Larkwing's heart was pounding. I'm trapped.

Her fur prickled and she hoped it wouldn't bristle. There was no way she wanted to show these cats that she was afraid, even though that was the truth.

They made no move to attack her. Instead, they stood at the top of the slope, their glowing eyes fixated on her.

"Burdock, Fissure, are you serious?" One of them, a grey she-cat with yellow eyes, bared her teeth and lashed out with a paw. "That's not a Clan cat! That's just a lost kit."

Larkwing's blood seemed to froze in her veins. Kit? Do I look like I'm a kit? Gasping indignantly, she wanted to rebuke these brazen rogues.

A brown and white she-cat beat her to it. "Not for long will she be lost," she sneered in a drawn-out voice, rolling her eyes and head as if she were insane. "Sooner or later the Clan cats will find her, torture her and then kill her."

"That's the punishment for careless kits sneaking away," a red tabby tom commented.

The grey she-cat took a step forward. "Eh, kit!" she called. "Better leave this forest in one piece before you have to stay here forever in several pieces."

The brown and white she-cat poked her in the flank. "Don't scare her." However, she didn't sound as if she was worried about the supposed kit.

Finally, after a few heartbeats of bewilderment, Larkwing found her voice again. "What if I tell you I'm a Clan cat?" she growled. They don't need to know that I've only just finished my training.

"Think of something better," the fourth cat, a red and white tom, mocked. "If you really are one, why are we still alive?"

Larkwing remained silent. These rogues were extremely strange. Coming into her territory just like that and trying to threaten her with tall tales.

Without any concern for her own safety, Larkwing leapt up the slope. "Say that to my face, about me being a kit!" she hissed defiantly, her soft black tail lashing violently.

Slowly, the grey she-cat let her gaze wander over Larkwing. An expression of regret appeared on her face for a brief moment before she scowled again. "True, now that you mention it..." She bared her yellowish fangs and scratched her paws in the foliage. "Well, prove to us that you're a Clan cat. Fight us."

Sorry, what? Larkwing shook her head. "I'm not out of my mind!" she snapped. "How am I supposed to fight you? There are four of you!"

With twitching whiskers, the rogues exchanged a quick glance. Then they snorted in amusement.

"Come on," the brown and white she-cat huffed. "You Clan cats are supposed to be the ultimate monsters. Taking over foreign territories, stealing prey and kidnapping the kits of others to either kill them for your own pleasure or turn them into walking nightmares as well. So why are you so cowardly?"

That can't be true. Larkwing had to press her flews together tightly as nausea rose up inside her. They're just exaggerating. They have a completely false image of RoseClan. It was PrickleClan who did those horrible, horrible things, not us.

She opened her mouth, about to reprimand these rogues properly, when a shadow appeared next to her out of nowhere. Startled, Larkwing staggered to the side.

Fernpool! Relief flooded through her as she recognised the reddish-brown and white tabby she-cat.

With a single hiss, Fernpool made the rogues turn on their heels and flee, yowling. Her single yellow eye sparkled like a star of fury. "Damned Clanless."

Gradually, Larkwing's wildly beating heart calmed down again. She stepped closer. "Th-thank you,"she stammered, embarrassed that Fernpool had to find her in this tricky situation. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

Fernpool turned her gaze to her. "I didn't. I just happened to be passing by, but you could've heard the yowling of those piles of excrement from anywhere."

Lucky they'd been so prejudiced by their wrong idea they had about us, Larkwing thought. I wish one day I could be as fearsome as Fernpool. That would certainly have some advantages.

Then she noticed Fernpool tearing furrows in the ground with gritted teeth and hurried to ask, "Is everything all right?"

"After everything they've claimed?"

Larkwing went cold. "Surely those were just stories from PrickleClan days," she replied. "That's long gone. We have nothing to do with that-"

"Larkwing." Fernpool's tone was serious. "You've grown into a strong and brave warrior. All these moons I have kept something important from you. But now I think you are old enough to know the whole truth. No more lies. I owe that especially to Twilightwing."

Trembling, Larkwing flattened her ears. "I don't think I quite understand," she whispered.

A painful, slightly grim expression came into Fernpool's eye. "We mustn't forget the past," she murmured. "It's like the rogues said. Many of us were monsters, or were raised by monsters. There's nothing to sugarcoat and nothing to deny. My past, as well as the others, is stained with more blood than you'll ever see in your entire life." She pointed a paw at the scarred patch on her face where her right eye used to be. "Even though we never found the real culprit in the end, I believe that this was the punishment for my unforgivable actions."

Like a flash, memories came back to Larkwing - memories she had deliberately pushed to the back of her mind. If only she knew that I knew who had done it, and that this someone had been torn out of existence from one moment to the next by a higher power. A power that seemed to stand above StarClan and the Dark Forest.

Larkwing shook her pelt resolutely. Back then, she had sworn to banish Goldenstar from her thoughts forever. Whatever would have happened if she had succeeded with her plan to bring back PrickleClan - Larkwing didn't want to imagine that. It was much more important now to find a solution to the problem that was affecting the Clans right now.

"All right, then." Larkwing lowered her head. "What do you want to tell me?"

Fernpool's fur bristled and she averted her eyes for a moment. "Before I start, you have to realise one thing," she spoke with more seriousness than Larkwing was used to from her. At the same time, there was a hint of uncertainty - or was it actually sadness? "What you're about to learn will turn a lot of what you know upside down. Even if all this has already happened, the world will change for you, and not for the better."

"I don't care," Larkwing replied firmly. "I can deal with the truth. I promise!"

Barely audible, Fernpool sighed agonisedly. "Will you be able to handle hating me, too?"

Confused, Larkwing took a step back. "What? why would I hate you? I have no reason to anymore!"

At least I think so. Her chest tightened. She remembered her first days as an apprentice only too well. Back then she had been desperate because she had never done well enough in Fernpool's eyes. But now she had the feeling that her former mentor was actually making an effort to be kind to her, to simply treat her like a normal, equal Clanmate.

With a flick of her tail, Fernpool motioned for her to sit down. "Where do I start..." she mumbled, more to herself.

By now, Larkwing felt like she was going to be crushed by a stone. But it was definitely no longer appropriate to back down. If Fernpool had already saved her from the rogues, she at least wanted to show her appreciation by listening to her.

I owe that especially to Twilightwing. With a shudder, Larkwing recalled Fernpool's words. She still had no idea what Fernpool had to do with her mother. However, she had a dark feeling that it didn't bode well.

When Fernpool finally began to speak after a long pause of oppressive silence, her voice was rough and so quiet that Larkwing had to concentrate and turn her ears forwards so as not to miss anything. "I'd best start at the beginning. At the beginning of my life. When I was born, PrickleClan still existed. And my parents, Hazelstripe and Mudpelt, driven by their blind loyalty to that nightmare of a Clan, had started instilling the same values in my littermate and me early on."

Larkwing's eyes grew wide with surprise. "You have a littermate? Why didn't you ever tell me about it?"

"Had," Fernpool corrected her. A shadow passed over her eye. "Cherryfang was his name. But... but he's dead."

"Um... I-I'm sorry about that."

Fernpool struggled to make a croaky purr. "It's all right, dear. I've gotten over it. Life just has to go on."

But Larkwing didn't believe her. You never get over the death of a littermate, she thought, remembering Lakepelt and Elderpelt at the same time. Unless, of course... Her fur bristled. Unless something happened between them.

"Be that as it may," Fernpool continued, twitching her ears. "Except for the fact that we were practically taught to be evil, Cherryfang and I had a perfectly normal kithood. Then we were made apprentices, but only two moons before we could take our final assessments, the other three Clans invaded our camp. Being totally unprepared put us at a huge disadvantage."

Larkwing gasped in shock. "How dare they?" she mewed angrily, her black tail lashing and stirring up the leaves.

Fernpool held out a white paw to appease her. "Don't forget that it happened in PrickleClan times," she lectured her. "After many generations, they finally had enough of always being on guard. Always fearing for their lives and especially for the lives of their kits. So one night they decided to put an end to all that and destroy PrickleClan. Driven by the malice that we were practically born with, we wanted to defend ourselves against the downfall. I also believed at the time that it was the only right thing to do. Today, however, when I think back, I feel nothing but shame for having fought with such conviction for the wrong cause."

Fernpool hunched her shoulders and wrapped her tail around her paws, only to have it twitch nervously again a heartbeat later.

Larkwing would have liked to say something back, but although her head was racing with thoughts, her throat was so dry that she couldn't get a word out. She had long since realised that Fernpool had belonged to PrickleClan. But to hear it from her herself was something completely different.

Without a doubt, PrickleClan had been terrible and the reason why there was still a bad image of RoseClan outside of the Clans. Actually, Larkwing should feel nothing but hatred for it. At the same time, she was painfully aware of the fact that many of her Clanmates had once been PrickleClan cats as well.

Finally, Fernpool continued. "It came as it had to come. Chervilstar and Brackenleaf were killed, our leading cats at the time. As you can imagine, no one was happy about it, but without a leader and surrounded by three Clans thirsting for revenge, we had no choice but to admit defeat."

Unbelievable that one single fight had decided that PrickleClan ceased to exist. It's almost as if a large, ancient tree that was firmly rooted just fell from one moment to the next.

"I can still remember the confusion and anger I felt when the other Clans demanded that we be called RoseClan again," Fernpool meowed. "Of course, we were never told anything about RoseClan - Ancient RoseClan, I mean. However, MoonClan and SnowClan had passed the memory on to each other for many leaf-changes."

"Wait a moment!" Larkwing interrupted her abruptly. "You just mentioned MoonClan and SnowClan. But what about LaurelClan?"

Fernpool narrowed her eyes slightly. Larkwing hastily shut her mouth again. "Well, actually, LaurelClan only started to exist shortly after the beginning of PrickleClan. At least that's what the stories said. And since it consisted mostly of rogues and young SnowClan and MoonClan cats who had little or no memory of Ancient RoseClan, they had no connection to it."

"I didn't know that," Larkwing meowed truthfully. She would have liked to ask further if Fernpool knew why LaurelClan was founded in the first place. "And what happened next?"

"Well, without further ado, the other Clans decided to take complete control of us. At least until, as they said at the time, we were no longer a threat," Fernpool recalled. As if she detected an unpleasant odour, she wrinkled her muzzle. "They appointed a new leader and deputy for us. And believe me, if I hadn't been an apprentice back then, I would have refused to accept them. Because they chose a cat as leader who we all thought was loyal to PrickleClan. Yet he had played a decisive role in the Roseprickle Battle, as the downfall of PrickleClan had been called at the time."

Larkwing couldn't suppress a shudder. To betray one's Clan was actually the highest crime one could commit. In this respect, she could understand Fernpool's feelings at the time. Nevertheless, one could not ignore the fact that he had decided for the good of all Clans.

Fernpool continued, "However, they hadn't found a suitable candidate for the position of deputy in New RoseClan. Well, the only kit of Chervilstar who had reached adulthood, Myrtleheart, was also part of the betrayal. But she died in battle, so there was no one left who could be entrusted with the role of deputy in the eyes of the rest of the Clans. For this reason, a tom from MoonClan, Stripetail, decided to change Clans and take on this task. By the way, you should know part of his family very well. One of his littermates is Hailstar."

Larkwing's eyes widened in astonishment. Of course, she had never been interested in Hailstar's past before - why should she? "I'm sorry, it's all a bit hard to believe," she meowed. "I keep forgetting that it wasn't that long ago."

Slightly amused, Fernpool twitched her whiskers. "Oh, I feel the same way," she revealed. "After I got used to RoseClan, I practically forgot about PrickleClan. Although the following greenleaf will be the fifth greenleaf since the founding of New RoseClan, it seems to me that it has been much longer." She snorted. "Could also be because I'm old."

"You're not old!" Larkwing objected hastily. Immediately afterwards, doubt gnawed at her. Should she really have said it like that? Fernpool's time to join the elders was still a long way off. But she was by no means one of the younger warriors either.

"It's okay, you don't have to try to make me feel better," Fernpool meowed tensely. "That's just the way I feel." Her gaze wandered to the sky. "By my whiskers, it's getting late."

It was only when she said this that Larkwing suddenly remembered that Dawnbreeze was probably still waiting for her return at the Birchtunnel. Mousedung, I hope she's not too worried about me staying out too late. "Hopefully Dawnbreeze hasn't sent out a search patrol for us," she groaned.

Suddenly a wave of impatience washed over her. She wanted to get back to camp as quickly as possible to avoid becoming the cause of a mass panic.

"All right." Fernpool rose to her paws and shook out her legs. "Let's make our way back and I'll try to summarise the rest for you while we're at it."

Expressly relieved to finally be allowed to move again, Larkwing plodded along beside Fernpool. She only managed to keep her mouth tightly shut with difficulty to stifle a yawn. It was probably already well past moonhigh. Nevertheless, she made an effort to stay awake and continue listening to Fernpool.

"The moons passed, and Cherryfang and I completed our training without further incident. Little by little, I forgot all the principles that Hazelstripe and Mudpelt had taught me and became what the other Clans wanted us to be. Peaceful, weak, robbed of our old strength. Soon it seemed as if the whole Clan had accepted the new way of life. But at some point I realised that there were still cats who mourned PrickleClan."

Fernpool paused her story for a moment to step around a large thicket of thorns. Her expression was stony serious. "Oh yes, there was Tendrilbranch. We had trained together for a while before he left the apprentices' den earlier than me. PrickleClan had always been an important part of his life. The fact that it was gone was like the end of the world for Tendrilbranch."

Something about the name stirred a dark, distant memory in Larkwing that she couldn't quite grasp. She had the feeling she had heard of this cat before. She couldn't remember where or when, though.

"One day, Tendrilbranch started asking me very strange questions. Whether I could lie credibly enough. How I felt about the Clan's forced way of life. Even whether I could fight against the Clan if they were in the wrong." Fernpool hissed briefly, her yellow eye sparkling. "At some point, Tendrilbranch had let me in on a secret meeting. It turned out that three other cats had to endure the same questions. In fact, they weren't just some strange questions - Tendrilbranch was looking for cats to join him in bringing PrickleClan back to life!"

Bringing PrickleClan back to life. Larkwing trembled with fear. How could a cat be so corrupted?

Fernpool let her tail hang down. "Of course, I was a bit shocked at first that Tendrilbranch was betraying Redstar - all of RoseClan in general. But he pointed out to me how pathetic the Clan had become. His plan was to work his way up to the highest ranks and from there ensure that first the weakest cats and then the highest-ranking ones were destroyed."

Everything about this seemed terribly wrong to Larkwing. "Surely the 'weakest cats' didn't mean..." she whispered in disbelief.

But to her horror, Fernpool answered in the negative. "Unfortunately, that's how it was. Tendrilbranch wanted to get rid of the elders because they were just a burden in his eyes," she replied in a voice dripping with bitterness. "The same went for our former medicine cat, Waterhaze. She had previously been a fully trained warrior, but since the previous medicine cat, Nightsun, had been stripped of her duties, Waterhaze had kindly stepped in for her." Fernpool let out an agonised sigh, as if a heavy burden was resting on her. "But Tendrilbranch didn't care. And so there were meetings again and again, but we made very slow progress towards our goal. Apart from us RoseClan cats, some rogues also took part, lured by Tendrilbranch with the promise of power."

What kind of power did these rogues want?, Larkwing wondered, but decided to stay quiet.

"Tendrilbranch was soon assigned his first apprentice. The fact that it happened comparatively early was only because he had wrapped everyone around his claw and made them believe he was loyal to RoseClan."

Larkwing hopped over a small ditch. Surely it wasn't far to the camp. Her nest appeared before her inner eye, seeming to call out to her.

"This apprentice's name was Larkpaw, like yours once was," Fernpool continued. The sudden tremor in her voice was unmistakable. "To some extent, you remind me of her. She was always so inquisitive and full of energy. Above all, the welfare of the Clan was her top priority. Sometimes I can't help wondering if you're her reincarnation, although that sounds mouse-brained. Just because you had the same name?"

Abruptly, she broke off, her jaw tensed as if it was painful for her to talk about it alone. "But her inquisitiveness was soon to be her undoing. One night, Larkpaw was right on my tail when I set off for another meeting. Tendrilbranch had demanded that no one was to know of our actions under any circumstances." Fernpool sounded more desperate than ever. "I... I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to stop Larkpaw from betraying me to Redstar. That's why I had pushed her into the River Ravine."

Larkwing couldn't make a sound. This can't be!, she thought in panic. Fernpool would never do such a thing! But at the same time she knew that Fernpool wouldn't lie to her.

So that's what she meant when she asked if I could cope with hating her. Larkwing turned ice-cold. She would never have guessed that Fernpool would resort to such methods to cover up another crime.

"To my horror, Tendrilbranch wasn't particularly distressed about it, even though Larkpaw was his apprentice," Fernpool continued. "Two days later, a LaurelClan patrol brought Larkpaw's corpse to camp. They said they had found her floating in the reeds near Willow Island. Everyone recognised that she had drowned. But Tendrilbranch had to start a fight right away because he wanted to make RoseClan believe that it was actually LaurelClan who were responsible for Larkpaw's death."

Incensed, Larkwing lashed her tail. "What was the point of that?" she meowed in disbelief.

Fernpool shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I suppose Tendrilbranch was just in the mood for a bit of drama after a long time of peace," she replied. "Fortunately, no one died and there weren't any tragic injuries either."

Larkwing breathed a sigh of relief. This Tendrilbranch was becoming more and more suspicious to her. She couldn't believe that he had been playing up a false image of himself to RoseClan all this time, just so he could continue his terrible plan.

Fernpool looked around. "Well, it's about time we got down to business. It won't be long before we reach the camp," she stated. "More leaf-changes passed, during which Tendrilbranch's Retinue kept losing and gaining members. At some point, Redstar died during a battle against MoonClan. Our next leader, Dewstar, died just four leaf-changes after his appointment, though, and so Palestar became leader."

Fernpool snorted in frustration. "Of course she had chosen Tendrilbranch as deputy. Everyone thought it was the perfect choice, because he had built up an exemplary image within RoseClan. No cat could have guessed that he wanted to bring PrickleClan back. After working his way up to the top, he planned to finally put the plan we had worked out for many leaf-changes into action. The top target cat to be wiped out was not Palestar, but Waterhaze - and Twilightwing."

Larkwing's chest tightened in fear. Her heart was pounding violently. "I don't understand this. What did my mother have to do with this?" she whispered, her eyes wide.

"Quite simply, she was a thorn in Tendrilbranch's side," Fernpool explained tensely. "You have to know that Twilightwing had a talent for seeing through other cats. She could do that even as a kit. No one could hide anything from her. That's why Tendrilbranch's excessive popularity seemed strange to her and she took every opportunity to criticise him."

Shivering, Larkwing exhaled. "And that's why he wanted to get rid of her," she concluded.

"Yes." Fernpool nodded sombrely. "One night, Twilightwing had found her way to our meeting place and overheard us planning to eliminate Waterhaze. Naturally, Tendrilbranch wasn't at all happy about it. He forced the rogues of the Retinue to hold Twilightwing so that her scent would stick to her. Then we Clan cats brought her into camp and Tendrilbranch claimed she was making common cause with rogues to harm RoseClan."

A fierce, hot, blazing anger flared up in Larkwing all at once. She gritted her teeth. "What a brazen lie!" she exclaimed.

Fernpool's ears flattened in agony. "Twilightwing had no chance of defending herself. In the end, most of the cats, partly manipulated by Tendrilbranch, voted in favour of banishing Twilightwing. Almost two moons later, however, a patrol came across her and it turned out that she was already pregnant when she was banished."

Pregnant with Amberhaze and me.

"It was mainly Sunbrook and Dawnbreeze who were able to convince Palestar to give Twilightwing shelter at least until her kits were weaned," Fernpool recalled. "Coincidentally, the birth began on the very night that Tendrilbranch's Retinue would attack the camp. The night I finally had to prove my loyalty to Tendrilbranch."

A rising breeze made the branches tremble. "Driven by my long time together with the followers, I naturally wanted to follow all of Tendrilbranch's orders. That's why..." Her voice became brittle. "That's why I killed Cherryfang without further ado. I regret it so much and yet I know that nothing will redeem it. Cherryfang is gone because I was too obsessed with following the wrong cat. And meanwhile, his mate and kits were waiting outside the camp for the battle to end."

Larkwing turned cold and rigid like an icicle. Her heart began to pound uncontrollably again and her fur bristled with unease. "W-who was Cherryfang's mate?" she whispered.

Fernpool didn't even dare to look at her. "Rainsplash," she murmured. "I think you know what that means."

No! Larkwing suppressed a gasp. Like violent masses of water breaking through a dam, long-suppressed memories came flooding back.

On the day that Fernpool had scratched out her eye under Goldenstar's influence, Reedclaw, then still Reedpaw, had spoken negatively about Fernpool, even calling her evil. At the time, she had made Larkwing believe it was because of Fernpool's brief affiliation with PrickleClan.

But in reality, there was a deeper reason, something far more sinister than I thought, Larkwing realised with a pang in her heart. Reedclaw must have harboured such a dislike for Fernpool because she killed her father. Worse, Cherryfang was Fernpool's littermate.

"How... Why?" Larkwing croaked in horror. "How could you do such a thing to them?"

But Fernpool didn't answer. "After Cherryfang's death, I couldn't bear to fight on Tendrilbranch's side any longer," she murmured instead. "I realised too late that I'd been making a mistake all those moons. Still, I sided with my Clan again. If there was even the slightest chance to redeem myself, I was going to take it. Everyone else in the Retinue either died or fled. But I stayed until the end."

The camp wall came into their field of vision and Fernpool slowed her run until she stopped. "When the battle ended, Twilightwing died too. Fruittail said there were complications and that Twilightwing was too weak from the start to survive the birth." Fernpool paused. "She likely didn't receive the proper care outside of the Clan. If only she had never been banished, she might still be alive - and... and her firstborn kit too."

Panic rose in Larkwing. "What do you mean?" she urged. "Isn't Amberhaze the firstborn?"

Fernpool took her time answering. "There was another tom besides you and Amberhaze," she whispered. "But he couldn't take one breath. He never received a name. He was buried together with Twilightwing."

I had a brother. There could have been three of us. A brother. What would my life have been like if he had survived? Larkwing trembled. Suddenly she had the feeling that her legs were as weak as twigs. Searching for support, she leant against a tree.

Hesitantly, Fernpool stepped towards Larkwing. "I'm so eternally sorry," she murmured, and the pain and sorrow in her tone was more genuine than ever. "But I thank you for listening to me. Even though you now know what kind of cat I used to be, it still feels like a relief for me not to have to carry this secret around with me anymore."