DISCLAIMER: This has spoilers from Yellowfang's Secret, viewer discretion is advised.
EMOTIONAL WARNING: This is not as perky and full of personality as my other rants, this one, will be reviewing the life of one of the most well-developed and well-deserving cats in the whole series.
A gray she-cat was grooming in the sparkling forest, desperately trying to free herself from the fleas that conquered her pelt. Maple padded up to her, her siamese pelt majestic in the pale moonlight. The flat-muzzled she-cat immediately stopped grooming and stood with a battle stance. She hissed defensively. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her rancid breath traveling through the air. "Are you going to mentally break me down like you did all of the others?" Maple stepped closer, causing the old cat to hiss in outrage. All of a sudden, Maple's expression turned to unsuppressed excitement.
"Oh my StarClan, it's such an honor to meet you!" she chirped, bounding around the gray she-cat. "I just can't believe it, look at you! You are just as the books described you! Old, has irritably long hair, flat muzzle, breath so tainted with herbs you can't even tell what you're smelling," she meowed, analyzing the old cat with fascination. She hissed again.
"Get away from me mange-pelt!" she growled, taking a bad-aimed swipe at her nose. Maple dodged easily. She scoffed.
"Speak for yourself!" she chucked, looking the gray cat up and down. The elder rolled her eyes.
"What do you want," she grumbled condescendingly. Maple chuckled. "I just wanted to compliment you and rant about how amazing you are but if you want to be grumpy then fine, I'll skip to the special event that you won't be invited to." As she turned her back, the gray cat hissed stubbornly at her. This is what I get for trying to be nice to one of the grumpiest cats in the series. Just as she reached the bushes, the old cat yowled behind her.
"Alright, fine! But you aren't going to yell at me. As soon as you do I'll banish you from StarClan's lands." Maple turned around and bounded toward her excitedly. "Sounds good to me!"
Maple led her through the trees. Slowly, the environment around them faded into black. They padded through the abyss. In the darkness, shapes appeared like mist . . . no . . . memories. Yellowfang stared at them as they appeared and vanished back into thin air. First, there was her mother, Brightflower, playing with her kits Nutkit, Rowankit, and Yellowkit. Then their kithood bullies Raggedkit and Scorchkit. Then there was her happily patrolling with Deerleap before the detrimental death of Silverflame. They watched as Yellowpaw had visions of her future, two outsiders became true cats of the Clan, turning into a warrior, getting apprenticed as a medicine cat, fighting her power to feel the pain of other cats, getting visions of her lost grandmother, agreeing to have a relationship with Raggedpelt, devoting countless hours to Cloudpaw, struggling with her connection with her mentor, having to give up her kits and live with them never knowing who their mother is, two of her children dying before they could open their eyes, her son getting bullied into not having a friendship with her, struggling to decide whether her son is going to tear the forest apart, fighting to protect her Clan from her own kit, and eventually killing her newly blind son in secret. Tears welled at the corners of Yellowfang's eyes. Maple stopped walking and turned around to face the old she-cat. Yellowfang's fur smoothened, her breath sweetened, her beauty returned, and her young body came. Maple sat neatly before her. No longer did Yellowfang look old and full of wisdom, she now looked innocent and eager to learn the marvels of the world. Maple sighed, sympathy and understanding of what Yellowfang went through hitting her hard. She struggled to keep her voice steady.
"Yellowkit was full of innocence, Yellowpaw lost all hope, Yellowfang fought for her Clan, and in the end, did the worst to bring peace to the forest." Yellowfang hung her head, lovely amber eyes full of emotion.
"I tried, so hard," she meowed smoothly for the first time in seasons. "I lost everything I ever knew, all to the son I refused to kill." She collapsed onto the smooth black ground and hid her face in her paws. A sob overtook her. Maple sighed before closing her eyes and allowed her body to blow away as dust. Maple's remains whipped around Yellowfang's body in a swirl and transported her to the Thunderclan medicine cat clearing. Another gray cat was there. Her eyes were vibrantly blue and she limped over to Yellowfang quickly.
"Yellowfang! Wake up, you're having a bad dream!" Yellowfang lifted her head from the ground. Her eyes locked with the blue eyes of the other she-cat. "I have an idea on how to treat Smallear's paw, is it okay with you?" Yellowfang nodded, still stunned. The gray cat grabbed a bundle of herbs and limped excitedly away. A ginger tom appeared by her side.
"You made the right choice," he said, refusing to meet her gaze. Yellowfang seemed confused, knowing this memory well, knew that wasn't what he should have said. He sighed. "I miss these days in Thunderclan, so much has changed since then," he meowed. He looked down at her, still laying on the ground, with his powerful green gaze. "We all loved you, Yellowfang, so much would be impossible now without you." Yellowfang nodded as the scene faded and Fireheart's figure was replaced with the body of Maple. The siamese stared at her.
"I just . . . wanted everyone I loved to be happy no matter what, and I ended up losing everything. Even after death, Thunderclan had to deal with loss, and I feel that same pain I felt in ShadowClan over and over again. I feel just as helpless to save them now as I did when Brokentail became leader."
Maple was silent. With a tear falling down her cheek, she draped her tail around Yellowfang's back comfortingly. Slowly, the age came back to Yellowfang's body and her younger form was diminished. Then darkness around them faded into pure nothingness.
"Thank you, for the journey."