Outcast

He angled his ears, trying to pick up more interesting snippets of conversation, but all he could hear was Crowfeather telling Breezepaw about the best way to catch prey in the mountains. The two WindClan cats were padding side by side a few tail-lengths from the rest; Jaypaw could feel Breezepaw’s resentment at being forced to come on the journey. I don’t think he and his father even like each other, Jaypaw decided.

“Hey, look!” Lionpaw exclaimed. “Bet you I can catch that butterfly!”

“Bet you can’t,” Hollypaw returned.

“Just watch!” Lionpaw took off in an enormous leap, then crashed back to the forest floor.

“Missed it!” Hollypaw let out a mrrow of laughter. “Told you!”

Jaypaw heard heavier paw steps in the bracken and his mother’s scent drifted over him.

“Just what do you three think you’re doing?” she scolded them. “Are you kits, let out of camp for the first time? This is a serious journey, and you need to save your strength. You’ll need it later.”

“Sorry,” Lionpaw muttered.

Jaypaw drew his lips back in the beginning of a snarl as he imagined Breezepaw’s smug expression; he knew the WindClan apprentice was listening.

If he says one word, I’ll claw his ear off!

But Breezepaw had the sense to keep his jaws shut.

Soon Jaypaw began to pick up the clean scent of water.

Stronger sunlight on his pelt told him they had left the shelter of the trees. He realized they had emerged beside the lake, and for a moment his paws itched to search for the stick with the marks Rock had made. But he couldn’t carry the stick all the way to the mountains.

I’ll have to leave it behind. But I’m not leaving you behind, Rock. When I get to the mountains, I know I’ll find you there.

“We’re near the WindClan border,” Hollypaw whispered into his ear. “We have to cross the stream.”

For a couple of heartbeats Jaypaw froze, remembering the smothering water in the tunnels. He hated getting his paws wet!

Lionpaw butted him gently in the shoulder. “It’ll be okay.

The water’s really shallow.”

Jaypaw bit back an indignant retort, though it was really himself he was angry with. Would he always have to fight this terror of drowning?

He could hear splashing as the other cats crossed the stream. Hollypaw guided him to the bank with her tail across his shoulders. Jaypaw tensed when he felt the current swirling around his paws. The stream bed shelved down until the water brushed his belly fur. He could feel Hollypaw and Lionpaw close on either side; Lionpaw murmured, “This way a bit; there’s a deeper place just there.” Then the stream grew shallower again, and Jaypaw could scramble up the bank on the other side. He halted a tail-length away and shook himself to hide his tremors of relief.

“Hey, do you mind?” Breezepaw’s unfriendly voice came from just behind him. “You’re making my fur wet!”

“Sor-ree,” Jaypaw muttered.

The cats continued along the lakeshore, across WindClan territory and past the horseplace. Jaypaw could just pick up the scent of the horseplace cats beneath the overwhelming scent of horse, but neither Smoky nor Floss appeared to greet them. He pricked his ears at distant barking and decided that the dog who lived near the horseplace was too far away to be a nuisance.

Once past the horseplace, Brambleclaw led the way uphill.

Jaypaw’s paws tingled as he realized he was setting them down on unfamiliar ground. This was the real beginning of the adventure! The scents of home were fading behind him, and a stiff breeze brought new scents to him, wild and strange. His paws faltered briefly. Stupid cat! he berated himself. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? He felt his littermates’ pelts touching his on either side, and sensed that they too were daunted by the unknown path where they had set their paws.

The ground underfoot was growing wetter and more uneven. Jaypaw brushed past a clump of reeds and heard a splash accompanied by a strong scent of frog. A moment later, one of his paws slipped on a tussock of wet grass and water surged over his hindquarters.

“Fox dung!” he spat, clawing with his forepaws to heave himself out again.

“Are you okay?” Lionpaw asked.

“Fine.” Jaypaw spoke through gritted teeth.

Just beyond his brother, he heard Talon murmur to Night, “This is crazy. Taking a blind to-be all the way to the mountains!”

“I know,” Night replied. “He’ll never keep up.”

A sharp retort bubbled up inside Jaypaw, but before he could speak he felt his mother’s tail laid firmly over his mouth. “Jaypaw will manage just fine,” she meowed. “He’s as good at tackling new territory as any cat. Have you never put a paw in the wrong place, Talon?” she added.

When the big Tribe tabby didn’t reply, she moved her tail from Jaypaw’s mouth to his shoulder. “Come this way. It’s drier over here.”