Falconpaw ducked, feeling Falconclaw's paw brush his ear tips. He quickly moved away before Falconclaw could attack again. As he predicted, his mentor moved to attack. Falconpaw waited, then flattened himself to the ground and twisted on his back as Falconclaw jumped over him. He raked his claws across Falconclaw's belly and his mentor let out a sharp hiss. Falconpaw quickly got back on his paws and faced Falconclaw as he landed. Blood dripped from the wounds on his belly and he turned to face Falconpaw, a sharp glint in his dark eyes. "Not bad." He sneered. "You're certainly improving."

Falconpaw narrowed his eyes. "What's your excuse? Normally you're a lot harder to fight." He couldn't help but notice that something was off about his mentor as well as the forest they trained in. It seemed even duller than usual.

"Something appears to be wrong." Falconclaw closed his eyes. "But that's not your worry, Falconpaw." Falconpaw tilted his head. What could be wrong? "I think it's time to call training for now." Falconclaw turned away. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

Falconpaw blinked, something was clearly up. Why won't he tell me anything. Falconpaw lashed his tail, but he knew that Falconclaw wouldn't be happy if Falconpaw pressed on the issue. Whatever. Falconpaw thought, and let himself fade from the forest.

He opened his eyes, back in the apprentice den. It was early dawn and all the other apprentices were still asleep. He stood up and stretched, careful not to wake up any of the other apprentices. He was sure that Cherryleaf wouldn't be awake yet, but he might as well find some way to make himself busy.

He reached camp and found that Cinderflame had already sent out the dawn patrol and some cats were barely starting to wake up. His eyes went to the medicine cat den where Pebblestep and Honeypaw were already up and searching for herbs. They had told the Clan that the herbs were dying in the forest and they didn't have many, so all the other cats were supposed to be looking as well. Falconpaw didn't like picking herbs but he knew how important they were.

Falconpaw waited patiently around camp, unable to find anything to do until Cherryleaf woke up. Luckily, it wasn't long before that. He quickly approached his mentor after allowing her a moment to wake up. "What are we going today?"

Cherryleaf gave him a quizzical look. "Eager as always." She yawned. "But," She looked towards the direction of the drinking pool where Adderstrike and Yarrowtail were talking with their apprentices. "We're doing some special training with Larkpaw, Pikepaw and Sorrelpaw today."

Falconpaw perked up his head. "Special training?" Finally, something interesting. He had been itching for a break from normal hunting and battle training. "What kind of special training."

"Tree climbing practice." Falconpaw dropped his head, tree climbing wasn't what he was looking forward to.

"Isn't that how Snakewhisker broke his leg?" Falconpaw's eyes shifted to the medicine cat den.

"Then don't break your leg." Cherryleaf purred. "It's not that hard and you should learn it." Falconpaw stifled a groan and followed his mentor, dragging his paws as Cherryleaf approached Adderstrike and Yarrowtail. "Are we ready to go?" She questioned.

"I know I am!" Pikepaw jumped up, his green eyes shimmering. "I love climbing! It's one of my favorite things to do." Falconpaw couldn't agree, he also couldn't figure out where Pikepaw found his excitement for something like that. Cats should stay on the ground. He twitched his tail.

"Sorrelpaw and Flamepetal said they would meet us over by the training area." Adderstrike mewed, standing up. The group of cats left camp and made their way to the training area. When they reached it, Falconpaw could already see Sorrelpaw scaling the tree. She was on the lowest branch, but looked pretty proud.

Falconpaw looked up at her, anxiety twisting in his chest. He dug his claws into the ground beneath his paws. He really didn't want to climb higher than he could jump. I have to be brave. Falconpaw took a deep breath. I won't be beaten by a tree.

"Nice climbing, Sorrelpaw!" Larkpaw called up to her sister. Sorrelpaw purred in response and jumped up a branch higher.

"She looks like a squirrel." Falconpaw snorted. Cherryleaf jabbed him in the ribs with her paw. He winced and glared at her, but stayed silent. Sorrelpaw continued to climb, making it one more branch higher. She glanced down and beamed.

"You all look so tiny!" She exclaimed. "It's so cool being this high!" She climbed up yet another branch, filling Falconpaw with even more anxiety.

"Alright, Sorrelpaw!" Flamepetal called up to her apprentice, she had to shout so Sorrelpaw could hear her. "That's high enough! Come on down!"

Sorrelpaw twitched her tail in response and started the perilous climb down. She easily scaled down the side of the tree and jumped from the lowest branch landing on her paws gracefully. "Good work." Flamepetal purred. "Who's next?"

"I want to go!" Pikepaw volunteered, trotting up to the tree.

"You remember what I taught you about climbing?" Adderstrike questioned. Pikepaw nodded and dug his claws into the bark, hauling himself up the side of tree. Where does he find that enthusiasm? Falconpaw wondered. I should watch though, I can't let these younger apprentices show me up. He twitched his tail and watched Pikepaw climb.

The dark ginger tom climbed easily, reaching the first branch quickly. "The bark feels kind of weird." Pikepaw mewed.

"I noticed that too." Sorrelpaw replied. "It feels kind of soft."

"I think it's fine though." Pikepaw assured the rest of them and kept climbing. Falconpaw tensed slightly when he noticed chips of bark falling as he moved up. Are they sure that bark is okay?

Falconpaw kept silent and watched Pikepaw climb even more, craning his neck to see. Pikepaw reached the next branch and continued without hesitating. He's really confident. Falconpaw couldn't help but admire the young apprentice. Confidence is key in being a powerful warrior. Falconclaw's words rang in his ears.

PIkepaw made up to the branch that Sorrelpaw stopped on and looked down. "Should I go any higher?" He called, stepping forward on the branch. All cats on the ground tensed when the branch he was on trembled. Pikepaw froze.

"No, that's good!" Adderstrike called back. "Come down and be careful!" His voice was lined with concern.

"That branch is pretty strong." Yarrowtail said to the rest of the group. "It should hold his weight easily." Falconpaw felt soothed by Yarrowtail's words, but he still worried for his denmate as Pikepaw made his way down. Luckily, the branch didn't give out and he jumped down with easy.

Pikepaw landed on the ground and looked up pridefully. "That was easy!" He puffed out his chest. Falconpaw's ears twitched as he heard the splintering of wood. All heads looked up as the branch that shook under Pikepaw's weight broke away from the tree, plummeting towards the ground.

"Pikepaw, move!" Adderstrike jumped forward, the other cats tried to swarm near Pikepaw but they couldn't move fast enough. Pikepaw looked up and the branch hit him. Pikepaw's body collapsed and he hit the ground. Falconpaw's heart dropped to his paws and his blood turned to ice.

Pikepaw was motionless under the branch. It landed on directly on his neck, Falconpaw didn't want to believe what he knew had happened. He met Pikepaw's gaze, his eyes were open and unblinking. His green eyes were glazed over and he wasn't moving. Falconpaw stood frozen as Adderstrike and Yarrowtail heaved the branch off of Pikepaw.

Adderstrike leaned down near Pikepaw's nose, but they already knew the truth. Falconpaw looked at Sorrelpaw and Larkpaw, the two sisters were frozen solid, staring at their brother's dead body. Falconpaw's heart twisted, they couldn't stay here.

"Cherryleaf." Falconpaw broke the shocked silence, Cherryleaf turned her head, green eyes broken and sad. "I'm going to take Larkpaw and Sorrelpaw back to camp." Cherryleaf gave a shaky nod.

"I'll go with you." Cherryleaf turned away from Pikepaw's body. "We need to tell the Clan what happened." She approached the two she-cats, they still hadn't moved. "Come on, girls." Cherryleaf nudged the two of them. Larkpaw and Sorrelpaw didn't argue, they didn't say anything. They're in shock. They just watched their brother die. Falconpaw dropped his head. I can't imagine... He pictured Honeypaw in his mind, her body in the same position as Pikepaw's and he could feel his stomach flip. I can't think about that.

Cherryleaf, Falconpaw and the two sisters reached camp and they guided them to the medicine cat den. Honeypaw greeted them while Pebblestep overlooked some herbs. "What's going on?" She looked at the two shocked apprentices.

"We were practicing tree climbing and a branch fell on Pikepaw...he died." Cherryleaf dropped her head. From the side, Falconpaw could see Snakewhisker staring in shock. Pebblestep was on alert now.

"Come here, you two." The gray and white she-cat didn't waste any time. "Lay down, I'll help you." Once again, they didn't speak. Their eyes were empty and dark. Falconpaw couldn't stay and watch any longer, he cast a caring glance at Honeypaw before turning out.

Cherryleaf and Falconpaw stepped outside of the medicine cat den. "I'm going to go tell Squirreltail." She sighed and slowly padded towards the nursery. Falconpaw could only watch as Squirreltail looked at Cherryleaf, cheerfully. When Cherryleaf told her the news, Squirreltail's expression dropped. Her eyes went wide in pain and the ginger queen sprinted to the medicine cat den where her daughters were.

Falconpaw felt a feeling of hopelessness in his chest. Why did this have to happen? Pikepaw was just an apprentice and now he's dead. He didn't fall out of the tree, a perfectly strong branch broke and fell on him. Falconpaw's claws scraped the earth. Why did StarClan have to take Pikepaw away?