The next morning, Hope woke up to a muzzle poking at her head.

"Hope. Get up."

The voice was gruff and deep- definitely not Sun. It didn't sound like Hurl, either. Hope opened her eyes, squinting at the larger figure above her. It was a blue she-cat, who Hope almost immediately recognized as Rosemary, one of the advisors. She blinked, sitting up quickly. Why was one of the advisors waking her up? Was she in trouble? Hope started to panic.

Before she could open her maw to ask any questions, though, Rosemary spoke.

"I'll be taking over with your training for the day. Hurl is ill and currently resting."

Hope stood up, dumbfounded. Why is she taking over my training? Why not one of the other hunters?

Rosemary gestured to the den entrance. "Come on."

Hope instinctively glanced to the nest beside her own to wake Sun up, but her nest was empty. She sighed, not able to decide whether it was better when Sun woke her up or forgot about her in the mornings.

Padding after an impatient-looking Rosemary, Hope looked around camp. She spotted an orange-ish brown tom talking to someone quietly at the other side of camp. She squinted and was able to make out…

Hurl? Hope was really confused now. He looks fine, why isn't he training me today?

Rosemary followed my gaze and cursed under her breath. "Come on, Hope, pick up the pace. I'll teach you how to climb trees today if you hurry."

Hope quickly sped up, momentarily forgetting about Hurl. She winced as her soft, pink paw pads came into contact with a sharp stick, but tried to shake it off. She limped after her temporary mentee as fast as she could.

"It's just a matter of putting one paw above the other, Hope!" Rosemary said, exasperated. Their tree climbing training hadn't paid off too well, and Hope just couldn't get it right.

She tried stretching out her limbs and balancing on her hind legs, grasping the rough, ebony bark she was practicing on with her sharp claws. She reached up the other paw and grabbed the branch, but when she tried to raise her hind legs, she immediately forgot to pull herself up and dropped to the ground, unhooking her claws from the thick tree so she wouldn't snap or wrench them going down.

Rosemary sighed. "You'll never catch squirrels at this rate," she muttered.

Hope pouted. "I just need some more practise, that's all!" She protested. She would have said more, but she didn't dare lash out at an advisor.

Rosemary shook her head. "How will you ever be ready for.. ah, nevermind. How about I teach you some fighting moves instead?"

Hope's ears pricked immediately at the proposition. Her now wide green eyes shone, though she was confused. "I'm training to become a hunter, though!"

Rosemary nodded. "All hunters must know some basic moves to defend themselves, in case they ever run into any trouble." She looked around as if worried this 'trouble' would just appear out of nowhere— was the large blue-gray she-cat before Hope really that skittish?

Hope shrugged it off and nodded. "Okay." She couldn't help but be excited– she never wanted to fight another cat, nevermind harm one— that wasn't for her, but she still found herself looking forward to the training session. Maybe it was just some weird cat instincts.

Hope's mind wandered back to the strange dream she had had the night before. That starry cat.. it felt familiar. Not like she had seen it before, but Hope just had a feeling that she knew that cat. It was strange— what did those words mean? She had never had a dream like that before. It probably doesn't mean anything, she thought absently.

Rosemary stopped abruptly when they had reached a particularly open part of the forest, forcing Hope to skid to a halt. Rosemary turned around and backed up a few steps.

"What's your first instinct when a cat comes at you?" She asked Hope calmly.

Hope frowned. "Um.. run away, I guess," she said uncertainly.

Rosemary huffed and shook her head. "No. Try again."

This was a genuinely hard question to process— surely no cat would ever attack her, Hope was fairly sure of that. Plus, she was a hunter. She wasn't supposed to do anything but run away from a battle.

"Retaliate?" She guessed reluctantly.

Hope only just noticed that Rosemary's shimmering blue-gray pelt was ruffled. Some of the bristles on her back stuck up, yet she wore a calm expression on her face. No emotion showed in her eyes.

"Good," Rosemary muttered. "Yes, if you can, you should retaliate before running away. What's the point of fleeing if your opponent will just follow you?"

Hope blinked. Rosemary had a point, and it made her think hard.

"I will not go easy on you," Rosemary said, gazing down at the young blue and white she. "What would you do if, out of nowhere, a cat did this?"

Without warning, Rosemary leapt at Hope. Though her claws were sheathed, Hope wasn't paying attention through her own alarm. She instinctively did all she knew to do— protect her head and belly.

Rosemary landed above Hope, her legs splayed enough for Hope to gaze up into her cold eyes. She felt genuine fear, though she knew Rosemary meant no harm.

As Rosemary stepped away, Hope smoothed down her own bristled fur with her tongue. "How much do I have to learn today?" Hope asked nervously, swallowing hard.

Rosemary rose her muzzle to the sky.

"A lot."