Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm Read Online Free PDF Page A

smiling.
     
    “ But I know how you feel now, being left out from the others.” Jasper went on. “I’m smaller than most saloli, so they tend to do the same to me. I think they just forgot me because they found someone they’d rather tease. You.”
     
    “ Oh.” Said Blaze, “Sorry.”
     
    “ Don’t be! It’s nice to be treated like a regular saloli for once. But tell me, what’s it like being an outsider?”
     
    “ Uh. . .” Blaze said, mind racing to come up with a believable response.
     
    “ Oh, if you’d rather not tell me that’s fine!” Jasper said, misinterpreting Blaze’s hesitance. Blaze decided it was best that way. “Well, we’d better get to sleep, or we’ll be tired during training tomorrow. You’re taking training, right?” Jasper said.
     
    “ Um, I’m not sure. Nobody told me.”
     
    “ You probably are. All tribe younglings do. Gnaw is the head trainer, and trust me: you don’t want to make him angry.”
     
    “ Gnaw?” Blaze asked, trying not to snort from laughter.
     
    “ He’s in charge of us, and he can be really strict. Just do what he tells you, though, and you’ll be fine. Now come on, let’s get to sleep,” Jasper began to lie down next to Blaze.
     
    “ Um, don’t you want to go back over there with your friends?”
     
    Jasper made a short, scornful laugh. “They’re not my friends! Not the way they treat me! You’re the first friend I’ve ever had.” And with that, Jasper fell asleep.
     
    Not bad for a first day. Blaze thought, drifting into sleep as well. I’ve already made a friend.
     
    Blaze slept peacefully for the rest of the night, comforted somewhat from what had happened to him by his new friend, Jasper, lying beside him. But at the crack of dawn, he met a very rude awakening.
     
    “ Come on, trainees, wake up! Got a big day ahead of us! Come on, wake up, wake up!” All the saloli on Blaze’s branch sprung up at once and raced down the side of the tree to stand in a single line, side by side. All except Blaze. He heard Gnaw well enough, but was too drowsy, having just woken up, to think of what to do. For a minute, he forgot where he was, and thought that it was his mom yelling at him for sleeping in late on a school day. Then he remembered it was summer vacation. Then he remembered everything else. Blaze peered over the edge of the branch to see what was going on. He saw a battle scarred saloli looking back up at him from the ground.
     
    “ What are you still doing up there, trainee? Get down here!” he yelled. Blaze could see why they called him Gnaw, his teeth were almost half a size bigger than a normal saloli’s. But what would have made another saloli look ridiculous just served to make Gnaw look even more fearsome. They looked like fangs protruding from his mouth. Blaze hurried to the tree trunk and scurried down it. Not knowing which side of the line to go to, he chose the left side. Apparently this was the wrong choice, because Gnaw glared at him more fiercely than ever.
     
    “ Um, did I do something wrong?” Blaze asked nervously. He definitely didn’t want to get on this formidable saloli’s bad side— that is, if he hadn’t already. His branch-mates all snickered, except for Jasper.
     
    “ What’s your name, trainee?” he asked.
     
    “ Blaze, sir.”
     
    “ Well Blaze, since you’re new here, I’ll let this slide. But tomorrow you’d better get it right, and every day after that, too! Now listen, when I tell you to wake up, what do you do?”
     
    “ Wake up?” Blaze guessed.
     
    “ Good! So the new guy does have a brain! Now, what do you do when I tell you to come down?”
     
    “ Come down.” Blaze answered, irritation beginning to override his fear.
     
    “ Correct. Then what do you do?”
     
    “ Line up.”
     
    “ And where do you line up?” Gnaw challenged.
     
    “ Um, I don’t know.”
     
    “ And why don’t you know?”
     
    “ Because you didn’t tell me?”
     
    “ Exactly.