Interpret the analogy.

noun: adjective: : : participle

gerund
verbal
infinitive
adverb
noun

I think the answer is gerund
a participle has the function of an adjective
a gerund has the function of a noun

As the boys sleep, military airplanes battle fiercely above the island. none of the boys sees the explosions and flashes in the clouds because the twins sam and eric, who were supposed to watch the signal fire, have fallen asleep. during the battle, a parachutist drifts down from the sky onto the island, dead.