Free The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter Page B

from the firebeasts and snakebeasts and their noise and terrible smells. Up here the wind brushedthrough his fur, bringing the scent of prey and snow and other bears from far in the distance. The sunbeams were warm on his back, and his muscles felt like they were moving and stretching in new ways as he learned how to climb…traveling like a true bear for the first time.
    He spotted a stick poking out of a large patch of snow and, with a happy growl, he dove on it, clamped his jaws around it, and shook it hard.
    â€œRarrgmph!” he roared, his voice muffled by his mouthful of stick. “Mmm, I’ve caugmht a sagmlmon!”
    â€œOh, really?” his mother said, swinging her head around to look at him. “Well, you’d better hang on to it, then, because I hear that fish”—she began to stalk toward him—“can be…very…slippery!” Suddenly pouncing, she grabbed the stick from his paws and galloped away.
    â€œHey!” Toklo yelped. He leaped after her, landing on her back and knocking her sideways. They rolled in the snow, each of them scrabbling for the salmon stick. Toklo’s joy expanded until it filled him from the top of his ears to the tips of his claws. His mother hardly ever stopped to play with him. He loved the feel of her fur tickling his nose and the strength of her paws batting him around. He knew she was holding back so she wouldn’t hurt him, and that made him feel protected and safe.
    â€œAha!” he shouted triumphantly, wrestling the stick away from her. “It’s mine! I win!”
    â€œI don’t think so,” she growled, chasing after him.
    â€œMother!” Tobi bleated from the rock where he wascowering. “Mother, I feel sick.”
    Oka skidded to a halt, kicking up snow that spattered over Toklo’s back. She rushed back to Tobi and sniffed him all over. Grumpily flicking snow out of his ears, Toklo followed. He was sure Tobi was just trying to get attention. When didn’t Tobi feel sick? Couldn’t he just sit for a little while and let Toklo have some fun?
    â€œWe have to keep moving,” Oka said. She sounded different now, tense and scared and angry. “We have to get over the mountain before it gets dark. Come on.”
    She nudged Tobi to his paws and hovered over him like a shadow as he struggled over the rocks and ice. Toklo realized that Tobi smelled strange. A sharp, rotten scent hung around his fur, and his eyes looked cloudy and confused. Toklo took one more sniff and stayed his distance.
    â€œI can’t,” Tobi whimpered, collapsing onto his belly. He covered his nose with twitching forepaws.
    â€œYou can do it, Tobi,” Oka murmured. Her voice was gentle now, just like it always was with Tobi. “Just a bit farther. Come on, stand up and take a pawstep. One after another, and you’ll get there. A journey is nothing but a river of pawsteps. You can take one pawstep, can’t you?”
    â€œNoooooooooooo,” he moaned.
    Toklo sighed. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. His ears perked up. If they were staying put for a while anyway…He ran over, grabbed the stick in his teeth, and ran back to his mother.
    â€œUh-oh!” he cried. “It’s getting away from me!” He threwhis head back and flung the stick into the air. It clattered to the ground at his mother’s paws.
    â€œNot now, Toklo,” Oka snapped. “We’ve wasted too much time already. We must get down the mountain to the river before nightfall.” She grunted crossly. “We shouldn’t have stopped to play.”
    Toklo felt his fur stand on end with frustration. Now his mother was angry at him. Yet again, Tobi had ruined his fun.
    â€œSweetpaws,” Oka murmured to Tobi. “Little cub, be brave for me. Just climb onto my back and I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”
    â€œA-all right,” Tobi agreed weakly. He pushed himself up and