Mintpaw raced back towards AirClan's territory. She had always been quick on her paws, and soon pulled ahead of the FireClan patrol in her worry. Yowls filled her ears as they bounded towards the camp, and her paws itched. I hope my Clanmates are okay!

Glancing over her shoulder as she ran, she saw that the FireClan warriors had more of a determined expression now. The disappointed and unwilling glint in Sharpfur, Briarmist, and Windpelt's eyes had faded. They seemed to actually want to help now, perhaps only to prove that they were better than AirClan, as Viperfang had reasoned. Whatever the reason is, Mintpaw was glad that they were going to put in effort. 

As they neared the camp, worry in the gray tabby's belly only grew. What if we're too late? What if one of my Clanmates are seriously hurt? What if the rogues did manage to kill Spottedstar? Is she okay? Most of all, what if I didn't bring enough cats to help? She shook out her pelt. There was nothing she could've done about the last thought. 

Cobrastrike caught up to her, wind streaming through his fur. "Don't worry, Mintpaw. Your Clanmates are warriors! They'll find a way to hold up."

Mintpaw nodded. "I hope so."

The patrol burst into camp, Sharpfur at the lead. The fighting never ceased as the FireClan backup jumped into the battle. Cobrastrike jumped onto the nearest cat that he could see, his claws digging into the rogue's pelt. Viperfang reared upwards, delivering a blow to another rogue's head.

Mintpaw weaved through the crowd. There was nothing more she could do. She could only hope that they would be able to fight off the rogues. Thankfully, though, she noticed that there seemed to be less rogues in the camp. Perhaps her Clanmates had managed to fight some off. 

She darted through the cats, trying her best to avoid claws and teeth. As she bounded through the fighting cats, trying to make her way to the medicine den, she caught sight of Snowfrost and Spottedstar. The two she-cats were reared up, back to back, fending off three rogues. They seemed to be losing. The golden she-cat looked weak, practically leaning against Snowfrost while trying to strike out some blows. Panic seized the tabby. Did Spottedstar lose a life?

The scene looked desperate. Spottedstar was slumped against the white she-cat, having no energy to prop herself up, and Snowfrost was struggling with keeping her leader on her paws while fighting off the rogues. And she looked tired as well after all that fighting. 

The scene looked so bad that it made Mintpaw's paws itch, wanting to step forward and help. Yet she probably would only make the situation worse. Suddenly, a streak of white-and-black shot through the cats. Adderclaw! Her brother zoomed towards them, leaping on a rogue who was swiping at Snowfrost's paws. His claws hooked into the rogue's pelt as he pulled her off, throwing her away before turning on the other attackers. 

"Mintpaw!" Echoleaf's voice ripped through the air, louder than the yowls. "Come here, hurry!"

The gray tabby spun towards her mentor's voice. A silver rogue was charging towards her, her blue eyes narrowed into splits. Mintpaw managed a dodge before bounding towards the medicine den as quickly as possible, the she-cat right on her tail. The tabby lunged into the narrow entrance as Windstrike delivered a fierce blow to the she-cat's nose, making her back off.

"Thank StarClan you're alright!" Echoleaf meowed.

Mintpaw sat on her hunches, panting. "Yeah. Sorry it took so long to fetch help."

Her mentor bowed her head. "It was alright. I imagine that Tigerstar was hard to persuade."

Before Mintpaw could respond, little voices came from the back of the den. 

"I want to help!"

"Me, too!"

Amusement filled the gray tabby as she looked towards the owner of the voices. It was Grassfeather's kits. The brown-and-white queen looked tired as she tugged her kits towards her belly. "No."

"Why not?" the brown she-kit with purple-blue eyes squeaked. "We're three moons old! We're almost apprentices!"

"Almost, Violetkit," Grassfeather mewed wearily. "You're not there yet."

The brown tom-kit besides Violetkit twitched his pelt eagerly. "I know some battle moves! Ravenflight taught some to me yesterday!"

"Oh, did he, Duskkit?"

Mintpaw felt a swirl of sympathy for the queen. She must be exhausted and worried out of her mind. The gray tabby padded towards her. "Here, I can watch Violetkit and Duskkit if you want."

Grassfeather bowed her head. "Thank you." She blinked at her kits. "Mintpaw's going to watch you now."

The kits seemed more than delighted to meet a new cat, for they bounced over instantly, their fluffy pelts bristled with excitement. Mintpaw felt a purr rise in her throat as they danced around her paws. "Hello."

"Hi!" Violetkit squeaked. "I'm Violetkit, and this is Duskkit."

Duskkit nodded eagerly. "Do you want to play? Graywhisker's already told us so many stories!"

"Yeah," Violetkit chimed.

"Hey!" Graywhisker grumped, pretending to be upset. "I can hear you!"

"Don't be mad," Violetkit purred. "They're still great stories."

Mintpaw twitched her tail-tip with amusement, gazing around at the den. Echoleaf and Windstrike were at the entrance, ready to bob any rogues' nose with their unsheathed claws if needed. Mousepelt was asleep, her tail swishing uneasily. This made Mintpaw realize how long the battle had lasted as Graywhisker settled down besides her. Grassfeather looked too worried to sleep, but she laid down, blinking outside of the den. It was up to her to entertain the kits. "What do you want to do, then?"

"Let's play mouse and cat!" Duskkit meowed. "We'll be the hunters, and your tail will be the mouse!" 

Mintpaw's whiskers twitched with amusement. "Okay." She let her tail lay still on the ground, listening as Violetkit and Duskkit crept up on it. Suddenly, she twitched, and felt as the two kits jumped at her tail, their tiny claws scraping at the "mouse". 

As they continued to play, Mintpaw couldn't help but feel her pelt twitch with impatience. She loved playing with Violetkit and Duskkit, but she wanted to be doing something to help with the battle! She wasn't an elder or a queen! There was no need to just sit inside the den! Even Echoleaf was guarding the entrance. Perhaps she could help, but she noticed that Windstrike seemed eager to keep herself busy, too. And if Mintpaw joined them, then it would be too crowded at the entrance. She hated this useless feeling.

Finally, a victorious yowl rose from the clearing. The tabby's heart thumped. Had they won? Or did the rogues take over? However, from a simple glance at Echoleaf and Windstrike's expression, she could tell that AirClan had won the battle. Her pelt fluffed proudly. 

"Come on!" Echoleaf blinked at Mintpaw. "We need to go help treat our Clanmates wounds!"

Mintpaw nodded, leaping out into the clearing after her mentor. Finally, she could be useful! As she bounded outside, her heart dropped as she gazed around the camp. The dens were basically all destroyed. Pieces of bracken and scraps of moss lay scattered on the ground. Branches were everywhere and fallen leaves littered the floor. Dirt was kicked up and dens were collapsed. Only the medicine den looked intact. All her Clanmates looked tired and were covered with several wounds. 

In the center of the camp, Spottedstar was speaking to Sharpfur, thanking FireClan for their help. The golden she-cat looked so weak that she swayed on her paws, threatening to collapse at any moment. Mintpaw recalled Flame's words, about helping Mamba attack Spottedstar. The gray tabby shivered. Whoever Mamba was, she certainly didn't want to ever meet them. 

"We really appreciate FireClan's help," Spottedstar was meowing, her eyes tired. "We'll have our medicine cats treat you before you leave."

Sharpfur nodded stiffly. "Thank you."

Mintpaw darted back into the medicine den to grab the herbs. Nosing through the storage, she snatched up a bundle of cobwebs, marigold, goldenrod, and poppy seeds. When she returned, she and Echoleaf worked quickly to apply the herbs onto the FireClan cats' pelts. While Echoleaf worked on Briarmist, Mintpaw pressed a wad of cobwebs into Cobrastrike's flank, where he had a particularly nasty wound running. Blood soaked into the webs easily, and she pulled them away.

"How'd you get that?" Mintpaw mewed as she lapped at the wound to clean it before pressing another wad of cobwebs into it. She chewed up some goldenrod and applied the poultice onto the wound.

Cobrastrike flinched at the herb. "I was fighting a black she-cat," he meowed. "I don't think I know her name, but she was definitely the leader."

Mintpaw shivered. She had a good guess who the she-cat was. Probably the one that she'd seen that night before the Gathering. She still have flashbacks about the black she-cat's gaze boring into hers. It sent a shiver down her spine.

"Mintpaw?" Cobrastrike prompted, snapping the tabby back into the future.

"Oh- sorry." Mintpaw returned to treating Cobrastrike's wounds. Their conversations continued with more light-hearted topics. The gray tabby really enjoyed spending time with the FireClan tom. She wished that they were able to hang out more. But, unfortunately, they didn't share a border, so she couldn't just bump into him as she did with Leafwhisker and Cloverpaw. 

Finishing up with the poultice, she wrapped the wound with cobwebs, before moving on to Viperfang. The gray-and-white she-cat's eyes had sparkled with a rage of emotions as she watched while Cobrastrike and Mintpaw talked. There was amusement - perhaps from listening to their conversations - and an emotion that made her look as though she was torn between both thoughts, although Mintpaw couldn't possibly begin to guess what they were.

Far too soon, the FireClan patrol had to leave. With another diplomatic thanks and making sure that Sharpfang would pass that on to Tigerstar, Spottedstar watched as they disappeared. Mintpaw stood besides the golden she-cat, watching as Cobrastrike's tail vanished in the bushes. A tired sigh emitted from her as she turned around and padded back into the camp. There was a lot of work to be done. 

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Word Count // 1695

Not Edited

Hi! I know this chapter is pretty much a filler chapter. So now, I'm thinking, should I have some more filler chapters then jump into the future, or should I just straightforwardly jump? I think the filler chapters might make the transition smoother, so I might do that, but I'm not sure. I'll try to make them as interesting as possible, though! Ack, yeah, it's probably going to be the filler chapter option- Well, I'll get working on those. The picture at the top is Violetkit and Duskkit. Bye!