𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑨 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄

Chapter 15

Maplepaw's lungs burned, claws tearing at them inside her as she leaped, twisted her body, narrowly avoiding a sharp rock jutting out from the side of the canyon and ran downwards. Now that she was inside the abyss itself, the depth was almost twice as what she saw the night before and she had a hunch that not only had Cinderstar brought her to a significantly more hazardous zone of the canyon, but also one that was much deeper. Maplepaw could not waste any time at all if she were to complete this assessment before the sun rose.

Her paws hit another ledge below her and she could still see the faint pawsteps of apprentices before her, but spent no time lingering on them as she soared to another ledge below her. Maplepaw winced at the contact of the rock and her paws. She'd jumped much further than she thought, her tiredness clearly affecting her skill to judge distances, which was, during other times, almost impeccable. Maplepaw paused for a heartbeat, feeling something awry as her senses were suddenly alert. From her time in the Starless Forest, activating her senses became almost a second nature, especially when you were outnumbered and when your opponents did not fight fairly at the same time. Sometimes, it happened automatically that she needed a few seconds to process why her senses had been awakened. Maplepaw looked around, gaze drifting upwards as she was glad by the amount of progress she made.

She heard a muffled crack beneath her paws and without thinking, almost as though some cat else had taken over her body, flew downwards, plummeting, falling, falling

             into

                                       the

                                                                                  deep

                                                                                                                             unknown...

CRACK! She winced, growling under her breath as she felt her impact with another slim ledge. This time though, it felt different, the pain more intense, roaring, flaring inside her right shoulder.

OWWWWW!! Maplepaw screeched within her mind. The pain was so fierce that she completely forgot about the assessment and curled up on the ledge, writhing around, tears forming within her eyes.

Maple, Maple, she faintly heard her mother's voice through the cloud of pain after some long minutes.

"Yes?" she growled, out loud.

Calm down, she heard her mother order her. Since Scorchflame mostly spoke in a soft, calming purr to Maplepaw, she immediately obliged due to the sudden change in tone.

Maplepaw forced herself to relax every muscle in her body, slowly, and breathed.

You've done well so far, but if you are to make it back in time, you'll need to follow my instructions to make up for the time you've lost, she heard her mother, more clearly this time.

Standing up, she forced another shuddery breath into her lungs. Her mother's advice, to a certain extent, had worked, and though her right foreleg still ached heavily, she could move around with a bit more ease.