Maplepaw's lungs burned, claws tearing at them inside her as she leaped, twisted her body, narrowly avoiding a sharp rock jutting out from the side of the canyon and ran downwards. Now that she was inside the abyss itself, the depth was almost twice as what she saw the night before and she had a hunch that not only had Cinderstar brought her to a significantly more hazardous zone of the canyon, but also one that was much deeper. Maplepaw could not waste any time at all if she were to complete this assessment before the sun rose.

Her paws hit another ledge below her and she could still see the faint pawsteps of apprentices before her, but spent no time lingering on them as she soared to another ledge below her. Maplepaw winced at the contact of the rock and her paws. She'd jumped much further than she thought, her tiredness clearly affecting her skill to judge distances, which was, during other times, almost impeccable. Maplepaw paused for a heartbeat, feeling something awry as her senses were suddenly alert. From her time in the Starless Forest, activating her senses became almost a second nature, especially when you were outnumbered and when your opponents did not fight fairly at the same time. Sometimes, it happened automatically that she needed a few seconds to process why her senses had been awakened. Maplepaw looked around, gaze drifting upwards as she was glad by the amount of progress she made.

She heard a muffled crack beneath her paws and without thinking, almost as though some cat else had taken over her body, flew downwards, plummeting, falling, falling

             into

                                       the

                                                                                  deep

                                                                                                                             unknown...

CRACK! She winced, growling under her breath as she felt her impact with another slim ledge. This time though, it felt different, the pain more intense, roaring, flaring inside her right shoulder.

OWWWWW!! Maplepaw screeched within her mind. The pain was so fierce that she completely forgot about the assessment and curled up on the ledge, writhing around, tears forming within her eyes.

Maple, Maple, she faintly heard her mother's voice through the cloud of pain after some long minutes.

"Yes?" she growled, out loud.

Calm down, she heard her mother order her. Since Scorchflame mostly spoke in a soft, calming purr to Maplepaw, she immediately obliged due to the sudden change in tone.

Maplepaw forced herself to relax every muscle in her body, slowly, and breathed.

You've done well so far, but if you are to make it back in time, you'll need to follow my instructions to make up for the time you've lost, she heard her mother, more clearly this time.

Standing up, she forced another shuddery breath into her lungs. Her mother's advice, to a certain extent, had worked, and though her right foreleg still ached heavily, she could move around with a bit more ease.

See the ledge over there? Scorchflame inquired.

Maplepaw looked downwards.

No, to your right, I mean, Scorchflame corrected herself.

Maplepaw's gaze travelled right and saw a large, flat slab of stone.

Yes, Maplepaw responded.

Go there, then travel laterally, Scorchflame continued.

Maplepaw blinked, standing still, confused by her mother's instructions, but leaped to the large, smooth ledge, finding it much harder, now that her right foreleg was out of use.

You're going to have to trust me, my daughter, Scorchflame meowed in Maplepaw's head.

"I hope so," Maplepaw gritted her teeth as each leap sent a fresh wave of pain crashing into her right shoulder.

She continued running and jumping from one ledge to the other, right, as her mother had instructed, still wondering if Scorchflame was trying to lead her to her demise.

Stop! She heard her mother command her.

Maplepaw scrambled to a halt, a mere whisker's breadth from falling off the oddly shaped protrusion she stood on.

An earlier warning would've been nice, Maplepaw grumbled, still internally screaming from the pain in her shoulder.

I know, but it's been so long since I've actually come into the abyss, I just needed to clarify that this indeed was the place, Scorchflame meowed.

What place? Maplepaw asked.

Look down, my darling, do you see anything? Scorchflame purred.

Maplepaw glanced downwards, the moonlight providing a better light source, even though she could do just as well without it. Indeed, she could clearly see the tip of a stalagmite just a couple of fox lengths away from her. She could practically sense her mother's triumph.

Let's not take any more risks, shall we? Scorchflame spoke, after allowing Maplepaw a couple of seconds of respite.

Maplepaw nodded, slowly, much more cautiously than before, and made her way to the bottom of the abyss. When her paws brushed against the ground, she could feel that warm glow of accomplishment and happiness.

Now, I want you to pick up a specific piece of bone. It may seem contrary to my instructions of saving time, but I'm pretty sure it will be worth the effort. Go left, keep walking until I say so, I promise I'll give you an earlier heads up, Scorchflame whispered.

Maplepaw obliged, her own happiness preventing her from being mad, in any way at her mother, and walked along the abyss, the cold, harsh base biting her paw pads. As she travelled, she could see several skeletons scattered across the base, accumulated in some areas, especially around the larger stalagmites and shivered slightly, wondering whose bone Scorchflame would order her to pick up.

Alrighty, here we are, Scorchflame meowed.

Maplepaw came to a halt, looking around, seeing only two skeletons in the near distance. They were mostly intact, looking as though they had never been touched after the deaths of the owners of the skeletons.

Yes, those two skeletons there. See the one on the right? Pick up the skull. Does it have an absurd number of teeth? Scorchflame asked.

Maplepaw hesitantly went up and pawed at the right skeleton's skull. Indeed, it had a large number, an absurd number of teeth. So many that she couldn't even count them all. The empty eye sockets stared up at Maplepaw, almost in a maniacal glee.

Let's go. From this point, you can just go upwards. It's a short distance, compared with other places, but pretty hazardous, Scorchflame meowed, almost as though she was nudging Maplepaw's ear.

"It's alright," Maplepaw responded. The night had already been too long, and the only thing she wanted to do was to get out of this cursed place, back to her nest and sleep.

She hauled herself up a slab of rock and didn't pause before doing the same to the next ledge upwards. Carefully handling the skull in her mouth so that it wouldn't break, she risked a glance at the moon. It was about to set soon. She'd have no more time to waste if she was going to make it back to camp before sunrise with this possibly fractured leg of hers.

Her left leg ached as she heaved herself up another ledge, bearing the entire weight of her body, now that her right foreleg was out of the question. She gasped for air, her lungs feeling as though they had been set on fire.

Take it easy-, Scorchflame began.

I don't have the liberty to do so! I don't want to fail this assessment. If I do, I'm sure that they'll make it so that even with your help, I will not be able to pass if I tried again! Maplepaw hysterically screamed in her mind, the fatigue, pain and thoughts crowding her head finally caught up with her.

Look up, Maple. See the ledge to your left? It's far away, but once you've climbed up there, it'll be all smooth-sailing, I promise, Scorchflame continued after she finished her hysterical bout of wailing.

Maplepaw looked at the ledge her mother was talking about, trying to focus her vision on it. Indeed, the jump from the ledge she was standing on could possibly be fatal, if she failed, a particularly tall stalagmite foreshadowing her fate if she were to fail. It would be even more risky now due to the fact that she only had three functional legs left.

She leaped, her body without substance, sailing through the air for who knew how long and she felt the tips of her claws scraping against the rock. She dug them in, hoping for some grip as she dragged the rest of her body up onto the ledge.

Sure enough, she could see the last three ledges to freedom. Without hesitation, she leaped, again and again until she reached the final ledge.

Allowing herself to take one breath, she paused. A fraction of a second later, she felt the ground beneath her give away and used the remaining ledge to jump, paws finally coming into contact with the earth, out of the abyss.

You did it, my daughter! Scorchflame's ecstatic meow reverberated in her mind.

"Almost," Maplepaw growled, gritting her teeth as she started limping towards camp, picking up the pace when she saw a very faint smattering of yellow, barely discernible in the sky.

She came to a skidding halt as she half-fell, half-jumped into the camp, skull still intact in her mouth and placed it, like an offering in front of Cinderstar's paws.

The moment her eyes connected with the leader's, she saw Cinderstar's entire body go rigid.