Warriors: Blood and Hope: Book 2: Tempting Limits

Chapter 24

[Stagleap's POV]

I was ushered into the leader's den where Witheredsoul stood with a brown tom at his side and the famous Acornpaw on his other side. I looked at Bugstar confused on why I was in the leader's den as well, but then Skycloud walked in. 

"Good, now that we are all here, Witheredsoul, what are you doing in my camp with a loner?" Bugstar seemed just as confused as me, but I had not even realized that the brown tom had been a loner. He seemed comfortable next to Witheredsoul so I had figured that he had to be some new warrior in DepthClan. 

The black and white tom lashed his tail. As I looked at him, he was not that much taller than Bugstar. The two were both rather small, but the loner dwarfed them in comparison. He was built, not to mention much taller than anyone else in the den. Acornpaw was young, but she looked to be the size of a young warrior already. 

"I came here to help you. Cricket let me in that you have started to talk about how to stand up to the Dark Forest because of what Acornpaw did." The female seemed to gleam at the recognition she had been getting. "Well, I am here to say that we are trying to figure out how to defeat them for good." 

I let out a snicker. They all turned to me, almost expecting me to say something. I held my head up high to meet Witheredsoul's gaze and walked forward. "You are Tinystar's best friend and trusted deputy. Why would you be planning a rebellion against her?" I paused only enough to look over to Acornpaw. "And you are her daughter. If anything, you two should be the last ones to ever rebel, if you ever did." 

Witheredsoul moved a bit, his shoulders rolling back almost as if to square me up. "She will not expect me to be leading this rebellion. I decided to rebel because I saw what she was doing and how it was affecting everyone. Everyone lived in fear, and I wanted to change it." I opened my mouth to counter him with a comment, but he quickly continued. "And before you say anything, not only do I have a prophecy that says I will be the one to defeat Tinystar, but I have received my nine lives from StarClan before they closed their gates." His eyes challenged me to say something against him, but I knew I couldn't. 

I would have asked about the prophecy, but the loner, Cricket, spoke up. "The dark star's reign will end when the traitor rises to start a brighter age in the forest. Find the traitor of black and white, or the darkness will overcome." He stared at me almost as if he had just given the prophecy for the first time. 

Bugstar stepped in before I could say anything. "Witheredsoul, what would you like us to do to help you out? You have helped us in the past, and we need to help you now. We wish to defeat the Dark Forest as well." 

Witheredsoul dipped his head. "This is what you have to do."