snakepaw

~~~

SNAKEPAW'S PELT TWITCHED WITH suspicion as his gaze traveled across the clearing, landing on his sister and a silver bengal apprentice from RiverClan. Though he hadn't seen this cat in moons, he recognized her easily.

Dapplepaw.

"What's Mintpaw doing, talking with Dapplepaw?" he mumbled to Viperpaw.

Viperpaw craned his neck to get a look. "I don't know, that's interesting. Who would've thought the two of them would ever talk."

"Doesn't she know Dapplepaw's the enemy?" Snakepaw spat.

"Oh, come on," Viperpaw mewed, an amused look in his eyes. "She's not the enemy, she's an apprentice. You're just mad because she beat you that one time."

"Snakepaw's just mad because of what?" Birdpaw's voice traveled towards the two brothers, turning their attention away from Mintpaw and back onto the group.

The ShadowClan and ThunderClan apprentices had gathered together in a circle, talking about pretty much anything, though mainly wondering about the Great Secret. The brothers' heads had been bent together at first, whispering about their sister, but Birdpaw's words seemed to bring the focus onto them.

"Because Dapplepaw defeated him in a fight," Viperpaw supplied.

Snakepaw's pelt burned when he saw Frozenpaw's whiskers twitch with laughter. "Hey! To be fair, it was my first day as an apprentice, I didn't know anything. I could easily win against her now."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Crowpaw rumbled deeply. "Dapplepaw's the best apprentice RiverClan's got. I've only talked to her a few times, but she's clearly very lethal."

"Yeah? Well, so am I," Snakepaw meowed, puffing his chest out.

"And very humble at that," Sweetpaw teased, making the group erupt in purrs.

"Yeah, yeah," Snakepaw muttered, flicking his tail good-humoredly. It felt weird, he thought, to be making jokes with all that was going on. But on the other paw, maybe he should just enjoy this moment. Who knows when it'd come again?

Suddenly, a tortoiseshell pelt flashed in Snakepaw's vision and threw itself into Birdpaw. The brown-furred ThunderClan apprentice seemed startled at first, but soon recognized the cat as her friend, relaxing and allowing the tortoiseshell to snuggle against her for comfort.

"Hi, Cloverpaw," Birdpaw mewed softly, giving her friend's ear a lick. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired," Cloverpaw responded with a yawn. "There's so much happening, I wish everything could slow down for a while." As she scanned over the group, her eyes widened when they landed on Snakepaw and Viperpaw. "Hey! You're Mintpaw's brothers, aren't you? You three look almost identical!"

Snakepaw ruffled his fur. He didn't really like being known as "Mintpaw's brother", and so he nodded begrudgingly. "Yeah."

"Do you know how I could become friends with her?" Cloverpaw asked earnestly. "I've been trying to so hard, but she doesn't seem to open up to anyone."

Snakepaw glanced over his shoulder, where Mintpaw was purring loudly at something Dapplepaw said. "Maybe you should ask Dapplepaw instead."

"She's very cold," Cloverpaw continued, not seeming to hear Snakepaw's comment.

This time, the gray tom made sure to speak louder. "It's part of her charming personality."

Viperpaw, who, however, had heard Snakepaw's Dapplepaw comment, hurried after his brother when Ivorystar called ShadowClan's patrol to leave. "Why are you so upset over who Mintpaw becomes friends with?"

Snakepaw fluffed his pelt indignantly. "Because, Dapplepaw's the enemy! I don't know how Mintpaw doesn't see that!"

"Dapplepaw's an apprentice, not the enemy. Now, if it were, say, Leafpaw or Ravenpaw that Mintpaw's talking to, would you really be so upset?" Viperpaw challenged.

Snakepaw thought about this. No, he supposed, he wouldn't have cared for a second minute about Mintpaw's choice of friends. Maybe he was just mad over Dapplepaw beating him. But he wasn't about to admit that to Viperpaw. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"Good luck," Viperpaw called after him as Snakepaw slipped through the crowd, finally reaching Mintpaw, who was up at the front with Clearfrost.

"Mintpaw," Snakepaw panted. "Can I talk to you?"

He didn't miss the way Clearfrost didn't even bother to acknowledge him. After all his successes in his training, he'd thought and hoped that maybe the ragdoll would congratulate him, but no, she pretended he didn't even exist. Whereas Mintpaw got all of her attention, just like when they were kits.

Snakepaw couldn't help but feel rising bitterness toward both medicine cats.

Mintpaw's eyes narrowed. "Me?" she asked.

"Clearfrost," Ivorystar called over her shoulder. "Come here for a moment, please." 

As the ragdoll sped away, Snakepaw lowered his voice. "Yeah. I want to talk to you about Dapplepaw."

"What about her?" Mintpaw questioned darkly.

"I don't think you two should be friends."

Snakepaw didn't know what response he should be expecting, but it seemed over the moons, he'd forgotten how snarky Mintpaw could be. His sister hit him with all of that, and he'd have to say he didn't miss her sarcasm whatsoever.

"Oh, really?" Mintpaw faked mock concern. "That's great, thanks for sharing, but I wasn't really asking for your opinion."

Snakepaw lashed his tail in frustration. "Mintpaw, I'm serious!"

"And I'm serious, too, keep your nose out of my business," the gray tabby snapped.

"As your brother, I'm just trying to-"

Mintpaw cut him off when her head whipped around to face him, green eyes blazing. "As my brother?" she challenged. "I think you lost your right to do anything 'as my brother' when you decided not to speak to me for moons!"

"There's so many other cats you could be friends with!" Snakepaw burst. "What about Cloverpaw? She's dying to be your friend, and most importantly, she's one of our allies!"

"I don't want to be friends with Cloverpaw," Mintpaw snapped.

"Okay, but I need you to realize that one day, you're going to become a medicine cat," Snakepaw growled. "You're going to have great responsibilities, a very high role in the Clan, and, for StarClan's sake, you'll probably know what the Great Secret is!"

Mintpaw's eyes flashed, but Snakepaw ignored it.

"You'll have so much knowledge, and based off what Crowpaw said about Dapplepaw, she could easily work her way up in her Clan as well. If you accidentally blabber too much, you could destroy ShadowClan!"

"I won't destroy ShadowClan," Mintpaw meowed coldly. "Have a little more faith in my loyalty, will you?" And with that she trotted away briskly, disappearing into the crowd.

Snakepaw stared after her, feeling his ears twitch with frustration. He couldn't help but notice, during that conversation, how much his sister sounded like Clearfrost. The cold tone, sarcasm, few words... Mintpaw was becoming a replica of the ragdoll.

~~~

"GOOD," came Brooklight's voice. "Now roll... There you go!"

Snakepaw followed Foxstorm, ducking under a low pine branch, and came into Muddy Dip, Viperpaw and Sandstrike on their tail. It was the next day, and so far, no sign of the brutal war RiverClan promised.

In the Muddy Dip, Snakepaw spotted Frozenpaw and Sweetpaw with their mentors, Brooklight and Dawnfoot, practicing some combat.

"Hey Foxstorm, Sandstrike," Dawnfoot greeted, ruffling her white fur. "We're almost done here, and then you guys can have Muddy Dip."

"Actually, we're here to see if your apprentices would be interested in training together," Foxstorm meowed.

Brooklight glanced over at Frozenpaw. "I don't know if that would be fair," she replied playfully, "your apprentices have got a moon of training over ours."

"Oh, come on, with your brilliant guidance, I'm sure they're all caught up by now," Foxstorm answered breezily. Catching the glint in Dawnfoot's eyes, he added quickly, "And your training too, Dawnfoot."

The white she-cat and Sandstrike exchanged a knowing smile, before Dawnfoot flicked her tail. "Alright, then. Let's have Frozenpaw against Viperpaw, and Sweetpaw with Snakepaw."

"Sheathed claws, be careful not to hurt each other too badly." Sandstrike went over the rules as the apprentices shuffled into place. Viperpaw and Frozenpaw went first, standing opposite of each other in the dip. "You can use any move you know."

Brooklight twitched her pelt, indicating the start. "Go!"

Frozenpaw shot forward, her snow white fur gleaming in the greenleaf sun. Her amber eyes were alight as she jumped on Viperpaw, doing her best to bring the older apprentice down. However, Viperpaw, being heavier, retaliated to her efforts easily and twisted, throwing her off.

Frozenpaw climbed up easily and leaped back into the fight. 

Snakepaw was very pleased at how well Frozenpaw was doing, even feeling tingles of pride, as though she were his. But Viperpaw could win, he was most certain. After all, his brother had a moon more training than Frozenpaw.

He was very certain of that fact. That was, until Frozenpaw's front legs slipped out, tripping Viperpaw, and his brother went tumbling. The white apprentice then quickly jumped onto Viperpaw, pinning him down, lashing her tail triumphantly.

"Good fight," Brooklight meowed, nodding her head approvingly. "Very nicely done, Frozenpaw."

As Sweetpaw rushed to congratulate her sister, Snakepaw could feel nothing but shame. How did Viperpaw lose?

Following that were quick pulses of embarrassment, his pelt heating up, wondering just what Frozenpaw thought of this. In a way, Viperpaw represented him, and he'd just lost against someone much younger and less experienced.

Normally, when Viperpaw lost in a fight (which was very often), Snakepaw would rush to help his brother up to his paws. Today, however, he remained rooted in his spot, unmoving.

Viperpaw clearly noticed this, for when he climbed to his paws, his yellow eyes flashed with hurt before making his way over to Sandstrike.