ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Venom

Chapter 30

"Where have you been?"

The first cat to greet Mintpool when she slipped inside of the camp was Robinflight. How nice. The brown she-cat narrowed her eyes at the gray tabby, tail lashing.

The two of them now stood alone in the camp clearing, as it was moonhigh. Every other cat was in their dens, asleep.

"You've been gone for two days," Robinflight asserted. "And now you just return in the dead of night?"

The gray tabby's pelt ruffled uneasily. "I was trying to scout for herbs."

"Really? For two days?" Robinflight questioned, clearly not buying Mintpool's lie. "You didn't starve? As I recall, you could barely catch a mouse during greenleaf, so how did you manage to feed yourself during leafbare?"

Remain calm.

Mintpool took a deep breath. "I ate roots and such."

"Did you now?" Robinflight's eyes narrowed. "Thistlestar sent out a search patrol for you, you know. He and Spotfrost worried their tails off. And when the search patrols returned-" The brown she-cat began circling the gray tabby "-they'd found nothing. A stale trace of you running towards out of the Clans' territory, but that was it. Nothing else. And to that, I'm curious. Shouldn't you be scouting for herbs on the Clans' land?"

Calm.

"I was scouting for herbs outside of the territory," the gray tabby meowed. "Since we've had so little luck on Clan land, I was wondering if I might find some better things out of it."

"Well, where are the herbs?" Robinflight challenged.

Mintpool narrowed her gaze at the brown she-cat, trying to keep her vision on Robinflight as the brown cat circled around her. "Clearly I was unsuccessful."

"Well why didn't you let any cat know of this, hmm?" Robinflight demanded. "It's very insensitive of you to send us all into a flurry of panic. Spotfrost thought you were captured and killed by the rogues, just like her parents. Speaking of which, it is rather odd that the rogues didn't catch you, hmm?"

Calm.

"I wasn't near the rogues land. Why would they find me?" Mintpool retorted.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Robinflight mused, flicking her tail.

Mintpool's ears pinned to the back of her head as she tried grasping any last bit of patience she had, desperately trying not to rake her claws against the brown she-cat's muzzle. "What is?"

"Why, Flowershine and Adderclaw's death spots were nowhere near the rogues territory, either. Not to mention, they were on our territory, whereas you were out of." Robinflight stopped her pacing, stepping closer. "Yet the rogues appeared and killed them. Two skilled warriors dying, but an untrained medicine cat somehow goes unnoticed? Suspicious, no?"

Calm.

"What are you saying?" Mintpool demanded, her voice turning into the beginnings of a snarl. "That I killed my Clanmate and own brother?" She tried playing the last bit off as a joke, something ridiculous. It was a trick that she found normally worked; however, it didn't work on Robinflight.

"Indeed I am," the brown she-cat meowed, taking another step forward. "It's just too much of a coincidence, no? Echoleaf died of rogues. You were there. Flowershine and Adderclaw were killed by rogues. You were there."

Mintpool's fur began to rise, ears pinned painfully to the back of her head. She tried to growl out a response, but Robinflight plunged on.

Calm.