STARRING: Ashfur & Squirrelflight

WORD COUNT: 1,176

SONGSPERATION: Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay

The world still spun 'round in circles on it's axis, revolving dutifully around the sun as it had been created to do so. The snow still fell as leaf-bare droned on, spreading it's chilly blanket over the four territories and wrapped it's ghastly fingers about all plant life, painting nature's landscapes in dreary whites and shades of gray. All seemed right with the world. All was calm and peaceful. But not so. An ashen warrior seemed almost to melt into the landscape was he wandered, alone, through the forest below, stumbling upon his own, weary paws. His jaws parted slowly; nothing but a fragment of a whisper slipped from his lips, and was promptly lost on Boreas' winds. The brown grasses sway gracefully about him, their long, slender stalks greedily attempting hiding thier grey prisoner from view. A shiver slither down his spine, reminding the tom of how chilled he was.

He had been charged with hunting, and had volenteered to go on his own, entering the territory on an empty stomach. Dawn had passed like a fading flower, and time had advanced forward without a glance back at the past. Ashfur had hunted for sometime now, and had only suceeded in catching a shriveled starling. It seemed to him that every animal in the realm of nature were struggling to live another day. The confident stride with which he had before moved no longer lived, and had been reduced to a lethargic movement of his paws. One, two three, four. Those sucessive steps were taken.

Dark blue optics scanned the submerged environs, willing any sign of life to reveal itself to the hunter. However, nature was not in collabertation with him today, and the gray tom was left on his own. A slight depression tainted the air that enveloped the muscled feline, painting his aura in the disconsolate winter landscapes. First inward, he pulled in the breath, the frosty air creating a burning sensation in his lungs. And then outward, from the clenched jaws he exhaled, returning warm breath to the ungreatful winter winds which relcaimed thier own, turning it frigid as they compassed thier brother.

"Ashfur!" Snow slushed beneath padded mitts as the grey–furred mouser halted in his pawsteps. In a moment, his attention shifted to the one who rung his name out on the winds which stood between them, breaking himself from the dark blues and light greys of the isolation that had wrapped him in its deadly grasp. His crania rotated on his neck, his muscles relaxing as he indentified the one how called to him. Squirrelflight.

She loped towards him, powerful leg muscles tense beneath puce–hued fur, shouldering her way through the grasses to make her way to him. They had kept him captive for to long; she was the resplendent aroura who had come into his life, a barren wasteland. Blue pools met green orbs as the female slowed her gate into a trot as she neared him. His heart was a haunted palce without her, chillingly empty, a labrynith shrouded in fog. He watched her with shining eyes, his nostrils drawing in her musk as she pushed herself up against his side.

"No luck?" Her voice was a heavenly melody to his ears, every word seeming to be gilded, as if crafted by Starclan above. He purred, hus augustly head replying to her inquiry as she nuzzled his chin affectionately. His ears swiveled on his head, searching for the usual dark nuscience who had taken to following his beloved whenever she ventured. The was nothing but silence of the most serene kinds, a ticket to nothing short of heaven.

"It seems the prey has all but vanished," he told her, relishing her warmth, "I only managed to catch a starling, and even that was disgustingly withered." A sympathetic smile fluttered across Squirrelflight's maw as she lifted stunning green eyes up to his. Her tail lighted upon his shoulder, flicking it in understanding.

"We are lucky you caught something. The clan needs all the food it can get." Her tone was grim, her eyes leaving his and sweeping over the area once more. Yes, Thunderclan was in dire need of substances. The elders were suffering, and the queens had not enough milk to feed thier kits. There would be a death soon if things continued on like this. Ashfur didn't want to think about it.

"How about we try the stretch near Sunning Rocks?" She was looking up at him expectantly, waiting for him to approve or decline her suggestion. And though the grey warrior was fatigued, he knew he could never deny anything of Squirrelflight. A purr rumbled in his chest; simply being her presence was a complete ecstasy for Ashfur, and he willingly accepted. Her features lit up with a delighted smile, and the tom was not a little startled when he felt a rough tongue rasp over the smoothed fur of his cheek. His eyelids flickered, his breath stopped, his heartbeat quickened. This was the effect Squirrelflight had on him. With just one look, a simple touch, she had him wrapped around her paw.

His love for her made him into a mindless puppet, and yet, the ashen warrior had never felt so alive. He followed closely behind her, feeling slightly dizzy as his nostrils flared; Ashfur was high on Squirrelflight. He knew he was not the only one, though. There was Brambleclaw, his outright rival, and Stormfur from Riverclan. And oddly enough, Ashfur was not disconcerted; her fully aware that Squirrelflight was like a drug, and that was something that would never change. However, the only thing that would change was the feeling in her heart towards the grey warrior. His eyes sparkled as blue gaze latched on to the beauty who swayed in front of him. He would win her heart. He would find a way to make her love him. He would become her life, just as she had become his. He would win her soul.

It would not be easy to tame such a wild flame, and in all honesty, the Thunderclan tom did not want her tamed. Now, he wanted her as the willful, spontaneous sylph she was. Because that way the way Ashfur had fallen for her in the very first place. He wanted her enchanting green eyes fixed only on him. He wanted all of her to belong to him, and to stay that way forever. Because he was head over heels for Squirrelflight, and one day, she would no doubt come to recognized that she felt the same way for him. Because for him, she was a star in his dark night, the only hope in this life for which he was forced to fight. And as she padded along beside him, their fur brushing and her eyes shining, Ashfur knew that he had given her his heart. It did not occur to him that heartbreak might ensure, and when she would reject him, that insanity would play its part.