Yellowfang rolled her eyes, but didn’t bother to reply.
“You know, they have a point,” Raggedpelt mewed when Foxheart and Lizardstripe had gone on to their nests. “You spend too much time helping Sagewhisker when you should be doing warrior duties.”
Yellowfang bristled. “You’re not Clan leader; don’t tell me what to do,” she muttered, turning her back on Raggedpelt.
She felt Raggedpelt’s warm breath on the back of her neck. “I’m not telling you what to do,” he murmured. “It’s just a suggestion, okay? You’re a warrior, not a medicine cat. I know that, you know that, you just need to make sure that it’s clear to the rest of the Clan, too.”
Yellowfang stepped forward, dipping her head to the Clan leader. “I’d like to join a hunting patrol, please, Cedarstar.”
It was the morning after the Gathering. Cedarstar and Stonetooth were organizing the first patrols. The air was still icy cold but the sun gleamed in a pale blue sky, and somewhere high above, a bird was twittering. Yellowfang’s heart rose at the prospect of prey.
“Fine, Yellowfang,” Cedarstar meowed. “You can go with Archeye, Wolfstep, and Amberleaf.”
As Yellowfang padded over to join them, she caught a look of approval from Raggedpelt. He was leading a different patrol with Blizzardwing, Brackenfoot, and Newtspeck. Though she was disappointed that she couldn’t hunt with him, Yellowfang felt satisfied.
At least now he can’t say I don’t do warrior duties!
Archeye took the lead as the patrol headed out of the camp and across the icebound marsh. “I think we’ll try the edges of the Thunderpath today,” he announced. “No cat has hunted there for a few days.”
Yellowfang and the others followed him until they approached the place where the tunnel led underneath the Thunderpath. The moorland of WindClan swelled on the far side, outlined sharply against the sky.
Archeye halted and stared at the hills with narrowed eyes. “I can’t believe what Heatherstar said at the Gathering last night. She accused us of trespassing!”
Amberleaf flicked her tail. “Let her talk. WindClan cats are all meow and no claws.”
Yellowfang wasn’t so sure. She sniffed around the nearby clumps of grass for any signs of fresh herbs and prey. Suddenly she froze. She had picked up a different scent, not one she had hoped for. “Wait!” she called to the patrol, who were starting to move off again. “We may have intruders. WindClan intruders.”
Archeye spun around. “Where?”
Yellowfang beckoned with a flick of her ears, and her Clanmates came to sniff the clump where she had detected the WindClan tang.
“That’s them all right,” Amberleaf confirmed with a brisk nod. “And it’s fresh.”
“See if you can pick up the trail,” Archeye mewed softly. “And keep quiet. They may still be around.”
All three cats began to cast back and forth, jaws parted to taste the air. Wolfstep was the first to pick up further traces of the invaders. He signaled with his tail, and Archeye took the lead again, following the scent trail.
How dare those mangy WindClan cats cross our border? Yellowfang thought. They accuse us of trespassing, and then they set their filthy paws on our territory!
The trail led toward the underground tunnels. But before they reached the edge of the Thunderpath, the patrol rounded a spindly thicket of birches and came upon four cats, confidently surveying ShadowClan territory. Yellowfang recognized them from previous Gatherings: Dawnstripe and the young warrior Talltail, and a tom called Redclaw with his apprentice, Shrewpaw.
“What in the name of StarClan are you doing here?” Archeye demanded.
All four WindClan cats jumped at the sound of his voice, and whipped around to face the ShadowClan patrol. Yellowfang saw a flash of guilt in their faces, which vanished almost at once to be replaced with defiance.
Dawnstripe stepped forward. “ShadowClan scent has been found on WindClan territory,” she asserted.
“That’s not true!” Archeye’s voice was furious, and his neck fur began to bristle.
Yellowfang moved forward to stand at Archeye’s shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his ribs jutting through his patchy gray coat. Can’t the WindClan cats see we’re all so weak that we can barely make it to the edge of our own territory?
“Even if we had trespassed on your territory,” Amberleaf meowed, “which we didn’t, that doesn’t give you the right to be over here.” She took a threatening step toward the intruders. “Get out now.”
“Oh, can’t we stay and have a look around?” Shrewpaw asked, his voice full of mock disappointment. “These skinny creatures aren’t going to be able to stop us.”
Without saying a word, Yellowfang and her Clanmates stepped into a battle line. A lightning bolt of anger sliced through Yellowfang. ShadowClan is strong! How dare WindClan cats talk to us like this?
“Look,” Archeye began, “you know you’re in the wrong. Leave now, and we can avoid a fight.”
The WindClan cats didn’t move. Yellowfang felt tension tingling through her body from her ears to tail-tip, and she flexed her claws.
“And if we don’t?” Redclaw sneered. “Are you going to eat us?”
Archeye let out a screech and leaped straight at the WindClan tom. The rest of the cats were no more than a heartbeat behind. But as the two toms clashed, Yellowfang felt a jolt of pain deep in her bones; she staggered, almost losing her balance. Talltail loomed over her, and Yellowfang struggled to get into the right position to defend herself. Beside her she caught a glimpse of Amberleaf with blood welling from a deep scratch along her flank. Then Dawnstripe leaped at her again with blood on her claws and Yellowfang shrieked with pain. She collapsed on the ground, her mind filled with visions of fur being shredded and blood gurgling in her throat, choking her. She felt Talltail’s claws slicing through her pelt to the flesh below, but she could only beat her paws at him feebly as if she were a frightened kit.
“Back off, Talltail.” Dawnstripe’s voice reached Yellowfang through the fog of pain. “We’ve done enough. That will teach these mangy cats not to trespass on WindClan territory.”
Yellowfang was too battered to speak. Beyond the pain, all she could think was that the WindClan cats were going to get away with invading ShadowClan. Then the thundering of paws beat at her ears, getting louder and louder. She was conscious of cats leaping past her, and caught a whiff of Raggedpelt’s scent. The other patrol is here! she realized, beginning to shake with relief. Blinking away the darkness that was trying to suck her away, Yellowfang raised her head to see Raggedpelt facing the WindClan cats.
“Get out!” he snarled. “If you think you can come here and attack our cats, you can think again. My claws will show you that you’re wrong.”
“Easy enough to say,” Dawnstripe growled.
But Yellowfang saw that the WindClan cats had suffered injuries too; there was a patch of fur missing from Dawnstripe’s shoulder, while both Shrewpaw and Redclaw were bleeding. Obviously they were in no mood for another fight.
“Don’t you dare set paw on our territory again.” Redclaw thrust out his neck so he was nose-to-nose with Raggedpelt. “Or you’ll get more of the same.”
Raggedpelt let out a contemptuous snort. “You terrify me.”
Redclaw’s only response was a glare. Then the WindClan cats were drawing back, heading for the Thunderpath and the tunnel that would lead them back to their own territory.
Yellowfang let her head rest on the ground again. She could feel blood pulsing out of her wounds, as well as the agony of every other cat’s injuries. She was aware of Raggedpelt bending over her, and felt his tongue rasping warmly over her ears.