#mintswirl

Top to bottom, left to right!

Parsleystar, Stormclaw, Mintswirl, Shellpaw Burdockheart, Tumblefern, Honeydew, Zazu Algaesky, Pinedash, Beamsnow, Kitecrash Skyrumble, Oakshimmer, Acornpool, Asphodelfang Ashpelt, Gingerfleck, Sorrelfur, Barleyclaw Foampaw, Basspaw, Seedpaw, Podpaw, Specklepaw Jaykit, Dovekit, Swallowkit, Sparrowkit, Ploverkit, Cormorantkit Lynxfur, Sakari, Pondfang, Shadowbloom

"Good news, Sakari!" Mintswirl grinned. "You're free of whitecough!"

"I knew you'd do just fine," Sakari sighed at him. "You worry for no reason, really." Mintswirl twitched, recalling Sakari's almost nonchalance about the chance of dying, and wanted to tell her that it wasn't her sickness he was truly worried about, but bit the words back.

"Thank you for your confidence in me."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Frozenwhisker?" Parsleystar whispered. Frozenwhisker turned to her, ears twitching with interest. They were almost touching, curled up in a patch of grass together and watching the stars. "I... want to tell you something."

Anything, Frozenwhisker almost said. You can tell me anything in the world.

"Go ahead," was what he said instead.

"I'm getting old. My bones creak now, and my joints ache all the time. And before I get too old, I just wanted... I wanted to say that I love you."

Frozenwhisker's breath caught in his throat.

"I... love you too."

Mintswirl froze, looming over the brown she-cat. She glared up at them, her fur bristling, but made no move to attack them. The reason for that was perfectly clear- five tiny scraps of fur squirmed at her belly, mewling for their mother's attention.

"You're- uh- DogwoodClan," Mintswirl finally blurted out. "What are you doing here?"

"None of your business," she sniffed.

"Well... it sort of is. You're on ButterflyClan territory. Are you... okay? Do you need any help?" She glared at him for several minutes more before deflating, sheathing her claws and smoothing her fur.

"I can't go back to DogwoodClan," she sighed, looking away. "Bramblestar... well, I made them mad."

"Bramblestar exiled you?" Mintswirl's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh, no! No, they didn't exile me! I left on my own. But I made them mad, and they made me mad, and I really just... don't like anyone there. I felt so alone in DogwoodClan. So I left."

There was a long quiet between them, Mintswirl standing awkwardly over her and the she-cat focusing on her kittens.

"Uh... What are their names?"

"Oh! This is Crabkit, Bubblekit, Shellkit, Basskit, and Foamkit. My father always told me stories of his time as a boat cat," she added sheepishly. "I thought this would be a nice way to remember him. I'm Kitecrash."

"Mintswirl."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

The ground was wet and muddy from the melted snow, but Frozenwhisker couldn't find it within himself to mind it. It was the first time since their son had been born that Parsleystar felt up to a walk, and he was making the absolute most of it. They walked in a comfortable silence, tails entwined.

"A tunnel!" Parsleystar gasped suddenly. "Do you think it's a fox hole?"

"Maybe in the past, but there's no scents around here any more," Frozenwhisker responded after a sniff. He crept into the hole, his belly low to the ground. "It's spacious!" he called back. He started to wriggle his way back out when his paws slipped on the mud. The tunnel around him started to crumble, and there was mud in his mouth and his eyes, and all he could smell was dirt, and there was so much weight on his body, oh StarClan he was trapped, and he struggled and struggled, but he could feel his struggling growing weaker, and his chest burned with the need to breathe... and all the while, he could hear Parsleystar screaming his name.

Whiskershade slunk into camp, soaking wet and looking for all the world like she'd rather not be here.

"What happened?" Beamsnow gaped at her from where he was sitting outside the nursery.

"Fell into the river," Whiskershade mumbled, and started coughing. Mintswirl bustled over and muttered for her to stay still while they pressed their ear against her chest and listened.

"You have water in your lungs," they announced after a moment. "There's not much I can do about that, you'll just have to wait it out." They patted her shoulder comfortingly, and Whiskershade looked just a little more miserable.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Parsleystar plopped down next to Frozenwhisker with a long sigh. He pressed his cheek against his mate's, closing his eyes and purring, hoping the rumble would soothe her. It seemed to do the job, Parsleystar's muscles untensing and her body relaxing.

"Algaesky's still sick," she mumbled, pressing closer to him. "Mintswirl's worried about her. They think Whiskershade might come down with a cold, too. And I'm pregnant."

Frozenwhisker's purring stuttered to a stop and he sat frozen. He slowly pulled away and stared at Parsleystar with wide eyes.

"You're..."

"Pregnant."

A long silence stretched out between them. Parsleystar was very carefully not looking at him, and growing tenser by the moment.

"You're pregnant!" Frozenwhisker burst out, leaping to his paws. "With my kits! Oh, Parsleystar!" He began purring again, his whole body shaking with his joy. "You'll have to take things slower now, I'll make sure your nest is as soft as possible-"

Parsleystar laughed at him, her eyes glittering with happiness as she watched the normally quiet tom babble about all the things he'll have to do to prepare. Her heart felt like it would burst. He'll be such a good father...

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Mintswirl squinted at Hickorymarsh for barely a second before informing him that he had greencough.

"Are you sure? You barely looked," he probed. Mintswirl nodded, snatching herbs from their storage.

"It's definitely greencough. Which is really not what I need right now." They scowled into their storage. "I can give you some borage for your cough, but there's not a lot right now."

"Oh, it's okay. I can go without it if I need to, it's no trouble."

Mintswirl gave Hickorymarsh a sharp look. "Absolutely not. I'll just... find some more. Somewhere."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"ButterflyClan honors you and your service. I call upon StarClan to give you many, many moons of rest."

Lynxfur let out a breath. Her bones had been aching so much lately, and she'd known she was slowing down for a while. She'd fought against the idea for as long as she could, but eventually she had to give in and admit it was time for her to retire.

"Applekit's just been coughing a lot, and I know it's probably nothing, but what if it's yellowcough? Or redcough?" Beamsnow paced as he spoke, his claws digging into the dirt. "It's getting close to leafbare, he can't be sick during leafbare. What if-"

"Beamsnow," Mintswirl interupted. "Applekit is fine. It's just kittencough."

Beamsnow's eyes widened. "But what if it's more than that? What if you're wrong?"

"It's kittencough. All Applekit needs is rest and quiet." Mintswirl held back the urge to roll their eyes. First time parents were always so stressful to deal with.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"- And then Pinedash called them gross, which I guess is fair, but old love is so cute, you know? We'd all been hoping Parsleystar and Frozenwhisker would get together for so long, and they're just so sweet together-"

Burdockheart's words were like honey in Algaesky's ears. Thick and syrupy, and the sound of them so sweet. She could listen to Burdockheart speak for years, she thinks. Her voice is so pretty, almost as pretty as she is.

"Oh. Uhm. Thank you?"

Oh. Algaesky had... said that out loud. Ah, well. At least Burdockheart knew that she was so, so pretty now.

A white tom with pale green eyes. He's nervous and insecure, but a great kitsitter. He likes the idea of kits, and would one day like to have some litters of his own.

Mintswirl is protective, warm, and caring. Storms and crowds freak him out, and he would rather like to do his job in peace and quiet, thank you very much.

Mintswirl is formerly a Loner.

Mintswirl let out a little puff of air. Shellpaw eyed them, his paws hard at work on the poultice for the infection in Burdockheart's bone.

"Are you okay?" Shellpaw asked eventually.

"Being a healer is exhausting," Mintswirl answered simply. Shellpaw nodded.

"At least the infection in Skyrumble's tail has healed." Mintswirl hummed in agreement. "It may not have finished healing, but it's on its way." Mintswirl considered this for a moment, then purred, reached over, and patted Shellpaw's head.

"Thank you, Shellpaw. You're a very good apprentice."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Skyrumble flinched in surprise as Asphodelfang stormed up to him.

"I like you, and I think we should be mates," she informed him sternly. He stared at her, gaping.

"Oh. Uhh.. okay. I like you too?" He stammered. "I would... I would really like to be mates. Yeah."

Mintswirl fretted over Stormclaw's broken leg as Shellpaw bandaged Pondfang's tail. "It'll be more likely to get infected than usual, since it's leafbare and they were injured by dogs. We'll have to keep very, very close eyes on these two."

"What if their wounds do get infected?" Shellpaw asked, pausing in his work and staring at Mintswirl with wide eyes.

"We won't worry about it for right now. If it happens, I'll walk you through it, but until then we'll just keep watch."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Guess what." Algaesky plopped down next to Burdockheart, her eyes wide and her tail flicking eagerly.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant!"

Burdockheart gaped at her friend before leaping to her paws. "Algaesky, that's excellent! I'm so happy for you! Do you know who the father is?"

"Thank you! Yes, I know the father. He's a barn cat who lives a little ways away from our territory- I'd been thinking about kits for a while, and he agreed to help."

"Congratulations!" Burdockheart pressed herself against Algaesky, and the two she-cats purred so hard their bodies shook.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Gingerpaw, you have trained hard and learned well. Your warrior name will be Gingerfleck. We honor your joy and your playfulness, and we welcome you as a full member of ButterflyClan."