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

Chapter 5

Foxy was walking back home with Sting, he managed to calm down from the whole situation. He was grateful to Sting for taking him for a walk so he could feel free again, but the thought of him returning to being the perfect leader made him sick to his stomach. As he walked next to Sting, Foxy looked at the forest landscapes. He remembered then how he and Roxanne had gone on a snowball fight with the whole group that winter. The memory, however, quickly faded from Foxy's mind as he remembered Roxanne's furious gaze. He was still in shock that Roxanne had found Dark injured and exhausted. If I had I known that, I would not have spared him. Foxy thought grimly.
"Why are you walking so slowly, come on!" Suddenly he heard Sting behind him.
Foxy, not looking at Sting, moved faster towards him, he felt deep anxiety looking back. As they approached the house, Sting ran towards Gold, who was grabbing wood for the fireplace, while Foxy stopped, hesitating. He didn't feel ready to decide for everyone yet, because he is aware that his decision can change everything. Foxy watched as Sting took the heavy wood from Gold's hands and entered the house with it. Gold was about to follow him, but she saw Foxy standing silently. Foxy felt strange as he watched Gold walk slowly towards him with a calm expression on her face.
"Hey, are you feeling better?" Gold asked seriously.
“Yes, how is our prisoner?" Foxy said.
Gold was surprised at the word "prisoner" but she didn't comment on it.
"He's fine, he needs to rest now." Gold replied, "That's what Whiteflower told us."
"I'll have to talk to Whiteflower, he left our area again without my permission, and it's against our rules." Foxy growled impatiently.
Gold nodded slightly, Foxy sighed heavily trying to control himself. As he was about to leave, Gold stopped him in a hurry.
"Wait, I actually wanted to teach you a new spell." Gold said kindly.
Foxy was surprised, but then he smiled innocently.
"Sounds exciting, let's go, mentor." Foxy said with amusement.
Gold rolled her eyes with a slight smile before starting to lead him towards the forest. As they walked, Foxy paid no attention to anyone again, he just stared at the snow and the trees, that always comforted and reassured him. As he thought so much, after a while he felt cold snow on his head. He cast a wary glance at Gold, who laughed and got into a battle stance.
"Let's race to the Tall Tree!" Gold screamed quickly.
Foxy moved first with confidence, but suddenly he lost hope when he started thinking about Roxanne. Gold took advantage of this and overtook Foxy with a friendly look. I can't lose this time! Foxy called quickly in his mind. He had already seen Gold run into the clear moor, Foxy felt determination and anger. He started running as fast as he could, imagining himself being chased by a herd of bears. As Gold was about to enter the Tall Tree, Foxy quickly overtook her and slipped in the snow. He tried to keep his balance but it was no use, he fell to the deep snow screaming. He heard Gold laugh, Foxy brushed the snow off him, snorting. Foxy quickly stood up, adjusting his cap clumsily.
"That was nice, you won!" Gold said still laughing.
"And who's fast now?" Foxy asked jokingly.
"This is the second race you've won," Gold said cheerfully, "you don't think the apprentice will surpass the master now, do you?"
"Of course not." Foxy replied shortly with amusement in his eyes.
Both tried to calm their breathing, they immediately calmed down as they both looked at the Tall Tree. It was covered in snow, and the branches might even look like snowflakes. A moment later, Foxy looked expectantly at Gold, giving her a curious look. Once Gold understood what was going on, she quickly jumped up and approached Foxy with a calm expression. Foxy watched carefully as Gold placed her two hands towards him and drew a flower with them. Foxy was confused, he didn't quite know what this spell did.
"You have to focus and imagine the shape of any plant." Gold mumbled.
"What does this spell do?" Foxy asked carefully.
"Look carefully." She hushed him in a sterner voice, then traced the shape of a flower in the air with her hands. As Foxy watched carefully, he suddenly noticed a blue glowing ball on Gold's hands. Foxy watched the light excitedly, and he looked at Gold.
"This spell requires balance." Gold said.
The blue orb from Gold's hand disappeared as she closed her eyes. Foxy tried to calm his nerves, but he couldn't. With every minute he was afraid that he would not learn this spell. Gold signaled him to try this spell now. Foxy took a deep breath and exhaled, he carefully began to imagine a flower Roxanne liked, it was a tulip. As he began to draw a small tulip in the air with his hands, some snow fell on it from the branches of the Tall Tree. Foxy brushed the snow off his neck in disappointment, then he looked at Gold who seemed to be watching him.
"Try again." Gold encouraged him.
Foxy nodded, he closed his eyes again and straightened up. He held his hands out in front of him and began drawing the tulip slowly with his hands again. Everything seemed to be going well until Roxanne appeared in his mind. Because of this, he forgot what he was drawing, Foxy snorted under his breath, furious.
"Focus on your imagination, not your thoughts." Gold advised quietly.
Foxy waited for his thoughts of Roxanne to fade, then he pictured the tulip again, this time drawing faster and faster. When he heard Gold gasping, Foxy opened his eyes. He couldn't believe his eyes what he did, there was a bloody white ball in his hands.
"You did it!" Gold shouted proudly.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Foxy asked, examining the sphere.
Watching the ball like this, he didn't listen to what Gold said, Foxy shivered as several eyes appeared in the ball all over the ball. Foxy did not believe what was happening, in the eyes he saw a familiar silhouette of a witch that he had already seen in his dream. He didn't understand what was going on and what the witch was doing here, but he was sure it was a sign. He heard Gold's muffled voice, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. He shivered as the witch opened her red eyes. Are my powers doing this? Foxy asked himself in his mind. As he was about to say something, he heard various angry voices.
"Beware!"
"Newcomer!"
"Everything can be taken from you!"
"Avoid jealousy and anger towards your loved ones!"
Foxy could not stand it, he threw the ball violently to the ground, followed by a slight earthquake. Foxy fell to the ground panting, he tried to convince himself that it was only his imagination, but he saw the same witch anyway.
"Foxy, what have you done?" Gold asked in shock.
Foxy tried to breathe calmly, when Gold extended a hand to him, he quickly gave her his hand, and then with all her strength she helped him get up.
"Will you explain to me what it was supposed to be?" Gold asked menacingly. “Do I have to remind you that power is not a toy?"
"S...sorry, I got too excited." Foxy lied in a quavering voice.
Gold made a worried face at this, then they both looked to where Foxy had hit the ball. There was no snow in the place of impact, and red tulips grew. Foxy felt as if his heart would stop, witches haunt him because he did not fulfill their prophecy. It's my fault, what am I going to do now? How will I protect my friends now? How will I protect Roxanne? He asked with horror in his mind, as if demanding an answer from The Sisters. Foxy coughed, then he sneezed. He watched as Gold tried to hide the tulips behind the snow as if nothing had happened.
"It's over for today, let's go home." Gold mumbled seriously.
Once they were both close to the house, Gold stopped and gave Foxy a worried look. Foxy raised one eyebrow at that, does Gold want to tell him something important?
"As for this 'prisoner', have you decided whether or not he should stay with us?" Gold asked.
Do I have any other choice? Foxy asked himself. He wanted very much to expel the enemy, but he knew that his members would hate him if he showed no mercy to the newcomer.
"Can we trust him?" Foxy mumbled softly without looking at Gold.
Gold hit him lightly on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"I'm sure the more of us are here, the better." Gold said.
Foxy lowered his head not knowing what to say, he felt as if the whole weight had fallen only on him. I am tired already. Foxy thought quietly. Foxy snapped out of his thoughts as Gold said, "Look, I promise I'll keep an eye on him, if he officially becomes our member, I'll stop spying."
Foxy realized it was a good idea, but would his deputy agree to it? Wait a minute, I don't have to tell anyone about this. Foxy thought quickly.
"Great idea, but no one can know about it." Foxy answered seriously.
"You have my word." Gold said, though there was reluctance in her voice.
Foxy nodded respectfully, Gold returned it with a serious face, then she walked away from Foxy towards the house. Foxy followed her with an indifferent look, but when he suddenly saw Whiteflower talking to Sting, he quickly moved towards them. He needed to find out what Whiteflower was doing outside of their valley. When Whiteflower noticed him, he made a scared face.
"Hello, are you okay?" Foxy asked calmly, looking at Sting and then at Whiteflower.
"Yes, we went outside to get some air." Sting said.
"I'd like to talk to Whiteflower, do you mind, friend?" Foxy replied.
Whiteflower flinched slightly at this, but he said nothing. Sting looked at Whiteflower, then at Foxy. He shrugged indifferently.
"If it's something important." Sting replied.
Foxy watched Sting as he entered the house, he gave Whiteflower a stern look.
"Why did you cross the border of our valley?" Foxy asked firmly.
"I...I wanted to go to the store, it's nothing like that." Whiteflower said smiling broadly.
Foxy looked suspicious, remembering that the last time Whiteflower had tell him the same excuse.
"You were gone all night." Foxy reminded him.
"I got lost on the way." Whiteflower replied. "I still can't make it back home."
Foxy began to doubt every word of Whiteflower's, what does he have to do to make all members follow his rules?
"You know it’s breaking the rules?" Foxy asked anxiously.
Whiteflower took a deep breath in and out and closed his eyes, then he nodded. Foxy rolled his eyes in exasperation, he couldn't believe that Whiteflower couldn't make it to their valley. He lives with them as a member for 2 months, what can justify him?
"You can't just disappear for a few hours or 24 hours." Foxy dared to say. "Those are the rules, Whiteflower."
"I'm sorry, it... it won't happen again, I promise!" Whiteflower mumbled.
"If you can't follow my rules, you can still leave." Foxy growled looking at Whiteflower.
Whiteflower was surprised at this, but he quickly made a brave face.
"No, I'm fine." Whiteflower replied shortly.
"I'm giving you one last chance, or you'll be punished." Foxy replied calmly.
"Yes, Foxy." Whiteflower stuttered reluctantly.
Foxy smiled, lightening his emotions.
"Did you heal our prisoner?" Foxy asked cheerfully.
Whiteflower raised one eyebrow, still looking scared.
"Prisoner?" He repeated in amazement.
"Dark." Foxy told him.
"Oh! He lost some blood through the wound, but I was able to bandage the wound to stop the bleeding." Whiteflower reported.
Foxy nodded, listening carefully to Whiteflower, he didn't know how such a young man knew so much about medicine, but he respected such a talent.
"He will have to rest all day." Whiteflower said.
"I see, thanks for the report." Foxy thanked Whiteflower  calmly with a smile on his face, he quickly added, "Do you know where Roxanne is?"
"N...no, but she helped me heal Dark earlier." Whiteflower replied.
Foxy sighed heavily with a sad expression, then he walked away from Whiteflower. He felt a desire to talk to Roxanne, but Foxy feared that his deputy and beloved was furious with him. Walking through the forest, he looked around, feeling tired, he didn't even want to think about his decision about the new arrival. The sun was already slowly disappearing from the sky in the west, and the stars were already slowly appearing in the sky, dusk was approaching. Moments later, Foxy sat down under one of the trees despondently. He was thinking suddenly of the visions and of The Sisters, he longed to ask them for help, but he didn't know how. Do The Sisters really exist? Suddenly he thought about a teleportation spell, could he find the witches and ask them for advice? Foxy then got even more worried, what if it's too late for that? Foxy then got up again, looking around to see if anyone was watching him. Then he started walking back home, stopped when he heard branches snapping, as he looked around he saw a familiar figure behind the bushes covered with snow, Foxy knew it was Roxanne. Because of this, Foxy hesitated over whether he should talk to his beloved, but suddenly an unexpected rage broke out in him and he started walking in the direction where he saw Roxanne. He wanted to know why she was hiding that she was helping Dark, he felt he had to know all about it. As he jumped over medium-sized bushes, he almost collided with Roxanne. Roxanne was shocked to see him.
"Foxy! You scared me! What are you doing here?" Roxanne said in a terrified voice.
"I was going to ask you the same question." Foxy replied in a grim tone.
Roxanne gave him a questioning look as Foxy faced her.
"Something happened?" Roxanne asked.
"Yeah, how did you find Dark earlier? Why didn't you tell me about it?" Foxy asked furiously.
Roxanne's eyes widened in surprise, Foxy was still giving her a threatening and disappointed look.
"Tell me everything that happened that night." Foxy said quickly.
"I was on a patrol alone, I found him on the moor, he was lying with blood on his forehead and belly, I was terribly afraid at the time, I decided to help him." Roxanne replied quietly.
Foxy grabbed her hand violently.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to be alone with an intruder?" Foxy asked.
Roxanne was surprised at this, but then she looked stern.
"He was dying! Was I supposed to leave him to die?" Roxanne asked bravely.
Foxy hesitated, but the thought of Dark touching Roxanne made him furious.
"You could have come to me and told me everything." Foxy said.
"How was I supposed to know if you would had good intentions?" Roxanne asked in horror. "I know how much you hate intruders not from our valley, and if I asked anyone for help, it would probably be too late."
Foxy shook his head, looking disappointed and indignant. Roxanne stared at him with mild anger and frustration, how could she let him down like that?
"You disappointed me, I thought you were going to be an amazing deputy." Foxy started saying, "But instead, I see a liar."
"What, but what are you talking about?" Roxanne spoke up in shock.
"Leave me alone, I need to think it over." Foxy mumbled menacingly.
Roxanne looked suddenly guilty, she grabbed Foxy by the arm and looked at him confused.
"Foxy, I'm sorry if I hurt you this way, remember I'll take any punishment you give me if that's what you're thinking about." Roxanne said in the same calm voice.
Foxy followed Roxanne with emotions as she quickly disappeared from his sight, he was feeling uncomfortable and terrible. He didn't even know if he was mad at Roxanne or at himself. Why is this happening right now? Why? He pleaded in his mind. He felt as if his heart had been broken into pieces for the first time.