Deerpaw had been apprenticed to Cloudpelt, and Tanglepaw to Wolfstep. Both of them looked ready to burst with pride and excitement, and even Lizardstripe looked pleased. In contrast Brokenpaw just stood glowering at his paws.
It will be all right, Yellowfang tried to tell herself. Once Brokenpaw starts training, he’ll realize how much Nightpelt has to teach him.
She tried to put Brokenpaw out of her mind as Cedarstar raised his tail for silence once again. I’ve got something important to do, too, she thought, with a tingle of excitement in her paws. Runningkit looked excited as well, his eyes shining as he gazed at his Clan leader.
“Come forward,” Cedarstar called to Yellowfang, beckoning her with his tail. As she stepped toward him, he went on, “The last two moons have been hard without Sagewhisker, and I know that within ShadowClan our former medicine cat will be mourned forever.”
A murmur of agreement rose from the Clan, and Yellowfang felt a fresh pang of grief for the old cat who had taught her so much.
“But the line of ShadowClan medicine cats will continue,” Cedarstar announced, “with a new apprentice, Runningkit. Yellowfang, you have already proven yourself to be a skilled and loyal medicine cat. I know that you will pass on all your knowledge to Runningkit.”
“I will, Cedarstar,” Yellowfang promised.
“Runningkit,” the Clan leader meowed, “do you accept the post of apprentice to Yellowfang?”
“Yes, Cedarstar.” Runningkit’s voice went up in an excited squeak, and he scuffled his front paws in embarrassment.
“Then from this moment you shall be known as Runningpaw. And the good wishes of ShadowClan go with you,” the Clan leader finished.
“Runningpaw! Runningpaw!”
As his Clan greeted him, Runningpaw scampered over to Yellowfang, gave a huge sniff, then reached up to touch noses with her.
Yellowfang winced. The first thing I’ll teach him will be to cure his own sniffles.
“I’ll take you to the half-moon Gathering soon to meet the other medicine cats,” she whispered to Runningpaw, who danced on the spot.
As the cats separated—Lizardstripe rejoining the warriors with a huge sigh of relief—Yellowfang followed the other mentors and their apprentices out of the camp for their first tour of the territory. Runningpaw bounced by her side.
“Will we see cats from other Clans?” he panted. “What happens if we do?”
“We might spot a patrol on the other side of the Thunderpath,” Yellowfang admitted. “If we do, we greet them and go on our way.” She hesitated, then added, “Later I’ll teach you some fighting moves. You need to be able to defend yourself. But never forget that you’re a medicine cat, not a warrior. You don’t go looking for trouble, and you never—never—attack first.”
Runningpaw nodded seriously. “I’ll remember, Yellowfang.”
As they toured the territory, Yellowfang enjoyed seeing her apprentice’s astonishment when he realized how big the forest was, which made her recall her own first exploration with Deerleap. The sight of the Carrionplace shocked him and he shivered when Yellowfang told him about the battle with the rats.
“But never forget,” Yellowfang warned as they padded past at a safe distance, “rats are dangerous, but warriors are more dangerous! And medicine cats know just what to do for rat bites.”
“Cobwebs for bleeding, right?” Runningpaw mewed.
“Right, but some wounds get infected. Marigold and horsetail are good for that, but best of all for rat bites is wild garlic or burdock root.”
“Marigold… horsetail… wild garlic… burdock root…” Runningpaw muttered under his breath. “Great StarClan, there’s a lot to learn!”
He halted, shocked, when they reached the Thunderpath with monsters roaring past. “Mudclaw told us about it,” he gasped, “but I never thought it would be like this! Are those monsters dangerous?”
“Only if you try to cross the Thunderpath,” Yellowfang told him. “I don’t know why, but they never leave it.”
“But we have to cross it to get to Fourtrees, don’t we?”
Yellowfang shook her head. “There’s a tunnel that goes underneath it, leading to a little bit of ShadowClan territory that borders ThunderClan and WindClan.”
Runningpaw’s eyes sparkled. “So we could visit ThunderClan territory? Great!”
“We could,” Yellowfang replied severely, “but we’re not going to because we’re too courteous and honorable to go wandering over another Clan’s borders without good reason. There’s another tunnel, too, that leads directly onto WindClan territory, over there.” She waved her tail at the swell of moorland beyond the Thunderpath. “And before you ask, no, WindClan warriors aren’t just rabbit-eating nuisances, even if that’s what you’ve heard. But you don’t need to be afraid of them, either.” She felt a warm glow of pride as she added, “ShadowClan is a match for any Clan.”
Yellowfang started to look for herbs as they continued, to teach her apprentice what they looked like and what they were used for. But she hurried more quickly past the border with the Twolegplace, even though Runningpaw wanted to linger.
“Do we ever go there?” he asked, staring curiously at the sharp red Twoleg dens. “I think it’d be cool to meet a kittypet!”
Yellowfang felt her fur bristle as she thought of Hal and the other kittypets who had attacked the camp. “No, it wouldn’t be cool,” she snapped. “We don’t go there and they don’t come here. We don’t bother one another, and that’s best for all of us.”
“Okay.” Runningpaw blinked, looking slightly disappointed. Then he brightened up and pattered along beside Yellowfang as she headed back to the camp.
As they approached the camp entrance, Yellowfang heard a voice raised angrily, and flinched as she recognized that it was Brokenpaw’s.
“But I want to! Why can’t I?”
Rounding a bramble thicket, Yellowfang came upon Brokenpaw and Nightpelt glaring at each other. Brokenpaw’s fur was bushed out to twice his size, and his yellow eyes shone.
“Because we’ve done enough for one day, touring the whole territory,” Nightpelt explained. “We—” He had to break off to cough, the only sign that he was under stress, for his tone was calm and patient.
“But I want to learn battle moves!” his apprentice insisted.
“Training will begin tomorrow. We’ll start with hunting practice. Don’t you want to catch your own prey?”
“I want to fight,” Brokenpaw growled, tearing at a clump of ferns with unsheathed claws. “Look how strong I am! I’m bigger than the other apprentices. They can do the hunting and the boring stuff around the camp. Let me do battle with the other warriors!”
Nightpelt’s tail-tip twitched. “There are no battles to fight at the moment, Brokenpaw. You’ll have a chance to learn everything, but you need to go at the right pace. Don’t be impatient!”
Brokenpaw glared at his mentor for a heartbeat longer, then spun around and stalked away. “Coughing old fool!” he muttered under his breath.
“Off you go back to camp,” Yellowfang told Runningpaw. “You can choose a piece of prey from the fresh-kill pile.”
“Thanks, Yellowfang!” her apprentice exclaimed. “And thanks for today. It was awesome!”
When he had scampered off, Yellowfang padded over to Nightpelt. “Couldn’t you have shown Brokenpaw a couple of moves?” she meowed. “He’s right about being bigger than the other apprentices, and he seems to be getting bored. There’s no reason he can’t learn more quickly, is there?”