Fire Clan: Foxkit's Destiny

Chapter 16:

After the 'talk' with Mallowfur saying about how worthless and absolutely nothing even close to compare to a snale Foxpaw was, she just stalked off, leaving the poor apprentice trying hard to hold back tears.

Foxpaw raced through the forest as the sun was already setting and was growing dark, the fresh kill forgotten. She was crying silently to herself, her vision becoming very blurry but she just kept on running. But eventually she tripped out on a jutting out root and fell sideways, skidding in the leaves and dirt. She was shaking, still crying, struggling to get up but cried out in pain. She felt shooting pain up in her paw when she tried to stand.

"Ak," she yelped as she tried again, clenching her jaw tightly. She tried to look and examine it but it was much to dark. "Mmf," she groaned, licking her paw gingerly, her eyes shut closed.

"Need help?" Asked an unfamiliar tom voice.

Foxpaw's head shot up and looked around her frantically. "W-who's there?!" She asked, unable to stop the fear in her voice. She was vulnerable.

A dark figure came into view but she couldn't tell if he looked familiar or not.

"W-who are you?" Foxpaw repeated.

He tilted his head. "Can you not see me?"

She shook her head. "No. Are you f-from Fire Clan? I don't recognize your voice."

He padded forwards hesitantly, lifting his head and sniffing the air. He then looked back at her. "Are you sure you don't know who I am.. or maybe where I come from?"

Foxpaw tried to sniff the air, but her nose was clogged from crying to much. She shook her head defeated. "Sorry but no. Are you a loner?"

"Yes! I'm a loner," he said immediately, not missing a heartbeat.

Foxpaw narrowed her eyes slightly. "Are you sure?"

He nodded trying to reassure her, now speaking more calmly. "Yes. I'm a loner."

"What's your name?" Foxpaw asked still slightly on edge.

"Pebblep-I mean Pebble. My name is Pebble," he said confidently, acting as if he never said anything wrong.

Foxpaw forced a smile. "Well then hello Pebble."

He took a few steps closer so that he was looking down on her calmly. He only appeared slightly taller than Foxpaw when she was standing. "Are you alright?" He asked with slight worry in his voice. "It looked like you took a nasty fall. And why we're you crying?"

Foxpaw immediately stiffened when he asked that question. Her eyes began to fill with water unconsciously as she started down at the forest floor. "I'm fine and it was nothing," she murmured under her breath.

She saw him flick his ears and lay down next to her, completely ignoring her and was focusing on her injured paw. He gave it the slightest nudge with his nose.

"Ow!" Foxpaw yelped, drawing it back instantly. "That hurt!"

He sighed standing back up again. "You've got a sprained paw, let me help you back to your clan."

Foxpaw looked down shaking her head. "No, I can manage on my own thank you," she said as she tried to stand, but almost fell right back down when she became unbalanced. She whould have fallen if Pebble didn't catch her. She sighed groaning, leaning on his shoulder. "I.. guess I do need some help getting home.." She said quietly. She really wished she didn't have to get help from someone else.

He nodded. "Alright, thank you," he said with a small smile playing on his lips as he walked with her back the way she came, carefully stepping over the root that had caused Foxpaw to fall. But even though he was letting her lean on him for support, Foxpaw realized that he respected her pride and was slightly farther away, but just close enough for her not to fall. She like that, and his silent action made her heart twist with happiness. He respected her even though she was crying and had tripped on a root like a newborn kit. He respects her.