“Trespassers!” Talltail growled as he launched himself at Brokentail. “Get off our territory!”
“Prey-stealers!” Brokentail retorted, raking his claws down Talltail’s side.
“Stop!” Yellowfang screeched, but no cat heard her.
For a heartbeat she wanted to hurl herself into the battle and help her Clanmates, but she stopped herself.
She watched, horrified, as Raggedstar and Redclaw tussled together in a shrieking ball of fur, battering at each other with their strong hind paws as both cats strove to break free. Cloudpelt jumped on top of another WindClan warrior, lashing at his ears until the blood ran freely. Then he sprang off and flung himself at Talltail, who had pinned Brokentail down and was clawing at his face. Scorchwind had fallen beneath the paws of a tabby tom, who was trying to sink his teeth into the ShadowClan warrior’s throat.
Yellowfang’s heart began to pound harder as she realized that her Clanmates were being beaten back toward the tunnel. Even though the patrol was made up of ShadowClan’s best fighters, they were no match for WindClan’s fury.
Raggedstar broke away from his battle with Redclaw and staggered to his paws. “Retreat!” he yowled.
Brokentail snarled with rage, in spite of the blood running down his face, but Raggedstar gathered the patrol together and they gradually fought their way back toward the tunnel, still harried by the WindClan cats. Yellowfang gasped as a stabbing pain shot through her throat. She scanned her Clanmates and saw Cloudpelt stumble to the ground. His thick white fur was turning red.
As she rushed forward to support Cloudpelt, she heard Raggedstar hiss, “What are you doing here?”
Yellowfang ignored the question. “We have to get Cloudpelt back to camp!” she gasped.
To her relief, they were only a few fox-lengths away from the tunnel mouth, and the WindClan cats, satisfied with their victory, drew back at last.
“Don’t set paw on our territory again!” Talltail yowled after them.
Yellowfang helped Cloudpelt through the tunnel, stumbling through the darkness with the roar of monsters all around them. The Clan deputy scarcely seemed conscious, and she had to take all his weight. At the other end of the tunnel Scorchwind came to Cloudpelt’s other side to prop him up, and the patrol struggled back to the camp.
“Cobwebs! Quickly!” Yellowfang snapped at Runningnose as she dragged Cloudpelt into her den. She remembered how she had battled to save his life before, when the rogues leaped out at him.
The other members of the patrol crowded in after them, but Yellowfang only had eyes for the white warrior, who had collapsed onto the ground.
“Get a juniper berry,” she ordered as Runningnose brought her a thick pad of cobweb. “Crush it and see if you can get the juice into him.” She pressed the cobweb to the gash in Cloudpelt’s throat, but his blood soaked through almost at once. Runningnose dropped another pad beside her before fetching the juniper berry.
“I need marigold and thyme!” Yellowfang ordered, pressing the fresh cobweb to Cloudpelt’s wound.
As she worked she was vaguely aware of dismayed wails coming from the clearing, as the rest of the Clan heard about the patrol’s defeat. Meanwhile Runningnose dealt with the injuries of the rest of the patrol; none of them were serious.
“Get off me!” Brokentail snapped when Runningnose tried to help him clean up the scratches on his face. “I don’t need a stupid medicine cat pawing over me.”
Runningnose shrugged. “Suit yourself,” he muttered. He watched Brokentail stride out of the den, then turned to examine the claw marks on Scorchwind’s flank.
The rest of the patrol left the den after Runningnose had finished treating them. Yellowfang looked up to see that daylight was already fading; she had lost all track of time. “You’d better get some sleep,” she told Runningnose. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Runningnose nodded, glancing anxiously down at Cloudpelt, then curled up in his nest and closed his eyes.
The night dragged on. Yellowfang never moved from Cloudpelt’s side, listening to his shallow breathing and watching the ooze of blood that still trickled from his neck. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there when the young warrior’s eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes.
“Yellowfang?” he murmured feebly.
“I’m here.” Yellowfang rested a paw reassuringly on Cloudpelt’s shoulder. “I won’t leave you.” She reached for a ball of wet moss and held it so that Cloudpelt could lap at it.
