Owlflight and Emeraldlight first looked at each other as if I was mad, but I was determined to get the story, even if they wouldn't tell me. After a long moon plagued by constant teasing about it from Pyrewing and asking the better half of the clan, I eventually turn to Knottedstar herself.

"You seek dangerous stories, my apprentice." Knottedstar tells me. "No one's asked about the fox in a long time."
"So you won't tell me?" I say, disheartened.

"I never said that. Has it come up in your dreams? Ashleap and Lunarshine definitely heard about it within their lifetimes, so the memories-"

"No." I say, eager to deflect further suspicion. "I just... heard about it. Everyone's very cagey about it."

Knottedstar nods. "They have a right to be. Early DragonClan history is not full of nice cats, nor is it full of nice stories. Most of it is full of lies spread by the first leader and endless chains of revenge in murder."

I gulp. "Really?" I had heard before that our history wasn't a glorious one, but Knottedstar seems extremely cynical about it. Surely, a clan like ours couldn't be that terrible... could it?
"Come with me tomorrow and I'll tell you the story. We'll have a lot to cover."

I purr deep in my throat in spite of myself. I had expected a lot of things when I first put forth the question, but this wasn't one of them. As I prance back to the apprentices, who are about to go out hunting for the latter part of the day, Sparrowpaw notices my enthusiasm.

"Someone's cheerful today." he tells me teasingly.

"I got some great news from Knottedstar. We're going on a special trip tomorrow!" I purr with delight.

"Someone's quite the special snowflake, huh?" jokes Crowpaw.

"Don't let it go to your head, Rushpaw." Thistlepaw warns me. "Your ego is large enough as it is."

"It is?" I ask, baffled.

"Yeah! You've always got your head in the clouds, always smiling, but you never want to talk to any of us and you're always going on about your missions. Not to be rude or anything, but you also have this tendency to scowl at cats when they interrupt your daydreaming."

"Maybe she just feels good about herself. That's not a crime, is it?" Crowpaw points out.

"What? No! That means she's in love, silly!" Goldenpaw chimes in.

"I- what?" I ask, perplexed.

"Oh! With who?" asks Crowpaw.

"Novapaw, obviously." Goldenpaw informs her sister.

"I'm right here." Novapaw says dryly, but they don't seem to notice him.

"She's always been in love with Novapaw." Thistlepaw snickers. "Nah, this is something else."

"What if she has... a NEW love interest?" Goldenpaw exclaims.

"I would never!" I say, but Novapaw is giving me a dirty look. He can't possibly believe them, can he?

"Novapaw has some competitiooooon!" cooes Goldenpaw.

"That's enough gossip." Carbonfrost snaps, emerging with the rest of the mentors, a menagerie of brightly colored and slightly peeved warriors. He's taken over Novapaw's training since Titanfoot's death, which Novapaw has been surprisingly alright with.

"You kits need to get a move on." Scorchclaw meows. "The clan needs to eat and right now, the only thing on the fresh kill pile is a dinky shrew... and you know how much I hate shrews."
"They give you indigestion, we know, we know." Hazelwhisker sighs.

"I'll make sure to catch extra shrews just for you, then. I saw some by the river the other day." jokes Novapaw, but a scowling Scorchclaw doesn't seem to appreciate his sense of humor. Then again, with Scorchclaw, Rubyshine, and Hazelwhisker, you can never really tell if they're joking or not.

Immediately, Scorchclaw turns on a leaf and says, "Of course. Catch every shrew in the forest! I'll eat them all! It's my denmates who have to worry about my indigestion, not me."

"Now you've done it." Rubyshine says, eyes narrowed teasingly.

"It's too late." Novapaw says solemnly. "All of the voles in the forest better watch out, because I'm coming."

With that, the party races into the forest, and the afternoon sun shines brightly on our coats as we search for prey, at peace for once in a blue moon.

***

"You'll be back soon?" asks Pyrewing.

"It's only nighttime. We'll discuss our plans in the morning." I tell him. Looking out at the world, I sigh. The sweet scents, the dull moonlight, his warmth, everything about it is so real. I can't believe it's only a dream.

He nods to me. "Brownkit's life depends on it."

By my side rests a small kit, his fur a vibrant copper even without the sun to light it ablaze. Though he's not mine by birth, he's mine in spirit, and without me to care for him, I doubt he'll last long.

Leafbare is not a forgiving time in old DragonClan.

"I'll see you, then."

"You too."

Paws seize me in the darkness and before I can yowl for help, my eyes shoot open.

"You need to get up, Rushpaw! Knottedstar wants you." Sparrowpaw says, nudging me awake, and I protest with a loud groan before rolling over towards the outside of the den.

Why, oh why, did it have to be then of all moments...

He's right- the sun is already up in the sky and the others are outside the den, being their usual selves. Thistlepaw is teasing the new apprentices (Jetpaw, Maplepaw, and Cherrypaw), Goldenpaw and Crowpaw are arguing playfully over freshkill, and Sharppaw is laying in the sunlight, content.

Everyone is happy, but as usual, I find myself growing more and more alone.

Novapaw approaches me with a purr and I cling onto the small reminder of something that once was. It's a spark I carry within myself, only to burn brightest when I am safe in the back of my own mind.

The mornings aren't worth it anymore. I hate the present.

Regardless, I get up and stretch before walking to the edge of camp where the ever patient Knottedstar awaits. "Hello, Rushpaw. Are you ready?"

"Yes." I say without hesitation.

"Then we shall begin." She leaves the camp swiftly with a slash of her tail, and I follow, trying to maintain the composure I have as Ashleap. Even though I'm not much smaller than an adult cat now, my youth feels more like a cage than anything else.

No mate. No respect. Here, I'm a freak. There, I'm a freak... but I'm a freak with power, respect, and most importantly, love.

"Is something the matter?" asks Knottedstar. "You seem... very different."

"Do I?" I ask.

"Your eyes. They're bright gold." she says, turning back to face me. "I apologize, Ashleap, but you already know this story well enough to narrate it. I'm afraid I'd prefer to talk to my apprentice."

I blink. Has anyone else noticed that?! How long have they been gold for? "I'm sorry." I tell her. "I can't control it."
"I'm sure you could." Knottedstar says coolly. "Now." She pushes through the forest, past the training grounds, past the regular hunting grounds, and still further into the deep of the forest. A chill runs down my spine as pine trees intermingle with the usual oaks and elms and my paws ache from the climb upwards.

Slowly, the oaks and elms disappear, as do the pines. We emerge at the top of a great hill.

I gasp as I look at the most beautiful landscape in the entire world. The dull sun casts diluted beams of light from around clouds, and a fresh breeze blows my fur and below us, a field of wildflowers in an assortment of colors greets my eyes. Beyond it lies more elevated land, which ends in the distance at a sharp point. As for what lies below that, I have no idea- it seems to drop off to nowhere.

I breathe in the smell of old DragonClan only to find that the cat-smells are long gone.

Knottedstar paces towards the plateau and I follow. Pine trees close in around us again and I brush past them carefully. Looking around, I find Knottedstar gone from sight.

"Knottedstar? Are you there?"

I race through the trees to find her at the edge of the cliff. Below her lies nothing but more trees, though there's something sinister about the ledge.

"Do you know why this ledge is important?" she asks.

I shake my head. "I've never been up here."

"DragonClan warriors rarely go this high up. No one wants the territory here."

"Why? It's so beautiful!"

She looks down over the edge. "Let me tell you a story, Rushpaw-

Once, long ago, there was an apprentice much like you, with the potential for much good or terrible evil. She lived in a clan whose name is long lost to time, a clan who lived far to the west in territory no one knows any longer. That land was plagued by a terrible fox with fur the pitch black of shadows.

As for how the fox came to be that color, it was once claimed that its fur had been burned in an ancient fire and had grown back in black as the soot that followed. Others claim it was dark because there was no light in its soul. Some will tell you that it was made from shadows. As for me? I have no reason to believe the fox was ever anything but an excuse, a manifestation of the fear and hatred within the cats who lived there.

Regardless, every moon, this fox would come and devour one cat. Usually, the weak were set out, as otherwise the clan would die. This slowly deprived the clan of any heroism or conscience it might have once had. Our protagonist, Stormpaw, begins her story as her friend, Twistpaw, was set out to die one night.

Now, Stormpaw was not one to take destiny lying down. She told her friend to come away with her, but Twistpaw refused, as otherwise the youngest kits in the clan were in danger of dying. They fought until the fox... emerged and tore out Twistpaw's heart before Stormpaw's eyes.

If we are to assume the fox wasn't real... then who killed Twistpaw?"

"Why would we?" I ask. "Stranger things have happened here."

Knottedstar sighs. "Yes, I suppose so. I've always believed that the darkness within us is darkness enough, but looking at you... I can't be sure of anything.

Either way, Stormpaw returned to the clan bloody and angrily announced she was leaving. She ran away and found herself in the depths of the woods, starving to death. Allegedly, that night, she came upon two beasts of legend, a dragon and a phoenix, though all we know now is that one of them is lizardlike with bat wings and the other, a great red bird. The rest has been lost to the ages. Hallucinations or truth? You decide, but it doesn't change the end result- Stormpaw emerged Dragonstar, and began to grow her clan.

She warned them constantly of the black fox in the woods, and her clan grew dependant on her, terrified of the outer world. She gave them names to remind her of home- why, her medicine cat was even named Twistheart, though this Twistheart was slightly less... interested in her affections.

She turned her love elsewhere and fell madly enamored with a cat named Stormheart, who even bore her old prefix. She spent many moons trying to seduce him, only to find he had already taken a mate when she one day saw his own kit about his paws.

Angrily, she turned on his mate, Flametail, and began to spread slander, which the innocent clan was terrified to hear.

Flametail, now an outcast, was driven to kill herself. She came to this very cliff, where Dragonstar pushed her over. Stormcloud soon found out and jumped over as well, leaving Dragonstar with his kit.

However Flametail's kit, Leafkit, grew up into a fine warrior. Though Dragonstar tried to get rid of her, she soon proved far too popular and conned herself into deputy. One night, the two went out alone to the cliff where her parents had died and later that night, Leafstar returned with blood on her paws.

When she was asked what became of DragonClan's first leader, she replied, 'The black fox killed her, of course.'

Dragonstar's kit immediately knew this was a lie, and so dethroned the leader that Leafstar chose, and Echoheart, kin of Dragonstar, died laughing before the decapitated head of Leafstar's deputy, who had become leader after Leafstar took ill.

The cat who took over when both Echoheart and that leader died was known as Moonstar, and at the end of her reign, the black fox was supposedly vanquished for good.

That period of time, though scorned by our current day warriors, is known as the age of the fox. At first, it was revered, then feared, then joked about, and now it appears it has been forgotten. Still, Echoheart once, long ago, took a mate in the clan's medicine cat... and so for all we know, that blood is still being passed down today. This clan is far more feral than it looks, and vengeance burns within our blood. The fox lies within us all, so to speak. However... the clan has done a good job of suppressing it. We may yet atone for our ancestors' sins, and with it, the tunnels may cease to murmur nightmares and the dead can finally sleep. This may be the job passed onto you, vast as it seems."

I look at Knottedstar with horror, unable to speak.

"Do you understand?"

My eyes shift down to the bottom of the cliff. There are still clawmarks on the rock, and my imagination instantly places bloodstains where I can only infer there must have been in days long gone. Could I really be related to cats like that? "I understand, Knottedstar."

"Good." Knottedstar says, "Let's go home."

((Sorry to be so late! This whopper rests at 2300 words and I also wrote most of the next chapter today, but ended up splitting them apart. DC itself has also been busy, haha. Lots of old friends coming back- none of them except for me were around when this happened, but still, very old friends. That happens when your roleplay clan is over two years old. 
Speaking of such, some of you may recognize a lot of this from Vengeance, which is another finished book of mine that takes place IN Moonstar's period of leadership. 

The fox is... well, the fox is real in that one.

However, ironically, a lot of us roleplayed the fox because it was an NPC character, so the darkness metaphorically lives in all of us.

Mainly me, though, because everyone else kept trying to attack people they didn't like with the fox instead of adhering to any sort of plot. eheheh))