As she waited to move off, Yellowfang found that she was making a quick check of all her Clanmates, looking for signs of injury or sickness. Since she had become a medicine cat, she had gotten much better at blocking out pain; now she could do it instinctively, though sometimes it could be useful to let herself feel it, to make it easier to treat a sick or wounded cat. Now she kept the pain almost completely in check, instead looking for signs of bright eyes and healthy fur, and checking on how wounds were healing.
Cedarstar led the way out of the camp and through the forest toward the tunnel under the Thunderpath. Yellowfang would have liked to walk with Raggedpelt, but Foxheart was keeping close to his side.
“That was a great training session today,” she mewed to him. “Do you think we could get together sometime and practice that new move?”
Determined not to listen, Yellowfang fell in beside Rowanberry. “I hear you caught a squirrel today,” she began. “Littlebird and Lizardfang shared it, and they said it was really tasty.”
“That’s good,” Rowanberry meowed. “I—”
“Hey, Rowanberry!”
Yellowfang’s sister broke off as Wolfstep called out to her. “Sorry, I have to…” Rowanberry scampered off before she finished what she was saying.
Yellowfang watched her leave, trying not to feel hurt. After a few heartbeats Sagewhisker joined her. “It can be lonely,” the old medicine cat murmured, as if she could read Yellowfang’s thoughts. “But your Clanmates will always need you, more than you or they realize.”
WindClan had already arrived at Fourtrees by the time the ShadowClan cats reached the hollow, and ThunderClan arrived at almost the same moment. Yellowfang glanced around with interest as she made her way through the clumps of fern that covered the slope. Cats were everywhere, bounding across her path, meeting together in groups from every Clan, and chattering excitedly.
“We chased a fox all the way across the moor!” a WindClan cat was boasting to a couple of ThunderClan apprentices.
“Yeah,” his Clanmate added. “He won’t be back anytime soon.”
Cedarstar leaped up to the top of the Great Rock. “Let the Clans gather!” he yowled.
Pinestar and Heatherstar scrambled up beside him, but some cat protested that they couldn’t begin the Gathering without RiverClan. While they argued, Yellowfang spotted a cat with a blue-gray pelt standing by herself under an arching fern. ThunderClan scent drifted from her.
But before she reached the blue-furred cat, the RiverClan cats began pouring into the clearing. A sturdy tabby tom padded up to the ThunderClan cat and settled down beside her, almost knocking her over. Yellowfang stared at his twisted jaw for a moment, wondering how he got his injury. She didn’t want to interrupt the two of them, so she turned away and went to join Sagewhisker and the other medicine cats at the foot of the Great Rock.
As she approached, Featherwhisker rose to his paws and came to meet her. “Greetings, Yellowfang,” he meowed. Yellowfang noticed that while his words were warm, his eyes were wary. “How are things going? I see that some of your Clanmates are battle-scarred. Has there been trouble recently?”
Yellowfang felt the fur on her neck and shoulders beginning to bristle up. “Nothing we couldn’t handle,” she replied curtly.
“Keep your pelt on,” Featherwhisker told her. “We’re medicine cats. We can tell one another anything.”
“And if there’s anything you need to know,” Sagewhisker added, appearing at Featherwhisker’s side, “rest assured we’ll tell you.”
There was no chance for Featherwhisker to say any more, because at that moment Pinestar of ThunderClan stepped forward to the edge of the Great Rock and announced that the Gathering would begin.
Yellowfang listened as the other Clan leaders gave their news. There wasn’t much of interest; she guessed that all the Clans had been hard-pressed during the cold leaf-bare, but none of the leaders would be prepared to admit it.
Finally Cedarstar paced to the front of the Great Rock and looked out across the assembled Clans. “It is with sadness that I must announce our deputy, Stonetooth, is moving to the elders’ den,” he announced.
A gasp of astonishment came from the ShadowClan cats. Looking around, Yellowfang realized that none of them, except for Stonetooth himself, knew anything about this.
“Stonetooth! Stonetooth!” his Clan called.
The deputy, standing at the base of the Great Rock, dipped his head solemnly.
“But it’s almost moonhigh!” Yellowfang heard Rowanberry whisper to Foxheart. “Cedarstar will have to announce the new deputy
Yellowfang could sense that tension in the clearing was building. Cats from the other Clans were looking at one another, speculating on who the new ShadowClan deputy would be. Deputies were normally appointed within the Clan, not in public like this.
“Raggedpelt will take his place,” Cedarstar went on.
