ωαяяισя ¢αтѕ // Mintpool's Promise

Prologue

New-leaf's the light at the end of the dark tunnel of leaf-bare, a time of year that cats welcome eagerly with open arms. Prey becomes more plentiful, the flowers bloom, and the weather warms. That's why the AirClan medicine cat loved taking walks during a new-leaf day.

In fact, that was what she was doing right now. The gray she-cat padded along the trail that'd been worn down by the countless paws that'd walked it, her green eyes scanning the territory's thick undergrowth for feverfew. Every now and then, she enjoyed the feeling of a cooling breeze fluttering through her pelt, and her ears would stick up on her head happily. It all felt so carefree, something she hadn't truly experienced since being an apprentice.

AirClan's medicine cat parted her jaws, and quickly picked out the scent of feverfew from the other new-leaf smells. Trotting over to the patch she located, she leaned down to snap off a few stems. However, just as she was about to close her teeth on the herb, a new, sharp scent spiked onto her tongue, and she jerked her head away quickly, blinking wildly in confusion.

Because now, instead of the feverfew plants that'd been there just moments ago, was a plot of mint.

Mint? The gray medicine cat's pelt fluffed. She'd walked this path countless times, and she knew the herbs that grew along this path as well as the back of her paw. Mint isn't supposed to grow here.

Puzzled, she turned to see if there was anything else odd going on, only to find a small, white tom standing right in front of her. She yelped in start and jumped away at first, before her fright melted as she recognized the tom. "Cloudpool!" Her mew was full of joy as she greeted her former mentor.

Suddenly, her brain connected the two dots. Odd herb placements and my mentor? StarClan, I'm dreaming!

Cloudpool's blue eyes sparkled fondly as he swished his tail back and forth in the air. "Hello, Echoleaf. How are things in the Clan?" The last sentence was wistful and carried with it a spark of sadness; the white medicine cat had passed only this leaf-bare from greencough.

Seeing him again, healthy and spry, left a lump in Echoleaf's throat, which she swallowed around as well as she could. "Everyone's great!" she replied as cheerfully as she could manage. "Graywhisker's ill, but it's nothing some feverfew won't fix."

Cloudpool nodded. "Make sure to give him plenty of water."

"I will!" the gray medicine cat chirped, suddenly feeling like an apprentice again, eagerly awaiting her mentor's next instructions. She twitched her tail-tip, wishing for what must be the hundredth time that Cloudpool could come back; everything was easier with his wisdom.

As if he were reading her mind, the white tom reached out his tail to touch Echoleaf's shoulder gently. "You'll do fine without me, you're a very fine medicine cat. I mentored you, after all," he added light-heartedly, before switching the subject. "So, how are Snowfrost and the kits?"

The gray medicine cat felt herself straighten, eager for the new topic. "She's a great mother, and Mintkit and Adderkit certainly are energetic! They snuck out of camp yesterday, which drove Snowfrost crazy. And Mintkit's been sniffing around the medicine den - I bet she'll become a medicine cat."

Cloudpool nodded knowingly. "That's how I knew to apprentice you. When Petalshine was kitting, you knew how to find a better stick to help her than a warrior as a kit!"

Echoleaf purred. "So you knew I'd become a medicine cat based off my stick finding abilities?" she teased. "Well, are you going to prove you were right about my skills? Are you going to give me a prophecy or something?"

The latter part was meant as a joke, but it'd been something Echoleaf had feared greatly. She'd never handled a prophecy before, and without Cloudpool to guide her, she was afraid she'd mess something up. And, based off the way the white tom's eyes darkened with worry at her words, Echoleaf realized anxiously that her fear had become a reality.

An uncomfortable silence hung over the two for several beats, but Echoleaf was too scared to break it. Finally, when Cloudpool spoke, his voice was grave.

"Not a prophecy, but a warning." He glanced sideways over to the mint, and jerked his muzzle at it. "Tell me, Echoleaf, what's mint used for?"

This question seemed terribly out of the blue, and the gray medicine cat's paws tingled with bewilderment. But nonetheless, she found the reply leaving her throat effortlessly; this was an easy question to answer. "Deaths. We rub dead cats with mint to cover their decaying scent."

Cloudpool nodded, specks of worry painfully obvious in his blue gaze.

"What?" Echoleaf meowed, becoming anxiously impatient at her former mentor's silence. "What is it? What's wrong?"

The white tom took a deep breath. "Mint is used to cover the scent of death," he mewed at last. "Mint is..." He paused, shutting his eyes almost painfully. "Mint is an herb associated with death. Mint is death."

"Mint is death," Echoleaf repeated to herself quietly. A sudden horror struck her when she realized what Cloudpool could be referring to, and the imagine of Snowfrost's daughter Mintkit, a kit Echoleaf had had such high hopes for, flashed before her eyes. "You don't mean-?"

"I can't be certain as to what this is for," Cloudpool interrupted gently. "All I'm here to tell you is that I've seen something. A mint patch like this one"- he waved his tail at the herb by Echoleaf's hind paws -"blooming in the forest. Then a gust of wind blew it away and shredded it up."

The AirClan medicine cat shook her head and backed away. "I don't understand."

To her displeasure, she found herself backing right into the mint. Just as she heard the herb crunch beneath her paws, Cloudpool spoke again, his voice low.

"It blew into a storm of mint leaves, and when the scene cleared, the only thing left behind was dead bodies. Countless dead bodies. Our Clanmates. Their blood." He shuddered and then hesitated, as though he were afraid to speak the next sentence. "And a thick scent of mint hanging over it all."

Echoleaf ducked her head, her fur spiking up worriedly. "What can I do, Cloudpool?" she whispered. "How do I stop this?"

The white medicine cat blinked at her sadly. "I'm afraid I do not know. All I can do is warn you. Watch your back, Echoleaf. Be careful. The future is bloody."

She took a deep, shaky breath as she tried calming herself. At least one course of action seemed clear: to tell Spottedstar. They'll work out everything from there. But she still had so many more questions, all rising rapidly in her throat in such a bursting chaos that Echoleaf found her tongue tangled.

Before she could straighten them out and get a single question out, the forest around started to shimmer and fade away. Cloudpool's tail stood up in alarm as he glanced around. "You're waking up," he meowed quickly. "Remember, Echoleaf, be careful. The future is bloody."

"Wait!" Echoleaf mewed urgently as the white tom's image started to dim, willing herself to remain asleep for just a few more moments. "Cloudpool-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sharp wall of mist wrapped around Cloudpool and whisked both him and the forest away. And just like that, Echoleaf was awake.

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Word Count // 1220

Edited

Hi! So, the Prologue is out! What do you think? Please give me some feedback! I would love to hear your opinions! What do you think will happen in the future? Alright, well, I'm going to go work on the next chapter now! Bye!