Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm

by Adam Bolander

  “Then you’re not mad?

  “Not at all. On the contrary, I couldn’t be more proud of you! When Scarlet attacked me, I would have died if you hadn’t intervened. You showed more bravery in that moment then I had ever seen in you before. Any Icefire saloli would have looked up to you then.”

  Scratch’s eyes lit up at the praise, “Really?” he asked.

  “Really,” Blaze answered, “Now, tell me something else. Why did you do that? Why did you rescue me?”

  “Because you’ve tried to help me so much.” Scratch replied, his eyes shining with admiration, “ You care about me. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.”

  Blaze smiled at his trainee, “Well, you’ve convinced me,” he said.

  “Of what?” Scratch asked, confused.

  “That you’re a true Icefire saloli.”

  <><><><><>

  After a full day of training, Blaze finally led his trainee back into Icefire’s camp. He was impressed, Scratch had worked harder today than he ever had before, and had made serious progress. The young saloli had even managed to give Blaze a good scratch on the face when they were sparring.

  “How did training go today?” Smallthorn asked, coming up beside him.

  “Excellent!” Blaze answered, “I’ve never seen Scratch so full of spirit. He’s definitely getting better.”

  “Good for him! Ink’s skill is growing too. Today, while I was taking her around the borders, she scented a Groundsky patrol coming even before I did.”

  “I think we’re doing pretty well for our first time.” Blaze chuckled.

  “You know what?” Smallthorn asked, “I think we should bring the two of them together sometime. Give them someone new to spar against.”

  “That sounds like a good idea.” Blaze agreed, “How about tomorrow? We can take them both to the Acorn Place to fight.”

  “Sounds good to me, let’s plan on it. I’ve got to go now, Newthorn is waiting for me,” Smallthorn turned to walk away, but looked back at his friend, a wicked smile on his face, “By the way, my trainee’s going to rip your trainee’s tail off!”

  Blaze laughed, “We’ll see about that!”

  As his friend hurried off to join his mate, Blaze headed for the food pile. He hadn’t eaten since that morning, and he was hungry. He stopped, though, as he passed a small bush near the edge of camp. Sniffing the air, he could smell a familiar scent, one that he hadn’t smelled for almost five weeks. It was mostly the scent of Darkcover now, but the faint smell of Icefire still lingered.

  Razor!

  Before Blaze could react, the traitor leapt out of the bush, knocking him off his feet. Blaze rolled with the impact, and pushed Razor off of him. Scrambling back to his paws, Blaze lashed out with his claws, scratching the black saloli on the side of his face.

  “I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come back here!” Blaze spat at him.

  “If it means killing you, then I’ll do anything!” the traitor growled.

  “Not that I care why you came back, it just gives me the chance I need to finish you off.”

  “I’m not the one who’ll be dying tonight, outsider. You are!” with that, Razor struck out at his opponent, and would have taken his ear off if Blaze hadn’t ducked. It did give Blaze a view of Razor’s claws, though. They were covered in some sort of greenish-yellow goop. He didn’t have any idea what it was, but he decided it would probably be best not to be scratched by it. Blaze leapt forward, forcing Razor to take a step backwards, thereby lowering his guard, and swiped his claws across the front of his face. Razor hissed in anger, almost catlike, and then lashed out at his enemy again. Blaze avoided being injured this time by leaping to the right, away from Razor’s attack.

  All of Icefire had gathered around by now, each wanting to help, but afraid that their interference would endanger Blaze. Razor lashed out at him, but Blaze jumped backwards, avoiding the blow, and then rushed forward and headbutted his opponent. Razor was knocked off of his paws, but rolled with the momentum, managed to jump back up immediately, and leapt forward, striking at Blaze once more. This time he was close enough to hit him, but only with his paw, throwing Blaze to the ground. Razor stood over him, triumphantly. He had won.

  “You have no idea how happy this makes me,” he growled, unsheathing his claws for the final blow. Blaze wanted to look away, but forced himself to glare defiantly at his opponent. Razor raised his claws to strike Blaze down. Suddenly, a brown blur slammed into Razor’s side, forcing him away from Blaze.

  “Newthorn, no!” Smallthorn shouted, horrified.

  Sure enough, it was now Newthorn who fought Razor. She had leapt on top of him while he was on the ground, and was now attempting to slash his throat. She couldn’t, though, because every time she tried, the traitor would slap her paw away. He rolled to the side, throwing her off of him, and scrambled to his paws. Before Newthorn could react, Razor struck, cutting a gash through the fur and skin on her side. She cried out in pain. Before Razor could finish her off, another saloli tackled him. This time it was Rust who had come to the rescue.

  “Razor, I’m going to do to you what I should have done when you accused Blaze of being a murderer!” Rust growled.

  Razor, knowing there was no way he could win, pulled a dirty move. Digging his claws into the ground, he threw a pawful of dirt into his former chief’s eyes. While Rust was distracted, the black saloli ran off. A saloli Blaze didn’t recognize began to go after him.

  “No, let him go,” Rust ordered, having gotten the dirt out of his eyes, “there’s no way we can catch him now.”

  “Newthorn!” Smallthorn wailed, rushing over to be beside his mate, “Are you okay?”

  “I think so,” Newthorn comforted him, “it’s not that bad.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.” Faith said, pushing Smallthorn out of her way so she could inspect the wound. “You’re right, the cut isn’t serious. It should heal in a day or two. What worries me, though, is this substance that Razor left behind.”

  Looking over Faith’s shoulder, Blaze saw that Razor had, indeed, left behind some of the slime on his claws when he injured Newthorn.

  “Is it poison?” Smallthorn asked.

  “It very well could be,” Faith confirmed, “but there’s no way to know for sure until it takes effect.” Seeing the look of horror on Smallthorn’s face, she added, “Don’t worry. If it is poison, I will be able to counteract it before it harms her. Just to be safe, though, I think it’s best if Newthorn stays with me tonight in my tree, so I can keep an eye on her. With her permission, of course.”

  “Yes,” Newthorn agreed immediately, “better safe than sorry.”

  “Good,” Faith said, “now come, let’s get you up there so I can treat your wound. It won’t matter if it was poison or not if that scratch gets infected.”

  Newthorn stood up, wincing only slightly from the pain, and followed the prophet to her tree.

  “All right,” Rust shouted, “I want a patrol out to look for Razor, or any other Darkcover saloli, in five minutes! If you find anyone, try to subdue them and bring them in for questioning. If they will not comply, kill them. Go!”

  Immediately, more than half of Icefire was gathering in the center of the camp for the patrol. Smallthorn and Sunbeam were already among them. Blaze hurried to join his friends.

  “Are you all right?” Sunbeam asked.

  “I’m fine,” he told her, his heart suddenly beating even harder then it had during the fight, “his claws didn’t even touch me.”

  “Okay, this group is too large for a single patrol!” Gnaw shouted, taking charge as usual, “Half of you go north, the rest of us will go south! Let’s go!”

  Doing as he said, half of the group turned and went north, Sunbeam going with them. Blaze, Smallthorn, and Gnaw all went with the patrol going south. Gnaw immediately picked up Razor’s scent, and began following it. Blaze noticed that Smallthorn had a gleam in his eye that he had never seen before. It was a look of determi
nation so hot that Blaze was amazed his fur wasn’t being singed by it. It was a bit scary. He decided not to say anything. It was obvious that Razor had made a beeline for the Darkcover border. However, when he was within ten feet of it, he had veered off course, going into Groundsky territory instead.

  “Well, that’s as far as we go,” Gnaw announced, “Leaf, Shard, you two stay with me. I’m going to wait for a Groundsky patrol so I can warn them. The rest of you head back to camp and report this to Rust.”

  <><><><><>

  “What?” Goliath roared, making Razor cower in terror, “How could you fail again? That was the easiest mission I’ve ever sent you on!”

  “It’s not my fault, Goliath!” the traitor insisted, “I was just about to finish the outsider off, but another saloli interfered. I scratched her, but then Rust himself challenged me! There was no way I could win!”

  “All you had to do was scratch the outsider, how hard could that have possibly been?”

  “I’m sorry!”

  Goliath rose up on his hind legs, unsheathing his claws, “I should kill you right now for this!” he growled.

  “Wait,” Mordred said, coming to stand beside them, “this may not be a total loss after all. Razor, you said you did scratch someone?”

  “Yeah, I don’t remember her name but I do know that she’s mated to the outsider’s best friend.”

  “This could still work out to our advantage,” Mordred mused, “if we can not kill the outsider, we will break his resolve by taking someone close to him. As a bonus, we will also break his best friend when he sees what the poison does to his mate.”

  “What was that stuff you put on Razor’s claws?” Goliath asked, genuinely curious.

  “Sap from the tree,” Mordred told him, “it will wreak unheard of damage on her body, and then. . .” He stopped and began to cackle, evilly.

  “What?” Goliath demanded, “What will it do?”

  “You will see in time, my chief. Just know that it will be worth being there to watch.”

  <><><><><>

  As the sun finally set on the long day, Blaze happily retired to the common’s tree and curled up into a ball to go to sleep. Smallthorn had elected to spend the night with his mate in Faith’s tree, so, instead of lying next to his best friend, he found his side pressed against Sunbeam’s.

  “You were very brave today.” she complimented him.

  “It wasn’t bravery.” he replied modestly, “I just did what I had to do. Didn’t have much of a choice, did I?”

  “It was bravery.” Sunbeam insisted, “I only saw two other saloli try to help you.”

  “Yes, they were brave. I only reacted to the situation.”

  “Well,” Sunbeam relented, “I still think you were brave.”

  Blaze turned away from her so that she wouldn’t see him smiling at her praise. The two of them lay there for a few minutes, then, just as Blaze was about to drift off to sleep, Sunbeam spoke up again.

  “Blaze? Do you, um, like me?” she asked, suddenly nervous.

  “Of course!” Blaze answered, “You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

  “Not like that,” she corrected him, “I mean like. . . I don’t know. Do you think of me as anything more than a friend?”

  Blaze’s eyes shot open, fully awake again. Why was she asking him this? He couldn’t answer her. He wasn’t ready! “I, uh, think that you’re one of the best friends any saloli could ever ask for,” Blaze said, lamely.

  “You mean you don’t think of me as anything more than a good friend?” Sunbeam asked, disappointment in her eyes.

  “What else do you want me to think of you as?” Blaze responded.

  “I don’t know,” she answered, curling up to go to sleep. Blaze did the same.

  “Although,” Sunbeam added, without looking at him, “if you were to ask me to be your mate, I wouldn’t say no.”

  Feeling as low as dirt, Blaze finally drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next day found Blaze and Gnaw together on a patrol around the borders. There had been no sign of Razor, or any other Darkcover saloli, since the day before, but Icefire did not let their guard down. Blaze was slightly confused, because Gnaw had invited him to join the patrol, but nobody else. His questions were put to rest, though, when Gnaw spoke.

  “Blaze, may I ask you something?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “I was just wondering when you were going to ask Sunbeam to be your mate.”

  Caught off guard, Blaze stopped dead in his tracks, “What makes you think I have feelings for her?” he demanded, immediately on the defensive.

  “I’ve been around a lot longer than you have,” Gnaw told him, “I can see things, even if you think you’re hiding them. It’s obvious that you have more than feelings for her. Blaze, you are downright in love with her!” Blaze was too stunned to respond. “It’s also obvious that she loves you back. You know that, as an Icefire saloli, you have the right to ask for her paw in marriage, don’t you? She’d be lucky to have a saloli like you as her mate, and, if you’ll permit me saying it, you’d be lucky to have her as well.”

  Realizing that there was no avoiding this conversation, Blaze hung his head in shame, “You’re only half right, Gnaw,” he said, “I would be lucky to have her. Very lucky. But I can’t think of a worse fate for her.”

  “What do you mean?” Gnaw asked.

  “There are only two possible outcomes for me in this war, both of which would break her heart. The first is that I will be killed. How would she feel if I were to become her mate, and then die?”

  “Smallthorn and Newthorn,” Gnaw said.

  “What?”

  “Smallthorn became Newthorn’s mate because he loved her. Yes, there is a chance that one, or even both of them, will die, but they don’t care. All that matters to them is that they are able to spend their lives together, however short a time that may be. Now, what is the second outcome?”

  The second outcome was, of course, that Blaze would be turned back into a human, and return to his life as Jeremy Lander, leaving Icefire and all its inhabitants behind forever. He couldn’t tell Gnaw that, though.

  “Nothing, never mind,” Blaze said.

  “Blaze, I may not be as close to you as Smallthorn is, but I still consider myself your friend. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  “Not this, Gnaw. I’m sorry.”

  Gnaw got a serious look in his eyes then, “Saloli don’t keep secrets from their tribemates. That isn’t just in Icefire either, it goes for all the tribes. How could we trust each other if we were all hiding something from everyone else?”

  “I know that, but please, let me keep this one.”

  “Blaze, do you have any idea how important you are to this tribe?” Gnaw asked, “Everyone looks up to you for what you’ve done, even Rust himself. If you were to turn on us, the damage it would do would be irreparable. Icefire would never be the same.”

  Blaze was amazed that the tough, old saloli was opening up to him so much. Normally, the head trainer was reserved, only showing his feelings when it was absolutely necessary. Touched by this, Blaze felt he needed to comfort his friend somehow.

  “Gnaw, I understand your concern,” he said, “but if you never believe another word I say, trust me on this. I will never betray Icefire. I would rather kill myself than follow Razor’s pawprints.”

  Gnaw looked Blaze in the eye. The red saloli was astonished to see that tears were welling up in them, though he quickly blinked them away. Suddenly, Blaze understood just how important he was to Gnaw, and, if he was to be believed, the entire tribe. “I trust you Blaze,” the trainer said, “I believe that if anyone can help this tribe, it’s you.”

  With that, Gnaw turned back to the direction they were heading, and continued the patrol, not another word passing between them the entire time. As he followed, Blaze could only think of how much he wished he could stop hiding things from his friends.

&nbs
p; <><><><><>

  The morning following the talk he had had with Gnaw, Blaze quickly made his way through the forest, heading for the Acorn Place, Scratch not three pawsteps behind. Blaze had not forgotten his agreement with Smallthorn to test their trainee’s against each other. Because of recent events, neither had taken them out for two days, and Blaze hoped his friend had not forgotten. Finally, they came to the clearing.

  “What are we doing today, Blaze?” Scratch asked. Ever since the talk he had had with his trainer, Scratch had actually seemed eager to learn. It made Blaze happy to see his trainee beginning to accept, and even embrace, what Icefire saloli prided themselves for.