mintberry

~~~

MINTBERRY ALMOST FELT bad for the warriors in the first few days of Snakestrike's tough training. They'd drag themselves back to camp, exhausted, and practically collapse. But nobody dared to complain, not after Tigerstrike's exile, afraid that the same fate would be brought upon them.

Nobody thought much about Tigerstrike's exile, though. They were thoroughly occupied with thoughts of patrols and training and the upcoming attack. It seemed like an unspoken rule for the war to be put on pause during leafbare, but Snakestrike and Ivorystar were more than willing to break that rule.

Throughout the next few days, Mintberry could see that Snakestrike's training was working. Everyone was returning to camp with more energy and stronger muscles. They were ready, she duly noted.

And though he was running the whole thing, Snakestrike didn't give himself a break. He'd participate in the training, too, working from dawn to dusk, until he was stronger, faster, and overall better than any other cat.

Mintberry could see that the cats of ShadowClan were beginning to trust him. He was winning them over.

"The attack will be this day, next week!" Snakestrike announced one chilly night. "You've all done very well in the past moon for training. Now, we must put that training to use!"

Cheers rang through the clearing and Mintberry ruffled her fur from where she sat at the entrance of the medicine den. That was always where she seemed to be now. After the whole thing with Viperfoot and the prophecy, Viperfoot had been too busy with training to come talk with her, and Snakestrike didn't seem to ever want to talk with her. So, with Clearfrost gone, she spent her days wallowing in the medicine den, doing a job she hated.

She would be much too afraid to leave camp by herself, but these days, it was impossible to take more than a few steps into the forest without bumping into a warrior. They were always out there, training, hunting, or patrolling. She appreciated that.

"What about ThunderClan?" Dawnfoot piped up. "They're our allies - will they be participating?"

Snakestrike shook his head. "No, Tigerstar won't agree to an attack during leafbare. Plus, it's just us versus WindClan, we can take those rabbit chasers down ourselves!"

The next few days passed without much of a hitch. Frozenpaw and Sweetpaw became warriors, earning themselves the names Frozenlight and Sweetstorm. Then, the day after, the night right before WindClan's attack, Ivorystar fell ill.

Snakestrike had approached Mintberry that night to inform her. "It's Ivorystar."

The gray tabby turned around to face the entrance of the medicine den and almost scoffed. Her brother was standing right at the opening, refusing to enter the den itself. "What about her?"

"She's sick. Coughing, fever, sneezing - everything," Snakestrike mewed.

"Sounds bad," Mintberry commented as she grabbed the small supply of feverfew. They were running low. "Have you come in much contact with her?"

"No, not really. I went to go talk to her about the attack tonight, but I heard the coughing when I came near the den. I didn't go inside just in case."

Mintberry flicked her tail. Okay, so at least he wasn't contagious. "Good call. Continue to stay outside then, and tell everyone to avoid the den until I figure out what's wrong. The last thing we need right now is for a fever to spread."

As the two padded over to the leaders den, Mintberry kept shooting sideways glances at Snakestrike. Were they going to talk about the prophecy at all? What did he think?

He didn't say anything.

"Stay here," Mintberry ordered once they neared the leaders den. Indeed, the loud, hacking sound of Ivorystar's cough was very audible. Mintberry slipped inside, and instantly, the scent of sickness flooded her nose, and she had to resist the urge to gag.

Ivorystar was curled up in her nest. She had all the symptoms Snakestrike described, but along with that, white phlegm running from her nose. That was concerning.

"Ivorystar? Ivorystar," Mintberry called softly. The leader's one pale green eye opened, foggy with the fever. "Here, eat this." She dropped the feverfew by Ivorystar's muzzle.

"No." Ivorystar recoiled, shaking her head. "No, it doesn't help."

"It will, it gets rid of fevers," Mintberry mewed, wondering why Ivorystar was acting like a kit refusing to swallow herbs. "I promise."

She felt a certain level of bitterness helping Ivorystar. This was the cat that killed Clearfrost, after all. The cat that wouldn't hesitate to kill her over the prophecy. If Ivorystar didn't want to eat the feverfew, then fine; it would save the herb for other cats.

"No, no, listen," Ivorystar coughed, sounding crazy. "Dawnstar- Dawnstar- Molepelt-"

Mintberry had heard the name Dawnstar before; she was the leader of ShadowClan when SkyClan left the territories. But those were all just a tale that elders told kits.

Mintberry didn't have the patience nor affection for Ivorystar to deal with this. She picked up half of the feverfew, instructed Ivorystar to eat the rest, and left.

"So?" Snakestrike asked worriedly as Mintberry slipped out of the den. "Is she okay?"

"If she'll eat the herbs," the gray tabby answered dryly. Then, without another word, the two littermates parted to their respective nests.

~~~

THE NEXT MORNING, all the attack patrols were led by Snakestrike to WindClan's border. That way, the patrols were able to rotate quicker; only the severely injured cats were to come back to camp for treatment.

Due to how quiet it was, Mintberry slept until sunhigh, and she stretched and yawned pleasantly before picking herself up. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept for that long.

She padded into the deserted clearing, and flicked her tail almost happily. It was all just so... peaceful. The only cats other than her that remained in camp were Brooklight, whose belly had become quite swollen, and Berrylight's kits, who Brooklight was watching while their mother went off to fight. Frostlight, the only elder now, had been brought on a patrol, too.

Mintberry wasn't sure if that was morally right, but it was what Ivorystar and Snakestrike had ordered. Oh, yeah, Ivorystar. She was still here, coughing in her den. The gray tabby ought to check on her.

But Mintberry took her sweet time with it, eating a piece of prey and lapping up a few mouthfuls of water before going to see the deranged leader. From what Clearfrost had last told her, Ivorystar had three lives left. There was no way the ragdoll didn't take one of the ShadowClan leader's lives when she died, considering the wounds Ivorystar carried and her lack of an eye, so she was down to two, now.

Mintberry sighed and padded into the leaders den. Instantly, she wished she hadn't.

As soon as she stepped paw into the den, Ivorystar pounced on her, pushing her to the ground. The leader was clearly delirious, the phlegm from her nose now green instead of white. There were crimson on the ground and at the leader's lips, hinting that she'd been coughing up blood.

"Ivorystar!" Mintberry yelped, feeling fear sink into her. Had she figured it out? Did Ivorystar know that Mintberry knew and told the prophecy to her brothers?

"You need to die," Ivorystar panted, breath fanning against Mintberry's muzzle. "One- one of you needs to die." 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mintberry struggled beneath Ivorystar's grip, kicking wildly. "You're crazy! This disease is making you crazy!"

And then Ivorystar tightened her grip, cutting off the airflow in Mintberry's lungs. The gray tabby gasped, clawing desperately now, twisting this way and that, but nothing worked. She could see her vision dimming, feel her breath begin to slip away, when Ivorystar suddenly released her again.

"No- no, not here," Ivorystar snapped, almost at herself. "You can't die here. Not here. Not the right place." She released Mintberry and stepped back, collapsing.

Mintberry pushed herself to her paws, coughing as air returned to her lungs. Ivorystar's fever must've made her insane, and the energy she used to pin and attempt murder on Mintberry has made her even more fatigued.

The ShadowClan leader couldn't seem to push herself up, sprawled on the ground, coughed out a, "Dawnstar," followed by blood. Then, her chest heaved one last time, and she died.