When Darkness Whispers

Chapter 7

"Just pass today okay?" Foxpaw growled to himself. It was the day that he was to be assessed again and he was ecstatic and nervous at the same time. He kept shuffling his paws and whisking his tail. Leafbreeze padded over to him with a smile on her face. What does she want. Leafbreeze purred and sat close to Foxpaw. "Are you happy to become a warrior?" She asked him. Foxpaw nodded. "Well, we don't know if I'll pass yet." Leafbreeze sighed and shook her head. "Of course you'll pass, you completed the last one it's just-" Leafbreeze stopped speaking and cleared her throat as she realized that she messed up.

Foxpaw shook out his pelt and walked away. Redhawk was stretching outside of the warriors den and Foxpaw thought he might as well talk to his father.

"Hey Foxpaw," Redhawk greeted him. "Are you excited?" Foxpaw gave a nervous chucked and nodded. "Yeah." Redhawk smiled. "You know, I failed my first assessment. I mean I know it's not the exact situation but I think I know how you felt. I'm sure you'll become a warrior." Foxpaw narrowed his eyes. He has no idea how I feel. He thought. My littermates warriors before me, every cat hating me, even though I'm better at everything than them. Foxpaw trotted away without saying anything.

Why do I even stick around ThunderClan. Foxpaw sniffed. No cat likes me here. But deep down Foxpaw knew he could never leave ThunderClan. Where else could he go? ShadowClan? Foxpaw let out a short meowww of laughter. Walking in marsh and eatin frogs? No thank you! Foxpaw sat at the camp entrance waiting for Amberfire to be ready to leave. SkyClan? The thought didn't seem too bad, but Foxpaw didn't want to be stuck climbing trees.

RiverClan? Pffff. I wouldn't join those fish-faces if every cat I knew moved there.

Amberfire tapped Foxpaw on his shoulder with her tail. "It's time." Foxpaw stood up and, together, he and his mentor walked out of camp. Foxpaw laughed when he saw that he was a small bit larger than his own mentor. He had grown a lot in the past moon. Amberfire stopped and sniffed the air. "Do you know if there has been a fox here?" She asked Foxpaw. Foxpaw too sniffed the air and scented stale fox scent. "It's stale, let's go." Foxpaw trotted off towards the direction of ancient oak.

Somewhere along the way Amberfire had departed from Foxpaw and found somewhere to watch him.

Okay, don't mess up. Foxpaw sniffed the crisp leaf-fall air. He quickly scented a mouse and tracked it to a young beech tree. He dug into the roots and was surprised and pleased to find that two mice had burrowed there. He killed them expertly and buried them nearby.

Foxpaw, at the moment, had thought he had been lucky to find two mice by the tree. But Foxpaw had been extremely lucky. Because he didn't find anything for the rest of the day. Foxpaw stared at the setting sun and growled. Why did I have to have my second assessment in leaf-fall? He asked himself frustratedly. Finally Foxpaw caught a whiff of shrew scent and followed it to a small hole. He waited and waited till the light almost faded from the sky.

Ah ha! A shrew wiggled out of the hole and Foxpaw bit the back of its neck. Amberfire appeared a moment later. "Great job." She said. Thought Foxpaw noticed that his mentor was not very excited. "Um...are you...okay Amberfire?" Amberfire faked a grin and nodded fast. "Yeah I'm fine." She whispered so quietly that Foxpaw could barely hear. She's not. But that's her business.

The two returned to camp and Foxpaw held his head high and swished his tail. "I passed." He told a smiling Shimmersight. The young she-cat grinned bigger and quickly hid her face from the other cats. Foxpaw rolled his eyes and followed Amberfire into Ivystar's den.

Foxpaw noticed that it was still dirty like the last time he had been in there. Half eaten prey was littered throughout the den, the nest was old and scattered, and Ivystar herself looked unruly. What's going on in here?

Amberfire told Ivystar about Foxpaw's assessment. "He did really well and Foxpaw has a lot of patience." She told the leader. Ivystar watched Foxpaw though Foxpaw took no notice and continued to scan the den. "Very well," Ivystar answered. "Foxpaw you may become a warrior." Foxpaw grinned. Finally.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath highledge."

Ivystar had started the ceremony before Foxpaw had even gotten a chance to wash his pelt form all the dirt and grime he had collected hunting. Quickly and not very thoroughly, Foxpaw cleaned his pelt.

"Foxpaw, you have been trained well, twice, and you have been working very hard to be a warrior." Foxpaw flinched when Ivystar added the "twice" in her sentence. "I believe that you are sorry for leaving Bramblethorn to be hurt by a WindClan flea pelt." Why does she have to add that. Foxpaw sighed. Foxpaw barely listened to Ivystar continue the ceremony and gazed into the forest.

I'm going to be a better warrior than either of my littermates. Foxpaw thought about how he would show them up and hunt better than them. After all he had trained double the amount they had. I can't wait. Foxpaw wanted to sink his claws into a WindClan warrior without them calling him an apprentice. He would be a full warrior and no cat could change-

"...with your life?" Foxpaw was snapped out of his thought at Ivystar's mew. "Er, huh? Oh yeah I do." He stuttered. Foxpaw thought he caught a chuckle from Talonclaw but chose to ignore it. "Than by the power of StarClan, from this moment forward, Foxpaw you shall be known as..." please be Foxclaw...or even just a cool name. "...Foxtail." Foxtail's tail drooped as he heard his new name. Foxtail? That's so boring. But Foxtail couldn't argue. He had finally become a warrior.

Foxtail leaned forward to lick Ivystar's shoulder. But the ThunderClan leader resisted and padded into her den.

Foxtail went to be congratulated by Leafbreeze and Redhawk. Even Hopeheart had told him that she was happy to be a warrior with him. The only cats that didn't care for Foxtail was Poppyleaf, Bramblethorn, and of course Talonclaw.

What's his deal? Foxtail asked himself when he saw a glare from Talonclaw. I don't even care. I'm a warrior now.

After leaving camp to get some air, Foxtail saw Amberfire arguing with her sister, Foxtail's older sister, Brindlefire. "—how could you leave ThunderClan?! It's your home!" Amberfire wailed. Brindlefire shuffled her paws and pulled away from Amberfire. "I have to, i can't be apart from him." Foxtail was very interested when he heard that another cat was involved. "I love Finchsong and he loves me. I've waited long enough Amberfire. I can't wait any longer." Amberfire growled and Foxtail crouched deeper into the undergrowth.

A ShadowClan cat? Finchsong was a experienced warrior of ShadowClan and no cat usually took notice of him. Foxtail wondered how long Brindlefire had wanted to move Clans.

"Amberfire you know how it feels to like a cat, and how it feels to be away from them" Foxtail pricked his ears. Amberfire liked a cat from another Clan? "I stopped liking Stormbreeze moons ago, you can't use that against me. And either way I never wanted to move Clans. Foxtail thought he heard enough so he decided to leave. He sprinted throughout ThunderClan territory until he scented fox scent. It was very strong but Foxtail could tell that the fox hadn't been there for a few days.

Foxtail followed the trail of fox and found it by SkyClan territory. He concluded that the fox had left onto SkyClan land and Foxtail left.

He made it back to camp late at night and he snuck passed Snownose who was guarding the camp entrance. I forgot I have to sit my warrior vigil tonight. "Hey Foxtail." Foxtail stopped in his tracks as Snownose whispered his name. "Er, hey." Snownose sniffed. "You know you have to guard camp tonight?" Foxtail sighed. "Yeah I'll be right there." Foxtail quickly grabbed a plump mouse from the fresh-kill pile and bounded over to Snownose.

"Er, bye...Snownose." He stammered. The pure white she-cat mumbled something inaudible and disappeared into the warriors den. Well, it's just me and my own thoughts out here. Foxtail looked around camp and through the barrier into the forest. The silence of the night made Foxtail's pelt prickle. Or was it the fact that the leaf-fall wind was blowing. Leaves littered the forest floor and Foxtail noticed that trees were already beginning to go bare. I hope this is an easy leaf-bare. Foxtail sighed as he realized how long this night would be.