The Rise of Foxstar ( Warrior Cat Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

"Foxpaw." A voice shook him out of his thoughts. Turning towards the direction in which he heard his name, Foxpaw saw Hollybreeze, the deputy, and Blazeclaw, an elder.

Foxpaw walked over to them, trying to keep a straight face. His heart was pounding as he still thought of Lionpaw. "Um, hello." He greeted quietly, Blazeclaw gave him a strange look at this, but said nothing about it.

"Guess what?" Hollybreeze asked cheerfully, her fluffy black tail flicking,"I convinced Swiftstar to let you come to the Gathering tonight!" Blazeclaw chuckled at Hollybreeze,"I helped..." He said after the deputy finished, his green eyes were full of amusement as he watched the kit-like Hollybreeze.

Foxpaw faked an excited grin,"Really?!" He said hopefully, but inside, he was a bit worried, he still wanted to find out about that dream he had.

"You bet your dinner! Blazeclaw and I made a whole argument about it and it convinced Swiftstar alright!" Hollybreeze exclaimed, her tail twitching excitedly. Foxpaw appreciated the deputy's enthusiasm alright, he really did. But he had wanted to just sit down and think while the clan was at the Gathering.

Foxpaw nodded,"Thanks..." He said and looked down at his paws, a thought appearing in his mind. Should I ask them? Do they know what the Dark Forest is? He thought desperately.

"You alright?" Blazeclaw asked, catching Foxpaw off guard. Sucking in a breath, he replied,"Yeah, just fine."

Hollybreeze nodded,"Good, 'cause we'll be leaving soon." Foxpaw gritted his teeth and said,"Oh, great." He had the urge to growl a bit, but held back, he was in enough trouble with Swiftstar as it is.

"Yeah, so anyways... you better get some rest, I talked with Swiftstar and he said you are excused from your punishment today only. " Hollybreeze explained, her fluffy tail twitching with excitement. Blazeclaw watched the deputy in amusement, his green eyes shining with pride.

Foxpaw remembered Crowpaw explaining to him that Blazeclaw was actually Hollybreeze's mother, Creamfrost's, brother. They didn't look a lot alike since Hollybreeze got her pelt and eyes from her father, Blacktail..

"Alright... thanks..." He replied carefully, unsure if he should ask or not. What if they get mad? What if it's a bad place? I mean, the Dark Forest sounds terrible! He thought desperately, his heartbeat quickening rapidly, Just the name in general sounds bad... 'Dark' must mean it's dark, right? Like evil dark.

Hollybreeze nodded, her tail twitching, "Well, I have to go organize some more patrols, so please excuse me." She said bluntly, walking away to where a few warriors were talking.

Blazeclaw watched her go, as did Foxpaw. "Well, I've got to take a nap..." He said out of the blue and, like Hollybreeze, walked off, but this time towards the Elder's Den.

This left Foxpaw standing alone with his thoughts, he let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Looking around, he noticed that all the other cats were busy doing other things.

Quickly, he walked towards the freshkill pile, feeling strangely hungry all of the sudden. Grabbing a plump starling, New-Leaf had brought a lot of them, he started scarfing it down like a starved fox in a rabbit hole, ignoring the strangle looks he got from other cats, especially Mousepaw, who, unlike the amused Crowpaw, was a bit disgusted.

Taking the last a bite of the starling, while at the same time watching Mousepaw out of the corner of his eye, Foxpaw stood and stretched.

Biting his tongue, Foxpaw finally walked towards the apprentice's den, deciding it is a good idea to get some well-needed rest.

Walking inside, he approached his messy nest. Plopping down, he sighed. Would he have to see that dead place again? The Dark Forest? Closing his eyes, he let himself drift off into a hopefully dreamless sleep.

---Time Skip---

"Foxpaw! Come on!" Crowpaw's voice shook Foxpaw awake from the dark sleep. Blinking, the ginger apprentice looked up at the older tom," What?" He asked stupidly, Crowpaw rolled his eyes," The Gathering! Duh... It's your first one, though, I'm surprised you're just now being allowed to go to one." He babbled on.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's excitement, Foxpaw got up and followed the strangely-excited tom out of the den.

Already outside and ready to go were the cats going to the Gathering: Swiftstar, Hollybreeze, Silverheart and Sunpaw, Tigerfur, Fireclaw, Littleflower, Streamheart, Blackfur, Rosepaw, Bravepaw, and Blazeclaw.

The pair of apprentices raced up and Rosepaw, a red/brown she cat who was good friends with Crowpaw, looked over at them and huffed," Late again, Crowpaw?" She asked teasingly," Don't make Foxpaw be late like you."

Crowpaw rolled his eyes and replied jokingly," Awww, did you miss me or something Rosepaw?" Rosepaw whiskers twitched and if she could, she probably would've blushed. The she cat looked down at her paws, embarrassed and started babbling nervously," What? No. No. No. Why would you think that?"

Foxpaw watched the older apprentices, amused. His whiskers twitched as Crowpaw replied cockily to his friend," Oh, maybe just because everyone always ends up missing me!" Their conversation continued a lot like this as Foxpaw simply watched and listened. So, Rosepaw likes Crowpaw? He thought cheekily.

Swiftstar seemed to be counting the cats, making sure everyone that was supposed to be there was, well, there.

Foxpaw watched the LeafClan leader curiously, something was... off... about him. The usual carefree expression on his face was long-gone and was replaced with a slightly nervous look. It wasn't too noticeable, but some cats still saw it.

"Okay," Swiftstar started off loudly, catching the clan's attention," LeafClan, time to move out!"

With that, Swiftstar walked out of camp, his tail flicking and his head held high, followed by the rest of the clan.

Foxpaw fell into pace with the still chattering Crowpaw and Rosepaw, only half-listening. The Gathering. What will it be like?

Okay, I apologize for not updating. But... I did! So, how'd you like this chapter? Vote, comment please! I'll try and update soon.