Shadows Of The Past Novel: Stolen Heart (Jakovi Poza)

Chapter 1

It was cold, snow was falling heavily. Foxy looked here and there, he admired the snowy views. He loved the snow very much, so he decided to go on an independent patrol. Foxy listened to the wind and felt relaxed and rested. He felt free of problems. Foxy took a deep breath in and out, straightened up and closed his eyes. Ignoring the cold and snow on his face, he only wished to be alone. Suddenly Foxy spun around as he heard a sound like someone stepped on a branch. Foxy then looked around, not knowing what was going on. Then he noticed that something was lurking in the bushes, Foxy started to pretend that he hadn't noticed it. Gold quickly emerged from the bushes with snow in her hand, when Gold was quite close to him, he attacked Gold by grabbing her hand and then he pinned his friend to the snow. There was a muffled scream as Gold fell into the deep snow. Foxy laughed, he grabbed Gold's hand that was sticking out of the snow, then helped her fall gently.
"Are you okay?" Foxy asked friendly.
Gold coughed, she gave Foxy an angry look.
"I thought I could surprise you!" Gold said quickly, then added, "But instead of you, I'm covered in snow now!"
Foxy laughed, Gold smiled stupidly after a moment, as if she regretted what she had done. Foxy looked at Gold, wondering how she got here, was she following him?
"So, my dear leader, how's your patrol going?" Gold asked curiously.
"Perfect." Foxy answered immediately with haste.
Gold brushed the snow from her jacket and hair with her hands, Foxy walked away from Gold with a serious face. He was watching the forest in case someone wanted to scare him. He felt safe and better when Gold was by his side.
"What are you watching?" Gold asked.
"Nevermind, let's go to the Tall Tree." Foxy replied.
"Okay, Roxanne has started to worry about you." Gold said uncertainly.
Foxy smiled slightly, he felt better hearing that someone misses him. As he walked beside Gold, he overtook her and took the lead. He wondered what this day would bring him. Foxy stepped out into the open area first, he turned to Gold with a friendly expression. Gold, seeing that Foxy was waiting for her, she quickly ran to him. Then they continued on towards the tall tree. As they reached the tree, Foxy immediately heard familiar voices.
"You're back!" Alex screamed in relief.
Foxy nodded, then he looked for Roxanne. He smiled as he spotted Roxanne under a tall tree, Foxy saw that Roxanne expected him to look for her. Foxy immediately moved towards Roxanne, when he was close enough, he hugged Roxanne.
"Nice to see you." Foxy said quickly.
"You were gone for an hour, where have you been?" Roxanne asked.
Foxy stopped hugging Roxanne, he was holding her hands. He didn't want to talk about what he was thinking, he only dreamed of taking a break from his problems.
"I was in the forest." Foxy replied calmly.
Roxanne said nothing, she just looked at Foxy with a slight concern. Foxy tried to ignore it, he had no intention of upsetting her beloved. Change the topic! He told himself in his mind.
"Did something happen while I was gone?" Foxy asked.
Roxanne shook her head contradictory.
"Alfa, Whiteflower and Ella stayed at home." she said quickly.
Foxy felt slightly annoyed at Alfa's name, since he became leader, Alfa joined their group to stay closer to Alex. Foxy wasn't convinced to let him live in their group, but he agreed to it because Roxanne wanted it.
"You look tired." Roxanne mumbled sadly. "You need some rest."
Foxy snapped out of his thoughts when Roxanne said that. He couldn't stop holding Roxanne's hands, he didn't want to leave her alone now.
"It's nothing, just thinking." Foxy said.
"About what?" Roxanne asked immediately.
Foxy fell silent, he stopped looking at Roxanne in shame. He looked at Gold and Alex who were talking nearby. He was about to say something, but Roxanne spoke first, "Have you been thinking about Alfa again?"
Foxy laughed, he looked back at Roxanne.
"Why should I think about him?" Foxy asked.
"Yesterday you had a fight, I hope you thought about saying you feel bad." Roxanne said.
Foxy sighed heavily, whenever Roxanne mentions Alfa, he tries to be calm and collected. He didn't want to show how much he hate Alfa or Alex, he wanted a good life with Roxanne.
"Let's go home, it's cold." Foxy ordered.
Roxanne tentatively followed Foxy as the wind began to blow harder. Foxy approached Gold and Alex with a serious face.
"Are you coming home with us?" Foxy suggested politely.
Gold and Alex exchanged worried glances, Foxy became concerned about what they were talking about. Gold moved closer to Foxy.
"I have something important to tell you." Gold said.
Foxy looked at Alex and Roxanne.
"Keep going, we'll catch up with you." Foxy said.
Alex had already started walking towards the forest, but Roxanne was still standing there.
"What's happening?" Roxanne asked.
"Nothing, please go with Alex, we'll be right back." Foxy replied softly, then he kissed Roxanne on the forehead.
Roxanne reluctantly nodded, she started walking toward where Alex had gone. Foxy watched her with friendly eyes as Roxanne disappeared into the woods, Foxy looked at Gold.
"I...I have to go to my friend, she needs my help." Gold quickly informed Foxy.
Foxy raised one eyebrow, he took one step forward towards Gold, he looked worried.
"Can't it wait until noon? I need you here, you were supposed to teach me a new spell." Foxy said.
"I'll teach you that later, I promise." Gold stammered.
"What should I tell the rest this time?" Foxy asked.
Gold gave an innocent smile.
"Same excuse, as always." Gold said happily.
Foxy hesitantly nodded his head at this, Gold then turned her back to him, Foxy stood next to her.
"Take care, see you later." Foxy said in a low voice.
Gold deliberately gave Foxy a little push.
"Thanks, for now!" Gold screamed, then she disappeared into the brush and fog.
Foxy stood for a moment and stared in the direction where Gold ran. Foxy always hated it when Gold came out of the valley just to meet her friend. He didn't understand why she trusted those who didn't belong to their group. When Gold first told him about the mysterious friend, Foxy was against Gold meeting her, but when he found out that this friend had powers, Foxy without hesitation allowed her to cross their valley on the condition that Gold would teach him those powers. To this day, Foxy still does not know the name of this person or where he is from. He always wondered if Gold was lying or not.
"Hi, buddy." Suddenly, he heard Sting, his best friend, behind him. Foxy turned to him with a calm expression.
"Hello, how are you?" Foxy asked.
"Quite well." Sting said stuttering.
When Foxy heard his tone, he knew why Sting decided to talk to him.
"Well I was looking for someone and...found you." Sting mumbled nervously.
Foxy smiled slyly, then he straightened up.
"Sting, she went to town." Foxy said.
Sting was disappointed at this and made a sad face. Foxy was still giving Sting an amused look.
"I've had enough, she avoids me." Sting whispered.
"She doesn't avoids you, Gold has a lot duties lately." Foxy said convincingly.
Sting wasn't looking Foxy in the eye, he was looking the other way as if he was avoiding his friend's gaze.
"What kind of duties does she have? She's not even a deputy." Sting snorted.
"Yes, but even though I didn't choose her, she's still an important member." Foxy explained quickly.
Sting lowered his head, Foxy patiently was waiting for Sting's answer. Due to Sting falling in love with Gold, Gold completely tries to stay away from him due to his "weird" behavior. Only Foxy knows about Sting's feelings for Gold. Foxy has always tried to support Sting, but he doesn't accept that Sting doesn't listen to his advices.
"You have to give yourself and her time." Foxy added.
"I can't help it, every day I want to tell her how much I care about her." Sting replied bashfully.
Foxy grabbed Sting's arm with a slight sincere smile, Sting was still looking gloomy and sad.
"You have to be yourself, then she will accept your feelings." Foxy said.
"How? I can't even answer that I'm a "good friend." Sting snorted.
Foxy hugged Sting, he felt more confident when Sting hugged him too.
"Stay strong, you can't give up, dude." Foxy mumbled.
Sting smiled weakly, Foxy then turned his back to him looking at the forest.
"Come on, let's go home, I'm sure Whiteflower can't wait to see you back." Foxy said calmly. Sting followed Foxy with his head down, Foxy led Sting but tried to keep him company. He missed the times when Sting hadn't fallen in love with Gold, he was brave in those days.
I would like to help him as Gold once did to me. Foxy thought. He remembered how, thanks to Gold's advice, he had opened up to Roxanne. Each time Foxy respected Gold and always tried to advise others like her.
Foxy entered the house first and immediately took off his jacket and boots. He hung it on a free hanger, then waited for Sting to remove his jacket and shoes. Suddenly Foxy was greeted by Ella and Alex.
"Welcome back!" Ella said, but she looked worried after a moment, she asked, "Where's Gold?"
"She went to the town again." Foxy replied.
"What's she got to do with going out?" Alex called back.
"I have no idea, but we can tell she has responsibilities." Foxy answered her impatiently.
Alex fell silent hearing Foxy's annoyed tone. Foxy was about to go up the stairs when he was suddenly stopped by Alfa who came out of the kitchen. Foxy gave Alfa a stern look, but when Alfa looked at him, Foxy went upstairs. As soon as he entered the first floor, he went towards Roxanne's room. He knocked on the door, then slowly entered, he noticed that Roxanne was sitting at the desk looking at the picture of her, Gold and Ella. Foxy approached Roxanne uncertainly, he had a feeling that something was wrong. He grabbed Roxanne's arm, after a while Roxanne started to hold Foxy's hand.
"I am glad you came back." Roxanne said.
"Me too." Foxy laughed.
Roxanne got up and moved closer to Foxy as if she wanted to whisper something in his ear.
"Foxy..." She mumbled his name.
"Yes, Roxanne?" Foxy answered her calmly.
"Why does Gold disappear to the city so often?" Roxanne asked.
Foxy hesitated, he didn't know what to tell her because he didn't want to lie to Roxanne. That's weird, she's never asked me that before. Foxy thought anxiously.
"I don't know, but I'm sure it's nothing wrong." Foxy said as he hugged Roxanne.
"I find it strange." Roxanne answered quickly, she added, "Why do you let her leave our valley and not us?"
Foxy lowered his head slightly, he felt very bad about having to lie to the person he cares about the most. Foxy promised Gold that he would never tell anyone the truth so as not to cause panic or suspicion.
"Because these are the rules, the rules I made them and you have to follow them, but Gold has responsibilities, that's different." Foxy replied.
Roxanne still didn't look sure, as if she knew he had something to hide.
"I know, but if there's anything I need to know, tell me." Roxanne said pleasantly.
"I have nothing to hide, I don't even want to lie." Foxy whispered.
Roxanne nodded slowly, then hugged Foxy.
"I love you." Roxanne said calmly.
Foxy smiled, he felt like everything bad about him was gone, thanks to Roxanne.
"I love you too, Roxy." Foxy replied.
As they hugged, Roxanne took a step back and said, "I'm going to go get something to eat."
Foxy nodded, Roxanne left the room quickly, as Foxy stood there suddenly, he looked at the shelf full of books. As he stared at the titles of the books, he hesitated on a book called "Secrets of Magic and the World", Foxy looked around making sure no one was around the room, then took the books with magic. When the book was quite close to his hands, he quickly grabbed it. He looked at the book about the color of gold, he hoped that the book told the truth about power. When he left the room, he immediately went to his room with a serious face.