Chapter 7:

Firepaw followed Violet swiftly, keeping up with her every step of the way. A couple times, she glanced back, to make sure that her fellow travelers were up to pace.

For such an odd cat, Violet struck interest in Firepaw's mind, and captured her attention, as well as her imagination. Could there truly be other clans out there that don't follow all of StarClan's rules? Did StarClan walk in their dreams, and if so, were they the same cats that Firepaw dreamt of? Questions like these burned in the back of her head, and made it almost impossible to concentrate on other things, like how far they had been running. Firepaw's paws already ached from the journey they were taking, but now it seemed as if they'd been running for hours at a time. Snowfeather seemed to share this worry.

"How far do you think she's going to take us?" she asked, catching up with Firepaw and staring after Violet cautiously.

"Honestly, I don't know. But, I do think this could be important for us. Learning about new clans and their lifestyles could be rather interesting," Firepaw replied looking back again to see her other friends struggling to keep up.

"I thought she said it wasn't too far," Snowfeather murmured, and slowed her pace slightly to pull in besides Littlestreak. They exchanged a few words, Littlestreak, guided by Sunpelt, was obviously having a hard time finding her way in the forest they were in. It was nothing like the forest back home.

All of the sudden, Firepaw had a longing for CloudClan. She had a longing for Echostar, and Hazeleyes, and everyone else. A wave of sadness swarmed her body, and ate away at her broken heart. She wanted so badly to return to her family, and her friends, but she knew she had to stay, to keep her clan safe. After thinking for a moment, Firepaw let go off the longing for her clan, and pushed all thoughts of them away. The last thing she needed was to become depressed on her way to save her clan.

"Almost there!" Violet yowled from in front of them. She was very fast, and had a 'strong' look about her. Firepaw figured she mustn't be more than a couple of months older than she, but she could only guess. Firepaw built up all of her remaining strength and pushed herself forward, until she was side-by-side with Violet.

"Oh! Hello there!" she exclaimed, like she didn't know who Firepaw was.

"How far away is your camp?" Firepaw asked, trying to hide the despair in her voice.

"Not a long way away, we keep well hidden," she said, turning to wink at Firepaw slyly. "We chose to settle in the denser part of the forest, so that we'd be hard to find for even the dogs with the sharpest noses!" she exclaimed proudly.

"That's all very well, but we are all extremely tired from our trip, if its any farther we might have to stop to rest," Firepaw meowed, glancing back at her tired clanmates.

"We're here!" she mewed loudly and came to abrupt stop. Her claws dug into the Earth, shredding blades of grass and sending dirt flying. Firepaw stopped too, but her clanmates didn't seem to get the memo, and crashed right into Violet and Firepaw.

Firepaw shook her pelt softly and stood up again, her head pounded slightly because of the mishap in steps, and Snowfeather and Sunpelt were helping Littlestreak up. Violet and just laughed and rolled around on the forest ground, taking it all as a joke.

"Okay friends! Just up this path!" Violet told between breaths. "Make sure to remember to stop!" she meowed gleefully, shaking from laughter.

All of the other cats looked at each other in confusion at what was so funny, but shrugged and kept walking after the strange Violet, who was almost dying from laughter.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Silverfire whispered in Firepaw's ear.

Firepaw slowed a little bit, pressing each paw to the ground carefully. To be honest, she wasn't sure if it was safe or not. Her clanmates turned their heads wildly in every direction, wondering what was going on. Could she trust Violet? Firepaw thought to herself. She knew that Violet seemed dependable, but what if it was an act? What if she were leading them to their death?

Firepaw stopped unexpectedly and planted her paws on the ground. Her clanmates stopped too, and sat patiently as Violet turned around and curiously asked, "What's wrong?"

"Where are you taking us? Why have we gone so far?" Firepaw asked. Now another fear struck her heart; they had gotten off the path!

"We don't have time for this," Snowfeather asked, sensing Firepaw's fear. "We just got off the path!"

"I know," Firepaw hissed, clearly annoyed. "Listen Violet, it was nice to meet you, but we really have to be going. I'm sorry we never got to meet your clan," Firepaw nodded in respect, but secretly, her heart pounded hard and fast in her chest. She tried to push her fears away, but they lingered, and were making it hard for Firepaw to get her paws still.

"Oh, don't be silly! I can help you find your way back if that's what your worrying about!" Violet mewed, turning back to the path and sticking her nose to the air. "It's just a few foxtails ahead!"

"Let's just go," Littlestreak whispered in Firepaw's ears. "I can't sense anything wrong. And she seems decent," she added quietly.

"Okay," Firepaw responded, starting to walk again after Violet.

"It's right here!" Violet meowed. There was a small bushed that easily hid an entrance to a camp, and Violet could only tell that because she saw Violet crawl through the bush and yell, "C'mon you guys!"

Firepaw shrugged and pushed through the bush, and came out of the entrance to a camp. Her clanmates followed her through the bush and stared in excitement at what they saw. The camp was amazingly different from theirs. It was fascinating.

A small waterfall was pounding in on the side, and some cats lapped up the fresh and clean water from the pond. The dens were built magnificently and everything seemed so perfect and peaceful. All of the cats were either sunbathing or eating from their giant fresh-kill pile. Envy flickered in Firepaw's heart. This camp was the most beautiful thing she had ever witnessed.

"Whoa," Sunpelt murmured under her breath. Even the dirt was the softest dirt she had ever felt before in her entire life.

"C'mon, Razzle is just in that cave over there," she pointed with her tail at a large boulder in the center of the camp. A huge opening was cut out in the rock, and inside you could faintly see a small brown tom dozing in the shade.

"Hold on, let me go tell him you're here," Violet mewed, bounding off toward 'Razzle'.

"Razzle? What a strange name," Snowfeather murmured under her breath, laughter glimmering in her eyes.

"Be nice," Firepaw snapped, but her eyes shone amusement too.

Violet spoke a few words in Razzle's ears, who immediately stood up and stared in the direction of the travelers. He smiled and pranced over to the newcomers, giving off a blissful vibe.

"Hello there," he meowed once he was closer, Violet standing by his side.

"Hello," Firepaw dipped her head in respect and closed her eyes courteously.

"Oh no need for bowing!" he laughed, hilarity clouding his eyes. "Were all the same here!"

Firepaw picked her head up in shock. She had almost figured that Razzle would be their clan leader, but equal? Did that mean they had no clan leader?

"Aren't you their leader?" Silverfire asked, feeling the same surprise as Firepaw.

"We have no leaders here. Please, come into my den. We have much to talk about," he replied, and turned to go back into the cave. Firepaw and her friends started to follow, but he turned around and said, "Please, just you," he said, pointing at Firepaw.

Firepaw looked back at her clanmates, and only shrugged, watching as Violet turned them in the opposite direction, towards the fresh-kill pile and said, "come, you must be hungry."

Firepaw felt her stomach growl with hunger too, but she pushed hunger to the back of her mind and kept walking after Razzle.

"Now, why have you gone so far away from your clanmates? Is there trouble?" he asked after they were truly inside the deep cave. Water occasionally dripped off of the cave ceiling and it was muggy inside. A bed made out of the soft spongy moss was in the center of the room, obviously where Razzle slept.

"I'm not exactly sure. We are traveling to the top of the world, in order to find Gold," Firepaw meowed. Razzle narrowed his eyes suspiciously and curled his tail in front of his paws.

"And who told you that you needed to find this so-called 'Gold'?" he asked spitting the word Gold.

"It was a sign from StarClan," Firepaw meowed confidently. Razzle seemed to be skeptical of what Firepaw was saying, so she knew she needed to convince him of the truth.

"And you believe this nonsense?" he spat. "When I first saw you, I didn't think you'd be one of those believers just like all of the other ignorant mouse-brains!"

"Mouse-brain? Violet knows about StarClan, and so do you! How can you know about them, and not believe?" Firepaw asked, surprised by his sudden fury.

"Ha! StarClan, why would I ever believe in such a preposterous thing?" he demanded, clenching his teeth. "StarClan is a joke, a load of fox dung!"

"No, no it isn't!" Firepaw hissed, the fur along her spine raising and her claws sheathing and unsheathing.

Suddenly, another scent washed over her. Spottedleaf appeared next to her, her expression calm and patient. Firepaw flicked her ears at the StarClan warrior, and was astonished when Razzle's eyes stretched wide as he looked at Spottedleaf's glowing pelt.

"My dear Razzle, how long has it been since I've walked in your dreams?" she asked, touching the fuming warrior lightly on his shoulder and cocking her head to the side kindly.

"You!" he murmured, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Tell me Razzle, since when have you given up your faith in StarClan? I faintly remember that just a few moons ago, you preached to your clan about how important it is to believe in us. And now you sit here questioning Firepaw's beliefs? You have no right," she growled, narrowing her eyes.

Razzle cowered in fear; his eyes were only small slits that were clouded by panic and alarm. "I-I," he murmured softly, trying to think of a reason of his actions.

"StarClan has watched over you and your clan. We accept your ways and respect your decisions. We offer you guidance and hope, and this is how you repay us?" she stipulated. "You have disappointed us yet again Razzle," she added, shaking her head.

"Spottedleaf, I do not wish to mean harm, I only speak for my clan," he tried, standing up a little straighter, even though his tail was still as large as it could be. "We had thought you abandoned us."

"We have no reason to abandon you. We walk many skies Razzle, and the other clans needed us, more than yours."

Firepaw stared anxiously at the two bickering cats. Her eyes were stretched wide at their confrontation.

"Enough," Spottedleaf hissed. "Firepaw has come here for help, you must listen to her and be there for her and her friends. We will never abandon TreeClan," she added softly.

Razzle and Firepaw watched as she slowly disappeared into the blackness of the cave and Razzle cautiously licked his chest fur and tried to relax. "I'm sorry Firepaw," he murmured dipping his head at the small she-cat.

"I need to discuss things with my clanmates, but tomorrow we will talk. Come, you look hungry, I will get you something to eat and then you will sleep," he ordered, walking out of the den.

Firepaw was confused. StarClan walked in their skies too? Did they walk in every sky there was? Firepaw almost wished that she could go home and eat her old fresh-kill, and sleep with her friends nestled up by her side, but she knew that she had a duty to do, and so tiredly, she walked out of the den, and joined her clanmates by the fresh-kill pile.

Hello! Wow, it's been so long since I've updated! I was really bored today and decided to update this story! Well, I know this chapter was a little boring but I promise that the next one will be longer… and better! Byes! Oh and don't eat at McCruelty or KFCruelty! They torture chickens!

-Maddie