Chapter 9

Mintpaw awoke three days later to Adderstar yelling at another cat. What is he doing now? Mintpaw padded out of the apprentices' den to find Adderstar yowling at Whitekit and Snakekit. Mintpaw sprang over and stood over the two kits. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

Adderstar had been increasingly indignant to the other cats. He had been annoying, but every cat had put up with it. But Mintpaw could not stand by as Adderstar yelled at these two kits. They were only two moons old! Mintpaw hissed, "They're just kits, Adderstar! They're your kits, and you should be a better father to them!"

Mintpaw picked up the kits and took them back into the nursery before Adderstar could do anything. Mintpaw heard Adderstar call upon Tallrock and set Snakekit and Whitekit down next to Forestwish, who smiled at her gratefully. Mintpaw slipped back out and sat down next to Poppypaw and looked up at Adderstar standing atop Tallrock.

"We have five apprentices who are ten moons old, ready to become warriors. Mintpaw, Fallowpaw, Poppypaw, Smokepaw, Flowerpaw, come on up here," Adderstar called.

Mintpaw leapt up onto Tallrock, but despite her littermates' joy, she only felt indignation. Mintpaw wished she could refuse the call for her warrior name, for she did not wand to be named by Adderstar, but at the same time, she had dreamt of this moment.

"Do you all wish to uphold the warrior code and hunt and fight for your Clanmates, even at the cost of your lives?" Adderstar meowed.

"I do," Fallowpaw meowed.

"I do." The others soon followed.

"Then I, Adderstar, leader of MistClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. Fallowpaw, from now on you will be known as Fallowclaw," Adderstar announced.

Fallowclaw gave the traditional lick to Adderstar's shoulder.

"Poppypaw, from now on you will be known as Poppyheart. Flowerpaw, Flowermist, Smokepaw, you will be known as Smokesplash," Adderstar called out.

Poppyheart, Smokesplash, and Flowermist licked Adderstar's shoulder, accepting their names.

"And Mintpaw, from now on you will be known as Mintsplash," Adderstar announced.

The five warriors leapt down from Tallrock as Adderstar meowed, "Each of these new warriors will sit silent vigil tonight. The Clan is dismissed."

Mintsplash pressed against Smokesplash, excitement building up inside of her. Foxclaw padded over to Mintsplash and smiled. "You really are going to make a great warrior for the Clan," Foxclaw meowed.

Mintsplash remembered how hard it had been, with one blind eye. She remembered how Foxclaw had been so rough about it, always yelling at Mintsplash to do this and that to compensate for only one usable eye. Mintsplash remembered how surprised she had been when Foxclaw had shown superior strength and agility compared to the other warriors despite her blindness. Foxclaw had been so sharp, her paws lashing Mintsplash hard when she failed to duck.

A screech from Brackenpaw came as he burst into camp. Mintsplash darted over to find Slashtail hanging limply in his jaws, clawed, and she slowly realized, he was dead.

Brackenpaw took Slashtail to the center of the clearing as Mintsplash stared after him in shock. The entire Clan gathered around the clearing, staring as Brackenpaw set Slashtail gently down in the center of the clearing in the middle of the camp. Looks like I'm sitting two vigils tonight, Mintsplash thought in despair.

Every cat began to pay their respects, when Foxclaw darted out. "Slashtail!" she screeched. "No, Slashtail, you can't leave me now, not when I just learned I'm going to have your kits!"

Mintsplash's eyes widened. "Foxclaw, you're pregnant?" Mintsplash meowed, disbelieving.

Foxclaw ignored her, "Slashtail! No, I need you!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Foxclaw curled up next to Slashtail, eyes tightly closed, as though she thought she would awaken from a nightmare. Mintsplash watched her in silence, and so did most other cats, before the cats of the Clan began to pay their respects to Slashtail. It wasn't long before cats slithered back to their dens, and Mintsplash, Brackenpaw, Foxclaw, Snowpaw, Bramblepaw, and Mudflight were the only ones sitting vigil.

(A Few Moons Later)

"Snowsong! Brackenstone! Bramblewish! Snowsong! Brackenstone! Bramblewish!" the Clan erupted into shouts of the new warriors' names. Mintsplash joined their cries, staring with pride as the three new warriors leapt from Tallrock and the Clan crowded them with good wishes. Mintsplash smiled, then frowned as she looked at Ivyheart, staring solemnly at the Clan, eyes glistening, sitting apart from the rest of the Clan. A couple of minutes ago, Flamepaw, Riverpaw, Steampaw, and Flintpaw had been given their names as Flameclaw, Rivertail, Steamfrost, and Flintstream.

Yellowheart had been slew by the same unknown cat, as well as Lionfrost. Recently, Frostmist had given birth to five new kits, all Lionfrost's. The kits' names were Lightkit, a pale golden tabby she-kit with white tabby stripes and blue eyes, Swiftkit, a pure white tom with green eyes, Tigerkit, a brown tabby tom with green eyes, Spottedkit, a white and silver she-kit with blue eyes, and Firekit, a golden-ginger tom with amber eyes, just like Heartpelt, Lionfrost and Yellowheart's sister, the last of their litter. Frostmist and Ivyheart were both heartbroken, one losing her old mentor and friend, the other losing her mate.

"Now, I would like to name Whitekit and Snakekit apprentices of MistClan. Whitekit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Whitepaw. Whitepaw, your mentor shall be Ivyheart. Ivyheart, you were a great mentor for Sparrowflight when she lived here even before now please pass those skills down to Whitepaw," Adderstar announced to the Clan.

Ivyheart's ears pricked, and she watched as Whitepaw bounded over to her.

Adderstar turned to Snakekit and called out, "Snakekit, from this moment until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Snakepaw. Snakepaw, your mentor will be Poppyheart. Poppyheart, you have much potential, and I wish you learn that by mentoring Snakepaw."

Mintsplash's eyes widened. A mixture of emotions exploded inside of her as she looked at Poppyheart with dismay. She was now worried about Poppyheart mentoring Adderstar's son.

"Ahem." The sound of a clearing throat roused Mintsplash from her thoughts. She looked up to see Snakepaw looking at her after touching noses with Poppyheart. "I saw you glaring at me, and I wish to inform you; you're going to pay for that," Snakepaw snarled at his last words.

Mintsplash hissed and padded away to her den. Haunting dreams hit her hard when she fell asleep in her nest.

(In Mintsplash's Dreams)

Mintsplash opened her eyes to find Brackenkit, Snowkit, and Bramblekit looking at her. The three grew quickly into warriors, and Snakepaw appeared, his muzzle covered in blood. Mintsplash shrieked as he bit into her shoulder, fastening his teeth into it.

Brackenstone, now, hissed and hit Snakepaw away, redirecting Snakepaw to bite Snowsong's neck. Snowsong screeched as the light faded from her eyes and Mintsplash reached for her, but as soon as her paw touched her, Snowsong disintegrated.

Snowsong! Mintsplash screeched as Snowsong's body turned into a pawful of snow. Mintsplash turned around quickly to see the others fade away as a clearing in a forest faded into view.

A ginger and white she-cat stood before her, and Mintsplash cocked her head, Who are you? Mintsplash asked.

I am not one, but many. I am you and yourself, your friends, your family, I am many, the ginger and white cat said.

What shall I call you? Mintsplash asked again.

The she-cat smiled, You shall call me Splash, for I am the prophecy that lives within itself, she answered.

Mintsplash cocked her head at Splash and mewed, What is the prophecy?

The she-cat narrowed her eyes and shook her head, You are not ready.

Mintsplash bristled and meowed, How can I not be ready?

You don't understand, the she-cat meowed. She looked towards the sky above, staring straight at the moon. I must leave now, my friend. Farewell!

Mintsplash watched as Splash leapt towards the sky, Splash's body evaporating into mist as she headed towards the moon.

(The Next Morning)

Mintsplash jolted awake in the warriors' den to hear cries of grief. "What is it?" Mintsplash asked as she padded out of the reeds shrouding the warriors' den.

Mudflight lay upon the ground, bleeding, his dark brown tabby pelt seemed paler in his death. Mintsplash watched as the cats watched as Willowfur stepped forward. Being Mudflight's mother, Willowfur's eyes glistened with grief and pain at seeing his dead body. Willowfur stood over him, as if to shield him from the curtains of rain falling from the dead, black clouds floating overhead.

Mintsplash stared in shock as thunder boomed overhead. Adderstar leapt onto Tallrock, turning to address the Clan. Adderstar stared down at the Clan for a long moment before announcing, "We all know that we must have a new deputy before moonhigh, and since Mudflight has died, it is time for us to appoint a new deputy. I say these words before the body of Mudflight so that his spirit may hear and approve of my choice. Brackenstone will be the new deputy of MistClan."

Mintsplash's eyes widened as the other cats began to speak.

"What?"

"He hasn't even had an apprentice yet!"

"This isn't right, this is breaking the warrior code!"

"What is Adderstar thinking?"

The cats of the Clan's voices rang throughout the camp. The cats interrupted one another, chaos erupting as verbal fights broke out and Mintsplash could not make any sense of what they were saying.

"Silence!" Adderstar yowled, his amber eyes almost red as he glowered at the cats below. "Brackenstone will be the new deputy, and there's nothing any of you can do about it! I am leader, and I tell you what to do, and you don't ask questions such as those, you ask when and where you need to do it, then, you go! I will not allow this insolence in my own Clan!"

Me: All contests have ended, if you can't tell, and I must tell that Lilysplash won the contest for Brackenpaw, Snowpaw, and Bramblepaw's warrior names! And Iceflower of ThunderClan won the challenge for Snakekit and Whitekit's mentors!

Mintsplash: I have my warrior name, yeah! But I'm still sad about my mentor's mate's death, though. Now I'm sad.

Flamingspirit: I like soda! *laughs crazily*

Me: Okay. I'm going to pretend that never happened.

I don't own, or claim to own, Warriors, Erin Hunter does.