A/N: Yo. My newest story as of now. Just a thought provoking one-shot post Sunrise. Enjoy.
The forest was quiet. Brambleclaw inhaled the recognizable musky odors of the trees around him. A crow called, the rasping cry echoing in the still woods.
A sharply familiar scent hit Brambleclaw's nose, and he closed his eyes.
"Brambleclaw?" Squirrelflight asked, padding up behind him. Everything about her seemed…forced. Like she didn't want to be anywhere near him.
Well, he could say the same.
"What do you want, Squirrelflight?" He asked, his voice cold.
"You've been avoiding me." Squirrelflight meowed quietly. He heard her tail swish across the coat of fallen leaves on the ground, and knew that she was upset. Well, tough.
"I can't think of a reason not to." Brambleclaw growled.
"If you're going to say something, don't drag it out-" Squirrelflight broke off as Brambleclaw rounded on her, his eyes full of pain and anger.
"How could you lie to me- to the whole clan, like that? I thought I knew you! I trusted you! But you lied to me and to everybody in the clan. And for what?"
"Leafpool was my sister! Look me in the eye and tell me that you wouldn't have done the same- or worse- for Tawnypelt!" Squirrelflight's green eyes flashed, and her tail beat a rapid rhythm against the earth.
"I would always have put the clan first!" Brambleclaw snapped.
"You're lying." Squirrelflight meowed coldly. "You've kept secrets yourself. Don't you dare lie to me about that."
"I'm not the one-!" Brambleclaw was cut off as Squirrelflight snarled.
"Could you honestly say to me that you love Lionblaze, Hollyleaf or Jayfeather any less because they are Leafpool's kits? You can hide your feelings from Firestar, and from them. But you can't lie to me."
"You've done enough lying for the both of us." Brambleclaw snarled. "And I can say that there is nothing you can say that would ever make me trust you again. You've done too much."
Squirrelflight lowered her head, her green eyes clouded by sadness. "…Is that Brambleclaw speaking, or is it some impostor?"
"That's the truth, which is more than I can ask from you!" Brambleclaw spat, his hackles rising. Anger boiled up in his chest, and for a moment, he wished that he could have leapt upon the ginger she-cat and make her feel even one small part of his pain. Then grief crashed over him as he backed away from her.
"I know you must still love me." Squirrelflight meowed quietly.
He couldn't answer that. Not without tearing himself in two.
"…I did once. But you've broken that yourself." Brambleclaw turned away from Firestar's daughter, back into the forest. Back to where he was alone.
The crow's cry sounded into the dusk.