The Apprentice's Quest

As his friends murmured their agreement, Alderpaw thought that his heart would burst with pride.

Chapter 15

Alderpaw led the way cautiously along the cliff edge, his belly fur brushing the dusty ground. On one side, rough grass stretched into the distance, dotted here and there with scrubby trees and bushes. On the other, the ground fell away into a precipice; at the bottom a river tumbled along between sandy rocks.

We’re almost there! he thought, exultation breaking through his weariness. This must be close to the place where SkyClan made their camp.

Many sunrises had passed since Alderpaw had told his friends the truth about their quest.

Afterward they had hardly stopped to rest.

Following Sandstorm’s directions, they had passed through more farms, crossed busy

Thunderpaths, and skirted Twolegplaces until they reached the river and turned upstream.

I never knew the world was so big!

Alderpaw reflected, wincing as his sore paws padded over the gritty earth. I can’t believe how far we’ve had to travel! Casting a glance back at his companions, he could see that they were all as tired as he was, limping onward with tails drooping.

An unexpected gust of wind drove sand into

Alderpaw’s eyes and brought the sound of cats’ voices drifting up from the gorge below. Strong but unfamiliar cat scent came with it. Blinking fiercely, Alderpaw raised his tail to warn the others to be silent, and he crept forward to crouch at the very edge of the cliff.

When his vision cleared, he made out paths and jutting outcrops in the rock face and, far below, a pile of reddish boulders blocking the way ahead. The river poured out of a gaping black hole in the rock and dropped into a pool before flowing away down the gorge.

“This is where the river begins!” Alderpaw breathed out. “It must be where SkyClan’s camp is.”

It was a weird place for a camp, he thought.

He couldn’t see any dens, or any fresh-kill pile, just the heaps of red stone with the river cutting its way through. Cats live here? he asked himself, bewildered. Yet, as he looked more closely, he could see cats slipping between the boulders, pausing to talk to one another, sunning themselves, just as his own Clanmates did in their camp.

“Are these the cats from your dreams?”

Alderpaw realized that Needlepaw had crept up beside him and was peering over his shoulder. “They’re too far away for me to be sure,” he responded. “But the red rock seems familiar.”

“Hmm…” Needlepaw edged up beside him to give the scene a closer scrutiny. “They might be far away,” she continued, “but they don’t look like cats in need of help to me.”

Realizing she was right, Alderpaw let out a sigh. “Maybe I misinterpreted my vision.”

“What?” Sparkpaw, craning her neck to gaze down on Alderpaw’s other side, began to bristle with outrage. “You led us all this way for nothing?” she hissed.

“We can’t know Alderpaw is wrong,” Needlepaw retorted. “Not from this distance.

Maybe we should get closer.”

Alderpaw was grateful for her defense, for how she always had the spirit to adapt to setbacks, but at the same time he worried that Sparkpaw had a point. What if this journey has been wasted?

“Okay, what are we waiting for?” Needlepaw asked, springing to her paws. “Let’s find a way down.”

Instantly Molewhisker moved to block her.

“Are you mouse-brained?” he demanded. “We can’t just stroll into their camp. None of us know much about SkyClan, and they don’t know much about us, either. There’s no way of being sure we can trust them.” He gave his tail an irritable twitch. “Sandstorm was the only one who had met the SkyClan cats, and she’s dead now.”

Needlepaw shrugged, unmoved by the older cat’s argument. “We can only find answers by getting closer. Alderpaw wouldn’t have dreamed of these cats if they weren’t important, right?”

Alderpaw swallowed nervousness. “That’s true,” he meowed, trying to sound strong and decisive. “Lead on, Needlepaw.”

After a moment’s searching, Needlepaw found the beginning of a path that led down into the gorge, winding to and fro across the rock face. Alderpaw followed hard on her paw steps, hugging the cliff wall to stay well away from the drop at the edge of the path and feeling the heat of the sun-warmed rocks striking up through his pads.

To his relief the others headed down after them.

“Alderpaw must have bees in his brain,” he heard Sparkpaw mutter. “Following this stupid

ShadowClan furball!”

Before they had descended more than a few fox-lengths into the gorge, Alderpaw heard a loud yowl coming from below. Turning toward the sound, he spotted a long-furred gray tom staring straight at him. The yowl had attracted three of the other SkyClan cats, who raced toward him; then all four began to climb the rocks, with the gray tom in the lead.

“Uh-oh!” Needlepaw murmured.