The cougar interrupted him. "No need for that official blah when I'm around. So you are the pup, huh? My name is Brad, by the way."

"Yes..."

"Silkey told me about you. Too bad that they're so nasty towards you. I wish I could do something, but I'm always on the job."

One-eye relaxed. Brad seemed to be a lot more like Silkey in his character, except that he was much more relaxed than her.

"Eh, wh...what is your job? You're not the second-in-command from what I've heard, despite Arrow being your mate," One-eye said, after which he put his paw in front of his mouth. Had he been rude?

Brad put his large front paws down in front of him and stretched. Then he got up again. "Nah, I'm not. I have various tasks. I often organize hunting groups or patrols, go on one of the latter once in a while, and I'm mostly trying to make sure this little rascal here doesn't get into trouble."

He bent forward and nuzzled Silkey's cheek.

One-eye smiled, now completely relaxed. He saw how the big catamount nuzzled his daughter. There was nothing threatening about him in the slightest.

"Dad, this is awkward!" Silkey whispered.

Brad stopped. "Awkward or not, you shouldn't be here at this time, young lady. It's night! Come."

"But we're cougars! We're partially nocturnal!"

"Don't 'but' me," the adult catamount said.

He grabbed Silkey's scruff, but she protested. One-eye chuckled. It was a ridiculous sight. Brad wasn't a very big cougar--maybe even smaller than Arrow, despite the females almost always being smaller than males; and Silkey was way too big to be carried like this.

"Daaad, I'm too old for this! I can walk by myself!" she exclaimed, annoyed.

Brad dropped her and unsheathed his claws for a moment, frowning. "Alright, then," he said. His voice suddenly seemed different. A bit more vicious, almost like Arrow. One-eye backed away. Has he been faking all along?

But then, within seconds, he retracted his claws, jumped up, and ran away in the direction of the Main Base, screaming, "Whoever reaches the clearing last is a flea!" at the top of his lungs whilst laughing happily.

One-eye looked at Silkey, confused. "Is he...?" He didn't quite know what word to use.

Silkey laughed. "Crazy? Yes, totally. Come on, I don't want to be a flea!" She bolted after her dad.

"Hey, wait for me!" One-eye shouted as he ran after them, laughing out loud for the first time since he'd been brought into the Clan.

***

All Lone One assassin trainees were sitting in a row in a small clearing. One-eye, who had his entire winter coat now, was somewhere in the middle. Arrow was walking to and fro in front of them in the deep snow.

She kept on talking. "It's been a few months since you first started training. Even though you aren't at the end of your training yet, and there is much more to come, Jera has arranged this earlier assessment so you can show me your progress. There'll constantly be two random wolves who have to fight against each other to prove their skills. There's a big chance that your opponent will be a wolf you haven't trained with, so you shouldn't be able to estimate each other's abilities. You are free to use any move on one another, but don't cheat by hitting someone with a branch or something. And don't draw blood on purpose."

One-eye felt his hackles rise. He was trembling with excitement to astonish Arrow with the moves he'd learned in training and from Silkey. He hadn't used the latter moves in training yet, so he could keep them just for this assessment. Though he wasn't sure he was going to pass, he did feel an excited confidence to finally show the others what Silkey had been teaching him in his free time all those months.

Arrow stopped walking and settled herself in the cold snow. "The first due to fight one another will be Diggs and...Asta."

One-eye saw Diggs get up. On the very left side of the row of pups, a much smaller she-wolf got up.

The two started to circle around. Diggs had his lips curled back in a growl. Asta just kept silent, staring with big eyes.

She won't make it, One-eye predicted.

He watched as, in a short moment, the two attacked one another at the same time. They started to roll through the snow, trying to bite one another anywhere it'd hurt.

Diggs had Asta pinned to the ground for a moment, but she used her small size to her advantage and slithered away under him. She got up and tried to knock him to the ground rapidly, but Diggs managed to keep his balance, which surprised the she-wolf. She was about to attack again, but the pale wolf-dog was faster and jumped on top of her, making her fall. He released her for a moment and then grabbed her throat between his jaws, not biting further.

Arrow didn't show emotion, but she did say: "Very good Diggs; this would have been a kill if she were to be a Lone One. You passed. Asta will need some extra training."

Diggs released the she-wolf and walked back to his place in the line of trainees, high-fouring Maud in the process. "Hey, bet you can't beat that," One-eye heard him whisper.

"We'll see," she said, a competitive smile on her face.

Arrow spoke up again. "Next, Nadjah and Rex."

Two pups got up. One-eye recognized Rex, a brownish wolf, who walked up to the spot where Diggs and Asta had fought. He hadn't heard of Nadjah before, but he did see a black she-wolf with a dash of white on her chest follow Rex. That must be her.

The two fought, but Nadjah was much faster than Rex, who accidentally stumbled. She was close to breaking one of his legs within seconds, snarling loudly.

"Get her off of me!" Rex yelped.

Nadjah, however, ignored him and continued biting into his leg, drawing blood.

Arrow grabbed the she-wolf by her scruff. "Wlet gwo," she ordered.

The she-wolf obeyed, looking reluctant, and released Rex's leg.

"Good," Arrow said. "Good indeed. But, Nadjah, you did ignore my rule not to draw blood. Keep that in mind. Rex, you would have won if you hadn't stumbled."

The pups returned to their places, and One-eye shifted uncomfortably. I hate waiting. When will I get to show my move!

Arrow eyed the line of pups again. She pointed at Maud. "You. And Rust."

Maud and Rust moved over and fought. Maud lost badly, however, and One-eye enjoyed her humiliation.

"Get off me, you punk!" she screamed as the wolf just sat on her. He didn't move.

Arrow looked emotionless as usual. "You tried, Maud. You tried. Don't forget to use your feet to knock your opponent over! Rust, that was...okay, but clumsy."

The two wolves went back to their places.

Come on...Come on... One-eye kept shifting his front legs.

"Will you stop fussing for a moment?" Asta beside him asked. One-eye ignored her.

Arrow looked at the pups again and pointed at one of them in the crowd. "Dawn," she said.

One-eye watched as the brown she-wolf got up and walked to the middle of the clearing, muttering, "Here goes nothing..."

"And One-eye!" Arrow said, putting her paw on the ground again.

One-eye flinched for a moment as he heard his name. Despite being somewhat confident and wanting to prove himself, hearing Arrow's cold voice pronounce the cruel name she'd given him still hurt.

He walked to the clearing until he stood opposite of Dawn, looking her in her yellow eyes. She seemed uncertain.

Then, he realized how fast he was breathing, and that his heart was pounding rapidly in his chest. I'm nervous, too!

He ignored his thoughts. It was now or never. He had to prove himself.

He bared his teeth and jumped, trying to block out Arrow's judging green eyes. He saw how Dawn lunged for him, but it was a low and weak jump.

The two pups almost crashed in mid-air, but One-eye's jump had been stronger. He heard Dawn land beside him as he headed towards a tree.

Come on! Silkey taught you this! Don't hit it, make use of your claws, and be as light and as nimble as you can!

With a growl he landed on the trunk, front paws first, hind paws last, and jumped again, this time with even more force than before, lunging straight for Dawn.

She gasped and almost fell over as he landed right beside her. One-eye took advantage of her instability and shoved his muzzle under her belly, throwing her a few meters away with a firm head-butt.

One-eye panted. It worked... It worked!

He looked at Arrow. That expression on her face...is that...shock? She did seem surprised for a second.

"That was..." Her voice was full of awe, but she quickly recovered her usual frown. "...alright, One-eye. Despite your...eh...unusual features. Oh, and, nice try, Dawn."

One-eye was euphoric, though he didn't show it openly. I did it! I surprised Arrow! She didn't see it coming! I did it! Thank you!

He felt even happier when he heard Diggs mutter in awe, "What just happened?"

Then he looked at Dawn. She was lying a few meters away from him in the snow, covered in scratches where he had hit her. Did I kill her?

He approached her and sighed in relief when she lifted her head. "Sorry if I hurt you," he said meekly.

"It's okay," Dawn said with her thick accent.

She shook her head in a daze and moved away. He sat back down between the other pups while Arrow announced the next few candidates, but when everyone was focused on the new fighters, he slowly backed away into the forest.