The Apprentice's Quest

“Right down there.” The ginger tom pointed with his tail down a narrow alley that led between two rows of Twoleg dens. “That brings you back to the river. A little way downstream there’s a bridge.”

“A Twoleg bridge?” Alderpaw asked doubtfully.

“Of course a Twoleg bridge, mouse-brain!”

Needlepaw gave Alderpaw an irritated shove.

“We’ve dealt with those before. Thanks,” she added, looking up at the kittypet again.

“Anytime,” the kittypet responded with another yawn.

Alderpaw was beginning to turn away when another thought struck him. “You haven’t seen another, bigger group of cats traveling through here?” he asked the kittypet. “It would have been a while ago now.”

The kittypet shook his head. “Sorry, no.”

So SkyClan didn’t come this way. “Thanks anyway,” Alderpaw mewed, his last hope dying of finding the lost Clan.

Again he was turning to leave, but Needlepaw didn’t seem keen to follow. “Before we go,” she began, “could you help us out with some food? We’re really hungry.”

“Sure.” The ginger tom rose to his paws and stretched. “Follow the wall along to the opening. I’ll meet you there.” With that he leaped down from his perch and disappeared.

Needlepaw bounded eagerly alongside the wall, and Alderpaw followed reluctantly. The kittypet was waiting for them beside a piece of fence made of something shiny and hard, with wide gaps between the bars. Needlepaw and Alderpaw slipped through.

In front of them was a rough, pebbly surface, and beyond it a stretch of grass surrounded by bushes and bright Twoleg flowers. Beyond that rose the walls of the Twoleg den. Alderpaw’s fur began to bristle at the thought of actually standing on Twoleg territory.

“The food’s in here,” the kittypet meowed, pointing with his tail.

Turning in that direction, Alderpaw’s pelt bushed up in horror. The kittypet was pointing to a small den at the end of the pebbly path; a monster was crouching in the opening.

“You can’t go in there!” he gasped to Needlepaw, who was already heading for the small den with the kittypet at her side.

“The monster’s asleep,” Needlepaw replied nonchalantly. “And to be honest—don’t tell them back in camp—I’m kind of curious to taste kittypet food.”

“But what if—” Alderpaw broke off as Needlepaw, ignoring him, disappeared into the monster’s den with the kittypet.

He didn’t attempt to follow. No cat is going to catch me eating kittypet food! Instead he kept watch, in case Twolegs appeared from the den or the monster showed signs of waking up.

All the while he was tearing at the grass with his front claws, flexing them in and out with impatience. With every heartbeat they delayed here, his Clanmates were getting farther and farther away.

At last Needlepaw and the kittypet reappeared from the monster’s den. Needlepaw was swiping her tongue around her jaws with satisfaction. “That was great!” she mewed.

“Thanks, Bob.”

Bob? Alderpaw thought. The kittypet’s name is Bob? Weird!

“Yeah, thanks, Bob,” he repeated. “You’ve been really helpful.”

“Glad to,” Bob responded, touching noses with Needlepaw. “Good luck on your journey.”

Alderpaw headed off down the alley Bob had shown them earlier, and Needlepaw pattered along by his side. “You can thank me later,” she meowed. “My idea totally worked!

Now we know how to cross the river, and we can make our way back home.” She paused for a moment, then added, “What’s the matter with you now? Why don’t you look happier?”

Alderpaw hoped he had managed to conceal the heavy weight that had been gathering inside him ever since Bob had told them that he hadn’t seen any sign of SkyClan. But clearly it was impossible to hide anything from Needlepaw.

Halting, he turned toward her. “Don’t you get it?” he asked bitterly. “It’s because I’ve failed. What kind of a medicine cat am I?”

Chapter 21

Needlepaw looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“You know what I mean!” Alderpaw tried to choke back his anger at Needlepaw’s obtuseness. “SkyClan left the gorge after the rogues attacked them, and no cat seems to know where they went. We were supposed to save them! We just got there way too late!”

“How can you be sure?” Needlepaw asked, tilting her head to one side.

“Because the other Clans—our Clans—drove SkyClan out of the forest. That was so shameful, it’s been kept a secret ever since. My visions were telling me to go to SkyClan and bring them back to share our territory by the lake—to clear the sky, like in the prophecy.”

Alderpaw’s voice began to shake as he realized the depth of his failure. “I messed up! I didn’t understand the first vision right away, and then Sandstorm died… We got to the gorge too late. We couldn’t find what lay in the shadows, because SkyClan had already left. Now the sky will never clear! Who knows what will happen to the Clans? And it’s all because I’m a terrible medicine cat!”