As the sunlight dimmed in the sky, a dark blue and purple sky slowly formed with tiny white speckles scattered across it. Below such a beautiful sky rested a massive valley with an expansive forest at the bottom of it. In a small clearing not too far away from the edge of the valley was a light brown tom and a dark ginger-and-white she-cat. The light brown tom, who was sitting on a boulder just taller than himself, greeted the she-cat warmly, a gesture she returned.
        "It certainly has been awhile, Birch!" the she-cat chirped a response. "I never thought I would see you again."
        Birch jumped down from his boulder, his amber gaze watching the she-cat playfully. "Ouch, Cardinal, that stung a lot."
        "Oh quit your whining," Cardinal hissed, but without any of the aggression. "You have always been so soft, and I see even in death that hasn't changed one bit."
        Birch stretched out one of his forepaws as he patted Cardinal's head, receiving an annoyed glare from her. "And I will always be the same, unfortunately," he replied humorously. "And it seems, even in death, you haven't changed a single bit either."
        Cardinal swatted Birch's paw away from her head before responding. "I will always be the same, unfortunately."
        As Birch chuckled at the response, rustling could be heard from not too far away. Whoever was causing the noise seemed to move fast and hastily; it was like there wasn't any time in the world to slow down. All of a sudden, a calico she-cat rushed past them as she ran into the clearing, and right through Birch, before disappearing back into the forest.
        "What was that all about?" Cardinal asked before realisation glinted in her eyes. "Wasn't that—"
        Before Cardinal could speak of the runner's name, two more cats ran into the clearing, one of them yelling to the other not to let the traitor get away. They agreed to split up and they went in separate directions. Birch, realising why the she-cat was running, turned to Cardinal.
        "It seems no-one has learned from what happened to me," he meowed sombrely, remembering the feeling of claws taking against his throat. "His control and regulation of the Valley is far too strong. She'd never make it to the border."
        Cardinal turned her blue gaze to a patch of ferns. "While I do agree with the improbability, she might have a small sliver of a chance. Those two morons are going where she isn't...The only thing that can stop her now is the border itself."

-/-
Thank you so much for reading the Prologue for A New Hope! I really hope you enjoyed it!

Now, how was it?

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Again, thank you so much for reading the Prologue for A New Hope!
(18 April, 2022)