Yellowfang’s Secret полностью

Before Yellowfang and Runningpaw were halfway down the slope, Brokenpaw was back. “More cats are coming!” he announced.

Pinestar appeared at the top of the hollow with the cats of ThunderClan behind him. Yellowfang spotted Featherwhisker, and led Runningpaw down to meet him.

“Greetings,” mewed the ThunderClan medicine cat. “So you have a new apprentice. Welcome,” he greeted Runningpaw. “I hope to see you at the Moonstone soon.”

Runningpaw ducked his head. “Thank you.”

“Where’s Goosefeather?” Yellowfang asked.

Featherwhisker shook his head. “Ill, I’m afraid,” he replied. “He can’t be here tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” Yellowfang began, then broke off as more cats poured into the clearing. WindClan and RiverClan had arrived together, and Runningpaw was looking a bit daunted.

“Stay by my side,” Yellowfang told him. “We’ll head for the Great Rock. The medicine cats always sit together at the bottom.”

Together she and Runningpaw squirmed through the crowd, followed by Featherwhisker. Brambleberry and Hawkheart welcomed Runningpaw warmly, and Yellowfang saw that another young cat was sitting with Hawkheart.

“This is my new apprentice,” Hawkheart meowed. “His name is Barkpaw.”

“Oh, great!” Runningpaw exclaimed, sitting beside the brown tom. “We can learn together.”

Barkpaw gave him a shy nod. “I don’t know much yet,” he mewed. “There are so many different herbs, I get confused.”

“So do I,” Runningpaw admitted. “I’m really good at clearing out old bedding, though!”

Glancing up at the Great Rock, Yellowfang saw the four leaders looking down at their Clans, ready to start the Gathering. She silenced the apprentices with a wave of her tail.

Cedarstar was the first of the leaders to step forward to the front of the Great Rock. “ShadowClan has good news to report,” he meowed. “We have made four new apprentices. Tanglepaw, Brokenpaw, and Deerpaw will train as warriors, while Runningpaw is apprenticed to Yellowfang and will become a medicine cat.”

The cats in the clearing—especially the ShadowClan cats—began to yowl the names of the new apprentices. Runningpaw sat upright, eyes shining with pride and his whiskers quivering. Yellowfang couldn’t spot Brokenpaw in the throng.

“The Clan has been strengthening its borders,” Cedarstar went on as the noise died down. “We look forward to good hunting throughout newleaf and greenleaf.” He gave a meaningful glance around at the other Clans, then stepped back to give his place to Pinestar, who was followed by Hailstar of RiverClan and Heatherstar of WindClan.

All the other leaders had good news to report, and Yellowfang was impressed by how well they looked. Except Pinestar, she thought, wondering if anything was wrong with the ThunderClan leader. He looks a bit listless and distracted.

The WindClan leader announced Barkpaw’s apprenticeship, and the cats yowled his name too. Barkpaw sat beside Runningpaw looking very proud and embarrassed. As Heatherstar continued to talk about plentiful rabbits and some fleet-footed young cats, Yellowfang heard a commotion break out at the edge of the clearing. Yowls and screeches drowned what the WindClan leader was trying to say.

Craning her neck, Yellowfang spotted a familiar dark brown shape. Brokenpaw! He was wrestling with two young cats. From their skinny frames Yellowfang guessed they were from WindClan.

From his place on top of the great Rock, Cedarstar leaped to his paws. His voice rang out above the turmoil. “Brokenpaw! Stop fighting at once! This is a Gathering!” Turning to Heatherstar, he dipped his head and added, “I am sorry, Heatherstar. He is a young apprentice and it’s his first time at a Gathering. I will deal with him afterward.”

Heatherstar dipped her head. “No cat blames you, Cedarstar,” she meowed with dignity. “But be sure to remind your apprentices of the importance of keeping the truce at full-moon. I shall speak to my own apprentices, too.”

Yellowfang’s heart sank. Brokenpaw had violated one of the most important rules of the warrior code, and in full view of the four Clan leaders. The young cats had broken apart, but Yellowfang couldn’t see what was happening now. Beside her, Runningpaw was standing on the tips of his paws, craning to see over the heads of the crowd. “What happened?” he mewed. “What was Brokenpaw thinking?”

“I’d guess he wasn’t thinking at all,” Featherwhisker muttered.

Cats were shifting around, whispering. Eventually Yellowfang heard Russetfur speaking to Raggedpelt. “Apparently Brokenpaw accused the WindClan apprentices of coming through the tunnel under the Thunderpath to steal prey. He jumped on them when they denied it.”

Runningpaw had overheard Russetfur’s words too. “What will happen to the Gathering?” he gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

It was Featherwhisker who replied. “We’ll carry on, because the moon is still clear. If StarClan wanted us to stop, they’d send clouds to cover the moon.”