coming to a close. thank you all!
Chapter Five: She Left for Them
A silence stretched for a moment, then Blackstar bounded over to place himself before the fox leader. Wrath bared his teeth.
"We had a deal!" Blackstar snapped.
The ragged canine snorted. "Why should I risk my warriors, when I can just take my prize and leave? Maybe even enjoy some nice cat meat-"
Suddenly, WindClan cats, bristling and prepared for the sight of foxes, poured from the gorse tunnel, led by Brackenfur, who crumpled to the ground once in the clearing of his clan's camp. Only Sorreltail dared to move as WindClan, who were slightly startled at the silence, began to circle the entire group, waiting for commands from Onestar. Sorreltail bounded forward between enemy cat and fox alike and began licking the fallen tom's face. One of the foxes gave bark of laughter while someone muttered about the recklessness of cats.
Wrath, again, smirked at Blackstar's misfortune. "It seems the tide has turned against you," he barked, then, raising his voice for all to hear, made an offer. "ThunderClan, WindClan, I will lead my warriors away from here without a single one of us harming your cats- if you let us take that fox there."
Everyone looked up at the lone vixen that stood atop the Highrock who's eyes were wide with surprise. Her red tail twitched and then she really realized what was happening. Her heart raced almost painfully. Foxpaw shot Firestar a desperate glance, but she noticed with a jolt that it looked as if he may be considering the proposition.
Then his green eyes snapped up to glare at Wrath and Blackstar. "No," he growled, making his beloved very proud. "Foxpaw is one of ThunderClan. She will not leave with you."
As Foxpaw stood atop Highrock, relief made her dizzy, and rapid thoughts spun in her mind. He cared about her! How much did the rest of the clan agree? She took a quick glance down. Many hard, angry gazes came back, and she realized the chaos she had thrown upon the clans had lived there long before her arrival.
Foxpaw blinked, then closed her eyes and smiled. It was about time she paid her debt.
"Firestar," she called down. "There is no need for that."
Brackenfur was beginning to come around at the sound of his apprentice. What happened to her? Why does she sound so... defeated? No, mature. Yes, Foxpaw sounds mature. What happened...? Sorreltail continued to lick and nose-nudge the tom awake as his amber gaze blinked through the haze of unconsciousness. Foxpaw was standing tall at Highrock's peak. She nodded at Wrath then leapt down to face him. Her brown eyes were hard with barely hidden hate, but she stepped up to glare him in the eye.
Firestar stared silently in understanding. There was nothing to be done to help her. "Foxpaw, it is not my decision as to what you do with your life, but do realize what you're getting yourself into first."
As Foxpaw's superior and someone she truly looked up to, she turned to Firestar and spoke softly. "Thank you for having mercy. Thank you for raising me, but I've brought too much trouble already.
A piercing yowl went through the night. "ShadowClan, attack!" Blackstar's face was twisted with rage as he stepped toward Wrath menacingly. But ShadowClan didn't move.
"I am your leader! Do as I say!" But still, ShadowClan was not as stupid as their infuriated leader, and they knew to attack was to die. This was a battle they were doomed to lose.
Wrath laughed his cruel, heartless laugh. "Blackstar, even your own cats have turned against you!"
"Tapscott, leave." With the simple order, all the foxes left the clan camp, including Foxpaw.
So the ThunderClan and WindClan leader turned their snarling faces to Blackstar and his clan. "Do you still wish to fight?"
Instantly, ShadowClan retreated. Firestar heaved a sigh, relief mingled with sadness. "Thank you, WindClan, for coming to my clan's aid. It was fortunate that you were not forced to fight. But we have lost a great warrior, and we must treat our injuries."
Onestar nodded and led his clan home.
Ferncloud all the while, along with her apprenticed kits, were devastated. "Foxpaw was just as much my kit as the ones I gave life to." Dustpelt immediately limped over to the she-cat and pressed his flank to hers.
Brackenfur was silent, but his eyes swam with exhaustion and grief. Sorreltail tried her best to comfort him but to no avail.
"She chose her fate, Brackenfur. There was nothing you could do."
"I don't think she even considered fighting, causing us more damage. Foxpaw was a brilliant apprentice, too. I never even got her to the mountains like I promised." Still dizzy from blood loss, the tom limped across the clearing, supported by Sorreltail, closer to Leafpool and Cinderpelt for medical attention.
Meanwhile, Foxpaw was striding stiff-legged beside Wrath at the back of the group, who was talking about something, a compliment slipped in on her appearance every now and then. He even laid his bushy tail over her back.
Wrath received a good clawing over the ear as the young vixen gave a catlike hiss. "Don't touch me."
The fox leader tilted his head down, shadows hiding his dark smile as blood trickled silently down his face. "Wild-spirited, just like Moon. But you're smarter than your mother."
There was a rustle and a flash of movement. Snarling laced the night air. Foxpaw's eyes flashed with a light that was not hers, like she was possessed. Dancing forward relentlessly, swipe after bite, Foxpaw attacked Wrath down to submission. But Wrath wasn't seeing Foxpaw attacking; he was being sent down the path of painful memory. The way Foxpaw was fighting, her steps, her advances, were not Foxpaw's style but Moon's.
Wrath was remembering battles with the other fox tribes when Moon had fought for him, but now, those tactics he recognized as Moon's were being used against him. Terror filled his chest as his wounds began to wear him down. Now his tribe heard the commotion. They turned back to see a possessed vixen defeating their leader. Wrath's eyes were rolling back. He could not understand why he was so scared, but the ferocity that Moon had to protect her daughter cowed the dastardly leader.
And even as Moon fought using Foxpaw's body, Dane was her shadow. His skills were in step with Moon's, advancing together, protecting their young.
"Fools!" Moon spat at the fox tribe. "Why do you follow this tyrant? Defeat him! Destroy him! We can do it together." None of the foxes moved as she jumped snarling again in the fight. She was right, they knew, but why should they give up the clever leader? With him, their enemies were nothing! But this was at the price of their own justice.
A grayish fox leapt forward and sank his teeth into Wrath's bushy tail. Then another came to her aid, and another after that.
The tyrant was dead. Foxpaw hunched over his motionless form, released from the queer grip of possession, and spat with hate. The Foxtribe stared at her. They now seemed weak and small without a commander. But a grizzled dogfox came forward.
"So greatly do you resemble the ancient Light Stream."
Foxpaw did not know the legends and tales of Foxtribes, but there was one, in the beginning of tribes, where a lone vixen called Light Stream came from the wilderness to defeat a tyrant.
"But," the older fox continued. "You are still very young. You need a mentor, and a leader." The fox looked up to the tribe, and they seemed to have a collective nod.
"Leaf would be a good leader," someone from the crowd murmured. Instantly, whispers of agreement swept through the crowd. Leaf the fox met their gazes then looked at Foxpaw.
"Then he should be," was Foxpaw's simple reply.
The dogfox in question bowed his head and padded forward. He looked up, young for a leader, but wise. "It would be my honor to serve my tribe." And it was decided then that Leaf would be the leader of Tapscott Foxtribe.
Leaf gave a concluding nod then signaled with his tail as he spoke. "Tapscott, to home."
"Wait, Leaf." It was Foxpaw.
He blinked down at her and paused. "Do you wish to return to the cats that raised you?"
A voice from a dream sounded again in Foxpaw's head. From long ago when Leopardstar nearly killed her, Foxpaw's parents and an old ThunderClan leader had spoken to her. Don't forget your own kind. Foxpaw knew what the voice meant and where her home was meant to be.
Then the vixen replied, "I-I just have to say goodbye." Leaf nodded, and she darted back through the undergrowth. It was not long before she stepped out of the gorse tunnel where the surprised clan looked up at her.
Brackenfur was huddled beside Sorreltail miserably. Then the she-cat gasped, and Brackenfur followed her gaze to the newly-injured Foxpaw. He was instantly on his paws and running to meet her.
"How-how did you escape? What happened-?" But Foxpaw silenced his words with a nose-touch.
"Wrath is gone, and I couldn't leave without goodbye, mentor."
Brackenfur blinked blankly then gave a wistful smile. "Then it is goodb-"
"Foxpaw!" Firestar's voice unknowingly interrupted Brackenfur. "Foxpaw, how did you come back?"
The vixen shook her head tiredly. "The fox leader is no more. But, I'm going where I belong."
The fiery tom then insisted, "Then we must perform your warrior ceremony." The clan was now gathered to see Foxpaw and the ritual, even Longtail nodding approvingly. ""I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Foxpaw do you promise to protect and defend your tribe, even at the cost of your own life?"
Although the words were altered slightly, Foxpaw replied instantly, "I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name: Foxpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Foxheart. StarClan honors your bravery and your strength and we all welcome you as a full warrior." He laid his head on hers and in response, she respectfully licked his shoulder.
"Foxheart, Foxheart!" the clan called the name that might be an insult to a cat, but to Foxheart, it was a compliment.
Firestar reminded the new warrior quickly, "Explain to your tribe of your vigil of silence and that you must guard your camp until dawn. Now go, warrior."
The young fox stared into the faces of her friends, gave Brackenfur a nose-nudge then trotted away, wondering if she would ever see them again.
Aw, that was sweet. Thank you all again!