“Get out—oh, it’s you.” Berrynose stopped himself just in time from leaping on Lionblaze as he slid through the gap, followed by Brackenfur and Ivypool. Sorreltail, who was circling the walls trying to keep an eye on all the possible ways in at once, halted. Her tail shot up in surprise and approval.

“Great! You got one!” She padded up to Brackenfur and touched noses with him. “Welcome to our den.”

Brackenfur purred and brushed his muzzle against her shoulder. “Well done!”

A few heartbeats later, the rest of Brackenfur’s patrol came panting up and pushed their way through the gap. All of them were missing tufts of fur, and Birchfall had a scratch across his nose. The bramble thicket had done the hard work for the winning patrol!

“Okay, you beat us.” Thornclaw flopped down on his side. “That was a clever move.”

“We ought to discuss what we’ve learned,” Brackenfur meowed, sitting down beside his mate. “What would we do differently if we did this exercise again?”

“Stay out of brambles,” Birchfall replied in a heartfelt tone, licking one paw and dabbing it on his nose.

“It was a good idea to split up,” Bumblestripe commented. “Why didn’t we think of that?”

“Yes, it was an excellent idea,” Brackenfur agreed, giving Lionblaze an approving nod. “You and Ivypool distracted us while Sorreltail and Berrynose captured the nest.”

“I had nothing to do with it,” Lionblaze corrected him. “Sorreltail thought of splitting up, and it was Ivypool’s idea to wait for you beside those brambles.”

The rest of the cats looked impressed, while Sorreltail and Ivypool both purred with satisfaction.

“We can learn from what we did wrong, too,” Brackenfur went on, brushing at a scrap of fern that was caught up in his pelt. “I should have kept two cats on watch at the end of that narrow path through the brambles.”

“Or found a different route,” Thornclaw added. “We were far too vulnerable on a narrow path like that. When Lionblaze and Ivypool attacked, we couldn’t get back in time to help you.”

“We didn’t get it all right, either,” Sorreltail meowed. “I’d forgotten just how many ways there are to get into this nest. When Berrynose and I got here, we practically ran our paws off trying to keep an eye on all the entrances at once. We’d have been in trouble if your patrol had arrived first,” she added to Brackenfur.

Brackenfur flicked her ear with this tail. “Then we’ve all learned something. Firestar will be pleased when I report to him in the morning.” Waving his tail for the rest to follow him, the warrior rose to his paws and headed out of the nest, with Sorreltail beside him.

Lionblaze found himself padding at the back of the patrol, matching his paw steps with Ivypool’s. “Good work!” he mewed, briefly touching her shoulder with his tail.

Ivypool gave her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. “Thanks.”

“You…you learned most of those skills in the Dark Forest, didn’t you?” Lionblaze ventured.