“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.
Privately Lionpaw thought the Tribe’s way was even more weird. How could Stoneteller make good decisions when he didn’t have a medicine cat to advise him? It didn’t look as if he even had a deputy. Maybe the Tribe could have come up with a solution to the problem of the intruders if every cat wasn’t so convinced that they had to do exactly what Stoneteller told them.
“Hi. How are you getting on?”
Lionpaw jumped when he heard Squirrelflight’s voice; she had padded up unseen behind him. “Fine, thanks.” He tried to sound convincing.
“Great. But I think it’s time you settled down to get a good night’s sleep. It looks like we’ll have a long journey tomorrow.”
Lionpaw gulped his last bite of eagle and glanced up at his mother. She didn’t look like her normal cheerful self; her tail trailed on the ground and her eyes were anxious. He guessed she felt they had made a huge mistake by coming so far, only to be turned away. Reaching up to brush his muzzle against hers, he wished he could comfort her and tell her that these stupid Tribe cats should be glad of their help, but it was impossible in front of all the to-bes.
“Okay,” he meowed. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
Squirrelflight brushed his shoulder with her tail, bent over to give Hollypaw and Jaypaw a swift lick around the ear, and padded softly away. Lionpaw’s gaze followed her as she headed across the cave to the other warriors, wishing he could be with them instead of a bunch of strange to-bes.
“Come on,” Pebble mewed, flicking his ear with her tail.
“I’ll show you where to sleep.”
She led the apprentices to a place where several shallow dips had been scooped out of the cave floor. They were warmly lined with moss and feathers.
“Choose any,” Pebble invited them.
Lionpaw curled up in one of the larger hollows with Hollypaw and Jaypaw. At least the sleeping place was comfortable; for a moment he could almost believe they were back in the ThunderClan nursery. But in the nursery he had never had so many worries to keep him awake.
He lay with his eyes slitted, watching the constantly changing light flickering over the cave walls and listening to the endless rumble of the waterfall. So much for standing on the hill overlooking the lake and feeling as if he could do anything. Their journey had come to nothing; these strange, proud cats were turning them away without even giving them the chance to help.
Lionpaw let out a sigh. He had been desperate to make this journey for so long, to see the mountains for himself, and now that he was here, he just wanted to go home.
Chapter 22
Jaypaw heard his brother’s sigh and felt disappointment rolling off him like the waves on the lakeshore. He had picked up the same feeling from Hollypaw before she fell asleep, but he couldn’t share it. They had made it as far as the mountains, which was the main thing that mattered to him. His only worry was that he would be forced to go home before he had learned the secrets that awaited him here.