Outcast

“Coming!” Jaypaw called back. He whisked around the bramble screen, then turned back to ask Leafpool, “Aren’t you coming to say good-bye?”

Leafpool let out a long sigh. Tension was crackling off her like a storm in greenleaf. “I—I’ve said it already,” she murmured.

“Okay. Good-bye then.” Jaypaw knew he should leave, but something held his paws back. He found Leafpool incredibly annoying when she fussed, but he couldn’t ignore her feelings of misery, even if he didn’t understand them. He darted across to her and buried his nose in the fur on her shoulder.

“Good-bye. I’ll have lots to tell you when I get back.”

“Good-bye, Jaypaw.” Leafpool’s voice quivered. He felt her tongue rasp over his ear. “Take care.”

“Jaypaw!” Brambleclaw’s voice came again from the clearing.

“Gotta go,” Jaypaw meowed, dashing out past the brambles with a sigh of relief to be away from Leafpool’s strange intensity. As he emerged he smelled Squirrelflight’s scent and felt her pelt brush his as she slipped into the medicine cat’s den to talk to her sister.

I hope she knows what’s going on, because I sure don’t, Jaypaw thought.

The cats who were leaving had gathered together in the middle of the stone hollow. Jaypaw found Hollypaw and Lionpaw and bounded over to stand beside them.

“What kept you?” Hollypaw asked. “We’re all waiting.”

“I’m here now,” Jaypaw retorted. “And I’ve got stuff to tell you two.”

The chilly air of dawn had vanished as the sun rose. Jaypaw could feel the beams slicing down through the trees, falling across his pelt. It was a perfect morning to travel: cool and clear, with warm sunshine later on.

He heard rustling from the warriors’ den as several of his Clanmates emerged to see the travelers off. There was a rapid patter of paws from the apprentices’ den, and Jaypaw heard Icepaw mew, “It’s not fair! I want to go too.”

“Maybe your turn will come another time,” Whitewing told her kindly.

The sound of a huge yawn came close to Jaypaw’s ear, and Cloudtail’s scent wafted over him. “Why don’t you get moving?” he mumbled. “Then every cat can get a bit more sleep.”

“No chance.” Dustpelt spoke sharply nearby. “You’re coming with me and Sandstorm on the dawn patrol.”

“Mouse dung!” Cloudtail muttered.

Jaypaw picked up Firestar’s scent and heard his paw steps as he padded across to join the traveling cats. Graystripe was just behind him; Jaypaw could picture the gray warrior standing at his leader’s shoulder with a glow in his amber eyes.

As if he’s deputy already!

“Farewell, all of you,” Firestar meowed. “May StarClan light your path—and may you all come home safe.”

A sudden tension sprang up between the departing cats, as if Clan warriors and Tribe cats were facing one another, gathering their courage for the first paw steps of their journey.

Squirrelflight had returned, slipping up to Brambleclaw’s side.

“Ready?” Brambleclaw asked.

“Yes, ready,” Stormfur replied.

Jaypaw stood still and let all the scents and sounds of the stone hollow—the herbs from the den he had just left, the milky scents of the nursery and the dusty smell of the ground, the voices of his Clanmates and the rustle of wind in the trees—soak into his pelt.

What if I never come back? StarClan would have warned me, wouldn’t they? Isn’t that something they do, tell cats when they’re going to die?

“Jaypaw!” Hollypaw’s voice sounded from the thorn tunnel. “Wake up! Every cat is leaving.”

Jaypaw jumped. Dashing across the clearing, he followed his sister into the tunnel and out into the forest.

Chapter 14

Jaypaw could feel dappled sunlight and shade on his pelt as he padded beneath the trees. Lionpaw flanked him on one side, while Hollypaw bounded ahead for a few paw steps, then returned to join her littermates. The air was full of birdsong and the rustling of leaves, and the scents of prey were sharp in the undergrowth.

The three apprentices brought up the rear of the group of traveling cats. Brambleclaw had taken the lead, with Stormfur and Brook, closely followed by Talon and Night. Just ahead of Jaypaw he could scent Squirrelflight and Tawnypelt.

“…and Tigerkit has already learned the hunter’s crouch,” Tawnypelt was meowing. “But I think Dawnkit will be the best fighter, if only she listens to what her mentor tells her once she’s apprenticed. Right now she doesn’t listen to any cat.”

“All kits can be deaf when they choose,” Squirrelflight told her. “They’ll grow into fine warriors, you’ll see.”

Kits! Jaypaw thought. Boring!