"And remember not to tell the other Clans any secrets that they can use against us," Sootfeather drilled into them. Then her green gaze softened. "Be sure to get to know as many cats as you can. One day you might face each other in battle, and it will be useful if you already know them."

After the light grey tabby she-cat had disappeared into the crowd, Larkpaw suddenly felt quite cramped. Now she was at her first Gathering, and she never expected it to be so impressive.

They were on Willow Island, a small island in the middle of the river, in the centre of which stood the eponymous willow and in front of that, a large rock. The shore of the island was overgrown with ferns and reeds.

"Well then," Larkpaw mumbled. "Which Clan do we want to go to first? LaurelClan or SnowClan?"

"Um, I actually wanted to look for Swallowfern," Amberpaw replied shyly. "I think I can smell her scent."

Larkpaw checked the air intently, but the numerous scents of the different cats were so intense that she couldn't pick out a single one. Amberpaw really does have an exceptionally good sense of smell, if she can tell that. "Alright, but I'm not particularly keen on seeing any cat from MoonClan again. I'll see you when the Gathering starts."

With a wave of her tail in farewell, Amberpaw trotted off. Larkpaw turned slowly in a circle. Where should I go first?

The deputies of the Clans were standing at the roots of the willow: Honeyclaw from RoseClan, Nightblossom from MoonClan and Redleaf from LaurelClan. Larkpaw felt a small pang of pride when she remembered the name of the LaurelClan tom. The only question is what the deputy of SnowClan is called, Larkpaw pondered as she memorised the shapes of the orange patches on the white fur.

Taking a deep breath, Larkpaw took a step, and then another. The Gathering was something special, so she couldn't waste an opportunity to learn something new.

Soon after, she spotted two cats who looked just as lost as she did. Larkpaw sniffed inconspicuously. They couldn't be from MoonClan anyway, because she knew everyone from there and she didn't think Hailstar would take in strange cats so easily. They didn't belong to SnowClan either, though, firstly because they were too small and too short-haired, and secondly because they didn't have the scent that Larkpaw knew from her border patrols. So they must be from LaurelClan.

"Hello!" Larkpaw purred and jumped up to the two cats. "My name is Larkpaw and I'm from RoseClan. And today is my first time at a Gathering!" Her voice unintentionally rose a little with the last words.

The black LaurelClan she-cat with the white paws and the white chest curled her tail upwards in delight. "Terrific! I'm Meadowpaw and this..." She nudged the light grey-blue tabby tom beside her with her muzzle, "...is Skypaw, my brother. We're from LaurelClan."

"I have a sister," Larkpaw explained eagerly. This isn't a secret, is it? Amused, she thought back to what Sootfeather had just said. She didn't even know the secrets of RoseClan - if there were any at all. "Her name is Amberpaw, but she's somewhere else right now." Larkpaw avoided saying where exactly she was, fearing she would have to give a reason.

"Too bad." Meadowpaw blinked. "I would have liked to meet her."

"Be glad," Larkpaw joked. "She can be a bit of a pawful sometimes."

Skypaw tilted his head. "That doesn't bother Meadowpaw. She's just far too social!"

Meadowpaw hissed, but it didn't really sound aggressive.

"How long have you been training?" Larkpaw enquired.

"Only since the last moon," Skypaw replied.

Then they should know more about the high-ranking cats of the other Clans. "Tell me, do you actually know who the deputy of SnowClan is?"

Meadowpaw narrowed her eyes. "Of SnowClan?" she repeated in surprise.

She must be wondering why I didn't ask about the deputy of LaurelClan.

"That's Leapfoot, the one with the long, orange and white fur," Meadowpaw explained. "The black she-cat is Nightblossom from MoonClan and the other orange and white tom with the tan is Redleaf from our Clan." The LaurelClan apprentice looked at Larkpaw scrutinisingly with her dark green eyes. "You don't know that either, do you? It's your first Gathering."

Larkpaw flinched barely noticeably. "Of course not," she lied hastily, even though she didn't feel comfortable at all. Only one wrong word could reveal her past in MoonClan and she didn't want any cat to know about this. To distract herself, she blurted out the next best question she could think of. "Are you the only apprentices in your Clan or are there others?"

"Yes, yes!" Meadowpaw confirmed and sighed theatrically. "We're both the youngest. Then come Splashpaw and Petalpaw, who are one moon older than us but behave as if they were actually ten moons older. Well, and the oldest apprentices are Stempaw, Brackenpaw and Rootpaw. Their assessment is next moon. Finally!"

Larkpaw's head rumbled. So many new names! She quickly glanced over her shoulder and wondered when the Gathering would start. She had the feeling that they had been standing around here forever.

Meadowpaw must have noticed her impatience, because she meowed, "I have the feeling that it won't take much longer. And that's why you have to get to know a few cats from SnowClan now. You haven't yet, have you?"

Shaking her head, Larkpaw replied in the negative.

"Terrific!" Meadowpaw pranced around excitedly. "Then let's go!"

Larkpaw followed the LaurelClan cats through the crowd. Every now and then she caught a glimpse of a RoseClan or MoonClan cat, but pretended she hadn't seen them.

Are Dashkit and Leafkit here? Although they should already have their paw-names. Suddenly Larkpaw had the urge to look for her foster siblings.

"There you are!" Meadowpaw's face appeared in front of her. "We thought we'd lost you. Look, here are some SnowClan apprentices who have just been appointed as well."

The SnowClan apprentices she spoke of were the complete opposite of the friendly and open LaurelClan cats. There were four of them - three toms and one she-cat, who stared at them blatantly. They were all as stocky as adults for their age. Larkpaw swallowed and planted her paws into the ground. I might have to fight these cats one day.

The light brown and white spotted fur of the only she-cat in the SnowClan group almost glowed in the light of the full moon as she stared down at the smaller apprentices with narrowed amber eyes. "What do you flea-infested Clan strangers want here?" she growled in a venomous voice.

For a heartbeat, Larkpaw was surprised that she spoke, as she had recently learnt that SnowClan cats wouldn't speak. But apparently that didn't apply to cats from outside the Clan.

"Remember the truce," Meadowpaw reminded her boldly. "It won't do you any good if you behave like this at your first gathering."

Next to her, Skypaw shifted nervously from one paw to the other and exchanged an uncertain glance with Larkpaw. "It's not good to provoke her," he whispered.

Meadowpaw, however, was sure of herself. "This here is Larkpaw from RoseClan. She was also only appointed this moon."

The black and white she-cat nudged her forwards somewhat roughly. Larkpaw almost collided with the SnowClan apprentice and quickly backed away. She wanted to put a whole forest of distance between herself and this cat.

"RoseClan then, huh?" There was dripping mockery in the SnowClan apprentice's voice. "Too bad you're one of those monsters. You're almost too delicate for that."

Too delicate? What is that supposed to mean? Larkpaw felt the heat of anger rising inside her.

"Now listen!" Meadowpaw stepped in for her. "What kind of lies are you telling?"

Before she could continue yowling, a brown tabby she-cat appeared behind her. "The gathering is starting," she meowed. "Meadowpaw, you don't argue at a Gathering. I expected better from you, especially after last time."

Meadowpaw seemed to cave in under the warrior's stern gaze. "Yes, Larchleaf," she mumbled meekly.

After a half-hearted farewell, Larkpaw set off in search of her Clan. The SnowClan apprentice's words echoed in her head. Were the other clans really holding on to the past so tightly? I know that RoseClan doesn't deserve any of those horrible descriptions.

As she pushed her way through the cats, careful not to trip over any tails, she noticed something else: No one had made a comment about her eye colour. But Larkpaw didn't have time to think about it any further. The leaders already climbed the lowest branch of the willow.

Larkpaw settled down next to Amberpaw. She would have liked to ask her how her reunion with the MoonClan cats had gone, but out of respect she didn't dare to make a sound.

Eveningstar, the oldest leader, was the first to speak. In the shade of the tree, her dark grey-blue pelt looked black. "Hedgetail recently moved into the nursery. The prey is doing well."

Pretty short!, Larkpaw thought, while Eveningstar stepped back and let Hailstar take the floor. "At the beginning of this moon, Dashpaw and Leafpaw were made apprentices."

Larkpaw stretched her head. Somewhere further to the right, two cats trotted forwards and jumped onto the rock. One of them was a graceful, silver tabby she-cat with white paws and chest fur, whose eyes glowed an unmistakable intense blue even in the darkness. The other was a petite tom with reddish-brown tabby fur, which was exceptionally smooth and well-groomed.

On the rock, Dashpaw and Leafpaw looked different from how Larkpaw remembered them. Of course, they had grown older, but there was also something mature about their appearance, something that Larkpaw didn't recognise in them at all.

"They're being trained by Puddlesun and Nutfur respectively," Hailstar continued, gesturing for Dashpaw and Leafpaw to return to their Clan.

The next cat to stand up was the leader of SnowClan, Specklestar, as Larkpaw had recently learnt. "I have good news and bad news," the orange and white she-cat meowed. Her tail twitched slowly. "Brindlepaw, Goldenpaw, Greypaw and Cedarpaw have recently started training and are being mentored by Darkwhisker, Robinpelt, Hoarfrostshine and Lichenheart."

Larkpaw watched discontentedly as the four SnowClan apprentices from earlier climbed the rock. She had no idea who was who, but at the moment she didn't care. The she-cat was probably Brindlepaw. The three toms - orange, grey-brown and dark brown tabby - stood a little distance away from Brindlepaw, as she could clearly see.

Are they from the same litter?, Larkpaw wondered. It was unusual for a queen to have four kits. Larkpaw hadn't heard of any other queen who had given birth to such a large litter.

Her mood darkened, as if rain clouds were gathering over a sunny flower meadow. Back then, I thought I was part of a litter of four kits. Dashpaw, Leafpaw, Amberpaw and me.

"Ashlake was killed!"

Suddenly, Specklestar's voice rang out so loudly across the island that Larkpaw was startled and held her breath. Specklestar's tail whipped faster now and bumped against the trunk of the willow. Her claws had already made furrows in the branch she was standing on, and she stared down at the cats with bared teeth. The other three leaders had kept their distance from the furious she-cat. The deputies and medicine cats at the roots of the willow had also moved away a little.

"It's not too late to confess what you've done," Specklestar continued. Every word seemed to be agonising for her. "Ashlake is dead! And she didn't even die an honourable death. She was struck down without any sign of a fight."

Sorrowful murmurs spread through the cats. Larkpaw gazed up at the sky, where the Silverpelt sparkled unhindered and the moon hung large and round above them. There were no clouds in sight, although the atmosphere was so tense that her claws began to prickle.

Larkpaw turned to Dawnbreeze, who was sitting diagonally behind her. "Who was Ashlake?"

"An elder," Dawnbreeze explained in a whisper, "and the former deputy, cat-in-command of the Hunters' Circle and mother of the SnowClan medicine cat Hollytail."

Wow! That must have been a respected cat! "But if she was an elder, why was she outside the camp?"

"I don't know," Dawnbreeze sighed. "Maybe she just wanted to see the territory again."

Larkpaw felt queasy. Something about the incident seemed eerily familiar to her.

After a few heartbeats of icy silence, Redleaf was the first to speak again. "Are you accusing the cats of the other Clans of killing her?"

Startled, Larkpaw opened her mouth. Was it really good to ask such a direct question? But Redleaf was obviously serious. "Why would any cat target Ashlake of all cats?"

Now Hailstar joined in. "Specklestar, I don't think Ashlake was killed by a Clan cat." The grey spotted tom tilted his head. "Didn't you find any signs of the cat responsible?"

"No."

It was this single word that finally triggered panic in Larkpaw. Oh no. Oh no. Not again. Will we never find peace again? She shivered. It was like she lived in a nightmare, not being able to wake up.

"Her eyes were scratched out and then she was left to her fate!" Specklestar hissed, deep pain in her voice. "We only found her again when the maggots had already begun to destroy her body."

All around Larkpaw, pelts ruffled and claws were unsheathed. Instinctively, the tortico she-cat moved closer to Amberpaw. "What if the same cat - or whatever it is - has also attacked Fernpool, Heatherleap and Mapleblossom?"

Amberpaw trembled. "Who would be so cruel?"

I'd like to know that too. Four victims, all of them she-cats, who were alone with the exception of Heatherleap and Mapleblossom. What they all had in common, except for Mapleblossom, was the fact that they had lost at least one eye. Heatherleap only lived on for a few days until she decided to end her life on her own. Fernpool has survived so far and it looks as if she will soon be out of the woods. Ashlake didn't even have a chance to survive. And Mapleblossom was so extremely traumatised by the incident that she hardly spoke a word afterwards.

In the meantime, Specklestar had calmed down a little, but her posture was still tense. "Someone here has Ashlake on their conscience, and that someone won't get away with it."

Palestar stepped forward. "There's no point in accusing each other," she meowed, as if she were trying to calm an angry kit. "And I think there's something you - that all the cats here need to hear."

Larkpaw turned her ears forwards eagerly. Surely Palestar would tell them about Fernpool now.

"One of my warriors, Fernpool, was also attacked in the same way and lost one of her eyes. At the moment she is still being treated by Fruittail."

Suddenly, Specklestar looked dejected. "Are we seriously supposed to be afraid of being sneakily attacked in our own territories?"

"Fear doesn't help at all," Palestar replied. "But it can't go on like this forever. Sooner or later, we'll find the cat responsible and make them pay."

"If it's not too late for that," Larkpaw muttered.

Eveningstar looked sympathetically between her fellow leaders. "My condolences," the old she-cat meowed. "I'll tell my warriors to keep an eye out for suspects so they can tell you directly if necessary."

Palestar bowed her head to her. "I have decided with my Clan that from now on all cats may only leave the camp in larger groups. I'm afraid I don't know how that will help, but together it might be much easier to spot a potential attacker."

"Thank you," Specklestar replied curtly. "I'll introduce this method to SnowClan as well. No cat should ever suffer such a death again."

Howls of approval came from the crowd of cats. Larkpaw wished she could share their optimism. Her fur prickled. Some feeling told her that Ashlake wouldn't be the last victim.

When silence returned, Palestar continued, "Before I end the Gathering, I have one more announcement to make. RoseClan has two new apprentices, Amberpaw and Larkpaw. "

That's us! Larkpaw jumped up in surprise. She had almost forgotten that they still had to be introduced to the other Clans. "Come on!" She nudged Amberpaw with her muzzle, and together they ran to the rock. With every step, Larkpaw felt as if the ground was swaying, so excited was she.

When they arrived at the rock, Larkpaw saw Finstrike and Motleycloud twitching their ears but saying nothing. I haven't seen them for ages. I wonder if they're still as weird as back then. Okay, now get up on the rock and don't embarrass yourself and fall off somehow or do something else inelegant.

Larkpaw was lucky. There were enough cracks and ledges in the rock for her to pull herself up.

From up here she could see the whole island. Larkpaw searched for Swallowfern. Was she proud of her and Amberpaw?

No, I mustn't think like that. My loyalty belongs to RoseClan. Only to RoseClan. I am an apprentice of this Clan and nothing will change my mind.

Suddenly the wind picked up and caused Larkpaw to squint her eyes.

But why... does it hurt so much?