Mintpool sniffed through some snow, pawing at the white clumps, twitching her tail in frustration. She was trying to find something - anything - that could act as bedding for her nest. So far, it seemed that it was all covered by a thick layer of snow. She glanced at the pile of moss besides her. At least I have that.

Holly's eyes lit up happily. "I found some ferns buried under the snow!" With a cheerful whisk of her tail, she leaned down, sticking her muzzle in the flurries, and pulling out a jawful of ferns, looking very proud of herself.

The gray tabby let out a gentle purr. "That's great. Thanks, Holly."

The golden tabby nodded cheerfully, setting down the ferns. "You're really nice," she commented. "Once, I brought one of the other Paws, Thorn, a mouse, and he hissed at me! I was just trying to be kind!" Her tail-tip twitched as she huffed at the memory. "You're way nicer than the other rogues." 

Mintpool ducked her head. "Thank you." Being nice, perhaps, was part of her personality that she'd developed over the years. However, she realized, it was also a strategy. She'd gotten Holly to trust her, hadn't she? If she'd been mean, she would've been left alone, all confused. But now she has a friend. "Same to you. What brings you here?" A bit blunt, but she'd been wondering that all morning.

Holly flicked her ears. "I used to be a kittypet," she explained, pawing at more snow to uncover more ferns. "I loved my Housefolk - they were so nice! But, one day, they just packed up their things and left." Sorrow crept into her green gaze, and Mintpool suddenly felt bad about asking her. The gray tabby opened her jaws, about to request Holly to pause, but the golden tabby barreled on. "I had no idea where they went! They just drove their monster away." A heavy sigh exited her. "I had nowhere else to go. So, I joined the rogues. They promised me food and shelter, which was better than me wandering around blindly, getting attacked my other creatures."

Mintpool flicked her ears, still having questions, wondering if Holly would mind her asking.

The golden tabby caught her gaze, as though she could read her mind. "Go on, what other questions have you got? I don't mind talking about this. It was moons and moons ago! I'm way over my Housefolk leaving me. And, besides, if we're going to be friends we need to understand each other's backstory, right?"

The gray tabby swished her tail, glad that Holly was so understanding. "How did you learn how to hunt and fight?" That was something she thinks she's going to struggling with the most here; she could barely catch a mouse in greenleaf, much less leafbare! She knew one single move, which wouldn't do her much use.

Holly tilted her head, blinking thoughtfully. "I always knew how to hunt," she meowed slowly. "My Housefolk lived on the other side of the forest, where there were no other Twolegs. So, sometimes, I would just come out and try to catch something. I wasn't too bad at it, but I was never really good, either. When I joined the rogues, I improved my skills. As for fighting, I just watched the other cats do it. It's not very rare for a fight to break out. And, if you study it properly, it's not too hard. Don't worry, I can help you practice."

"Thanks," Mintpool mewed, blinking at the golden tabby. Holly's very clever, she thought. She can just watch cats fight and learn it that way? Great StarClan, I could never do that! Her stomach clutched as that phrase appeared in her mind. Forget StarClan! They did nothing to help you, did they? They didn't send any signs when Thistlestar exiled you! Another wave of anger boiled inside her, this time for StarClan. 

"Mintpool?" Holly blinked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry." The gray tabby nosed away some more snow, uncovering her own patch of ferns. "I just got caught up in some thinking."

Holly purred. "It's no problem! So, I already told you why I'm here. What about you?"

Mintpool tilted her head. "I'm getting revenge on my Clan," she meowed. "They've exiled me for no reason. I swore that I'd make them regret it, and I will."

The golden tabby blinked at her. "Wow! Your Clan sounds really mouse-brained for exiling you! And, I'll try to help you any way I can." 

Mintpool let out a grateful purr. "Thanks!" 

"No problem! What are friends for?" Holly let out another gentle purr as she nudged Mintpool. "Cobrastrike and your reasons for hating the Clans are quite similar," she commented, whisking her tail. "Did you know him when you were both in the Clans?"

The gray tabby blinked. "Of course!" she mewed cheerfully. "I don't think a single cat in the Clans don't know Cobrastrike!" Not in a good way, she added to herself. "He's my friend, too."

Holly's eyes widened. "You're friends with Cobrastrike?" As Mintpool nodded, the golden tabby's tail whisked through the air cheerfully. "Wow! He's such a good leader!" Excitement brimmed on her voice. "He's very tough and smart, and his raids always go well! I'm sure with him leading, we'll definitely win against the Clans!" 

The gray tabby purred, ducking her head in a nod of agreement.

Holly shot a quick glance up at the sky. "Come on, it's almost sun-high," she meowed, picking up as much ferns and moss as possible. "Mamba's going to assign new patrols soon. Let's go!"

Mintpool nodded, grabbing as much resources as she could carry, padding after the golden tabby.

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Mamba was already at the top of the boulder by the time the two cats padded back into the camp. All the patrols had returned. The leaders of the spy patrols padded over to Cobrastrike, reporting the information. The hunting patrols deposited their prey at a pile towards the center, like a fresh-kill pile; but, Mintpool noticed, none of the cats had approached to take any prey. 

The gray tabby shot a glance at Mamba. She felt wary of the black she-cat after what had happened this morning. Mamba's gaze caught towards Mintpool and Holly, her lips curling into a snarl as she saw them before turning away.

"Afternoon announcements!" Mamba yowled with a lash of her tail, quieting down the chatter in the clearing. "Jaws reported that FireClan seems very agitated and on edge. Their borders have been marked heavily more than twice. He also said that he heard the border patrols whispering about a huge attack, one that they're going to launch on us."

Mintpool and Holly exchanged a glance. The gray tabby had left before the leaders decided on a firm date; she had no idea when the attack's going to happen! However, due to Moonstar over worrying, they'd agreed that it wouldn't happen until at least two moons later, when every cat will be fully prepared. 

"The prey pile has been restocked," Mamba continued. "Council, it is now your time to eat. Eat now or have some cat save prey for you. After this, there will be no more prey for you!"

Mintpool's ears flicked with surprise. You're only allowed to eat when your group is called? She watched as a small portion of the cats padded over to the pile, greedily selecting as much prey as they could carry before retreating, digging into their feast. However, the gray tabby noticed what Mamba had called them, and she twitched her pelt, confused.

"What's the Council?" she whispered to Holly. Before her friend could answer, Mamba cut them off with another yowl.

"This afternoon there will be two spying patrols, a hunting patrol, and a raiding patrol. Fury, lead the hunting patrol. Select cats from Fang. Poison, take a spying patrol. Bring cats from Paws, and spy on AirClan. Snake, you're leading the other spying patrol with cats from Tail, watch WaterClan. Finally, Claw, you have the raiding patrol, raid AirClan." With that, Mamba leaped off of the rock, having finished the patrols.

Mintpool flicked her ears at the mention of AirClan. I hope they destroy the territory and camp. She turned to Holly, about to repeat her question of the Council once more, when a she-cat, who she assumed was Poison, yowled towards them.

"Holly! You're on this patrol! Come on!" 

"Coming, Poison!" Holly called back. Turning back to Mintpool, she meowed, "Sorry, I need to go on patrol! See you when I get back?"

Mintpool heaved out a sigh. What should I do now? As patrols began heading out, she noticed the sound of paw steps sounding behind her.

"Hello," Cobrastrike's voice meowed as the tom ducked into her sight. 

"Hi!" Mintpool chirped back.

Her friend swept his tail. "How about a tour of the camp?" he asked. "You're going to need it if you want to understand everything perfectly."

"Sure!" the gray tabby purred. With that, she trotted after Cobrastrike.

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Word Count // 1516

Not Edited

Hey, here's Chapter 5. If I'm being honest, I don't really like this chapter; I'm probably going to re-write it. Anyway, there's some more information on Holly's background in this chapter! Also, I know that the ranks may be confusing, so I'll basically have Cobrastrike explain it all in the next chapter. Anyway, that's all. Bye!