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

Chapter 5

Hopeflame's green eyes snapped open to find herself back in Mothermouth beside the Moonstone. She gasped for breath as if she'd been drowning underwater. Barley laid quietly near the tunnel entrance, but he stirred when he realized that she was awake. "Thank StarClan, I was beginning to worry!"

Her green eyes flickered towards the Moonstone. Somehow, it's light seemed to have dimmed since she's been asleep. Had she really walked among StarClan and spoken with them? Part of her didn't want it to be real after what they told her. She suddenly felt very nauseous when she remembered their words to her, that she was their last hope to reverse some alternate reality that was never meant to be.

Anger bubbled in her belly at the thought. StarClan didn't care that reversing the timeline would eliminate nearly everyone she loved! Everyone born after Fireheart's death may never come to exist! Her love for Brambleclaw would disappear as well as their unborn kits. At the thought, she protectively curled her tail around her swollen abdomen. She would die before any harm came to her kits.

"Hopeflame?" Barley wondered, staring at her in confusion. "What did StarClan say?"

She shook her head, trying to erase the memory. "I-I have to go." Without another word, Hopeflame dashed from Mothermouth, leaving Barley staring after her.

Her paws thrummed against the stone as she desperately raced down the tunnel. Hopeflame's chest constricted so she could hardly breath. She gasped for breath, knowing that she needed fresh air but wouldn't find it surrounded by rock. Up ahead, Hopeflame could make out the faint light outside illuminating the tunnel.

Hopeflame exploded out of the tunnel into a blizzard that flung snow flurries against her face. She hissed in surprise, halting in her tracks. Before her, the blizzard made it nearly impossible to see with the cloak of night. If she tried to find her way back to Fourtrees, she might get lost in this storm.

Barley appeared from behind her quietly. "A storm like this can be deadly," He mused then glanced at her. "Why don't you come back to the farm? You can leave when the storm quiets down."

A sinking feeling settled in Hopeflame's stomach. After the news she heard, all she wanted was to return to Fourtrees so she could curl up in Brambleclaw's embrace. She didn't want to spend any more time away from him than she needed to. StarClan's words echoed in her head like a tide that kept regressing then returning full-force.

But Barley spoke reason. It was easy to get turned around in a blizzard like this one, especially at night. She couldn't imagine getting lost and lying down in the snow. She couldn't imagine the numbness creeping in until it stopped her heart. She couldn't imagine dying that way.

"Very well," Hopeflame meowed.

She allowed Barley to lead the way through the storm back to his farm. Her head hung low as she contemplated the message from StarClan. How was she supposed to change an entire reality? Why did this responsibility even fall to her? Who decided these things, or was it simply fate?

Her paws slowly turned numb as they shuffled through the deep snow. It came all the way up to her chest fur now. She knew that she made the right choice to return with Barley to the farm since it wasn't too far. If she had tried to make it back to Fourtrees, she knew that she wouldn't have made it.

After what felt like a lifetime of walking in this blizzard, Hopeflame glimpsed the dark outline of the barn against the opaque flurries. Her heart lifted with relief because she didn't know how much longer she could go on. Barley led the way through the swirling snow until they reached the barn door.

Sunny and Rosie appeared, hackles raised since it was difficult to recognize them. "Who goes there?!" Sunny growled with his back arched in warning.

"Rest easy, son, it's us." Barley called out. As they neared, Sunny and Rosie relaxed.

"Why's she here?" Rosie sneered, casting a glare in Hopeflame's direction.

Barley lashed his tail. "She would've died trying to travel back to Fourtrees in this storm." His calculating amber gaze fell onto his kits. "I raised you better than to cast out someone in need."

At his words, Sunny dipped his head. "Yes, Father." He gestured for them to follow him into the barn.

The barn offered welcome warmth and shelter from the blizzard raging outside. Hopeflame stumbled into the barn on frozen paws and icicles hanging from her whiskers. She shivered so hard that it shook her body. It felt like the time she saved Soarwing from the frozen river.

Hopeflame's eyes adjusted to the shadows to take in the stacks of hay bales. In the back corner of the barn, they found Butterfly, Maisie, Oliver, and the four kits waiting. Immediately, the four little ones ran to greet Barley excitedly.

"Hi, kits," His nose twitched in amusement at his daughter's kits. He obviously felt a great deal of love for his family, something Hopeflame couldn't say the same of for Tigerstar. To him, her kits with Brambleclaw were just a legacy, nothing more and nothing less.

A sinking feeling settled in her stomach. If she reversed this reality, then perhaps Tigerstar's legacy would end with Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt. Then she realized further that Brambleclaw would fall in love with another she-cat in the new reality. That hurt more than anything she's felt all day.

"Dear, are you okay?" Butterfly questioned in a soft tone.

Hopeflame took a deep breath and shook her head. "Not even a little bit."

"StarClan will take care of whatever is troubling you," Maisie murmured softly.

Hopeflame appreciated Maisie's enthusiasm and Butterly's compassion, but neither would change what StarClan told her. Everything was about to change whether she wanted it to or not.