ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Venom

Chapter 38

Mintpool's ears flicked in alarm, but before she even had the chance to move, she was knocked to the ground. Sharp claws dug into the gray tabby's pelt, forcing a yowl of pain out of her. Mintpool's eyes flamed as she glared up at Holly. She was not going to die this way. Not before she'd gotten her revenge.

The gray tabby attempted many things to get the golden she-cat to loosen her grip: falling still, wiggling around, kicking and scratching wildly - but nothing worked.

Holly's hold only tightened.

"You really think that you can beat me?" the golden she-cat demanded. "You probably couldn't defeat Mamba if you tried! And guess who was the cat that made her cower like a mouse?" Holly flashed Mintpool a cruel grin. "Keep trying though."

Hissing, the gray tabby bunched up her hind legs, then gave a hefty kick, right in the golden tabby's stomach. Finally managing to push Holly off, Mintpool scrambled up, panting, feeling pain seep through her as blood dripped down her pelt.

What could she do? Surely she wouldn't be able to defeat Holly, as the golden tabby claimed. Should she run back to camp? But the gray tabby knew easily that Holly could turn everything on her. She'd be the one kicked out rather than the golden-furred cat. But perhaps it would still be a better option than fighting.

Before Mintpool could sum up a decision, though, Holly charged again, this time forming the infamous move of the rogues. Head down, straight attack. As Mintpool's body moved instinctively to lift herself up into a rear, she remembered Holly's teachings. Whipping around, she began scrambling up a tree, before she felt the golden tabby's teeth dig into her tail. Moments later, Mintpool had been yanked to the ground, the breath knocked out of her as she hit the frozen floor.

"You think you can use my move on me?" Holly scoffed. "Don't even bother." Her smirk was confident, mocking Mintpool, certain that she'd be the one returning victorious. 

Snarling, the gray tabby jumped to her paws. She reared upwards, forming the move that she'd first ever learned - the one where she'd practiced for hours just so she'd be able to learn it before Robinflight. Those were the easy days.

Growling, Mintpool lashed out a paw. Everything seemed to fall perfectly: Holly turned her head just in time to greet the gray tabby's attack, the blow landing squarely on her muzzle and knocking her off her paws and to the ground, just narrowly missing her eyes.

Panting, Mintpool fell back on her four paws, waiting for Holly to get up. But nothing happened.

What?

Mintpool leaned forward, shaking. Everything the gray tabby did was wary, in case the golden she-cat suddenly jumped up and sent another attack. But nothing happened.

She's not dead. Is she? There's no way that that one attack could've killed her.

Then Mintpool's eyes travelled to Holly's belly. Yikes. What she'd thought was a little kick to get the golden tabby off turned out to be one that'd dug into Holly's stomach, leaving a huge rip which was oozing blood. That blow might've been the last thing needed to push her over.

After coming to that conclusion, Mintpool didn't think twice before turning around and bounding back to camp, trembling. She wanted to get away from that place as quickly as possible.

~~~

"Alright, every cat!" Cobrastrike's voice rang out into the crowd. "Today is our day! The day we finally get our vengeance on those Clan cats who've wronged us!"

As cheers erupted through the crowd, the tom gave a nod to Mamba, who began to call and organize fighting patrols. Whilst that was happening, Cobrastrike picked his way towards Mintpool. The gray tabby ignored him, staring ahead blankly, until he had no choice but to lean down and whisper, "Where's Holly? I know you know."

Mintpool turned back and looked at him lazily, giving him the same answer she'd delivered the night before when she'd first returned to camp and was bombarded with the question. "Gone."

That was going to be Mintpool, too, once the war was over. Once the battles were completed and she'd gotten her revenge, she'd leave. She was done with all this. Her skills were sharp, and she was certain that she'd find herself a nice life as a loner, hunting and exploring, until old age would take her away.

"Gone?" Cobrastrike frowned. "You're still going with that answer?"

"It's the truth. Now, if you don't mind, I have things I need to do." Standing up, Mintpool padded away. Mamba had finished with patrols and was now jumping down from the boulder. Taking a deep breath, Mintpool padded up to her.

"What do you want?" the black she-cat demanded instantly, her lips curling into a snarl.

"She's gone."

"Who? Who's gone?" Even as Mamba said these words, Mintpool caught flickers of hope in her green eyes. She knew exactly who the gray tabby was referring to.

"Why didn't you warn me sooner about Holly?"

Mamba fixed her with a confused look, a genuine expression of complete puzzlement, before she spoke. "Now why would I tell you? We aren't friends."

Mintpool knew that. She'd always known that. But for some reason she felt as if Mamba had just struck her with a paw. Sure, they weren't friends, but they were campmates. Clanmates, even. If they'd shared a common goal, perhaps Holly's reign of terror would have ended sooner. 

Back when Mintpool was still impressionable, if Mamba had just said something... Things would turn out to be a lot different, the gray tabby was sure.

Mintpool took a step forward, until the two were muzzle-to-muzzle. "Holly was right," she snarled lowly. "You are a coward." With that, she whipped around, stalking away.

"Cats, please go to your designated patrols," Cobrastrike yowled. "We will come out victorious!"

Mintpool ignored his orders. She wasn't bothering with any of this. Crouching down, she hid herself behind a patch of ferns, patiently waiting for the Clans to arrive. By early morning, she heard the thundering paw steps of their enemies, and a wry smile spread on her face, knowing everything had fallen into plan.

That smile only grew as she felt cats run past her and into the camp, announcing their "attack". How stupid.

"There are no cats!" Mintpool heard Stormpaw's voice ring out into the camp. Well, perhaps he was a warrior now. She wasn't sure - she hadn't been giving much attention on this subject.

"Where are they?" Tigerstar sounded bewildered. "I told you we should've attacked sooner!"

"It's not my fault!" Moonstar snarled. "Who knows when they left? It could've been ages ago! And aren't you glad that they're gone?"

"The thing is," Cobrastrike spoke, as he slid out from his hiding spot, "we're not gone."

More and more rogues began leaping out, their faces twisted with delight, surrounding the Clan cats. As Mintpool made her appearance, the first to see her was Stormpaw, his eyes widening and jaws dropping open with horror. Thistlestar caught sight of her soon after, although all he heaved was a sigh. He looked exhausted.

"Rogues," Cobrastrike yowled, "attack!"

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Word Count // 1165

Not Edited

Hello everyone! I hope everyone's day has been going amazing so far! I'm thinking that there's only going to be one more chapter + epilogue + thank you before this book ends! Then I'll need some of your opinions regarding the novellas, and we can get started on those! Anyway, what do you think is going to happen to Mintpool? Is she going to live that loner life as she thought, or is something else going to happen? Let me know! Okay, that's all! Picture at the top is Holly (again, sorry, couldn't think of much else). Bye!!