Outcast

included Breezepaw and not Jaypaw. The three apprentices glanced at one another, the argument with Breezepaw forgotten.

“Sure.” Lionpaw nodded. “We’ll be glad to help.”

He touched his tail tip to Jaypaw’s shoulder in farewell as he followed his father across to the to-bes’ part of the cave.

Jaypaw didn’t seem to notice; he was staring at the wall of the cave, lost in thought.

“Every cat, even the prey-hunters, will be trained in basic fighting,” Brambleclaw explained. “But we’ll give the cave-guards the responsibility of border patrols. They’re the strongest cats, and they have some fighting techniques, though they still need battle training.”

“There aren’t any borders yet,” Hollypaw pointed out.

Brambleclaw gave her a friendly flick on the ear with his tail. “There will be soon.”

The to-bes were gathered in a tight cluster in their own part of the cave. They all turned to look at Brambleclaw and the apprentices as they approached.

“Greetings,” Pebble meowed, dipping her head to Brambleclaw and extending a paw.

“Greetings,” Brambleclaw replied. “I think you’ve met Lionpaw, Hollypaw, and Breezepaw. They’re going to give you some training in fighting techniques.”

To Lionpaw’s dismay, none of the to-bes looked pleased at the prospect. They muttered together; Lionpaw caught the words “…only to-bes like us.”

“Splash and I are prey-hunters.” Screech spoke up boldly, flicking his tail at the light brown tabby she-cat beside him.

“We don’t do that stuff.”

“The whole Tribe will be doing ‘that stuff,’” Brambleclaw told him.

“It’s for your own good,” Lionpaw added.

Screech glared at him.

“Come on,” Hollypaw mewed persuasively. “It’ll be fun. And if the intruders attack you, you’ll need to defend yourselves.”

To Lionpaw’s relief, he saw that Pebble and one or two others were looking interested. His paws tingled with anticipation. This would be good practice for when he was a mentor with an apprentice of his own.

Brambleclaw gave an approving nod. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, and I are going to explore the territory and see if we can set the borders.” He turned away, then glanced over his shoulder. “Lionpaw, would you like to come with us? Hollypaw and Breezepaw can handle the training for now.”

For a heartbeat Lionpaw felt disappointed. Then he reminded himself that he had wanted to explore the world beyond the lake, and here was a chance to see more of it.

“Okay,” he mewed, waving his tail in farewell to the others and following Brambleclaw to the cavern entrance.

Tawnypelt and Crowfeather were waiting there, with Talon, Bird, and Gray.

“We’ll come with you,” Talon meowed. “You might need backup if the trespassers are around.”

“Thank you.” Brambleclaw gestured with his tail to let the big cave-guard take the lead.

Lionpaw fell in behind his father to walk the Path of Rushing Water behind the waterfall. With sunlight dazzling through the sheet of foaming water, it didn’t seem as frightening as in twilight the night before. When he emerged into the open he leaped down onto the ground beside the pool and shook drops of water from his pelt. The sky was blue, with a few white clouds scudding across it, driven by a stiff breeze. The sun was just grazing the topmost peaks, bathing the mountain slopes in light. High up, a single bird flew in lazy circles.

“Eagle,” Bird murmured. “We’ll need to keep an eye on it.”

“This way,” Talon mewed. He bounded over to the rocks opposite the pool and clawed his way up until he stood on a flat overhang of stone. Lionpaw and the other cats followed.

Lionpaw stood panting on the edge and looked out across an empty forest of jutting rock. Only a few clumps of green foliage here and there interrupted the vast gray-brown landscape. There was no sign of movement.

“It’s empty.” He crouched to peer down at the rocks below the overhang. “It feels like there’s no cat here but us.”

“Don’t you believe it,” Talon growled, padding up behind him. “The trespassers aren’t as good at hiding as we are, but they’re getting better at it all the time.”

“So you’ll have to get better still,” Brambleclaw mewed briskly. “Then you can fight back.”

Talon gave a doubtful snort and began climbing a steep slope of scree that led to a ridge. When Lionpaw set paw on the shifting stones he thought he would never be able to climb it. For every paw step he took, he felt as if he was slipping back two. He watched the Tribe cats setting their paws sideways on the slope and gradually began to make better progress. At last he was able to haul himself up the last tail-length and stand on the top.

Wind buffeted his pelt and made his eyes water. Blinking, he made out an even wider landscape of jutting crags and narrow valleys, with streams that looked narrow as grass stems weaving their way among the rocks. Far away he could see a blur of green, and he realized that he was looking at the edge of the mountains, perhaps the forest they had crossed on their way.

“I feel like a bird!” he cried.