Chapter 10
"Ashfur?" Squirrelflight padded into the warriors' den. Her mate was curled up in the corner, and looked up when she entered. "What is it that you 'desperately' needed to talk to me about?"
Ashfur's head turned back and forth, checking to make sure there was no one around, and then mewed softly, "It's about Brambleclaw."
Squirrelflight remained in the entranceway, her eyes narrowed. "What's so secretive involving Brambleclaw?"
"Well..." again, Ashfur glanced around in paranoia.
"Just tell me!"
Ashfur sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just... you won't like it. You might not even believe me."
"Just spit it out, you stupid furball!" Squirrelflight stamped her foot impatiently.
"He's... I think he's meeting with Hawkfrost."
Squirrelflight's eyes widened, momentarily shocked, and then they narrowed again in fury. "Ashfur, how many times to I have to tell you? Get over it! I can't believe how selfish you are. I chose you, because I love you, and you know I love you, and yet you can't get over the fact that Brambleclaw once loved me too. You can't accept that I still consider him my friend; you insist on trying to bring him down. You selfish, self-centered mousebrain." Her green eyes were alight with anger, and her bristling bright orange pelt was almost on fire.
"I'm not making it up, Squirrelflight. I saw."
Squirrelflight growled irritably. "Give it up, Ashfur! You know, maybe I shouldn't have chosen you. Maybe I should have chosen Brambleclaw. At least he wouldn't have been a self-absorbed piece of crowfood who insisted on bashing you. I wish you could focus on our love, not Brambleclaw's friendship, but apparently our love isn't the most important thing to you."
"No, Squirrelflight, it's not like that!" Ashfur mewled desperately. Inwardly, he thought that it had been awhile since he'd seen Brambleclaw speak openly to Squirrelflight, and wondered how she could still call him a friend. But that was none of his business. What was his business was that Brambleclaw was trying to bring down the Clan, and that Squirrelflight might be the only cat who could stop him.
"I don't want to hear it, Ashfur." Shaking her head and bristling with anger, Squirrelflight turned and stalked away.
x
That night found Ashfur sleeping as far away as possible from Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight as far away as possible from Ashfur, and so she ended up near Brambleclaw. Brambleclaw couldn't believe it when Squirrelflight murmured something about Ashfur being a stupid furball him being her friend, and then promptly fell asleep.
Filled with joy he hadn't felt in moons - and feeling slightly pathetic that her simple actions made him this happy - he slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Brambleclaw."
Brambleclaw looked up, bleary eyed, and saw Hawkfrost and Tigerstar standing over him. "Go away," he slurred sleepily, and rolled over to face away from them.
"BRAMBLECLAW!" Tigerstar's furious roar shocked him awake. He leapt to his feet, his fur standing on its end. His father huffed condescendingly. "That's better."
"Brambleclaw, now's no time for sleep," Hawkfrost meowed. "We need to discuss the next stage of the plan."
Brambleclaw breathed in, forcing himself over the shock of his father's rude awakening. "Plan? What plan?"
"The plan to make you leader," growled Tigerstar.
"And to win Squirrelflight," Hawkfrost added.
Brambleclaw remembered Squirrelflight curling up beside him before falling asleep. "I think she's fighting with Ashfur," he thought aloud. "Maybe I can get her back without becoming leader."
"That's stupid, my son," meowed Tigerstar matter-of-factly, glaring daggers at his eldest son.
"What father is trying to say is that that won't work," Hawkfrost explained. "Yeah, Squirrelflight is fighting with Ashfur, but she still loves him. They'll make up. And besides, she still thinks of you as nothing more than a friend."
Brambleclaw remembered her sleepy murmurings. Ashfur is such a stupid furball... I haven't spoken to you in awhile, and you're my friend...
So that's it. That's all he was to her - her best friend. If he was anything more, she would have said so; if she had changed her mind and fallen in love with him, she would have said that as well, or would have at least indicated it. She wouldn't have called him just a friend.
He realized that his temporary hopes were in vain. Fighting mates normally made up, and friends like himself never became anything more.
"You don't have to stay just her friend," Hawkfrost mewed in a low growl. "When you become leader, you'll earn everyone's respect, especially hers."
Brambleclaw remembered his vision from that day at the Gathering island, of himself as a brave and respected leader with his beautiful, trusted mate standing proudly at his side.
He met Hawkfrost's eyes. "Alright. What do I have to do?"
Tigerstar laughed. "That's it, my son. Want the power. Strive for it. Use your ambition as your driving force."
Hawkfrost's eyes lit up with eerie glee at their father's words. "It'll be simple, Brambleclaw. Father thought of it; he's such a genius." Tigerstar purred. "You know those fox traps on your territory? Well, just lure Firestar into one. It'll take all his remaining lives." Brambleclaw's eyes widened. "And I'll come, in case you need help. After he dies, make it look all like you tried to save him, act depressed, and then when the Clan confers to chose a new leader, make sure it's you. Or if it's not you, make sure you're at least deputy, and we can work on the new leader later..."
"Wh-what?" Brambleclaw had stopped listening after Hawkfrost detailed Firestar's death. "I can't... I can't kill my leader!"
"How will you become leader if that stupid kittypet holds the place, you idiot?" Tigerstar sheathed and unsheathed his claws impatiently.
"You have to understand, Brambleclaw. It's for the good of your Clan." Hawkfrost's tone was far from sympathetic, but somehow Brambleclaw found empathy in his ice blue eyes. "The Clan will be better off under your leadership. And as leader, Squirrelflight will become your mate. It's win-win for everyone. Firestar is just a necessary sacrifice for the good of the Clan."
Brambleclaw nodded slowly. It made sense. The heroic, gallant vision entered his mind again, along with the image of a fiery red tail entwined with stormy gray.
His eyes narrowed. "When should I do it?"
Tigerstar's eyes were afire with malevolent passion. "That's it, my son. That's it."
Hawkfrost gave an icy grin. "How about... tomorrow? I can sneak away after I finish sunhigh patrol."
There was a time when Brambleclaw may have hesitated, may have had second thoughts, or may not have been able to act at all, especially not so soon. But that time was past. His head was clouded, his ears rang with blood, and now there was only one course of action. He would get what he wanted, he would be happy, and his Clan would be better off. Respect, power... and Squirrelflight would be his.
His eyes burned even brighter than his father's. "Tomorrow."
Hawkfrost laughed, as if the whole conspiracy were some sort of joke. "Excellent, brother. Meet me by the lake on your territory; Father says he saw a fox trap there." Tigerstar drew his lips back into a snarl that may have been meant as a smile.
"I'll be there." Even as he spoke, Brambleclaw felt Tigerstar's dark world fading away; but he left it feeling even more vibrant than when he'd arrived.
Tomorrow, his dreams would come true.
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A/N: Super sorry for the horribly short chapter. That just had to be where it ended. Also sorry if this chapter shoved the story along faster than it should have been, but I feel like it needed to get moving. Believe it or not, it's getting near the end. Next chapter might be the last, or maybe another, depending on how long it is.
Next chapter: Hawkfrost, Brambleclaw, Firestar, a fox trap, and... Ashfur? Dun dun dun...