Free The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter

said, leaning against her mother’s leg.
    â€œWell, that’s all right, because you’re in here,” Ashia said, swatting away a fly with one of her large paws. “But if you were in the wild, like he was, you would need to stay away from other bears to stay alive.”
    â€œReally?” Lusa said.
    â€œDo you want to see what it’s like in the wild?”
    â€œYes!” Lusa gasped. Was there a way out of the Bear Bowl? Why hadn’t she heard about it before?
    â€œFollow me, and keep quiet,” Ashia instructed. She crept out of the Cave and up the Mountains into the Forest. Lusa tried to put her paws exactly where her mother had put them, although her legs were much shorter so it was difficult. She stayed low and kept quiet, watching her mother’s fur shimmerbrown and black in the sunlight.
    â€œStop,” Ashia whispered, lifting her nose. “ Shh. Here comes a big tiger.”
    Lusa curled her lip. “But we’re still in the Bear Bowl.”
    â€œNot if you imagine we’re in a deep, dark forest surrounded by wild creatures,” her mother whispered back. “Now, can you smell that tiger?”
    Lusa copied her mother and sniffed the air. There was definitely something coming. It wasn’t a tiger, though. It was Yogi! The two of them watched from the long grass as he ambled past them and went to scratch himself on the fence. Lusa stifled a huff of laughter. Even if she pretended really hard, there was nothing fierce and scary about Yogi.
    Suddenly there was a movement in the Mountains. King was standing up to stretch.
    â€œThere’s another bear!” Ashia warned. “Up the tree!”
    She leaped into the branches and swarmed up the trunk with Lusa right behind her. Lusa saw that her mother climbed the way King had taught her, moving swiftly and in quick leaps. It was even easier the second time, especially with her mother ahead of her. This was a good game, pretending the Bear Bowl was really a forest.
    Lusa wondered if life in the wild was this exciting all the time. She perched on a branch beside her mother and looked down at the other bears in the Bowl. Maybe King was wrong. Maybe one day she would get to see the world beyond the Bowl. Maybe one day she really would live in the wild.

CHAPTER SIX
Toklo
    The sky was streaked with pink and gold, and the shadows crept slowly through the forest like stalking bears. Night was falling, and under the trees Toklo rolled in the pine needles, pretending he was catching fish.
    â€œHa!” he growled, pouncing. “Got you!” He scrabbled in the snow and then leaped sideways, pinning down another pile of needles. “Got you, too!”
    â€œShh,” Tobi whimpered. “My ears hurt.” He was still lying in the same spot where he’d dropped after they ran up the hill from the grain spill. Toklo wished he had a brother who would play with him. He’d seen other grizzly cubs wrestling with one another. That would help him learn how to fight, and it would be fun. But Tobi was always too tired, or something hurt, or Oka wanted him to rest.
    Leaves and dirt flew up as their mother dug a den for them in the snowbank. It was shallow but it helped keep them warm when they curled up together. Toklo thought hismother seemed calmer now that she’d made the decision to go over the mountain. He was glad. He didn’t like it when she roared at him and Tobi and tore up grass.
    â€œWe’re going to sleep early tonight,” she told them. “We’ll need a lot of rest for our long trek tomorrow.”
    Tobi shuddered, pressing himself into her fur, but Toklo batted at her paws.
    â€œWill you teach me how to catch salmon?” he pestered.
    â€œWell, it’s not the way you were playing at it today, that’s for certain,” she snorted. “All that jumping and yowling. They’d hear you coming the moment you set paw in the river.”
    â€œThen what