Chapter One

"Is that a challenge?"

Foxleap sat tall, the morning sun glistening off his ginger fur and his amber eyes narrowed. Toadstep sighed and rolled his eyes at the young tom. He had merely stated that his hunting was improving and joked that soon enough, he'd be better than even Sandstorm. Before he knew it, Foxleap was boasting that no one could catch more mice than him.

"No, for the millionth time, I'm not challenging you to anything," he sighed. "You know, not everything I say is a challenge."

"But I take it as one," Foxleap smirked. "That is what the best do."

Around him, everyone groaned but the cocky tom didn't hear it – or refused to. Instead, he heard sighs of admiration, whispers about his skills, the muffled sobs of all those who wished they were as great as him.

"Forget I said anything," Toadstep sniffed and turned to the gray she-cat next to him. "Hey Ivypool, want to go hunting?"

"Sure, I'd like to see these hunting skills for myself," she teased.

Foxleap's ears perked at this, "Want to see my-"

"No, Foxleap," Ivypool deadpanned. She turned to Toadstep, "Let's just go already."

The two left the camp, muttering something about how cocky and arrogant Foxleap had grown; he was almost as bad as Berrynose! He hadn't always been like this but ever since he became an apprentice, he did everything he could to prove that he was the best of the best. Even if he wasn't.

It had only gotten worse since the battle with the Dark Forest.

Foxleap watched as the two left the camp, their pelts barely brushing as they squeezed under the bramble barrier. Icecloud, who lay near him, growled under her breath. "Hey Foxleap, do you think… do you think there's anything going on between them?"

"Hm?" Foxleap glanced up from his sparrow. "Who?"

"Ivypool and Toadstep!" Icecloud snapped. "Are they mates or something?"

Foxleap shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't really matter, does it?"

Icecloud sighed, "No, it's just… never mind."

"Okay. Well you can ask them later but I have to go train Cherrypaw," Foxleap dismissed as he stood up.

"Aren't you going to finish that?" Icecloud nodded to the half-eaten sparrow lying at his paws. He had probably only taken two bites out of it and even though it was Greenleaf, they still shouldn't be wasting prey.

"No, give it to the elders or something," Foxleap sniggered and Icecloud's blue eyes narrowed.

"That's a little disrespectful, don't you think?" But Foxleap didn't reply. He simply padded off in search of his apprentice. Icecloud stared at him, slight disgust appearing in her eyes. A few cats who were sharing tongues near her also had the same look in their eyes.

Foxleap walked to where Cherrypaw and Molepaw were gossiping by the elders den. Dewkit, Amberkit, and Snowkit were sitting nearby, admiring the two apprentices. When Foxleap approached, Cherrypaw swallowed the rest of her mouse and sat up. "Hi, Foxleap."

"Cherrypaw, if you're ready then we're going to go battle train. You need to work on your leap-and-hold," Foxleap mewed and the younger apprentice nodded excitedly. "Molepaw, if you and Rosepetal want to come, feel free to join."

It wasn't so much the fact that Foxleap wanted to train with the pair, but because he wanted to be closer to the pretty cream she-cat. If she just saw me in action… she wouldn't be able to keep her paws off me!

"Sorry but Rosepetal said we'd be hunting today," Molepaw said. Disappointment filled Foxleap for a moment but he nodded anyway and left with Cherrypaw. He would just have to train without the pretty she-cat as a distraction.

The mentor and apprentice made their way to the Mossy Hollow in silence. They had never really bonded on more than a mentor/apprentice scale and it made it hard for the two to start any real conversation.

When they reached the hollow, Foxleap turned to his apprentice. "Okay, the leap-and-hold is a move a small cat uses on a larger one. You'd use this in battle when going up against a full grown warrior and I've heard stories of this move defeating even the strongest warriors if used correctly."

Foxleap continued, "Now, what I want you to do is sidestep my attack and then jump on my back. You have to hold on for a few seconds and then you can let go."

Cherrypaw nodded with determination gleaming in her amber eyes. Foxleap lunged at her, his paws outstretched, as she easily dodged to the side. When Foxleap came to a stop, the apprentice lunged forward, latching herself on his back like a burr.

Foxleap tried to shake her off but when it was clear the apprentice wasn't budging, he stopped. "Good. Now I'm going to do a drop-and-roll. I want you to jump off me so you don't get squashed."

He didn't wait for Cherrypaw's reaction and instead, dropped suddenly to the ground and rolled out. Cherrypaw was still latched onto him when he rolled away and seconds later, the squeal of the younger apprentice could be heard as he squashed her under his body.

Foxleap quickly scrambled off of Cherrypaw. "Why didn't you jump off like I told you to?" Foxleap snapped at the whimpering apprentice.

"I didn't expect you to drop so fast!" she wailed.

Foxleap sighed, "Let's just get back to camp so Jayfeather can look – uh, smell –whatever hurts."

Cherrypaw nodded with a sniffle and crawled to her feet and started limping towards camp. She was cradling her front right paw and whenever she touched it to the ground, she would cry out. Oh please, it can't hurt that bad.

When they reached camp, Jayfeather was already outside, talking quietly with Lionblaze by the medicine cat den. Lionblaze spotted the injured she-cat and was about to say something to his brother but the blind medicine cat was already walking over.

"Foxleap rolled on me!" Cherrypaw cried and Foxleap fought the urge to roll his eyes. By the way she was wailing about it, you'd think she was mauled by a badger.

Jayfeather gently pressed his paw up against the wound, to which Cherrypaw let out another cry. "It's definitely sprained. You'll heal just fine but you won't be able to train for a while."

"How long is a while?" Cherrypaw sniffled.

"A moon, give or take."

Foxleap and Cherrypaw both shot to their feet, the latter soon falling back on the ground. "What do you mean 'a moon'? It can't take that long to heal a little sprain! I mean, she twisted her paw!"

Cats started to gather around the small group, all whispering and muttering about the crying apprentice and her mentor. Jayfeather narrowed his blind eyes at the tom, "There's a difference between a twisted paw and a sprain, Foxleap. A twisted paw is caused when you land funny, a sprain is caused when your idiot mentor decides to roll on you."

Foxleap felt his ears heat up in embarrassment as some of the cats watching, sniggered at him. But he refused to back down. "It's not like I randomly attacked her. We were training and she didn't do the move right."

"Save it. It won't change the fact that for the next moon, you're without an apprentice."

Cherrypaw let out an angry huff as she struggled to her feet. She whipped around to Foxleap and glared at him, "This is all your fault!"

Foxleap watched in shock as the apprentice hopped away, soon followed by Jayfeather and her family. Spiderleg, who had been watching the whole thing, was the first to speak up. "Wow, you really screwed up this time."

"It wasn't my fault," Foxleap huffed to his brother and sat down. Most of the cats watching had wandered away, probably to gossip about the latest injured apprentice.

"According to Cherrypaw, it's all your fault," Spiderleg chuckled as his brother shot him a glare. "Oh lighten up, it's only a moon."

"I've faced worst injuries and been on my feet in a few days!" Foxleap huffed.

"But you're Foxleap, the strongest, fastest, smartest, bestest cat in the world! You could get your leg ripped off and still be able to take on the whole forest," Spiderleg said sarcastically. Only Foxleap didn't pick up on the whole sarcasm bit.

"I know! So why's it taking so long to heal a little sprained paw?" Foxleap slumped to the ground and placed his head on his paws. Spiderleg stayed sitting, staring at his little brother with clear distaste.

"Please tell me you're not being serious right now." Foxleap merely looked up with him in confusion to answer his question. "Foxleap, I hate to burst your bubble but you aren't the centre of the universe."

Foxleap flicked his tail, "I never said I-"

"But you act like it! For StarClan's sake, stop acting like the Clans bow down at your feet because frankly, nobody can stand you!" Spiderleg spat. "You're a talented warrior, I'll admit, but you need to get your head out of the clouds because you aren't as great as you'd think and you're going to end up hurting yourself with that attitude."

Foxleap sat up straight and glared at his brother, "I don't think I'm better than everyone else… okay maybe I do but it's because I am. Remember when I had the contest with Toadstep, Icecloud and Rosepetal to see who could catch the most prey? Or when we tested who could jump the highest! What about-"

"Well we may as well just make you leader!" Spiderleg rolled his eyes. "Foxstar just seems to fit you perfectly. In fact, let's make you leader of all four Clans! Why not throw StarClan in there too?"

Foxleap ducked his head, bashfully, "Well, I don't know about that…"

Spiderleg rolled his amber eyes again. "This is reason number one why you don't have a mate."

Foxleap narrowed his amber eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're so arrogant that no one wants to be near you," Spiderleg said bluntly.

"It's not that I'm arrogant," Foxleap's eyes fell on Rosepetal who was sharing tongues with Mousewhisker. "I'm just waiting for the right she-cat."

Spiderleg followed Foxleap's gaze to the cream coloured she-cat. When he saw who the young tom was staring at, Spiderleg cuffed him over the ear. "You're not mating with my daughter, you mouse-brain."

Foxleap batted Spiderleg's paw off of him, "Why? Couldn't you imagine how beautiful our kits would be? They'd have my dashing good looks and her-"

"Stop! I do not want to have this conversation with you. I'll give you two reasons why you and Rosepetal will never be mates. First, you are way too full of yourself to treat her right. And secondly, she wouldn't go for you in a million seasons!"

Foxleap stared at his brother in shock and disbelief. Of course Rosepetal would consider taking him as a mate! In fact, she had probably already thought about it. "You're crazy if you don't see the way she-cat's look at me. They love me! Rosepetal included."

Spiderleg literally toppled over from laughed so hard. He could barely make out the words but managed to gasp, "Love you? They all cringe when they even hear your name. Trust me, Foxleap, I'm not the crazy one in this situation."

Foxleap sniffed and looked away, "Think what you'd like, Spiderleg. But until you have actual proof, I'm going to keep on believing that I'm the centre of every she-cats world."

Spiderleg rolled his eyes and scanned the cats in the Clan. Finally, his eyes landed on their brother, Birchfall who was exiting the warriors den. "Birchfall, come here!" Spiderleg called.

Birchfall padded towards the two toms and nodded greetings at them. He was about to say something when Spiderleg cut him off. "Birchfall, go ask Rosepetal if she would ever consider Foxleap as a mate."

"Well since you asked so nicely…" Birchfall muttered as he walked towards the dark cream she-cat. Mousewhisker had gone to gossip with Icecloud, leaving Rosepetal alone.

Foxleap watched from afar as Birchfall greeted her. After a few moments of only smiles and nods, Foxleap turned to Spiderleg with a smirk on his face. "Looks like I was right, as usual."

"Keep watching," Spiderleg meowed confidently. Foxleap rolled his eyes and turned back to watch Rosepetal and Birchfall talking. They watched for a few more heartbeats and just as Foxleap was about to tell Spiderleg to give it up, the unexpected happened.

Rosepetal cringed, as if physically disgusted by whatever Birchfall had said to her. Foxleap was about to say that it could be about anything but that thought diminished when she tilted her head towards Foxleap as if you ask, "That Foxleap?"

Birchfall nodded and she shook her head, laughing. Foxleap was never good at reading lips but it wasn't hard to make out what she was saying. "Never."

Spiderleg turned to Foxleap with a smug look on his face. "Told you."

Foxleap just stared at Rosepetal in shock as she continued to talk with Birchfall. How could she not like me? I'm handsome, strong, brave… what's not to like?

"But – but…" Foxleap stuttered.

Spiderleg nudged him, "Don't worry, little brother. You don't need a mate. And maybe one day you'll find a deaf she-cat who will really love you," he taunted.

"Just because one she-cat doesn't like me, doesn't mean that they all don't," Foxleap defended himself. Spiderleg only laughed.

"Trust me, it's not just her. Any she-cat who's met you would cringe if they heard your name," Spiderleg teased and Foxleap narrowed his amber eyes, sitting up straighter.

"Is that a challenge?"

Spiderleg sighed, "Not this again! Foxleap, not everything is…" It was like Spiderleg had an epiphany as a cruel smirk grew on his face. Maybe a little rejection would be what's best for Foxleap. It would knock his ego down a bit and maybe make him a little more tolerable. "Actually, it is a challenge."

Foxleap smirked as Spiderleg continued, "You have exactly one moon to find a she-cat who actually enjoys your personality. And Icecloud doesn't count."

"It's on."

And so it begins.

A/N: This idea was adopted from the amazing tr1xx777. She has an adoptable stories page which has some really good ideas that I really suggest you guys go grab them before someone else takes them!

I know that someone will ask this so I'll just answer it right now. Yes, Rosepetal is related to Foxleap but Erin Hunter has made it clear that it doesn't really matter. Case and point: Willowpelt and Patchpelt. They were siblings but they still had kits together.

Anyway, what do you guys think? I'll be updating once a week, every Saturday and I already have the first three chapters done so unless there's a problem with the Wi-Fi, you guys are guaranteed an update on time! And I put QOTD at the bottom of every chapter because I really want to get to know my readers and I saw some other authors do it. I forget who though...

Question of the Day

Who is your favorite character from the books?