“I have good news for the Clan,” Cedarstar announced when all the cats were assembled. “Yellowfang will be Sagewhisker’s apprentice, and ShadowClan’s next medicine cat.”
Utter silence greeted his announcement. Yellowfang’s embarrassment grew; she longed to slink away from all the attention. She had spotted Raggedpelt at the back of the crowd, and she could feel the heat of his glare even from there.
I wish I could tell him that my feelings for him haven’t gone away. But I must follow the code of the medicine cats now, and that means I can never have a mate. The whole Clan must mean as much to me as my own kits would.
Her gaze traveled over her Clanmates, old and young, all of them staring at her. The ground seemed to dip underneath her. Then Brightflower sprang to her paws and bounded up to her, closely followed by Brackenfoot. “This is wonderful!” Brightflower exclaimed, pressing her muzzle against Yellowfang’s shoulder. “The next medicine cat—what an honor!”
“Congratulations,” Brackenfoot added, dipping his head. “I know you’ll do very well.”
Nutwhisker and Rowanberry pushed their way through the cats to reach Yellowfang’s side. Nutwhisker blinked at her with a mixture of wonder and fear in his eyes. “Wow, you’ll be talking to StarClan!” he breathed.
Rowanberry looked hurt as she brushed pelts with her sister. “You were my best friend!” she mewed.
“I’ll still be here,” Yellowfang reminded her. “We can still be friends.”
Rowanberry shook her head. “It won’t be the same.”
Yellowfang felt a wave of loneliness as she realized that her relationship with Raggedpelt wasn’t all that she had lost. But Sagewhisker’s paw tapped her on the shoulder, giving her no time to dwell on what had changed.
“Come on,” the medicine cat meowed. “We have work to do.”
She led the way back to her den. Yellowfang sat down in front of her, feeling rather small and apprehensive. There’s so much I don’t know!
“Your first task,” Sagewhisker began, “must be to control your feelings when other cats are sick and in pain.”
Yellowfang blinked in surprise. I thought I had to do this because I have these feelings!
“I can’t be much help,” Sagewhisker went on, “because I don’t know what you actually experience, but is there any way you can block the pain coming from outside?”
Yellowfang thought hard. “It’s hard to know when it’s not actually happening,” she explained. “But I think I might be able to shut it out if I focus on myself—that I’m healthy, I’m not in pain, and I can treat this cat’s symptoms.”
Sagewhisker nodded. “That sounds good. We can’t test it until there is a cat in pain in the Clan, but you should practice focusing on yourself. See if you can limit your feelings to your own body.”
“I’ll try.” But that’s like asking me to concentrate on breathing. I don’t think about it; it just happens!
“Good,” Sagewhisker mewed. “Now, I want you to clear out the herb store and discard any dead leaves. You can identify what we have and when it would be used, and work out what we need to find in the forest.”
That’s a huge job, Yellowfang thought in alarm.
“But before that,” Sagewhisker went on, “my nest needs more moss, and your nest needs sorting out now that you’re going to sleep here permanently.”
Yellowfang stared at her mentor. “Those are apprentice tasks!” she objected.
“And you’re an apprentice,” Sagewhisker retorted. “I’m going to see how Nettlespot and Cloudkit are, so you can get on with the bedding.” Not waiting for a reply, she whisked out of the den.
Yellowfang clawed at the old nests in a mutinous daze, dragging them out into the clearing in the sharp, frosty sun that gave no warmth. As she bundled up the moss and bracken she heard a cat cough behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see Foxheart.
“That bedding is so dusty!” the ginger warrior exclaimed with another exaggerated cough. “Can’t you do that somewhere else where it won’t bother the warriors?”
Yellowfang tried to ignore her, but Foxheart hadn’t finished taunting her. “That’s such a boring job!” she went on with false sympathy. “I wouldn’t go back to being an apprentice, no way! Will you have to check the elders for ticks, too?” When Yellowfang didn’t reply, she added, “After all, there are no warrior apprentices in the Clan now. Wow, you are going to be busy!” She flicked her tail at Yellowfang and ran off.
Burning with indignation, Yellowfang dragged the old bedding out into the forest, where she shoved it under a clump of brambles. As she stumbled around in the undergrowth, collecting fresh moss and dried bracken, she felt more and more resentful.
Sagewhisker just wanted someone to do all her dirty work! I never thought my destiny would include this kind of thing! I hope StarClan has a word with Sagewhisker and makes her treat me with more respect!
Puffing under her load of new bedding, Yellowfang returned to camp. Her heart sank when she spotted Lizardstripe standing near the fresh-kill pile.
“Hey, Yellowfang!” the tabby warrior called out to her. “Could you clean out my nest, too? I’d like some more feathers in it, please. And I think the elders would like some fresh-kill brought to them.”
Yellowfang was too tired and cross to answer. She tried to stalk past with her head held high even though she was carrying such a huge bundle. Then she spotted Stonetooth standing outside the warriors’ den.
“Lizardstripe, what are you doing?” he called, his voice annoyed. “You’re supposed to be on a hunting patrol. Frogtail is waiting for you.”
With a hiss of annoyance, Lizardstripe bounded off.
Stonetooth padded up to Yellowfang. “You’re doing great,” he meowed. “Don’t worry, these mouse-brained warriors will get used to this in a couple of days, when something else catches their attention.” He let out a rasping purr. “I think you’ll make a fine medicine cat, Yellowfang. And remember this—when your apprenticeship is over, cats like Foxheart and Lizardstripe will be coming to you for help.”
Yellowfang felt soothed by the deputy’s kind tone and the twinkle in his eyes. “Thanks, Stonetooth,” she mumbled, struggling on with her burden toward the medicine cat’s den.
When she had arranged the bedding into two cozy nests, Yellowfang sat down to take a breath. The huge decision she had made began to sink in. This would be her life from now on. She would be separate from her Clanmates, isolated by her knowledge and her connection with StarClan, and yet she would be the cat they would come to first if they were sick or injured. She began to look around the den, really noticing it for the first time and wondering if there was anything she might want to change. Her gaze traveled over the herb stores. I wonder if we could make a hollow somewhere to store moss for soaking. That would be much quicker than going outside the camp. And we could keep the cobwebs dry if we hung them on the thorns over there.
“Oh, StarClan,” she whispered, “if you can hear me, I think I’m okay with this. I can be a medicine cat, if that is what you want.”
For a heartbeat, she felt that cats with herb-scented pelts were brushing against her, receiving her into the long line of medicine cats who had cared for her Clan for season upon season.
Paw steps sounded behind her as Sagewhisker bustled back into the den. “What are you doing?” she scolded. “Why haven’t you got the herbs out yet?”
“I was just about to,” Yellowfang defended herself.
“Well, you need to work faster.”