A Leap of Faith - Foxleap X Ryefall fanfic

Chapter 2

Crickets chirped into the night air. Destiny and Rye were curled up in the small hollowed tree stump, moss placed below them to form a makeshift nest. Destiny was fast asleep, snoring peacefully. Though Rye couldn't quite drift off. There was a sort of guilt weighing on him. The gray and brown tom carefully stood, weaving his way out of the makeshift den. 

As he ducked out, his eyes drifted up towards the stars. "Mom, Dad, you up there?" He quietly mewed. "I know you said to take care of each other, but Crystal wouldn't change her mind and neither would Destiny," He sighed. "I hope Crystal is okay in that BriarClan or whatever it was called,"

"BrambleClan," A voice corrected.

"Yes, BrambleClan-" Rye froze at the realization that he wasn't alone. He jumped with a startled hiss. His amber eyes landed on a familiar ginger tom. "Foxleap! You nearly scared me out of my fur!"

"Sorry, sorry," Foxleap mewed apologetically. "I was taking a walk when I saw you. I thought I should say hi,"

"You're not gonna yell at me to get off your territory?" Rye's head tilted.

"Well, technically you're not on FireClan territory. You're pretty close to it, but not on it," The ginger tom shrugged. "But the rest of FireClan can be pretty territorial, so it'd be best to steer clear of any patrols," The two sat in silence for a brief moment, both looking at the stars. "In a way, I lost my parents too," Foxleap started. 

"In a way?" Rye's head tilted.

"Yeah," Foxleap drew in a breath. "My mom, I haven't seen her since I was a kit. And my dad is in BrambleClan," The FireClan warrior vaguely mewed. "But I doubt you'd want to listen to the life story of a cat you just met,"

Another brief silence crossed the air. "So, your dad is in BrambleClan. Were you ever in BrambleClan?" Rye mewed.

"Yeah, I lived there when I was a kit." Foxleap sighed. "The only reason I left was to be with m brother. Firestar hated BrambleClan, so he led a rebellion," The tom explained, his green eyes drifting toward Rye. "And also because their leader, Bramblestar, doesn't like cats like me,"

"Cats like you?" Rye tilted his head, though he had already pieced together what Foxleap was referring to. 

"Yeah, I'm gay," Foxleap added, his head turning towards the outsider. "Bramblestar doesn't like cats like me," He shrugged. "Though he isn't too bad about it. He's just vocal about his opinions, but that's really it."

"Alright, as long as he doesn't do anything to my sister," Rye let out a breath of relief. "My other sister, Crystal, is the only straight one out of us three," The brown and gray tom let out a half-hearted chuckle. 

"Heh, well-" Foxleap abruptly stopped, his ears perking up. His shining green eyes nervously scanned around him. Then in a sudden movement, he shoved both himself and Rye into a dried bush.

"Hey! What was-" Rye's protests were cut off by Foxleap placing a paw over the rogue's moth. 

"Shh! I hear a FireClan patrol!" Foxleap whispered. The two toms watched as a patrol of cats wandered near the border, drinking up any scents that came from it. 

"It smells like rogues over here," A dark red tom hissed to the rest of the patrol. 

A pale she-cat stepped forward, smelling the border for herself. "It seems whoever was here left. The scent leads further off of the territory."

Another she-cat, one with light brown fur, stepped forward. "They probably left a while ago. We should just mark the border and move on," She suggested. The rest of the patrol nodded, marking the border, then moving out of sight.

With a sigh of relief, Foxleap stepped out of the bush. "Thank goodness they didn't spot us!" He huffed.

"I get why they would be mad at me, but why were you hiding from them?" Rye mewed, shaking the leaves out of his pelt.

"Well," He hesitated. "If they saw me talking with a rogue, they might, you know," Foxleap mimicked a claw slicing his throat.

"D-doesn't your brother run your clan?" Rye mewed, his eyes revealing concern.

"Firestar can be very strict about loyalty. Recently, my former apprentice, Gorsetail, was killed for trying to escape," Foxleap shuddered at the memory. "And right after, my half-sister Honeywing disappeared, along with two kits, Tansykit and Briarkit. I don't know if Firestar had anything to do with it, but I wouldn't be surprised," The ginger tom's voice trailed off.

"Then why do you stay? You could run away right now!" Rye's tail lashed.

"Firestar's my brother, I can't just leave him," Foxleap's eyes reverted back to the ground. "I- I should go now. Stay safe out there," The FireClan cat gave a somber nob before ducking away.

"Wait!" Rye called, but Foxleap was already gone. The gray tom's shoulders drooped as he made his way back to the makeshift den.

********

The sun was making its climb towards the middle of the sky as Rye's eyes slowly cracked open. Destiny was already outside of the den, stretching herself out. "Morning, sleepyhead." She mewed in between a yawn. "So, spill it. Where did you go last night?"

"Huh? Nowhere!" Rye scrambled out of the den, his ears heating up.

"You stepped on my tail while you were leaving," Destiny smirked. "I would've followed you, but I ended up falling back asleep."

"I just needed fresh air for a moment," Rye scoffed, his gaze adverting.

"Sure," Destiny slyly smirked. "You totally weren't going to see that Foxjump guy,"

"It's Foxleap," Rye corrected with a snort.

"See? You even remembered his name!" The white and brown she-cat nudged her brother.

"S-so? I also remembered Sunfall's name! Does that mean I like him too?" Rye retorted, his whole pelt heating up.

"We stayed with Sunfall for a half-moon, of course you remember his name," Destiny mewed. 

"And we just met Foxleap! How could I like someone I barely know?" Rye mewed. Destiny's eyes still smugly sat on her brother. "Okay, fine, maybe I think he's cute,"

"I knew it!" Destiny practically jumped, squeaking with delight. "You should talk to him again!"

"No, I'm not gonna march onto his territory again. His clan would not like that!" Rye retorted with a lash of his tail.

"Fine, but if we happen to bump into him again, you gotta talk to him!" She mewed.

"Fine, if  that happens!" Rye gave her a stern look. "Now c'mon, let's catch ourselves something to eat."