Twilightpaw was armed with a brand new arsenal of hunting knowledge from her training sessions with Devotedcrow, and she was determined to make all the prey in the forest rue the day that she got apprenticed. Her unwitting first target had alighted in the wet grass under the partial shade of a leafless beech tree, a small bird that paused to cast a wary eye over the surrounding trees in between pecking in the wet dirt for worms. What it had failed to see in all those, however, was the silent apprentice camouflaged in between the nearby bushes, carefully timing her movements to coincide with the moments that the feathered head was not looking her way. Twilightpaw paused, gathered her legs under her weight to pounce, and sprang – and her claws connected with feathers just as the bird finally caught wind of her and made a desperate play for safety, Twilightpaw’s grip dragging it back down to earth and delivering a swift killing blow.

A flush of pride warmed Twilightpaw’s veins at her first successful solo kill, although it was marginally dampened by the realization that there was nobody around to recognize the achievement. Maybe Devotedcrow will be in camp when I get back, she thought to herself. Or better yet, Ratstar! Grasping her prey by the neck, she turned to return to camp.