Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (31 page)

“
Smallthorn became Newthorn’s mate because he loved her. Yes, there is a chance that one, or even both of them, will die, but they don’t care. All that matters to them is that they are able to spend their lives together, however short a time that may be. Now, what is the second outcome?”

The second outcome was, of course, that Blaze would be turned back into a human, and return to his life as Jeremy Lander, leaving Icefire and all its inhabitants behind forever. He couldn’t tell Gnaw that, though.

“
Nothing, never mind,” Blaze said.

“
Blaze, I may not be as close to you as Smallthorn is, but I still consider myself your friend. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“
Not this, Gnaw. I’m sorry.”

Gnaw got a serious look in his eyes then, “Saloli don’t keep secrets from their tribemates. That isn’t just in Icefire either, it goes for all the tribes. How could we trust each other if we were all hiding something from everyone else?”

“
I know that, but please, let me keep this one.”

“
Blaze, do you have any idea how important you are to this tribe?” Gnaw asked, “Everyone looks up to you for what you’ve done, even Rust himself. If you were to turn on us, the damage it would do would be irreparable. Icefire would never be the same.”

Blaze was amazed that the tough, old saloli was opening up to him so much. Normally, the head trainer was reserved, only showing his feelings when it was absolutely necessary. Touched by this, Blaze felt he needed to comfort his friend somehow.

“
Gnaw, I understand your concern,” he said, “but if you never believe another word I say, trust me on this. I will
never
betray Icefire. I would rather kill myself than follow Razor’s pawprints.”

Gnaw looked Blaze in the eye. The red saloli was astonished to see that tears were welling up in them, though he quickly blinked them away. Suddenly, Blaze understood just how important he was to Gnaw, and, if he was to be believed, the entire tribe. “I trust you Blaze,” the trainer said, “I believe that if anyone can help this tribe, it’s you.”

With that, Gnaw turned back to the direction they were heading, and continued the patrol, not another word passing between them the entire time. As he followed, Blaze could only think of how much he wished he could stop hiding things from his friends.

<><><><><>

The morning following the talk he had had with Gnaw, Blaze quickly made his way through the forest, heading for the Acorn Place, Scratch not three pawsteps behind. Blaze had not forgotten his agreement with Smallthorn to test their trainee’s against each other. Because of recent events, neither had taken them out for two days, and Blaze hoped his friend had not forgotten. Finally, they came to the clearing.

“
What are we doing today, Blaze?” Scratch asked. Ever since the talk he had had with his trainer, Scratch had actually seemed eager to learn. It made Blaze happy to see his trainee beginning to accept, and even embrace, what Icefire saloli prided themselves for.

“
You’re going to take a special test today,” Blaze informed his student, “first, we have to wait for someone to get here.”

“
Who?” Scratch inquired, just as a bush on the other side of the Acorn Place rustled. Smallthorn came out of it, followed closely by Ink.

“
Glad you could make it.” Blaze called to his friend, “How’s Newthorn?”

“
She hasn’t shown any signs of illness yet,” Smallthorn said, “Faith says that if the poison was dangerous, it would have taken effect already. She’s still having her stay in her tree for another few days, though, just in case.”

“
Good. Well then, want to get started?”

“
Ready when you are.”

Blaze turned to face his trainee, “Scratch, today I’m going to test your fighting skills against someone other than myself. You will fight Ink to the best of your ability. You don’t have to win, just do your best.”

“
I have to fight Ink?” Scratch asked, horrified.

“
I have to fight Scratch?” Ink echoed.

“
I can’t fight her, she’s my sister!” Scratch said.

“
And he’s my brother!” Ink confirmed.

“
It’s just practice,” Smallthorn comforted them, “it’s not like you’ll be killing each other.”

“
But, she’s my. . .”

“
Scratch, it’ll be fine.” Blaze promised him, “If it gets to be too much, Smallthorn and I will be right here.”

“
I don’t know.” Scratch muttered.

“
Don’t worry, Scratch!” Ink chirped, her fear forgotten, “If Blaze says there’s nothing to worry about, then it’s true!”

“
Well, okay.” Scratch agreed, still unsure of the idea.

“
Take the battle stance,” Blaze ordered. The two young saloli faced each other and put themselves into fighting positions.

“
Remember,” Smallthorn instructed, “try to read your opponent’s movements to predict what they will do next. If one strategy doesn’t work, switch to another one before they take advantage of it. And, most importantly, this is only training. Do
not
use your claws.”

“
Are you ready?” Blaze asked them.

“
Yes,” they both said in unison.

“
Begin!”

Ink immediately launched herself at her brother. It was an easy attack to dodge, and Blaze smiled as Scratch leapt nimbly to the side, sending his sister flying past him. She quickly turned to lash out with her paw, but didn’t get the chance as Scratch slammed his side into her, bringing her to the ground. He tried to get on top of her to prevent her from getting up again, but she kicked out with her back legs, catching him in the stomach and forcing the air out of him for a moment. Ink took advantage of this and struck Scratch on the side of the head with her paw, claws sheathed.

“
Did you know about those two being siblings?” Smallthorn asked, taking his eyes off of the fight for a moment.

“
No,” Blaze responded, “did you?”

“
No, Ink may be a chatterbox, but she never talks about her family. I wonder why?”

“
Should we ask them?”

“
No,” Smallthorn decided, “If they want us to know, they’ll tell us. It’s our job to prepare them for tribe life, not interrogate them about their families.”

Blaze decided that Smallthorn was probably right. He knew more about family problems than most saloli. On the other hand, Blaze knew a lot about hiding his past, too. Turning his attention back to the fight, Blaze saw that Scratch was incorporating all of the skills he had learned to good effect. Ink was no weakling, though, and was still putting up a good fight. She stood on her hind legs and began swatting her brother’s head repeatedly. Scratch charged forward and headbutted her in the stomach, knocking her over backwards. She scrambled back to her paws, but Scratch was ready for her. Rearing back on his hind legs as she had done, Scratch allowed himself to fall back down as hard as he could, bringing his front paws down on Ink’s head in the process. She hit the ground once more with a thud.

“
That’s enough!” Blaze ordered, rushing forward to stand between the two trainees.

Ink picked herself up off the ground, slightly dazed by the heavy blow, “Wow, Scratch!” she exclaimed, not upset about losing in the least, “You’re a really good fighter! Did Blaze teach you that move?”

“
Y-yeah,” Scratch responded, embarrassed by her praise.

“
Don’t be so modest,” Blaze said, “I didn’t teach you that move, you taught it to yourself. In fact, more than half of the moves I saw you using weren’t ones that I taught you. You improvised them.”

“
I what?” Scratch asked, confused.

“
It means,” Smallthorn explained, “that you made them up. Do you know what that means about you? It means that you’re a very gifted fighter. Any trainee can copy moves that their mentor shows them, but only a few can make their own. Even less can make ones that are actually effective like yours.”

“
What about me?” Ink asked, eager for the same praise.

“
You’re a good fighter as well,” Blaze told her, “but you need to break away from the set of moves that you’ve been using. If you use the same ones too often, you’ll become predictable, which is a very bad thing for a fighting saloli. Try to master some new moves, or, better yet, try making your own, like Scratch did.”

“
Okay, I can do that!” Ink agreed.

“
I think that’s enough for today,” Smallthorn decided, “Let’s grab some acorns and head back to camp.”

As they gathered food, Blaze noticed that Scratch now had a new spring in his step. He swelled with pride at the thought that he had taught the young saloli confidence he now had. He was glad that Rust had chosen him for this. It was hard, like he had warned it would be, but it was also immeasurably satisfying.

Chapter Twenty

For the next three days, Smallthorn was hardly ever seen out of Faith’s tree. He was devoting every moment that he was not training Ink to being with Newthorn. He had even convinced Blaze to spend some time with her. Faith told them that, if she still showed no signs of illness, she would be allowed to leave the next morning. She would not, however, be permitted to do her normal duties as an Icefire saloli. When asked why, Faith informed them that Newthorn’s due date would fall within the coming week, and the prophet would need easy access to her when the time came.

When he heard this, Smallthorn nearly leapt out of the tree in happiness! Blaze quickly calmed him down and convinced him to climb instead. Filled with joy, the small saloli repeatedly raced from one side of the camp to the other, catching Rust’s attention, who approached him to ask what the matter was. Smallthorn immediately began telling him everything there was to say about his soon-to-be child. While he was doing this, Blaze turned back to Newthorn.

“
I’m sure I can’t imagine just how happy you are right now.” He told her, hoping that the statement wouldn’t, somehow, be translated into an insult.

“
I’ve never been happier!” Newthorn exclaimed, “Springthorn will be the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Or to Smallthorn, for that matter.”

“
I’m happy for you,” Blaze said, realizing just how lame he must sound.

Suddenly, Newthorn’s eyes turned from filled with joy to filled with suspicion, “Are you?” she asked, “I don’t think so.”

“
What?” Blaze asked, caught off guard.

“
I don’t think you’re happy for me at all,” Newthorn explained, “I think you hate every bit of this.”

“
Why would you think that?”

“
I think you’re jealous of all the time Smallthorn is spending with me, and not you.”

“
What are you talking about? I’d be the worst friend in the world if I tried to keep my best friend away from his own mate!”

“
I would be jealous too,” she continued, acting as if she hadn’t heard, “After all, he
is
your best friend. But I don’t need to be jealous, because I have Smallthorn as much as I could ever want!”

“
Exactly, so why are you. . .”

“
But you’re trying to take him away from me!” she accused, “All those long trips out into the forest, claiming he’s training that little brat. I know what’s really going on. He’s out there with you, doing who knows what!”

“
Newthorn, calm down!”

“
He’s using Ink as an excuse to get away from me! You thought I wouldn’t notice, but you were wrong!”