ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Venom

Chapter 24

"Mintpool." Spotpaw's voice filled the gray tabby's ears, worry laced within her tone. "Wake up." Another prod landed on Mintpool's side.

"Hmm?" The gray she-cat's eyes snapped open, her jaws parting in a yawn, remembering her dream; she'd made a deal with Fireclaw. The Fireclaw. "What's wrong?"

"We can't connect with StarClan." It was Cloverleaf who answered; the brown-and-white tabby appeared at Mintpool's side, nudging her to her paws. "We could for a little while... but then..." She frowned. "Everything clouded over and we woke up."

Spotpaw's green eyes were rounded with sorrow. "First no Flowershine and Adderclaw, then no StarClan, too?"

This must be part of the deal I made with Fireclaw! Mintpool realized. He's keeping them from connecting with StarClan. Otherwise Flowershine and Adderclaw would tell them about me. "But you were able to share tongues with them for a while?"

"Yeah." Raincloud drifted into the conversation, giving his paw a lick, worry glimmering in his blue gaze. "It was Echoleaf that greeted me. She seemed to be trying to tell me something... But I was too excited to see her to listen."

"Same here, with Flowershine and Adderclaw," Spotpaw mewed. Her ears drooped. "I wonder if I'd just been more focused, I could've heard the news they were trying to deliver."

"Hey, it's not your fault," Mintpool meowed comfortingly, giving her a lick on the ear. "We'll figure this out." None of the medicine cats looked reassured at her words, Spotpaw especially. Suddenly, an idea popped into the gray tabby's mind.

"I have an announcement," Mintpool declared. "Tonight I'll be giving Spotpaw her full medicine cat name."

Every cats' ears rose in shock, surprise glittering in their gazes.

"But you're supposed to give them their full name before sharing tongues," Mistywing choked out; her emotions seemed conflicted. On one paw, she was happy that her friend would get to become a full medicine cat. But on the other, she wanted to follow tradition. Plus, she probably wasn't happy that another cat - especially one younger than her by many moons! - was getting her full medicine cat name tonight as well. It probably would steal her thunder.

And that was exactly that Mintpool was trying to do.

Not steal Mistywing's thunder, exactly, but bring every cat's attention to a different topic.

"And are you sure Spotpaw's ready?" Nightpool asked. "She's only been training for a couple of moons."

Even Spotpaw's gaze was doubtful.

"She's ready," Mintpool meowed firmly. "She's been training hard and is a very intelligent cat. Plus, with the battle with the rogues coming up... well, we'll need more medicine cats." And for spirits' sakes, I don't care how good of a medicine cat Spotpaw turns out to be. If she's a good one, that only helps AirClan.

Low murmurs of hesitation echoed throughout the hollow, but no other cat protested.

"I, Mintpool, medicine cat of AirClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help she will serve her Clan for many moons. Spotpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Spotpaw meowed, her voice brimming with pride, the doubtfulness now gone.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Spotpaw, from this moment you will be known as-" Mintpool knew that name she wanted to give the spotted she-cat in front of her; Spotcloud. It was a name she'd pondered on for a while and had finally decided on. But, staring at the black-and-white she-cat in front of her, she couldn't help but see Snowfrost.

Spotpaw- Snowfrost- no- Snowpaw- that's not right either- Spot- Snow- Spot- Spotfrost. And it was in that moment that Mintpool knew that name the apprentice would be known as for the rest of her life.

 "Spotfrost," the gray tabby finished. "StarClan honors your intelligence and kindness, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of AirClan."

"Spotfrost! Spotfrost!" 

The new medicine cat's name rang up into the air as Mintpool rested her muzzle on her niece's head, and received a shoulder lick in return. Pulling back, the gray tabby was greeted with a gaze full of joy.

"Congratulations, Spotfrost."

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Mintpool's paws slipped over the freezing morning dew as she raced towards the rogue camp. She'd left Spotfrost in charge, letting the spotted she-cat run the medicine den by herself. The gray tabby had plans for the day ahead of her. And if all went well, she'd return to AirClan's camp as a Fang.

Holly was already waiting for her at the entrance of the rogue camp. "Mintpool!"

It had been around half a moon since Spotfrost's ceremony. The gray tabby had been training tirelessly since, leaving all her medicine cat duties to Spotfrost. Her fighting skills certainly had improved quite a bit.

"Hi, Holly," the gray tabby purred, slowing down to rub her muzzle against her friend's in greeting.

"Remember what we reviewed?" Holly mewed. "Cobrastrike can pick any of the Fangs to fight you and keep their role. Remember their soft spots; Frost is overconfident, so as long as you pretend to falter for even just a moment, she'll let her guard down. Snake has the longest tail any cat's seen! Grab onto it and don't let go. Shade's quick, but her aim isn't great. As long as you can predict her next move, you should be able to dodge out of the way before she hits you. As for Flame-"

"He's got a weak spot on his left paw, from a broken bone he had when he was younger," Mintpool meowed, reciting what Holly had taught her. "Don't worry. I know all this!"

But her friend's gaze was still speckled with uncertainty. "Right. It's just... this is Fang! Basically the highest rank in the group!" Her green eyes softened as she pawed at the ground. "I'm proud that you're trying this hard, and I'm more than happy to have helped you."

"Thank you, Holly," Mintpool purred. "Now let's go!"

"Wait," the golden tabby mewed quickly. "Poison. She's the most dangerous one. But just remember her weak spot, and you should be alright. She's a great fighter and everything, but just the opposite of Frost, she's underconfident. Just act like you're sure you'll win, okay?"

Mintpool let out another purr. "Right! I've got all that. Thank you, Holly. Now come on, let's go!" Wrapping her tail around her friend's, she tugged Holly into the camp. It was the perfect time; no patrols had left yet, but every cat was awake.

"Mintpool!" Cobrastrike was the first cat to greet her. "What brings you here?"

"I'd like to challenge a cat for the role of Fang."

And before long, the battle had been set up. Everything had moved so fast. The last thing the gray tabby heard was Holly's voice whispering a quick 'good luck' before slipping away, leaving Mintpool to face her opponent.

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Word Count // 1168

Not Edited

Hi! I'm trying to work on updating more frequently, so here's a new chapter! Thoughts on it? I'm not the happiest with it, but at least I got a new chapter out, so I'm proud of that! Also, I'm not going to be writing out the battle scene for the next chapter, because that's honestly just boring, I think, for both me to write and you to read, especially if we both know the outcome. And, you probably can place a pretty good and accurate guess on who's going to win the battle, simply because I need to get this story moving and can't afford to have Mintpool lose. Spotfrost is at the top! Bye!