Stormpaw sprinted through the forest, the wind blowing through his fur. "Bet you can't catch me, slow slug!" he taunted his sister, Whitepaw.
"Just wait!" she called back. "I'll be faster than you one day!"
Stormpaw let out a mmrow of laughter and ran faster, determined to beat Whitepaw to the Ancient Oak. He sneaked a glance over his shoulder to see the small white apprentice struggling to keep her pace. Her paws landed clumsily with every step, and she almost stumbled multiple times.
Suddenly Stormpaw was twisting sideways, falling to the ground. His forepaws flew out to break his fall. As he hit the ground, a spike of pain raced through his front paw. He yowled in agony.
His sides heaved as he pushed himself off the forest floor. He limped forward, where Whitepaw was standing next to a tree, her whiskers twitching with amusement. "That was so funny!" she squealed. "That's what you get for calling me a slow slug!"
"It's not funny, Whitepaw!" Stormpaw snapped. "I think I hurt my paw."
Whitepaw gasped and stretched her muzzle to his injured paw. "We need to get back to camp so Sparrowflight and Beefur can tend to it."
It was almost sunhigh when they reached camp. Stormpaw limped through the thorn barrier, Whitepaw at his side. Icefur was guarding the entrance. His blue eyes widened when he saw the two apprentices. "What were you two thinking, sneaking out of camp?" he scolded. "Leafheart and Acornstripe were worried out of their minds! And so was your mother!"
"We're sorry," Whitepaw meowed. "Stormpaw tripped and hurt his paw!"
The silver tom glanced down at Stormpaw, who was balancing on three feet. He stepped aside to let them pass. "You should go to the medicine den," he suggested. "I'll tell Leafheart what happened."
Stormpaw limped across the clearing, aware that all the cats turned his way. His mother, Nightfall, rushed towards him. "Are you alright?" she gasped, her voice thick with worry. "Where were you?"
"I fell and landed on my paw," he admitted. "Whitepaw was racing me to the Ancient Oak."
The black she-cat stroked Stormpaw's spine with her tail. "We were heading to the medicine den," Whitepaw explained.
Nightfall nodded and sighed. "Go ahead, then," she urged. "I just wish you wouldn't get into trouble so often."
Whitepaw led Stormpaw into the medicine den. Beefur was sorting herbs near the back wall. She looked up as they entered. "What happened?" she asked, pausing her work.
"I tripped and fell on my paw," Stormpaw told the striped she-cat.
"Hmm," Beefur murmured, inspecting his injured paw. "Lay down in that nest. Whitepaw, you can go."
Stormpaw curled up in the soft nest, closing his eyes. The sharp pain in his leg made him whimper. Beefur padded over, a wad of foul-smelling herbs in her jaws. She dropped them at her paws.
"I can give you poppy seeds so you can fall asleep easier," she offered.
Stormpaw nodded. "I'm so tired from limping all the way to camp," he said softly.
"Just lick them up and try to get some rest," Beefur instructed, laying a few tiny black seeds on a leaf.
Stormpaw lapped them up and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his right paw. He felt the medicine cat rubbing herb ointments onto the skin. After a while, the pain eased, and he drifted into a deep sleep.

"How's your paw?"
Sparrowflight's meow woke Stormpaw from his peaceful slumber. "Better, I think," he responded drowsily.
The brown and white medicine cat leaned over him, peering at his paw. "You should rest today and take it easy tomorrow," he said.
Stormpaw blinked and looked up, where sunlight filtered through the wall of the medicine den. "How long was I sleeping?" he asked.
"You slept for a while before I woke you up," Sparrowflight answered. "I was checking on Honeycloud's kits when you came back. You've been asleep ever since I got here."
Stormpaw sat up, stretching sleepily. "Where's Beefur?"
"She's out gathering herbs," the tom said, pulling a small bundle of  leaves from a gap in the wall. "Chew these up and put them on your paw."
The gray apprentice licked up the leaves, scrunching his nose as the bitter taste hit his tongue. "These taste terrible," he complained.
Sparrowflight shrugged. "At least you don't have to swallow them."
Stormpaw spat the leaves onto his paw, glad the taste was out of his mouth. His stomach rumbled. "When can I eat?" he asked.
Sparrowflight massaged the sore part of his paw. "In a bit, after I finish putting this poultice on your paw."
"Did I break it?" Stormpaw stared down at his paw.
"No. I'm putting this poultice on the cut you got when you fell. I think you sliced it on a bramble."
"Oh." Stormpaw let out a breath of relief. "Can I go back to training tomorrow? Do I just have to be careful?"
"You can go back to training, but I have a feeling that Leafheart will have you doing the elders' ticks!" Sparrowflight looked up at him for a second, his eyes glittering with amusement. "You did sneak out of camp at dawn."
Stormpaw sighed. He hoped his mentor would let him go without punishment, but he had cleaned nests for a quarter moon the last time he had gotten in trouble. He realized the medicine cat was right; Leafheart would get angry at him for leaving camp without permission. He wondered if Whitepaw was having to do chores while he recovered in the medicine den.
"Now you can go get something from the fresh-kill pile," Sparrowflight said. "Don't go too fast on that paw."
Stormpaw squeezed his way out the entrance into the well-lit clearing. He crossed it and crouched down by the fresh-kill pile. The camp was quiet, with most of the Clan hunting or out on patrol. He hooked a mouse from the pile and carried it to a shady spot to eat.
As he dug into the juicy mouse, Sunpaw crouched next to him with half of a vole. The yellow she-cat ate in silence for a moment before speaking. "When are you going back to training?" she asked.
Stormpaw swallowed a bite of his mouse. "Tomorrow," he responded.
Sunpaw blinked in surprise. "Already?" she mewed. "Does that mean you didn't hurt your paw too badly?"
"I didn't break it, I just..." he thought for a moment. All Sparrowflight had said was that it wasn't broken. "I just hurt it."
"That's good," Sunpaw said. "Leafheart's already mad. I can't imagine what she would do if you delayed training for a long time."
Stormpaw gulped. "She's mad?"
Sunpaw's eyes widened. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed. "You better get ready to do ticks and collect moss for a half moon!"
Stormpaw groaned. "I can't wait," he meowed sarcastically.
The older apprentice snorted. "Maybe if you wouldn't always be getting into trouble, you wouldn't have to do chores!"
"I know," Stormpaw said softly. "I can't help it!"
Sunpaw flashed him a mischievous look. "I used to be a troublemaker when I was a kit," she reminded him. "Always trying to explore the forest. Of course, I never made it past the entrance tunnel."
Stormpaw smiled as he tried to imagine Sunpaw, the most responsible ThunderClan apprentice, sneaking out to the edge of camp to try to escape as a kit. It wasn't easy to picture. The yellow apprentice was always up early, never complained, and did great in training. She was expected to have her assessment soon, even though she had only been training for four moons.
Badgerstripe stormed over to his apprentice. "Sunpaw, hurry up! I'm taking you to battle training with Birchwhisker and Pigeonfall at the clearing. They're waiting on us!"
Sunpaw gave Stormpaw an apologetic glance before rising and following her mentor out of camp. Stormpaw was left alone again, chewing on his mouse.
"I see you're just lounging around camp while I have to do the elders' nests!"
Stormpaw spun around to see Whitepaw standing in the center of the clearing, tail lashing angrily. Bits of moss and bracken were littered throughout her pelt. She was staring coldly at Stormpaw, as if he had just stolen her prey.
"Sparrowflight said I had to rest today," he said quickly. "I'll have to do ticks or something tomorrow," he added.
"I don't get why I have to be punished for your stupid ideas!" Whitepaw didn't acknowledge that Stormpaw had just spoken. "Why can't you just be a good apprentice like Sunpaw?"
Suddenly Whitepaw calmed down and grinned. "Don't you want to impress her, since you love her so much?" she teased.
Stormpaw's pelt grew hot. "I don't like her!" he snapped.
"Ha!" Whitepaw snorted. "You don't like her! You love her!"
"I don't like Sunpaw! I don't love her, either!" he protested.
Whitepaw opened her mouth to speak when Acornstripe padded over. "What's going on?" he demanded. "This doesn't look like cleaning nests! I'll add another day of chores if you don't keep doing your work!"
Whitepaw glared at him and stalked off to the elders' den again. Acornstripe turned to Stormpaw. "You don't need to be distracting her when she's supposed to be doing the elders' nests," the dark brown tom told him. "Just because you don't have something you need to do doesn't mean the same is true for everyone else."
"I'm sorry," Stormpaw muttered, retreating to the medicine den.
Sparrowflight was busy pulling a thorn from Ashwhisker's paw. Neither tom looked up as Stormpaw walked in and curled up in one of the nests. He squeezed his eyes shut. So many cats are angry with me now. Stormpaw stifled a sigh. His troublemaking was making him a terrible apprentice. He would never become a good warrior if he kept this up! I'll never break the rules again, he vowed. Nothing will stop me from being the best warrior in ThunderClan!