Biting back a sharp retort, Yellowfang padded over to the herb stores. With Sagewhisker looking on, she began pulling out the herbs and sorting them into piles.
“No, that’s borage,” Sagewhisker corrected her. “It goes with the other herbs for fever, like dandelion.”
“Okay.” Yellowfang moved the leaves from one pile to another.
“And be a bit gentler with them,” Sagewhisker warned. “Most of this stuff is so dry, it’ll fall apart if you go at it with rough paws.”
Yellowfang’s paws tingled with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. She went on sorting herbs, acutely aware of Sagewhisker’s alert gaze.
“How would you use those daisy leaves for back pain?” Sagewhisker asked after a while.
“Er… give them to the cat to eat, and—”
“No!” Sagewhisker interrupted. “Chew them up and make them into a poultice, then fasten it on with cobwebs.”
Yellowfang’s irritation spilled over. “Stop rushing me!” she snapped. “I’ll learn, but you have to give me a chance.”
Sagewhisker let out a snort, but Yellowfang was convinced she looked a little guilty. “I thought you knew more than that,” Sagewhisker muttered.
“How can I?” Yellowfang meowed. “I’m a warrior. I can feel when cats are in pain, but I don’t know how to make them better. I only knew about the willow leaf because I saw you give one to Lizardfang once when he was vomiting.”
Sagewhisker nodded. “Okay, let’s start again. And we’ll focus on herbs that relieve pain, before we think about herbs that cure infection or give strength or stop coughing.”
Yellowfang’s head whirled. There’s so much to learn! Warrior training was much easier than this!
The half-moon hung in the sky like a silver feather as Yellowfang followed Sagewhisker into the hills toward Highstones. Her belly churned with nervousness as she remembered the last time she visited the Moonstone, with Deerleap.
I had such dreadful dreams there… oh, StarClan, please don’t make me go through that again!
She felt nervous in a different way as she and her mentor approached Mothermouth and she saw the other medicine cats waiting outside. Her pads prickled with apprehension; what would they say to her?
As she and Sagewhisker plodded up the final slope, a graceful white she-cat with black spots on her pelt bounded forward to meet them. Her blue gaze rested on Yellowfang with friendly interest. “Greetings, Sagewhisker,” she mewed. “Don’t tell me you’ve found an apprentice at last!”
Sagewhisker shot a proud glance at Yellowfang. “I have, thank StarClan. This is Yellowfang.”
The white she-cat gave Yellowfang a nod of welcome. “I’m Brambleberry, RiverClan’s medicine cat,” she told her. “Come and meet the others.”
Yellowfang padded beside Brambleberry toward the gaping hole in the hillside, while Sagewhisker dropped back a pace. Her gaze traveled over the other three medicine cats. Two of them stood close together: an old speckled gray tom whose pale blue gaze drifted over her without interest, and a younger silver-pelted tom with a plumy tail.
I saw him once at a Gathering, talking to Sagewhisker, Yellowfang remembered.
“This is Yellowfang,” Brambleberry announced as they approached the others.
“My new apprentice,” Sagewhisker added. “Yellowfang, these are Goosefeather and Featherwhisker of ThunderClan, and Hawkheart of WindClan.”
Yellowfang dipped her head politely. “Greetings,” she meowed.
“Welcome,” Featherwhisker responded. “It’s always good to receive a new medicine cat.”
“Th-thank you,” Yellowfang stammered. “There’s such a lot to learn, but I’m glad to be here.”
“Yellowfang.” Hawkheart, a mottled dark brown tom, stepped forward. “You have your full name already, so you must have been a warrior before you decided to follow the way of a medicine cat.”
Yellowfang nodded. Is that wrong? she wondered.
“I was a warrior first, like you,” Hawkheart continued to Yellowfang’s surprise. “I’ve found my warrior training very useful, and I expect you will too.”
“We’re wasting moonlight,” Goosefeather broke in tetchily. “Are we going to stand out here gossiping all night?”
I’m pleased to meet you, too, Yellowfang thought as she followed Sagewhisker into the tunnel.
The cave of the Moonstone was already drenched in brilliant silver light when the medicine cats arrived. Sagewhisker padded over to the base of the stone, and beckoned with her tail for Yellowfang to join her there. The other medicine cats sat down a few tail-lengths away.
“Yellowfang,” Sagewhisker began, “is it your wish to share the deepest knowledge of StarClan as a ShadowClan medicine cat?”
Yellowfang gulped. “It is.”
Sagewhisker’s gaze rested warmly on Yellowfang as she continued. “Warriors of StarClan, I present to you this cat. She has shown great courage in turning aside from the path of a warrior. My pride in her could not be greater. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will.” Beckoning Yellowfang forward again, she added, “Now lie down and press your nose against the stone.”
Fear flooded over Yellowfang again as she obeyed. Her eyes closed and she felt icy cold envelop her. It was as if she were floating in darkness; the stone, the cave, and her fellow medicine cats all swept away.
Then Yellowfang sensed that her paws were standing on solid ground. She opened her eyes, blinked, and looked around. She was in a lush clearing, with a stream gurgling through it and flowers of all colors scattered through the grass. Trees in full leaf surrounded the open space, their branches stirring in a warm breeze that carried scents of growth and abundant prey. Everything was bathed in sunlight.
Yellowfang rose to her paws and stretched. She had expected to find cats of StarClan waiting for her, but she was alone. What am I supposed to do now?
Movement caught her gaze and she realized that a cat was approaching through the trees. When it emerged into the open, Yellowfang saw it was an orange-and-gray she-cat, her fur thick and shining, with bright eyes and a frosting of starlight around her paws. Sheer astonishment struck Yellowfang as she recognized her.
“Silverflame!”
Stumbling a little, she ran forward to touch noses with the cat she had last seen as a scrawny, pain-racked elder.
“Greetings, Yellowfang,” Silverflame purred. “I’m glad that I was chosen to welcome you into StarClan. It is an honor to see you here, and as a medicine cat, too!”
“It’s great to see you, too,” Yellowfang responded, confused. “But I was expecting to see another medicine cat. Aren’t I here to learn stuff?”
Silverflame dipped her head. “Sagewhisker will teach you all you need to know of herbs,” she mewed. “But I—”
“Then you’re going to send me omens!” Yellowfang interrupted, excitement tingling in her pads.
“It doesn’t always work like that.” There was a note of regret in Silverflame’s voice. “More than anything else, a medicine cat needs to have courage in her own instincts.”
Now Yellowfang was even more confused. “But you will visit me, right?” she asked anxiously. “What if I don’t know the answers?”
Silverflame touched Yellowfang’s ear lightly with her nose. “I will always be with you,” she promised, “but you must trust yourself first.”
Yellowfang blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“I will watch over you,” the StarClan cat assured her. “Whatever choices you make, you are not alone. I have faith in you—in your decisions and your destiny.”
As she spoke, she began to fade away, the outlines of her body lost in a glitter of starshine.