"Look!" Dashkit meowed. Her downy, silver-grey tabby fur bristled happily. With her left ear, the tip of which was torn, she flicked in the direction of the apprentices' den. "Willowpaw is here now." A joyful expression veiled her eyes. "He promised me yesterday that he'd show me this new stalking technique his mentor taught him the other day."

"Great!" Leafkit's voice had taken on a scathing undertone. "He should've done it yesterday. " He was a tiny kit, one moon and a few days of age, with red tabby fur that was still as soft as his three sisters'. Yet Leafkit had already gotten himself into more trouble than any other kit. He had been caught countless times trying to sneak out of the camp or enter the warriors' den. To the displeasure of the other cats, he never seemed to realise that his behaviour was unacceptable. Even after talking to Hailstar, what the leader said seemed to go right back out of his other ear. It already became a routine for the MoonClan cats to find Leafkit being in trouble.

"Well, he's an apprentice, after all, so he's been a little busy," Dashkit admitted as she stepped sheepishly from one paw to the other. "But now he can teach us how to hunt. Come on!" Whooping with joy, she pattered through the tall grass that would have reached almost to her shoulder had it not been flattened by countless cats walking around here for moons.

Larkkit rose trance-like and followed her siblings with long strides. "I don't like Willowpaw," the tortico she-cat murmured in a hushed voice so that her sister wouldn't hear her, dragging herself with her tiny white paws across the meadow. "I'd rather share a nest with ticks and slugs than put up with him."

"Right?" Leafkit called from the front. The little tom dropped back a bit and settled into a loose trot beside Larkkit. "He's so arrogant!"

Larkkit flattened her ears. "Be quiet!" she snarled. "Don't say that when Dashkit is near!"

However, Dashkit only held her head up high and got faster. "Willowpaw is already an apprentice. Be a little bit more respectful."

He's not a warrior yet, though. Larkkit sighed. I want to be a warrior now. It's so unfair that I'm still a kit. Filled with jealousy, she thought of her older denmates, Stormkit and Firkit. The two toms were almost six moons old and would soon be made apprentices.

Dashkit had already stuck her head under a scrubby, wildly growing bush that was the apprentices' den. "Willowpaw! Don't sleep! You were going to teach me how to stalk upon prey, remember?"

Willowpaw, a dark ginger tom, had settled down in his nest lined with blades of grass. He looked up and shook his head. "Not now. Blazedew has made me do some morning swim training."

Rudely, Larkkit pushed Dashkit aside and took a quick look into the den. It was larger than expected, but had a relatively low roof with holes gaping in it. Several nests were dug around the trunk in the middle, all unused now except for Willowpaw's and that of his littermate Heatherpaw. They would, until Junipertail's litter became apprentices, also remain alone.

"But why not?" Dashkit grumbled just then with her typical expression, eyes wide and flews clenched when she didn't get her way.

"I can't feel my legs, that's why," Willowpaw hissed roughly and flattened his ears, causing Dashkit to wince barely noticeably. "Besides, my neck is so sore from having to hold it up all this time so I wouldn't drown. I'm telling you, Blazedew and that darn river are conspiring against me. Am I a fish or what? Now shoo-shoo, get out of here. I need to dry my fur." He narrowed his amber eyes. "You aren't even allowed to be in here."

Disappointed, Dashkit turned back and strode wordlessly out of the den. Somehow, deep down, Larkkit felt a twinge of pity for Willowpaw. It certainly wasn't nice to be attacked by overconfident kits after an exhausting day that sapped one's strength.

Dashkit stopped in the middle of the camp after a while, so that Leafkit almost crashed into her. "Can't you be more careful?" he growled, but received no apology.

"I'm bored!" Dashkit complained in a high-pitched voice. "What am I supposed to now?"

Larkkit gritted her teeth. Will you be quiet! I can't stand it when you meow like that!

"We could sneak out of camp," Leafkit suggested, whose anger had seemingly subsided again.

Dashkit, however, only rolled her eyes. "Does any cat have an idea that's more original? Amberkit! What would you like to do?"

Until now, Amberkit had just sat wordlessly by, staring dreamingly into the distance. Now, however, she looked up in surprise. "No." The dark reddish-golden tabby she-cat always spoke softly and quickly that she kept slurring her words and that Larkkit could just barely hear her already cobwebby voice. "I also don't want to play with you."

What a spoilsport, Larkkit thought. "Listen," she said, trying in vain to sound calm, "if you want to rot in the nursery so badly, go ahead! We don't need you anyway."

Amberkit drew in her breath in disbelief and crouched down with her paws tucked under her body. Larkkit almost regretted her harsh words. But Amberkit didn't deserve it any other way. She had always been so reserved that Larkkit couldn't help being bothered by it. Sometimes she wished the golden tabby she-cat would be more like her. She didn't even want to join in their games and instead just sat on the side. This often made Larkkit feel as if Amberkit wasn't her sister at all.

Eventually, the kits decided to sit on a small hill from where they could watch the camp.

There was not much going on during sunhigh. Soon the patrols that had set out as soon as the first rays of sunlight touched the camp would return.

Larkkit lay down and stretched out her hind legs as she slowly sank into thought. Thinking of the patrols outside, she was seized by the longing to trot across the wide meadows that reached to the horizon. She imagined herself walking with a patrol through the camp tunnel and entering the MoonClan territory. Their path led them along shallow brooks with clear water and between shining, sweet-smelling fields of heather.

Larkkit shook her paws with excitement and sat up. "Who do you think we'll get as mentors?" she asked.

Leafkit watched with tense paws as a butterfly made its rounds over the camp. "Don't know," he muttered. "Don't care either. Why do you want to know?"

In reply, Larkkit flicked her black tail with the tiny white tip, which of course her littermate could not see, being focussed on his insect. "Boredom," she therefore announced tersely.

"Well, I don't really care too," Dashkit added. "As long as it's not Nightblossom or Caveshadow."

Larkkit was glad that they shared the same opinion. Every kit was more or less afraid of Nightblossom, the black MoonClan deputy and her rigour. It was better to not afford a misstep around her. To become deputy, a cat must have had an apprentice. Who could've had her as a mentor?

Caveshadow, on the other side, was more relaxed, but he was also listless and forgetful. With an attitude like that, he certainly couldn't help Larkkit become the best warrior and hunter. She definitely wanted to become a well-known cat, always loyal to MoonClan.

It was quiet for a while. Leafkit had given up looking after his butterfly and instead amused himself by pushing the blades of grass apart and searching the dry ground for ants, which he then crushed under his tiny paws. Each time one of his victims staggered out alive from under his pads, he growled and flicked his tail wildly before standing on his hind legs and striking again.

Shaking her head, Larkkit turned away. That wouldn't be her. After all, she was a MoonClan cat. MoonClan does not attack. MoonClan only defends. Proudly she remembered one of the very first things taught to her. Other Clans saw them as weak, but peace did not mean weakness.

We're the best Clan, Larkkit thought sleepily and licked her white chest fur. I never want to go away from here. This is my home. The most beautiful place in the world.

Beside her, Dashkit ran her tongue over her white, still downy chest fur, but it wouldn't get smooth. She showed her indignation with a silent snarl and sat up straight with her tail wrapped around her white forepaws.

Seeing her like this, Larkkit suppressed an amused purr. Dashkit was very proud of her shiny, silver fur. It was almost hilarious to see how she got annoyed when it was dirty.

Larkkit watched with half-closed eyes as a hunting patrol was just returning. The warming rays of the sun made her tired and she curled her mouth into a yawn. Maybe it's better that I'm not a warrior yet. They have to work so much to provide for the Clan.

Most of the cats in the patrol put their prey in the fresh-kill hole, while Heatherpaw brought a vole to the elders' den, and Puddlesun slipped into the nursery with a rabbit and a bird. Currently, Mottleheart was the only elder. Larkkit often wondered if the former medicine cat wasn't lonely. The idea of being alone filled her with a crushing fear.

She continued to observe her Clanmates. There was Nutfur, a dark brown tabby with a dark dorsal stripe, a dark tail and green eyes, and the pretty cream-coloured she-cat Carnationtail. Larkkit stared at her with her mouth wide open, for the warrior's unusually bright blue eyes never failed to beguile her. Carnationtail was a true beauty and a good hunter to boot, as could be seen from her impressive fresh-kill. Besides, she was the leader of the Hunters' Circle. I want to be like her. Maybe Hailstar will make her my mentor, then I can learn from the best hunter in the Clan to become the best hunter.

Carnationtail touched Nutfur's nose before the two retreated into the warriors' den, a large, flat gorse bush near the entrance.

At the same moment Finstrike and Motleycloud passed. They were the two medicine cats of the Clan, and really strange in Larkkit's opinion. But maybe that's how a cat became when all it had all day was the pungent smell of herbs in its nose and only had contact with cats who alternately complained about kicked-in thorns or a stomachache.

"This is so embarrassing," Finstrike muttered, staring after Nutfur's black tail tip with twitching whiskers.

Curious, Larkkit tilted her head. Why does he think that? He's the medicine cat of the Clan, and an adult cat. How can he find something embarrassing?

Next to Finstrike, Motleycloud purred in amusement. "You know, at such a time, I'm glad I don't have littermates. I could never look them in the eye again after they... you know what."

Finstrike ruffled his silver striped fur. "I certainly don't want to imagine it." Flicking his ears, he spotted Larkkit and her siblings, who had been listening to uncomprehendingly to the conversation.

An unpleasant shiver ran down Larkkit's spine as Finstrike stood motionless, fixating her with his eyes. They were almost as dark blue as the night sky, and just the slightest bit of darkness was enough to make them seem like black, endless holes. That was why Larkkit was afraid of him. She hated it when he came to the nursery for routine checkups and she had to look him in the eye. She wondered why it hadn't given her nightmares yet, and especially why the other cats pretended as if he was a normal cat.

Turning to Motleycloud, Finstrike meowed monotonously, "Don't turn around, but I think we're being watched."

His apprentice did exactly the opposite. As conspicuously as she could, the small tortoiseshell she-cat turned her head and stared at the kits with her pale amber eyes now too. "That changes everything. We should've known they were on to us," Motleycloud muttered. "Should we cancel the mission?"

"Absolutely not," Finstrike objected vigorously. "We'll just have to be more careful from now on. And if that doesn't work..." He unsheathed his claws and made a furrow in the ground, "we'll have to switch to other methods."

Motleycloud narrowed her eyes. "They should pray to StarClan that it won't come to that."

Then the two flicked their tails in the direction of the kits in an exaggeratedly cheerful manner and then disappeared one after the other into the tunnel leading out of the camp.

After a pause, during which the kits had exchanged confused glances, Larkkit was the first to speak up again. "You heard that too, didn't you? They're planning something evil!"

Dashkit nodded eagerly and pressed herself to the ground. "And because we overheard them, they want to get rid of us!" she howled so loudly that Windheart and Stripeface, who were lying on the Sunhigh Stones, turned to look at her.

"Don't be a mousebrain," Leafkit disagreed fiercely, who seemed rather embarrassed by his sisters' behaviour. "If they were planning something, I'm sure they wouldn't have said it in the middle of camp."

Larkkit wanted to believe him. Apart from his penchant for killing insects and performing twisted leaps from time to time, the ginger tabby tom was very sensible for his age every now and then. But what if he was wrong? She imagined how the otherwise peaceful camp would be ravaged and they would lose their home.

Determined, Larkkit stuck out her chest. "Don't worry! If they want to hurt MoonClan, they'll have to get past us first."

Dashkit, who must have taken new courage from the speech, stood beside her with the same posture. "Right!" she added in a shrill voice. "We won't let them destroy the Clan!"

As it seemed, she had exaggerated a little, for on the Sunhigh Stones, Windheart stood up and hissed angrily. "Don't be so annoying!" the black and white warrior demanded.

"Sorry!" Leafkit meowed over to him. "I'll keep her under control." He rolled his eyes.

Shaking his head, Windheart settled back down beside Stripeface and whispered something to him, though Larkkit was too far away to understand.

Leafkit climbed down from the hill and made his way through the gorse bushes to the nursery. "Come on," he meowed. "Let's go to Swallowfern."

Dashkit hurriedly ran after him. "Who said you could take the lead?" She poked him in the flank and passed him. Tail lashing, she ran ahead.

Leafkit growled indignantly. "You're not our leader."

"Maybe, but I'm the oldest of us," Dashkit retorted pointedly. "That means I have more life experience than you."

A few heartbeats older. Larkkit loved Dashkit, but at times like this is was difficult for her to decide whether to stick by her or not. Larkkit knew from Swallowfern that she was born last. Nevertheless, she felt no less disadvantaged because of it.

The four kits reached the nursery and slipped through a well-hidden hole. The den was always dimly lit and smelled of milk, moss and heather. Larkkit loved this place. Even though she couldn't wait to become an apprentice, she would miss the nursery.

On the farthest outer wall, next to a smooth, mossy rock with a flattened surface, Junipertail and her sons Stormkit and Firkit had set up their sleeping places.

Not far away, Sandblossom had her nest. The light reddish-brown spotted she-cat had no kits. Her last litter had been made warriors a while ago. However, Sandblossom had not returned to her duties after that, instead choosing to become a nursery helper to support the younger queens.

Larkkit's mother Swallowfern, a petite black she-cat with white paws, had settled in her nest in front of the branches in the middle of the den. Between her paws she had a piece of the rabbit that had been brought by Puddlesun a while ago.

For Larkkit Swallowfern was her role model. She aspired to be like her. The only thing that Larkkit didn't understand about her, was that Swallowfern was quite secretive when it came to her past. It was only known to the kits that her siblings were called Hillkit and Flowerpaw, but they died very young.

She even made a big secret of who the kits' father was. Larkkit believed that he unfortunately must be dead already. All the toms in the Clan who were possible candidates for being her mother's mate didn't make the impression that they would care enough about the kits. Sometimes the thought crossed her mind that he was a loner or a warrior from another Clan. Then her whole body would shudder and she would try to think of something else quickly.

"Are you done?" Swallowfern now asked gently, but still with a distinctly mocking tone. "You've been heard all the way here."

Larkkit curled up beside Swallowfern and leaned her head against her comfortingly warm flank. "Can I ask you something?"

"What do you want to know?"

Larkkit swallowed uneasily. She still had a bad feeling about Finstrike and Motleycloud. Even though the other cats didn't care, she just had to know what they were up to. "Do you think the medicine cats would destroy the Clan?"

Swallowfern tilted her head. "What makes you think that?"

She's always so calm. "Well, they had just been talking about it," Larkkit tried to justify herself as it slowly dawned on her that maybe it was all in fun.

Purring, Swallowfern stretched her head and licked Larkkit's back with her tongue. "Don't worry, they're the last ones who would harm us."

Larkkit looked up hopefully. "Are you really, really sure?"

Swallowfern nodded. "You know, we — that is, Finstrike, Nutfur, and my siblings and I — were in the nursery together for a while."

At these words, Larkkit twitched her ears in surprise. "Really? I didn't even know that," she chirped. It was weird for her to imagine that Swallowfern once was a kit as well, even though every cat used to be one. Even Hailstar, but no matter how hard Larkkit tried to think about it, the concept seemed hilarious to her.

Swallowfern went on. "Whitefoot, their mother, disappeared one day when Finstrike and Nutfur were only three moons old. We searched for her for many leaf-changes, but..." Her voice lowered and with dull eyes she laid her head on her paws. "I never met her, but everyone always told me how happy she had been in MoonClan. So why would she leave?"

Larkkit tried to imagine what it would be like if Swallowfern suddenly disappeared. The image of being alone in the large, dark nursery, meowing in vain for the black queen, settled in her mind. She needed Swallowfern.

Shivering and ruffling her pelt, the tortico she-kit pushed her white paws through the moss until the hind part of her body was sticking up in the air, and blinked at Swallowfern. "But you won't leave us, will you?" she asked. "I want to stay with you forever!" Even when I'm a warrior!, she added in her thoughts because she didn't want her siblings to make fun of her.

When Swallowfern didn't answer immediately, Larkkit began to worry. She turned to look at her littermates, but they were busy playing by themselves and seemed to be in their own world.

Finally, Swallowfern forced herself to purr uncertainly. "No need to worry, my little Larkkit. Of course I will."

A little displeasant with the