ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Venom

Chapter 4

Bright sunlight beamed onto Mintpool's face, waking the tabby up. She yawned, displeased, and raised a paw to try and cover the bright annoying flash. For a moment, she laid still, thinking that she was still in AirClan's medicine den. It's so cold in here. I think I can feel a breeze towards the back. I'll need to get some warrior to patch that up. Letting out another yawn, she lifted her head, coming face-to-face with a pair of green eyes. Echoleaf? 

Suddenly, reality surged through her. Of course that's not Echoleaf, mouse-brain! she thought, angry and embarrassed at her thoughts. Echoleaf betrayed you! You're part of the rogues, now. Another splash of reality wafted in her. Wait, then who is this...? Startled, Mintpool leaped onto her paws, her tabby pelt bristled and spiked. 

In front of her stood a pretty she-cat. The cat was small, with a golden-brown tabby pelt. Her green gaze stared into Mintpool as she twitched her pelt apologetically, some excitement in that. "Hi!"

The gray tabby blinked, weary of the cat. Although she did want to earn the rogues' respect and become one of them, she still didn't completely trust them, especially this cat, who'd been watching her while she slept. It was weird, as though she were studying her enemy. "Hello."

The golden she-cat whisked her tail. "Sorry about the staring," she meowed, her voice apologetic. "I was just so excited to get a new cat in the Paw rank, and you seemed really nice! I really wanted to make some friends, but all the other cats are always so grumpy and don't want to talk. Bloodshed is their only conversation!"

Mintpool blinked. She seems nice. Why's she part of the rogues? She doesn't seem like any of the other rogues I met. "I'd love to be friends," she purred. "I'm Mintpool."

The golden cat blinked cheerfully. "That's such a pretty name! I'm Holly."

The gray tabby whisked her tail, happy to have made a new friend. Leafwhisker might have betrayed me, she thought, but I have Holly now. One bad friend is replaced with a good one. Truth be told, she had no idea how Holly was going to act, but she was overenthusiastic, just happy that at least one rogue had accepted her.

Holly twined her tail with Mintpool's. "Come on! Let's go see what we're supposed to do today."

Oh, like patrols, the gray tabby thought, scanning the den. All the nests were empty; they were the only two inside. Nodding, Mintpool let Holly lead her into the clearing, feeling the hostile gazes of the other cats sticking to her pelt, making her paws tingle with unease. 

Holly, on the other paw, either didn't notice or didn't care. "If I'm free this morning, I can help you collect things to make a nest!" she was mewing cheerfully. "It's really cold during leaf-bare to just sleep on the ground."

The gray tabby ducked her head, muttering a thank you. As they approached the clearing, she tried catching sight of Cobrastrike, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

Mamba was at the top of the boulder Cobrastrike was standing on last night, waving her tail. "Silence!" she growled, and instantly, all the cats stopped talking. The entrance of the camp rustled as Fury and Falcon appeared, back from the night's patrol, yawning. Mamba ignored them. "Jaws, you're in charge of a spy patrol of FireClan. Choose your cats from any rank. Talon, lead a raiding patrol to EarthClan. Take cats from Tail." As she continued to distribute orders, both Holly's name and Mintpool's name weren't called. Finally, Mamba finished, leaping off the boulder as cats spread out, collecting their patrols.

"Yay!" Holly chirped. "Come on, we have all morning free! Let's go find you some moss! Then, I can show you the Healer's den. You won't spend that much time in there, though. Cats only go in there when they're hurt. The other Healer, Claw, doesn't even spend that much time in there! Personally, I don't even think he wanted to be Healer." 

As she continued to chitter on, leading Mintpool towards the forest, the gray tabby felt a pair of eyes sticking to her pelt. Glancing back, her green gaze met Mamba's. The black she-cat's gaze was hard, full of hatred, a piercing glare. The gray tabby flinched under the heat of the glare, before realizing that it wasn't directed towards her. It was towards Holly.

She paused, confused, turning towards her new friend. Holly had fallen silent as well, her golden pelt smooth as she lifted her muzzle, meeting Mamba's glare. The two cats stared at each other for a moment, Mamba's pelt bristled but Holly's flat, before the black she-cat's lips pulled back into a snarl, pulling her gaze from Holly's and stalking away.

Mintpool blinked at Holly, shocked. "What was that?"

Her friend shrugged. "Mamba's a bully," she replied, twining her tail with Mintpool's once more. "She often likes to do that, just to see other cats cower before her. I've learned that if you hold her gaze and show no sign of fear or anger, she'll get really mad and leave. To be honest, I find that kind of funny, to see her get all upset." A purr rose in the golden she-cat's throat. "The powerful cats only have power if you let them."

Her words felt familiar to the gray tabby. Suddenly, her mind wretched to when she was an apprentice, of Windstrike telling her Fireclaw's story. She remembered how the gray elder had lectured her about never letting any cat have that much power over her. I gave Leafwhisker that power when I made that promise, Mintpool realized, giving her pelt an angry shake. And he took advantage of it. 

"Mintpool?" Holly's voice was concerned as she blinked at her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Mintpool replied, twitching her tail-tip. "Let's go."

Holly nodded cheerfully, beginning to lead Mintpool towards the forest once more, beginning her happy chatter again. "I can give you a tour of the camp!" she was meowing. "And, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I sure know I was confused when I first arrived. The ranks and everything were so puzzling! And then there was all the cats..." 

The gray tabby's mind began to drift off, her gaze darting towards Mamba. The black she-cat was crouched besides a bush, her black pelt contrasting greatly against the white snow, a mouse at her paws. She caught Mintpool's gaze, and her green eyes flickered. Then, what happened next happed so quickly that the gray tabby wasn't even sure her brain registered it.

Mamba leaped towards Mintpool, her lips pulled back into a snarl, claws extended. She was right in front of the gray tabby, a paw raised, ready to strike. Mintpool flinched, throwing herself backwards right into Holly. At the last moment, Mamba's eyes flashed, so quickly that Mintpool couldn't even read the emotion. She pulled back, sliding in her claws and setting her paw down.

"Keep a lookout for Clan cats while you're out in the forest," she growled, as though the entire thing hadn't even happened. "Don't hesitate to kill." With that, she whipped around and padded back to her mouse.

Mintpool turned towards Holly, her jaws parted in shock. "What was that?"

Holly's glare pierced after Mamba. "She's nothing but a bully," she replied. "Ignore her." Tugging on Mintpool by their tails, she led the gray tabby towards the forest again.

Mintpool padded after her numbly, her mind still whirling with shock, questions whirling in her mind. Why did Mamba done that? Why did she pull away? She let out a sigh, quickening her paw steps as Holly did. She had a feeling that, just like the warnings StarClan had given her, these questions would all be answered the hard way.

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Word Count // 1309

Not Edited

Hi! Here's Chapter 4! I'm so excited to bring Holly into the story! Any thoughts on her? And, why do you think Mamba tried attacking Mintpool at the end? Any guesses or theories? It's kind of turning into a mystery, isn't it? I told you it wouldn't just be straightforward revenge! On another note, thank you so much to my friend (cookiesandcream4evea) for helping me plan this book out! I bounced a lot of my ideas off of her, and it really helped me straighten out the plot for this book! Make sure to give her book, Snowstorm's Destiny, a read! Okay, the cat at the top is Holly. That's all, bye!