ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Promise

Chapter 30

Mintpool felt her paws thump against the forest ground as she bounded through the forest. As she bounded through AirClan's forest, she noticed that the lush green leaves were beginning to turn red and orange, making her heart twist. Leaf-bare would be here soon. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she continued the down the path towards EarthClan's borders.

Sure enough, Leafwhisker was waiting there for her. They'd planned this meeting at the Gathering. The brown tom's eyes lit up when he spotted her trot forward. "Hey, Mintpaw!"

Mintpool purred, twitching her whiskers. "It's Mintpool now," she corrected. "No more ordering me around as a warrior. I got my full name too." 

"Congratulations." Leafwhisker sighed, pretending to be upset. "First Cloverleaf, now you."

Mintpool twitched her whiskers with amusement, before giving him an affectionate flick on the ears. Leafwhisker straightened, shaking off the teasing. "So, you ready to go?"

Mintpool blinked. She'd come to tell him that she couldn't go... she'd promised to visit Cobrastrike. She wanted to make sure he was doing alright. "I- sorry, Leafwhisker, but I don't think that I can go today."

Leafwhisker's pelt twitched. "Why not?" 

"I'm sorry, but I want to check up on Cobrastrike," Mintpool mewed, shuffling her paws awkwardly. "Today's the only day I can. I've got loads of herb collecting and cats to take care of in the other days."

Her friend's green gaze grew hard. "But you promised me first, Mintpool!" 

The tabby sighed. She had, but she just felt that Cobrastrike's situation was more important than sneaking off to play. But, Leafwhisker was right: she had agreed to him first. "Okay, then."

Instantly, the EarthClan tom brightened. "Great! Let's go!" He leaped to his paws. "Let's go visit Luna!" Spinning around, he zoomed up the hill.

Mintpool turned towards him, rather wearily, before hurrying after her friend. She used to be so excited whenever they went on adventures together. Now, she felt as though she'd rather do something else. It wasn't fair to Leafwhisker, she knows, but she didn't understand why he couldn't visit Luna without her. Checking on Cobrastrike just seemed so much more important.

Another sigh emitted from the tabby. It was going to be a long morning.

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Mintpool slipped through the trees as the sun began to fall. She'd finished all of her tasks, stealing just enough time to pay Cobrastrike a quick visit. Her paws were still sore from her morning. Leafwhisker had brought her to Luna, but, in her opinion, it had been really boring. The two had just talked about the best way to catch mice. 

As Mintpool skittered towards the edges of FireClan's territory, as she always did, a heavy rogue scent flooded towards her, making her pelt prick with fear. The rogue scent seemed even stronger than normally. Picking up her pace to a run, she bounded towards Cobrastrike's den, her heart pounding, praying to StarClan that he was alright. 

As she burst into the clearing, she spotted him instantly, right where he usually was. He was sitting in front of Viperfang's grave. As Mintpool glanced around, she noticed that he'd cleaned up the clearing nicely, making it look like a camp. A pile of prey was stocked onto one side. The tall grass seemed to be woven in some way to create walls, with an entrance. His den, even, was more sturdy-looking. She noticed that several other dens had been added, too. Her pelt twitched, puzzled. 

Thankfully, though, there was no rogue in sight. Mintpool trotted towards him, keeping her paw steps soft. "Cobrastrike?"

Her friend turned around. As soon as his gaze landed on her, his eyes brightened, and he leaped to his paws. "Mintpaw! Hi!"

Mintpool's whiskers twitched with amusement. "I'm Mintpool now!" she mewed brightly.

Cobrastrike's eyes widened, joy and pride sparkling in them. "That's great! Congratulations!" He leaned down, giving her ears an affectionate lick. "Mintpool is a beautiful name."

The tabby purred. "Thank you!" As her purrs grew louder, Cobrastrike joining in, from the corner of her eye, she saw the bushes rustling. Her purrs stopped, her pelt bristled.

Cobrastrike blinked. "Mintpool, what's wrong?"

Mintpool didn't have time to answer before a familiar black head shoved themselves into the clearing. Fear froze every bone in her body. It was the cat that she'd seen the night of that Gathering! The cat who seemed pleased at her fear! The cat who'd attacked Spottedstar. "Cobrastrike-" Her voice faltered. 

The black she-cat's green eyes sparkled with cruelty. She looked amused at Mintpool's fear. She slid out her claws, long and sharp. She was right in the clearing! Mintpool couldn't believe that Cobrastrike still didn't notice her!

"What is it?" Cobrastrike tilted his head, confused, as the rogue crouched down. Before the gray tabby could get another word out, the rogue sprang towards the tom. 

Mintpool couldn't even keep her eyes on the rogue - she was too fast. Within a split second, just a flash of black fur, she'd leaped towards Cobrastrike. The gray tabby didn't even have time to yowl out a warning. Fear pounded inside her. She felt as though ice had washed through her. She tried to get herself to move, to say or yowl anything, but she just couldn't do it. 

Paws thumped on the ground. Mintpool blinked, shocked. The rogue hadn't attacked Cobrastrike after all. She had landed besides him, not on top of him. The gray tabby's paws were still quivering as she saw Cobrastrike glance at the black rogue, and nod a greeting. Surprise flared inside her.

"Cobrastrike...?" Mintpool didn't trust her voice. "Do you two know each other?"

It was the black rogue who answered. Cobrastrike shuffled his paws uncomfortably. "Yes," the rogue meowed, her voice as smooth as honey. "It's hard to live around here without bumping into one another."

At this moment, Mintpool couldn't sort out how she was feeling. Fear struck every bone in her body. Bewilderment surged through her. This rogue, who'd attacked her camp, was friends with Cobrastrike?

"Uh... yeah..." Cobrastrike twitched his tail-tip. "I was invited to join the group of rogues."

"And you did?" Mintpool's mew was high. She didn't know what or how to feel right now. 

Cobrastrike bowed his head. "Yes. Life would be better for me that way. I wouldn't have to worry about the rogues as a threat."

"And," the black she-cat added, purring and rising to her paws, "Cobrastrike is a wonderful addition to our group. He rose in our ranks quickly, gaining respect from every cat. He is a fabulous fighter and hunter, you know. It's a shame that FireClan exiled him."

Mintpool glanced at her friend. She'd been careful not to bring up the topic of exile around him. However, he seemed perfectly fine with it. If anything, instead of the despair she'd expected, she saw anger glittering in his eyes. Not towards the rogue, but towards his Clan. A revengeful anger. 

"Anyway," the rogue meowed, "we're lucky that Cobrastrike joined us. Of course, he did make the right decision. Now, Cobrastrike-" the black she-cat flicked his ear-tip "-aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, of course." Cobrastrike cleared his throat, blinking at Mintpool as though begging her not to be mad at him. "Mintpool, meet Mamba." 

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Word Count // 1211

Not Edited

Hi! Sorry for not posting in a couple days, but here's Chapter 30! Finally, you get to know who Mamba is! Did anyone already predict this? If so, let me know! And, please tell me how you think Mintpool's going to react. It's just another picture of Mamba at the top. By the way, it is summer break for me now, and I'm going on a vacation in a couple of days. I might not be very active then, so I wanted to get a chapter out before leaving. Okay, that's all. Bye!