Эрин Хантер - Yellowfang’s Secret

A trickle of strength returned to her limbs. She could scent water, and hear the gurgling of a nearby stream. I need to drink, hunt, and get off ThunderClan territory .

But as she forced herself to her paws, she heard a faint growl from the direction of the stream. Peering out from among the ferns, she spotted a young cat with a flame-colored coat heading straight for her in the hunter’s crouch, as if he was stalking prey. Yellowfang realized that the wind must have carried her scent straight toward him.

Fox dung! A ThunderClan cat would have to turn up just now. He’s bound to stop me if I try to escape . Yellowfang unsheathed her claws, sinking them into the soft forest floor. I’ll have to fight my way out .

Yellowfang eased herself from the ferns and crept into the shelter of a clump of bushes. Now the breeze worked to her advantage, and she caught the reek of ThunderClan. The young cat paused, glancing around him with a puzzled expression. He sniffed the air again, as if he couldn’t work out what had happened to the scent.

Prey doesn’t keep still, mouse-brain!

Letting out a snarl, Yellowfang burst out of the bushes and slammed into the orange tom, knocking him sideways. He let out a screech of shock. Yellowfang felt a savage delight as her paws clamped down on his shoulders and her jaws closed on the back of his neck.

“Murr-oww!” the young cat grunted. For a heartbeat he struggled to free himself, then suddenly relaxed his muscles with a howl of alarm and went limp.

Still pinning him down with her paws, Yellowfang opened her jaws and let out a yowl of triumph. “Ah, a puny apprentice!” she hissed. “Easy prey for Yellowfang.”

She bit down once more on the ThunderClan cat’s neck, but at the same moment he surged upward, exploding with all the strength of a powerful young body. Yellowfang let out a snarl of surprise as she was thrown clear, tumbling back into a gorse bush.

The tom steadied himself on his paws and gave his pelt a shake. “Not such easy prey, huh?” he meowed.

Yellowfang ripped herself free from the prickly branches, hissing curses at the thorns. “Not bad, young apprentice!” she spat back. “But you’ll need to do a lot better!”

The young cat puffed out his chest. “You’re in ThunderClan’s hunting ground. Move on!”

“Who’s going to make me?” Yellowfang curled her lip. “I will hunt. Then I will leave. Or maybe I’ll just stay a while…”

“Enough talk,” the young cat flashed back at her.

Yellowfang sensed a change in him. She could tell that he was eager to fight, to defend his territory and protect his Clan. For an apprentice, he has courage, she thought with the first flicker of respect. I’ll need to use a little cunning here…

Dipping her head, breaking eye contact with the young tom, she began to back off. “No need to be hasty now,” she purred in a silky tone.

The apprentice wasn’t deceived. He let out a furious growl and leaped forward. Yellowfang sprang forward to meet him, digging her claws into his shoulders, and they rolled over together in a whirl of claws and teeth. Breaking free, Yellowfang reared up on her hind legs and lunged at the young tom’s head. To her frustration, he jerked away just in time and her teeth closed on empty air a mouse-length from his ear.

Before Yellowfang could lash out again, the apprentice swiped at her with one paw, dealing her a hard blow over her ear. Stunned, she dropped to all fours, shaking her head to clear it. As she tried to recover, her opponent flung himself forward and clamped his jaws tight on her back leg.

Yellowfang screeched, whipping around to snap at the young tom’s tail. Satisfaction flooded through her as her teeth connected.

The apprentice ripped his tail from her grip and lashed it in rage. His green eyes gleamed with fury. Yellowfang crouched for a fresh attack, but she could feel her strength ebbing. Her breath wheezed, and hunger gnawed at her like a live rat in her belly.

For a heartbeat the flame-colored cat hesitated. Yellowfang lunged, trying to reach up onto his shoulders and get a killing grip, but now she was hampered by her wounded leg.

“Get off!” the apprentice snapped, arching his back in an effort to throw her off.

But Yellowfang managed to dig her claws in and held on tight, using her greater weight to force the young cat to the ground. He twisted as he tried to avoid her thrashing hind legs; once more they rolled over together, biting and snapping.

Yellowfang knew that she had lost her chance to win. Her hind legs would hardly support her and she loosened her grip on the young tom.

“Had enough yet?” he growled.

“Never!” Yellowfang spat. But her injured leg gave way and she slumped to the ground. Glaring at the apprentice, she hissed, “If I wasn’t so hungry and tired, I’d have shredded you into mouse-dust.” Her mouth twisted in pain. “Finish me off. I won’t stop you.”

And then it will be over. No more pain, no more struggle …

The young tom hesitated, something in his eyes that Yellowfang couldn’t read.

“What are you waiting for?” Yellowfang taunted him. “You’re dithering like a kittypet!”

Rage flared in his green eyes. “I’m an apprentice warrior of ThunderClan!” he snarled.

Yellowfang narrowed her eyes. She had seen the cat flinch at her words, and she knew she had hit a nerve. “Ha,” she snorted. “Don’t tell me ThunderClan are so desperate they have to recruit kittypets now?”

“ThunderClan are not desperate!” the tom hissed.

“Prove it, then!” Yellowfang challenged him. “Act like a warrior and finish me off. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

The apprentice stared at her. She saw his muscles relax as a spark of curiosity woke in his eyes. “You seem in an awful hurry to die,” he meowed.

“Yeah? Well, that’s my business, mouse-fodder,” Yellowfang snapped. “What’s your problem, kitty? Are you trying to talk me to death?”

But her hunger and exhaustion were sapping her strength with every heartbeat. She knew she could do no more; she was at this cat’s mercy. Has it really come to this, StarClan? Is this the end I deserve?

“Wait here,” the young cat ordered at last.

“Are you kidding, kitty? I’m going nowhere,” Yellowfang grunted, limping toward a patch of soft heather. She flopped down and began licking her leg wound.

The flame-colored tom turned, then glanced back at her over his shoulder with a hiss of exasperation before heading for the trees. Yellowfang watched him go. She still felt numb with shock, well past caring what would happen to her. Will ThunderClan keep me a prisoner, or send me back to ShadowClan? she wondered. She knew she didn’t have the strength to get off ThunderClan territory before she was found by the ginger tom or some other patrol. Did this mean that she was giving up without a fight?

And yet there was something about that bold little apprentice, some spark that reminded her of herself when she was young. “Not that I’d let him know it, arrogant mouse-brain,” she muttered.

She would wait for him to come back. I have no Clan now, no destiny, no place to be, and no duties to tend to. Let the future bring what it will .

Yellowfang sighed, but a quiet determination began to grow inside her. Somehow, she felt less bleak, less hopeless. This wasn’t her home, but the heavy-branched trees and whispering ferns promised more peace than she had known for a while. She didn’t know any ThunderClan cats well—she didn’t know any cats well, apart from Runningnose, perhaps—but Brokenstar had denounced them for being too full of pity and soft on their enemies. So perhaps they would view her with kindness, a refugee from the troubled Clan across the border. Besides, whatever they did to her could not be worse than what her own son had done.