Yellowkit and her littermates Rowankit and Nutkit have great ambitions to be the best warriors they can be. However, when Nutkit has a belllyache from eating random herbs from the medecine cat's den, Yellowfang feels it too- even though she didn't eat any.
After her apprentice ceremony, Yellowpaw trains hard. But she soon discovers that she bears the pain of all cats on her shoulders. For that reason, Yellowfang restarts her training as a medecine cat. But her relationship with Raggedpelt, a brown tabby tomcat, breaks the rule that medecine cats must never have a mate.
It turns out that Yellowpaw, now Yellowfang is expecting kits, and she kits inside the shelter of a dead log. Her kit, Brokenkit, grows up to be an apprentice, a warrior, and eventually, deputy. When Brokenstar begins to lead the Clan, ShadowClan's lives become full of unneeded bloodshed...