Disclaimer- I DON'T OWN WARRIORS! Erin Hunter does! :)

Prologue

Squirrelflight padded slowly over to Ashfur, where the gray-flecked warrior sat near the fresh kill pile, devouring a vole. She sat down next to him and looked him in the face before he noticed she was there, but then cast a glance over to where Brambleclaw was disappearing into the Medicine Cat's den. Worry clouded Squirrelflight's mind- how would Ashfur react? She hoped it wouldn't be bad. She had thought Ashfur was the right cat for her, but then she opened her eyes and saw Brambleclaw. He was fiercely loyal, brave, and understanding. She knew she loved Brambleclaw and not Ashfur now, but she wanted to be a friend of Ashfur's- but would that happen or not?

Squirrelflight's POV

I walked up to Ashfur and sat next to him. I looked into his face- so determined and nice, but I knew he wasn't the right cat for me. I remember that I didn't regret what I was going to do that day as it happened, but now I fiercely regret my foolish actions. I still want to be his friend, but I don't think he'll ever forget that conversation.

When he finally noticed me and looked up from his vole, his deep blue eyes pierced my heart with guilt and pain. They were filled with hurt- deep hurt- and I felt guilty just at his look. I tried to forget about my guilt as I started to speak in a low, trembling voice.

"Ashfur… I…"

As soon as my mouth opened and spoke two words, his mouth opened and a retort shot out. "I know what you want to say to me! You're coming to say that I'm not good enough and that you're leaving me for Brambleclaw! It's obvious!" he growled, pinning his vole to the ground with a paw, his blue eyes flashing angrily. My heart clenched with anger and pain. It seemed this talk would be long and hard.

I looked into his eyes, my heart radiating gentle guilt. He seemed to calm down and I wished I could lose myself into those blue depths and forget about everything that had happened in between us and go back to the days before I had seen Ashfur differently than just another warrior.

"No, it's not that! You're good enough. It's just… Brambleclaw, I think he and I were meant to be together. You know that odd feeling, when you just think StarClan is telling you something? That's what I'm feeling now." I tried to explain it the best I could. As soon as anger flared up in his eyes again, I looked elsewhere around the stone hollow, up to Firestar's den on the high ledge, the Warrior's den, and then the Medicine Cat den. I thought about Brambleclaw again and my heart grew stronger.

"You were meant to be together? Since when? I thought… I thought you loved me! And I loved you back!" Ashfur's voice was pleading at this time.

"Loved?" I asked, my eyes widening and my voice softening.

"Yes, loved. There's no point in loving a cat who obviously doesn't love you back! I can't live my life like this! Everything I do… everything I did… it's all failure! Even loving you was a failure when I thought it would be my one shot at success in life!"

My eyes widened even more at his words. "You used me as a chance for success?" I asked, bewildered and angered.

"NO!" Ashfur cried, pushing the vole away from under his paws and clawing at the sandy earth beneath his paws. "I loved you! With my whole heart! And what did that do for me? Nothing! You just stole my heart and threw it away, Squirrelflight!" Pain made his voice crack and I felt my eyes blink with extreme guilt.

"Ashfur… I'm really sorry. I just feel that it wouldn't work out… you know, between us. I'm sorry that I brought this upon you. I'm sorry that you think differently than I do. I just feel that Brambleclaw is really the right cat for me."

"But he's Tigerstar's son! Tigerstar! The cat that tried to kill you so many times!"

Anger filled my whole body at this point and I can remember that I wanted to claw his face off. How dare he use Brambleclaw's heritage against him? Instead of hurting him, which would get me in huge trouble, I stayed calm, but my eyes betrayed my anger to Ashfur, I just know it.

"I will not hear anything against Brambleclaw having to do with his father. It's not fair that you think you can use his heritage against him. Brambleclaw isn't his father. I don't know why you've got that stuck in your head but it's time you take that thought out of it," I growled, rising to my paws.

Ashfur rose, forgetting about his vole. "Squirrelflight, no! No, no, no! I'm sorry! But I love you!" He called after me, his voice raising in desperation. I ignored him as I walked to the Medicine Cat den and bumped into Brambleclaw.

Brambleclaw erupted into purrs as he saw me and compared to Ashfur, he seemed like a breath of fresh air. "Squirrelflight!" he purred. I greeted him with a lick on his cheek, and together, we walked away out of the camp, to hunt, I remember.

All the way as we were leaving, I could hear Ashfur's cries echoing in the stone hollow, and with every cry my wave of guilt grew less and less.