I do not own warriors… or Ashfur. I most likely never will.

ASHFUR

Ok so here's the deal, Ashfur is hated by millions of people who have read these books. Why? Because he's TOO nice to Squirrelflight, he hates Brambleclaw, and he supposedly sided with Hawkfrost in a plot to kill Firestar. Now… if I remember correctly… nobody even cared about Ashfur until starlight. So, before you start bashing Ashfur, lets look a little into his past shall we?

Let's start with the first book he appears in, Fire and Ice. He is Couldtail's adopted brother, and he has done nothing yet to harm the clan in anyway. He isn't even named. He follows Cloudtail around and does what he does. What's the harm in that? He doesn't even have a line in the book.

Now for book four, where he is named Ashpaw. His presence is there in the book now, other than being just a stumbling kit. When he is mentioned, he is often a competitor to Cloudpaw, showing some sibling rivalry. But there is love there too. In a part of the book, Ashpaw is talking to Darkstripe.

Ashpaw stopped in front of Fireheart,his small body stiff and his tail twitching nervously,

"Is something wrong?" Fireheart asked.

"I was just wondering where Couldpaw was," mewed Ashpaw." He said he'd be back by mealtime"

Fireheart gazed past the apprentice at the dark tabby who was watching them closely, his amber eyes glinting with undisguised interest. "Tell Darkstripe that if he wants to know, he should ask me himself!" he snapped.

Ashpaw flinched. "I . . . I'm sorry," he stammered. "Darkstripe told me…" The apprentice shuffled his paws and suddenly looked up, starting Fireheart strait in the eye.

"Actually It's not just Darkstripe who wants to know. I'm worried ,too. Cloudpaw promised he'd be bak by now." The gray apprentice hesitated, glanced away, and finished, "Whatever else he might do , Cloudpaw always keeps his word." Pg 143-14, Rising Storm

Ashpaw is portrayed as a timid wreck at first. But as we move into the new prophecy, we see his real personality as he grows closer to Squirrelflight during Twilight.

Casting a mischievous glance at Ashfur, who was gathering moss from another nearby tree, she hooked up her ball with the claws of one paw and hurled it at him. It landed accurately in the middle of his back and disintegrated, covering his pelt with scraps of moss.

Ashfur spun around to face her. "Hey!"

His eyes gleaming with laughter, the gray warrior scooped up his own moss and flung it at Squirrelflight. She dodged behind the tree to avoid it, and crashed strait into Brambleclaw.

"What's going on?" the tabby tomcat demanded. "What are you doing?" Pg 53-54, Twilight

Ashfur never tried to destroy her relationship with Brambleclaw; he tried to convince her to give him another chance.

"Take it easy," Ashfur meowed. "He's just trying to make sure everything gets done. We're all under pressure, with only one apprentice." Pg 55, Twilight

That brings us to, of course, Did Ashfur try to steal Squirrelflight from Brambleclaw?

Well that's a good question. Everyone who is an Ashfur hater will make the argument that Ashfur stole Squirrelflight from her true love. Now, it is true that Ashfur was interested in Squirrelflight, but did he hate Brambleclaw? He didn't really notice Brambleclaw until after Squirrelflight. But he isn't mean to him until Sunset. His interest in Squirrelflight is there. He does nothing but encourage her, protect her, and love her. But she turns him down. At first, she isn't sure.

Glancing up at Ashfur, she saw that his eyes were dark with concern. She knew he wanted to be closer to her, more than just fellow warriors. It was tempting to tell him she felt the same way, but it was too soon for her to be sure her feelings were real. Pg 24, Twilight

And now for my final point, did Ashfur go evil at the end of sunset?

Well people have proof that he may be a traitor:

Firestar says that Birchpaw, Ashfur's apprentice, told him that Blackstar was on their territory. The Ashfur haters claim he told Birchpaw to lie to him.

Ashfur is the first one to find the two brothers, Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw, standing over Firestar. He runs quickly back to camp to warn others.

Well we have no idea what really happened, but I have several answers to the bullets above.

Firestar says that Birchpaw, Ashfur's apprentice, told him that Blackstar was on their territory. The Ashfur haters claim he told Birchpaw to lie to him.

Birchpaw could have betrayed the clan on his own, no one had to tell him to do it.

Blackstar could have actually been on the territory

Someone else could have told Birchpaw to do it. Kids are very convincible.

Ashfur is the first one to find the two brothers, Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw, standing over Firestar. He runs quickly back to camp to warn others.

Ashfur could have been hunting and found them.

Ashfur was really scared the book describes him as "gasping for air as if he'd just dragged himself out of deep water." and "His fur stood on end and his blue eyes were wild with fear." Only true fear could cause those reactions. He must have surprised.

Ashfur might not have known anything about it.

Have you ever been in love? LOVE CAN MAKE YOU DO CRAZY THINGS.

And that concludes my assessment of Ashfur's character. If you have questions or flames, just review. I may do Brook next, who knows.