Mintpaw was frozen in shock. The news had been thrown at her so wildly, right after announcing Viperfang's death. Her tabby fur was ruffled. Cobrastrike? Exiled? Surely there's a mistake. I must have heard wrong. The gray tabby glanced sideways at Cloverpaw. Her friend's green eyes were wide with surprise, shock, and sadness, crashing down on her.

"We ask that if any Clan finds Cobrastrike on their land, they chase him out instantly," Tigerstar meowed. "I'm afraid that he's still wandering around our borders."

The other Clan leaders exchanged a glance. Although it was clear that they didn't like Fireclaw's descendants any more than FireClan did, they didn't want to be taking orders from Tigerstar.

"It's for the best, for all the Clans," Tigerstar promised. 

"Okay," Spottedstar mewed, hesitantly. The other leaders echoed her words, their pelts bristled.

Mintpaw's paws itched. There seemed to be no more point in the Gathering. She was feeling a devastating grief for Viperfang and Cobrastrike. Would she ever even see her friend again? She didn't know. Panic and desperation seized her. She didn't want to lose Cobrastrike. Suddenly, a terrifying thought flashed through her mind.

The rogues' camp are by FireClan's territory, and if Cobrastrike was exiled, I doubt he will have travelled up to EarthClan and AirClan's lands... Mintpaw's pelt twitched. He's by the rogues! He could be in danger! 

Cloverpaw didn't seem to realize this. Her gaze was still saddened, not worried. Leafwhisker's was completely unreadable. 

Mintpaw shivered. Her paws itched, wanting to get out of the Gathering as quickly as possible and check on Cobrastrike. She wanted to make sure that he was okay!

The rest of the Gathering seemed to go by painfully slow. Mintpaw's tail swished with impatience and worry. The other cats had moved on from the news as though a dead cat and an exiled warrior was nothing! Moonstar was now giving a report on how prey was running well, and Mintpaw couldn't help but find that completely uninteresting and unneeded. She couldn't understand how the leaders were able to move on so calmly and normally.

Finally, the Gathering was at a close. Mintpaw shot to her paws as cats moved around, beginning to share tongues. Leafwhisker turned to her, confused. "Is everything okay?"

The gray tabby blinked at him in shock. "What? You heard Tigerstar's announcement! Aren't you worried about Cobrastrike?"

Leafwhisker shrugged. "Yeah, but Cobrastrike did kill a cat. Why are you so worried for him?"

The question made Mintpaw pause. Leafwhisker had a point. Cobrastrike had killed one of his Clanmates. But somehow, she didn't believe that he'd done it simply out of the pain of loosing Viperfang. There had to have been some other reasoning behind that. It just didn't make sense that he would take his anger out randomly on one of his Clanmates! And, sure, she didn't agree with what he did, but if he was hurt so badly that he'd killed a cat, she wanted to check up on him.

"If Viperfang's death cause him so much pain that he'd killed a cat, then I want to make sure he's okay," Mintpaw replied, twitching her tail-tip. She'd barely spoken to Viperfang and felt deep grief for the gray-and-white she-cat's death. She couldn't imagine what Cobrastrike was feeling. "Besides, who knows what he'll do. He might just keep killing cats in grief." She didn't believe that last part, but it seemed enough to convince Leafwhisker. 

Mintpaw bounded towards Echoleaf, trying to come up with an excuse in her mind to leave. Cloverpaw and Echoleaf seemed to be finished with their conversation, and the brown-and-white she-cat sat by herself to one side, perhaps wrapped up in whatever she and the AirClan medicine cat were talking about or Tigerstar's announcements. 

Mintpaw felt a twinge of jealousy that Echoleaf had shared something with Cloverpaw and not herself. She was Echoleaf's apprentice after all, not Cloverpaw! However, that was small to what was on her mind at the moment.

The gray tabby rushed towards her mentor. "Hey, Echoleaf! I just remembered that we were low on marigold, and Riverfrost had a really nasty cut on his flanks. I thought that I'd go out and collect more right now." As soon as she blurted out the excuse, she felt like kicking herself. What she had said was correct, but it made no sense that she'd want to go collect the herb right now.

Clearly, Echoleaf thought so, because her eyes narrowed. "Right now? It's almost moon-high."

"Yeah, well, I got this sudden urge," Mintpaw meowed awkwardly, "and we might be too busy tomorrow to do it. Also, the weather is changing quickly. It'll be leaf-fall soon." Again, her excuses were stupid. 

Echoleaf blinked. "This is about Cobrastrike, isn't it? You were friends with him, right?" 

Mintpaw felt her gut twist. Her mentor's expression was serious, making her think that Echoleaf was going to give her a lecture on this. Her expression seemed to give Echoleaf the answer that she was looking for.

"He's a bad influence," Echoleaf meowed softly. "You heard what Tigerstar had said, he killed a cat! But, I know you still must be upset that you lost a friend. I understand if you want to go take a walk in the forest or something, and clear your mind. Just return to the camp by moon-high and beware of the rogues."

"Okay!" Mintpaw didn't bother processing her mentor's words, about Cobrastrike being a bad influence and whatnot. From all the times she'd talked to the tom, he'd been as kind as could be. All she cared about was that Echoleaf was letting her leave. Turning around, she bounded out of the Gathering, waving a hurried goodbye to Cloverpaw and Leafwhisker.

The night air seemed cooler somehow as the gray tabby burst out of the clearing. There was no hesitation in her movements as she spun around, bounding towards FireClan's territory.

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"Cobrastrike?" Mintpaw's voice echoed into the darkness of the trees. She'd left FireClan's borders behind some time ago, and was now wandering in the woods. She could still vaguely smell the border, so she wasn't lost. However, there was no sign of her friend. She could feel her throat practically closing with desperation. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen Cobrastrike. A moon ago? Longer? She hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye. 

"Cobrastrike!" Mintpaw called again, louder, her fur rippling. One more try, and then she'd head back to camp. She really hoped she would find him.

Suddenly, the rogue scents drifted in her jaws, making her freeze in her tracks. Terror filled every bone of her body, unable to move. You mouse-brain! You might've just walked into the rogues' camp! However, that made her worry for Cobrastrike grow. Was he okay from the rogues?

All of a sudden, a tail wrapped around her shoulder. Mintpaw let out a silent yowl of panic, trying to struggle away, thrashing. Horror filled her. It could be a rogue. She didn't know. As the mysterious cat dragged her into a bush, she was suddenly released.

"You mouse-brain!" a familiar voice mewed, soft. "You could've alerted the rogues about where we were!"

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Word Count // 1184

Not Edited

Hi! Sorry for not posting for a couple of days. Honestly, I was having trouble writing this chapter. A writing block, I guess. I think it's over now, though, thankfully. Anyway, it's almost summer break for me! Updates might be slower following that, because I'll be spending most of my time with friends and family. Still, I'll do my best to continue the book! Okay, who do you think the cat is? Personally I think it's pretty obvious, but... Tell me your guesses! Okay, bye!