Lost Hope: Book 6: Future of Hope

Chapter 23

"Are you sure you want to do this? You have no idea what could be waiting for you there."

Forestpaw almost sighed as Sparrowfeather said the words. She'd heard them from almost everyone else leading up to this moment. "I am sure," she said, a little fiercer than she'd intended. But she had made up her mind what felt like ages ago. Was she ready? Well, she wasn't entirely sure, but she knew she had to do it. And that was really all that mattered, right? Besides, her dreams had been plagued with visions of the Star Pearl and the eels that lurked in the murky water.

"Alright, well just know that we'll be there with you every step of the way, okay?" Sparrowfeather gave her an almost fatherly look, and Forestpaw was hit with a wave of sadness in remembering that he mentored her sister, Sapphirepaw.

You're doing this for her. And for dad, Forestpaw reminded herself. It will all be worth it in the end. Because there would be an end to this, she just had to keep telling herself that.

***

"You just... jump into the tree...?" Burrowpelt asked, tilting her head in a skeptical way.

Her, Sparrowfeather, Lilacsnow, Amberclaw, and Forestpaw stood inside the Star Hollow, staring up at the Startree, as Amberclaw and Forestpaw gave a brief summary of how they'd crossed into the spirit realm.

"...Yep," Forestpaw confirmed.

"Oh, it's not that hard," Amberclaw said. "You just need to time it right." He positioned himself in front of the tree in a crouch. "Just do what I do." And he jumped straight into the tree. And landed flat on his back in the grass.

Forestpaw wasn't sure she'd cringed harder in her life. "Are you okay?" she asked, coming to his side.

"Well, that was reassuring," Burrowpelt commented. "You good, kitto?"

"Mmmm," Amberclaw groaned, his eyes squeezed shut. "That was... not what I had in... mind."

"I'll bet," Sparrowfeather said. "I think we're going to have to take you back to camp," he said.

Lilacsnow glanced at the tom, her eyes glimmering with a mixture of irritation and pity. Forestpaw felt the urge to defend her brother, but kept her mouth clamped shut, realizing it would do no good here. "I'll take him back," she said with a small sigh, and then with a forced smile she added, "Try not to have too much fun without me, kay? If you're not back by sunhigh tomorrow, we're coming in after you."

The rest of the cats nodded in agreement, and Lilacsnow was able to nudge Amberclaw to his feet, and Forestpaw watched as they slowly trudged out of the Hollow. She wanted to run after them, instead of facing what she knew lay before her, going back to the Dark Forest. The thought hadn't made her shiver before, but now the air felt colder than leafbare snow.

"Alright, now how do we actually get in there?" Burrowpelt wondered aloud, and she extended an experimental paw toward the shimmering trunk, just as the full moon cast its light over the Hollow. Her disappeared into the trunk, and Burrowpelt jerked back in alarm.

"I guess we found our way in," she said, a small laugh in her mew, but her eyes were filled with wonder.

"She-cats first," Sparrowfeather nudged her, and Burrowpelt tossed him a playful smile. Then she looked back at the tree, took a breath, and stepped into StarClan.

Forestpaw almost gasped as she watched the tree swallow her. Her heart beat even faster as Lilacsnow stepped forward and underwent the same treatment.

"You're up, Forestpaw," Sparrowfeather said. "I'll be right after you."

"Promise?" Forestpaw said, her steps tentative.

"I promise," Sparrowfeather said.

Forestpaw closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they had a new glint of determination in them. She took a breath and then stepped into StarClan.

    "Oh, wow." She heard Burrowpelt breathe as she took in the landscape. Forestpaw had heard from her mentor, Dandelionheart, that she had never been into StarClan and their prophecies, but she looked utterly breathless in this moment.

    Forestpaw watched her and Sparrowfeather gaze around in hesitant curiosity and awe, while she pawed the ground with trepidation. Sure, StarClan was beautiful and mysterious, but something about it held an eeriness to Forestpaw that she just couldn't quite shake. But she knew once they'd freed StarClan that this place would hold the same magic that it used to.

    "We should get going," Sparrowfeather said, noticing Forestpaw's look, and Burrowpelt nodded in agreement.

    "Lead the way, Forestpaw," Burrowpelt encouraged.

    Forestpaw took a breath and headed off in the direction that led toward the Dark Forest, and all the trauma and memories that came with it.

    They made good time to the little thorn covered portal and and similarly to the Startree, although ten times more itchy, passed through it.

    Burrowpelt wrinkled her nose as she took in the Dark Forest, and her mate wore a similar expression. "Great StarClan, that does not smell great."

    "You can say that again," Sparrowfeather grumbled. "Where to now?" he asked Forestpaw.

    Forestpaw opened her mouth slightly to take in the all too familiar scents. It looked exactly as she remembered, and not in a good way. The training clearing would be down the river and past that clump of trees. And opposite would take them down to the eel lake. The Star Pearl.

    "Down here," she said, beginning to descend the hill, the two adult cats following her closely, ears alert. She led them to the split in the murky river, keeping a watchful eye for any cats that might be lurking. With the moon high in the sky back in the living realm, many cats would be 'asleep' and here for training. The river got narrower and narrower before drying up completely. And then there were the spindly black trees that encircled them form almost every angle, barley letting any light through the gaps.

    "You were trapped here for how long?" Burrowpelt whispered from close beside her.

    "Too long," Forestpaw whispered back grimly.

    Before she was ready, they reached the eel lake. Forestpaw recognized the murky water with the little island in the middle all too well, too far to something, but too far to jump. And you couldn't swim across lest one of the eels swam too close to you. Forestpaw remembered that tom that had tried to swim in there, it hadn't gone too well for him. And speaking of toms, there was one prowling around the shoreline just now, an anxious look on his face.

    With a small gasp, Forestpaw ducked down behind on of the bushes in front of them. Burrowpelt and Sparrowfeather followed her lead, spotting the tom as well.

    "He looks familiar...." Sparrowfeather said in a low voice. Forestpaw squinted, trying to get a better look at the tom's face, and when he finally turned and she could see his features more clearly she said, "Tarantulaclaw."