eternal: primrose || warrior cats

chapter 22

snakestrike

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WHEN SNAKESTRIKE WOKE UP AGAIN, he was in ShadowClan's medicine den. It took him a few beats to get his bearings, but the poignant scent of herbs penetrated through his drowsiness quickly, and the gray tabby tom wrinkled his nose in disgust. 

"You're awake."

A cold voice came from his left, and so Snakestrike craned his neck to see the speaker. It was Mintberry who, despite observing her brother's consciousness status, was staring out of the medicine den blankly.

"Yeah, I-" Snakestrike broke off, feeling his pelt heat with embarrassment. Now that he'd survived, he'd have to face the aftermath. The aftermath of ShadowClan's courageous deputy running for help and leaving his siblings to die. "How-"

"How's everyone talking about you?" Mintberry interrupted curtly, her voice showing a sharp hint of annoyance. "They think you made the right decision, running. You were in a life or death situation, they say. You ran for help, you're the reason Viperfoot and I made it out of there, though the reason the patrol came was because Frozenlight heard Viperfoot's yowl - he's alive, by the way, I noticed you hadn't asked."

Snakestrike pushed himself to his paws roughly, feeling a great deal of stress lift from his shoulders as he scowled. "I was just about to. Get off my back, I'd just woken up."

Mintberry's nose twitched. "You were the one least harmed, not a single drop of blood spilled. StarClan knows why you took so long to gain consciousness."

"Hey," Snakestrike snapped, "I almost died. I could've died. I-"

"We all could've," Mintberry meowed unsympathetically. "In fact, Viperfoot, Caelus, and I were much closer to death than you were."

But his sister's scolding words had flown right over his head as ShadowClan's deputy narrowed in on one thing. "Caelus?"

The gray tabby flicked her tail, gesturing to the den. Viperfoot was tucked away in one corner, his entire body covered with cobwebs and poultice. He was still unconscious, but his belly rose and fell steadily. Across from him, a white tom was curled up in a nest, all patched up as well.

Snakestrike lowered his voice. "You brought a rogue back to our camp?"

"He saved Viperfoot's life," Mintberry meowed flatly. "And according to him, he only joined the rogues because he heard they were coming to ShadowClan, and he wanted to tag along."

The gray tom scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Right, that's not suspicious at all. What did Ivorystar have to say about this?"

The ShadowClan medicine cat's gaze snapped from the entrance to meet her brother's for the first time; like this, it was easy to see how tired she was, but Snakestrike didn't comment on it. "Caelus is Ivorystar's father."

Snakestrike's head jerked back, staring at his sister in pure disbelief for a few heartbeats. "What?"

"He's her father," Mintberry repeated, eyes flitting back to the den's entrance. "He overhears the rogues' plan and decides he'd like to come see his kits. After all these years." Her voice grew quiet. "Featherflight almost passed out when she saw him."

Snakestrike thought this may be the longest conversation he and Mintberry have had since they were kits. He wasn't sure how he felt about that; all he knew was that he wanted to get out of the medicine den. He had some business to take care of. "I've got to go."

"Fine," Mintberry meowed coldly. "Come see me if you need some painkillers for all that running you did."

The ShadowClan deputy rolled his eyes as he trotted out of the medicine den. StarClan, did his sister always need to be so easily agitated?