Author's Note: The bits of StarClan were really hard to write because I had no idea what the former leaders' names were. If there is any awkwardness or confusion, you have my apologies. Enjoy D Please rate, it keeps my muse alive and makes me feel happy D

Yellowfang shifted in the darkness of her den, comforted by the familiar scents of the herbs and berries stacked around her that she and Cinderpelt had gathered just the day before. It seemed that Clan life would finally be back to normal, with Cloudpaw back from the Twoleg nest.

There was just one thing bothering her: Brokentail. The former ShadowClan leader had been killed at her own claws; she had fed him deathberries. But Brokentail was her son, and she knew that she should have raised him better; to become the best ShadowClan warrior possible, and the guilt had eaten away at her for moons. If she had raised Brokentail to become a better warrior, he never would have killed Raggedstar! It was her own fault that Brokentail had become so bloodthirsty; she had taken the ShadowClan leader, Raggedstar, to be her mate, even though Medicine Cats were not allowed to have kits. Brokentail's treachery was because of her own disloyalty to the warrior code; she knew it.

Suddenly, an acrid tang reached the old Medicine Cat's nostrils, and she leapt to her paws, fur bristling in fear. She had last scented this when she was a kit, but the smell stuck with her forever; fire! She was ready to race outside of her den and yowl her warning to all the Clan, but another cat beat her to it—

"Fire! Wake up! We must leave the camp at once! Tell Bluestar the forest is on fire!" It was Fireheart! "Head for the river!" he was yowling urgently. "We must leave the camp!"

Yellowfang's golden eyes grew wide with panic. She nosed her apprentice, the dark sleeping form of Cinderpelt. "Cinderpelt! The camp is on fire! We must head to the river!" she meowed quickly.

Cinderpelt was awake in an instant, her dark blue eyes glowing with fear. "Fire?" she squeaked, as if she were a little kit once again.

"You're not going to fall to pieces, are you?" Yellowfang snapped angrily, "a fire is no big deal, we're just going to head to the river, and if you stay calm, no cat will get hurt!" she meowed.

Yellowfang was frightened too; but she knew from experience that showing her fear would get her nowhere. Fear wouldn't help ThunderClan.

Cinderpelt shook her head and quickly limped out of the den, her eyes determined. She would not disappoint her mentor; she would keep the Clan together, especially now during this time of crisis.

Yellowfang growled quietly in approval and she followed the rest of the cats out of the gorse tunnel, trying to soothe them in her own prickly, annoyed way. They were bounding through the forest when Cloudpaw yowled: "Where are Halftail and Patchpelt?"

Yellowfang saw Fireheart and Cloudpaw exchange frightened glances. "They're not with me!" Smallear meowed worriedly. Suddenly, Goldenflower, a queen, raised her yowl to the turmoil. "Where's Bramblekit?" she yowled desperately. "He was behind me when I was going through the gorse tunnel!"

The gray medicine cat bristled with fear. So three Clan cats were back in ThunderClan's territory! Yellowfang was not surprised when Fireheart ordered the others to go along while he went back to the burning territory.

"Wait!" Cinderpelt called out suddenly. "I'll go with you!"
"No!" Yellowfang growled, nudging her apprentice out of the way, "the Clan will need you. Keep them calm, and look after them. I'll go with you, Fireheart!"

The young ginger tom nodded and dashed back to the camp, Yellowfang in pursuit.

They soon reached the gorse tunnel, and Fireheart squeezed through. Yellowfang surveyed the burning camp with horror in her heart. Although this was not her birth clan, she had come to love it and was totally devoted to ThunderClan. And now, she was seeing it go up in flames before her very eyes!

"Get Patchpelt!" Yellowfang yowled, her eyes flashing. "I'll get Halftail!"

Fireheart nodded and dragged Patchpelt out of the gorse tunnel, but that was all Yellowfang saw; she was already heading to Halftail. She had just reached the elder's dark brown body when the flames seemed to leap up higher than ever, the air filling with smoke so suffocating, it forced the old Medicine Cat to fall down.

"StarClan! Where are you?" Yellowfang yowled, allowing panic to engulf her entire frame. She had never been more afraid in her life; surrounded by smoke and fire, so much smoke! She could barely see Halftail's dark brown body outlined in all that smog!

Determination flashed through the old Medicine Cat. She had been a former ShadowClan warrior, and it would take more than flame and smoke to reduce her to a sniveling kit! She grabbed the brown elder by the scruff and started dragging him towards her den. Maybe it would shelter the both of them from the smoke.

Where was Fireheart? Yellowfang distantly wondered, letting her paws give out from under her. She was already old, and had breathed in the smoke for too long.

'How will StarClan judge me?' Yellowfang thought groggily, the smoke wafted into the den, creating a suffocating pressure in the air. 'I killed Brokentail, my own son. I broke the warrior code by having him. Will StarClan accept me into their ranks?' Fear filled Yellowfang. How would her warrior ancestors judge her?

She let out a sigh…and she let her eyes close.

Xxx

"Raggedstar! You can't be serious. Yellowfang broke the warrior code when she took you as her mate, and she killed Brokentail, her own son. How could we allow a traitor, and the mother of a traitor, into the ranks of StarClan?" the voice belonged to the former ShadowClan deputy, Darkheart.

The cats of StarClan were gathered around a dark clearing, the moon high in the sky, illuminating all the cats in a silver glow.

Raggedstar, a light brown tabby tom with amber eyes growled back at his deputy. Although they were in StarClan, all former ShadowClan cats retained their personalities: in Darkheart's case, his aggressiveness.

Fleetstar, the former ThunderClan leader, stepped forwards, the sheen of the stars gleaming on her pelt. "Darkheart, Raggedstar is right," she replied quietly, "Although Yellowfang broke the warrior code and took on a mate, all of StarClan cannot stop love from happening."

Darkheart bared his teeth at the former ThunderClan leader. "Yellowfang broke the warrior code," he meowed stubbornly, "she doesn't deserve to come to StarClan."

"Bluestar broke the warrior code when she fell in love with Oakheart of RiverClan," Fleetstar argued back, "and she has become a fine leader, strong and compassionate and wise. When she dies, I'm sure you will have no quarrel about letting her into StarClan," she meowed.

Raggedstar dipped his light brown head in thanks to the she-cat and meowed: "Yellowfang indeed broke the warrior code when she had her kits, but she couldn't have shown more loyalty to her adopted Clan. And when she killed Brokentail, she rid the forest of much evil. She deserves to join us in our ranks," he finished.

Fleetstar nodded her head in approval, and most of the gathered cats nodded and meowed their acception, apart from Darkheart and a few other former ShadowClan warriors.

Raggedstar nodded his head. "Then it is settled," he meowed, his amber eyes glimmering, "I will now go and welcome Yellowfang to StarClan."

Xxx

"Thank you for bringing me to ThunderClan, Fireheart…" Yellowfang was rasping. She knew that her time would be over soon, but the fiery ginger tom known as Fireheart had came to her right before she would have passed on to StarClan.

"Yellowfang!" Fireheart was pleading, "don't die!"

Yellowfang's breath was slowly leaving her, her vision blurring, the thudding of her heart slowing down. "Raggedstar?" she whispered feebly, seeing the faint outline of a light brown tabby tom. "Have you come for me?"

The old medicine cat's vision faded away into a fog, but a voice meowed, clear in her mind and painfully familiar: "Do not be afraid of StarClan, Yellowfang…my love…"

Raggedstar.