Эрин Хантер - The Apprentice's Quest

The daylight was dying, and gray clouds were massing overhead. A chilly wind blew across the grass, ruffling the cats’ fur. Now and again Alderpaw felt the sharp sting of rain, and he guessed that a storm was coming.

That’s all we need! he groaned inwardly.

Suddenly Needlepaw, a little way ahead, let out an excited cry and began racing forward.

“Wait! What’s the matter?” Alderpaw called after her.

“It’s the farm!” Needlepaw tossed the words over her shoulder. “The one we passed through on the way!”

Bounding after Needlepaw, Alderpaw spotted the shiny fence and the field where the tall, yellow-brown plants had grown. Now only spiky stubble remained, and there was no sign of the monster with the spinning jaws.

Needlepaw reached the fence and easily scrambled over it, then pelted onward toward the cluster of Twoleg dens.

“Wait! Come back!” Alderpaw yowled, but Needlepaw ignored him.

At the same moment the skies opened and rain cascaded down, drenching Alderpaw within heartbeats. He could barely see Needlepaw ahead of him through the driving screen of raindrops. When he reached the fence, the shiny strands were already so wet and slippery that it took all his concentration to clamber over.

A sharp pang stabbed through Alderpaw as he remembered Sandstorm. This is where everything went wrong. This terrible sharp fence, and the sticky mud that made her wound worse. We must have passed her grave on the way without even realizing it. Oh, Sandstorm, I’m sorry…

Landing awkwardly on the other side, Alderpaw pushed aside his memories and managed to spot Needlepaw, still heading toward the center of the farm. “Stop! Come back!” he called again, but if she heard him, she paid no attention.

“Fox dung!” Alderpaw snarled. He knew that the sensible thing to do was to leave the farm, shelter under some trees until the storm was over, and then work out the best way to go. But he felt he had no choice now but to follow

Needlepaw.

She ran past the cluster of Twoleg dens and headed into the field with the big yellow barn.

Wide wooden doors barred the entrance, but there was a gap at the bottom, and Needlepaw managed to squeeze through. Growling with annoyance, Alderpaw flattened himself to the muddy ground and dragged himself through after her, the bottom of the door scraping his back fur.

Staggering to his paws, Alderpaw looked around. The huge barn was divided into sections by wooden barriers, and he stiffened when he saw that horses were standing in two of them.

“Needlepaw, watch out!” he called, then realized that long tendrils were tethering the horses in place. Thank StarClan! There’s no way they can get at us!

Needlepaw ran into one of the empty sections, then popped her head out and beckoned Alderpaw with a flick of her ears.

“Come on, mouse-brain!”

Alderpaw followed her. Inside the section, the barn floor was covered by dry stalks that reminded him of the yellow-brown plants in the field. A warm animal smell filled the air; the scent of horses was strongest, but Alderpaw detected mice too.

“Why did you come in here?” he asked Needlepaw, anger still surging inside him.

“Haven’t you learned anything? Twolegs are dangerous!”

Needlepaw settled down among the spiky stalks and began to groom herself. “I’d never want to live with Twolegs,” she mewed between strokes of her tongue, “but they do have nice warm dens, and loads of food. Would you really rather be outside in the rain right now?”

Listening to the rain battering down on the roof, Alderpaw had to admit that the annoying she-cat had a point. Letting out a sigh, he sank down into the stalks beside her.

“We can leave when the rain stops,” Needlepaw pointed out. “For now, we’ve got a safe place to rest and plenty of mice to eat.”

Abandoning her grooming, she sprang to her paws and dived into a heap of stalks.

Heartbeats later she emerged again with bits of the stalks all over her fur and the body of a plump mouse gripped firmly in her jaws.

“This is for you,” she meowed, dropping the prey in front of Alderpaw. “Just to say sorry for not listening to you out in the rain.”

When did Needlepaw ever listen to any cat? Alderpaw reflected, shaking his head.

“Thanks,” he told her, and sank his teeth into the warm prey.

Needlepaw caught another mouse for herself and settled down to eat it beside

Alderpaw. Gradually Alderpaw managed to relax. The warmth, his full belly, and the repetitive sound of the rain outside soon lulled him into sleep.

“It’s good to see you.”

Alderpaw opened his eyes, aware at first of the glimmer of starlight on the surface of a pool and the soft plashing of water. Leaping to his paws, his heart beating wildly, he realized that he was standing beside the Moonpool.

Sandstorm stood beside him, her pale ginger pelt glowing with a frosty light and the sparkle of stars at her paws. She was purring, and her green eyes shone with love for Alderpaw.

“Sandstorm!” Alderpaw breathed out. “I’m so happy to see you.”

As Sandstorm bent her head to touch her nose to his ear, Alderpaw couldn’t help turning away.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sandstorm told him gently, as if she could hear his thoughts. “It was my time to go. I sensed when I decided to go with you to search for SkyClan that I might not survive the journey. You know,” she added, her voice growing softer, “I never wanted to spend my last days as an elder, sitting around in camp. I wanted to die doing something important… and your quest gave me the chance to relive a special memory with Firestar.”

“Are you and Firestar together now, in StarClan?” Alderpaw asked.

“Yes, we are,” Sandstorm purred. She sat down at the edge of the Moonpool and beckoned with her tail for Alderpaw to join her.

“Now,” she continued, “tell me how your journey has gone. What have you learned?”

Frustration welled up inside Alderpaw. “It’s been terrible!” he burst out. “I don’t think I’ve learned anything at all.”

When Sandstorm only waited, her green gaze fixed on him, he began to pour out the story of everything that had happened since she died: finding Darktail and his cats in the gorge; discovering that they weren’t the real SkyClan, and that SkyClan had been driven out; trying to decide what to do, then escaping from the camp and being washed downriver with Needlepaw.

“Please tell me what to do now!” he finished.

When Sandstorm did not respond, Alderpaw let his head droop wretchedly. “I know I’ve made a complete mess of everything.”

“How?” Sandstorm asked.

Alderpaw thought that was obvious. “I didn’t get there in time! If we were meant to save SkyClan to ‘clear the sky,’ now no cat can do that. I led every cat on this quest into great danger, and what have we accomplished?

Nothing! I’ve failed.”

Unable even to look at Sandstorm anymore, he let out a despairing whimper. A moment later, he felt her nuzzle his neck, and a sense of comfort spread through his whole body. He managed to look up.

“Do you know the difference between you and Sparkpaw?” Sandstorm asked.

Alderpaw couldn’t see the point of the question. “What?”

“Sparkpaw believes she’s solved every problem,” Sandstorm replied, affection glimmering in her eyes. “And you believe you’ve caused every problem. You’re two sides of the same leaf. But you haven’t caused this problem,” she went on. “You have not failed.

And it is not too late to fulfill the quest. It will merely require a different path.”

“What do you mean?” Alderpaw asked, but even as he spoke the words, he felt himself being shaken. The starshine on the surface of the Moonpool began to fade, and Sandstorm’s shape faded with it. “Wait!” Alderpaw exclaimed in alarm. “What different path?”