Warriors: Power of Three 01 - The Sight by Erin Hunter Page A

she-cat’s throat. “I see Brightheart is going to have her paws full,” she meowed.
    Jaypaw felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps they’ll stop underestimating me quite so much once they realize it doesn’t matter that I can’t see . He finished sorting through the moss, then padded over to Longtail and began nosing through his fur.
    â€œI bet you can’t wait to start training in the forest,” Longtail meowed. “I remember my first time out like it was last moon.” A wistful edge entered his mew. “Of course, I wasn’t blind then. Everything seemed so green and fresh. But you’ll still love it, even though you’re blind. There are so many scents out there.”
    I’d kind of noticed. Jaypaw felt the hard body of a flea in the warrior’s pelt.
    â€œThat’s the one thing I’ve noticed about being blind,” Longtail went on. “Scents become so much sharper and more important.”
    Thanks for the information. Jaypaw cracked the flea between his teeth.
    â€œAnd sounds, of course,” Longtail added. “I can sometimes hear the mice moving at the top of the hollow. I never would have noticed that before. You should make sure you listen really well, all the time.”
    Jaypaw began to check the fur around Longtail’s scruff. A tick was lodged behind the warrior’s ear.
    â€œWhen it comes to hunting, it’ll help to have sharp hearing and smell. Prey is always hard to see , but smelling it is easy. Even when I could see, it was usually the scent or sound of prey that told me where it was hiding.”
    You’ll be telling me that a fresh mouse tastes juicier than a stale one next , Jaypaw thought, tugging at the tick harder than he needed to.
    â€œOw!” Longtail complained.
    â€œHow’s it going in here?” Brightheart’s voice sounded at the den entrance. “Have you finished?”
    â€œI think so.” Jaypaw looked hopefully toward Mousefur. “You don’t have any ticks, do you?”
    â€œOnly one in my side, but I can reach it myself,” she replied.
    Jaypaw turned to his mentor. “I’ve finished, then.”
    Brightheart began bundling pawfuls of fresh moss into the den. “Good. Spread this out and then come with me,” she meowed. “I’m going to show you the territory around the camp.”
    At last! Hollypaw and Lionpaw had been out for ages.
    â€œGood luck!” Longtail called as Jaypaw followed Brightheart out of the den.
    She led him out of the camp and up the steep slope thatled lakeward. “This trail leads to the top of the ridge,” Brightheart explained. “It’s steep.”
    â€œOkay.” Jaypaw decided not to tell her that he could already feel the slope beneath his paws. He followed his mentor as she weaved through the trees, feeling the damp leaves slippery underpaw.
    â€œWatch out!” Brightheart called, but Jaypaw could smell the bark ahead of him and swerved just in time to avoid the tree, his whiskers grazing the trunk.
    â€œThe trees are thick here, but there’s not too much undergrowth.”
    â€œOh.” Jaypaw breathed in the scent of a mouse trail as the ground began to flatten out.
    â€œWe’re at the top of the ridge now,” Brightheart told him. “Follow my scent and I’ll lead you along the crest.”
    â€œRight.” He could tell by the slope of the land that the forest fell away on either side; it felt as though they were climbing the spine of a great cat.
    â€œIf we go up this trail, we’ll be out of the trees soon.”
    Jaypaw was beginning to feel out of breath, so he didn’t reply. He listened to the flies buzzing around him and shook his head when they tickled his ears.
    â€œWe’re out of the trees now, so don’t worry about bumping into anything,” Brightheart meowed. Jaypaw knew they had left the cover of the forest. A light, damp wind brushed his