Эрин Хантер - The Apprentice's Quest

“But Bramblestar isn’t completely sure the prophecy refers to these kits,” Alderpaw pointed out mildly.

“You mean he won’t say,” Sparkpaw responded. She gave an excited bounce, nearly dislodging Twigkit, who let out a squeak of alarm.

“Oops, sorry, Twigkit.

Anyway,” Sparkpaw continued, “the kits totally are what you find in the shadows, and you’d have to be the stupidest furball in the forest not to know it!”

Alderpaw blinked contentedly and let her chatter on as they splashed through the stream and followed Bramblestar and the senior warriors alongside the lake through WindClan territory. It was good to be with Sparkpaw again and to bask in her cheerful confidence, after all the dangers they had suffered.

They were drawing near to the edge of WindClan territory when Alderpaw spotted Onestar and his cats streaming down the hillside and heading around the lake ahead of them, past the horseplace.

“Who are all those cats?” Violetkit asked, sounding nervous.

“Oh, that’s WindClan,” Alderpaw replied.

“Has no cat told you about the Clans?”

Sparkpaw asked. “They should have! Honestly… Well,” she went on, obviously delighted to show off her knowledge to the kits, “there are four Clans around the lake. We’re ThunderClan—we’re the best! Those skinny rabbit-chasers up ahead are WindClan, and then there’s RiverClan and ShadowClan. You’ll meet cats from all of them tonight.”

“Yes, all the Clans meet at the full moon.

It’s called the Gathering,” Alderpaw added. “On that island in the lake—can you see it?” He waved his tail toward the dark bulk of the island.

“I’m scared!” Twigkit mewed. “I don’t want to meet so many cats.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” Sparkpaw told her briskly. “Cats never fight at a

Gathering. In fact, you’re both very lucky. Kits aren’t usually allowed to go to Gatherings.

You’re only here because you’re special.”

“Think what you’ll have to tell Leafkit, Larkkit, and Honeykit when you get home,” Alderpaw meowed. If you get home, he added silently.

Twigkit and Violetkit clung on tightly as Alderpaw and Sparkpaw carried them across the tree-bridge to the island. Pushing through the bushes to reach the clearing around the Great

Oak, Alderpaw saw the open space filled with cats. The scents of the other three Clans hung heavily in the air, and he realized that ThunderClan was the last Clan to arrive.

He and Sparkpaw settled down with the kits in the shelter of a bush at the edge of the clearing, while the kits gazed around with huge eyes.

“I didn’t think there were so many cats in the world!” Violetkit mewed.

Almost at once

Alderpaw spotted Needlepaw at the far side of the clearing beyond the Great Oak. Her eyes widened at the sight of Alderpaw with the kits.

Alderpaw expected her to cross the clearing to meet him, but she didn’t move until a white

ShadowClan tom padded up to her. Needlepaw exchanged a few words with him, then turned her back on Alderpaw and walked away with the tom at her side. Alderpaw lost sight of her in the crowd.

An odd, empty feeling gathered in Alderpaw’s belly. He was happy to be back with his own Clan, especially when his Clanmates were so pleased with him, but he still felt bad about the way Needlepaw had gone home alone without much of a farewell. He was nervous, too, about what she might have told her Clanmates about SkyClan. Part of him wanted to bound across the clearing and find her, but he knew that for now his place was with the kits.

And when the final decision was made about their future, he and Needlepaw would be rivals.

Alderpaw realized that while these thoughts had been passing through his mind, the four leaders had leaped up into the branches of the Great Oak. The deputies had gathered on the roots, while the medicine cats sat nearby.

Gradually silence fell over the cats in the clearing.

“I’ll begin, shall I?” Mistystar began when she had greeted the Clans. “Prey has been plentiful in RiverClan, and—”

She broke off with an annoyed look as Rowanstar interrupted by rising to his paws and pacing to the end of his branch.

“Why are we acting like this is a typical

Gathering?” the ShadowClan leader demanded.

“I know that Bramblestar has news to share—don’t you?” he added, turning to face the ThunderClan leader and giving him a hard stare.

Bramblestar froze for a moment. Alderpaw knew what he must be thinking, and he felt the same flare of panic. Did Needlepaw tell Rowanstar about SkyClan?

“News that might relate to the prophecy?

Maybe about some young cats?” Rowanstar continued, his voice heavily sarcastic. “ Surely you want to tell us all about that.”

Alderpaw drew a long breath of relief. She didn’t give away the secret.

Clearing his throat, Bramblestar rose to his paws. “Yes, there is news,” he meowed, raising his voice so that every cat in the clearing could hear him. “But I’m not sure that it relates to the prophecy.

Our medicine-cat apprentice, Alderpaw, went on a quest to find what lies in the shadows. Sadly, our wise elder Sandstorm died on that quest, and her whole Clan grieves for her. But on his way home, Alderpaw found those two kits”—Bramblestar pointed with his tail—“just outside our territories.”

Alderpaw realized that every cat was staring at him and the two kits with him and Sparkpaw.

He wanted to hide under the nearest bush, but he made himself sit still and meet the curiosity with a calm gaze.

“I don’t think that’s quite right, Bramblestar,” Rowanstar went on. “Don’t you mean that Alderpaw and Needlepaw found the kits, working together? Didn’t Needlepaw save Alderpaw’s life on the quest, helping him to shore when he was drowning?”

Bramblestar dipped his head. “Yes, that’s true. But what was Needlepaw doing there in the first place? Is it normal for ShadowClan apprentices to wander off by themselves?”

“That’s not your concern,” Rowanstar snapped; Alderpaw could see he was embarrassed by the question. “ShadowClan can look after its own apprentices, thank you very much. What’s important is that ThunderClan did not find these kits without help. And what I understand,” he added, twitching his whiskers, “is that the kits were brought to ThunderClan for urgent care from your medicine cats, but that where they would stay permanently would be decided at this meeting.”

Before Bramblestar could respond, Mistystar took a step forward. “I think Onestar and I would appreciate a bit more information,” she mewed politely. “This is the first we’ve heard about this quest.”

“You bet we would,” Onestar growled from where he crouched on a lower branch, hardly more than his eyes visible among the leaves.

“Or is this another case of ThunderClan thinking it can control the whole forest?”

“Not at all,” Bramblestar replied; Alderpaw could tell that he was making an effort to hold on to his temper.

The ThunderClan leader launched into an account of the quest, although he left out any mention of SkyClan. “Sandstorm’s spirit guided Alderpaw to discover the kits,” he finished.

“That makes me think that they must be important for us somehow, even if they’re not ‘what you find in the shadows’ from the prophecy.”

The cats in the clearing broke out into excited speculation and argument. Alderpaw was worried that the noise and curious glances would frighten the kits, but they seemed untroubled by it; they were curled up together, listening to what was going on but clearly not understanding that their future was being decided.

Up in the branches of the Great Oak, the leaders were wrangling too.