Outcast

The gray she-cat dipped her head and stretched out one paw. The gesture surprised Lionpaw, though he had to admit it looked polite. “I am Pebble That Rolls Down Mountain,” she told them, “and this annoying furball is my brother, Screech of Angry Owl.”

Screech curled his lip at his sister, before extending his paw in the same polite gesture. Lionpaw dipped his head in return, hoping the Tribe to-bes wouldn’t think he and the others hadn’t been mentored properly.

“I’m Splash When Fish Leaps,” a small tabby she-cat added, bouncing up with her stubby tail sticking straight up.

The other to-bes hung back, giving the newcomers doubtful looks.

“You’ve come a long way,” Pebble commented. “I’ve never scented cats like you before.”

Hollypaw began to tell the story of how Talon and Night had come to fetch them, but before she had reached the start of their journey she was interrupted by the prey-hunters, who padded over carrying pieces of the eagle in their jaws.

“There.” Gray dropped his prey in front of the to-bes.

“Plenty for all of you.”

“Thanks.” Screech swiped his tongue around his lips.

“This’ll be the first decent meal we’ve had in ages,” he added quietly to the visitors.

“The intruders take all our prey,” Pebble explained sadly.

“They watched us to see how we hunt, and now they’ve learned to do it themselves. There aren’t enough eagles to go around.”

“Wait till I’m a prey-hunter,” Screech boasted. “I’ll soon find enough prey to feed all the Tribe.”

“Yes, when eagles learn to talk!” his sister snapped.

Lionpaw was afraid they would all have to wait to eat until the brother and sister had finished arguing. “It seems really strange to us,” he began, hoping to distract them. “We don’t split up the duties like that. We all hunt and fight.”

“It can’t come naturally to you,” Splash mewed. “Learning all that must be really tough.”

“It is,” Hollypaw agreed, to Lionpaw’s surprise. “But it’s fun, too.”

“Stoneteller chooses what we’ll be,” Pebble told her. “Kits who look big and strong get to be cave-guards, and ones that look like they’ll run fast and leap high become prey-hunters.

I’m going to be a cave-guard.”

Yes, fine, but when do we get to eat? Lionpaw’s belly was yowling in protest. He knew all this stuff anyway, from what Brook had told them back in ThunderClan territory.

To his relief, Pebble and the other to-bes began dividing up the fresh-kill. The Tribe to-bes split into pairs; each cat took a bite out of its own piece of prey, then exchanged the food with its partner.

“Maybe we’d better do that,” Hollypaw whispered. “Or they’ll think we’re really rude.”

“Okay,” Lionpaw mewed. “You share with Jaypaw, I’ll have Breezepaw’s piece.”

“Do what?” Jaypaw asked irritably. “Prey’s prey. Let’s eat.”

Hollypaw crouched close to Jaypaw’s ear to explain to him what was happening, while Lionpaw tried not to make a face at the thought of eating prey that Breezepaw had bitten into.

“Why’s she telling your brother what to do?” Pebble asked, raising her head from the fresh-kill she was devouring. “Why can’t he just copy us?”

Lionpaw glanced uneasily at his brother, knowing how much Jaypaw hated it when cats talked about him as if he weren’t there. “Well, because he’s blind.”

Pebble’s eyes stretched wide. “Wow, that’s really weird.”

“How does he manage?” Screech asked curiously. “Do you have to lead him around by the tail?”

Lionpaw saw his brother’s ears flatten. His jaws opened for a stinging retort, but Hollypaw slapped her tail across his muzzle. Jaypaw furiously spat out a mouthful of fur.

“He may be blind, but he’s not deaf,” Lionpaw meowed, feeling annoyed for his brother but not wanting to start a quarrel. “And he manages just fine. Haven’t you ever seen a blind cat before?”

“No,” Pebble replied, as if Lionpaw was foolish even to ask.

“How can your Clan ever let him out on his own?”

Lionpaw saw what she meant and shuddered. A blind cat wouldn’t last long in this rocky place. Even if it managed to avoid an eagle’s talons, it would probably fall over a precipice.

“Jaypaw’s training to be a medicine cat,” Hollypaw put in, a touch of defensiveness in her tone.

Pebble looked even more astonished at that, and most of the other to-bes pricked up their ears to listen.

“That’s impossible!” Splash exclaimed. “How could a blind cat lead your Clan?”

What? Lionpaw exchanged a glance with Hollypaw. “He won’t be leader.”

“But you… oh, I see!” The puzzled look in Pebble’s eyes cleared. “In the Tribe Stoneteller is our Healer. And he picks out the cat who will be Healer after him. But I suppose you do things differently.”

“We have a leader and a medicine cat,” Breezepaw explained, in a superior tone.

“Weird…” murmured Screech.