Erin Hunter - The Sight

He dug his claws into the earth, refusing to step forward to greet his mentor. He ignored her embarrassment, although he could sense it like holly leaves pricking his pelt. He ignored the encouraging murmurs of the other apprentices.

He ignored Spiderleg’s angry, “Sshh!” which quieted them.

And then he felt a muzzle gently but firmly pushing him forward.

Leafpool’s voice murmured in his ear. “Go on.”

Gritting his teeth, he padded toward Brightheart and Firestar.

“I know it must be hard for you,” Brightheart greeted him sympathetically. “But I promise I will teach you how to protect your Clan even without sight.”

She pitied him! He could hear it in her voice. His anger swelled up again, sending blood pounding through his ears.

“Why bother if you think I’m so useless? Why don’t you just send me off to the elders’ den with Longtail?” he hissed.

Brightheart stiffened. “No cat has said that you’re useless.

And Longtail won’t thank you for being rude about him!” She stepped back from Jaypaw and lifted her chin. “I’ve asked him to help with some of your training.”

Jaykit lashed his tail. Oh, great , he thought. Let’s lump all the useless cats together and hope a tree falls on them!

Firestar stepped between Jaykit and Brightheart. “From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Jaypaw.”

“Jaypaw! Jaypaw! Jaypaw!” Mousepaw’s and Berrypaw’s call rang around the hollow, and the other apprentices joined in loudly.

Jaypaw clawed the ground. You don’t have to try so hard! You’re only doing it because you feel sorry for me!

“Brightheart,” Firestar meowed, “you have never let what happened to you prevent you from being a fine warrior. I can think of no one better than you to teach Jaypaw how best to serve his Clan.”

“I will share with him all I have learned,” Brightheart vowed.

Big deal , Jaypaw thought.

Reluctantly, he forced himself to touch muzzles with Brightheart, accepting her as his mentor. His whiskers brushed the side of her face that had been ravaged when she had been attacked by the dog pack. It felt strange to sense space where other cats had fur and flesh, and he had to suppress a shudder.

The whole Clan raised their voices to cheer the new apprentices. Not me , Jaypaw thought bitterly. There’s not a cat here that thinks I’ll become a great warrior .

When the calls died away Firestar spoke again. “ThunderClan is lucky to have so many apprentices. I hope they will train hard and serve their Clan well.”

“We will!” Lionpaw mewed.

“When can we start training?” Hollypaw asked.

“That’s up to your mentors,” Firestar told her.

“Come on, Lionpaw,” Ashfur meowed. “Let’s find you a nest in the apprentices’ den; then I’ll show you the forest.”

“Right now?” Lionpaw mewed excitedly.

“Why not?”

Hollypaw’s paws pattered on the ground around Leafpool.

“Can we go with Lionpaw when Ashfur shows him our territory?”

“It’s a nice idea, Hollypaw,” Leafpool meowed. “But I need to show you the best herb-gathering places, and I’m sure Ashfur will want to show Lionpaw the boundary markers and the best places for hunting.”

“Oh.” Hollypaw sounded disappointed.

“But first, let’s look at the herb store,” Leafpool suggested, “so you get to know some of the leaves we’ll be looking at in the forest.”

“Okay,” Hollypaw mewed, sounding more cheerful.

As Lionpaw and Hollypaw padded after their mentors, Jaypaw sat down crossly. How come they get real mentors? He felt Brightheart’s tail touch his shoulder. “Come with me,” she meowed.

Sullenly he followed her to a clump of wilting grass that overflowed from a quiet alcove in the rocky camp wall.

“I think it’s best if we start…” Brightheart began.

Jaypaw did not listen to the rest. Instead he let his attention slip until her voice had blended with the sound of the wind swishing through the branches above the hollow. He could hear Lionpaw hurrying after Ashfur, eagerly following his mentor out of the camp and into the forest. Hollypaw’s scent was clear beyond the bramble-draped entrance to the medicine den; Jaypaw could taste the tang of the comfrey she was tearing and laying out to dry.

At least I’m not a medicine cat apprentice. He felt a flicker of gratitude that Hollypaw had taken that role.

He went on scanning the camp. With the sureness he had possessed since his first memory, he knew that Daisy was circling in her nest, preparing for a nap. Mousefur was guiding Longtail back to the elders’ den. He sensed the old she-cat’s longing to be out in the forest; she was in a hunting mood, though her movements were stiff with age. Longtail padded quietly beside her, his limbs still as supple as a warrior’s.

It’s not fair he should live in the elders’ den, Jaypaw thought. He’s not old yet.

Then, like a storm cloud shadowing the hollow, he sensed a darkness sweep over the camp. He pricked his ears, and heard claws scraping the rocky ledge outside Firestar’s den.

He knew by the scent that it was not Firestar who sat up there, flexing his paws. It was Brambleclaw.

Jaypaw knew his father sat up there often, a good deputy keeping watch over his Clan. But now he could sense something cold and uncomfortable, like a murky fog, in Brambleclaw’s mind. He struggled to understand it, groping for the right word.

Suspicion!

Brambleclaw was suspicious of his Clanmates! He was not watching over them, but searching for a cat he feared might betray him. Jaypaw shivered, the fur on his spine lifting. Why would any cat betray Brambleclaw? He was a great deputy.

He blinked, and his thoughts jerked back to Brightheart.

She had jumped to her paws and was obviously waiting for him to say something. He flicked his tail, wondering how he could cover up the fact that he hadn’t been paying attention.

But she had already guessed that he had not been listening to a word.

She snorted impatiently. “We’re going to see Longtail, remember?”

Jaypaw’s heart sank. More pointless advice from a second-rate warrior. “Okay,” he mewed unenthusiastically.

Brightheart sighed. “Come on.”

Dragging his paws, he followed her across the clearing.

At the entrance to the elders’ den, Brightheart called through the spindly branches that brushed the ground around its edge, “It’s Brightheart and Jaypaw!”

“Come in, come in,” Longtail meowed.

Brightheart ducked down under the low branch entrance and padded into the space that ringed the trunk of the honeysuckle bush. Jaypaw followed, keeping his head low, uncertain for once about his surroundings. He had not been in this den before, but he knew by the scent that Longtail was alone.

Mousefur must have gone out into the forest after all.

“Congratulations, Jaypaw!” Longtail purred. “You’ve been given a great mentor.”

“Thank you, Longtail.” Jaypaw heard shyness and pride in Brightheart’s mew.

“Firestar has set you quite a challenge for your first apprentice, Brightheart,” Longtail remarked.

“Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean—” Jaypaw began hotly.

“I wasn’t referring to your blindness,” Longtail interrupted. “I meant your attitude.”

“What’s wrong with my attitude?”

“It’s not many cats who’d try foxhunting before they were even out of the nursery.” There was humor in Longtail’s mew.

Jaypaw bristled. I was only trying to help my Clan! But before he could point this out, Brightheart was issuing orders.