Mintfeather's Secret

Chapter 11:

"Thrushpaw!" A small squeal sounded, and Mintpaw craned his head to scent Skykit crashing towards them. The black she-kit giggled and Thrushpaw let out a yelp of discomfort, making Mintpaw flinch.

"Ow! That's my tail!" He said. Skykit got up and shook her pelt, looking up at him with gleaming blue eyes.

"I wish you could be my mentor one day! Wouldn't that be great?" She asked. Thrushpaw stayed silent and padded over to Mintpaw with an uncomfortable look in his eyes.

"Mintpaw, do you need to go find some herbs?" He asked the blind tom, who immediately understood and nodded.

"Yeah, would you like to come along?" He offered. Thrushpaw nodded his head quickly.

"Yes, please." Both toms started padding out the back of the camp, leaving the black she-kit staring after them with a sad expression. Once they were out of camp, Thrushpaw let out a relieved sigh. "Honestly, I don't like that she's following me everywhere. It's getting annoying, but I don't want to be rude and snap at her." He mewed, frowning. Mintpaw snorted.

"I can't tell who it annoys more, you or me." He muttered. Thrushpaw glanced over at him with confusion.

"What do you mean? Why does it annoy you?" He asked the grey tom.

"O-oh, I mean..." Mintpaw trailed off, trying to find an excuse. Thrushpaw gave him a skeptical look.

"Don't even try lying. I can tell. Your tail always twitches nervously when you lie." He mewed seriously. Mintpaw's earstips started to heat up with embarrassment.

"Oh..." There was no way he was getting out of this one. Might as well just tell him. "It's annoying because she's always around. You can never hang out with anybody in camp without her bugging and distracting you." Mintpaw mewed. Thrushpaw smirked with amusement.

"So what you're telling me is that you're jealous of the attention I give her." He purred.

"What?! NO! Don't take things the wrong way, mouse-brain!" Mintpaw muttered, his pelt flaming with embarrassment. Thrushpaw laughed and nudged his shoulder gently.

"I'm just teasing. Anyways, it's true that I can't really hang out with anyone in camp without her around, so I kind of understand why she'd annoy the others too." He mewed thoughtfully. Mintpaw let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and padded with Thrushpaw side-by-side as they continued their journey.

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"Robinpaw, I don't think this is a good idea..." Thrushpaw hissed at his friend, who was sneaking over to a twoleg nest. They were on a hunting patrol and Robinpaw had convinced Thrushpaw there was something he wanted to show him.

"Ah, don't worry Thrushpaw. We'll be fine." He mewed confidently. Suddenly the twoleg fence swung open and a large black dog padded out, sniffing the ground. Both apprentices froze with wide eyes as the large beast looked up and spotted them. With a bark, the dog charged at them, and both toms screeched with fear before turning and running the other way. Thrushpaw risked a glance behind to see the dog gaining on them, and started thinking of ways to get out of the sticky situation. His eyes gleamed with new light as an idea popped into his head, and he quickly took a sharp left, splitting off from Robinpaw, who let out a yowl of confusion and alarm.

"COME GET ME FLEA-BRAIN!" Thrushpaw screeched at the dog as it took after the small brown apprentice, who's legs rapidly drummed against the ground. Robinpaw immediately started running after the dog and his best friend, his amber eyes wide with fear as he saw how close the beast's snout was from his friend's tail. Thrushpaw skidded to a halt when he came to a large rock wall and flattened his ears against his head as he looked up at it. "I can't climb this in time!" He muttered before whipping around and crouching defensively. The dog bounded towards him and snapped at the small tom with his jaws, his teeth sinking into nothing. Thrushpaw had leapt into the air and landed on the dog's back, trying to get his footing back. The dog roughly shook him off and sank his large fangs into the small tom's scruff. The small apprentice was flung into the air, twisting and turning until he hurtled back to the ground with a screech.

"THRUSHPAW!" Robinpaw wailed as he saw the tom hit the ground, unmoving. The dog picked him up again, and Robinpaw was relieved to see his friend was still alive. His eyes were half-lidded, and he winced when he felt the dog start shaking him, his head whipping back and forth. Thrushpaw's strength was fading fast, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. Suddenly he was dropped and the dog let out a yelp and then a snarl. There was hissing, snapping, a screech of agony before a roar of determination, followed by whimpering and paws drumming away from the tom. He tried getting to his paws, his eyes struggling to open. Once Thrushpaw forced them to snap open, he looked around and spotted Robinpaw a couple tail-lengths away from him, his back turned to the other tom.

"Robinpaw...?" Thrushpaw muttered, limping over to the other tom, who was whimpering in agony. The tom turned around to show Thrushpaw his right eye was gone, and the smaller tom's emerald eye widened. "What happened?!" He asked urgently.

"I did it... I kept it away from you... I lost it for you..." Robinpaw whispered, tears collecting in his eyes before he fainted, hitting the ground with a thump. Thrushpaw's eyes widened and tears sprang to his eyes. Immediately he grabbed the tom's scruff and wriggled underneath him so Robinpaw was settled on his back. He started limping back to camp as fast as he could, ignoring the shooting pain in his shoulder. He could feel the warm, slick blood trickling down his pelt.

"Someone... Help..." He choked out once he padded into camp. Pricklenose turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of the bloodied apprentice carrying her son on his back.

"SPECKLEDFERN! HELP!" She screeched, sprinting over to the apprentice. Mintpaw flinched at the loud sound and poked his head out of the den with Speckledfern beside him.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Oh dear Starclan!" Speckledfern exclaimed before rushing past his apprentice, who stumbled out of the den and padded towards the commotion.

"Is Thrushpaw ok?" He heard Skykit ask from the nursery. Fear clawed at his stomach. What had the young tom gotten into?!

"Is that Robinpaw on his back?!" He heard Darkpaw ask Redpaw.

"I think so. What happened to them?!" The strong scent of blood hit Mintpaw's nostrils and he froze when he heard ragged panting.

"Someone... Help..." Thrushpaw repeated, his eyes slowly closing. He collapsed on the ground, Robinpaw, laying on top of him.

"Quickly, I need to take these two to the den!" Speckledfern called. "I need help carrying them! Mintpaw, get the cobwebs ready!" Speckledfern mewed, and Mintpaw rushed back into the den, the fear in his stomach growing rapidly.

"What happened?!" He asked Speckledfern as he identified six distinct scents. Speckledfern, Robinpaw, Prickenose, Thrushpaw, Waspflame, and Dawnstar.

"Are my kits going to be ok?!" Pricklenose asked anxiously. Speckledfern frowned.

"I don't know."

"Pricklenose, Thrushpaw isn't your kit..." Dawnstar mewed from behind the she-cat, who whipped around with fire in her eyes.

"His father doesn't act like a father at all and his mother is far away! He needs someone to look after him and that's what I'm going to do! So he might as well be my kit!" She hissed. Waspflame glanced at the leader, who flinched at the she-cat's furious tone.

"Just let Pricklenose call Thrushpaw her kit. There's no arguing with her once she's made up her mind." He mewed. Mintpaw sniffed at Thrushpaw and recoiled from the strong stench of dog.

"Speckledfern, I think they were attacked by a dog!" He mewed.

"What?" Pricklenose, Dawnstar, and Waspflame mewed in unison.

"Well, let's just hope we can save them in time." He muttered.

'Please be alright, Thrushpaw,' Mintpaw thought.