Smoke Mountain by Erin Hunter

journey.
    â€˜It’s unnatural,’ Taqqiq said, shaking his head. ‘It’s wrong and it’s creepy. What if he turned into a walrus and ate us?’
    â€˜He wouldn’t do that,’ Toklo said, adding pointedly, ‘just like we wouldn’t eat him while he’s a squirrel.’
    Taqqiq snorted. ‘Well, I think someone might have
warned
me instead of trying to claw my ears off for no apparent reason.’
    There was a fluttering sound overhead and Ujurak landed in the clearing, turning into a bear again as he rolled across the grass. He shook himself, panting. A few long goose feathers lay on the leaves where he had landed. Taqqiq sniffed them, then glowered at Ujurak.
    â€˜They just smell like goose,’ he said accusingly. ‘How are we supposed to know it’s you when you’re not being a bear?’
    â€˜I’ll try not to change again unless I have to,’ Ujurak promised.
    â€˜And we’ll just be careful whenever he does,’ Kallik said.
    â€˜Let’s get moving,’ Toklo growled. He could hear one of the firebeasts by the den rumbling. The further they could get from that den and this BlackPath, the better Toklo would feel.
    Lusa slid down the tree to join them as they all padded out of the woods. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked Toklo quietly.
    â€˜Yeah,’ he said with a wince, feeling a stab of pain in his shoulder. A trickle of blood was running down his neck, but he didn’t want to stop and lick his wounds. He didn’t want Taqqiq to know that he washurt. The white bear cub was pacing along briskly, as if he couldn’t feel any of the marks Toklo had left on him.
    Toklo was also determined to stay in front. He didn’t want Taqqiq getting any ideas about who could lead this group. That meant he had to trot faster than he wanted to, to stay ahead of the white bear cub, but he pressed on, ignoring his aching muscles.
    He stopped at the edge of the BlackPath, waiting for everyone to catch up. One of the enormous firebeasts whipped by, bellowing and roaring the way they always did. Toklo had to shield his eyes from the bright light blazing from the firebeast’s eyes. They were able to light up the ground in front of him, like a harsh yellow stream that picked out the BlackPath as clearly as day.
How do they do that?
he wondered.
    Ujurak bumped him lightly as they stood there, and Toklo knew that his friend was trying to tell him that he wasn’t mad at him for jumping on Taqqiq.
    â€˜Can you turn into a firebeast?’ Lusa suddenly asked Ujurak. ‘That would be amazing! Then youcould tell us what they’re thinking and what they eat – gosh, I hope it’s not bears – and why they stay on the BlackPaths all the time and how to keep really, really far away from them and –’
    â€˜Oh, shush,’ Taqqiq snapped. ‘Don’t encourage him. We don’t want a firebeast appearing in the middle of us.’
    Toklo hated agreeing with him, but he did not want to see Ujurak turn into a firebeast either.
    â€˜I–I don’t think I can anyway,’ Ujurak said, thinking it over. ‘It’s like . . . it’s as if they’re not really
alive
. I can’t get any life-feeling from them at all.’
    â€˜Not alive!’ Taqqiq barked. ‘Well, that’s plain stupid, isn’t it? Obviously they’re alive! They run and roar and attack just like bears do!’
    â€˜Not just like bears do,’ Ujurak said. ‘I don’t know how to explain it.’
    â€˜Well, I’m still not afraid of them!’ Taqqiq announced. He bounded out on to the BlackPath and trotted to the other side.
    â€˜Come on,’ Toklo said to the others. He sniffed the BlackPath carefully and listened with an ear close to the ground. He couldn’t hear any rumbling.
    â€˜Lusa, you first,’ he said.
    Lusa set one paw cautiously on the BlackPath, and then, taking a deep