"Wake up, Soot!" The hurried mews came from an excited kit beside a dark gray tom, and his voice echoed around the nursery.

The gray flecked tom rolled over and jumped up, shaking feathers and moss from his pelt. He opened his bright yellow eyes to see two russet brown kits staring expectantly at him.

"Rose said Thistle and Flicker are going to take us out into the forest!" A she-cat stared at him with gleaming green eyes – her brother with an identical gaze.

"Really?" He exclaimed, cocking his head to one side. "Is Ash coming?" He mewed.

The tom's excitement vanished somewhat. "Rowan said he couldn't come."

"Oh. That's alright, Wolf. Let's go!" The tom scrambled after the already-pelting-she-cat until he caught up with her, and pounced on her tail. "Got you, Almond!"

She rounded on him and batted his head, cuffing his gray ears. Soot nipped her paw, and held onto it, then twisted around until she shouted, "Ow! Mercy! Let go, let go!"

They collapsed on the ground laughing, when a white she-cat stood over them, giving them a half-stern, half-amused look.

"Come on, stop messing around. Thistle's waiting." She bounded away towards a tabby tom who was looking expectantly at them.

Wolf nudged Soot up, and they raced Almond towards the two learners, when another gray tom ran up to them, looking exasperated.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" He mewed with an accusing hint of his voice. He searched Wolf and Soot with piercing blue eyes.

Wolf and Soot exchanged a glance, and Soot lowered his head. Almond came next to the tom and laid her tail on his shoulder.

"We're going into the forest." She mewed quietly, and he turned to look at her with a painful and hurtful glare.

"And you didn't wake me?" He snapped, tail starting to lash.

"Ash, Rowan said-"

"I don't care what Rowan says! It's so unfair!" He scored the ground with his claws and whipped around. Pelting back towards the nursery, Soot was standing with his head still lowered, but he looked up to see his brother running away.

Ash…

Why did his brother have to be the 'chosen one'? Anybody could be this 'ash' in the stupid prophecy! There's nothing special about Ash! He willed himself to think this, but he found it was against his belief.

Soot followed quietly, padding in line behind Thistle whose tail was tickling his nose. Soot felt the urge to snap down on his tail – but Thistle hadn't done anything.

"This is the Moss Tree. Rowan said not to go any further." Flicker explained, and pointed with her tail to an oak tree absolutely covered in moss. You could barely see the bark beneath it.

Who cares what Rowan says?! Ash's words rang in his head, piercing him with even more pain. Poor Ash – he had no time to do anything. 'Stay in camp, Ash' Rowan will say. 'We have to talk, Ash'. Rowan had taken Ash away from him, and Soot could do nothing about it.

"Hello? Soot, are you listening?!" A tail waved in front of his face, bringing him back to reality.

"Hmmm…?" He mewed, blinking dreams from his eyes. He stared at Flicker who returned his un-blinking gaze.

"I said, go climb the Moss Tree!" She mewed sternly.

"Unless you're scared," Flicker continued, fixing him with a taunting green stare.

"Of course I'm not!" Soot shouted, fur bristling. He stuck his head in the air proudly, and stalked off towards the Moss Tree with his tail straight up. He unsheathed his tiny claws, and stopped in front of the tree.

He looked up. Not only covered in moss – but one of the tallest trees in the forest, the Moss Tree stood towering above him menacingly. Wow, he thought. How will I climb that?

"Come on, now! You're not scared?" Flicker called after him.

Soot whipped his head over his shoulder and glared at her. He pricked his ears and struggled to hear Flickers' and Thistles' conversation.

"….ever climbed the Moss Tree." He heard. "that was mean…, he's going to…disappointed."

Soot saw Flicker roll her eyes, and nudge Thistle. "Pigeon told you to climb it." She mewed snootily.

"That's different! He's my brother!" Thistle mewed louder, and was easily heard by Soot. The gray tom turned to look at the tree again, and took a deep breath. He noticed a small spot of tree where the moss has recently been scratched off. He stretched up onto his back legs, and snagged his hind claws into the tree. He reached up to grab the bare tree, but his paw slipped down off the tree and he stumbled backwards, luckily onto his feet. Flicker laughed behind him.

Soot looked up. Although the tree was covered in moss, on the other side the moss only went up halfway to the trunk. He padded to the side facing the west, so the other cats could still see him. He looked up, and examined the moss. It was slippery – the snow had melted recently. It would be no use trying to grab hold of the bark, it would just fall away. Instead, he reached up on his hind legs, and purposefully clawed away at the bark. It did just as expected, and collapsed in a heap in front of him.

As he was clawing, he dug small little notches in the tree. Soot had a plan.

If I can jump up there, the notches will give me a place to push off again… He thought to himself, and bunched up his haunches, ready to jump.

"Go, Soot!" He heard Almond and Wolf call from beside Thistle. Flicker snorted.

He pushed off, grass flying out behind him. He landed with his back claws dug into the notches – he had jumped with perfect aim. Flicker gasped near him, but he paid no attention. He felt himself being pulled backwards by his weight, and he clawed at the bark which also fell away. He grappled to get his claws to stick, and they eventually did, but he almost fell out. He braced himself for his next move.

Bunching up again with his haunches (which was extremely hard to do, based on the stretched pose he was already in,) and leapt. His front paws grasped the first branch, while his back paws flailed frantically for a foothold.

"Soot!"

He was about to slip, when his paws caught hold of notches. I did it!

He looked down. Standing below him several fox-lengths down, was Wolf and Thistle, eyes wide in surprise and fear. His mind shook, and he felt nauseous.

"Don't look down!" Wolf called up after him, and Soot took his advice. Using all his energy left, he jumped the rest of the way to stand on the first branch, looking down in triumph at Flicker and Thistle.

"You just got owned!" Almond shouted excitedly at Flicker, who flicked her tail nervously.

"You can come down now, Soot…" Thistle mewed quietly, looking up with curious amber eyes.

"No way! I'm going to climb higher!" He fluffed out his kit fur, looking like a giant, gray marshmallow. He flexed his claws on the branch, and leaped up to another, nearly losing his grasp as he staggered back and forth to keep balance.

"I'm serious," Thistle shouted. "Come down now!" He was lashing his tail now.

"Just one…more…jump…" Soot mewed. He had his lower lip clenched with his teeth, and his gaze narrowed on the branch in front of him. It was a little far, but it looked in reach.

He pounced. The wind brushed through his pelt, and whipped him in the face. It had stopped him from going the full jump, and he ended up just a little short. His claws gripped the branch, and he tried to pull himself up to stand on the branch. He almost had his back paws up on the branch, when the bark came away at his paws. The mossy bark was caught in between his claws as he spiraled downward, towards the ground that seemed so far away.

"Soot!"

Soot collapsed on top of Wolf, gray and russet fur mingling together as the flecked tom landed awkwardly on top of his littermate. The sound of footsteps were loud by Soot's ear. His eyes were closed, and he heard someone calling his name.

"Soot…" It called him. The voice was familiar. "Soot…. Please…"

Soot shifted his weight, and opened his eyes a little. Bright light flickered into his eyes, and he caught a few glimpses of brown fur moving in front of him.

"Please…. Get off! …can't breathe…" Something shook underneath him, and he rolled over on his side, when pain shot up his leg.

"OW!" He shouted, eyes frantic and wide open now. He tried to keep very still, but his breathing was quick and it hurt even more than his paw. "Help me!" He mewed quickly.

"Get Maple Sky." Thistle mewed frantically. He put his paw on Soot's spotted flank, and he let out a whoosh of painful air.

"That hurts!! It hurts!!" He whimpered, thoughts whirling through his mind.

What's going on?

How did this happen?

Why was I laying on Wolf?

Am I dying?

Laying on his side – which was covered in poultices of foul-smell herbs and reeds, Soot lay beside Wolf in the Healer's den, feeling so sorry for himself.

Maple was humming a small tune to herself, looking ever so cheerful.

Lucky, he thought. I wish I felt like that right now.

He tried to stretch out, his muscles aching from being constricted for so long, but it just show more pain down his spine and through his paw. He let out a painful gasp.

"Soot?" Maple turned immediately to look at the kit. "How are you feeling?"

Let's see. Tired. Painful. Restless. Angry. Disappointed. Ashamed. Embarrassed. Proud. Brave.

"Hungry." He mewed quietly, his voice coming out raspy.

"I'll go get you some fresh-prey." The russet she-cat mewed, and she padded out of the den. Soot took in a deep breath, and rolled over quickly onto his other side – to face Wolf. His side still hurt, but he forced himself to use his energy to speak to his friend.

"Wolf?" He cooed quietly.

It was a few moments before he responded. "Yeah?"

"…Sorry." Soot mewed.

"For what?" wolf asked, turning a little to look at Soot over his shoulder.

"Well, for…being stupid? I don't know. I fell on you.."

"No, you didn't fall on me. I caught you. I knew that would've happened. Don't worry." He mewed, and flashed a perfect smile at Soot. He felt ashamed.

"You didn't have to. Are you hurt?" He asked, looking at the poultice on Wolf's scratches, and the reeds wrapped around Wolf's back paw.

"No, I'm fine. Maple said I bruised my paw really badly, and no thanks to you- Don't look at me like that! I was only kidding." He smiled at Soot again. "I've got a few deep scratches where your claws hit me."

"I'm sorry.." He shook his head in anguish, which was pretty hard since he was laying on his side.

"Stop saying that, Soot. It's fine." Wolf lay his head down again and soon was asleep.

Soot looked outside the entrance, hoping his friend actually forgave him.

Maple emerged from the light with a vole in her jaw, casting a shadow on Soot. He welcomed the darkness. "Here you go, Soot." She dropped it at his paws, and nudged it forward. Taking another deep breath, and settling himself in a position that he could eat it on his belly, he took a large bite from the prey.

The warm scents flooded into his nose, and after he had finished, he dug himself deeper into his nest, and he tried to fall asleep. Voices outside of the den were the last thing he heard.

"Only Rowans' ever done that before."

"Don't you know what that means?" He heard a hurried voice outside.

"The only thing I know is that he's going to be a fantastic warrior.."

Hey! How do you guys like my story? Like I said…. I'm really glad I've got a good plot for this.

If you review…. You get included in my author notes! Woot!

And you get a Flicker Plushie! :D

Peace Out - SV