**Sunsetpaw**
The new, young apprentice bounced out of the apprentice den as the sun began to rise, staining the clearing with its shadowed pastel light. She stopped as the piney, morning-fresh air hit her, her ears perked and her tail flicking excitedly behind her. She'd find Goody today and she'd officially begin her training, she would! It was time! She'd already been on a patrol, which she hadn't actually seen Goody at, and she'd been to a Gathering, which she also hadn't seen Goody at, but no bother, she'd find her in camp today and they'd begin training. Papa Elmshadow had taken her on a tour and she tried hunting a little, and Anty Larky had taught her fighting, but none of that was with her mentor so did it really count anyway? Sitting inside camp was beginning to make her restless. She was an apprentice now and she needed to get things done! Her pale blue eyes stopped though when she saw a familiar figure perched on a nearby bush. She smiled. The little brown sparrow didn't have a name as far as she knew but something about that fact made her feel even closer to it. She hadn't had a name either but it didn't make her any less than, her and the sparrow were the same in that way she supposed. She crouched down, her tail lashing behind her, then she unleashed the coil in her hind legs. She landed just shy of the bird and batted it softly with sheathed paws. She'd been getting her paws on the bird's feathers more recently in their near-daily game they played. Though the sparrow seemed to be growing better at dodging and sensing the incoming attacks, Sunsetpaw had also been improving her speed, strength, and unpredictability, and apparently faster than the sparrow was making its own growth.
The sparrow flapped its wings out to steady itself against the gentle onslaught then jumped backwards out of the apprentice's reach. Sunsetpaw pounced again, this time flailing upwards as the sparrow made a quick move to fly just overhead, missing the reaching paws and landing on the ground between her and the apprentice den. Sunsetpaw cocked her head, grinning as she looked back at the confident, friendly bird. It'd been around since she was a kit, for as long as she could remember and something nostalgic sparked within her. They'd both grown. Suddenly, before even she could consider what her next move was going to be, she crouched and leapt, reaching for the brown white-chested sparrow just as she had the first time. And, like the first time, the sparrow was too slow to react. Its wing spread as though to prepare itself for the rebalancing it would need to do after it was knocked over by yet another swipe. But this time was different.
Sunsetpaw sat back and smiled, a bit mournfully, down at the bird. She'd miss their little playdates and she'd never again get to see the white-chest sparrow rise up into the blue sky but this was for the best anyway, she knew. The bird would be happy wherever it was now and she had a gift. She sighed, contentedly, then picked up the bird, plucking a mouthful of the longest, most-intact feathers from the sparrow's distinct chest from both the white spot and some of the surrounding brown area, then carried her loot towards Miss Star's den on a whim.