The Rise of Foxstar ( Warrior Cat Fanfiction)

Chapter 20

"Brightpaw?" Foxpaw breathed, not believing what he was seeing. The brown-and-white she cat was sitting near a long-haired gray tom who Foxpaw believed must've been Grayfoot, Brightpaw's mentor that Fastpaw told him about.

The gray tom looked at the apprentices with a confused look on his face. His head was slightly tilted to the side. He looked at his apprentice and then back at Foxpaw.

"Who are you?" The gray tom asked, Foxpaw noticed that he had a bit of a strange accent. It was thicker then a normal cat's. Foxpaw dug his claws into the ground, glancing at Brightpaw and then back at her mentor.

"Um, I'm Foxpaw." He replied, trying to keep his voice from cracking or wavering," Who are you?" That was a bit of a risk. If this cat saw him as impulsive... who knows what could happen?

"Grayfoot, and might I ask how you know my apprentice?" Grayfoot, Foxpaw had gotten that part right, asked a bit suspiciously, his accent still there, plain as day.

He shared a glance with Brightpaw before replying swiftly," We met at the border once, she kept me from accidentally chasing a squirrel onto your territory." Brightpaw seemed to be holding back a laugh and a quick-witted comment.

Grayfoot looked at Brightpaw, and then back at Foxpaw. Brightpaw giggled quietly, "Oh I remember that! You had run into a bramble bush and looked like a thistle." She continued on the lie. Foxpaw had to admit, she was doing a pretty good job at making things up.

"It hurt..." Foxpaw mumbled, continuing on with the story," Both the thorns and her claws."

Grayfoot was watching the two apprentices carefully, as if trying to see if they were lying.

"Well, you did trespass." Brightpaw pushed, one of her ears flicking. Foxpaw huffed," Almost, you stopped me."

Grayfoot nodded slightly and spoke," Well, nicely done then Brightpaw. But may I ask? Why didn't you tell me of this?" His eyes narrowed slightly and something in his tone of voice made Foxpaw a bit on edge.

"I didn't think it mattered at the time, I mean, he didn't actually trespass." Brightpaw countered after a slight moment of thinking," I'm sorry Grayfoot."

Grayfoot was silent for a moment, probably pondering over this new information that they told him. Silently, Foxpaw was pleading that the gray tom would believe their story. If he didn't... who knows what would happen?

"Well, it's fine Brightpaw, but next time, please tell me about any troubles at the border." Grayfoot spoke carefully, as if trying to word his sentence correctly.

"Of course, Grayfoot, will do." Brightpaw chirped, reminding Foxpaw of the many times they had met as kits. She used to speak almost everything in that cheerful voice. It made Foxpaw's heart ache with longing. He wanted to go back to being a kit, a carefree kit who could play with his best friend without any worries.

But he wasn't a kit anymore. He was an apprentice of LeafClan, training to protect and care for his clan. He was an enemy of TreeClan.

Foxpaw blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. He glanced behind him and then back at Brightpaw, opening his mouth to ask if they could talk, but was interrupted.

"Let the Gathering begin!" The leaders called out in unison.

Foxpaw sighed and sat down, looking up at the two leaders. The other leader was standing right next to Swiftstar. The TreeClan leader was a small, brown and russet she cat with green eyes who Crowpaw had told him earlier was named Robinstar.

Swiftstar stepped back a bit, his amber eyes calm, he nodded to the small she cat," You can go first." Robinstar nodded and smiled a bit," Thank you, Swiftstar. "