eternal: primrose || warrior cats

chapter 12

mintberry

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"DAPPLEFROST?" Mintberry called out tentatively into the dark tunnel. "Dapplefrost, are you there?"

Despite having explored this tunnel several times when meeting with her RiverClan friend, Mintberry still hated it. She hated how... unnatural it felt. It was a Twoleg-made structure, the roof blocking the moon, the polluted water dripping down from the walls. And though monsters running on this Thunderpath were rare now, the tunnels still held a strong acidic smell that made her gag.

So, she refused to enter until she had confirmation Dapplefrost had already arrived. 

"Yes, I'm in here," came the RiverClan warrior's voice. "Just keep going down - I'm at the middle."

Taking a deep breath, Mintberry ducked in. Almost instantly came the scent of acid and oil, and the gray tabby shivered uncomfortably. 

She was finally able to make out the silver bengal's shape in the shadows, and bounded forward, going a little too fast and crashing into the wall. Dapplefrost jumped out to steady her. "Great StarClan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry." Mintberry's pelt burned with embarrassment. "I slipped on... oil."

Dapplefrost's blue eyes seemed like they were the only bright thing in this tunnel, and right now, they twinkled with amusement. "I'm sure."

Mintberry cleared her throat, eager to change the conversation, and said the first thing she could think of. "Snakestrike became deputy."

Dapplefrost tilted her head. "Did he now?"

"Yeah - I didn't know you were allowed to become deputy that young. I mean, technically, he isn't, he had to get assigned an apprentice and everything, which I personally think is still against the code, because he hasn't mentored that apprentice yet, but-" Mintberry broke off, realizing she was rambling. "Anyway, with him in charge, the Clan will burn down someday, I know it."

Dapplefrost hummed. "Then maybe the war will be over." She glanced at Mintberry to see the gray tabby's reaction, but the ShadowClan medicine cat was at ease.

Dapplefrost's words insinuated that ShadowClan will be on the losing side of the war. Mintberry knew she should feel angry and defend her Clan, perhaps, but she didn't feel anything of the sort. Whoever wins, it was a lose-lose situation for her. Maybe being in RiverClan will be better than under the control of a power hungry Ivorystar, anyway.

"Rainstar still hasn't chosen a deputy yet," Dapplefrost admitted. "I think her and Splashfoot - I think they were quite close. Might've become mates in the future, you know? She's heartbroken."

Mintberry winced. "That's horrible." She didn't even want to think about the fact that it was Ivorystar who killed Splashfoot. Unnecessarily, according to Clearfrost. 

Dapplefrost sighed, sitting down. "I feel really bad for Rainstar sometimes."

Mintberry sat next to her. "Because of the Splashfoot thing?"

"Not just that. After her brother became a warrior, he left RiverClan, ran off or whatever. The two were actually very close, so it broke Rainstar's heart. Of course, it didn't help that he completely destroyed her leg later in the future."

Mintberry's ears stood up. "Oh, is that her limp?"

"Yeah. It doesn't even matter that she has more lives, because with every life, the limp comes back," Dapplefrost mewed. "A constant reminder of her brother's betrayal."