Chapter 10

"Up and at 'em, sunshine," a familiar voice growled. "Don't be late for wasting my time, I wouldn't like that."

Fleet blinked his eyes open to see a scowling Tiger standing over him. "Stars, pet, get up!"

The white tom-cat stumbled quickly to his paws, yawning and shaking his pelt. "Coming," he replied blearily, steadying himself and following the grumpy mentor out of the den. "Sorry."

"I'm not training you today either. I'll take you to the training ground, that's it. Make some progress."

Oh-okay," Fleet replied, blinking in the harsh light. "I will." The two padded quickly to the stone clearing, and Fleet was surprised not to be as winded as the day before.

I guess I'm building up endurance already, he thought with a purr as Tiger stalked out of the area. Fleet padded over to an intelligent-looking mentor who seemed to be apprentice-less at the moment.

"Hello!" he purred cheerily. "Tiger wants me to learn about stalking by trying it on him. What can you tell me about how to do it?"

The mentor, a skinny she-cat, seemed flustered. "Well, um, you'd want to stay downwind of him, so that you can smell him more easily and track him more easily, and so that he can't smell you. You'd also want to be quiet, obviously, so that he couldn't hear you and maybe, with your white pelt, you could roll around in something dark. Is that enough?"

"Yes, thanks," he replied, dashing out of the clearing and scenting the wind. Fleet just barely caught a trace of Tiger's scent and turned his head to see the orange tom-cat ducking into a darkened alley.

That was lucky, he thought, smiling, as he trotted lightly after his quarry. The wind was in his favor, also lucky, and Tiger seemed so caught up in whatever he was doing that he wouldn't notice his follower at all.

Fleet slowed to a crawl as he got closer to Tiger, who was sauntering along the busy streets at a leisurely pace. Turn after turn, however, Tiger started to pick up speed. Fleet recognized the path as the one he and Jag had taken into the city, just going the other way.

What does he want to do that's outside the city? he wondered, following the focused tom-cat as he rounded another corner. It was the final stretch now, and Tiger started to run. The wide field of grass and the lush forest beyond it lay just ahead as the buildings got smaller and more colorful. All of a sudden, he screeched to a stop, and Fleet dove rather unceremoniously behind a small dumpster. He waited for what seemed like an eternity before poking his head out.

Tiger was still standing, his tail waving in apprehension. Fleet just barely saw him shrug from so far off, and he continued into the grass.

What was that about? Maybe he heard something.

Ever so quietly, Fleet covered the last stretch of street before slinking into the tall undergrowth. Tiger still seemed unsettled, as he was continuously looking over his shoulder, but Fleet kept his distance and the grass obscured him from view. Tiger stopped again at the first tree, and scented the air. Fleet could tell that he wasn't looking for him, so he copied the orange tom-cat, inhaling deeply.

A strong smell of other cats filled his nose, coming from the forest, but it didn't seem fresh. Tiger seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and continued on carefully. He padded on for a short while before stopping at a stream where the scent was strongest. He waded through-the water was shallow-and rolled around on the other side. The ever-serious tom-cat looked like a kit, rolling around all over the area and rubbing up against trees, until Fleet realized what he was doing.

"Stars,"he breathed. "He's going to get us all killed!"

"Who's there?" Tiger hissed, stiffening.

Fleet bolted, careening through the dense trees and undergrowth.

Oh stars, oh stars, oh stars. The white tom-cat was frantic, taking great care not to trip over anything. He could hear Tiger chasing him, but took solace in his speed, and dashed a little faster. In no time at all, he was back in the field, and then back in the city, maneuvering his way through human legs. Fortunately for Fleet, it was still rather early in the morning, so not many round-paws were on the streets. Instead of turning and continuing on to the camp where Tiger would inevitably find him out, Fleet took a long detour that-not after a bit of getting lost here and there-led to the training ground.

The skinny she-cat he had seen earlier was still there, and she greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Fleet. Did your stalking lesson go well?" she asked kindly.

Despite the severity of what he had just found out, Fleet couldn't help but smile back. "Yes. Yes, it did."

After catching his breath, he went back to training with Cliff and Dawn for the majority of the day, improving different techniques for catching different kinds of prey. "Did you know that the way to catch birds is different from the way to catch rats?" Cliff had asked. Well into the afternoon, Fleet had mastered it. Cliff sent the two tender-paws hunting until evening, and Fleet was proud to bring back his own prey to his substitute mentor. When the trio returned to the camp, Fleet was greeted by a not-so-friendly face.

"Hello, pet," Tiger growled. "How nice of you to show up."

"I was training," Fleet defended, his voice muffled by the prey he held in his jaws. He set it down. "Like you asked me to this morning. Cliff sent Dawn and me hunting afterwards."

"Hmm."

"I'm going to go and eat now," Fleet half spat, picking up his blackbird. "There's no point in staying here, is there?"

Tiger's eyes narrowed, but he padded off to the prey pile without a word. Relieved, Fleet went to visit Socks, who as usual, was sitting outside of her den. She shook her head.

"Inside," she whispered, turning and entering the den. Sitting down, her eyes focused on him with intense interest. "Tell me what you saw."

"I followed him outside the city," Fleet reported, "and across the grass into the forest."

"The forest? But there's a band of cats living there. He knows that." Socks looked dubious.

Fleet nodded. "I smelled them, too. They have a very strong scent."

Like those cats in the forest next to Smudge's house, he mused.

"They mark their borders."

"Well, then Tiger crossed one. It was a stream. Once he was over it, he starting rolling around and rubbing things, leaving his scent."

Socks's eyes widened. "He's turning them against us. The forest cats are vicious and very territorial. What should we do?"

"Well," Fleet replied with a half smile, "that's up to you, now isn't it?"

She looked grim, her face set in determination. "I already know. But it'll have to wait. Now," she continued, standing, "we had a deal, didn't we? You can stay with Lion."

"Thanks," Fleet said, dipping his head gratefully and exiting the den. Same as the night before, he ate his evening meal quickly and headed to his den, though this time it was Lion's.

"I need to sleep," he said dejectedly. "I can't talk tonight. Sorry." Lion watched silently as the white tom-cat curled up in his old nest and fell soundly asleep.

"I will wake you up early, then. There is always much to discuss," Fleet heard him say quietly, just before he drifted off.