Yellowfang And Jayfeather: What If Their Powers Were Combined? by Fernshiine

Fernshiine combines two medicine cats who had powers beyond imagination.

Art by Fernshiine

Ah, yes, two grouchy felines with two similar powers. Well, Jayfeather lost his power but Yellowfang kept hers for her entire life. While I know both affected each cat separately, I’d like to theorize what I think would happen if their powers had been combined in one singular cat.

Yellowfang’s power is to feel the physical pain of other cats. If a cat has a sprained ankle she can feel the pain as if it were her own. Jayfeather can feel the emotions of other cats. He can somewhat read into their mind and he can sense how any cat feels at any time. Well, could, seeing as he hasn’t had this power for some time now. He’s an empath. An enhances empath, as I like to call it.

Now, each of these powers on their own is obviously pretty special. They would cause a lot of strain on one cat. But both combined would, well, perhaps make a cat unable to function at times where their Clanmates were in great distress. They would be paralyzed in a way, struggling with how disorienting it would feel to have to suffer the physical AND mental pain each one of their Clanmates are feeling. Having to feel the pain of a cat who lost their Clanmate in battle while also having to feel each scratch they received in that battle would be a nightmare for anyone. Imagine feeling sharp waves of grief, regret, anger, and emotional agony as well as every individual scratch, bite, and scrape each cat in your Clan feels all at once. That would be a whole lot to deal with.

I also want to take in account the personality of whoever has this power. Cats like Jayfeather and Yellowfang were sharp and alert and they learned rather quickly how to deal with their powers. A cat like them would eventually be able to handle both powers in time. But what about a cat like Goosefeather or Dovewing? Goosefeather was never able to properly learn to cope with the ability to see dead cats all around him. He wasn’t ever able to handle it in the way Jayfeather or Yellowfang could handle their own powers. It eventually led him to madness. As for Dovewing, while she learned to use her powers and even eventually felt lost without them, she was so gentle and empathetic and could hardly stand to use her hearing when she heard the screams of a cat in pain. She would undoubtedly suffer having empath powers along with the ability to feel a cat’s physical pain.

In conclusion, I think this mix of powers would be hard on any single cat, but all cats handle it differently and in the end it boils down to their individual personality and, perhaps, the environment around them.

~Fernshiine

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