Warriors Super Edition: Yellowfang’s Secret (20 page)

You’re not hurt,
she told herself.
This is Raggedpelt’s pain you’re feeling. If you don’t help him, he’ll be wounded even more
.

Gritting her teeth, Yellowfang flung herself onto the badger’s back. The fierce creature reared its head, snapping and snarling, but its jaws couldn’t reach her. Yellowfang clung on, forcing her claws into the soft fur behind the badger’s ears. She could hear the cubs squealing, and felt a momentary stab of pity.
This mother badger is only trying to protect her cubs
. Then she forced the pity down.
She’s hurting my Clanmate!

“I’ll draw it away!” she gasped to Raggedpelt. “Then run!”

Yellowfang sprang off the badger’s back, flinching as the animal swiveled its head and fixed its tiny, berry-bright eyes on her. Somehow, she had to entice the badger away from Raggedpelt. She limped backward, hardly needing to pretend to be injured because of the sensations that were coursing through her body.

Come on, badger! Follow me, and let Raggedpelt escape
. When another wave of agony washed over her, Yellowfang had to struggle to stay on her paws.
I’m not hurt. I’m not bleeding. This is Raggedpelt’s pain. I have to fight through it!

With a roar of fury the badger lumbered toward her, one huge paw outstretched to strike. Yellowfang waited until the last moment, then sprang up, clawing at the creature’s muzzle. The badger staggered sideways, leaving a narrow space between its flank and the thorns.

“Run, Raggedpelt!” Yellowfang screeched.

Raggedpelt slipped through the gap before the badger could trap him again. Once clear of the thorns he turned, crouching beside Yellowfang, ready to help her fight. Yellowfang could see that her Clanmate’s pelt was clumped and spiky with blood, and more blood was welling from wounds in his shoulder and side. “Get away!” she hissed.

“You can’t fight alone!” Raggedpelt gasped.

“Just go, flea-brain!”

Yellowfang darted in again, leaping to claw the badger on one side of its snout. Glancing back, she saw that Raggedpelt was limping away, leaving spatters of blood on the grass. Snarling another challenge to the badger, she slowly backed off, then spun around and fled after her Clanmate.

“Are you mouse-brained?” Raggedpelt demanded when she had caught up to him. “You didn’t have to take a risk like that. You should have gone to fetch more warriors.”

“There was no time,” Yellowfang flashed back at him. “You would have bled to death before I got back to the camp!” Every word was an effort. Raggedpelt’s hurt was flooding over her so strongly that she barely had the strength to put one paw in front of another.

“Are you okay?” Raggedpelt’s anger gave way to concern. “Are you wounded?”

“I’m fine …” Yellowfang gasped. “You’re the one who needs help. Here, lean on my shoulder.”
And StarClan grant that the badger isn’t chasing us!

Whole moons seemed to pass before the entrance to the camp came into sight. Yellowfang shoved Raggedpelt into the brambles and staggered after him. The camp was quiet; Yellowfang guessed most of the cats were out on patrol, or training.

Featherstorm was sitting near the warriors’ den with Brightflower. She glanced up as her son and Yellowfang emerged into the camp. Instantly she sprang to her paws and rushed across the clearing to Raggedpelt’s side.

“Raggedpelt!” she screeched. “What happened?”

As soon as he reached the clearing Raggedpelt had collapsed on his side, his chest heaving. “Badger!” he gasped.

Brightflower raced over to the medicine cat’s den, calling for Sagewhisker, who ran over to examine Raggedpelt. The medicine cat gave him a few rapid sniffs, then looked up at Yellowfang. “I think we need to talk. Wait for me in my den while I look after Raggedpelt.”

Words crowded into Yellowfang’s mind, of protest or denial that they had anything to say to each other, but she left them all unspoken. Nodding, she paced across the clearing and slid between the rocks into Sagewhisker’s den.

Yellowfang sank down on the bare
earth floor of the medicine cat’s den, curling herself into a tight ball against the soreness in her pelt. She was dimly aware of Sagewhisker returning, collecting something from her herb store, and leaving again. Gradually the agony in Yellowfang’s muscles began to ease, and she let herself relax.

I want to go back to my den and sleep for a moon!

She was struggling to stay awake when Sagewhisker reappeared, and she sat up, trying to look alert.

“Raggedpelt is resting,” the medicine cat meowed. “I gave him some poppy seed.”

Yellowfang nodded. “Good.”

For a moment Sagewhisker said nothing, just padded over to her herb store and began tidying up. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Yellowfang. “What are you going to do now?” she prompted.

Yellowfang didn’t understand the question. “You mean, right now? Sleep.”

Sagewhisker gave a tiny shake of her head. “In the future.”

“Be a warrior, of course.”

“What about this pain that you feel for others?” the medicine cat asked.

“Is there some sort of herb you can give me to take it away?” Yellowfang mewed hopefully.

Sagewhisker shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Yellowfang. Nothing that needs healing.” She finished patting down the fern fronds that covered the herb store before she came to sit beside Yellowfang. Meeting her gaze, she continued, “You have a great ability, one that can be used to help your Clanmates.”

Yellowfang shook her head. “I don’t see how.”

“You can tell as soon as they are injured,” Sagewhisker replied. “Or where their pain is when they are sick.”

“So can you—because cats tell you!” Yellowfang pointed out. Struggling to stay calm, she added, “I don’t want to feel like this. It’s getting in the way of being a warrior.”

Sagewhisker said nothing for so long that Yellowfang grew worried. Finally she spoke. “Maybe being a warrior isn’t the best use of you in ShadowClan,” she mewed quietly. “Maybe you should be a medicine cat.”

Yellowfang sprang to her paws. “Don’t be ridiculous! I’m a warrior!” When Sagewhisker met her gaze with wide, serious eyes, she went on. “I can’t help that I feel when other cats are hurt. I don’t want to, and if I could get rid of it I would. You’re supposed to be helping me!”

Sagewhisker sighed. “Yellowfang, that’s all I ever want to do.”

Suddenly Yellowfang didn’t want to talk to Sagewhisker anymore.
She doesn’t understand!
Spinning around, she stormed into the clearing.

Outside, Brightflower was just emerging from the warriors’ den. Spotting Yellowfang, she bounded over to her. “Raggedpelt—” Brightflower began, and broke off. “Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m fine,” Yellowfang snapped.

Brightflower blinked. “Raggedpelt is asking for you,” she meowed.

Yellowfang wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to any cat right now, but after a moment’s hesitation she turned her paw steps in the direction of the warriors’ den. Raggedpelt was curled up in his nest. It was lined with extra feathers; with a purr of amusement Yellowfang thought that the tabby warrior looked like a baby crow with a black frill around his head. As she picked her way among the other nests to his side, Raggedpelt raised his head.

“Yellowfang …” he murmured. “I wanted to thank you. You saved my life.”

Yellowfang’s pelt grew hot with embarrassment. “It was nothing,” she mumbled. “Any cat would have done the same.”

The secret that lay between her and Raggedpelt made her feel uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling through her fur. She took a pace back, but before she could leave, Raggedpelt reached out a paw to stop her.

“Promise me you’ll never do something so mouse-brained again,” he grunted. “You could have been killed.”

“Well, you were nearly killed yourself,” Yellowfang shot back at him. “So I’d be in good company!”

Raggedpelt didn’t reply, just let out another grunt of pain.

“Lie down,” Yellowfang meowed, helping him to settle in his nest. “I’ll bring you something to eat later.” Glancing back before she left the den, she saw that Raggedpelt’s eyes were closed. A spark of warmth woke inside her.
Maybe we can go back to being friends
.

Outside the den, Yellowfang arched her back in a long stretch. Her weariness was ebbing, and she longed to work off her energy in a run through the forest. As she relaxed from her stretch she became aware of some cat watching her, and she turned to see Foxpaw fixing her with a burning glare.
What’s her problem?
But Yellowfang couldn’t be bothered to confront the apprentice. She put Foxpaw out of her mind as she padded across the camp to where Stonetooth and a few of the other warriors were gathered around the fresh-kill pile. The Clan deputy was sitting with his paws tucked under him, dozing in the sunlight; he blinked awake as Yellowfang halted in front of him. As he struggled to his paws she thought he looked suddenly old, but a heartbeat later he was as crisp and efficient as ever.

“Yellowfang, I want you to lead a patrol back to where you saw the badger. We need to drive that creature out of the woods once and for all.”

“Of course,” Yellowfang replied, with a thrill of pride that she had been asked to take on such an important job.

“Good.” Stonetooth glanced around at the other warriors near the fresh-kill pile. “Archeye, Mousewing, you can go,” he mewed.

“Great!” Archeye swallowed the last of the vole he was sharing with Mousewing, and swiped his tongue around his jaws. “Now?”

Stonetooth nodded. “Right away. Scorchwind and Newtspeck, you can join them.”

“And us!” Wolfpaw panted, bounding up with Foxpaw at his shoulder.

The Clan deputy shook his head. “This patrol is just for warriors.”

Wolfpaw’s tail dropped in disappointment, while his sister glared at Yellowfang.
Don’t look at me like that,
Yellowfang thought, longing to give the annoying apprentice a cuff around the ear.
It’s not my fault. And if you’d seen what that badger can do, maybe you wouldn’t be so keen to go
.

“Hang on a moment,” Archeye meowed. “Maybe we should let the apprentices come with us. They need the experience.”

Oh, Archeye, why can’t you keep your jaws shut?
Yellowfang would have liked to speak the words aloud, but she had to keep quiet and not show her annoyance while the deputy considered.

Eventually Stonetooth nodded. “Very well.” As Wolfpaw and Foxpaw began to bristle with excitement, he fixed them with a stern gaze. “But do exactly as Yellowfang and the senior warriors tell you,” he continued. “Stay well back until they work out how to proceed.”

The two apprentices nodded impatiently; Yellowfang suspected the deputy’s words had gone right over their heads. Waving her tail to gather her patrol, she led the way through the brambles and into the forest. As soon as they were heading through the trees, Scorchwind put on a burst of speed to walk alongside her.

“I’ll
flay
that badger,” he snarled. “I’ll spread her guts from here to the Twolegplace. No creature hurts my brother and gets away with it.”

Yellowfang pictured the two tiny badger cubs who had peeped out from the brambles while their mother was attacking the Clan cats.
Is it fair to drive the badger and her babies out of their home? Couldn’t we just stay away from that part of the forest until she has raised her cubs?