Mintfeather's Secret

Chapter 23:

"Mintfeather, you need to come with me!" Mintfeather raised his head from his paws at the sound of Robinfeather's voice.

"What? Why?" He yawned.

"Because something bad has happened." Mintfeather froze when he heard Thrushwing's voice and sprung out of his nest.

"What happened?" He asked, his heart sinking. With a jolt, Mintfeather realized this was the first he had spoken with Thrushwing in moons.

"It's Larkpool and Dawnstar. They're dead." Robinfeather mewed softly. Mintfeather rushed out of the den when he heard wails of grief and froze when he heard Nightshade's voice ring out above the noise.

"Do not be alarmed! As you can see, Dawnstar and Larkpool have both died. But have hope! I know Dawnstar would have wanted you to stay strong." He called out as the noise died down until it was quiet.

"He's right! Nightshade will become the new leader! And who would better lead us than he?" Snakefern called out. There were many calls of agreement and Mintfeather frowned.

"That piece of Fox-dung!" He heard Thrushwing spit beside him. His ears perked up and he turned towards his ex-best friend.

"What's wrong?" Robinfeather whispered to the tom. Thrushwing lashed his tail and growled lowly.

"He planned this all along! He waited until the right moment until he could strike! I'm guessing Dawnstar told him he was on his last life." The light brown warrior hissed. Mintfeather's ears shot up in surprise.

"Last night, Dawnstar called me into his den. Larkpool and Nightshade were there too. He told us he was on his last life!" He mewed. He turned to Thrushwing. "Do you think Nightshade...?" He broke off.

"That's exactly what I think." Thrushwing growled.

"Before I go to recieve my nine lives, I shall appoint a new deputy. I call upon the ancestors of StarClan to hear my choice. Snakefern shall be the new deputy!" Nightshade called out. Mintfeather could hear the tension in Thrushwing's voice.

"No... this can't be happening!"

"Thrushwing, calm down." Robinfeather soothed. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"No, it won't! You don't understand... You don't know my father like I do... I know why my mother left him for Adderfang... And I know what he's doing!" Thrushwing hissed. "He's violent and bent on revenge. He wants power and he doesn't care who's blood he gets on his paws to achieve that."

"...Alright. I believe you. Just don't do anything mouse-brained. We don't know what he'll be like as a leader yet." Robinfeather mewed. Mintfeather heard the tom's pawsteps going away and took this as his chance to speak to Thrushwing and try to mend the broken friendship.

"Thrushwing, I-"

"Thrushwing! Want to go hunting with me?" Darkriver's mew cut him off.

"Sure." The tom mewed before padding away from Mintfeather, not giving a glance back at the medicine cat. Mintfeather hung his head and felt tears prick his eyes.

"I should never have listened to Speckledfern." He whimpered.

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"Thrushwing!" Skypaw's mew roused Mintfeather from his sleep. He yawned and padded out of the medicine den to grab prey to eat.

"Hello Skypaw." Thrushwing sighed.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"I'm going to become a warrior today!" Skypaw giggled as she pranced around the tom.

"Good for you." Thrushwing mewed monotonously. He glanced up at spotted Mintfeather padding over to the fresh-kill pile and stared at the tom for a while.

"Hey, Skypaw? Why don't you go see if the initiation is going to start?" Darkriver mewed to the apprentice as she padded over. Skypaw nodded her head and bounced off to find her mentor. Darkriver sat beside Thrushwing and observed the hurt expression he held. "Thrushwing? Are you ok?" She asked quietly. The tom shook his head and looked over at her.

"I'm fine. Just... distracted." He sighed. Darkriver purred and licked his cheek.

"Then let's go get your head cleared." She mewed before padding towards the camp entrance. Thrushwing cast a wistful glance back at Mintfeather before trudging after the she-cat. They walked through the woods until they came to the SnakeClan border and stopped to rest.

"Hey, Darkriver?" Thrushwing called her name softly. There was something weighing in his mind that he couldn't get out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

"Yes Thrushwing?" She responded, looking at him with gleaming emerald eyes.

"I wanted to ask you something." He started, staring at the black and white warrior thoughtfully. "Do you... do you have a crush on me?" Thrushwing asked. Darkriver's eyes widened and she glanced away from him with embarrassment.

"H-how did you know?" She mewed. Thrushwing blinked.

"I knew since we were apprentices." He responded.

"O-oh..." Darkriver mewed nervously. "S-so... Do you want to b-be my mate? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to! I'm fine with just being friends, even though I really really like you and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Darkriver, stop." Thrushwing chuckled at the black and white she-cat. "I want to say yes, but the truth is that my heart belongs to someone else. Even though they don't return the feelings. I want to be your mate and make you happy, but I don't know if I can lie to my heart." Thrushwing lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"That's ok. I understand." Darkriver mewed gently. Her emerald eyes lit up. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's try being mates and by the end of newleaf, if you still don't have feelings for me, then we will end the mateship. How does that sound?" Darkriver asked. Thrushwing frowned.

"The end of newleaf is only four moons away." He mewed. Darkriver nodded. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm sure." Darkriver purred.

"Alright then. Let's try it." Thrushwing mewed, feeling slightly better than before.