Sagepaw awoke in the Dark Forest, as expected. She crouched down and glanced about her warily, scanning the shadowy surroundings for any trace of Viperfang. As usual, she couldn't find him, and had to resign to waiting for him to reveal himself.

As she was crouched, waiting, she thought she heard a slight rustle come from behind. She whirled around to face him, but there was no one there.

"I'm done playing your games! Come out and face me!" Sagepaw yowled courageously, though her voice shook with fear. Another rustle sounded behind her, and she turned round once again, but here was still nothing there... Or was there?

She squinted, thinking that she could just barely make out a pair of small, beady eyes. Before she could be sure, a full-grown fox launched itself at her and she rolled onto her back under its weight, yowling. Its vicious teeth snapped just claw-lengths away from her throat, and she kicked upwards at its stomach desperately, knowing that the fight was already lost.

Just as she felt its teeth close around her throat, it froze, not biting down. She opened her eyes only to shriek in fright, its beady eyes staring down at her.

"What are you doing?" Viperfang asked, voice bored. Sagepaw tilted her head and saw him standing a few fox-lengths away from her. He seemed to be concentrating on something.

"Wha-what did you do? Why isn't it attacking me?" She asked after she gathered a few shaky breaths. She pushed on it tentatively with her hind paws, but it didn't budge. It was still breathing heavily, jaws tensely held open around her neck. One long drop of saliva dribbled from it's mouth and matted her fur.

"I'm doing what you should have done," Sagepaw flinched as Viperfang's voice took on an accusing tone. "If you are immature enough to lose your head in a crisis and not use what I am trying to teach you, then why did I take you as my protege?"

Sagepaw actually flinched at his words. Suddenly it was like her previous upset with him had simply turned into guilt; for not practicing, for questioning his every instruction, for being useless like he had just pointed out.

The fox moved off of her, movements very cat-like as it backed up and sat delicately on it's haunches. It licked its chops as it watched her, eyes never leaving her neck.

"You still have a chance to prove yourself," the tom commented slyly.

"But I don't know how to possess anything yet!" Sagepaw replied with confusion. "What am I supposed to do?" Viperfang stared her down from across the clearing. His yellow eyes locked in on her own blue ones.

"Just try." He said. And then his eyes flashed.

Sagepaw jumped back as the fox dropped from its sitting position. It collapsed on the floor, pawing desperately at it's head, looking disoriented. She watched with bated breath as it looked up and they made eye contact. Through her mounting fear she could only think one thing- that she had to try.

Sagepaw focused on the fox, summoning all her will and strength focusing on thinking on stopping the fox. Her eyes narrowed and she locked on it's form, watching it stumble to its paws as it snarled at her. It wasn't stopping! She wasn't connecting to it...

Once more it lunged for her prone form, and she lost her concentration as she was forced to duck out of the way. But the fox was now enraged at her, and it lunged with more strength than before and she fell heavily onto the floor, it's teeth going instantly for her throat.

This time she didn't even feel it's breath.

"I couldn't do it," Sagepaw sulked.

"But you tried, didn't you," Viperfang murmured. "That was better than before. You just need to keep practicing."

Sagepaw rose steadily to her feet, watching as Viperfang walked the fox away from their clearing.

"How did Cloudyfoot not remember when you possessed him?" She asked him hesitantly. Other questions burned at the back of her throat but she wanted to know the answer to this one most of all.

"When you learn the control that I have with possession, you can choose whether the target remembers the experience. Typically, I choose for anything that I possess to not remember the experience." He informed her. Sagepaw sat across from him, taking in his surprisingly lighthearted stance. She scuffled her paws on the dirt.

"Is it possible to possess in the real world?" The second the question left her mouth she felt like hitting herself with her tail. What a silly question! He had already showed her that it did.

"Of course it is," he answered her out of kindness. "I'll show you all the advantages of using it in your life once you get the hang of it."

Sagepaw had one more question. "If you usually make the possessed forget the experience, why did you leave me to remember it?"

He padded towards her, tail swaying back and forth in a hypnotic pattern.

"You're special," he emphasized with a flick of his ears. "Anyone else is not important, but you are my pupil and I want you to succeed. I know that I can help you unlock your potential."

She twitched as she felt a paw nudge her side. Viperfang was still too far away from her, so it must have been someone outside of this dream trying to wake her up.

"I'll keep practicing," she promised on a whim. "I'll show you that I can do this!" The last thing she saw was a pleased look on his face before her dream faded away.

The first part of this was written by Annco, and the rest by Blaze! Hope you enjoy.