“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?”
Nightpelt’s eyes narrowed, and Yellowfang realized she might have gone too far. “I’m his mentor, and I’ll decide when he learns to fight!” the warrior retorted. Another coughing fit seized him; when it was over he dipped his head to Yellowfang. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” he rasped. “The tour of the territory wore me out. I’m going to rest.”
As he limped off, Yellowfang stared after him with concern.
Emerging from the tunnel, Yellowfang spotted Cedarstar lying with his back against the warm Clanrock, watching his Clanmates feed. Yellowfang marched over to him. But as she approached, she passed a group of elders, stretched out in a sunny spot as they shared tongues and fresh-kill.
“You don’t get squirrels like you did when I was a warrior,” Deerleap meowed; she had recently moved to the elders’ den with Crowtail and Archeye. “I could climb the highest tree in the forest after a squirrel, no trouble.”
“Ah, but could you climb down again?” Archeye asked with a
“I’m not still up there, am I?” Deerleap snapped, slapping at him with her tail.
Yellowfang noticed that Littlebird was listening with a look of fond indulgence, while Lizardfang shifted restlessly, pushing away his share of the squirrel.
“I’m too old to need feeding,” he sighed. “I’ll be heading for StarClan soon.”
“Nonsense!” Littlebird meowed. “You’ve seasons in you yet, Lizardfang.” She clawed at a piece of squirrel and set it in front of him. “Here, try this. It’s lovely and fresh. Rowanberry caught it just for us.”
Affection for Littlebird surged over Yellowfang, seeing the elder choosing the softest parts of the squirrel for her denmate to eat. She realized that Cedarstar was watching too.
“The Clan is growing older,” the leader commented softly to her. “Myself included. It’s time to prepare new cats to take over the responsibilities of running the Clan.” Looking Yellowfang up and down, he added, “Sagewhisker chose well in you, Yellowfang. I admit that I had some doubts at first…”
“But you have more than proven your loyalty and skill,” Cedarstar went on. “Runningpaw is lucky to have you as a mentor.”
“It was mentoring that I wanted to talk to you about,” Yellowfang meowed, taking the chance Cedarstar offered her. “It’s Nightpelt. His cough is still really bad, and I think it will hinder him being a mentor. Brokenpaw is so strong and fit; he needs a mentor who can keep up with him, and I don’t think Nightpelt can do that.”
Cedarstar gazed keenly at Yellowfang from narrowed eyes. “I chose Nightpelt deliberately,” he explained, “because I think Brokenpaw has lessons to learn in patience and selflessness. He is a cat who needs to choose between two paths: one that will serve his Clan loyally and one that… will be less helpful.”
His words chilled Yellowfang.
Cedarstar rose to his paws, dipping his head slightly to show that the conversation was at an end. “I will watch all of the apprentices to make sure they are progressing well,” he meowed. There was a hint of warning in his voice as he added, “Brokenpaw is not to be singled out, at any cost.”
Reluctantly, Yellowfang nodded.
