Outcast by Erin Hunter Page A

bit back a yowl of terror as the scene flickered; darkness returned, but not the unbroken night of his blindness. He was in a cave, where the noise of falling water echoed from the rocks. Moonlight shone through a glittering screen of water that covered the entrance.
    Cats were sitting all around him, talking to one another in quiet, serious voices. Jaypaw could pick up their scents and recognized those that belonged to the intruders who had just arrived at the camp. They were sitting opposite him: a huge tabby tom and a smaller black she-cat. Movement at the farside of the cave caught his eye, and he spotted a muscular gray warrior rising to his paws. Scent told him that he was looking at Stormfur. So the tabby she-cat with him must be Brook .
    Stormfur addressed a stone-gray cat who sat on a boulder at the head of a cave. “It’s no use expecting these cats to leave,” he meowed. “They want to settle here, and they don’t care how much trouble they’re giving us. We have to show them that they must respect our territory.”
    â€œAnd how do we do that?” another cat asked.
    â€œHang on, we don’t want any other cats living near us.” It was the tabby tom who spoke. “The mountains are ours.”
    â€œNot anymore, Talon,” Stormfur mewed regretfully.
    â€œWe’ll just have to get used to it,” Brook added.
    Stormfur dipped his head in agreement. “I suggest—” he began.
    The stone-colored cat on the rock twitched his tail. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting has shown me nothing about this,” he protested.
    â€œThen perhaps the ancestors of these new cats walk in different skies.” Stormfur’s tone was respectful, but Jaypaw could sense his frustration, sharp as thorns. “The Tribe is used to driving off stray loners,” the gray warrior continued, “but this is different. We have to find a different way of dealing with them.”
    Night, the black she-cat, leaned forward, stretching her neck to look at Stormfur. “What do you suggest?”
    â€œWhy ask him?” The question came from a skinny, speckled brown cat crouched near the rippling screen of water. Hismuzzle was white with age and he had lost an eye. “He’s only just set paw in the mountains. What does he know about our ways?”
    â€œThat’s just why we should listen,” Talon snapped back at him. “Stormfur lived where there are many other cats. He must know better than us how to deal with these strangers.”
    â€œThat’s right!” a cat called from the shadows.
    More cats joined in, some protesting, some encouraging Stormfur, until the whole cave was filled with caterwauling. Stormfur mewed something softly to Brook, and she touched his shoulder with her nose.
    Jaypaw flicked his ears. “Get on with it,” he muttered. “Let him speak.”
    Eventually the gray cat on the rock raised his tail for silence. “We will hear what Stormfur has to say,” he announced.
    â€œThank you, Stoneteller.” Stormfur dipped his head. Turning to the rest of the Tribe, he hesitated for a heartbeat. “Where I lived in the forest,” he began at last, “all four Clans knew that they had to stay out of one another’s territory. Cats who trespassed would be driven out.”
    â€œAnd how do we do that?” the skinny elder demanded. “These intruders go where they like.”
    â€œWe need a show of strength, Rain,” Stormfur explained. His blue eyes glowed. “One battle should be all it takes. After that, these newcomers will either go away for good, or they’ll stay well away from us.”
    To Jaypaw’s surprise, Brook stepped forward to standbeside her mate. In the hollow by the lake, she was always quiet, but now her eyes shone and she held her tail high as she looked around at her Tribemates.
    â€œStormfur will teach us what to do,” she meowed. “He knows battle