At first, Nightpaw thought that he was flying. Until he crashed into unpleasant spiky branches.

Pain seared in into his flank as the first branch hooked onto his pelt. Nightpaw felt the wind spiking his eyes, making his eyes wet. He shut his eyes as he got flung into more branches.

The thrush hung limp in his jaw. It was plump with flesh, but Nightpaw did not let himself dig his teeth in the fresh-kill.

Nightpaw curled himself in and tucked his tail. He didn't want any of his body parts sticking out, catching on to the branches.

Stay clam. The black-colored apprentice told himself. You're not going to die. You have a fat thrush to feed your clan.

Nightpaw doubted himself, but he'll try his best to stay alive. Flashes of pain continued to flare through his pelt, ripping it into pieces. Nightpaw continued to fall.

Nightpaw dared to sneak a peek at his surroundings. When am I going to crash on to the ground? This fall is taking so long! He knew that it meant that his eyes may get poked and blinded, but he's going to die anyways, right?

Nightpaw opened his eyes to find that he is only a fox-length away from the ground.

Using his instincts, he rolled the moment his paws touched the snowy earth, softening the fall. Nightpaw continued to roll, feeling his battered pelt rub against the flattened snow.

Good thing there was snow. Nightpaw thought. The plushy snow made the fall softer. But it also made Nightpaw's wounds and patchy fur damp and wet.

Nightpaw barely had the energy to shake the water off his pelt. "Nightpaw!" Stormflight's worried meow echoed through the forest."Nightpaw!"

Nightpaw's mentor ran up to him. He shook Nightpaw, who was lying on the ground. "Nightpaw! Are you... D-Dead?" Stormflight could barely make out the words.

"I'm fine." Nightpaw groaned tiredly. He let go of the thrush, letting it drop onto the cold snow. His shifted a bit, but then stopped as he felt pain flaring up every hair of his fur. If I have any left.

"How..." Stormflight stared at Nightpaw for a moment, then turned his head and yowled. , "Cedarfoot! Bushpaw! Nightpaw's injured!"

The two tom's pelts stood out against the bright, white, snow. They hurried over to Nightpaw.

"We'll bring you back to camp." Nightpaw's mentor lifted one side of the black apprentice's flank. Cedarfoot slid up to the other side. The two warriors supported Nightpaw.

"Are you going to make it?" Stormflight asked.

Nightpaw nodded. He forced himself to stagger a step forward. Soon Nightpaw was limping towards camp, with two warriors supporting Nightpaw on both sides and Bushpaw carrying his fresh-kill.

Snow fell from the sky, making it harder to travel. Snowflakes landed on the cat's fur, making it white.

"Nightpaw." Stormflight whispered. "I'm glad that I have you as an apprentice." He purred a little. "You are the most impossibly skilled cat in the world.

"When you started training, you were already a talented hunter. You could track scents better than any apprentice. You could master every fighting technique quickly without much experience. And then you summoned fire. Now you somehow climbed to the top of a tall tree."

"Why are you telling me this?" Nightpaw growled. "Is it because you think that I would die?"

"No." His mentor meowed. "I just found you a bit... unusual."

Nightpaw didn't know if he should take that as an insult. Unusual. Nightpaw thought. In a good way, or a bad way?

~

Nightpaw woke up in the elder's den. His pelt was covered with cobwebs, and he could feel that the wounds were treated. 

Stripepelt sat in the corner, looking bored without Rubblespots. Nightpaw didn't know why he was laying in the elder's den, but he couldn't move without feeling intense pain. 

Am I injured forever? Is that why I'm stuck in here? Nightpaw thought in dismay. Nightpaw sobbed out loud, not caring if Stripepelt could hear him.

"I don't want to be injured forever..," He wailed. "I didn't even do my assignment. I'll never become a warrior." 

Nightpaw continued sobbing. "I'll just be here, a waste to the clan." He buried his head into the piece of moss he laying on, feeling depressed.

"Clam down." A soft voice meowed near the entrance. Blossompaw! Nightpaw's head shot up. But the apprentice had hazel eyes, not pinkish red eyes. Nightpaw's spirit dropped. It was only Skypaw.

"You're just here because Dappleleaf didn't want you near the cats with greencough." The small apprentice meowed. "You'll heal soon!" Skypaw nudged a piece of the thrush Nightpaw caught towards him.

Nightpaw chewed the his catch, knowing that a piece was all he could have as the fresh-kill pile is empty.

Skypaw shifted closer to Nightpaw, shyly avoiding his gaze. "This just reminded me the times where we shared prey, back when I was still a kit."

Nightpaw nodded, barely listening. He felt like something was missing, something he forgot.

"Nightpaw?" Skypaw nudged the older apprentice.

Nightpaw nodded, sidetracked.

"Are you listening?" Skypaw asked.

Stop that! Nightpaw thought, getting annoyed. I'm trying to remember something! He felt that it was important and urgent.

Hurt betrayed in Skypaw's eyes, which Nightpaw was too distracted to notice. Skypaw got onto her paws.

Oh. Nightpaw finally noticed as Skypaw miserably paddled away. She'll cheer herself back up soon, Nightpaw thought, she's barely more than a kit.

Skypaw's pelt disappeared through the opening of the den. But Nightpaw could smell another cat coming in.

Dappleleaf paddled into the elder's den, a few herbs in her mouth. She stood next to Nightpaw's shredded body and started unwrapping the cobwebs.

Nightpaw dipped his head to the medicine cat, showing his respect. "Hi."

"Keep still as I change your wound's dressings." Dappleleaf commanded. Nightpaw kept himself as still as possible. 

"Are my wounds going to heal?" Nightpaw asked, worry in his mew.

"Yes." Dappleleaf replied as she worked. "It'll take quite a few moons though. You're going to miss a large section of training."

Nightpaw's face fell. "Then wouldn't my warrior ceremony be delayed?"

The medicine cat hesitated with her reply, but she continued treating her patient without a pause. "Well, yes. Stormflight had wanted you to do your assessment next moon, but apparently you would do your assessment at a normal age."

"Oh." At least I'll become a warrior with Sunpaw... Nightpaw thought. "Wait, why am I supposed to do my assessment early?"

Dappleleaf stared at him. "Haven't you figured it out already?" Her tone was hinted with a bit of impatience.

"Stormflight thinks that I'm ready?!"

"Well, of course. Think about your skills." Nightpaw thought for a moment, then remembered Stormflight's words.

"When you started training, you were already a talented hunter. You could track scents better than any apprentice. You could master every fighting technique quickly without much experience. "

Nightpaw's eyes widened. How could he not notice that he was special?

Dappleleaf sighed at his expression. "Other than your unrealistic hunting and fighting skills, Stormflight also told me how you summoned flames onto your paws. Also, I saw how you made a vole move without touching it a few sunrises ago."

Nightpaw got confused at Dappleleaf's last sentence. Then he remembered. Branchpaw accusing him of eating a vole. You could have stopped him from accusing me! Nightpaw thought furiously at the medicine cat.

"So, could you please explain how you fell from the sky without dying, in detail?"

"I didn't fall out of the sky." Nightpaw muttered, but Dappleleaf didn't seemed to hear him. "It began when I was out on a hunting patrol..."

Nightpaw explained the situation, about how fire suddenly surrounded him, how he found himself clinging onto the very top of a tree. "I didn't climb the tree." Nightpaw meowed truthfully. "I didn't do anything. I just blinked."

Dappleleaf seemed to believe him. The medicine cat nodded. "Continue."

Nightpaw told the rest of the story. After his finished, he sighed. I feel like I'm a elder in the elder's den, telling stories. 

I don't want to die like this, he realized. I want to bravely die in battle, not sulking around a den before I die.

"It was unwise of you to catch the thrush, risking your life." Or die hunting for my clan. Nightpaw thought. I have to do something significant and important before I die.

Dappleleaf spoke. "But I believe that you have special powers."

Nightpaw stared at her. "Like the legendary power of three?"

"Except," Dappeleaf mewed, "That me nor Volepaw received anything from StarClan."

"You mean, you have trouble contacting StarClan?" Why would you share that information to me? I'm just an apprentice!

"No. StarClan still send us messages, but none were about you." The medicine cat continued. "Not even the smallest signs, warning me that there would be an apprentice with special powers."

Nightpaw didn't respond, waiting for Dappleleaf to continue.

Dappleleaf had finished dealing with Nightpaw's injuries. She started paddling around Nightpaw, making him nervous. "So tell me, have you been trained by any cats in your dreams?"

Nightpaw looked confused. "No." Why did you ask?

"Are you sure?" The fur on the medicine cat's pelt rose.

"I'm sure that I haven't been trained by any other cat but Stormflight."

Dappleleaf relaxed. "I believe that you are telling the truth."

Why wouldn't I? Nightpaw wanted to ask.

"We talked enough for the day." Dappleleaf meowed.

Nightpaw nodded in respond.

"None of your wounds are too bad." The medicine cat commented. "Some bones are a little twisted, that's all. Volepaw will give you some exercises later in the day."

"How long did I sleep?"

"Quite long, It's almost Sunhigh. You were injured yesterday." 

The medicine cat turned her head towards the den's entrance. "I'll have to go now, take care."

Nightpaw nodded. "Bye." Something twitched at the back of his mind.

Dappleleaf turned, her tail swishing. Her pelt disappeared through the den's entrance.

Nightpaw stared at the elder's den's ceiling. The den was built using parts of a fallen tree... 

"Have you heard of the dark forest?" Stripepelt asked. Nightpaw didn't notice that the elder was listening to him and Dappleleaf's conversation.

"No." Nightpaw mewed. 

Stripepelt sighed. "Do you want me to tell you about it?"

"Sometime later." Nightpaw answered. Something bothered him at the back of his mind. As if I forgot something...

Then he remembered. Blossompaw! Nightpaw's stomach filled with dread and guilt. How can I meet her, if I can't even move?

Nightpaw buried his head into his moss. He began sobbing like how he did when he first woke up. Except that this was for a different cause. 

Nightpaw might make Blossompaw hate him forever.