The air was humid and smelled of dew. The sun hung in the sky, shining dimly. The ground underpaw felt hard and frosty and a cold breeze lifted the leaves off the ground. The trees were bare and touched the gray sky. Leaf-bare was taking its turn on the Clans.

Sharppaw was in a small patrol with his mentor, Ambertuft. The other cats in the patrol were Ripplewind and his apprentice, Hawkpaw. It had been a moon since Sharppaw had started training in the Dark Forest with Crowstar. He'd actually learned a new move. 

"Alright this is a good spot," Ambertuft meowed suddenly. She stopped in her tracks. "Sharppaw we'll stop here and train," Ambertuft meowed. 

"Why don't we do a practice battle with Sharppaw and Hawkpaw?" Ripplewind asked. 

"Alright, lets see what you can do Sharppaw," Ambertuft meowed.

Sharppaw looked at Hawkpaw.  The brown tabby tom was bigger than him, but Sharppaw was sure he could still beat him. Unsheathing his claws, Sharppaw began to circle his opponent. 

"Sharppaw, this is a practice battle. Keep your claws sheathed!" Ambertuft hissed.

"Ok, sorry, I thought...." Sharppaw trailed off. Shaking his thoughts clear, he sheathed his claws and circled Hawkpaw. His gaze locked on Hawkpaw's right shoulder, then he leaped to the opposite side as Hawkpaw jumped away. He then swiped at Hawkpaw's shoulder. Surprise lit the tom's gaze, then he swiped at Sharppaw's ears.

Sharppaw ducked and reared, avoiding Hawkpaw's blows. He then slammed into Hawkpaw's chest, making the tom stagger and fall on the ground. Before he could regain his balance, Sharppaw pinned him down and stared into his eyes. "Surrender?" He asked. All of a sudden, strong paws slammed into his belly. 

Sharppaw gasped as he flew backward and hit the ground. Panting, he rolled to the side as  Hawkpaw tried to leap on him. 

"Stop!" Ambertuft called. She flicked her tail.

Sharppaw and Hawkpaw got to their paws, panting. 

"You did well, Sharppaw," Ambertuft praised, her eyes shining.

"You did well, too, Hawkpaw," Ripplewind meowed. 

Sharppaw glanced at Ambertuft. "Can we go hunting?" He asked.

"Yes," Ambertuft meowed. "Let's see if you can catch a bird," She suggested.

Sharppaw kneaded the ground excitedly.  He glanced at Ripplewind. The cream tom was talking with Ambertuft. Then the tom touched his muzzle to hers and he headed off in the direction of camp with his apprentice.

Sharppaw turned towards his mentor. "Where did they go?"

"Back to camp. Hawkpaw and Phoenixpaw are getting their full names. They were only training for a little bit," Ambertuft meowed. She lifted her tail. "Come on."

Sharppaw followed his mentor through the woods. He could hear birds singing and thought about catching one. He couldn't wait to catch a bird and bring it back to camp and hear his mother and father praise him. Maybe his sister would start respecting him for once.

"Look! A sparrow!" Ambertuft rasped. She blinked warmly at Sharppaw. "Why don't you go and catch it?"

Sharppaw crept forward, keeping his tail off the ground and curling it at his side. He flattened his ears so they wouldn't brush anything above him. Slowly creeping forward, Sharppaw readied himself to pounce. The sparrow was just pecking at the ground, unknown to his presence. Sharppaw then leaped. His claws caught the bird on the tip of its wing as it tried to fly. 

Sharppaw brought down the sparrow and clamped his jaws around its neck, feeling it fall limp in his jaws. Fluffypelt will be so proud!

Ambertuft padded up to her apprentice, her eyes warm. "Good catch! Let's head back to camp now," She meowed.

"Wow! You caught that all by yourself?" Stormpaw gasped as she saw the sparrow.

"Yes." Sharppaw put his catch on the fresh-kill pile. He saw that Stormpaw looked a bit dirty. "What have you been doing?"

"Hunting for moss to clean the nests," Stormpaw murmured. She lifted her tail. "But Hawkpaw and Phoenixpaw got their warrior names, and it was exciting to watch!"

"What are their names now?" Sharppaw asked, hooking a mouse from the pile. 

"Hawkfoot and Phoenixwing," Stormpaw meowed. She glanced at the mouse that Sharppaw had at his paws. "Are we going to share?" She asked.

"Yes. I wanted the two of us to take a walk together after this," Sharppaw meowed, lifting his tail.

After eating the mouse together, Sharppaw and Stormpaw headed towards the camp entrance. Snowbreeze was guarding it.

"Snowbreeze!" Sharppaw greeted his father warmly. "Did you see my first bir-"

"Yeah.... nice bird," Snowbreeze growled. His lashed his tail.

"Is something wrong?" Sharppaw asked, his tail drooping. His heart pounded. Surely his father cared about his learning and skills?

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Snowbreeze hissed. He blinked at his son, his eyes narrowing. "Where are you going anyway?" He asked.

Sharppaw ignored his question. "Don't you care about me?" He growled, his heart breaking. Sharppaw bristled.

Snowbreeze ignored his question. He showed his teeth. "I can't seem to take care of you anyway. All you do is hurt and bully your sister. Be nicer to her and I might consider you my son," He growled, avoiding Sharppaw's gaze.

"I've been nice to her! She's the one who's bullying me!" Sharppaw hissed, unsheathing his claws. He leaped up and slashed quickly at his father's muzzle. He felt fur and flesh rip beneath his claws. Sharppaw dropped to the ground, bunching his muscles to attack again. 

Jaywing, Bramblehawk, Hawkfoot, Phoenixwing, Falconflight, and Ambertuft crowded around, bristling. 

"Sharppaw!" Ambertuft gasped, her gaze wide.

Sharppaw froze, his heart quickening. He then turned and scrambled from the camp. He kept running, skipping around brambles and bracken and dodging trees. He leaped over a ditch and saw a nettle patch ahead. He ran faster and leaped. He cleared the nettle patch but didn't see the large ditch sloping down. He landed roughly in the mud and rolled down the side, then hit the bottom of the ditch, huffing with pain.

Sharppaw weakly lifted his head, his vision blackening. Then he was swallowed by shadows.