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

Prologue

Darkness fell over the forest, but it allowed for the stars and moon to share their light. The forest was bathed in silver which gave it an ethereal feeling. A gentle wind weaved through the branches. Among the shadows beneath the canopy, tensions were rising.

A flame-colored tom raced through the undergrowth, dodging trees and bramble thickets. His green eyes were focused on everything ahead of him. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He was soon joined by a long-haired gray tom. The two stopped momentarily to greet each other in a way only old friends could.

"Fireheart, I've missed you," the gray tom murmured.

"I missed you too, Graystripe," the flame-colored tom replied warmly. "We have to hurry or Bluestar will have our pelts."

Together, they took off again through the forest, heading for the grassy clearing at the center of StarClan. They slowed down when the clearing came into view. At the center of the clearing was the MoonOak, a gigantic oak larger than Fourtrees. Waiting in the clearing were other StarClan cats.

Fireheart and Graystripe hurried down to meet them. Among them were Bluestar, Crookedstar, Tallstar, Raggedstar, and numerous warriors and medicine cats. They all had fear in their eyes, deep dark fear. It's been generations since there's been a fear like this one.

"Welcome all," Bluestar meowed. "We have much to discuss."

"Why have we waited until now to discuss the clear problem?" Raggedstar growled. "Tigerstar's gone mad!"

"He has control of everything," Tallstar added with equal fear. "I'm worried for my clan..."

"Your clan?!" Crookedstar snarled. "You're not the one that had a TigerClan spy among your clan for many moons!"

"She infiltrated WindClan too!" Tallstar argued.

"But by then the damage was already done, RiverClan had a chance and she took it away." Crookedstar glared at Graystripe. "This is all your daughter's fault."

Graystripe's hair stood on end. "Hopeflame was scared. She was just obeying orders!"

"Without her, RiverClan and WindClan could've saved themselves!" Crookedstar bared his fangs angrily.

Bluestar spoke up suddenly, "Quiet!" Her blue eyes were alight with fire. "This is nobody's fault but Tigerstar's! Hopeflame just found herself a pawn in his game." Graystripe lowered his head sadly. Fireheart moved closer to comfort his friend. "We must move forward, there's still a chance we can save the clans."

Yellowfang narrowed her eyes at Bluestar. "You're not actually considering that, are you? There's too much risk involved!"

Tallstar glanced at Bluestar in confusion. "What is she talking about?"

Bluestar averted her gaze and Yellowfang sighed. She turned back to the rest of the cats with worry. "Hopeflame is our last chance."

"You mean to tell me that the one cat who can save the clans is the one who brought their downfall?" Crookedstar growled.

"Unfortunately."