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

Chapter 15

"Hopepaw, are you alright?" Graystripe asked her worriedly. He stepped closer to her and touched his nose to her shoulder.

Hopepaw flinched and shied away from him, "Don't. Touch. Me." Her heart was racing. Everything in her mind swirled and she felt overwhelmed. It all made perfect sense!

That was why Sandstorm never named their father! That was why Graystripe saved her and that's why Tigerstar was suspicious of her! It was the reason Tigerstar sent her here, to get her close to RiverClan.

"My whole life is a lie." Hopepaw whispered to herself. "Fireheart wasn't a traitor, Tigerstar is a killer, and I'm half-clan..."

"Well, you're not half-clan because I have only ThunderClan blood in my veins." Graystripe reminded her. "Look, Sandstorm wanted to tell you, don't be angry with her." Graystripe's eyes looked very sad, so much so that Hopepaw felt some pity for him.

"How could you two break the Warrior Code like that?" Hopepaw expressed with sadness and disappointment. "You've taken two mates outside the clan!"

Graystripe took a step towards her. "Please, Hopepaw, try to understand. After Fireheart was killed, we sought each other out for comfort. We shared Fireheart as a friend and his death brought us closer. It wasn't our intention to have kits." Graystripe's yellow eyes suddenly were filled with pride and happiness. "But I see that you have grown into an amazing cat, and you'll be an even better warrior."

Hopepaw was choked up and she couldn't respond right away. She never imagined that she would meet her father this way. But somehow, it felt right. Graystripe was her father. She was okay with that, she realized. Graystripe is my father, She told herself. He is not a traitor, he is a wonderful warrior who took the fall for Tigerstar's actions.

"So how are Owlpaw and Maplepaw? I was so proud to hear that Maplepaw was chosen to be a medicine cat." Graystripe purred.

"She's a healer, not a medicine cat." Hopepaw said. "TigerClan doesn't worship or believe in StarClan anymore."

Graystripe stared at her in shock. "Do you believe in StarClan?"

Hopepaw shook her head, "No, Tigerstar says that they're just tales told to kits to keep them well-behaved."

"StarClan exists, Hopepaw. There's proof." Graystripe promised her. "Some night, when the clan is sleeping, I'll take you to Highstones. Maybe, then, you will see that StarClan exists."

They returned to her training, a new bond between them. It made every moment with him more special and Hopepaw wished desperately that she could tell Owlpaw and Maplepaw. She wondered what they would say. Owlpaw would probably be skeptical and Maplepaw would be ecstatic.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, Hopepaw had a decent sense of swimming. She didn't hate it as much as she thought she would. She actually enjoyed herself! But when they headed back to camp and Hopepaw wasn't received welcomingly, she remembered that she was here on a mission.

Hopepaw was there to spy, to learn their secrets. She was supposed to get close to them and to get close to the heart of the clan: Crookedstar. The clan was eating and sharing tongues. Everything looked so serene.

Just before Hopepaw was about to walk off towards the apprentice den, Graystripe touched her shoulder with his tail. "Let's not tell the clan about this, not even Stormpaw and Featherpaw. I'll tell them when the time is right."

Hopepaw nodded and walked over to the fresh-kill pile. She was about to grab a fish, the last available food source on the pile, when a smoky black tom named Blackclaw came and swooped it up. He flashed her a glare.

"You don't deserve our prey, TigerClan rat." Blackclaw bared his fangs at her and another tom, a dark brown tom named Loudbelly, came up behind her. She couldn't back away and she was trapped between the two intimidating RiverClan warriors. "What's your angle, fox-breath? Did Tigerstar send you?"

Hopepaw bared her fangs back at Blackclaw. "Nobody sent me, I'm here on my own accord."

"Is that what Tigerstar trained you to say?" Blackclaw sneered. "I bet you're here to serve as his little spy and to destroy RiverClan just like you did with ShadowClan!"

"Leave her alone!" The cat to speak, to Hopepaw's amazement, was Featherpaw. The small silver tabby apprentice came to stand at Hopepaw's side.

"Stand back, half-clan filth!" Blackclaw spat.

"Don't talk like that to my sister!" Stormpaw was suddenly at their side. Sisters, Hopepaw thought to herself.

"I won't have two half-clan apprentices disrespecting me!" Blackclaw snarled. "Move, or I'll make you!"

"Blackclaw," Graystripe padded over and he looked furious. "Don't talk to them that way. They're only apprentices."

"Trust a traitorous cat who doesn't know where he belongs to speak!" Blackclaw growled. He stepped closer and taller in front of Graystripe. "You're the reason that Silverstream is dead."

"Blackclaw, that is quite enough!" Crookedstar yowled, coming between the two warriors. "I want to see you in my den, now." The tom walked off furiously with the smoky black tom trailing behind.

Hopepaw turned to Featherpaw and Stormpaw. "Thank you for defending me."

"Don't worry about it," Featherpaw smiled. "I've got some extra fish if you're still hungry?"

Hopepaw glanced at Graystripe out of the corner of her eye. He looked beyond happy that his three kits were bonding, even if two of them didn't know it. She turned back to Featherpaw and nodded. "Yes please, thank you."

The two littermates led Hopepaw back over to the apprentice den. It was a shelter made from a fallen log and inside was plenty of room. They laid down outside the den and watched the clan.

"Go on, try it." Featherpaw pushed the fish towards her. "You haven't lived until you've tasted it!"

Hopepaw sniffed the fish and took a tentative bite. She scrunched her nose and swallowed. It didn't taste bad, just strong and kind of like the river. "It's...interesting."

Stormpaw chuckled. "It's an acquired taste, you'll get used to it."

"So, what's it like in TigerClan?" Featherpaw asked.

"Featherpaw!" Stormpaw hissed, "You can't just ask her about something like that!"

"No, it's fine." She told Stormpaw. Hopepaw thought for a moment on how to answer. "Well, kits are apprenticed at four moons because Tigerstar believes that kits should start younger. What you call elders doesn't exist for us. We serve the clan until our death."

Featherpaw and Stormpaw's eyes both widened. "But that's against the Warrior Code!" Stormpaw growled.

"We don't follow the Warrior Code, we follow what we call the 'Code of TigerClan'. It's like the Warrior Code, but different." Hopepaw explained. "And we don't have medicine cats, only healers."

"So you don't believe in StarClan?" Featherpaw whispered. "How awful!"

Hopepaw shrugged, "We don't know any different, but I would like to learn. The Code of TigerClan is not what I believe in. I'd like to learn the Warrior Code so that I can become a true warrior."

Hopepaw sighed, "When I was named an apprentice, Tigerstar changed the ceremony. Now, we say: 'until you draw blood like a warrior'."

"That's horrible." Stormpaw sighed. "It's not even a proper ceremony!"

Hopepaw smiled. "Well, I guess that I am here where I'm meant to be. Maybe StarClan have been guiding me my whole life and I never knew it."

A/N
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