A/N: After I found out about this, I had to write another chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Spirit Cat

Swiftflight felt a pang of sadness as she watched the cat before her. He was pacing back and forth, anxious and worried about something. She knew exactly what it was that he feared. Poor soul; if only she could do something to help him. Well, it was time, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Softly, she padded forward, making herself visible to him. "Hello, Ashfur," she greeted softly. The tom spun around, claws unsheathed.

"Who are you?" he demanded. She could smell the fear coming off of him, so she stayed calm so as to not alarm him.

"My name is Swiftflight, and I am StarClan's messenger," she greeted. His blue eyes widened in shock. He quickly sheathed his claws and crouched down, his tail between his legs. "It's alright," she assured. "You have nothing to fear from me."

"You're probably going to send me to the Dark Forest, aren't you?" he accused. She didn't reply. "Well? Go on! I deserve it! But it just hurt so much! There was no other way to deal with the agony!"

"Why didn't you talk to someone?" she questioned.

"Not like they'd care. Squirrelflight ripped my heart out; she wouldn't possibly understand unless I made her. And Ferncloud's got a mate and beautiful kits; she didn't need to worry about me," he hissed bitterly.

"What about Dustpelt? He mentored you, didn't he?" Stupid question.

"Because he's Ferncloud's mate! If I told him, he'd tell her! I told you, I didn't want her involved!" he snapped.

"Right; I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me. But how do you know for sure that they wouldn't have listened? Keeping all of that anger bottled up inside you corrupted your soul. It drove you into this murderous rage, and you attempted to have innocent cats killed," she lamented. He bowed his head in shame.

"However," she continued, "not a single drop of innocent blood stains your claws. Firestar's fourth death was planned by Hawkfrost; he was to blame for taking advantage of you in your weakened state. Even after his death, his influence drove you to believe that killing someone close to Squirrelflight would hurt her like you had been hurt."

"Will you stop talking and punish me already?" he yowled. "I know, I was horrible! I wanted her to feel the same burning agony that I did! She was using me the whole time to make Brambleclaw jealous!"

"That's not entirely the case; you mistook her friendship as returning your feelings. It was only after fighting with Brambleclaw that she tried to love you in his place. But you were too overprotective, and that was one of the reasons that she could never have loved you back. It's sad, but it's the truth."

Ashfur sprung at her, pinning her to the ground. She could've dodged, but she chose not to. "You're just sticking a claw into open wounds! I knew it all along, but I refused to believe it, and now…" he trailed off, his claws sliding back in. Gently, Swiftflight turned him off of her, looking into his sorrowful blue eyes.

"I cannot decide your punishment, Ashfur," she began, "but you are an unusual case. Most cats I send to the Dark Forest are evil beyond forgiveness, but you were simply not thinking clearly from the pain of heartbreak. Believe me; I've seen this kind of thing before." Her thoughts drifted for a moment to the look of absolute hatred her little bee had shown her that day, and her tears as she collapsed from the sheer emotion. "You remind me so much of my old student," she sighed.

Ashfur looked surprised as she started licking her paw. "I just hope you don't have her lack of a sense of humor!" she joked. Ashfur, surprisingly, managed a purr.

"She is good at heart, despite a few mistakes here and there. I hope you will be judged fairly." She gently touched her nose to his forehead. When she opened her eyes to watch what would happen, she smiled as he began to fade into starlight.

"StarClan has shown mercy on him," she purred happily. She padded away softly, pausing only to look at a familiar tunnel. "This one has not gone to join him yet… I wonder, how will she be judged? Even the ways of StarClan are a mystery to me…" She swiftly bounded along, aiming to sneak a visit to her former home. Maybe she'd pay a visit to her little bee; she hadn't been there in a while.

I was originally going to make a one-chapter story, but now I've decided to extend this story into a series. Send requests by review and you'll see how Swiftflight (Yoruichi) interacts with them as they prepare to pass on. Some will fight, others will chat, and some will need comforting.