Archeye, Rowanberry, and Mousewing, the other members of her patrol, deposited their prey and headed for the warriors’ den. Feeling thirsty, Yellowfang padded toward the stream at the edge of the camp, her paws crunching on the snow. The stream was barely a trickle in the ice, and the water was so cold that when she lapped, her tongue felt as though it were burning.
As Yellowfang raised her head and shook droplets from her whiskers, she heard the sound of a cat moving clumsily over twigs. Her ears pricked.
Yellowfang glanced around the edge of the camp, peering through the trees as she tried to work out where the sound was coming from. But before she could locate it, a yowl split the silent night air. Several cats exploded out of the shadows; the thorns and brambles that surrounded the camp crackled as they burst in.
Scorchwind and Amberleaf, on guard by the tunnel entrance, leaped to their paws. “Intruders!” Scorchwind shrieked.
For a heartbeat Yellowfang stood frozen. Then she recognized the muscular ginger tom who led the intruding cats.
Marmalade halted in the center of the clearing, his amber eyes glaring around. “Boulder! Red!” he yowled. “Where are you? We’ve come—” His caterwauling was cut off as Finchflight and Mudclaw leaped on top of him and he vanished in a flurry of furious teeth and claws.
Yellowfang raced across the clearing to join her Clanmates, but before she reached them she felt claws digging into her shoulders as a cat landed on her back. She staggered under the weight and almost fell. Twisting her head around, she recognized the fluffy white kittypet, Pixie.
For a moment Yellowfang was so shocked that she couldn’t remember any battle moves. Then she reared up on her hind paws and let herself fall backward. Pixie released her and scrambled away to avoid being squashed underneath her. Yellowfang jumped to her paws and sidestepped as the kittypet rushed at her again. Swiping at her with sheathed claws, she knocked the white she-cat over and pinned her down with both forepaws on her chest.
“What’s all this about?” she demanded as Pixie writhed beneath her paws, spitting in fury.
“You stole our cats!” Pixie hissed, her green eyes blazing.
“What do you mean?” Yellowfang asked, bewildered.
But there was no answer. With one desperate heave, Pixie flung her off and vanished into the crowd of battling cats. More and more of them were pouring into the clearing, attacking the ShadowClan warriors with teeth and claws. As Yellowfang stared at the heaving, screeching mass, she realized that though her Clanmates were battle-trained, the kittypets had the advantage of surprise.
She spotted Nutwhisker breaking free from a clawing knot of cats and staring around him with a look of utter shock. “These are kittypets!” he exclaimed.
A rangy gray tabby aimed a blow at him. “We don’t all live with housefolk!” he snarled into Nutwhisker’s ear. “You aren’t the only ones who can hunt down prey.”
Before he had finished speaking, Yellowfang was hurtling across the clearing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her littermate. The gray tabby took one look at the cats facing him, claws extended, and turned tail, vanishing into the shadows.
“Get out of our camp!” Nutwhisker yowled, racing off in pursuit.
Yellowfang followed, but two more rogues lunged between her and Nutwhisker, knocking her to the ground. All the breath was driven out of her. Half-stunned, she heard the pounding paw steps of another cat and turned to face a new enemy, only to spot Raggedpelt skidding to a halt beside her. He hauled her to her paws with his claws in her scruff.
“Thanks!” she gasped.
Raggedpelt’s eyes were haunted, and there was a horrified expression on his face. “What are these cats doing here?” he hissed.
“I think they’re looking for Russetpaw and Boulder!” Yellowfang replied.
Raggedpelt opened his jaws to reply, but a loud screech cut him off.
“Help! Over here! The nursery!”
Spinning around, Yellowfang saw Rowanberry and Mousewing in the entrance to the nursery, trying to fight off a whole cluster of Twolegplace cats.
“They’re attacking the queens!” Raggedpelt growled as he sprang toward them. “These cats have no honor!”
