Yellowfang’s Secret

My warrior name! But Yellowpaw’s delight lasted no more than a single heartbeat. Pain surged through her belly, wave after wave of agony, and she realized that she was giving birth to kits. For a brief moment the whirling journey ceased; Yellowpaw curled herself around a throng of tiny bodies, and felt the joy of letting them suckle at her belly.

Then she was snatched away again. Stars fled past her, and she was overwhelmed by a feeling of loss and anger. More fury than she had ever known made her vision blur; she tried to screech out her desolation, but she couldn’t make a sound.

With a bump she found herself in a green glade, with sunlight filtering through the leaves. Home! she thought gratefully, but there were no scents she recognized. The landscape flickered around her, showing her a stream trickling through thick moss, a stretch of flat rocks with crevices between them and a strong prey-scent all around, a narrow ravine, the gnarled roots of an oak tree, the glitter of sunlight on a wide stretch of water. The torrent of images made Yellowpaw feel sick; she tried to break free, but she felt like a drowning kit, helpless to escape from the dream that had her in its grip.

Suddenly, with a jolt that made Yellowpaw feel that she had been hurled off the top of the big ash tree, the images stopped, leaving her in darkness. Opening her eyes, Yellowpaw saw that she was still in the cave of the Moonstone, lying on the floor in the shimmering white light.

Deerleap stood at her side, her claws fastened in Yellowpaw’s shoulder; Yellowpaw realized her mentor must have dragged her away from the stone.

“Wake up, Yellowpaw!” she was calling.

“I—I’m up.” Yellowpaw staggered to her paws, dazed and exhausted. She tried to remember her dream, but it was all a blur of pain, anguish, and confusion. The details were slipping away from her like water through her paws.

“Come. We have to leave,” Deerleap ordered.

Yellowpaw blinked at her mentor. Did I do something wrong? “It was… so weird,” she began. “I felt—”

“There’s no need to talk about it,” Deerleap interrupted. “Follow me quickly.”

She whisked into the mouth of the tunnel and Yellowpaw stumbled after her, emerging thankfully into the cold night air. She felt so exhausted that she didn’t think her paws would carry her all the way back to camp.

“We’ll go down the hill a little way,” Deerleap meowed, sounding more like herself. “Then we’ll rest and hunt before we go home.” As she led the way across the stony slope, she added, “You must never tell any cat what you saw in your dreams.”

I don’t want to! Something struck Yellowpaw. “Did… did you see what I dreamed?”

Deerleap didn’t look at her. “Only medicine cats share what StarClan tells them. Whatever you have seen of your future, use that knowledge wisely, Yellowpaw.”

Disappointment clung to Yellowpaw like mist on her fur, and she felt the first stirrings of fear. At least I know I’m going to be a warrior, right? And after that… She strained her memory but the images from her dream were tumbled together in a blaze of starlight. All she knew was that something was wrong; she didn’t feel excited and joyous the way she thought she would after visiting the Moonstone.

Yellowpaw looked up at the stars, but they seemed cold and remote. Oh, StarClan, what is going to happen to me?

Chapter 9

“Yellowpaw, from this time on, you shall be known as Yellowfang. StarClan honors your courage and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a warrior of ShadowClan.”

Trying to keep her poise, even though she was bursting with excitement, Yellowfang bent her head and felt Cedarstar rest his muzzle on it. She licked her leader’s shoulder and took a pace back.

“Yellowfang! Nutwhisker! Rowanberry!” ShadowClan yowled the names of the newly made warriors.

Beside Yellowfang, her brother and sister looked as thrilled as she felt, their eyes shining and their tails straight up in the air.

“Warriors at last!” Nutwhisker chirped. “Sometimes I thought we’d never make it!”

“We’re going to be the best warriors ShadowClan has ever seen,” Rowanberry added.

A warm, prey-laden breeze drifted across the camp, and the hot sun of greenleaf shone down, warming Yellowfang’s pelt. Not a cloud could be seen in the blue sky. What else could I wish for? Yellowfang asked herself. This is a perfect day.

At the front of the cats, Brightflower and Brackenfoot were standing close together, their tails entwined as they beamed proudly at the new warriors. Deerleap gave Yellowfang a nod of warm approval.

Nearby, Foxpaw and Wolfpaw had watched the ceremony with undisguised envy. “We’ll be warriors soon,” Foxpaw announced as the yowls of greeting died away.