Yellowfang’s Secret полностью

To her relief, Cedarstar said nothing about that. “I’m pleased that Sagewhisker has found an apprentice,” he meowed. “And you must never feel your time and training as a warrior was wasted. You’ll be in a better position to understand how quickly warriors want to heal!” His warm gaze rested on her. “Good luck to you, Yellowfang. I know Sagewhisker will be an excellent mentor.”

Dipping her head to the Clan leader, Yellowfang rose and left the den. Cedarstar followed her out, leaping onto the Clanrock and yowling a summons to the Clan. Yellowfang stood at the base of the rock, feeling as if the gaze of every cat was fixed on her as they emerged from their dens with murmurs of surprise at the unexpected meeting. Sagewhisker came to sit right at the front; Yellowfang thought she looked pleased but exhausted, like a cat who had just fought fiercely and won a battle.

“I have good news for the Clan,” Cedarstar announced when all the cats were assembled. “Yellowfang will be Sagewhisker’s apprentice, and ShadowClan’s next medicine cat.”

Utter silence greeted his announcement. Yellowfang’s embarrassment grew; she longed to slink away from all the attention. She had spotted Raggedpelt at the back of the crowd, and she could feel the heat of his glare even from there.

I wish I could tell him that my feelings for him haven’t gone away. But I must follow the code of the medicine cats now, and that means I can never have a mate. The whole Clan must mean as much to me as my own kits would.

Her gaze traveled over her Clanmates, old and young, all of them staring at her. The ground seemed to dip underneath her. Then Brightflower sprang to her paws and bounded up to her, closely followed by Brackenfoot. “This is wonderful!” Brightflower exclaimed, pressing her muzzle against Yellowfang’s shoulder. “The next medicine cat—what an honor!”

“Congratulations,” Brackenfoot added, dipping his head. “I know you’ll do very well.”

Nutwhisker and Rowanberry pushed their way through the cats to reach Yellowfang’s side. Nutwhisker blinked at her with a mixture of wonder and fear in his eyes. “Wow, you’ll be talking to StarClan!” he breathed.

Rowanberry looked hurt as she brushed pelts with her sister. “You were my best friend!” she mewed.

“I’ll still be here,” Yellowfang reminded her. “We can still be friends.”

Rowanberry shook her head. “It won’t be the same.”

Yellowfang felt a wave of loneliness as she realized that her relationship with Raggedpelt wasn’t all that she had lost. But Sagewhisker’s paw tapped her on the shoulder, giving her no time to dwell on what had changed.

“Come on,” the medicine cat meowed. “We have work to do.”

She led the way back to her den. Yellowfang sat down in front of her, feeling rather small and apprehensive. There’s so much I don’t know!

“Your first task,” Sagewhisker began, “must be to control your feelings when other cats are sick and in pain.”

Yellowfang blinked in surprise. I thought I had to do this because I have these feelings!

“I can’t be much help,” Sagewhisker went on, “because I don’t know what you actually experience, but is there any way you can block the pain coming from outside?”

Yellowfang thought hard. “It’s hard to know when it’s not actually happening,” she explained. “But I think I might be able to shut it out if I focus on myself—that I’m healthy, I’m not in pain, and I can treat this cat’s symptoms.”

Sagewhisker nodded. “That sounds good. We can’t test it until there is a cat in pain in the Clan, but you should practice focusing on yourself. See if you can limit your feelings to your own body.”

“I’ll try.” But that’s like asking me to concentrate on breathing. I don’t think about it; it just happens!

“Good,” Sagewhisker mewed. “Now, I want you to clear out the herb store and discard any dead leaves. You can identify what we have and when it would be used, and work out what we need to find in the forest.”

That’s a huge job, Yellowfang thought in alarm.

“But before that,” Sagewhisker went on, “my nest needs more moss, and your nest needs sorting out now that you’re going to sleep here permanently.”

Yellowfang stared at her mentor. “Those are apprentice tasks!” she objected.

“And you’re an apprentice,” Sagewhisker retorted. “I’m going to see how Nettlespot and Cloudkit are, so you can get on with the bedding.” Not waiting for a reply, she whisked out of the den.

Yellowfang clawed at the old nests in a mutinous daze, dragging them out into the clearing in the sharp, frosty sun that gave no warmth. As she bundled up the moss and bracken she heard a cat cough behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see Foxheart.