The Apprentice's Quest

Finally the sounds died away and the footsteps retreated. Alderpaw worked his way backward out of the thicket and stood shaking his pelt. He felt as if every thorn in the forest were sticking into him.

Then he noticed that Sparkpaw had emerged and returned to the edge of the clearing to peer through the ferns again.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, creeping up to her side. “Do you want the Twolegs to catch you?”

“It’s okay; they’re leaving,” Sparkpaw replied. “Come and watch. It’s really interesting.”

Curious in spite of himself, Alderpaw parted the fern fronds so that he could see. The three Twoleg kits were climbing into the monster. The adult Twolegs were collecting the leaf wraps from the big flat tree trunk; then they crossed the clearing and dropped them into a Twoleg thing that looked like a rock with a tiny cave at the top.

“That’s food!” Sparkpaw whispered. “I can smell it. But why are they putting it in there?”

“Maybe that’s where Twolegs store food,” Alderpaw suggested. “I expect when they’re hungry they’ll come back for it.”

“No.” Alderpaw jumped to realize that Sandstorm had padded up beside him. “That’s just where Twolegs leave their extra food when they don’t want it anymore.”

“How could they not want it?” Sparkpaw asked. “It smells amazing!”

Alderpaw tasted the air, and his jaws began to water at the delicious scent that flooded over him. He realized how hungry he was.

“Twolegs are very strange,” Molewhisker commented, as he and Cherryfall padded up to join the others.

Alderpaw watched as the two adult Twolegs also got into the monster with their kits. He started as the monster woke up with a ferocious roar, flooding the air with an acrid scent, then swiveled around and moved off, its black paws rolling faster and faster on the black

Thunderpath stuff until it disappeared among the trees.

“Did the monster just eat them?” Sparkpaw asked, her eyes stretched wide with horror.

Sandstorm shook her head. “No, the monsters just let Twolegs ride inside them. I don’t even try to understand it.”

“I told you Twolegs are strange,” Molewhisker mewed. “And that goes for their monsters, too. Mind you,” he added after a moment, “they may be strange, but some of their food is really tasty. I’m not too keen on Twolegs, but it would be mouse-brained to let their food go to waste when it’s right there.”

He waved his tail at the open-topped rock.

The cats glanced at one another.

“I’m not sure… ,” Sandstorm murmured.

“You know that warriors don’t eat kittypet food.”

“It’s not kittypet food,” Cherryfall argued.

“It’s Twoleg food.”

“Well… okay,” Sandstorm agreed reluctantly. “You see if you can get it out of there. I’ll keep watch.”

She stayed by the ferns at the edge of the clearing while Sparkpaw eagerly led the way over to the rock. Alderpaw looked up; there was shiny black stuff poking out of the cave at its top, and its sides were shiny silver with no paw holds.

“How are we going to get in?” Molewhisker asked, sounding as if he didn’t really expect an answer.

Cherryfall tried climbing up, but her paws skidded on the smooth surface of the rock, and she slipped back before she got anywhere near the top. “Mouse dung!” she exclaimed.

“I’ve got an idea!” Sparkpaw’s fur bristled and her tail bushed out with excitement. “Stand back, all of you.”

She trotted back for several fox-lengths, then raced and took a flying leap to the top of the rock, balancing precariously on the cave’s edge.

“Come down!” Cherryfall yowled. “You’ll fall in, and how will we get you out?”

“I’m fine!” Sparkpaw squealed.

She swayed to and fro as she gripped the top edge of the cave with her paws. The rock tilted with her weight and suddenly tipped over.

Sparkpaw leaped to safety as the rock thumped to the ground and masses of Twoleg stuff spilled out of it.

“There you go,” Sparkpaw panted, a smug look on her face. “Easy.”

Molewhisker put his head into the cave, Twoleg leaf wraps crackling under his paws, and emerged with a lump of something in his jaws.

Alderpaw breathed in more of the enticing smell.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Dunno,” Molewhisker mumbled around his prey. “Some kind of bird, I think. Go and get some. There’s plenty.”

Sparkpaw instantly followed, dragging out a huge piece of the bird. “This is so big it must have been an eagle,” she meowed. “I’ll share it with Sandstorm.”

Alderpaw and then Cherryfall ventured in and collected some of the prey for themselves.

“Thanks, Sparkpaw,” Alderpaw murmured as he joined the group beside the ferns. “You’re really good at hunting Twoleg prey, too!”

Biting into his piece of fresh-kill, Alderpaw realized that it tasted even better than it smelled. But as he gulped it down, he began to feel a prickling in his pelt, as if some creature was watching him. He tried to tell himself not to be stupid, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling.

A rustling sound came from the trees.

Alderpaw tensed, glancing back over his shoulder.

Maybe the crazy Twoleg kit came back?