Yellowfang’s Secret

Yellowpaw blinked; she hadn’t considered that she wouldn’t be sleeping in the nursery anymore, and she wondered if Raggedpaw and Scorchpaw would welcome her and her littermates. But she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. There was something more important that she had to do first.

I need to know how Silverflame is.

She followed Deerleap through the thorn tunnel and into the clearing.

“Did you enjoy seeing the territory?” Deerleap prompted.

“Yes, it was great, thanks,” Yellowpaw responded, her paws itching to carry her toward the elders’ den.

“Off with you, then.” Deerleap flicked her ears. “I’ll see you at dawn tomorrow. We’ll start your training with hunting practice.”

Yellowpaw knew she should feel excited about that, but her anxiety about Silverflame was growing stronger with every heartbeat. She ducked her head to her mentor and bounded across the clearing to the elders’ den. Just as she reached it, Brightflower emerged.

“How is Silverflame?” Yellowpaw demanded.

“Growing weaker,” Brightflower replied. Her face was solemn. “Be brave, little one. We have to accept that it’s time for her to walk with StarClan.”

Chapter 5

“No!” Yellowpaw gasped. “She can’t leave us!”

“I’m sorry, but she has to.” Brightflower bent her head to touch Yellowpaw’s ear with her nose.

Yellowpaw could see the desperate anxiety in Brightflower’s eyes. I know how I’d feel if Brightflower was dying. She must feel the same now that it’s her mother who’s going to join StarClan.

“I want to see her!” she choked out.

Brightflower nodded. “You can, but you must be very quiet.” She stepped back and allowed Yellowpaw to slide underneath the branches into the elders’ den.

Silverflame was lying on her side, her legs splayed out as if she were running. Her eyes were half-closed and her chest heaved with rasping breaths. Sagewhisker crouched over her while Littlebird and Lizardfang watched from the corner, their eyes gleaming in the darkness.

Yellowpaw felt as though her pelt were on fire as she drew closer to the old, sick cat. She reeled back, blinking. “She’s so thirsty!” she whispered to Sagewhisker. “Why don’t you give her something to drink? Why aren’t you treating her pain?”

Sagewhisker looked up, her eyes full of grief. “There’s nothing more I can do,” she murmured.

“There must be!” Yellowpaw wailed.

“Yellowpaw.” Littlebird rose to her paws and gave Yellowpaw a gentle nudge. “Come with me.”

“No!” Yellowpaw felt as if her whole world was full of pain and her grief for Silverflame. “I want to stay with her.”

“You can’t help her now,” Littlebird mewed softly. “Come away.”

Yellowpaw let herself be urged toward the entrance. Before she ducked under the branches, she looked back. “Good-bye, Silverflame,” she whispered.

There was no sign that Silverflame had heard her. She drew a breath that rattled in her throat. As Yellowpaw climbed out of the den, she strained her ears for the next breath. It didn’t come.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Yellowpaw whispered.

Littlebird nodded. “She hunts with StarClan now.”

Yellowpaw dug her claws into the ground. “She shouldn’t be dead. Why didn’t Sagewhisker save her?”

“It wasn’t—”

Yellowpaw cut off Littlebird’s words with a yowl of rage. “She should have saved her! What good is a medicine cat if she can’t do that?”

“Come for a walk with me,” Littlebird meowed gently.

“Yes, go with Littlebird.” Brightflower, who had waited outside the den, touched her nose to Yellowpaw’s ear.

Her eyes blurred by sadness, Yellowpaw followed the small ginger tabby out of the camp. She realized that Littlebird was heading for the marshes Deerleap had shown her earlier. It felt as though the tour of the territory had happened in another life.

“Medicine cats can only do their best with the knowledge that they have,” Littlebird told her. “StarClan wanted Silverflame to walk with them. Look,” she added, pausing beside a shrub with a few pale green leaves clinging to its spindly branches, “there’s the juniper bush that Sagewhisker used to help Silverflame’s pain. And in newleaf there’s also coltsfoot for shortness of breath—”

“But none of it did any good,” Yellowpaw snarled. “Sagewhisker should have found something better.” She lashed her tail. “What’s the use of being a medicine cat if you can’t heal your Clanmates?”

“Death is part of life,” Littlebird meowed, resting her tail on Yellowpaw’s shoulder. “Every good warrior goes to StarClan, and that’s a glorious place to end up.” She raised one paw and pointed at a star that was shining above their heads. “Look, Silverflame is watching over us now.”

“But I want her back in the Clan,” Yellowpaw whispered. The star was too far away to mean anything, and how could any cat know that it was Silverflame?