Warriors || Hopestar's Choice: Book 1 (1 of 3)

Chapter 11

A half-moon passed since ShadowClan became a part of TigerClan. Tigerstar stressed the importance of unity and went so far as to move some former ShadowClan cats into TigerClan's camp while some TigerClan cats went to their camp. The problem of the most importance was keeping order in a clan that was separated.

As far as apprentices go, Sootpaw and Tawnypaw were sent to the North Camp as it was quickly being called. Then Cedarpaw was sent to live here in the South Camp. It didn't take Hopepaw long to recognize Cedarpaw as the apprentice from the battle that claimed to be Rowanpaw's brother. She could hardly sleep at night for fear that he would kill her.

Many warriors were swapped around. Sandstorm, luckily, remained here in the South Camp. Darkstripe was put in charge of the North Camp along with Longtail and Mousefur. Cedarpaw kept the same mentor: Russetfur. The former ShadowClan deputy did not take kindly to being moved to a new camp. She complained about everything and sought out an argument wherever she could find one.

Blackstar returned to the North Camp but had his name changed to Blackfoot. Rumor says that Tigerstar killed Blackfoot as many times as it took to get him down to one life. Hopepaw couldn't imagine dying over and over again. That sounded horrible.

Hopepaw sat outside the apprentice den with Bramblepaw, Owlpaw, and Sorrelpaw. Rainpaw and Cedarpaw were out on patrol. It felt strange to not have Tawnypaw and Sootpaw here, but she understood the importance of mixing the two clans. Plus, from a strategic view, it weakened ShadowClan to be split up so they couldn't fight back.

"Hopepaw!" She heard a voice call. When she looked up, she saw Thornclaw waving her over.

Hopepaw bounded over to her mentor and saw that he was sitting with a few ShadowClan cats as well as Brindleface. She recognized a few of the ShadowClan cats since they were a part of the clan now. One of them was Darkflower, a black she-cat, and then there was Oakfur, a brown tabby tom. The last one was Tallpoppy, a long-legged tabby she-cat.

"We are going on patrol." Thornclaw told her. He stood up and the other warriors did as well. Hopepaw followed the group out of camp and through the forest.

Within the first few days of the Merge, cats from both clans were required to learn the other clan's territory. They were allowed to walk anywhere they wanted between the two territories, and the ShadowClan cats showed them a tunnel that went underneath the Thunderpath. They would never need to cross it again.

"Where are we going?" Hopepaw asked Thornclaw as he led the patrol. Brindleface was at the back of the group talking with Tallpoppy about whatever it is queens talk about. Darkflower whispered with Oakfur.

"We are going to the North Camp." Thornclaw mewed. "And then we are going to Fourtrees."

Hopepaw's ears perked up at the mention of Fourtrees. "Why? Isn't the Gathering tonight?"

Thornclaw nodded, "Yes, but Tigerstar wanted us to check on something."

Hopepaw fell back and ended up walking next to Darkflower. The black she-cat eyed her for a moment before deciding to make conversation. "What's your name again?"

"My name is Hopepaw," She answered the warrior respectfully.

Darkflower's green eyes sparked. "Is your mother Sandstorm?"

"Yes," Hopepaw nodded. "Sandstorm is my mother."

"And who is your father?" Darkflower wondered.

Hopepaw hesitated and pondered how to reply. "Well, I actually don't know who my father is..."

Darkflower blinked in surprise. She turned away and huffed. "What a shame, every cat should know who their father is."

The black she-cat's words hung in the air. Hopepaw couldn't shake them from her head and it stirred something deep within her heart. Was it anger? Regret? Shame? She didn't have much time to ponder it as they now reached the Thunderpath.

Oakfur led the way under the tunnel and Hopepaw followed after Darkflower. She hasn't been through here yet, and it gave her the creeps. From up above, she could hear a monster approaching. The entire tunnel shook as the monster passed overhead. It took all of Hopepaw's courage to not shove past the others towards the light.

Finally, they came up out of the ground and Hopepaw relished in the wind that blew through her thick fur. Oakfur led the patrol across the land and Hopepaw's nose scrunched up at the boggy, wet soil. Was it always like this? These were supposed to be ShadowClan cats, not RiverClan!

"Don't worry, the whole territory isn't like this, only this stretch of land." Darkflower whispered to her.

Darkflower was right, Hopepaw realized. The further they traveled, the drier the land became. All the trees here were tall and thin, and they were more spread apart. The only undergrowth here was grass and a few ferns. She noticed a squirrel race up a tree and her belly rumbled.

The patrol trudged onwards to the North Camp where they would meet up with a few more cats. This mission that they were being sent on sounded important. Thornclaw said that they were only looking at Fourtrees, but what was so important that needed such a large patrol?

Finally, the North Camp came into view. Upon entering, the group was welcomed eagerly by cats from both clans. Hopepaw noticed Darkstripe approaching with Longtail and Blackfoot. Her fur still crept at the sight of the former clan leader, stripped of his power.

"Thornclaw," Darkstripe nodded to his clanmate. "You bring news from Tigerstar?"

The golden-brown warrior nodded. "He wants us, along with a few from this camp, to go to Fourtrees." Thornclaw's amber eyes surveyed the camp. "He wants us to prepare Fourtrees for the Gathering."

Darkstripe nodded and turned to face their clanmates. Among the crowd, Hopepaw saw Tawnypaw and Sootpaw. "I'll send Fawnstep, Jaggedtooth, and Runningwind with them."

Thronclaw's dipped his head to his deputy. "We'll be on our way then." The group, along with its added members, left the North Camp and headed for Fourtrees.

Hopepaw walked alongside Fawnstep, a ginger she-cat with white flecks. She recognized her from the battle. After Fawnstep gave her a mean look, Hopepaw trotted ahead to fall into step with Brindleface.

The pretty tabby she-cat turned to Hopepaw. "What's wrong? Is someone giving you a hard time?"

Hopepaw shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just wanted to stretch my legs." She certainly didn't need anyone to think she was weak.

After a lot of walking, Fourtrees came into view. It brought up memories from the night she and Bramblepaw spent gazing at the stars. Despite what he said, she couldn't hold him to his promise, not when there was a whole other clan with potential deputies. Why was she even worrying about this? It would probably be many seasons before Tigerstar died.

Thornclaw led the patrol into Fourtrees. Hopepaw was still amazed by the size of the trees and the expanse of the clearing. She wondered if she would be permitted to attend the next Gathering. It would be interesting to meet cats from RiverClan and WindClan. She wondered how they'd react to the news.

"What are we looking for?" Darkflower asked Thornclaw.

"To say it simply," Thornclaw mewed, "Tigerstar wants to move the camp here so that we won't need to be divided."

"He can't do that!" Fawnstep growled. "This is sacred ground!"

"You can take that up with Tigerstar." Thornclaw bared his fangs. "I'm just the messenger. Let's head back, I have enough information. Fawnstep, Runningwind, and Jaggedtooth, you three can return to the North Camp."

They nodded and ran off in that general direction. Hopepaw watched them leave. Was it such a bad idea to move the camp here? That way, they wouldn't need to live in two different camps. TigerClan would be stronger that way. How could one of her clanmates want anything different?

~

A/N
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