Minnowtail's Choice

Chapter 4

The day after Rosethorn and Nightshade's warrior ceremonies...

The SunClan camp was in the doldrums this morning. It was good to have two new warriors, but still tragic that, in the process of making them, another had been lost. Every cat, even Rainfoot's little kits, was mourning the death of Pineclaw.

Except Minnowtail. But she wasn't glad Pineclaw was dead, either. All she could bring herself to feel right now was worry and an intense curiosity.

She was desperate to know what exactly had gone down between Thrushtail, Pineclaw, and the two rogues, one of which was dead now. But Thrushtail couldn't bring himself to talk about the incident, no matter who questioned him. Minnowtail could understand that, but it didn't stop her from feeling so frustrated. She had so many questions. Who started the fight? Did the other cat survive after they fled the scene? And—perhaps the worst question of all—had Dominic been there? Was he the rogue that was killed? The thought of that made Minnowtail sick to her stomach.

She could have asked the newly named Rosethorn or Nightshade about what they saw to find out. But asking them to give an exact description of the rogues would be too suspicious. Plus, the two warriors were almost as mute as Thrushtail. Rosethorn especially, since Pineclaw had been her mentor, and they'd obviously cared about each other very much. The only way for Minnowtail to imagine how much the tortoiseshell she-cat was suffering was to imagine watching Dom bleed out right before her eyes.

And Nightshade, well...Minnowtail simply didn't want to speak to him. She was still hurting after what he'd done several days ago, right before SunClan's Gathering patrol—which she and Nightshade had been on—departed.

* * *

While the rest of the Gathering patrol chattered eagerly, Minnowtail sat quietly off to the side. She didn't feel like talking to anyone or throwing up her confident, energetic persona right now. All she could think of were two juxtaposing questions: Why haven't I left yet? and How could I leave?

It was more than enough to sap her energy. She wasn't even sure why she hadn't backed out of going to the Gathering tonight. Perhaps she was subconsciously trying to prove herself wrong, prove that SunClan did care about her and that she was as much a warrior as her Clanmates.

Minnowtail sighed. Being at war with myself is exhausting.

It was then that Nightpaw strode up to her with seemingly no regard for her gloomy demeanor. He sat right beside her, eyes like two frozen lakes trained on her cheerfully.

"Hello!" he mewed. His voice was unusually loud. "Are you okay? You looked a little down."

Minnowtail stared at him for a moment, caught off guard. Someone was actually starting a conversation with her?

"Er...I'm good," she managed. "Just bored. I can't wait for the Gathering."

"Me too!" Nightpaw groaned. "Everyone is ready to go, so why can't we? There's no harm in being early to a Gathering."

"Exactly!" Minnowtail exclaimed. "At this rate, we'll just be late instead."

Nightpaw let out a mrrow of laughter. Minnowtail tried not to stare at him incredulously. Cats greeted her casually and gave her orders, but she couldn't remember the last time a cat really spoke to her, unless she started the conversation—and even then, the talk never lasted long. But here was Nightpaw, treating her exactly how she'd wished her Clanmates would treat her for so long.

It was one cat, one time, but more than enough for Minnowtail to open up like a blooming flower. After all, this was one of the only things she'd wanted for so long now.