Mintpool trotted after the patrol, her paws leading her without a thought from her mind; even after being moons away from AirClan's territory, she could still navigate around with ease. 

"I'll go tell Thistlestar what happened," Robinflight meowed, shooting a look of disdain towards Mintpool. With a flick of her tail, she bolted away towards camp.

The brown she-cat seemed to be the only one who wasn't grieving very hard for Echoleaf's death. Perhaps it was her dislike for medicine cats as a whole, or just that she wasn't as close with Echoleaf as her other Clanmates. Whatever it was, her eyes didn't have that heavy shadow of grief as the rest of the patrol members did.

Soon, the camp was in sight. Flowershine and Whitewhisker trotted in first, having Echoleaf's body, their movements stiff and full of sorrow. Mintpool took a deep breath, following them, Redfeather on her tail. 

Inside, it seemed as though the entire Clan was gathered around them. Robinflight's warning clearly worked; none of the cats let out cries of shock at the sight of Mintpool nor Echoleaf's dead body, only soft murmurs of grief. 

Flowershine and Whitewhisker darted off to the side to lay down Echoleaf's body. The Clan then began to part, some padding over to share tongues for the last time with their medicine cat; others stayed, blinking at Mintpool curiously. Thistlestar was one of them, his tail-tip twitching back and forth.

"Mintpool, I'm so glad you've decided to rejoin AirClan," the tom meowed. "Especially at times like this... AirClan is in debt to you." 

The gray tabby flicked her tail, brushing his words off. "No need for that," she mewed. "AirClan is my Clan now again. I'm simply doing this for the good of the Clan and to honor Echoleaf."

Thistlestar nodded, ducking his head. "I promise, AirClan will welcome you back with open arms. If any cat does not, feel free to send them my way and I'll have a chat with them."

Mintpool twitched her pelt in acknowledgement, feeling satisfaction spreading within her. Looks like the manipulation's going to be even easier than I predicted. "I'll go take care of Echoleaf's body now."

"Oh, Mintpool, one more thing," Thistlestar meowed. "If you don't mind... er, Echoleaf did have an apprentice, Spotpaw. Would you mind...?"

The gray tabby swished her tail. "Sure, I'll take over Spotpaw's training."

The leader's eyes flooded with relief. "Wonderful. Thank you."

Mintpool responded with a simple twitch of her whiskers before turning around and padding towards the medicine den. She could feel the gazes of her Clanmates on her; some nervous and others happy. 

Before she could enter the den, however, a soft voice sounded behind her. "Mintpool?"

The gray tabby turned around, coming face to face with Adderclaw. Anger flared inside her stomach. Her own brother, who had said nothing when Robinflight was yowling about exiling her. He'd said absolutely nothing in her defense. 

The cat Mintpool loathed the most, of course, was Robinflight. Without her, she would've never been exiled. But the cats she felt betrayed by the most was Adderclaw and Echoleaf. Both cats had said nothing, just watched, whilst she desperately tried defending herself.

"What do you want?" Mintpool twitched her tail-tip, voice sharp.

"I just wanted-" Adderclaw's voice faltered. "I just wanted to say sorry, and that I really-"

Mintpool scoffed, cutting him off. She wasn't in the mood for apologies, especially not from Adderclaw. As if an apology could make up what he did, or, more accurately, didn't do. Maybe an apology could've healed their relationship as apprentices, before this all happened. But definitely not after. "If that's all you had to say, I'll be going now."

"Wait!" Adderclaw meowed, his voice desperate. "Er- not only that, I just wanted to mention Spotpaw's apprenticeship." 

The gray tabby felt her lips pull back into a snarl. "What about it? Does Flowershine not want me to be Spotpaw's mentor?"

Her brother's gaze directed to the ground, but Mintpool knew she'd found the answer. Before, she might've felt a prickle of betrayal, even though she and the ginger she-cat weren't ever close. Now, however, she shook it off easily. She needed to care about Flowershine's opinions in order for them to harm her.

"Well, does she have an alternative? Perhaps having Spotpaw become a warrior? Does she want a medicine cat from a different Clan to train Spotpaw?" Mintpool's voice was laced with anger; she didn't bother putting up the fake, sweet act in front of her brother. He knew she was angry at him. If she didn't seem angry, he might think something was wrong.

"No!" Adderclaw yelped. "Oh, StarClan, no. Er... I don't think she has an alternative, but she just doesn't really... trust you?" The last bit sounded like a question, as if he was wondering if he should be telling this to Mintpool.

"Trust me?" The gray tabby tilted her head, interested. "Why doesn't she?"

"Well... she thinks you would be super angry being exiled, and you would want to get some sort of revenge on AirClan..." Adderclaw's voice trailed off. "She doesn't want that revenge landing on Spotpaw. It's ridiculous, I know."

Mintpool flicked her tail. Flowershine's instincts were right on spot, but she wasn't one bit intimidated. She had a fool-proof plan. "Oh, I see." The gray tabby blinked. "Well, tell her that unless she wants a Clan without a medicine cat, she needs to get those ridiculous thoughts out of her head. I've been betrayed by this Clan that I've served almost my entire life. So why did I come back, Adderclaw?"

Her brother's jaws opened but no reply came.

"Well, because I wanted to give AirClan a second chance. But should Flowershine ever bring up these theories again, tell her that I am willing to give AirClan a second chance, but now I can hunt, I can fight. I can live on my own, and I am not staying where I'm not welcomed, where I can give more than I can receive."

Adderclaw nodded quickly. "Alright. I'll make sure to tell her that. Although... it's just gossip. No cat's going to believe it."

Mintpool snorted. "You wouldn't believe what cats would believe. Some are stupid enough to believe that medicine cats would have kits. Some believe it strong enough to exile their medicine cat right on the spot." Her green gaze burned into Adderclaw's blue one. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Flicking her tail, she disappeared into the den.

Inside, a white she-cat with black splotches was nosing unenergetically at a pile of herbs. Spotpaw. Mintpool blinked at the apprentice, her gaze flitting across the young cat's pelt. It reminded her so deeply of Snowfrost...

As the apprentice turned around, their gazes met, and Mintpool felt shock ripple through her. Her green gaze met Spotpaw's, their eyes identical. 

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Word Count // 1123

Not Edited

Hi! This chapter is sort of a filler, but I had a lot of fun writing it! Mintpool's acting snarky! And, Spotpaw's in this chapter! I don't know about you, but I've always found her an interesting character. If you did see Spotpaw's chapter for Name that Apprentice, it does say that she's Adderclaw's favorite, mainly because that she reminds him of his mother and sister! So, I really did want to add how she'd inherited Mintpool's eyes in this chapter. I was going to end this chapter on a more dramatic note, though, but I figured it was long enough.

Also, if you didn't really understand what Mintpool and Adderclaw were saying, in a shortened, more simpler version, she was basically telling him that she could live on her own and she was doing AirClan a favor by returning, and that she won't hesitate to leave. But, it looks like she might have some trouble with Flowershine...

Anyway, sorry for this super long Author's Note! The cat at the top is Flowershine! She didn't talk in this chapter, but when she was mentioned, that was pretty important. Have a great day! Bye!