mintberry

~~~

MINTBERRY'S HEAD WAS POUNDING. She groaned, rolled over, and instantly regretted her decision as her head flashed with pain.

"Mintberry?" Viperfoot's voice was close to her ear. "Snakestrike, I think she's waking up."

"Great, I don't care," came the ShadowClan deputy's reply. "She's the reason we're here in the first place."

Despite only slowly regaining consciousness, Mintberry instantly shot up, regretting her decision once more as lights flashed in her eyes. But she wasn't about to let any physical uncomfortableness stop her from defending herself. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you had shut up, then I would've heard those rogues and we wouldn't be here," Snakestrike snapped, ruffling his fur.

Rogues? Mintberry's heart sank with fear. "You were being loud, too," was all she could weakly get out.

Snakestrike smirked. "Aww, is Mintberry scared of a couple of rogues?" he mocked.

"You should be, too, considering how badly they roughed you up last time," Viperfoot retorted.

Mintberry ignored Snakestrike's reply, looking around at her surroundings, her vision slowly adjusting to the dark. They were in a cave of some sort, and with a peek outside, she could tell it was sundown. She winced again as another throbbing sensation ran through her head; they must've knocked her out with a very powerful blow.

"Listen, now, once those rogues come back, I'll talk with them," Snakestrike decided confidently. "They'll let us go once they know who I am."

Mintberry froze. "What do you mean, once the rogues come back? What happened?"

Viperfoot took a deep breath. "It seems... er... we've been kidnapped. Put in this cave."

"Why don't we just... run?" Mintberry suggested, eagerly glancing at the cave entrance.

"Rogues are posted everywhere," Snakestrike replied darkly. "I could probably fight my way out, but you and Viperfoot would definitely end up dead."

Mintberry bristled, but recognized that Snakestrike was probably right (not about the part where he could get out, because he most definitely couldn't). Even with the new fighting moves Dapplefrost had taught her last night, the chances of all three of them getting out were low.

The gray tabby sighed, managing out her next question. "What do they want with us?" She hated how soft and weak her voice sounded.

Snakestrike shrugged. "Don't know. I mean, it's leafbare, so I think it's safe to guess that they want prey in exchange for our return."

"Seems a little harsh and complicated, though," Viperfoot mewed tiredly. "I mean, what are the chances that we just happened to be walking by the border? And kidnapping three cats seems a lot more difficult than just stealing our prey."

Snakestrike glared at him. He didn't like being undermined. "Maybe they're just lazy."

Suddenly, the sound of paws crunching against undergrowth came from the outside, and the three littermates shut up.

"Do you see the row of bramble bushes?"

Mintberry shuddered. And there was that horrible voice that haunted her nightmares. Aeolus. The leader of the rogues, descendant of Berryfern. The wind is coming.

"Can't see much of anything in here," Snakestrike meowed sassily. Viperfoot nudged him angrily, but Aeolus only chuckled. Mintberry hated his laugh.

"Well, then, deputy, poke your head out and take a look." As Snakestrike did so, carefully stretching out his neck from the cave to glance around, Aeolus's voice boomed once more. "I'll ask you again: do you see the row of bramble bushes?"

Snakestrike's eyes narrowed as he retreated to the cave. "Yes."

"Now, I've got my cats posted right behind those bushes. You three are bright cats, I'm sure your situation is clear to you." A pause. "You may come out now."

Snakestrike held his head up high as he trotted out of the cave, Viperfoot following a bit more tentatively. Mintberry practically curled into herself as she crept after her brothers, shivering from the cold air and feeling of vulnerability as they entered the clearing.

Aeolus was perched on top of the cave - a large boulder - and his startling green eyes glimmered in the sunset. He ruffled his brown fur before leaping off of his throne, starting to circle around the littermates. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this."

Snakestrike ignored him. "I'm the deputy of ShadowClan," he mewed. "I demand you release us immediately, otherwise there will be some serious consequences!"

"No need to introduce yourself. I know all about you, deputy. And I know you're ShadowClan's medicine cat." His gaze pinned toward Mintberry, and she suddenly found herself shrinking behind Viperfoot.

Snakestrike frowned. "That is correct. We are very important to ShadowClan-"

"Yes, very important indeed," Aeolus meowed, not seeming very fazed. "And what is it this one does?"- he flicked Viperfoot's pelt with his tail-tip -"just a warrior? Oh, well, that's alright, two out of three help run the Clan. I'd say that's a win."

"ShadowClan will come find us," Snakestrike declared confidently. "You'll be sorry when-"

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting." Aeolus repeated his previous words. "You think you've been training hard for WindClan's attack? That's nothing. My entire life has been focused on this one goal." He grinned. "I doubt I'll be sorry."

Snakestrike snarled, lashing his tail and sliding out his claws. "Just what do you want?"

Aeolus eyed him. "So you won't cooperate, then? That's fine." He waved his tail. "Deimos, Bellona, Ajax? You know what to do."

Another blow to Mintberry's head, and she was out again.

~~~

THIS TIME, when the gray tabby woke up, she was the first one out of the three littermates. It was nighttime, and through the moonlight, Mintberry could make out the dark shapes of the rogues guarding her along with her brothers, both knocked out cold beside her.

A half-moon beamed down at them, almost teasingly. In any normal circumstance, Mintberry should be heading to the Moonstone with Clearfrost at her side, most likely still an apprentice. But no, her parent figure and mentor was gone, and she was kidnapped by rogues, and was most likely going to die tonight.

She'd been fearful, yes, but now she felt a calming sense, as though she'd come to terms with her death. Perhaps it was just the half-moon, bringing her a sense of familiarity.

Wait.

Mintberry looked around, her heart thudding in her chest.

It wasn't the half-moon that brought the familiarity, but rather the fact that she was indeed very familiar with the terrain. They were in ShadowClan's territory. More specifically, at the Thunderpath, leaning against the Brunt Sycamore.

Viperfoot and Snakestrike were beginning to wake up now, both groaning in pain. Normally, Mintberry might try and shush them to avoid attracting the rogues' attention, but perhaps if they were loud enough now, it would reach a Clanmate somehow.

But, nevertheless, no Clanmate showed, and the rogues' ears twitched before they turned around, a wicked grin on their faces.

"Oh, look who's awake," Bellona chortled, her white fur making her stand out against the dark background.

"Bellona," Aeolus growled in warning. "Shush, don't be too loud. ShadowClan's camp is still somewhere around here."

Bellona rolled her eyes. "You're no fun. They're probably asleep by now, isn't that why we came at night?"

"Go stand guard," Aeolus meowed, clearly fed up with her tactics.

"But Caelus is doing it, and I don't want to be with him," Bellona protested with a scowl.

Looking past the two cats, Mintberry spotted the tom Bellona was referring to; a white tom with pale green eyes. She frowned. Those eyes looked recognizable, too, but she couldn't think of why. She'd certainly never seen Caelus before, so how could she have seen his eyes?

At the sound of his name, Caelus looked over. "Sorry, what is it I'm guarding us from exactly? I thought we wanted to see ShadowClan?" 

Upon closer examination, Mintberry realized he was much older than the rest of the cats - even Aeolus. He'd be a senior warrior in the Clans. But their age difference didn't stop Bellona's rude tone.

The white she-cat huffed. "No, Caelus, we don't. Otherwise they'll ruin our plan."

"What plan?"

"Go," Aeolus ordered Bellona firmly. She rolled her eyes and padded away, leaving the brown tom to turn his full attention on the three ShadowClan cats before him. "Sorry about that, minor distraction. Now, let's begin. Which one of you shall I kill?"

From beside her, Snakestrike gasped. It was the first time Mintberry had ever seen him look afraid.