Don't reveal what you're going to do next.

Larkpaw stared at a point in the distance, past Silversky. In reality, she wanted to catch his shoulder or leg. Once she had him stumbling, it would be easy to bring him down.

With her hind paws planted in the ground, Larkpaw dashed forward. Her paws touched his chest instead. Overwhelmed because her original plan hadn't worked, she didn't know what to do next, and froze in place.

That was a mistake. Silversky jumped back so that Larkpaw hit the ground lengthways. It didn't hurt, but the shock numbed her. At the last moment, she remembered the most important rule: always keep moving.

But she reacted too slowly. Silversky rushed forward and pinned her to the ground.

Instead of trying to free herself, Larkpaw lay there like a wet leaf. How am I ever supposed to become a sensible fighter? She realised that there were still many strenuous training sessions ahead of her that would be just like this.

Silversky sat up. "What did you do wrong?"

Larkpaw snorted and pressed herself deeper to the ground. "I was overwhelmed because nothing went my way," she rattled off.

It was stupid of her to think that her plan was perfect. She had learnt by now that nothing ever went perfectly.

"But you're never this unfocussed." Silversky tilted his head. "Are you alright?"

He was right. Larkpaw was feeling particularly distracted today. She wanted to make an effort, but her thoughts kept wandering. Last night, she could hardly sleep because she kept thinking about Smallblotch and Shrewstalk.

Silversky nudged her up and returned to his old position. It seemed he wasn't going to let her give up so easily. "Try again," he meowed. "Eventually you'll know what to do in situations like the one we just had."

It would be pointless to object. So Larkpaw started a new attempt. This time she really wanted to aim for Silversky's shoulder. Somehow she had the feeling that she would have more success with that than jumping at him directly.

But at the last moment, Silversky turned away. Larkpaw was prepared for that, though. Determined not to be thrown off course again, she landed on all four paws, pranced back and this time dashed towards Silversky's other flank. Then she leapt up, spinning in the air and throwing herself against Silversky's flank on the original side.

Yes, it worked! Larkpaw purred with joy when Silversky finally toppled over. "How was I?" she asked, taking care not to shift her weight so that Silversky couldn't break free and launch another attack.

"You see, if you concentrate, you can do it." Silversky flicked his tail.

Larkpaw jumped up and pranced excitedly on her paws. Suddenly she felt as if lightning was shooting through her body. Maybe I can do something after all. "Can we do that again?"

"As often as you like," Silversky replied and rolled onto his paws. "But try to be a little faster this time. You hesitated too long just now."

Larkpaw twitched one ear as a sign that she had understood. At the same time, she groaned inwardly. I've already hurried as much as I could.

Still, she didn't want to give up. Today's combat training was going to be a success, and she wanted to return to camp with the thought that she had improved.

I can't wait to tell Lakepaw and Amberpaw about it. They'll be thrilled.

Then Larkpaw paused. Had she seriously just planned to talk to Lakepaw about her training? She shook her fur. There was no way she would be distracted again. Now all her concentration was required. Later she could think about other things.

When she jumped off, she didn't let all her paws touch the ground on landing to save time. As soon as her front paws hit the pine needles, she fell onto her hind paws and jumped back the next moment. This time she hadn't jumped completely straight, so she had to leap to the next attack position with a big jump.

Now! There's no way I can mess this up. Larkpaw gathered all the strength she had in her hind legs and catapulted herself into the air.

She had a new plan. Unlike the first time, she had jumped with more distance. This way she would not succeed in jumping over Silversky. But she had no intention of doing that. She landed on his back in mid-air and clung on tightly.

Blinded by joy, she didn't really realise at first that Silversky was standing on his hind paws and shaking her off a little roughly so that she fell backwards to the ground.

It felt as if the air was escaping from her. All she could see above her was the cloudy sky. I have to roll away. At the last moment, Larkpaw remembered this important detail and dodged just as Silversky landed on the spot where she had just been lying. As soon as she had turned onto her belly, she picked herself up again, jumped forward and bumped against Silversky's flank with her front paws.

Unfortunately, she didn't have enough strength to knock him over again and staggered back a little. Bracing herself for another attack from him, Larkpaw dodged backwards, her paws planted a little further into the ground, although by now she felt like a thin twig that would snap in two at any moment.

To her relief, Silversky had no intention of doing so. Shaking his sleek pelt, he stated, "Your reflexes are pretty quick, but they don't come into play until it's too late."

Embarrassed, Larkpaw licked her chest fur, in which a few pieces of pine needles were hanging. Nevertheless, she was incredibly glad that she was able to react at all and wasn't frozen with fear.

"Okay, are you ready for the next time?" Silversky asked.

Larkpaw would rather have protested and thrown herself on the ground, whining like a kit. But she knew it was pointless. In a real fight, no one will allow me a break.

They repeated the exercise three more times, each time a little different, so that Larkpaw had to think up new methods as quickly as possible.

Little by little, however, she thought she had got the hang of it and was always ready for something unexpected.

"Is that it now?" Larkpaw refrained from adding a 'finally' so that she didn't sound so impatient.

"With the practical part, yes," Silversky confirmed.

Only the practical part? Larkpaw wanted to exclaim. What else did Silversky want to do with her?

Silversky flicked his tail. "If you want, you can drop by Amberpaw and see how she's doing."

Grateful for the distraction, Larkpaw made her way to her littermate. As she walked along the stream, she decided without further ado to dip her muzzle into the water to take a sip. Immediately afterwards, she jumped back in surprise. Me mouse-brain! Of course the water is cold when the air is cold too!

It was only now that Larkpaw noticed the cold again. She had been moving for so long during her training that it had made her warm, but now she was starting to shiver.

Larkpaw glanced quickly across the stream, then over her shoulder. Surely no one would mind if she took a quick look at the scenery. Every time she was here, she felt the urge to admire the vast, mountainous landscape behind her territory. I'm sure it has such a fascination because I know I'll never get there.

She hopped across the stream and only stopped when she smelt the boundary line directly in front of her. Then she stepped closer to the edge, careful not to slip.

The sight awed her every time. When she thought about the fact that there was much further beyond, she felt dizzy.

I wonder why we don't extend our territory down there.

Suddenly, a movement in the valley caught her attention. Larkpaw narrowed her green-blue eyes. Was there a cat down there? It looked like a tiny insect from this distance.

Snorting, Larkpaw tore herself away again and jumped over the stream. If it really was another cat, she shouldn't care. As long as it didn't enter her territory, everything was fine.

Without further ado, Larkpaw trotted to Amberpaw. The reddish-golden tabby she-cat seemed to be practising how to turn while jumping in the air. Sootfeather crouched beside her and watched her apprentice.

Larkpaw also stood a few steps away and watched. She looks like a leaf being whirled around by the wind. The spotted she-cat purred amusedly.

She wondered what that was good for. Her first thought was that it must be a special dodging technique. But why Sootfeather made no move to attack Amberpaw was beyond her.

Then the grey she-cat happened to turn her head in Larkpaw's direction and her green gaze brightened. "Larkpaw!" she meowed in greeting. "Have you finished your run today?"

"Not quite yet," she replied and stepped closer. "What are you doing right now?"

Amberpaw had stopped jumping around wildly. She looked at Sootfeather questioningly, as if she wanted her to answer for her, but Sootfeather only twitched her whiskers. Amberpaw flattened her ears. "We're practising the 'unexpected jumps'," she murmured and immediately licked her front paw.

Larkpaw tilted her head curiously. "What can you imagine by that?"

"Well, it's like this..." Amberpaw scratched at the leaves while she searched for the right words. "If someone wanted to attack me, I'd have to jump as high as I could into the air and spin around." She broke off and looked questioningly at Sootfeather.

"It's all right the way you say it," Sootfeather confirmed encouragingly.

Amberpaw continued, "Erm, this spin gives you more momentum... or no, I meant you generate more power so that when you land on the cat that's attacking you, it's easier to bring them down." Her voice became softer and softer with the last words.

"Interesting," Larkpaw commented, although she didn't think she understood the meaning behind it. Aren't the spins a bit unnecessary?

Sootfeather jumped up and ran to Amberpaw. As she passed, she gave Larkpaw a stern look. "It would be better if you continued with your training."

Larkpaw bowed her head obediently. "Yes, of course," she meowed quickly.

On the way back, she thought to herself, Sootfeather is all about training and duties! She remembered that the warrior had reacted slightly irritated when Larkpaw had taken a break from improving the elders' den to talk to Amberpaw.

Hopefully she wouldn't take Amberpaw so hard. Larkpaw returned to her original spot. When Silversky noticed her, he turned his ears forward.

"What's it about now?" Larkpaw enquired. She remembered that Silversky had said that the practical part was over, which probably meant that they wouldn't be doing any more training today.

Silversky twitched his whiskers. "Rules, of course."

"Rules?" Larkpaw echoed. Her mood immediately sank to where the roots were. Just boring talk! "Do you mean that code from last time?"

"That too. What did you think?" Silversky replied bluntly. "You'll need them for your final assessments."

It was perfectly clear to Larkpaw that nothing she learnt in her warrior training was just for fun. Still, she was more than a little disappointed to hear that the assessments weren't just about her physical abilities, but also how well she could memorise rules that weren't the warrior code.

It seemed that Silversky had noticed her listlessness. An almost mocking purr sounded.

Larkpaw narrowed her eyes irritably. "I just didn't expect something like that," she defended herself.

"Don't worry," Silversky replied nonchalantly, who had stopped purring again. "I never really liked having to memorise all those rules either. If you want a cat who's a walking rule herself, go to Reddapple. She's already tried to infect our poor little siblings with it."

That's right, Silversky and Reddapple are from Lightshine's first litter. Larkpaw had totally forgotten that.

"And that's important, of course," Silversky continued cheerfully. "But sometimes Reddapple totally exaggerates. She needs to have rules for everything." He huffed. "Anyway, we should get on with it. Do you remember the whole code of combat?"

Larkpaw rummaged feverishly through her memory. She was pretty sure she knew it, but she couldn't remember the order. "Is there a set order?" she asked to be on the safe side.

Silversky shook his head. "No, why would there be? That would make the whole thing even more difficult."

Larkpaw snorted briefly in amusement, then tilted her head and tried to remember a single rule. Come on, I can't just forget something so simple!

Slowly, an idea formed in her head. "Uh... No showing weaknesses, I guess."

She immediately felt lighter when Silversky confirmed her answer. Well, there you go! So, what was the next code again?

It wasn't actually that hard to remember the individual parts of the code of combat, but sometimes it took her a little longer to form the right words in her memory.

"So," Silversky meowed now. "We didn't really start with the prescribed combat training today."

Oh fluttering bird! He really hates rules!

"The original idea was to familiarise you with as many attack and defence methods as possible."

Larkpaw's head was already buzzing from that single exercise. She opened her eyes wide in disbelief. "More than one in a day?" she repeated to make sure she had understood correctly.

Silversky thumped the ground with the tip of his tail. "Exactly. If you ask me, that's way too much at once. Besides, you're not expected to mix up or even fuse techniques." He blinked briefly. "You'd think that wouldn't matter as long as you're successful with it. But unfortunately, that's not the training plan."

"That really doesn't make sense," Larkpaw agreed, then she added in a slightly mocking tone, "Will I - at some point - train according to the rules?"

Apparently Silversky had not been able to recognise the sound of her voice, or he simply ignored her disrespect. "I guess you'll have to in order to take the final assessment. Today, however, I tested you on how quickly you can react and adapt in unfamiliar situations. It's rare that everything goes exactly to plan, and getting used to being ready to change tactics at a moment's notice can give you an advantage."

The longer Larkpaw listened, the more sense the whole thing made to her. Now she was ashamed that she hadn't expected anything great from this conversation. But one question still plagued her. "Wouldn't it be far too pointless not to adapt in a fight?"

"It is," Silversky replied. "SnowClan, for example, has always used the same methods. They've obviously perfected them over time, but if you observe them long enough, you can decipher their techniques and use them against them."

SnowClan only relies on the same tactics. SnowClan only relies on the same tactics. Like a mantra, Larkpaw repeated this silently to memorise it. In a potential battle with the neighbouring Clan, it could be a useful fact for her.

Then a cold shiver ran through her body and her pelt prickled unpleasantly. Even though she was happy to learn all these things, she wasn't particularly eager to put her knowledge into practice.

At that moment, she wished nothing more than that there would never be another fight in her lifetime and beyond.

"Did you know that the same technique looks different on some cats?" Silversky wanted to know.

Larkpaw raised her head in astonishment. "No, how is that supposed to work?"

Silversky twitched one ear unsuspectingly. "Apparently some cats can recognise that. The battle strategists usually only focus on observing individual cats from the other Clans closely during a battle over several moons or leaf-changes."

"I imagine that's quite difficult," Larkpaw said and decided to ask a cat in the camp about it.

At that moment Sootfeather and Amberpaw appeared. Did they also talk about the importance of adaptation in fights? However, Larkpaw rather suspected that Sootfeather preferred to stick to the traditional guidelines.

"We should get back now," Sootfeather declared.

Larkpaw had the feeling that hardly any time had passed since they had arrived here. But the sky was already dawning. She still hadn't got used to the fact that the days were shorter than in Greenleaf.

Silversky stood up and shook his pelt. "That's probably for the best. We were done anyway."

Oh, now already?, Larkpaw wanted to complain. She hadn't had enough of learning yet.

The four cats left the Pineglade close together and made their way down. They made sure never to leave more than a tail's length between them and to keep the apprentices in the middle.

Every now and then, Silversky cast a quick glance in all directions. Larkpaw couldn't blame him. For a moment, her chest tightened and she felt as if she couldn't breathe properly from fear when she thought of this stranger who had robbed she-cats from almost every Clan of their sight.

Since the last Gathering, where it had become clear that the SnowClan elder and former deputy Ashlake had also been the victim of such a fatal attack, there didn't seem to have been another clear incident, at least not in RoseClan.

Traces of intruders were never found either, which made things even more difficult and, above all, even more dangerous. Someone who could cover their tracks so well that it was almost as if they didn't exist would also master a surprise attack.

Wait a moment. Larkpaw wrinkled her muzzle. A strange suspicion formed in her mind. What if this attacker isn't who we think they are? What if it's a whole new enemy, one that even the strongest warriors can't defeat?

Larkpaw snorted. It would be better if she didn't get so carried away with such pointless ideas. Still, this hypothesis wouldn't leave her head, and she already had a guess, faint as mist, as to who it could be, or rather, where they could be from.

Suddenly Sootfeather paused. Larkpaw instinctively checked the air, even though it was rather pointless.

"We should hunt something," the warrior meowed. "I'm not sure if we'll find anything useful in the camp."

Only now did Larkpaw realise that she was hungry. On the way to the Pineglade, she had shared a squirrel with Amberpaw, but that had been her only meal for the day.

Larkpaw didn't have to look far to catch a vole. She felt bad at the thought of eating without knowing if her Clanmates at camp had gotten anything, but then she remembered that the other apprentices had surely already taken care of it.

It was no surprise to her that Amberpaw arrived with a dormouse and a thrush. However, her winged prey looked a little tattered, so Larkpaw had to grit her teeth to keep from purring.

The four cats settled down under a wide juniper bush, which was open on one side but otherwise dense enough to offer enough protection even from potential rain.

While Larkpaw thought about how fast she could run in an emergency, she noticed that Amberpaw wasn't touching the dormouse at all, preferring to eat the thrush.

Larkpaw moved closer to her and whispered, "Do you want to take this back to camp?" She pointed at the dormouse with the tip of her tail.

"I do." Amberpaw turned her head away slightly, as if embarrassed.

Larkpaw flicked one ear in resignation. Of course she doesn't want to bring the ruffled thrush to camp.

By now, the sun had set completely and had plunged the forest into darkness. Due to the winds, which were now blowing more and more often in the evening, the clouds were driven away faster and the Silverpelt shone like a faint cloud with sparkling raindrops.

The sight made Larkpaw feel melancholy. She wondered if StarClan really did always watch the living cats, and if so, if they would ever do anything to help them.

Larkpaw tensed up. If they were able to, they would have done something.

"We should get going," said Sootfeather after a short while.

From their current position, it wasn't far to the camp. At the Birchtunnel they were greeted by Patternleaf and Mothspark, who were keeping watch.

Larkpaw entered the camp. Suddenly she realised how tiredness overcame her. She wasn't used to being in the forest for so long.

Silversky was already on his way to the warriors' den. "You'd better go to sleep right away," he advised her.

That was all I wanted to do. Larkpaw blinked. "Good night."

Closely followed by Amberpaw, she padded to the apprentices' den. The fern bushes were now surrounded by a dense tangle of branches, making it hard to see her den. Smallblotch and Lilacclaw had done a great job.

Actually, she would have expected her denmates to be asleep by now, but their eyes lit up like pairs of fireflies in the darkness.

As Larkpaw and Amberpaw settled into their nests, some of the apprentices turned their heads towards them.

"What's going on?" Larkpaw enquired anxiously, not having missed the tension.

"It's very likely that our final assessments won't take place next moon for the time being," Birchpaw explained. There was a rustling sound as the brown and white tom stirred up the leaves with his tail. "If we're not allowed to be alone in the territory, we can't take the assessments like usually."

Larkpaw stared at him, startled. She hadn't even considered that.

"The final assessments can normally only be postponed for two, at most three moons," Mottlepaw explained, tilting her head. "But who can guarantee that there will be no more attacks by then?"

She had a good point with that. Larkpaw rested her head on the edge of the nest and thought about it. There had to be some alternative so that the cats could get their warrior names.

An irritated hiss sounded from Reedpaw's nest. Her blue eyes seemed even colder than usual. "They can't do that! We didn't work our tails off for six moons for nothing, only to find out that we were denied our final assessments."

"Calm down," Elderpaw tried to placate her, but Reedpaw only growled.

Larkpaw curled up in a ball. Now that she had learnt about the older apprentices' problem, she was wide awake again. Too many worries were keeping her mind busy.

The fact that they might not be made warriors in time had made Larkpaw realise that it could be the same for her and Amberpaw. And the kits, she remembered. In the worst case scenario, they would get their 'paw names and be able to complete their training to some extent, but in the end it would all have been for nothing.

Mottlepaw's soft voice rang through the den. "I'm very sure no one likes it. We'll just have to hope we can come up with a solution."

Yes, hopefully, Larkpaw thought and put her tail over her nose. Otherwise Reedpaw will be even more obnoxious!