Sunlight streamed through the branches of the new apprentice's den. It wove itself through and around the moss and leaves, squeezing through small holes to dapple itself over Owlpaw's pelt.

The apprentice had been dismissed yesterday, by Robinstar. She had insisted he sleep after he had worked very hard. Reluctantly, the dark brown tom went to go sleep.

Now, as he stretched in his nest, he yawned, snapping his jaws closed. Deciding to give himself a thorough groom, the tom began to smooth down unruly tufts of fur.

Owlpaw finally finished. Standing up, the apprentice twitched his whiskers and strolled out of the den. His gaze traveled to the fresh-kill pile, where a skinny rabbit sat on top of a small mouse. Next to both creatures lay a sparrow.

He did notice that Mossheart and Talondust were already awake. Both cats sat near the entrance to the camp. Briefly, the apprentice wondered if they were guarding the camp for this morning, or they were finishing last night's guarding.

I may as well get to know my Clanmates.

Trotting over, the dark brown tom dipped his head to them in greeting. The two cats shuffled around for a bit and Owlpaw spotted their tails untwining. A smirk formed on his face, though almost instinctively, he wiped it away and cleared his teasing gaze.

"Are you here to take over the guarding of the camp?" asked Talondust right away, shifting uncomfortably after sharing an almost-nervous look with Mossheart.

"Not really...? But I can," added Owlpaw, "If you both need a rest."

Mossheart gave him a warm smile, "Thank you, Owlpaw. We'll share the rabbit we- that... that was caught before taking a little nap."

Owlpaw nodded, sitting down as they stood up and trotted off, their heads tilted together as they whispered quietly. The soft murmurs seemed to reverberate loudly through the camp, but the words were unintelligible. Turning away, the dark brown apprentice looked back outside the camp entrance and scented the air.

They left.

He could smell it. They'd quickly slipped out of camp when they thought nobody had been looking. He had no idea why they had left...

Wait! They said we'll share the rabbit that we and then stopped. So they must've gone hunting.

As he decoded the smell further, he realized there were underlying tones of rabbit and another earthy, leafy smell. He nodded to himself, happy that he'd finally been able to solve something that had been hidden from him. Turning around and facing away from the camp, he studied the camp entrance and the crevice for a moment.

Pricking his ears, he heard pawsteps approaching. Looking over his shoulder, he felt curiosity flit through him. It was Robinstar. She strolled confidently toward him, each stride long and self-assured. Stopping a few fox-lengths from him, she smiled.

"Good morning. Did Mossheart and Talondust already go back to their den?"

"They asked me to guard because they were tired," Owlpaw replied.

Robinstar's ears flicked, though she nodded, "Hm.. okay. Would you like to go hunting? Sedgestorm can go with you."

Owlpaw shrugged, "Sure."

"You can go get him," she mewed, motioning with her tail at the warrior's den.

Getting up and padding away, the apprentice reviewed what he should say to Sedgestorm. Can you come hunting with me? Do you want to hunt? Can we train? Are we training today?

Do they even train anymore? He didn't know.

"Sedgestorm?" Owlpaw peeked into the warrior's den, "Are you awake?"

"I am now," a grumbly voice came from inside the den. Soon, a familiar white tom with silvery tabby stripes stood in front of Owlpaw. The apprentice realized his muzzle was grayer than it used to be. His green eyes were shadowed and tired as he looked at the apprentice, "Oh, it's you. What did you want again?"

"Do you want to hunt? Are we going to train?" The apprentice questioned again.

Sedgestorm blinked, padding past Owlpaw and into the camp. Owlpaw watched as he flinched backward at the brightness of the day, though he strolled forward.

"Sure, I guess. But I don't know what to train you since you already know pretty much everything."

Well, don't ask me! I'm not the mentor here! Owlpaw thought, irritation flooding him. He forced it away. We're settling in. He's just confused.

"We can just hunt, I guess."

"Okay," Sedgestorm began to pad toward the entrance and Owlpaw trotted after him. The apprentice walked out after him.

And to his horror, Sedgestorm jumped a little to get over the crevice, but he missed and fell.

Sedgestorm let out a bloodcurdling scream. A loud snap! echoed through the camp, ringing in Owlpaw's ear. Sedgestorm's yowl suddenly cut off, abruptly fading away.

Instantly cats surrounded Owlpaw. Everything seemed to quickly blur by, whisking past his vision before he could understand what was happening. Questions about Sedgestorm swirled around him as he watched, through blurring vision, as Robinstar pulled the warrior out of the crevice.

Stumbling backward, Owlpaw fell to the ground with a little thump. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart and the forceful churning of his belly. It thrashed back and forth, dizzying the apprentice.

"Owlpaw! Owlpaw? What happened?"

Too many voices.

He looked up, warm golden gaze heavily blurred as he tried to focus on one cat. He recognized one; Shrewfoot. His pale, cream-colored face peered down at him and Owlpaw could detect panic and horror glittering in his gaze.

"Shrewfoot..." Owlpaw managed to choke out. His head felt like someone was pounding it in with a rock, blistering pain searing through his head.

"Yes, Owlpaw?" Owlpaw could faintly hear the tom's strained reply.

"What... what happened to Sedgestorm..?" He asked. His searing headache wasn't leaving. He'd ask for some herbs... later...

"He's... he's okay... Adderflight and-" His voice suddenly just... disappeared. It was already quiet, but now he couldn't hear it at all. Suddenly, it returned, a bit louder, "-check it. I need to go get..." The apprentice watched as he disappeared from his vision and returned a moment later.

Owlpaw felt a nudging sensation near his muzzle and he opened it.

"Chew and swallow," instructed Shrewfoot as he dropped some herbs into his mouth. Owlpaw obeyed, slowly chewing and swallowing. He felt the world dim slightly around him and he was vaguely aware of being dragged somewhere as his eyes closed. He could feel his breathing even out, lapsing into a steady up-down pattern.

Soft moss surrounded him and a comforting voice sounded in his ear, gentle and calming. After a moment, he fell asleep.