Mintfeather's Secret

Chapter 7:

Mintpaw yawned and stretched before glancing around.

"Wait, what?! I can see?!" He exclaimed, his eyes stretched wide. He turned his gaze towards Speckledfern and saw him for the first time. However there was no color. Everything was dull grey besides Mintpaw. He sniffed at Speckledfern before turning and padding out of the medicine den. Curiosity wrapped around his mind and he headed towards the apprentices' den. He could still smell and tell apart cats by their scent, even though he didn't recognize them by sight. His head poked into the den and he looked around, trying to find the cat he was looking for.

"Ow!" He heard a yelp near the corner of the den, and his head swiveled around to see two toms huddled together. One was sprawled out in his nest with his hind leg jabbing the other tom in the side, while the tom opened one eye to glare at him. He padded towards them and sniffed the air, the familiar scent of rain and sweet grass filling his nostrils.

"Thrushpaw!" He gasped, looking at the tom as he sighed and got to his paws. He padded towards the entrance of the den and glanced behind him before going outside. Mintpaw followed him out, confused as to why Thrushpaw couldn't see him.

"Maybe if I stay up a bit later I'll get tired and fall asleep." Thrushpaw muttered to himself as he looked up at the starry sky. His pelt and his eyes had no color but the dull grey that everything else had.

"Does everything always look like this?" Mintpaw asked him. He got no response and the other tom frowned. "Why aren't you answering me? I'm right next to you! Can't you hear me?!" Mintpaw exclaimed. Still no response. Mintpaw stormed over to stand directly in front of Thrushpaw and lashed his tail. "Why won't you answer?!" Thrushpaw stared right through him. Mintpaw's ears perked up as he got an idea.

"Wait, maybe you can't see me... Or hear me!" He mewed. How is that possible?

"Because you're in StarClan Mintpaw." A voice chuckled. He whipped around and looked up to see a brown tom with ginger stripes padding towards him.

"W-who are you?! Are you saying I'm dead?!" Mintpaw squeaked. The tom purred and shook his head.

"My name is Flarestripe. I was Speckledfern's mentor." He mewed. "You are not dead. You're dreaming." Mintpaw sighed with relief.

"Why are you here?" He asked. Flarestripe curled his tail around Mintpaw's shoulders.

"I have a message for you to send to Dawnstar." He mewed.

"M-me?! But I'm just an apprentice!" The blind tom squeaked.

"But you're a special apprentice. You are a medicine cat. This is your duty, Mintpaw." Flarestripe mewed. "When the Night rises, Dawn will fall. The blackest stream will unite with the soaring bird and replace the Night, restoring peace and order to Dusk." He mewed, his voice becoming ominous. "Go now, Mintpaw. Warn Dawnstar." He mewed, and just like that, Mintpaw awoke in his nest with a start. He sighed and padded out of the medicine den. The scent of sweet grass and rain flooded his scent and his eyes widened.

"Thrushpaw?" He called softly. He heard a quiet gasp and then a sigh of relief as the apprentice whipped around to stare at him with wide, startled eyes.

"Mintpaw, you scared me." Thrushpaw mewed gently, turning back to look up at the moon. Mintpaw padded over to his side and sat down next to him, staring straight ahead.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked the brown tom.

"I came out here cause Robinpaw keeps kicking me in his sleep, and I'm not really tired so I thought sitting out here might help me fall asleep." Thrushpaw replied. The image of the two apprentices huddled side by side and one kicking out with their hind leg flashed in his mind and he gasped softly. He actually saw Robinpaw kick Thrushpaw in his dream! But how?

"Are you alright?" Thrushpaw asked him, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Y-yeah. Hey, Thrushpaw?" He mewed. The said tom hummed and looked at him.

"Yes Mintpaw?" He inquired.

"What do you look like?" Mintpaw asked, curiosity tugging at his stomach. Thrushpaw purred and stared back up at the sky, his emerald eyes twinkling with the light of the stars.

"I'm a brown tom with two white front paws, a white tail tip, chest, belly, and ear tips." He mewed. Mintpaw nodded his head as an image popped into his mind.

"What about your eyes?" He asked.

"My eyes?" Thrushpaw responded, sounding confused.

"Yeah. What color are they?" Mintpaw asked.

"Well, my littermate told me that they were an emerald green." He mewed thoughtfully. Mintpaw's ears perked up at the mention of a littermate.

"Where is your littermate? Did they not accompany you?" Mintpaw asked. Silence enveloped them and Mintpaw was starting to wonder whether he had said something that upset Thrushpaw.

"... She's in StarClan." Thrushpaw mewed quietly. Mintpaw's eyes widened and he turned towards Thrushpaw.

"I'm so sorry! How old was she when she- you know?" Mintpaw asked.

"She was six moons old. She was meant to be apprenticed with me the day after she died." Thrushpaw said sadly. Mintpaw tried to place his paw on Thrushpaw's in a reassuring manner, but ended up stepping on his tail. Thrushpaw yelped and Mintpaw hurriedly took his paw off, his pelt heating up with embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry!" He mewed. Thrushpaw chuckled before placing his own paw on Mintpaw's. The light grey tom looked over at where he believed the brown tom was and Thrushpaw smiled when Mintpaw looked at him with gleaming mint-green eyes.

"Thanks for the gesture, but I think you should leave that for me to do." He mewed with amusement. Mintpaw purred and dipped his head in agreement.

"What was her name?" He asked him.

"Shadowkit. Hey, do you have any littermates? I've never noticed if you had any." Thrushpaw asked. Mintpaw sighed sadly and shook his head.

"I used to. Ravenkit drowned. He's also in StarClan. I can't help but feel like it's my fault that he died. If only I was strong enough, I might have been able to save him." Mintpaw mewed sadly. Thrushpaw gave him a sympathetic look and wrapped his tail around the medicine cat apprentice's gently.

"I know how it feels." He whispered, staring at his paws. They were enveloped in silence once more before Mintpaw yawned. Thrushpaw glanced at him and stood up, purring softly. "You should get some rest." He mewed softly, padding over to the medicine cat's den with Mintpaw.

"You get some too. You'll need your energy tomorrow." As the light grey tom turned his head to say goodbye to his friend, he felt Thrushpaw bump his head against his shoulder affectionately.

"I'll try, if Robinpaw stops kicking me out of my nest." He purred before padding away. "Night Mintpaw."

"Night Thrushpaw." Mintpaw mewed softly before curling up in his nest and drifting off to sleep.