Free Outcast by Erin Hunter Page B

with. I was jealous of Brambleclaw.”
    â€œWhy?” Lionpaw asked, surprised.
    â€œBecause I liked your mother too much. But a blind rabbit could have seen that Brambleclaw was the cat she liked best, even though they spent most of their time arguing.”
    â€œYou liked Squirrelflight?” Lionpaw blinked in astonishment. Suppose Stormfur had been his father instead of Brambleclaw? I would have been a different cat….
    â€œI’d never met a cat like her,” Stormfur admitted. “So bright and brave and determined, even though she was only an apprentice then. But then we stayed with the Tribe in the mountains, and when I met Brook I knew that she was the right cat for me.”
    His amber eyes clouded and he fell silent. Lionpaw couldn’t understand why he should look like that, when he’d been talking about finding Brook. “What’s the matter?”
    Stormfur let out a long sigh. “My sister, Feathertail, was with us on the journey,” he explained. “She was a beautiful,warm-hearted cat. She died in the mountains.”
    Lionpaw dared to reach out with his tail and rest it on the gray warrior’s shoulder. “What happened?”
    â€œThe Tribe was being hunted by a mountain lion. There was a prophecy that a silver cat would come to save them. At first they thought it was me, but it was Feathertail. She died saving them.” His voice shook. “I had to leave her there, buried in the mountains.”
    â€œI’m so sorry,” Lionpaw mewed, trying to imagine what he would feel like if Hollypaw died.
    Stormfur licked his chest fur a few times and jerked his head as if he was shaking off a fly. “Moons pass, and you have to carry on.”
    â€œI hope you didn’t mind my asking.”
    â€œOf course not.” Stormfur sounded more like himself again. “You can ask me anything you like. If I can help at all, I’ll be glad to.”
    â€œThanks.” Lionpaw felt as warm and comforted as if he’d just eaten a plump piece of fresh-kill. “It’s easier talking to you than to a ThunderClan cat—oh, sorry.” He broke off, scuffling his paws with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean—”
    â€œThat’s okay,” Stormfur meowed. “I know what you meant. It’s true that I’m only a visitor here, however loyal I feel toward Firestar and your father and the other ThunderClan cats.”
    â€œWhere do you feel most at home?” Lionpaw mewed curiously. “In RiverClan, or with the Tribe of Rushing Water, or in ThunderClan?”
    Stormfur didn’t reply at once. His eyes grew thoughtful; helicked one paw and drew it over his ear a few times. “I’m a RiverClan cat at heart,” he replied at last. “That’s where I grew up and where I became a warrior. But that was back in the forest, and no cat has a home there now. Right now I feel loyal to ThunderClan, because you welcomed me and Brook. And it’s good to live in the same Clan as Graystripe and get to know him better.”
    â€œWill you stay here forever?”
    â€œI don’t know. This isn’t Brook’s home, and if she doesn’t want to stay, I won’t force her.”
    â€œWhy don’t you go back to the mountains, then?”
    A somber look crept into Stormfur’s eyes. “It’s not that easy.”
    â€œYou could go for a visit,” Lionpaw suggested.
    â€œNo, it’s too far,” Stormfur mewed briskly. He rose to his paws and gave his fur a shake. “Come on, it’s time we were going back to camp.”
    Glancing over his shoulder, Lionpaw saw that the training session was over. Ashfur and the other apprentices were heading toward the stone hollow. There was no sign of Berrynose.
    â€œYou go ahead,” he meowed to Stormfur. “I’ll be back in a while.”
    â€œOkay.” Stormfur bounded off to catch up with Ashfur and the