Firestar's Quest

by Erin Hunter

  She could hear the kit’s persistent cough as she slid through the entrance to the nursery. Volekit was squatting in his bedding, a miserable bundle of fur, his tiny body shaken by coughs. His two littermates looked on with wide, anxious eyes.

  Yellowfang placed a paw on his chest and felt feverish heat striking through her pads. “How long has he been like this?” she asked Featherstorm.

  “It came on in the night,” the she-cat replied. “How bad is it, Yellowfang? Is it whitecough?”

  “I don’t think so,” Yellowfang meowed. “I’ll bring him a tansy leaf. That should do the trick.” Stroking the tiny tom’s brown pelt, she added, “You’ll feel better soon, little kit.”

  On her way out of the nursery she paused beside Newtspeck, whose young litter—their eyes not open yet—was huddled into the curve of her belly. “If I were you, I’d keep the little ones away from Volekit until his cough clears up,” she advised.

  Newtspeck nodded and curled her tail protectively around her kits.

  On her way back from delivering the tansy leaf, Yellowfang was hailed by Hollyflower from the entrance to the elders’ den. “Poolcloud’s joints are aching,” she announced when the medicine cat padded up. “Do you have anything for her?”

  Yellowfang nodded. “I’ll bring her a poultice of daisy leaves,” she replied. “And a poppy seed to help her sleep.”

  But before she fetched the herbs, Yellowfang poked her head into the warriors’ den to make sure Frogtail was resting, and beckoned to Amberleaf, who was gathering up soiled bedding. “Come with me,” Yellowfang ordered. “It’s time I renewed that dressing on your ear.” Amberleaf had torn her ear in a training exercise and the wound had been reluctant to heal.

  Amberleaf sighed as she rose to her paws. “Okay, Yellowfang. When can I return to warrior duties?”

  “When I’m satisfied that ear isn’t infected,” Yellowfang retorted.

  When she peeled off the wrapping of cobweb and goldenrod leaves, she was pleased to see that Amberleaf’s wound looked clean and healthy. “You don’t need another poultice,” she commented as she rubbed the scratch with marigold. “You can go back to your duties tomorrow provided it’s no worse.”

  “Great!” Amberleaf meowed. “I think if I have to take one more tick off the elders I’ll go mad as a fox in a fit.”

  Yellowfang sent her away and collected the daisy leaves and the poppy seed for Poolcloud. At the entrance to the elders’ den she met Runningnose, staggering under the weight of a huge bundle of dripping moss.

  “I don’t want the elders to get their paws wet by the stream,” he explained, mumbling around his burden. “Their bedding needs changing, too.”

  “Hasn’t Brokentail put any cat on apprentice duties?” Yellowfang asked.

  Runningnose shook his head. “No, they’re all out battle training. Except for Amberleaf, and she’s stuck doing the warriors’ bedding all on her own.”

  Yellowfang sighed. Runningnose shouldn’t have to work so hard when he’s no younger or less experienced than the other warriors. “Never mind,” she meowed. “I’ll help you with the elders’ nests as soon as I’ve taken care of Littlebird.”

  Once Littlebird was dosed and comfortable, Yellowfang went into the forest again, her pleasure in the bright day dimmed by her anxiety about using so many herbs. She was carrying a bundle of moss and feathers across the clearing when Raggedstar padded up to her.

  “Have you seen any hunting patrols?” he asked her.

  Yellowfang shook her head. “As far as I know, they’re battle training first.”

  The Clan leader’s amber eyes grew troubled. “There are hungry bellies in the Clan,” he mewed. “Elders, kits, and warriors all need feeding.”

  You should talk to your deputy about that, not your medicine cat, Yellowfang thought. “Well, I have some traveling herbs that could take the edge off the worst hunger,” she suggested, “but I’m not sure I should use them up so soon before leaf-bare.”

  “I don’t want my Clanmates eating your herbs!” Raggedstar’s eyes widened in shock and anger. “They should have fresh-kill!”

  As he was speaking, movement by the entrance caught Yellowfang’s eye, and Brokentail plunged into the clearing. Blood spattered his muzzle and his eyes shone with triumph.

  “Excellent training session,” he announced, bounding up to Raggedstar and Yellowfang. “Rowanberry and Stumpytail cornered the dogs before they were halfway to the border!”

  The two dog-hunters had followed him into the camp, panting and exhausted but clearly very pleased with themselves. The other three warriors staggered into the camp; Yellowfang was shocked to see how bedraggled and battered they looked. Deerfoot was limping, Blackfoot’s shoulder was bleeding, and Tangleburr had a lump of fur missing from her side.

  They must have been the dogs, Yellowfang thought. They’ve certainly had the worst of it.

  “Next time, you’ll run faster!” Brokentail told them. “Now, clean yourselves up and get back to the training area. I need you to practice your defense moves.”

  “They can rest first, I think,” Raggedstar meowed.

  “And I ought to check those wounds,” Yellowfang added.

  Brokentail stared at Raggedstar. “Rest?” He sounded surprised. “We can’t stop a battle just because we get tired! I said they can clean themselves up; then we’ll continue.”

  “What about the hunting patrols?” Raggedstar prompted.

  “Don’t worry,” Brokentail assured him cheerfully. “I’ve sent some cats off to find fresh-kill. That’s if they haven’t scared all the prey into hiding!”

  Yellowfang gazed at Brokentail. You have so much ambition, so much drive to make your Clanmates as strong and fearless as you, she thought. I wonder where your spirit comes from. Is it partly from me?

  Yellowfang was putting away a fresh supply of dock leaves when Runningnose padded up behind her and touched her shoulder with his tail.

  “Have you forgotten it’s the half-moon? We should be on our way to the Moonstone.”

  Yellowfang blinked at him in confusion. “There’s so much to do here, it slipped my mind,” she confessed.

  Runningnose gave her shoulder a brief stroke. “I’ll stay behind and get on with the work, if you like,” he offered. “I don’t mind missing the meeting for once.”

  Yellowfang pushed her nose into his shoulder fur, grateful for his sensitivity. “I’m sure it will be routine,” she mewed. “I haven’t heard anything from the other medicine cats lately.”

  With a quick farewell, Yellowfang headed out of the camp and across the forest to the tunnel that led into WindClan territory. Emerging from the other end, she bounded over the tough moorland grass, suddenly anxious that she would be late and miss the moment when light poured down onto the Moonstone. She was relieved to spot Featherwhisker of ThunderClan and Brambleberry of RiverClan padding ahead of her, and picked up her pace to catch up to them. Brambleberry had a younger cat with her who was a stranger to Yellowfang.

  “This is Mudpaw, my new apprentice,” she announced proudly when she had greeted Yellowfang.

  Yellowfang dipped her head to the young tom. “Welcome to the company of medicine cats.”

  “Thank you.” Mudpaw’s eyes shone. “I can’t believe I’m going to meet our ancestors!”

  “I should have an apprentice of my own next time,” Featherwhisker announced. “Spottedkit will be Spottedpaw by then. She’s always poking about my stores; I think she’s going to be a great medicine cat!”

  “I’m looking forward to meeting her,” Brambleberry mewed.

  At the far side of the territory Hawkheart and his apprentice, Barkpaw, were waiting, and all the medicine cats traveled on together. They trekked through the farm, where a young black-and-white tom watched them from his perch on top of a wall. Yellowfang recognized him from her last visit to Highstones. He’d recently arrived there and was friendly enough to the passing Clan cats.

  “Hi, Barley,” Hawkheart meowed
. “Settling in okay?”

  Barley dipped his head. “Everything’s fine, thanks, Hawkheart. The old barn is crawling with mice! You can all stop and eat if you like.”

  “Thanks, but we don’t have time,” Featherwhisker told him. “Maybe on the way back.”

  The two apprentices were walking side by side. There was a bounce in Mudpaw’s step, as if his paws were itching to run flat out to the hills.

  “What’s it like, meeting a StarClan cat?” he asked Barkpaw. “What do you say to them?”

  “It’s different for every cat,” Barkpaw told him. “But don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

  “And do you only meet with cats from your own Clan?” Mudpaw went on. “Yellowfang, do you only see ShadowClan cats?”

  Yellowfang shook her head, suppressing a shudder at the thought of some of the cats she had walked with in her dreams. “You might see more of your own Clan than others,” she replied to the eager young cat. “But not always. There’s no telling who you’ll meet in StarClan.”

  Mudpaw’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait!”

  In the cavern of the Moonstone Yellowfang found it was a bit of a squeeze for all six cats to get into position. As she settled herself she was a bit disconcerted to see Featherwhisker deliberately wriggle between her and Hawkheart.

  Why does he want to be next to me? For once he hasn’t been asking his annoying questions, so what’s on his mind now? Does he think he’ll get to walk in my dreams?

  The long walk had tired Yellowfang, and she relaxed as she closed her eyes. But her relief was short-lived. Darkness swirled around her like black fog, torn apart by slashing claws and tumbling, shrieking bodies. Yellowfang was in the middle of a terrible battle, choking on air that was thick with blood and fury. But there was something different about these warriors.... Yellowfang loomed over them, taller by more than a mouse-length. And their shrieks were high-pitched, as piercing as rat squeals.

  These were not warriors fighting, but kits!

  Yellowfang stared down at the tiny mewling things, some with their eyes still closed, but when their little paws struck they left gouges that spilled with blood, and their puny teeth sank deep into one another’s fur.

  Oh, StarClan, no! Yellowfang wailed silently. Why are you showing me this?

  She plunged into the battle, trying to stop the kits from tearing one another apart, but they ignored her and kept on ripping and biting. Blood flowed over the ground and rose up around Yellowfang’s legs and belly like a river, clinging to her pelt.

  A screech sounded behind her and she whipped around to see Molepelt, standing on a mound of earth above the battle and blood.

  “Fire and blood will destroy the Clans!” he yowled.

  Yellowfang tried to fight her way toward him but the tide of battling kits swept her away. Blood gurgled in her throat and thick, choking darkness covered her.

  Yellowfang crouched, trembling in darkness and silence. She forced her eyes open, expecting to find herself back in the cavern of the Moonstone. Instead she was curled up in a starlit glade. A soft breeze whispered in the grass, and the air was filled with the scent of fresh green growth. Silverflame was licking her fur, as if Yellowfang were a kit once more, with her pelt ruffled from playing with her littermates.

  For a couple of heartbeats Yellowfang surrendered herself to Silverflame’s gentle care. Then she whispered, “The kits! They were fighting! Why?”

  Silverflame looked at her with eyes full of grief. “Terrible times are coming,” she mewed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry?” Yellowfang asked, springing to her paws. “Just tell me how I can change things!”

  Silverflame shook her head. “You can’t. The tide has turned already.”

  “But there must be something I can do!” Yellowfang protested.

  “Knowing something is going to happen does not give us the power to change it,” Silverflame mewed, so softly that Yellowfang could only just hear her. “Now, lie down and rest while you can. Your Clan needs you more than ever.”

  In spite of her desperate anxiety, Yellowfang let the she-cat’s steady lapping soothe her, and closed her eyes. After a little while, two tiny tongues joined in with Silverflame’s, and Yellowfang smelled the heartbreaking scent of her daughters.

  I must be strong for my Clan, she told herself. But StarClan, why do you make it so hard?

  A moment later Yellowfang felt a cat nudging her in the side. She opened her eyes to meet the curious gaze of Featherwhisker. The moonlight was gone, and dawn light trickled in through the gap in the roof of the cave.

  “Are you okay?” the ThunderClan medicine cat inquired. “What did you see?”

  The ghastly vision of battling kits flooded back into Yellowfang’s memory. Ignoring Featherwhisker’s question, she yelped, “I have to get back to the camp!”

  Leaving the other medicine cats behind, Yellowfang raced up the tunnel and hurled herself down the steep slope outside, her paws skidding and sliding on the pebbles. She ran all the way back to the ShadowClan camp and arrived, panting, at cold, crisp sunhigh.

  Bursting through the brambles, she headed toward Raggedstar’s den. He has to know what I saw!

  But before Yellowfang could reach the Clan leader’s den, he rushed out to meet her. “I must talk to you,” he meowed urgently.

  Raggedstar spun her around and thrust her back through the tunnel and into the trees, away from the camp. When they were beyond the hearing of their Clanmates, he halted and faced her.

  “I had a dream,” he told her, his voice shaking. “Kits fighting! Killing one another, way beyond their strength! The ground ran with blood, and I could do nothing to stop them. Yellowfang, what does it mean?”

  CHAPTER 35

  Sheer horror choked Yellowfang’s words before she could speak. “I had the same dream,” she managed to whisper at last.

  Raggedstar stared at her in dismay. “Great StarClan, why would we both have this vision? I would never send kits into battle! It’s against the warrior code!”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” Yellowfang assured him.

  Just then, the sounds of battling cats drifted through the trees. A screech split the cold, bright air, followed by Brokentail’s voice, loud and hectoring.

  “No, Deerfoot, not like that! I’ve seen rabbits that could fight harder than you! And don’t snigger, Tangleburr. You’re just as feeble. Let me see that move again, and put some strength into it this time!”

  Yellowfang met Raggedstar’s gaze. The Clan leader opened his jaws to speak, only to break off when they heard another vicious growl from Brokentail.

  “You’re soft, all of you! Will you stop in the middle of a battle to lick your wounds? If you get hurt, you’ll learn more quickly how to avoid getting hit.”

  “I’ve made a terrible mistake, haven’t I?” Raggedstar murmured. “Our son wants to do nothing but lead ShadowClan into battle. I should never have made him deputy! What can we do to stop him?”

  A flash of rage pulsed through Yellowfang. “He’s our son now, is he?” she snarled. “I have never been allowed to be his mother! You said you would only keep my secret if I never called him my son. What can I possibly do to change him? Brokentail is your problem, Raggedstar.”

  “But—” The Clan leader tried to interrupt.

  Yellowfang ignored him. “You have told me too many times that I am nothing more than a medicine cat. I heal my Clan, that’s all. You are responsible for what your warriors do.”

  Raggedstar blinked, shocked to silence.

  Yellowfang glared at him for a heartbeat, then spun around and stormed off. How dare he expect me to have any influence over Brokentail now? There was never anything I could do.

  As she returned to the camp, she tried to calm herself. She took deep breaths and forced her paws into a dignified walk.

  “Yellowfang!” Fernshade came rushing across to her from the warriors’ den. “You’ll never guess—I’m going to have Wolfstep’s kits!”

>   Yellowfang just looked at her.

  “I know I’m a bit old to be having my first litter,” Fernshade chattered on happily, “and with leaf-bare approaching, it isn’t the best time, but after all, the Clan needs young blood!”

  At the mention of young blood, Yellowfang froze, seeing again the scarlet tide that had risen around her from the battling kits. No! she wanted to screech aloud. Don’t have these kits! They can’t be born! Terrible things lie ahead!

  Instead she forced herself to mew, “That’s great. Come with me and I’ll give you some herbs to help with your strength.”

  Yellowfang was relieved to see Runningnose in their den, and she passed Fernshade’s care over to him.

  “Kits!” Runningnose exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with delight. “Fernshade, that’s wonderful. Lie down here and let me check how they’re doing.”

  Yellowfang watched as Runningnose ran his paws over Fernshade’s barely swollen belly, then leaned close to press his ear against the smooth curve. “Hi, little kits,” he purred. “Can you hear me in there? Make sure you grow big and strong so you’ll be good warriors for your Clan.”

  Fernshade let out a little mrrow of happiness. “I’m sure they’ll be fine, with both of you to look after them.”

  Yellowfang fetched burnet leaves, which were good for all expectant queens, and Fernshade swallowed them obediently.

  “Come back every day for more,” Runningnose instructed, “and make sure you get enough to eat. Don’t be afraid of taking as much fresh-kill as you need. It’s important for your kits that you feed well.”

  Yellowfang was distracted by voices chattering outside the den.

  “I couldn’t believe what Raggedstar did!” That was Deerfoot, sounding shocked, though Yellowfang had a feeling that he was enjoying passing on gossip.

  “What happened?” Tangleburr prompted.

  “He interrupted our battle training and tried to tell Brokentail how to run the session! He thought Brokentail was being too hard on us.”

  “Well, Raggedstar is Clan leader,” Tangleburr pointed out. “He has the right to tell any cat what to do, even his deputy.”