Yellowfang’s Secret

“What’s wrong with your paw?” she asked, forcing the words out. “Did you get hurt in the battle?”

Rowanberry nodded. “It’s a bit sore,” she admitted.

Yellowfang knew that she could never tell her sister the truth about what she was feeling. The stab of pain had shown her that Sagewhisker was right. If I tell Rowanberry, she’ll think I’m weird. It would change everything.

“Go see Sagewhisker,” she told her sister. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine on my own for a while.”

Rowanberry hesitated for a heartbeat, then touched her nose briefly to Yellowfang’s ear and scampered toward the camp.

Yellowfang watched her until she was out of sight. I can cope with these feelings, she told herself. They won’t stop me from being a great warrior. With her head up, she began padding through the trees. This changes nothing.

Yellowfang stalked along the edge of the marshes, enjoying the warmth of sunlight on her pelt and the taste of the plump vole she carried in her jaws. Three sunrises had passed since the battle, and the pain in her body had faded away. “We’ve hunted well today,” she mumbled to Nutwhisker around her mouthful of prey.

Nutwhisker, who was dragging a squirrel, paused for a moment and let his prey drop to the ground. “We’d do even better if we weren’t stuck here in the marshes,” he commented. “I can’t believe that a badger would dare move into our territory.”

Featherstorm, who was leading the hunting patrol, caught what Nutwhisker said and rolled her eyes. “You know very well we’ve always had trouble with badgers,” she meowed. “Anyway, it won’t be a problem for long, now that Cedarstar has ordered extra patrols to keep an eye open for it.”

Blizzardwing, who padded up with Foxpaw just behind him, nodded. “We’ll soon get rid of it. And then we can hunt all over the territory again.”

“I’m not scared of badgers,” Foxpaw declared, dropping the starling she was carrying. “I’d give it a good thump on the nose if it dared to chase me!”

Blizzardwing’s head swiveled around and he fixed his apprentice with a freezing glare. “If you’re not scared of badgers then you’re a mouse-brain,” he told Foxpaw. “They’re the most ferocious animals in the forest—far worse than foxes. If one chases you, run away as far and as fast as you can. Now pick up your fresh-kill and let’s get a move on.”

Foxpaw obeyed, scowling. Yellowfang exchanged a glance with Nutwhisker before following at the rear of the patrol. Foxpaw thinks she’s so great. It will take more than a cocky little apprentice to deal with this badger!

When the patrol returned to camp, Yellowfang was arranging the new prey on the fresh-kill pile when she heard a sudden commotion at the entrance to the camp: cats’ voices raised in shock and anger, and the beat of paws on hard ground.

Is it the badger? Yellowfang wondered, her heart pounding. She spun around to see Toadskip and Nettlespot escorting two strange cats into the camp. A moment later she realized that they weren’t strangers at all—not to her.

Red and Boulder! What are they doing here?

Cedarstar emerged from his den underneath the oak tree and paced across the camp. “What do they want?”

“We found them on our territory,” Nettlespot explained. “They wouldn’t tell us why they were there.”

“Were you spying?” Cedarstar demanded, fixing a suspicious gaze on the two newcomers.

“Tear their pelts off!” Frogtail called out from the crowd.

“Yeah,” Mudclaw agreed. “They’ve no business here.”

Hostile murmurs rose from the corners of the camp. Glancing around, Yellowfang spotted Raggedpelt crouching down as if he was ready to pounce on the Twolegplace cats. A low growl came from his throat.

“Well?” Cedarstar prompted. “Why have you come here?”

Red took a pace forward with her head held high. Yellowfang couldn’t help admiring her courage. She looked barely old enough to be an apprentice, yet she held Cedarstar’s gaze calmly.

“My name is Red, and this is Boulder,” she announced. “We want to join your Clan.”

The defiant muttering changed to murmurs of disbelief.

“Right!” Nutwhisker spoke into Yellowfang’s ear. “As if we’d swallow that!”

Boulder stepped forward to stand beside his friend. “We really do,” he insisted. “We want to hunt and fight like you do.”

“Why?” Stonetooth challenged them, padding out of the crowd to join Cedarstar. “You belong in the Twolegplace. You should go back.”

“And stay there!” Amberleaf called out.

“I don’t believe a single word of this,” Blizzardwing put in. “It must be a trick!”

Cedarstar stared at the intruders. “Tell us why you wish to join ShadowClan,” he meowed.

“It’s great here in the forest!” Boulder burst out enthusiastically. “You catch your own prey, and—”