Warriors || Hopestar's Choice: Book 2 (2 of 3)

Chapter 6

Hopeflame awoke to find sunlight streaming into the large, roomy warriors den. Her green eyes surveyed all of the sleeping warriors and she saw that there was plenty of room for when WindClan joined. In the nest next to her, Brambleclaw slept soundly. It was dawn, so he should probably wake up, but everyone was tired after last night.

She gently prodded him with her paw. "Brambleclaw," Her voice was barely a whisper. "Brambleclaw!"

The dark brown tabby tom jerked awake but relaxed when he saw that it was her. "Good morning, Hopeflame." He purred and licked in between her ears. "Would you like to join me on one of the dawn patrols?"

"One?" Hopeflame asked in confusion. There was more than one dawn patrol?

Brambleclaw got to his paws and stretched. "New rule: one patrol for each border. There's the WindClan border, the border with the twolegplace, and the farthest border ShadowClan used to share with rogue country."

Hopeflame nodded, understanding now. "Let's grab some fresh-kill and then you can assign patrols."

Together, they approached the fresh-kill pile. Brambleclaw grabbed a large rabbit that they could both share. They settled down at the center of camp to eat. Hopeflame wouldn't say anything, but she was glad that her argument with Brambleclaw was over. She had overthought much of the topics they argued about. Probably just stress caused by Graystripe's death.

She felt a pang of grief remembering her father and Brambleclaw gave her a look. "Are you alright?" His warm amber eyes were filled with concern for her.

Hopeflame nodded, "I'm just missing Graystripe, that's all." She took a bite from the rabbit and focused on eating. Brambleclaw's eyes stayed on her for a moment longer but then he joined her in the meal.

Much of the clan was starting to emerge from their dens now, awaiting orders by Brambleclaw. They quickly finished the rabbit and Brambleclaw faced the clan to organize patrols. Hopeflame sat down and watched him, he seemed so comfortable under the pressure.

"Whitestorm will take the twolegplace border with Blackclaw, Fawnstep, Runningwind, Tawnypelt, and Hailpaw. Russetfur will take the rogue border with Oakfur, Longtail, Petalnose, Stonefur, Dawncloud, and Hollypaw." Brambleclaw took a deep breath and watched those cats begin to depart. "I will take the WindClan border with Hopeflame, Jaggedtooth, Dustpelt, Sorreltail, Mosspelt, Cloverpaw, and Shimmerpaw."

Then he moved on to hunting patrols: "I want two hunting patrols, one led by Blackfoot and the other by Goldenflower. Take whomever you'd like."

Brambleclaw stepped towards her with the other members of their patrol. Hopeflame noticed that Mosspelt and Shimmerpaw seemed uneasy and she wished she could comfort them. But she wasn't trusted by the RiverClan cats, so she stuck close to Brambleclaw.

The dark brown tabby tom seemed surprised but didn't argue. From the den beneath the Great Rock, Hopeflame saw a flicker of motion. A moment later, Brambleclaw's shadow emerged and padded in their direction.

"Brambleclaw," Tigerstar purred at his son. "I'd like to join your patrol."

Hopeflame glanced at Brambleclaw and watched him dip his head to the leader. "Of course, Tigerstar."

Tigerstar led the patrol out of camp. Brambleclaw walked at his father's flank and Hopeflame fell into step with him. The rest of the patrol followed and she glanced over her shoulder. This was an awfully big patrol, but when you have a gigantic clan...

They first headed towards the gorge to mark the stretch of territory that was theirs. Hopeflame realized with a sickening feeling that she would be passing RiverClan's old territory. She would be glimpsing in on a part of her life that died during the Merge. Her mind flew back to when she nearly slipped into the gorge but was saved by both Graystripe and Crookedstar.

When they reached the gorge, the patrol left their scent for WindClan. Then they started to follow the border back, marking along the way. She kept a careful eye out for any WindClan cats. It was likely that they were on high alert. What would happen at the next Gathering? She doubted that Tigerstar would let them near Fourtrees.

A sudden brush at her side made her jump, but she sighed when she saw that it was only Brambleclaw. He wasn't leading the patrol anymore, Tigerstar was. His warm amber eyes fell on her and she could sense their warmth.

"What?" She asked him softly. She didn't glance at him so they wouldn't draw attention to themselves.

Brambleclaw simply shook his head and watched her with a sort of awe. "Nothing, you're just so beautiful."

Her pelt became hot with embarrassment under his stare. She didn't say anything, just twined her tail with his. How was it that only a few words from him could make her world seem so much brighter? Brambleclaw made her feel whole and complete.

Jaggedtooth let out a warning growl which drew everyone's eyes to the horizon. Hopeflame's eyes turned up towards the moors where she saw a cat silhouetted against the sky. She recognized the cat as Crowfeather from when she visited WindClan with Crookedstar to strike an alliance. The black tom's eyes connected with hers and she shivered.

"What's wrong?" Brambleclaw asked as he scooted closer to her.

Hopeflame narrowed her eyes, watching Crowfeather disappear behind the horizon. "I don't know..."

Tigerstar let out a growl. "He sees RiverClan cats among us. It won't be long until they all know the news." The large dark brown tabby tom kept moving, almost ignoring the WindClan border entirely. It was all the patrol could do to keep up.

They returned to camp faster than they planned for and the cats in camp looked up in surprise. Sandstorm seemed wary and approached her daughter. "What happened?"

"A WindClan cat spotted us," Hopeflame reported to her mother, although her eyes followed Tigerstar. The leader motioned for Brambleclaw to follow him into his den. She watched them go, wondering what the were talking about.

"Hopeflame? I asked you a question." Sandstorm said with a hint of annoyance. Her sand-colored ears were flattened. "Did Tigerstar say anything?"

"No," She growled. Then Tigerstar appeared from his den again.

The tall, dark warrior approached her with an air of urgency. "Could I see you in my den, Hopeflame?" He spun and returned to his den, not even looking to see if she would follow.

She shot her mother a glance before following Tigerstar. Inside the den, Brambleclaw sat tall next to his father. They looked exactly alike, like twin shadows. If she didn't know better, she wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

"We need to secure WindClan," Tigerstar told her abruptly. "They are all that stands in the way of unity. I'd like you, Hopeflame, to enter into WindClan. You worked so well last time."

Hopeflame's jaw dropped. He wanted her to infiltrate another clan and directly betray more cats?! How could he ask this of her?! She's given more than any cat in this clan to unifying the forest! Shouldn't she at least get to live the normal life of a warrior? She wanted kits, for StarClan's sake!

The russet she-cat met the eyes of Brambleclaw, her deputy, her love. His eyes were cold, the glazed over look they always gained when he was in his father's presence. But she knew that behind that mask, he was upset that Tigerstar was asking her to leave again.

"Well?" Tigerstar pressed, I patience glittered in his amber eyes. Unlike Brambleclaw's they were cold like the leaf-bare sun.

"Can I at least think about it?" Hopeflame wondered.

Tigerstar heaved his shoulders but narrowed his eyes at Hopeflame. "Very well, but I'll give you until sunset, no more."

She dipped her head respectively before retreating from Tigerstar's den. The way he looked at her made her feel like a selfish coward. But she's given up so much time already, was it wrong to want simple things? She knew that she and Brambleclaw both wanted kits and now that would have to wait.

~*~

A/N
I hope you readers are enjoying the second installment of "Hopestar's Choice" as much as I enjoy writing it. Please vote and comment!