a s h f u r

Squirrelflight: "Your quarrel with Brambleclaw has to stop. Too many moons have passed. You have to accept that I'm Brambleclaw's mate, not yours. You can't keep trying to punish Brambleclaw for something that was always meant to be."

Ashfur: "I have no quarrel with Brambleclaw. I couldn't care less about Brambleclaw. It's not his fault he fell for a faithless she-cat. I know you think I've never forgiven Brambleclaw for stealing you from me, but you're wrong, and so is every cat that thinks so. My quarrel is with you, Squirrelflight. It always has been."

"Upset? I'm not upset. You have no idea how much pain I'm in. It's like being cut open every day, bleeding onto the stones. I can't understand how any of you failed to see the blood..."

"Stay there! I can't believe you didn't know how much you hurt me. You are the blind one, not Jayfeather. Who do you think sent Firestar the message to go down to the lake, where the fox trap was? I wanted him to die, to take your father away so you'd know the real meaning of pain."

Everything went pure black. Was it from the murderer's fur? Wait... No, no it wasn't. It was the color of when you died. Suddenly the unbearable pain that weighed on his shoulders disappeared, replaced with calmness.

Am... I dead? But I hit her back... I clawed her muzzle, I think. I'm sure of it, yes, I did claw her. Those emerald eyes of rage... I think it was Hollyl...

Before Ashfur could finish his thoughts, his soul finally escaped his body, leaving a lifeless shell that rested in the river, caught by a twisted branch. But he forced his mind to think one more thing before he left to the next world, either the dark side or the luminous place called StarClan.

Squirrelflight.

He hated that dreadful she-cat now, who clawed his heart and didn't give a single care. Soon, he lost himself sometime on the travel, then what felt like seasons, he found his eyes piercing silver light tainted white, and from the mixed scents, he quickly realized where he was. StarClan! Just as I hoped! Ashfur was greeted by the too-familiar emerald-green eyes of his mother. "Br-Brindleface!" She smiled, licking his forehead, purring roughly. "I thought... I'd never see you again!" "If you pushed those three siblings off the cliff, you wouldn't have seen her." Twitching his ears, he faced the senior warrior- well, he appeared somewhat younger, Whitestorm. "But where's..." He turned to Brindleface, who sighed and placed her tail on his shoulder. "The Dark Forest." Blinking, he asked the question they knew he was going to ask. "The Dark Forest?" "The opposite of StarClan. Where the evil cats go to in the afterlife. You would have gone there if you pushed Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf off the cliff." Whitestorm answered for his mother, then trotted away from the clearing, as if he didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

Ashfur began to get used to StarClan, having a full belly every night, and no one ever mentioned the cats he hated nowadays to him. It truly the place that was giving and sweet. He had caught a breeze of squirrel, and now was chasing it in a fast speed, smiling for the first time in moons. "Ashfur! He's here?" A cranky voice that edged with shock suddenly bolted through his pierced ears. Shooting his head up, he met the light azure eyes of Jayfeather, though it seemed not as milky. Narrowing his eyes, feel heat rush through him, he begun to chase again. This was StarClan, those cats didn't matter here. However, he focused on hearing, in case Jayfeather said anything foul about him. "Why not? His only fault was to love too much." "Hardly. He tried to push us off the cliff!" "But he didn't. Squirrelflight stopped him. And maybe her only fault is that she loved too much, as well." Was that his fault? Loving too much? But... Every cat falls in love, right?

Maybe it really was. Then he tempted to go into The Dark Forest, where his father laid. He remembered all those seasons ago, when he was killed and called a 'traitor' by the one who had sliced his life into the onyx world of blood. A few sunrises after that, he came into his dreams, offering to allow him to visit him once again. He regretted his choice in yowling No. Maybe if he learned, he could have gotten his revenge a lot quicker. Ashfur wouldn't have missed his chance and died. If only he didn't listen to Squirrelflight...

But maybe it wasn't too late.