Yellowfang’s Secret

“There’s no need to kill!” Stonetooth’s voice rang out above the yowls of fighting cats. “These are kittypets! We’ll soon send them wailing back to their Twolegs!”

“Pretty tough kittypets,” Yellowfang muttered to herself.

She turned to see Rowanberry battling Boulder. Her sister’s eyes flashed with the exhilaration of the fight as she leaped from side to side to confuse her opponent, her blows landing with precision. Slowly but inexorably she was driving the skinny gray tom back toward the fence. Blood trickled down his face from a torn ear.

Yellowfang intercepted a black-and-white tom, who was racing to help Boulder, by rearing up onto her hind legs and buffeting his ears with her forepaws. The black-and-white cat crumpled to the ground. But though Yellowfang relished the strength of her muscles and the certainty of her swiping paws, she couldn’t help wincing with every blow she landed. She stung all over as if her pelt had been ripped off.

I have to toughen up, she thought. I’m fighting for my Clan!

She was forcing the tom back against the fence when she suddenly felt pressure on her throat, as if something was crushing her windpipe. Her attack faltered as she struggled to breathe. The tom launched himself at her again; through swirling vision Yellowfang saw that Nutwhisker had flung himself between them, giving her a moment’s respite.

Her breath rasping in her throat, Yellowfang turned to see the big tabby holding Deerleap down with one paw planted on her neck. Yellowfang staggered across to them, swiping her claws down the tabby’s flank. He rolled over and scrambled away.

“Thanks, Yellowfang,” Deerleap gasped, struggling to her paws. “But I was fine, really. I was just going to throw him into the brambles.”

And hedgehogs might fly, Yellowfang thought, though she would never have spoken the words aloud. The pressure on her throat had vanished and she could breathe freely again, her chest heaving as she sucked air into her lungs. What’s happening to me?

A triumphant yowl from Cedarstar distracted her. “That’s right! Get out, and don’t come back!”

Yellowfang saw the kittypets frantically clawing their way up the fence and vanishing over the other side. None of them looked badly injured, and glancing around at her Clanmates Yellowfang realized that they weren’t seriously wounded either.

“Thank StarClan!” she breathed.

She felt so shaky that her legs would hardly hold her up, and one of her paws hurt so much that she could scarcely put it to the ground, though she couldn’t remember when it had been injured. She spotted Raggedpelt a tail-length away, and this time she managed to meet his gaze. “Red nearly gave us away,” she mewed. “It was so close!”

“Too close,” Raggedpelt growled. Without saying more, he turned away and stalked off in the direction of the camp.

Yellowfang tried to follow, but her head spun with pain and she staggered.

“What’s wrong?” Deerleap asked, stretching out her neck to give Yellowfang a concerned sniff.

“I—I’m okay,” Yellowfang stammered, trying to hide her weakness. Exhaustion wrapped around her like a heavy black cloud.

“Is something the matter?” Cedarstar padded across to Yellowfang’s side, concern in his eyes. “Yellowfang, are you hurt?”

“I don’t know…”

Deerleap sniffed Yellowfang all over and stood back with a puzzled frown. “Just a scratch or two… there must be something wrong that we can’t see. Come on, Yellowfang, lean on my shoulder. We’ll get you back to camp and let Sagewhisker take a look at you.”

Yellowfang and Deerleap were the last cats to struggle back into the camp. The sky was growing pale and the stars were fading. When Yellowfang and her former mentor emerged from the tunnel, the rest of the Clan was gathered around the returned patrols in an excited huddle.

“And then I slashed him over the ear like this,” Nutwhisker was meowing. “You should have heard him screech!”

Skirting the edge of the group, Yellowfang limped to Sagewhisker’s den, thankful for Deerleap’s shoulder supporting her. She slipped between the boulders that formed the entrance to the den, and sank down onto the moss inside.

Sagewhisker looked up from counting poppy seeds. “Yellowfang? Were you hurt in the battle?”

“I’m not sure,” Deerleap meowed. “I didn’t see her take any particularly bad blows, and I can’t find any injuries on her, but she’s exhausted and she can hardly walk. Something isn’t right.”

“Hmm…” Sagewhisker glanced from Deerleap to Yellowfang and back again. “Okay, Deerleap, you can leave her with me. I’ll give her a thorough checkup.”

Yellowfang looked up nervously as Sagewhisker padded over to her. The medicine cat didn’t ask her any questions, just sniffed her all over, parting her fur here and there with gentle paws. Finally she sat down beside Yellowfang and wrapped her tail neatly around her forepaws.

“There’s hardly a scratch on you, but you already know that, don’t you?”