The Apprentice's Quest (16 page)

Eventually they came to a hollow edged by thick holly bushes. There was a small pool of water at the bottom, and all the cats, sore-pawed by now, limped down the slope and lapped gratefully at the water.

“This is as good a place as any to make camp,” Sandstorm meowed. “Alderpaw, you and I will collect bedding while the rest of you hunt.”

Alderpaw felt a pang of regret that he would never be chosen to join the hunters, but quickly set to work collecting leaves, moss, and ferns to make a nest for his Clanmates to share in the shelter of a bush. It was ready, soft and comfortable, by the time the moon had risen and the others returned with a couple of thrushes and several shrews.

“Good night,” Sparkpaw yawned when she had gulped down her share of the prey. “Maybe we'll find this shadowy thing tomorrow.”

“Oh, no,” Sandstorm responded sleepily. “There's a long way to go yet.”

Alderpaw burrowed down into the nest with Sparkpaw by his side.

He was almost asleep when he heard the crunching of leaves coming from somewhere among the bushes. He sat up, instantly alert, to see that Sandstorm had heard it, too, while the other three cats were still struggling to their paws. As the crunching sound continued, Alderpaw thought that he could distinguish paw steps.

Sandstorm signaled with her tail for the others to stay where they were. “I'll check it out,” she whispered.

As cautiously as if she were stalking a mouse, Sandstorm crept out of the nest and headed toward the bushes. She had almost reached them when the night air was split by a ferocious growl.

A strong reek flooded over Alderpaw, and he let out a yowl of fear as a shape hurtled out of the bushes and lunged at Sandstorm. Alderpaw caught the flash of teeth and claws, the gleam of malignant eyes.

“StarClan, no!” Sparkpaw wailed. “I think that's a fox!”

Alderpaw couldn't believe how fast the
fox was. He watched, stunned, as its wiry body leaped through the air and landed on Sandstorm, its pointed snout burying itself in her fur as its gnashing teeth sank into her shoulder. Sandstorm let out a shrill yowl of pain.

Shaking off his shock, Alderpaw raced forward and flung himself on top of the fox. Snarling, it turned and reared up, throwing Alderpaw off its back. Free of its jaws, Sandstorm rolled away, looking dazed. Blood was pouring from the wound in her shoulder.

“Get out of this!” Alderpaw called to her. “It's too dangerous—you're hurt!”

Sandstorm hesitated, sliding out her claws, then reluctantly started dragging herself off to one side.

Alderpaw darted toward the fox again, scoring his claws down its side, then leaping back out of range as it snapped at him.
Where are the others?
he thought. He gazed around, and his heart pounded even harder as he saw a second fox attacking his other Clanmates, who were defending themselves desperately.
They won't be able to help me,
Alderpaw realized, his terror
mounting. The night air was full of snarls and yowling and the reek of blood.

Alderpaw's fox swiped at his face, and he barely managed to duck in time to avoid the blow. The fox lunged at him again; leaping backward, Alderpaw crashed into something hard, and he realized that he was trapped against the trunk of a tree.

The fox growled, claws raking at the ground in front of it. Alderpaw tried to hiss at it in defiance, but the sound came out weak and unthreatening.
I wouldn't even frighten a kit!

Alderpaw braced himself as the fox crouched to spring. But before it could move, a high-pitched cry rang out. In the moonlight Alderpaw saw a whirlwind of fur fly out of the bushes and land right on the fox's back.

The fox let out a fearsome screech and thrashed back and forth, trying to dislodge the ball of fur from its back. But the furball had dug its claws in and managed to cling on.

It's a she-cat,
Alderpaw realized.
Great StarClan, she's brave! But she's no match for a fox.

There was no time to wonder who the strange cat was. Throwing himself back into the fight, Alderpaw tried to get his claws into the fox's throat, but his grip gave way as it shook its head violently. Then he realized that Sparkpaw had joined him, fighting fiercely by his side, slashing at the fox's shoulder, then darting back out of range.

“Swipe at its eye!” the cat on the fox's back called out. “Go for its hind leg!”

The strange cat's voice sounded oddly familiar to Alderpaw,
but he had no time to think about that, and in the fitful moonlight he couldn't see her clearly.

“Whatever you do, don't let go!” Sparkpaw gasped to her.

“I wasn't planning to!” The strange cat raked her claws along the fox's back, while Alderpaw and Sparkpaw kept on attacking from the side, trying to throw the fox off balance.

At last the creature screeched and, with a massive shake, hurled the strange cat off; she went sprawling in a patch of fern. Alderpaw dashed between her and the fox, ready to defend her, but the fox had clearly had enough. It turned tail and ran, while Cherryfall and Molewhisker drove the second fox after it.

For a few heartbeats all the cats stood still, their chests heaving as they fought for breath. Sandstorm was the first to speak. “Is every cat okay?”

“I'm fine,” Alderpaw responded.

“I banged my shoulder on the ground,” Molewhisker mewed. “I think it'll be stiff tomorrow, but it's not serious.”

“I've just lost a bit of fur,” Cherryfall added.

Alderpaw began sniffing Sparkpaw all over to make sure she was unhurt, though she wriggled under his questing nose. “Honestly, Alderpaw, I'm okay.”

“So am I.” The voice of the strange cat came from behind Alderpaw, and he turned to see her emerging from the clump of ferns where she had fallen.

“Thanks for your help,” he meowed, and the other cats joined in a chorus of agreement. “I think the fox would have gotten me if it weren't for—”

Just then the moon came out from behind a cloud, and Alderpaw got a good look at the strange cat for the first time. “Needlepaw!” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Needlepaw strolled into the midst of the group of cats and gazed around at them calmly. “Saving you from foxes,” she replied.

“But . . . aren't you a ShadowClan apprentice?” Cherryfall asked. “Where's your mentor? What are you doing so far away from home?”

Clearly annoyed at being questioned, Needlepaw gave a defiant flick of her tail. “I was exploring on WindClan territory when I saw you all heading out,” she replied. “I was sure it had something to do with the prophecy, so I followed you.”

“You're not supposed to be wandering around without your mentor,” Sandstorm scolded her. Her voice was tight with pain from her wound, and Alderpaw knew she needed rest and treatment, not an argument with this ShadowClan cat. “And you're not supposed to be exploring on WindClan territory.”

“I wasn't hunting!” Needlepaw retorted. “And I . . .”

Her voice faded to silence at Sandstorm's green glare. “You're certainly not supposed to leave Clan territory by yourself, without permission from your Clan leader,” Sandstorm went on. “Don't you realize how dangerous it is, being out here alone? You're going to be in a lot of trouble with Rowanstar when you get back.”

Needlepaw returned her glare defiantly but kept her jaws clamped shut.

“Did you really follow us across the Thunderpath?” Molewhisker asked curiously. “It's very dangerous.”

“Of course I did.” Needlepaw's voice was scornful. “Thunderpaths are no big deal. I'm not afraid of monsters!”

Alderpaw wondered whether she really meant that, or whether she was just saying it to make herself look tough.
Thunderpaths are terrifying!

“Then you're a mouse-brain,” Molewhisker told her caustically.

“I can take care of myself,” Needlepaw retorted. “Which is more than I can say for the rest of you. Obviously you need my help. I just saved you!”

“You maybe
helped
save us,” Sparkpaw pointed out, her tail-tip flicking to and fro in irritation. “But you only
helped
.”

Needlepaw ignored her. “I'm coming with you now,” she announced.

Cherryfall and Molewhisker exchanged an incredulous glance. “No way!” Cherryfall exclaimed.

“Exactly.” Sandstorm's voice was brusque. “You should go back to your own territory.”

“I'm staying, and you can't stop me,” Needlepaw meowed, quite undeterred. “I know you're going to look for the thing in the shadows that the prophecy spoke about. And there's no way I'm going to let you find it just for ThunderClan. Who's to say ShadowClan can't have some of that destiny, too?” Her gaze traveled around the group of cats, and her voice grew urgent; Alderpaw sensed that her desperation was about more than seeking what lies in the shadows. “If I can do anything to
help the sky clear for my Clan, then I have to do it.”

Alderpaw felt a pang of sympathy for Needlepaw.
If I were in her place, I'd want to make sure the sky cleared for ThunderClan, too.
But he was taken aback when Needlepaw swung around and spoke to him directly.

“Alderpaw, you're a medicine cat. You know about this stuff. What do you think?” Her voice softened into a persuasive purr. “
Please
let me come.”

Alderpaw felt good to be asked, to know he had this cat's respect. He knew he shouldn't like Needlepaw as much as he did.
She's from another Clan, and she breaks rules all the time, and she's rude about senior warriors . . . but she's fun, and different, and she's really good at hunting and fighting. And she always says exactly what she thinks.

“I . . . uh . . . I don't know,” he stammered uncomfortably. “I'm not sure I—”

“This
is
Alderpaw's quest,” Sandstorm broke in, to Alderpaw's relief. “But even so, he cannot make this decision alone. We must discuss it . . . in private,” she finished with a stern glare at Needlepaw.

“Sure,” Needlepaw mewed, pausing before she gave one paw a nonchalant lick.

She's not
really
casual about this,
Alderpaw realized.
She'd never admit it, but she's worried about what we'll decide.

The ThunderClan cats padded off into the shelter of a clump of trees at the edge of the hollow. Alderpaw noticed that Sandstorm was limping, and the wound in her shoulder was still bleeding.

“Are you okay, Sandstorm?” he asked. “I ought to take a look at that wound.”

“I'll be fine,” Sandstorm responded with a dismissive twitch of her whiskers.

But Alderpaw wasn't satisfied. “Give the wound a good lick to clean it,” he told Sandstorm as soon as they were settled under the trees. “Sparkpaw, find me some cobweb.”

“Ooh, bossy medicine cat!” Sparkpaw exclaimed. “Have you been taking politeness lessons from Jayfeather?” But she started sniffing around in the undergrowth and soon came back with a pawful of cobweb.

By this time Sandstorm had cleaned her wound. Alderpaw examined it thoroughly, glad to see that the bleeding had slowed to a trickle.

“This is all very well,” Sandstorm meowed as Alderpaw fixed the cobweb in place, “but what are we going to do about Needlepaw? I don't like the thought of her tagging along with us, but she's too young to be out on her own, and we can't just send her back to her own territory without any cat to look after her. It's not safe!”

“I think you're right,” Cherryfall agreed.

Molewhisker lashed his tail angrily. “The nosy little cat got herself into this mess,” he growled, “and she should get herself out of it! Cheeky ShadowClan apprentices are
not
our problem!”

“Well,” Alderpaw began, feeling shy about contradicting a senior warrior, “her nosiness
did
come in handy when the foxes attacked us.”

Molewhisker grunted. “I suppose so.”

“We would have fought the foxes off eventually,” Sparkpaw meowed. “We don't need Needlepaw.”

“This is getting us nowhere,” Sandstorm sighed. “Alderpaw, Needlepaw was right about one thing: it's your quest. What do you think?”

“I don't agree with Molewhisker and Sparkpaw,” Alderpaw admitted, even though he was reluctant to go against his former mentor, and his sister. “I think Needlepaw should come with us. If we try to send her back,” he added, “she's just going to ignore us and follow us anyway.”

“Maybe,” Molewhisker snorted, “but that's no reason to
welcome
her.”

“Okay,” Sandstorm mewed, “since we can't agree, I'll make the final decision. Needlepaw will come with us.”

Sparkpaw and Molewhisker exchanged a disappointed look.

“Fine!” Sparkpaw snapped. “But there's no way we're telling her what this quest is
really
about, right?”

Alderpaw couldn't meet his littermate's gaze.
Even my own Clanmates don't know what the quest is
really
about!

Sandstorm caught his eye. “No, we won't tell her that,” she murmured.

Rising to their paws, the ThunderClan cats padded back into the hollow to tell Needlepaw their decision. On the way, Alderpaw could hear Cherryfall and Molewhisker muttering just behind him.

“That cat is going to be in a
lot
of trouble once she gets back
to her own territory,” Molewhisker grumbled.

“But that's not our problem,” Cherryfall responded. “It's hers!”

While they were away, Needlepaw had obviously been grooming herself, and her sleek silver pelt shone in the growing light of dawn. Alderpaw, still covered in dust and bits of debris from the fox fight, felt very scruffy by contrast.

“We've decided to let you join us,” Sandstorm announced.