Warning – contains AshfurxSquirrelflight and has spoilers for Sunrise, also a couple swear words.
It's sort of a drabble format. The tone of this oneshot is a lot different than other works I've written. It almost reminds me of one of my sister's fanfictions.
Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.
Hollyleaf stalked through the forest. The deep shadows of the trees on the full-moon night hid her pelt as she stalked her prey. Her mind was blank, the only image in her mind was the figure ahead of her, walking on his thin legs by the creek. His ears were pricked towards the moonlight that shone in his silver face, only the dark flecks bordering his eyes showed the sinister intent underneath the peaceful face.
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Peaceful only because of countless moons where he had nothing but despair, constant reminders of the love and joy that could never be his. The weariness of all those moons in the face of sinister despair eventually relaxing the muscles, too worn to go on in showing the emotional struggle within.
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In contrast, the muscles on the she-cat were bunched, fit and ready for the struggles she had started. The struggles that would start, all because of one night. She felt utterly lost for the first time. Alone. She had no mother anymore, no father. Her entire life was based on a pillar of lies. A pillar that had been slowly crumbling since that day.
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That day, entranced in fire. As death stared her in the face, the pillar took shape. The lies built together to support three cats. The pillar was lies, but it was also their lives. If the pillar fell, it would surely fall on one of them. In that fire, not only did the pillar show itself, but it had been threatened, threatened by her current prey.
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The pillar still stood, though deep gouges were in its sides. The lies had been found, but though the pillar was made of lies, it was supported by sanity. The slow crumbling had stopped in the pillar. In this moment, this one tiny night in countless moons of night, her mind was blank. Focused only on her prey, the claws that threatened to scratch the last support of the pillar of lies, tearing through the scorch marks to reveal to everyone the liars underneath.
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The tom stopped, still staring at the moon. He closed his eyes slowly, feeling the bitter cold night wind tear icy claws over his fur. He smiled his second genuine smile in moons. The first was in an opposite setting, surrounded by a fire, a fire of victory.
When she, that she-cat he hated and loved,admitted that she was what he had come to know her as: a lying piece of fox dung that would rip anyone's heart out for her own benefit. Soon that conniving she-cat, that traitor, the bitch, that love of his life, would be ruined. For once she would share his pain. That she-cat would know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out and thrown on the dusty floor. She would be revealed as a cheating bitch and maybe, maybe, Brambleclaw would be so digusted that…
…That he wouldn't want her anymore.
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But he would be there. No matter what, he would always be there for her, forgiving, comforting. That beautiful she-cat, that ugly liar, that love of his life…
…He was torn in two. There was nowhere to go. There was almost nothing in his mind anymore. Blank…
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…Blank. She couldn't focus on anything but what was happening. She had been following the scent for a long time, and now she could see him. Her prey. The monster that threatened to destroy her, her pillar, her sanity. She crouched, keeping the perfect distance, honing all he perfect hunting skills into this one catch, the most dangerous prey.
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As Ashfur stared into the moonlight, thoughts of revenge and love and hate all swirling in his mind. His mind was so full that it was blank. He knew what he had to do, and that was all he needed for now. The moon shone so beautifully, and as he stared, his eyes open wide, the beautiful sound of the creek below him echoing through his ears, he realized he was crying. Silent tears, falling down the fur on his face, the salt-filled droplets slowly setting into his face.
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Tears of hatred, tears of sorrow, tears of joy, or empty tears. Ashfur couldn't tell which they were. Maybe they were all those emotions. All those swirling emotions that never left him alone; when he saw
Lionblaze, when he saw her, when he saw her father, when he dreamed, when he hunted, when he fought, all those emotions.
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Hollyleaf pinned her ears back. Her eyes close momentarily, then snapped open once more, focusing on the neck. No good. He had his back to her, she could never make the stealthy hunting move she wanted at that angle. She would have to get his attention for a second, so that he would turn towards her as she pounced. She snapped a twig beneath her paws.
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Ashfur whirled around as he heard a twig snap. He was on his back legs, rearing up slightly in his fast turn, when a streak of black fur darted toward him. That second of seeing her fur and the scent quickly overwhelming him led him to the identity of his attacker. Hollyleaf. He scratched at her advancing shoulders in panic as she tilted her head while it approached his neck.
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He felt her teeth hit his neck. His always-calculating mind knew what kind of wound she had dealt the moment her felt his blood slowly oozing onto his thick neck fur and down his stomach. A lethal bite. He tried to keep his back legs on the ground, but he was being forced backwards, backwards…
Down. He felt conciousness slipping away as his body contacted the water. He closed his eyes. The day he had felt greatest victory. The day he died…
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Hollyleaf stood on the bank. Her ears were pinned back against her head as she stared at the gray-flecked body floating down the stream. Perfect. He would float into the lake, never to be seen again.
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The pillar was safe.
She would be able to preserve her lies.
It would all die here.
Here and now.
But as the body slipped out of sight, farther down the creek, she tasted salt in her mouth.
Blood?
No, tears.
The thing that Hollyleaf would never know was whether the tears came from her eyes…
…or Ashfur's.
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