Эрин Хантер - The Apprentice's Quest

Would you be so doubtful if another cat were leading us, and not me? Alderpaw wanted to hiss the words at his sister, but he bit them back with clenched jaws. “Bramblestar sent us on this journey,” he murmured.

“Wherever it leads must be right.”

The three cats who had accompanied the gray tom parted to let the traveling cats pass, then closed in around them. As he got a closer look, Alderpaw saw that one was a black tom, and the others were she-cats: one tabby and one with white fur stained with dirt and dust. In fact, all four cats looked as if they could do with a good grooming.

Don’t SkyClan cats ever wash? Alderpaw asked himself. He could just imagine what any

ThunderClan mentor would say to an apprentice who went around looking like that.

Then he reminded himself that SkyClan had been driven out of their original territory and exiled to this gorge. They had lived separately from the other Clans for so long, maybe it wasn’t surprising they had slightly different customs.

As they padded down the path, Needlepaw sidled past Alderpaw and caught up the gray tom in the lead. “What’s your name?” she asked.

The gray tom’s ears flicked in surprise—Alderpaw guessed at the ShadowClan apprentice’s confident tone. “I’m called Rain,” he replied.

Just Rain? Alderpaw wondered why

Needlepaw didn’t ask that question. They probably do things differently, he told himself again. Even names. But he was sure he remembered Sandstorm mentioning SkyClan cats called Leafstar, Sharpclaw, and Echosong.

Those are proper warrior names. But then, Sandstorm was here so long ago…

By now Needlepaw was walking beside

Rain, chatting without a trace of apprehension.

Thinking that perhaps she had the right idea, Alderpaw turned toward the tabby she-cat, who was the closest to him of their escort.

“Hi, my name’s Alderpaw,” he began.

The tabby she-cat ignored him, except for one glance from baleful yellow eyes.

Okay, be like that, Alderpaw thought. He was disappointed that the SkyClan cats didn’t seem more welcoming, but he told himself that perhaps they would open up once they knew him and his companions better and discovered why they were there.

The long-furred tom led Alderpaw and his companions up to the pile of rocks where the river gushed out. Sitting at the base of the rock pile was a strong, muscular tom, his white fur broken up by black spots around his eyes and his long, black tail. Sunlight gleamed on his glossy pelt, and his blue eyes shone as he surveyed the newcomers.

Alderpaw could imagine this cat perched up on the rocks to call a Clan meeting. But no! His belly lurched suddenly. This isn’t the Clan leader I saw in my vision, making a new warrior. Glancing around, trying to push down fear, he saw more and more of the SkyClan cats slipping out of the shadows, or from cracks in the surrounding rocks, slowly encircling him and his little group. He examined each one of them, hoping to recognize at least one cat from his vision, but none of them looked at all familiar. Why?

The white tom rose to his paws, a sneering look on his face. “Who are these?” he asked Rain. “Lost kitties?”

Alderpaw saw his Clanmates begin to bristle at the insult. “Steady,” he whispered.

“Don’t provoke them. We need to know more.”

“Greetings, Darktail.” Rain dipped his head.

“These are strangers from far away, looking for SkyClan.”

So they call their leader Dark tail , Alderpaw thought, growing even more bewildered. Why not Dark star ? Or is this just another way these weird cats are different from us?

Darktail turned an unblinking gaze on Alderpaw. “What do you want with SkyClan?”

Staring into the leader’s eerie blue eyes, Alderpaw felt his fur prickle with apprehension.

He wished that either Molewhisker or Cherryfall would speak up rather than leave him to take the lead.

“I’m from ThunderClan,” he replied, choking back his uneasiness. “I’ve been sent to find the cats of SkyClan.”

“Why?” Darktail asked.

Alderpaw wasn’t sure how to answer that. I thought we’d find out more when we arrived.

“Every Clan’s survival depends on us all working together,” he mewed uncertainly, and was relieved to see Cherryfall and Molewhisker dipping their heads in assent.

Darktail narrowed his eyes. “Are you asking me and my cats to go with you to this… ThunderClan?”

Feeling like a kit before its eyes opened, groping around in the dark, Alderpaw nodded.

But he still didn’t know whether SkyClan was really was what StarClan meant for them to “embrace.” If I convince them to journey back with us to the lake, what will Bramblestar think? How would we cope with all these extra cats?

“Do you need our help ?” Darktail pressed him.

“No!” Alderpaw blurted. “We’re not asking for help with a fight or anything. The Clans are all settled in their own territories, and there aren’t many disagreements, because there’s plenty of prey for every cat.” Do you need our help? he added silently to himself. Or have I completely misunderstood my vision? Oh, Sandstorm, I wish you were here to help me figure this out!

Darktail seemed to think for a moment, then inclined his head politely to Alderpaw.

“I’m impressed,” he purred. “I appreciate that you have made a long journey to find SkyClan.

But I hope you understand, we can’t just abandon our territory at the urging of strangers.”

Alderpaw felt some of his tension ease. At least Darktail sounds reasonable. But he hadn’t expected the meeting with SkyClan to go this way at all, and part of him would have liked to leave and pretend that none of this had ever happened. These cats didn’t seem to be in any need of help.

Then he remembered his vision, especially his dream of the cats shrieking in anguish on the bleak moor. I can’t just turn around and go home, he thought, wishing once again that Sandstorm were with him.

“Why don’t we stick around for a bit?” It was Needlepaw who spoke, her head and tail raised fearlessly as she addressed Darktail. “We could join in with some hunts and patrols. It wouldn’t take long for you SkyClan cats to see that we can be trusted.”

Alderpaw wasn’t sure whether he liked that suggestion or not. But he couldn’t think of a better idea, so he supposed he would have to go along with it.

Darktail remained quiet for a moment, his blue gaze resting on each cat for a heartbeat before returning to Alderpaw. “Very well,” he meowed at last. “Rain, show our guests where they can sleep. And yes,” he added to Alderpaw, “there’s probably quite a bit that we can learn from one another.”

Alderpaw nodded in reluctant agreement, though his pelt still prickled and a shiver ran through him from ears to tail-tip. Why does this feel so wrong?

The sun was warm on Alderpaw’s pelt as he bent his head to lap from the stream. Gazing down into the water, he wished he could wash his paws, but he knew that would only make it easier for dust and grit to stick to them.

How can the SkyClan cats bear to live in such a filthy place? he asked himself. Maybe if they do return with us to the forest, the ways of the other Clans will rub off on them.

The evening before, when Rain had taken him and his friends to a den—a bare cave in the side of the gorge with nothing on the floor but sand—Alderpaw had settled to sleep in the hope that StarClan would send another vision to guide him. But now he couldn’t even remember whether he had dreamed at all.