Yellowfang

Yellowfang is a skinny, scruffy, battle-scarred, grizzled, dark gray she-cat with a broad, flattened face bony haunches, thorn-sharp claws long, rough, dull, ragged, ruffled, patchy, thick, messy, clumped, knotted, matted fur, torn, ragged ears, sharp snaggly, cracked, stained, broken, blackened yellow teeth, wide-set, large, bright round, pale, orange eyes, and a thick, scraggy tail.

Yellowfang's Secret

 * Yellowkit is born to Brightflower and Brackenfoot of ShadowClan, along with her siblings Nutkit and Rowankit. Her grandmother is Silverflame, whom is Brightwhisker's mother. The siblings like to play games, and pretend that the elders are invading WindClan cats. The "fierce ShadowClan warriors" frighten the WindClan cats, and the kits win the game. Nutkit teases Raggedkit, and calls him a kittypet, and while Yellowpaw doesn't like this, she vows to stick up for her sibling.


 * Yellowkit notices that her stomach aches, and her sibling does too. Her sibling ate a tainted piece of crow-food, and Sagewhisker gives the kits yarrow to induce vomiting. Yellowkit insists that she didn't eat the crowfood, and it hurts her when her mother thinks she's a liar.


 * She notices that Silverflame is becoming finicky about food, and hasn't eaten much. She tries to get her grandmother to eat a frog but the elder hardly takes a bite. Yellowkit starts to feel the sickness that Silverflame feels. Yellowkit, along with her siblings, become apprentices, and Yellowpaw gets Deerleap for a mentor, and she's satisfied with that. Yellowpaw dismisses her aches and views the territory with her new mentor, but worries about Silverflame. When she comes back, her mother tells her that Silverflame is dying. Yellowpaw cannot believe this and goes in to say goodbye to her grandmother. She is grief-stricken.


 * Yellowpaw begins to get closer to Raggedpaw. She vows to help him find who his father is. She takes him to Twolegplace, and they run into the kittypets Marmalade, Red, and Pixie. The cats challege the ShadowClan apprentices, then agree to help them. Raggedpaw finds out that that his father is a kittypet, but he rejects his son, and Raggedpaw is angry with Yellowpaw.

Bluestar's Prophecy

 * At a Gathering, Yellowfang is seen cheering loudly for Raggedpelt when he is announced as ShadowClan's new deputy.


 * At another Gathering many moons later, Yellowfang is announced as Sagewhisker's new apprentice, beginning her training as a medicine cat. Bluefur notices that Yellowfang and Raggedpelt seem to be angry with each other, and wonders if they had quarreled recently.

Firestar's Quest

 * Yellowfang does not formally appear but is mentioned by Sandstorm when Sky gobbles up a vole she had given him to eat, and the old cat's mannerisms remind her and Firestar of the old medicine cat.

Into the Wild

 * Before the book, Yellowfang was the medicine cat of ShadowClan, and a warrior prior to that. Brokenstar was training two kits and fought them hard enough to kill them. He brought the dead apprentices, Volepaw and Mosspaw, to Yellowfang, when Brightflower, the apprentices' mother walks by and shouts out that they are dead, making it look like Yellowfang had killed them. Yellowfang was exiled from ShadowClan. Yellowfang became very weak and vulnerable living on her own.


 * Having not eaten in days, her coat became matted and bedraggled. While looking for prey on ThunderClan territory, she is seen by a young ThunderClan apprentice named Firepaw. He attacks the old cat and almost kills her. Yellowfang insists he finish her off, but Firepaw shows mercy and gives her some fresh-kill. A ThunderClan patrol comes by, taking Yellowfang hostage into the Clan. Graypaw voices his disbelief that she became a loner, as she is a well-respected medicine cat.


 * Firepaw was punished for not only feeding an enemy warrior but also for eating what was left of the rabbit he gave Yellowfang. Firepaw's punishment was only to tend to Yellowfang by cleaning her, feeding her, and changing her bedding.


 * In the ThunderClan camp, Yellowfang has to be taken care of by Firepaw, much to her dismay. When a kit rolls into her, she snaps at it.


 * At a Gathering, Brokenstar tells everyone about Yellowfang and how dangerous she is to kits, and some of the warriors try to exile her from ThunderClan. But when ShadowClan attacks, she defended the nursery from Blackfoot, the ShadowClan deputy, and earns her new Clan's trust.


 * Later, Clawface raids the camp, takes Frostfur's kits, and kills Spottedleaf. Yellowfang disappears, making the Clan think that she killed Spottedleaf, and stole the kits. Bluestar sends Firepaw and Graypaw out to find her. Firepaw finds her on ShadowClan territory. They make a plan to get the kits back. A patrol of ThunderClan cats come by and Yellowfang brings some of her friends from ShadowClan to help. They fight and drive out Brokenstar and manage to steal Frostfur's kits back without getting injured. During the battle, Brokenstar tells Yellowfang that he killed Raggedstar. She is shocked by this and Brokenstar continues to say how weak Brightflower's kits were, and how another warrior would have killed them if he hadn't. He says that he should've killed Yellowfang too when he had the chance, but he had some of his father's softness.


 * When Yellowfang gets back to camp, an arguement begins about if she killed Spottedleaf or not. Graystripe points out the fur color between Spottedleaf's claws and the dispute is settled. Bluestar then offers to give the now open position of medicine cat to her because Spottedleaf is dead and never had an apprentice to succeed her. Yellowfang accepts this position, stating that ShadowClan is not the Clan it once was, and ThunderClan was her home now.

Fire and Ice

 * Yellowfang gives Fireheart and Graystripe traveling herbs when they are assigned to go bring WindClan out of exile.


 * Yellowfang is one of the first cats to know when Fireheart's apprentice, Cinderpaw, is struck on the Thunderpath. Yellowfang treats the young apprentice, and despite the difficult odds, she manages to save Cinderpaw's life. The two cats begin to develop a close bond.


 * Yellowfang takes Cinderpaw on as her apprentice later on, when Cinderpaw is unable to continue her warrior training. Jokingly, Yellowfang claims that Cinderpaw was the only cat she would be able to get along with.


 * During the rogue attack, Yellowfang traps and blinds Brokenstar in her den. Fireheart urges Yellowfang to finish him off, but Yellowfang can't, admitting that he was her son. Yellowfang tells Fireheart that she had been in a forbidden relationship with Raggedstar, and they had three kits together. Two of them died, and only Brokenstar lived. She growls that StarClan's punishment to her wasn't that two of her kits had died, but that Brokenstar had lived. Yellowfang drags Brokenstar into a nest abandoned by Patchpelt.


 * Yellowfang is seen treating battle injuries with Cinderpaw's help, ordering her apprentice around and busily trying to help every cat.


 * Later, she is seen talking with Bluestar, Fireheart, Whitestorm and Tigerclaw about Brokenstar. She says that she wants to keep Brokenstar as a prisoner because he would not survive in the forest due to his blindness. Bluestar agrees to this and Brokenstar stays.

Forest of Secrets

 * Yellowfang offers Cinderpaw the role of a medicine cat, since Cinderpaw cannot train as a warrior and due to the fact she helps Yellowfang around the den very often. Dismayed but happy at the thought of contributing to the life of a Clan cat, Cinderpaw accepts the role.


 * When Silverstream dies after her kitting went wrong on Sunningrocks, Cinderpaw feels very guilty. Yellowfang tells her that queens died from kitting sometimes, and a medicine cat couldn't save every warrior from dying.


 * Towards the end of the book, when Tigerclaw attacks with the group of rogues, her son Brokentail does not help the Clan that has cared for him, and instead, he helps fight with the rogues and Tigerclaw against ThunderClan. Yellowfang endures great emotional pain as she is forced to wrestle him away, wounding him so that he loses a life. Soon, the battle draws to an end, and Yellowfang drags Brokentail back to her den, saying she was going to treat his wounds. When she gets him the medicine cat's den, she realizes he is a danger to the Clan and cannot be kept alive any longer. As Brokentail lies there complaining, she tricks him into eating deathberries. Brokentail writhes in pain as Yellowfang tells him that she was his mother. He does not believe her, but there is no time to persuade him to accept the truth, and he dies, leaving Yellowfang with a great deal of grief. She did not realize that Fireheart had been watching the whole time, and insists that she did all was possible, but Brokentail still died at her paws.

Rising Storm

 * Yellowfang trains Cinderpaw and, when satisfied she knows enough, gives Cinderpaw her medicine cat name, Cinderpelt. The two of them care for ThunderClan together, but however Yellowfang often scolds Cinderpelt, who keeps forgetting herbs because of her lack of confidence after Silverstream's death.


 * Then, late in the dry summer, the forest is set on fire. The entire Clan is evacuated to RiverClan territory. Halfway there, Cloudpaw suddenly realizes that Patchpelt, Bramblekit, and Halftail are not with them. He informs Fireheart, who decides to go back to camp to find them. He goes back with Yellowfang, instead of Sandstorm or Cinderpelt, who also offered.


 * Yellowfang and Fireheart find Patchpelt and Halftail unconscious in the Elders' Den, and Fireheart takes Patchpelt and Yellowfang takes Halftail. The two of the them are traveling back up the ravine when suddenly Fireheart spies Bramblekit clinging to a sapling, trying not to fall into the flames. As he rescues him, a tree falls and rolls down the ravine, separating him from Yellowfang. Yellowfang, in an attempt to escape the flames, drags herself and Halftail back into the camp. It is too much for her to get Halftail to the safety of her hollow-rock den. She leaves his dead body, and crawls to her den.


 * Fireheart finds her. Yellowfang tells him that she had killed Brokentail, not knowing that Fireheart had watched her kill him. Yellowfang also tells Fireheart that she wishes he was her son instead of Brokentail. She says she is not afraid of death, and StarClan can punish her for giving birth to Brokentail if they think they should. Yellowfang tells Fireheart she was only sorry that she wouldn't be able to live to see what great things he was destined for. After that, Yellowfang dies from smoke inhalation.


 * A few moments after Yellowfang dies, Spottedleaf appears to take her to StarClan.


 * Cinderpelt is distraught over her mentor's death. Since Bluestar is confused and is against StarClan, Yellowfang is not given a proper send off to StarClan by her, but by Whitestorm. Fireheart informs Runningnose, her former apprentice, about her death at the Gathering.

A Dangerous Path

 * She appears briefly in one of Fireheart's dreams, alongside Spottedleaf. Fireheart does not see her, but recognizes her rusty purr.

The Darkest Hour

 * Yellowfang appears along with Spottedleaf and Bluestar during Firestar's leader ceremony. Firestar is very happy to see Yellowfang, and she gives him his seventh life, which is the gift of compassion.


 * She also helps him in the fight against BloodClan after Firestar loses his first life.

Starlight

 * Yellowfang appeared in a dream to Leafpaw, and delivered the prophecy, Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red. It concerns and revolves around Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost.

Twilight

 * She is only mentioned once by name, when Firestar comments on how Cinderpelt is getting more and more like Yellowfang.

Sunset

 * Later, she, along with Bluestar and Lionheart, visit Leafpool in a dream, telling her that she will travel down a path that few medicine cats have ever traveled, and the three of them give Leafpool the strength to make it.


 * Yellowfang's prophecy that she delivered to Leafpool comes true at the end of the book, when Brambleclaw kills Hawkfrost, his half-brother, and the lake runs red with Hawkfrost's blood.

The Sight

 * When Jaypaw follows Leafpool to the Moonpool, he sees Leafpool greeting StarClan cats. Yellowfang is among them. Yellowfang sees Jaypaw, and she stares at him. He shrinks back into the shadows, knowing he isn't supposed to be there. It is noted that he couldn't tell her Clan from her body shape.


 * Later, after Jaypaw is apprenticed to Leafpool, she catches him spying on Mothwing, the RiverClan medicine cat. Jaypaw instantly recognizes her broad, flat face from the Moonpool. She warns him to use his powers wisely, saying a cat with big ears can hear more than he should. Jaypaw asks her if she's spoken to Mothwing, and she tells him that if the answers are there, he will see them anyway. She stalks away, her scent disappearing with her.


 * She is not seen again, only mentioned when greencough strikes ThunderClan. Jaypaw is angry, thinking that, instead of lecturing, Spottedleaf or Yellowfang could've told him the greencough was coming, so he could gather more of the catmint.

Dark River

 * When Jaypaw enters Willowpaw's dream, Yellowfang catches him and tells him off, and the two cats argue. He tells her she has no right to accuse him of spying when she keeps turning up in all his dreams. Jaypaw asks her if she can stop him. Yellowfang does not respond, leading Jaypaw to believe that even StarClan can't stop him. When Jaypaw walks in Cinderpaw's dream, he is at the old ThunderClan camp, telling Jaypaw where the dens were and she pointed out where Yellowfang's den was. She told him that she was a warrior apprentice before moving to Yellowfang's den, showing Jaypaw Cinderpelt's side of Cinderpaw. She showed him a large crack in a rock parting into a den, and told him that is where Yellowfang kept her herbs. When Jaypaw tells her that Yellowfang is dead, Cinderpaw replies saying of course she is.

Eclipse

 * She, along with Bluestar, Spottedleaf, and Whitestorm, talk about the prophecy and the kits' powers. She is the only one in StarClan that knows that the eclipse is coming. She is also the one to say that StarClan is defeated. She complains about the prophecy that was given to Jaypaw and later shared with Hollypaw and Lionpaw. She also says that StarClan should tell Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw the "truth." Yellowfang argues with Bluestar for a bit, voicing her opinion, but Bluestar knows if they continue arguing, they will fight. She asks Spottedleaf if she agrees with the secrecy and hen Spottedleaf says yes, she asks why Yellowfang was so worried about it. Yellowfang states that she feels that something's wrong and that there is a darkness coming that StarClan couldn't prevent, and that they would be helpess to protect the Clans, even themselves.

Long Shadows

 * When Jaypaw has a vision about StarClan fretting about the greencough in ThunderClan, Yellowfang is among them and the only thing that she mentions to the other StarClan Warriors is that she would give her pelt to save the sick cats, but it would still not do any good. This is Yellowfang's only appearance in the book.

Sunrise

 * In the prologue, she attacks Bluestar because the ThunderClan leader let the secret that Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze aren't Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw's kits are destroying ThunderClan.


 * Yellowfang appears to Jayfeather in a dream, telling him that it was wrong for StarClan to have lied to him and his littermates about who they really were. When Jayfeather wakes up, Yellowfang has left him a crow's feather.

The Fourth Apprentice

 * In the prologue, she takes Bluestar, Lionheart, and Spottedleaf to a loud marshy place to discuss the prophecy. When Bluestar says that it's too loud and wet, Yellowfang replies that she meant it to be loud so no other cat could hear them speak. Bluestar demands Yellowfang what she wants to discuss, in which Yellowfang says that the prophecy was not fulfilled. She continues by saying that the Three were together, though the two probably wouldn't identify the third. After Bluestar and Spottedleaf have a minor debate, Yellowfang twitches her ears, claiming that if Jayfeather and Lionblaze didn't know who the third was, there could be more trouble. She then proceeds to say that she wishes to send a sign.


 * Shocked by this, Bluestar asks Yellowfang if she has forgotten that the prophecy doesn't belong to StarClan, then adds that it could be dangerous to interfere with and it should be left alone. As Lionheart speaks of Hollyleaf, Yellowfang says that they wouldn't be wrong again. Continuing, Yellowfang says that they had to trust the prophecy, no matter where it came from, plus their clanmates that lived beside the lake.


 * Feathertail arrives, causing Yellowfang to point out that the discussion was ThunderClan's business, showing her teeth slightly. After Spottedleaf convinces the meeting cats to allow Feathertail to stay, Yellowfang shrugs, gently saying that they weren't Feathertail's sons. She says that StarClan could warn them as well as guide them, but in the end, the kits will go their own way. Bluestar comments that all sons and daughters do the same thing. Yellowfang's eyes darkens as she stares into the sky.


 * When asked by Lionheart about the sign, Bluestar jumps in before Yellowfang could speak. After a minor debate, Bluestar gives in. Yellowfang bows her head, revealing the depths of her wisdom, confessing that she would send an Omen. Bluestar asks Yellowfang if she would send the sign to Jayfeather or Lionblaze, but Yellowfang replies that she wouldn't send it to either, but the third cat.


 * She then appears in a dream to Dovepaw, telling her that she is part of the prophecy. Jayfeather remarks how she isn't as scary as she looks after Dovepaw complains.


 * When Breezepelt attacks Jayfeather with Brokenstar, she tells him that she knows the cat that helped Breezepelt, but doesn't tell him. She hints there will be a battle with StarClan and the Dark Forest.

Fading Echoes

 * She appears to Jayfeather when he tries to walk in Flametail's dream and shows him part of StarClan's hunting grounds. She tells him about life in StarClan, how they have all the prey they want, and are quite content, except when they see living cats suffering. When Jayfeather inquires about ghostlike spirits he sees, she explains that they are spirits of cats who are forgotten, and have earned their peace. She adds that she doesn't have to worry because no one will forget a "cantankerous old badger" like her. Jayfeather then shares with her his suspicions that the Dark Forest is planning something evil. Oddly, she didn't seem to know that his suspicions were true, yet in The Fourth Apprentice, she told him about the battle. She suggests that they go to the Dark Forest to talk to Tigerstar, and Spottedleaf joins them as they go.


 * Yellowfang seems unusually nervous as they enter the Dark Forest, which Jayfeather doesn't understand, and soon they run into Brokenstar. Yellowfang is incredibly uneasy around him, due to their history, and Spottedleaf kindly orders her to go back to where she is loved, StarClan, while she and Jayfeather stay.Yellowfang is last seen walking back to StarClan with Jayfeather.

Night Whispers

 * She is first seen in the prologue of the book, sitting in a glade with her shoulders hunched. As Sagewhisker and Fernshade approach Yellowfang, the old she-cat flattens her ears. She begins to argue with Fernshade and Sagewhisker, who think Yellowfang could have prevented the battle between ThunderClan and ShadowClan in Fading Echoes. She is seen when Fernshade decides to go get Russetfur and bring her to StarClan asking Fernshade to tell Russetfur she is sorry, and with that, Fernshade leaves.


 * She is seen again when the medicine cats travel to the Moonpool, after Jayfeather travels through Kestrelflight and Willowshine's dreams. She hisses at Jayfeather, saying that all four Clans must stand alone, knocking him over when he wants to tell the other medicine cats about the Dark Forest.


 * Towards the end of the book, when Mothwing is visiting Jayfeather and talking to him, Yellowfang appears and tells him not to listen and says that Mothwing was born an idiot and would die an idiot.

Sign of the Moon

 * She summons Jayfeather to tell him not to go to the mountains. He finds Ashfur is in Starclan so he questions her. Even though Yellowfang tells him not to go and she disagrees with him he goes. She also shows him StarClan, in peace. She tells him that he must protect it all.

The Forgotten Warrior

 * Yellowfang meets Jayfeather on the crest of a hill with cold winds blowing. She tells him that she needed a place where she would not be overheard when he complains about the meeting place. Introductions aside, Yellowfang tells Jayfeather that he must recruit another fully trained medicine cat in ThunderClan. When Jayfeather points out Leafpool and her training, Yellowfang retorts that when comparing Leafpool's crimes to the code of medicine cats, it was like she was never a medicine cat. Yellowfang, then, tells Jayfeather that perhaps it is time that Cinderheart realizes her past life as Cinderpelt.


 * Yellowfang visits Jayfeather in a dream one more time, this time, she asks him angrily about why he told Cinderheart about her past. Jayfeather tells her that she told him to tell Cinderheart, but Yellowfang admits that she was distracted when she told him to tell Cinderheart.

The Last Hope

 * Yellowfang makes her first appearance in this book to tell Jayfeather that he is not important. Jayfeather is angry and starts a fight.


 * Jayfeather asks if she can relay a message to Flametail, noting that Yellowfang was once ShadowClan. Yellowfang refuses, stating angrily that she is a ThunderClan cat.


 * When Jayfeather and the other medicine cats come to reunite the factions of StarClan, Yellowfang is present in the group, though speaks out against the Clans working together. She quiets her protests when Whitestorm snaps at her, however, and remains in the group.


 * After she sees her son kill Ferncloud, she runs to him and bites down hard on his neck, snapping bone and killing him once more. He then fades away.


 * When Jayfeather and the other medicine cats come to reunite StarClan, Yellowfang is seen resisting and is quickly quieted by Sunstar. She is told she can leave if she wants to, but stays anyway.


 * Yellowfang is seen later trying to comfort Firestar about Spottedleaf's fading. She is mentioned when Jayfeather recaps Firestar's nine lives.

Secrets of the Clans

 * In Yellowfang Speaks: A Thankless Kit, Yellowfang speaks of her forbidden relationship with Raggedstar. She gives birth to his kits, two she-cats and one tom. One she-cat was born dead, and the other dies shortly after birth. Raggedstar never cared for her after he saw the kit. She names her surviving kit Brokenkit. Yellowfang states every cat would think Brokenkit got his name from the bend in his tail, like a broken branch, but Yellowfang says she named him that because her heart broke when she had to give him up. She buries her two daughters and gives the tom to Lizardstripe. Yellowfang is worried about this because of Lizardstripe's ambitious nature. This is probably one of then reasons for why Brokenkit turns out evil as he grows older. She then ends the story how she wishes Brokenkit was never born, and how she thought of Firestar as a son to her.

Cats of the Clans

 * Rock, the narrator throughout this field guide, scolds Mosskit's complaining, saying that if Yellowfang is grumpy then it's her own fault for disturbing her. Yellowfang's troubled life took her from being a ShadowClan medicine cat to ThunderClan's medicine cat. She died in a fire, helping her Clanmates escape. Rock admits that Yellowfang was stubborn, cranky, and impatient - and the most loyal cat you could meet. She bore a great secret during her life - she had, against the warrior code, taken Raggedstar as her mate and had kits.


 * When her son, Brokenstar, became leader of ShadowClan and made kits far too young to be apprentices fight for him, she was exiled for supposedly killing two kits - which Brokenstar actually had. She ended up fleeing to ThunderClan. There she ended up being their own medicine cat, and mentor to Cinderpelt.


 * Rock says that Yellowfang blamed herself for Brokenstar's brutality, and that is the reason she asked Bluestar to keep him in the ThunderClan camp as a prisoner. He also says that he can't imagine how much agony Yellowfang must have felt when she found out her own son had plotted against the Clan that had agreed to let him live; enough agony to kill her ungrateful son. Yellowfang kills Brokenstar to save her Clan and also to prove she was loyal to ThunderClan.

Trivia

 * Yellowfang has been described with amber eyes.
 * She has been described with yellow eyes.
 * She has been described as pale gray several times.
 * It has been said that she has Persian ancestry, hinted by her flattened face.
 * She has mistakenly been called a tom.

Members
Mother:
 * Brightflower:

Father:
 * Brackenfoot:

Sisters:
 * Rowanberry:
 * Marigoldkit:

Brothers:
 * Nutwhisker:
 * Mintkit:

Grandmother:
 * Silverflame:

Mate:
 * Raggedstar (formerly):

Son:
 * Brokenstar:

Daughters:
 * Two Unnamed She-kits: Deceased, Suspected StarClan members

Nephews:
 * Stumpytail:
 * Cinderfur: