, because she just kept walking and didn't look back once.

What does she want? Larkpaw wondered, shuddering. If they were caught, she didn't want to imagine the punishment that awaited them. It was already bad enough for apprentices to leave the camp at night, but in these times they would be dealt with even more severely.

The forest was silent. On the one paw, it calmed Larkpaw, but on the other, it made her heart beat so fast that she could feel it. Don't drive yourself crazy, she told herself. There hadn't been an attack for a long time. Maybe they've stopped now and we don't have to go into the forest in groups anymore.

Her fur prickled unpleasantly. The truth was that they would never know who was responsible. Larkpaw bared her teeth in anger as she thought of how many lives this unknown attacker had snuffed out or made worse.

Larkpaw remembered that she hadn't heard of any attacks in LaurelClan, but right now she had more important things to do than speculate.

Soon after, Reedpaw reached the border of the Foreign Lands and slowed her pace. Larkpaw hurriedly hid in a hollow behind a thin pine tree and peeked out cautiously.

Reedpaw began to climb down the cliff. Larkpaw's eyes widened in surprise, and without a second thought, she dashed off, stopping abruptly at the scent line.

"What do you want in the Foreign Lands?" she called out.

A protesting meow was emitted as Reedpaw turned her head upwards towards her. "Larkpaw!" she hissed with flashing blue eyes. "You flea-brained ball of fur! Don't you know it's rude to spy on others?"

Larkpaw felt heat rising inside her at her unkind words. She quickly climbed down the rock face, which proved surprisingly easy due to the many ledges and cracks in the rock. Her chest tightened painfully at the thought of leaving the territory.

But now she had had enough. She bared her teeth and stalked towards Reedpaw. She thought of everything the light brown tabby she-cat had done in the last few moons. I always knew she was a lying piece of mousedung. How will she get out of this affair now?

Reedpaw backed away. All anger had disappeared from her expression. Instead, fear was spreading.

"Tell me what you want here," Larkpaw commanded. The fact that she was far away from other cats seemed to give her the courage to use this bossy tone with a soon-to-be warrior. "This isn't Clan territory anymore!"

Reedpaw wrinkled her muzzle disdainfully. "You're not letting up, are you?" she mocked. "If you really want to know, I'm meeting someone. Are you happy?"

Any previous anger promptly fell away from Larkpaw, only to be replaced by a new rage. "What? Don't tell me you've been looking for a mate outside the Clans!"

"No, you mouse-brain," Reedpaw hissed. "That's far too early. Besides, I'm meeting several cats. They'll teach me to be an even better apprentice. Then Palestar can't help it and simply has to make me a warrior. Who needs a final assessment anyway?"

Larkpaw gradually realised what Reedpaw's plan was. She remembered how angry she had been when it had come out that the final assessments had been postponed to an unspecified date due to the dangerous situation. "That's not good," Larkpaw disagreed vehemently. "I'd rather wait three times as long instead of earning my warrior name by a breach of loyalty."

Reedpaw hissed. "That's not a breach of loyalty. I'm not leaving RoseClan. Besides, I can't stand being a 'paw any longer."

Larkpaw lowered her tail in frustration. It seemed as if it wasn't worth it to contradict Reedpaw like that.

I didn't realise that this warrior thing is so important to her that she was even sneaking away.

A moment of awkward silence fell. Reedpaw bared her fangs from time to time. Larkpaw had the thought to ask her how she knew these strange cats, but she could already guess her answer.

"Are you going to tell on me?" Reedpaw finally murmured.

That's a good question. I don't want to look like a snitch, but what if these clanless cats are a danger to us? Reedpaw makes a very reckless impression on me.

Apparently Reedpaw didn't like her hesitation, because she suddenly meowed, "How about we play a game?"

"A game?" Larkpaw echoed helplessly.

"You're going to run away from me. If I manage to catch up with you before the big fir down there, you'll lose and you'll have to swear you won't tell anyone."

It was a mystery to Larkpaw how she came up with this idea. "Very well," she agreed after some hesitation. "And if I win, I'll tell the Clan about your trip." At the same time, she was aware that she would also get into trouble because she would have to explain how she found it out.

Reedpaw stepped aside. "I'll give you a head start." Suddenly there was something almost malevolent about her expression.

Alright, I can do this. Pushing off with her hind legs, Larkpaw dashed off. It was much easier to run on the open, wide meadow, even though she had to watch out for the rocks that stuck out of the ground in some places.

Her paws drummed on the ground and the wind blew from behind, making Lark paw run faster and faster. Slowly, she began to get excited about this game.

When she reached the tree, she came to an abrupt halt. "Won!" she yowled triumphantly. Completely out of breath, she leant against the trunk, panting. She wasn't used to running so fast.

When she scanned the surroundings for Reedpaw, however, she didn't spot anyone.

"Reedpaw?" she called out. The only thing that answered her was the echo of her voice reverberating off the mountains.

Larkpaw puffed herself up. "It can't be," she muttered to herself. "She can't have just vanished into thin air."

Her gaze fell on the rock face that led up to RoseClan territory. Larkpaw extended her claws. I'll bet all my whiskers that she's run back to camp and is trying to tell on me.

Larkpaw sank to the ground with a groan. Now it wouldn't be worth running after Reedpaw anyway. She simply had to see how she would deal with the consequences.

The she-cat felt a little uneasy when she realised that she was all alone here.

But that was short-lived, because all of a sudden a pungent odour wafted around her nose and she jumped up. Another cat? She checked the air. The odour didn't seem familiar.

Then a tom stepped out from behind a stone. He had short but patchy light brown tabby fur, covered in numerous scars, and his grass-green eyes shone balefully in the nightly moonlight.

Larkpaw flattened her ears and tried not to show the trembling of her body too much. She instinctively realised that she was in great danger.

The tom stretched his head forward, his nose twitching as if he detected an unpleasant scent. "What's a Clan cat like you doing here?" His tone seemed to be dripping with disgust. "And a RoseClan cat at that."

Is he one of the cats Reedpaw is supposed to be meeting? That would also explain why he's familiar with my scent. As friendly as possible and without seeming intimidated, Larkpaw explained, "I'm sorry if I've caused any trouble. I'm going to leave now."

"You can't just leave again," the tom growled, his back arched and his claws extended. "How am I supposed to let you go if you're a RoseClan cat?"

Larkpaw glanced nervously at the rock face. It was impossible for her to estimate whether she could run that fast a second time.

"You did me wrong," the tom continued as he slowly approached, tail swishing from side to side. "You allowed the Clan to become weak and pathetic. I could have helped them to new greatness. But then that she-cat... that wannabe warrior got in my way."

With every word he uttered, Larkpaw's confusion grew like a sprout. I don't understand this. Was he once part of RoseClan? But nobody told me about it.

"You're probably the best example of their weakness," the tom said. "One only has to look at you to know that you'll never stand your ground!"

Suddenly he leapt forward. Larkpaw had the presence of mind to roll to the side.

I have to fight! She repeated these words over and over.

But she was not a fighter. She was just an apprentice with virtually no fighting experience. So she had no choice but to flee.

Her lungs burned and pain shot through her legs with every step. To make matters worse, she stepped on a sharp stone with her left front paw, eliciting a pain-filled scream from her.

There's no point in all this. Besides, if I run away, I'm confirming his belief that RoseClan is weak.

Gathering all her courage, Larkpaw whirled around with a leap and returned. I must be the biggest mouse-brain there is.

She feverishly tried to remember the surprise attack she had practised the other day. Unfortunately for her, her mind was as empty as the MoonClan territory.

With full force, she threw herself against the brown tom's flank, unsheathing her claws just in time to press them into his fur.

Larkpaw felt nausea welling up inside her as she saw small drops of blood oozing out. I can't do something like that! I can't hurt other cats. But I have to defend myself...

She felt dizzy and stepped back. The feeling when she had used her claws still sent a cold shiver down her spine.

"Is that the best you can do?" the light brown tom mocked, making no move to attack her. "The cat who's training you must be even more pathetic than you."

That was too much for Larkpaw. Without realising the consequences beforehand, she rushed forward. How dare you?, she hurled at him in her mind, her mouth as dry as sand.

This time she wouldn't flinch like a frightened kit at the sight of blood. She would show him what to expect if he insulted her and her mentor.

Then the tom jumped to the side so that Larkpaw landed roughly on the ground. She blinked, but before she even had the chance to realise that she had missed him, a burning pain shot through her back and she howled.

The tom seemed to have dragged his claws across her body. Almost numb with pain, Larkpaw tried to crawl away. The tom then bit her right hind leg and she collapsed on the ground again.

Larkpaw gasped through clenched teeth. I have to get out of here. She didn't want to look back to check her injuries. She was too scared to do that.

This isn't a fair fight, she thought. Not if I don't even have a chance to defend myself.

She realised that no further attack was coming and dared to turn her head backwards. The tom crouched there, as if in a hunting stance, and now seemed to be aiming for another part of her body.

She jumped up in a flash, even though she would have preferred to lie there in pain forever. She only had this one chance and she wasn't going to waste it.

Paws whirling, she fled towards the rock face. The tom would either let her go, because as a former RoseClan cat he didn't dare to enter the territory as soon as she reached the top, or he would follow her. If the latter was the case, all she had to do was call for help as loud as she could and hope that there was a night patrol.

Looking up, she could make out four shadowy outlines on the cliff in the darkness. Warmth flowed through her body. Now she would be rescued.

To her relief, the still-unknown cats apparently saw that Larkpaw was in danger and started to descend.

Without giving her a glance, they raced past her. Larkpaw finally felt safe enough to drop to the ground and rest.

A single, unison hiss pierced the silence, then Larkpaw could watch with a triumphant feeling as the tom fled. There was nothing he could do against four cats.

Suddenly, exhaustion overcame her again and she closed her eyes. I've overexerted myself. It's a miracle I survived at all.

Judging by the pawsteps, the cats were coming towards her. Larkpaw sniffed. SnowClan? She opened her eyes slightly.

Tall with long, thick fur. It was obvious that her rescuers came from SnowClan. Larkpaw let her head fall back with a groan. Had she run so far?

But at the moment she didn't care. All that mattered was that someone had found her.

A sand-coloured she-cat with protruding white chest fur and green eyes crouched down in front of her and nudged her muzzle. "Can you hear me?" she meowed. "What's your name?"

"Larkpaw," the apprentice whispered. She didn't think she had any strength left to say anything else.

"I'm Ivyflight," the SnowClan warrior explained. "Don't worry, I won't ask you what you did in the Foreign Lands - for now. But we need to get you to camp so Hollytail can take care of you."

Now the other three cats trotted over as well. With a half-hearted glance, Larkpaw saw that they were a black she-cat and two dark brown toms with slightly different tabby patterns.

The black she-cat narrowed her eyes, which could either be green or golden, tilted her head two times to the right side and pointed in the direction where the RoseClan territory was.

"No, Crowshadow." Ivyflight's voice was quiet as she struck her left foreleg forward.

Although she felt dizzy and incredibly tired, Larkpaw immediately remembered what Silversky had told her about the SnowClan cats. They almost never speak in words. It was obvious that Crowshadow had stated that Larkpaw was a RoseClan apprentice, but Ivyflight's gesture was a mystery to her.

The SnowClan warrior flicked her tail in the direction of the toms. "Grasswing! Branchstripe!"

Without resistance, Larkpaw allowed the SnowClan cats to support her and lead her to the rock face.

Everything will be alright, she told herself, although she didn't believe it herself.