mintpaw

~~~

MINTPAW FELT HER VEINS turning into ice as she padded briskly away from Viperpaw and back to her herbs.

He knew something, the gray tabby realized, otherwise he wouldn't be poking around and asking such questions.

But he doesn't know what he's talking about. Mintpaw fixed her eyes on her paws, ignoring the confused look Viperpaw was sending her. If he knew even a fraction of what I knew... She shivered. He would leave this situation alone.

It wasn't long before Clearfrost exited the den, giving Mintpaw a disappointed look. "I asked you to sort these ages ago, how come you're not finished yet?"

The gray tabby ruffled her fur, deciding it was best to leave out the fact that she'd taken a break and joined Viperpaw for a meal. "Oh, sorry, I messed up and had to re-start. I'll get it done soon, I promise."

She knew that was a promise she'd keep; though Mintpaw didn't enjoy medicine cat training, she was smart enough to grasp the different herbs and usages with ease. She just always got dreadfully bored, and added with the whole Berryfern situation... 

Well, let's just say that being a medicine cat was the last thing Mintpaw wanted right now.

Clearfrost flicked her tail. "No time now. We're out of watermint, so we need to go get some more. Come along."

"But..." Mintpaw frowned, quickly picking herself up and following Clearfrost to the exit of ShadowClan's camp. "Watermint grows on RiverClan's territory."

"Good memorization," Clearfrost meowed flatly, flicking her tail.

"And... we're in a war with RiverClan."

"Precisely," Clearfrost murmured. "I haven't re-stocked my stack in ages."

Mintpaw frowned, quickening her pace to keep up with Clearfrost's long strides. "Won't it be dangerous?"

The ragdoll shrugged. "Perhaps," was all she mewed in reply.

The gray tabby felt her heart beating faster and faster in her chest as they crossed into ThunderClan's land. And that's when she had an epiphany. 

Oh! Mintpaw thought in realization. We're not actually going on RiverClan's land, we're just going to pick the herb at ThunderClan and RiverClan's border. We probably won't even meet a RiverClan cat.

Feeling much more relaxed, she padded more eagerly after her mentor, excitement bundling through her at the thought of seeing another Clan's territory.

"I usually use WindClan's border to get watermint," Clearfrost meowed, breaking the silence, "but I thought that might be risky. WindClan and RiverClan might be allies now in the war."

Mintpaw fluffed her fur. "Right. Are we going to form an alliance with ThunderClan?"

"There's possibility," the ragdoll answered. "They did help us in the last battle, but Tigerstar doesn't want to get his Clan involved. However, if it's confirmed that WindClan's helping RiverClan, ThunderClan will feel more pressured."

Mintpaw nodded in thought. "How... How did the war begin, anyway?"

She didn't miss the way Clearfrost's eyes darkened. "Let's just say cats are often too greedy for their own good."

The gray tabby swallowed roughly. Ah, she knew what Clearfrost was hinting at.

The prophecy.

Of course. Of course it was the stupid prophecy that started this entire war. But does that mean...?

Suddenly, Mintpaw felt her blood run cold. If the war began over the prophecy... How many cats knew?

She could feel her head spinning. Berryfern seemed to want to keep it a secret, Mintpaw remembered. It must not be that well known, thank StarClan. Otherwise... She shuddered at the thought.

My Clanmates have no idea what they're fighting for, or what they're fighting over. I'm sure they'd be sickened to know, and about all the lives we've lost over this war.

As they hopped over ThunderClan's border, Clearfrost issued a warning.

"Be careful. Even though we're on fine terms with ThunderClan, we should still keep our guards up and stay near the edge of the territory. Don't wander off."

Mintpaw nodded; the excitement she had about seeing ThunderClan's land was steadily fading away anyway, her mind only thinking about the prophecy and war.

Just as they neared RiverClan's land, a voice sounded behind them.

"Clearfrost?"

Turning around, the two ShadowClan medicine cats spotted Rosepool, her blue eyes alight with surprise. Her apprentice, Cloverpaw, was nowhere in sight.

Clearfrost dipped her head. "Rosepool. I'm so sorry to intrude like this, but I was in desperate need of watermint. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, not at all," the orange she-cat meowed kindly. "Actually, it seems like you and I had the same idea. I needed to grab some more watermint too. But while I've got you here, I had a few questions I wanted to ask."

Clearfrost nodded. "Mintpaw, go grab the watermint," she instructed, before turning back to Rosepool.

Mintpaw twitched her tail-tip in acknowledgment, turning around and quickly hurrying to the border. She spotted the watermint with ease, and, not quite sure how much Clearfrost needed, grabbed mouthfuls and mouthfuls.

"Hey! Stop! Thief!" 

The gray tabby's head shot up with fear at those words. A silver bengal around her age charged at her, stopping right in front of the river that separated RiverClan and ThunderClan.

The first thing Mintpaw noticed was the bengal's eyes, a beautiful shade of blue. The second was that those 'beautiful' eyes were quite angry. 

And the third, her very, very sharp claws were slid out.

The third was enough for Mintpaw to yelp and scramble back. "I'm not a thief," she explained hurriedly, glancing anxiously back at ThunderClan's territory, praying for Clearfrost and Rosepool to be finished talking and show themselves.

"Sure you are," the bengal snarled. "You're trying to steal our prey! You're fishing!"

"I'm not," Mintpaw mewed. "I promise, I'm not. I'm ShadowClan's medicine cat apprentice, Mintpaw." The gray tabby felt as though she was rambling, saying whatever she could to get the scary RiverClan apprentice to sheathe her claws. "I'm just here to get some herbs."

The bengal narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Really?"

"Really."

Suddenly, the silver bengal jumped into the river and, in a few, quick strokes, swam across. She didn't climb out of the water, instead opting to thrust her wet muzzle forward into Mintpaw's pelt. Mintpaw yelped at the droplets, tensing up as the RiverClan cat gave her a sniff.

"Alright, you have ShadowClan's scent, I suppose your story checks out."

"Great," Mintpaw meowed weakly, pawing at her herbs. She wanted to go, but it seemed the silver bengal was still intrigued.

"I didn't know ShadowClan had a new medicine cat apprentice."

Mintpaw shrugged. "I guess our Clans aren't very caught up with each other. I don't think we're supposed to be talking right now."

"Yeah, I guess, but you don't seem as scary and evil as the elders say ShadowClan cats are. You seem nice and fluffy," the bengal meowed.

"Hey!" Mintpaw started in protest at first, feeling her fear of the RiverClan apprentice melt away, before spotting the teasing look in the bengal's eyes, and purred. "Well, you don't seem that vicious and mean either."

The silver bengal huffed. "I will be some day," she insisted. "Someday I'll be fighting in the war full time, so I'll need to be."

Mintpaw suddenly felt a pang of sadness at the RiverClan cat's words. Does she know what she's fighting over, either?

Now that the gray tabby knew the cause of the war, she couldn't look at anything the same way.

"Ouch, guess I hit a weak spot, huh?" the bengal meowed. "Sorry, shouldn't have brought up the war. Let's change the topic. My name's Dapplepaw."

Mintpaw's ears stood up. "Oh! I know you!"

Dapplepaw's pelt twitched with confusion. "You know me?"

"Yeah." Mintpaw's mind traveled back to the last time she'd even gotten in near proximity with Snakepaw, about a moon ago, right after RiverClan's attack. He'd been bragging about how he completely destroyed this RiverClan apprentice named Dapplepaw. "You're the cat my brother beat."

"He beat?" Dapplepaw snorted. "As if! I think he's twisting the story a little. He was like a kit out of the nursery, he could barely stand on his own four paws, much less beat me. I easily destroyed him, okay?"

Mintpaw purred. "That sounds more accurate."

Suddenly, the gray tabby felt as though a cold wave was washing over her, bringing her back to reality. Medicine cat or not, they were supposed to be enemies. She certainly shouldn't be laughing over the fact that a RiverClan cat crushed a ShadowClan cat in a fight.

"So, where's your mentor?" the gray tabby mewed. "Won't they be mad that you're talking to me?"

"Otterstrike's hunting," Dapplepaw explained. "I'm technically supposed to stick with him, but he spent too much time tracking down a magpie, so I got bored and went off on my own."

Mintpaw couldn't stop the laugh that was bubbling in her throat. "Won't he be angry?"

"Yeah, I guess," Dapplepaw answered with a grin, "but I think he's used to it by now."

Mintpaw felt a small flutter of admiration for the silver bengal. She would never even imagine disobeying Clearfrost.

"Dapplepaw!" a loud yowl cut through the air, making the RiverClan apprentice's ears fold onto her head.

"There he is," she muttered. "I should go."

"Okay," Mintpaw meowed, though she couldn't help but feel disappointed. "Bye, Dapplepaw! It was great meeting you."

"You too, Mintpaw," Dapplepaw replied earnestly, turning around swimming back to RiverClan's land, disappearing into the reeds of her territory.

The gray tabby picked up her herbs and padded back to Clearfrost, who was still engaged in a conversation with Rosepool, feeling more cheerful than she had in moons.