Nine
The Clan took Tigerclaw's appointment with mixed feelings. It was brave to serve as the deputy of one's Clan and toms didn't make a habit of interacting with the cats who resided in the nursery. Aside from Lionheart, there had been one other cat, long before any of their time, who was willing to do so. But he was long gone and no stories were told of him. It was… strange for Lionheart to admit to wanting something that was typically seen as a queen's domain.
But Frostfur and the other queens welcomed him and the kits loved having him around. Greypaw insisted that he learned a lot. That he was always hunting or fighting or hearing something about the Clan's history. And he was turning into quite the spectacle around the nursery as well. No one could deny that Lionheart was a brave, strong, and compassionate cat. And if anyone had to replace him while he took care of those he considered family, Tigerclaw was the best choice.
Two moons after the deputy switch found Firepaw hunting in the early morning. The area was full of fox-scent, and while he wanted nothing more than to run back to camp and get Lionheart to handle it, he was determined to get something on the currently empty fresh-kill pile. As he crept along, he noticed the greenery of the trees in full bloom. The cats around here called in greenleaf, but humans and town cats called it summer. Something to do with what the humans believe about the sun. Firepaw had never thought to learn the ways of humans and he wasn't going to start now. The last time he'd been in contact with one was when Nutmeg's owner gave him a fresh bowl of water the first time he'd seen his mother since he went into the forest.
One thing Jake had stressed was the need for check-ups. If Jake had gone into town and was close enough to come home, he would. He would update Nutmeg and sometimes even his first mate, Quince, on the state of things in the town and how ghost interactions went. He was good for information about the way of things, according to Nutmeg. Or he had been before he disappeared. It's actually how Nutmeg knew to start looking for Jake. He missed his third check-in. Quince and her kits hadn't cared, but then Quince and her kits were show-cats and Firepaw had no idea if any of his siblings inherited the ghost-sight like he had. No one ever said.
But Nutmeg had established check-ins early on when Firepaw first started going out on his own, and that was one of the few things the Clans couldn't take from him. A way to remind him that he was here on a temporary basis. Nutmeg had screeched in shock when she saw the state of him and had screamed her fury to the skies when he bared his throat to reveal that he couldn't speak. She'd bundled him into the house and made him lay in her bed as she waited on his every need, muttering about vicious wildcats and how she never should have let him go anywhere near the forest.
Granted, that didn't sit well with the ghosts, who pleaded with him to come back, or with Bluestar. She sent Lionheart, Longtail, Goldenflower, and Ravenpaw to explain just what happened to him and why and how important he was and how cherished he was by the Clan. How it was an honor that the ThunderClan leader was mentoring him and that the RiverClan leader made Sunningrocks a neutral space just so they could have a place to speak for long periods of time outside of Gatherings. Firepaw knew they were stretching the truth quite a bit, but if they wanted to talk about how important they thought he was, even if they didn't believe it, he wasn't going to object.
His mother sure was, though. She would have clawed Longtail's ear straight off, the exact one that he'd clawed earlier when Rabbitfoot possessed him. Luckily, he'd managed to get across that a ghost had possessed him to do it, even if it meant being vague about who exactly the ghost possessed. Nutmeg wasn't happy about that at all, but she knew how important this mission was to him and was willing to let him return to complete it.
Firepaw paused to lap at a stream nearby and let the water run down his throat. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it used to. He could nod and shake his head easier, though his food still had to be shredded for him, courtesy of Longtail. Who still wouldn't talk to him. Or interact with him. Or even look at him. At least not that Firepaw could see.
But Firepaw couldn't think about Longtail right now. Something scurried through the undergrowth and it didn't take long for Firepaw to identify it as a vole. Specifically a water vole. Those liked to hang around the river more often than not, but it made sense for the creature to make its home near a stream like this one as well. A quick leap through the air had him a few steps closer to his prey, but rather than prey, he landed on something much larger. The animal was grey, more his size than the vole, with thick shaggy fur and extremely sharp claws that were digging into his own fur.
"Firepaw, why do you keep doing this?!" A familiar voice whined.
Oh, it's just fluff-butt.
Firepaw had no clue what Greypaw was doing here but his hunt had just been ruined and he needed to bring something back to camp!
Firepaw swiped at the ground, clearly frustrated. Maybe he should have woken Longtail before he went out on his own. But Longtail had been avoiding him for the better part of two moons beyond the prey-shredding and helping him move into the apprentice den. Firepaw spent more time with Sandpaw and Dustpaw than he did with Longtail, and while he could have woken one of them, they had training today so they deserved all the rest they could get. Still, that left him in the difficult position of not having any way to tell Greypaw to find him some other time.
"What's wrong with you?" Greypaw wondered. Firepaw rolled his eyes and reared up on his hindlegs, scraping up some grass into a pile and pretending to stalk towards it.
"Were you… practicing a battle move?"
Firepaw tapped twice.
"Hunting crouch?"
One tap.
"Were you hunting for real?"
One tap.
"That's great! Did you find anything? What'd you catch?"
Not for the first time, Firepaw wished he could remember what Stormstar said the sign for "nothing" was. He settled for tapping "no" again.
"No you didn't find anything or no you didn't catch it?"
The second one, you massive feather-brain!
Firepaw had managed to restrict his yes/no taps to his left front paw while his right front paw was for numbers. He didn't know if Greypaw knew that, but he would try it anyway. He tapped twice.
"What? That just means no, doesn't it?"
Firepaw exhaled roughly and stalked off, figuring he'd have better luck if he just moved on to another piece of prey.
"C'mon, you can't ignore me! Firepaw, wait!" Greypaw yowled, springing up and racing after him.
The larger tom bowled into his small ginger counterpart as he charged forward to catch up. Firepaw barely managed to get knocked off his paws and Greypaw caught himself just in time to keep from falling.
"Sorry." Greypaw offered apologetically. "I just wanted to know what you were doing."
Firepaw rolled his eyes and slipped into a hunting crouch.
"Hunting." Greypaw correctly guessed.
One tap.
"Did you get what you were going after?"
Two taps.
"Aw. that's rotten luck. Do you know why?"
Firepaw snorted and pointed at Greypaw.
"Me? What, did I scare it off?"
One tap.
"Sorry, Firepaw. How about I make up for it? We'll hunt for a while and when we each find two pieces of prey, you can take that back to camp and say it was all yours."
Firepaw narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. It would be wrong to claim another cat's kill but he could use the company for hunting. He tapped one and pointed at Greypaw.
"What about me?"
He slipped into the hunting position and pointed at Greypaw again.
How do I tell you that I want you to keep your prey?
"You want me to hunt?"
One tap.
Firepaw mimed picking up a piece of prey and walking away. Then he pointed at Greypaw.
"You want me to carry the prey?"
Firepaw tapped once, figuring that would be as close as he got to what he wanted to say.
"You want me to carry the prey I caught." Greypaw realized. "You're made of starshine, Firepaw. I hope you know that Sandpaw and Dustpaw have done just what I said we could do."
Firepaw shook his head.
"Made. Of. Starshine." Greypaw deadpanned. "Let's get to it!"
The pair crept along the stream about a snake-length after the other and eventually, Greypaw found the first piece of the day, a mouse caught between the cover of the grass.
They didn't get very far after burying the prey before the scent of fox got stronger. So after finding and killing a thrush, Firepaw signaled to Greypaw with his tail and started off in the other direction. Greypaw followed easily enough, only stopping to dig up the mouse he'd caught.
"That's two." Greypaw murmured around the mouse. "But we need to get out of here. A fox in the area is bad news and needs to be reported."
Firepaw nodded and the pair bolted in the other direction. The further they got from the fox scent, the better each cat felt. Eventually, they reached a space that went from dust and grass to a hard black surface that reeked with something that Firepaw couldn't put a name to.
"Thunderpath." Adderfang said grimly. "Don't go on it. I don't care how curious you are, it's dangerous. Monsters roam its tracks and no cat who crosses it is guaranteed their life. Back away slowly, Firepaw."
When Firepaw focused a bit more, he found that he could hear Greypaw telling him the same thing. Out the corner of his eye came a flicker of movement and Firepaw whirled around to stare at it.
It's just the road even if I don't know that stench in particular, Firepaw realized. So why does it feel like something more?
"Because you're a hard-headed, fox-hearted little scrap and you're lucky we said we wouldn't take over living cats because you are way too close to it!"
Suddenly, twin pinpricks glowed through the gloom and Firepaw found what he was looking for. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to look for what the thing could be on the other side. Lionheart said that ShadowClan lived on the other side of the Thunderpath. Prey would have darted out onto the thing already and would likely be shorter than where these eyes stood.
"Firepaw!" came Greypaw's panicked voice as the ginger tom felt himself being pulled away by the scruff of his neck. Firepaw stiffened and when Greypaw dropped him a few fox-lengths away from the road, Firepaw's paw met Greypaw's head with a resounding thud.
"What was all that for?!" Greypaw snapped. "You were going to get yourself hurt, do you realize that?! I was trying to help you!"
Firepaw snorted and pointed at himself, then across the road.
"I don't care what you want, we're not crossing that Thunderpath."
Firepaw shook his head and tapped twice for good measure.
"That's not what you want. Okay, do that again and let me see if I know what you're saying."
Firepaw pointed at the road and then at himself.
"You don't want to go over the Thunderpath."
Firepaw tapped twice.
"Did you see another cat?"
Firepaw tapped once.
"Okay. Thank you for explaining that because I swear to the Stars, my heart almost stopped because of you! Don't worry about the other cat. As long as ShadowClan stays on their side of the territory, they can stare all they like. I'm sorry I pulled you so hard. I needed to get your attention and get you away from the Thunderpath. I didn't mean to hurt you, Firepaw. I need you to know that."
Firepaw tapped once and pushed his head into Greypaw's broad shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Let's get this prey buried so you can get back to hunting. I have to run a message from Bluestar and the sun is getting higher in the sky."
Firepaw nodded and the pair parted ways.
Firepaw gathered the prey and retraced his steps to the stream he'd met Greypaw by earlier. He found that the fox scent was still there, although a bit staler than he'd last encountered, so it was likely gone by now. He hoped. Still, he gripped the prey between his teeth and made sure to keep his steps as quiet as possible. There was no need to attract the thing's attention. If he'd been any less preoccupied, he would have noticed the snarling ball of fur that erupted from behind him before it landed on top of him!
The prey half-forgotten, Firepaw tossed it aside as he struggled against the weight of his unknown assailant. The scent told him he was pitifully holding his own against a molly and that she had not bathed herself in quite some time. That might be why he didn't recognize whatever group she was from, even though she fought like a Clan cat with moves he didn't recognize.
"Ah, yes, a puny apprentice. Easy prey for Yellowfang!" The old molly yawned and stretched, all but smothering Firepaw and aggravating his throat as she settled down to lay on top of him!
Firepaw wheezed and his only salvation was that she reached for the prey he caught that was tossed nearly a snake-length away.
Firepaw got to his paws as the molly crept toward his food.
"Of course, I could just go for the actual prey."
Firepaw howled and threw himself at her, claws unsheathed. He darted to her side and scratched the first spot he could reach, not even waiting for her to spin around and catch her breath before he darted under her to scratch at her hairless underside. The molly howled, irate, and twisted herself into knots trying to lick first her side and then her belly. This gave Firepaw enough time to grab the prey and dash for camp. He hoped that whatever patrol Greypaw was sent to meet would come this way, or that perhaps Bluestar was out hunting as well. Because this angry molly was chasing him. It was for food that he caught on his own but she was faster and stronger than he would ever be!
"Firepaw?" came a familiar voice. "What are you doing out-? Stop!" The newcomer screeched, leaping over him to stand before the angry molly that chased him.
Firepaw didn't wait to see what happened. He was far too focused on running as far and as fast away as possible from whoever that Yellowfang cat was. It was a warrior name but no one from ThunderClan carried it and he doubted that anyone from RiverClan did either.
Perhaps she was the thing he'd seen on the other side of the road?
"Firepaw, come here!" The new cat called out , closer than Firepaw remembered the intruder molly being. "It's okay! This cat's not going to steal your prey!"
The newcomer stalked over to where Firepaw crouched over the prey and bent to look him over. Now that he thought about it, he knew who this cat was. Longtail stood before him, his cream pelt brushed with red as he nosed Firepaw to his paws. They limped back toward Yellowfang, who licked traces of blood from her mouth.
"This is the medicine cat of ShadowClan. We're going to take her back to camp." Longtail said.
Firepaw titled his head, confused. Had Yellowfang really just stopped because Longtail told her to? Nobody else did that, even in the Clan they lived in. He can't imagine why someone from outside the Clan would want to.
Firepaw nodded anyway and gripped his prey with his teeth, deciding not to object.
"Firepaw!" A familiar howl caught his attention. "What happened?! Where are you?!"
"I'm here!" He called as loudly as he could. "Follow my thoughts! I fought an intruder!"
Suddenly he was surrounded by ghosts. Thrushpelt got to him first and poked Firepaw all over with his nose. Adderfang told him to stand up and stretch his legs while Robinwing lapped away some of the blood on his pelt. Surprisingly, it disappeared when she did that. He didn't think that was a thing that could happen. He knew that ghosts could possess other cats when they were feeling strong emotions. It was how Rabbitfoot got him to attack Longtail when he first came here. But he'd never thought of the possibility that they could otherwise influence the living world. He'd have to ask the ghosts around town when he went for his next check-in with his mother. He could count on the older ones, at least, to have some experience.
The intruder, Yellowfang, said something that Firepaw didn't catch but Longtail ignored her and turned to Firepaw.
"Come on, let's get this back to camp." He said. Firepaw nodded and started walking. He just hoped the prey wouldn't be ruined by the end of the trip.
The trio made it back to camp before sunset and were greeted with a crowd that had gathered around the horse tunnel to welcome their warriors home. Firepaw noticed that Bluestar had joined them somewhere along the way. Her scent wreathed around him and she took the prey from him just outside of camp.
"See Spottedleaf and Ravenpaw about your wounds. They'll want to check your throat as well. Someone will bring your food soon."
Someone meaning Longtail.
Firepaw stared at the prey that was now in her mouth. He hadn't caught much and even then he'd been easily defeated by an enemy warrior. Who then, as he found out later on, ate the rabbit he'd caught. He'd wanted to show that one to Sandpaw because there weren't many rabbit burrows in the forest.
"You did well today, Firepaw." Bluestar assured him. "Tomorrow, we'll work on how to properly confront an enemy. And I'll see if Stormstar can come early. We need to work on a warning system for you. Every cat has at least one way to ask for help. It is not a shameful thing to admit when you've been overpowered."
Firepaw nodded solemnly and trudged into camp, deeply ashamed at how wrong his hunting mission had gone.
What kind of cat couldn't defend their own kill?!
"The kind that was ambushed and already defenseless." Redtail offered soberly. "Even famished and ravaged as she is, Yellowfang was a ShadowClan warrior before she became a medicine cat. Like Mudfur, a call from StarClan led her down a different path, but she can still beat a fully trained warrior on her worst day."
"And by the looks of it, this is definitely one of her worst days." Thrushpelt snorted. "I don't think I've ever seen a cat so run-down before. She looks like a monster chewed her up and spit her out."
Firepaw watched, eyes glazed, as Spottedleaf approached Yellowfang on three legs with cobwebs wrapped around a front paw and herbs in her mouth.
"You look like a monster chewed you up and spit you out." Ravenpaw said from his side. Firepaw jolted, unaware that the medicine cat apprentice had even been there, but laughed when he recognized Redtail's words.
It must be a common phrase, he mused.
Firepaw waved his paw for the "not quite" gesture and looked towards the fresh-kill pile.
"I saw Bluestar carry a lot in. Did you catch some of that?"
Firepaw tapped once.
"Good, we'll eat well tonight. I can't believe you fought off a full-grown ShadowClan cat!" Ravenpaw crowed as he dabbed Firepaw's wounds with herb-soaked moss.
Firepaw rolled his eyes and then flopped over, sticking his tongue out for good measure.
"Stop that, you're going to mess up all my hard work!" Ravenpaw scowled. "But I get what you mean. It's not all mice and moonlight, fighting for your Clan. And you, especially, since your training was held back so much. I'm glad that ShadowClan cat didn't hurt you as much as she could have."
Firepaw was too, though he wasn't sure how he felt about having his injury shoved in his face. He knew Ravenpaw meant well and was truly relieved, but he couldn't help but think of how easily Yellowfang could have just dug her claws into his throat instead of just batting him away and sitting on him.
"We'd have possessed her if we'd gotten there sooner." Adderfang growled. "You've been through enough."
"Besides, any warrior would have a tough time standing up to her." Robinwing said.
Tigerclaw and Longtail did just fine, Firepaw grumbled as he watched the murderous tabby argue with Bluestar over whether to keep Yellowfang.
"Tigerclaw is a disgrace to cat-kind and Longtail got the element of surprise." Redtail scoffed. "You did fine, kit. And just look at how much prey you brought back. We also have something to bargain with because of you. Or at the very least, a source of information. You did amazing today, Firepaw. Now let Ravenpaw finish patching you up and get some food and rest."
Okay. Firepaw offered glumly.
He hated not being able to talk to other cats. Sometimes he wished he'd never stepped foot in the forest, that he'd listened to his mother and stuck to the cats in the town. Or maybe he could have convinced his mother to come with him when he went off to find his father. Anything but this feeling of misery that had no end in sight.
Bluestar called for Frostfur, the white molly with dark blue eyes that came up a lot when Bluestar and Lionheart talked at Sunningrocks. The named molly slipped out of the brambles. Inside, the noise of mewling grew louder.
"Hush, kits." purred the white cat reassuringly. "I won't be long." Then she
turned to her leader. "Yes, Bluestar? What is it?"
"One of our apprentices has seen a fox in the area. Warn the other queens to guard the nursery carefully. And make sure all kits less than six moons stay inside the camp until our warriors have driven it away."
Frostfur nodded.
"I will pass on the warning, Bluestar. Thank you." She turned and squeezed back into the nursery to quiet the crying kits while Bluestar strode over to the pile of fresh-kill and took her share. A plump wood pigeon had been left for her there. She picked it up gently with her teeth and padded over to stand by Firepaw.
"I trained Frostfur before you came into our lives." She said quietly as she laid down and set to shredding the prey for them to share. "She's a very sweet girl, that one. She and Brindleface are sisters, though I'm not sure you've met Brindleface yet. You'll interact with them more as you grow older, I suppose. Or if you keep hanging around the medicine den."
Firepaw didn't intend to stay past what was necessary to complete his mission, but there were so many things going on in this forest alone that he was starting to think he would grow up split between his mother and the Clans.
"Not that hanging around the medicine den is a bad thing. When I was younger, our medicine cat, Featherwhisker, held group training sessions as something for the kits to do. He pointed out each herb and told us exactly what they did and why they shouldn't be touched. It taught us kits not to go in the medicine den, even if it never really stuck."
Bluestar took a bite of the wood pigeon and passed some to Firepaw, who was doing his best to chew his food without irritating his throat. Fighting Yellowfang and getting the breath squished out of him hadn't helped much. He was just glad he could still swallow easily.
"After all, how are we supposed to survive if we don't know how to clean and cover simple wounds?" Bluestar was speaking again, though she had eaten more of the wood pigeon while Firepaw was still on his first mouthful.
"Do these bites need to be smaller?" Bluestar asked gently. Reluctantly, Firepaw nodded.
"Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry I didn't notice at first."
Bluestar raked her claws over the bird a few more times until Firepaw could take a mouthful and have it slide down his throat with no trouble. Firepaw chirped his thanks and pushed his head into her shoulder.
"You're welcome, Firepaw." Bluestar murmured, eyes aglow with some expression Firepaw couldn't name.
The leader took the pigeon's remains to the dirtplace and when she came back, she yowled for everyone's attention.
"I'm sure you all have seen or heard from the newcomer we have in camp. Her name is Yellowfang and she is the ShadowClan medicine cat. Until we know otherwise, you are to treat her with the respect of a medicine cat. She might be a further link to our ancestors and as such, she is extremely valuable. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Bluestar!" Several cats chorused.
"What's more is that there is troubling news from the WindClan border. Their scent markers had not been renewed for days, so I took a patrol to investigate. It turns out that their scent was stale as if it had been many moons since a WindClan cat had stepped foot on the grounds. The air was filled with mixed scents, a lot of them ShadowClan. And we met no cats despite going well into their territory."
Silence reigned as the cats around Firepaw struggled to process what their leader was saying.
"Do you mean ShadowClan has chased them out?" called Silverear hesitantly.
"The scent of ShadowClan was everywhere. We found blood and fur so, despite the lack of evidence, it is safe to assume that the two Clans battled and WindClan has lost their home."
A shocked yowl rose from the crowd in a single voice. Firepaw felt the cats around him stiffen with fury.
From their reactions, it seemed like this had never happened before, but how could that be? These cats challenged each other for territory all the time. Had they truly managed to coexist despite their different needs?
"How can WindClan have been driven out?" Whitepelt croaked hoarsely. "ShadowClan is fierce, but WindClan is many. They have lived in the uplands for generations. Why have they been chased out now?" She shook her head anxiously, her whiskers trembling.
"I don't have answers yet." meowed Bluestar. "What we do know is that ShadowClan has a new leader following the death of their previous one, Roachstar. Brokenstar did not threaten us when we met him at the last Gathering, but that does not mean he is no threat at all."
"Fox-dung to that!" Darkstripe howled furiously. "ThunderClan takes no threats from any cat, even another Clan leader! Why don't we see what Yellowfang can tell us about all this? After all, they are her Clan."
"That's enough, Darkstripe!" Lionheart snapped. "Bluestar just said that the medicine cat is to be treated with the respect of our own. We do not interrogate our medicine cats, so there will be no asking Yellowfang anything."
"You can't honestly think having an enemy in our camp, eating our food, and sharing our space is a good idea?!"
"It matters not what I think. But in the name of honesty, I think you are wrong to accuse Yellowfang. She is a ShadowClan cat, yes, but she is not a warrior. Medicine cats follow their own code. They have rules set down by StarClan as we do, and one of those rules is to help any cat in pain or danger regardless of Clan. She will not harm us or any of our kin. It goes against everything she was trained to do and StarClan would punish her for it."
"Thank you… Lionheart, was it?" Yellowfang rasped. At the golden tom's nod, she went on. "Thank you, Bluestar and Lionheart, for introducing me and expanding on my role. What Lionheart said was true. I do not harm cats if I have another choice and even my attack on the apprentice was with the goal of getting the food he had. It will not go unpunished by StarClan, believe that. Medicine cats, unlike warriors, have the ability to serve multiple Clans as needed. If, for example, there was a sickness that Spottedleaf or her apprentice had no knowledge of, they could ask myself or Mudfur for guidance and we would help without question. In this style, I ask for ThunderClan's aid to ShadowClan, in whatever way it can be offered."
Bluestar's eyes widened and her fur bushed up when the dark grey medicine cat spoke her last words.
"Is this… what is this, Yellowfang? Are you requesting asylum?"
"I am, for now. The leader of ShadowClan is a vicious rogue, though StarClan alone knows how that came to be. But he has cast out the sick and elderly. He has worked every cat left in his camp to the bone and then some. There is no time to heal from battle, there is very little time to sleep. I bet, now that I can no longer speak for StarClan there, that they no longer hunt as they did under Roachstar. My Clan has fallen apart, Bluestar. And I cannot watch it for much longer."
"Indeed, this is troubling. Thank you for your explanation and we accept your request for asylum. You may sleep in the medicine clearing with Spottedleaf and Ravenpaw. You have all the privileges a guest medicine cat would have, whether you choose to work with ours or not. But you must know, Yellowfang, that your Clan's ills will not be healed overnight. It is a difficult thing to reason with some cats, and if reason is not enough… well, he is still a leader. Nine lives are eight too many for me to be comfortable using force."
"I ask for aid in whatever way it can be offered," Yellowfang repeated. "and that will have to be enough."
"We can start by shoring up our own defenses. From this moonrise onward, warriors will travel in larger groups. Other Clan members will remain close to the camp. Patrols will travel the boundary edges more frequently, and all the kits must stay in the nursery."
The cats around her nodded in agreement and broke into groups to discuss how best to prepare for an attack from ShadowClan. However, Bluestar had one last thing to say.
"Finally, until Yellowfang is strong enough to care for herself, she will be considered an elder as far as apprentice duties."
Sandpaw, Dustpaw, and Greypaw groaned lightly but responded in the positive. Caring for the elders wasn't Firepaw's favorite part of being an apprentice but that's what mouse bile was for. Besides, he'd learned a lot from Sparrowpelt and Whitepelt about having to manage an injury and being cautious as a result. Dappletail doted on him and told the apprentices plenty of stories from her younger days. Firepaw had exhausted her of all the stories she knew within half a moon of being around him but it was nice to see the other apprentices have the same reactions he did.
A nudge to his left shoulder had him look up and find that Longtail was by his side with Yellowfang in tow.
"Hey, kit. You did well today." The grey molly offered gruffly. "For a kit with no fight training, you were ready to show your claws. It's not your fault that I got the upper paw on you. But I bet your mentor will teach you more about that next time you train."
Firepaw nodded eagerly and hopped to his paws. Yellowfang's breath hitched.
"Stars forgive me…" She whispered. "Who did this to you, kit?"
"I did." Longtail choked out. The cream tabby tom suddenly had the full force of Yellowfang's stare pinning him to his spot.
"And what," She growled. "did he do to deserve that?"
What a strange question. She sounds almost… resigned. Like she's seen this before. Thrushpelt mused.
No way. ShadowClan isn't full of foxes. No proper cat would maul their kit! Robinwing insisted.
I've heard otherwise. Adderfang grumbled. There's a reason we turn away kittypets of warrior age.
"He jumped off the Highrock to attack me. I reacted on instinct. His collar didn't come off easily enough and instead of ripping like a normal collar would, it did… that."
"So you mauled a kitten because he threw himself at you… it's a wonder anyone lets you around their kits." Yellowfang scowled. "Can he talk at all?"
"No. It happened two moons ago. He's still getting his food shredded to manageable pieces. Spottedleaf isn't sure if he'll ever be able to talk."
"You best be the one doing the shredding, boy. You already did a number on his throat, the least you can do is help him with his prey."
"That was Bluestar's reasoning." Longtail offered calmly.
"Bluestar is far too forgiving for the likes of you." Yellowfang growled, baring her teeth and snapping them in Longtail's face.
Firepaw pressed his front paws against her and pushed as hard as he could. Yellowfang didn't budge, but when she moved to look at him Firepaw stood between her and Longtail and glared at her.
"Apparently the kit is forgiving as well." Yellowfang purred in a rasping voice. "This one will be a fine warrior, with courage like that. It's a shame you went and made things difficult."
Firepaw meowed his exasperation and stomped his paws.
"Alright, alright, I won't give the fox-heart too much grief. Though what this fine young tom wants with the cat who almost killed him, I guess we'll never know."
Firepaw scowled and pushed Yellowfang toward Spottedleaf's den.
"Good idea, kit. Let's see if Spottedleaf can spare you a poppyseed or two. That throat's got to be on fire."
Yellowfang loped to the medicine cat clearing and Firepaw went with her. Halfway there, he turned around and blinked slowly at Longtail, eyes full of understanding.