Here we go. Not wasting no time on my end.

This is the end of the story, oyay!

Thanks to EVERYONE that's stuck with me, or anyone that's read this. It's 'cause of you guys that I could finish up this short story at all. Thank you especially Streakz, because of her awesome characters and awesome reviews, and her awesomeness in general. Enjoy the last chapter!

Epilogue

the promise.

It was a pity that though in the end Assassin's spirit and compassion had won out, his father was killed anyway. But it wasn't by Assassin—Demon herself witnessed her son's failure and attacked. Russetstripe's death was witnessed with utter horror by the black tomcat, and the scene itself broke him. The inky rogue later fled into the city to fight for his life and learn those cold, hard lessons Demon had tried to teach him the hard way. It was there he truly became his namesake, long after Demon was killed herself by no other than…

Icetail. After the border patrol picked up Russetstripe's body, she went out hunting revenge. When the two she-cats; darkness and light; met, they tore one another apart. They died still trying to pull another square of fur out of the other one's pelt. Later in StarClan they met again and tried to finish the battle, something that didn't work well.

Orangepaw actually flourished under her newfound orphan status, quickly getting over the death of both her sheltering parents and branching out admirably under the guidance of her new mentor. Her disgust of her father and in his shallow personality that equally shallow she-cat had sought so valiantly gave her a lifelong dislike for her own gender. Her friendship and popularity with tomcats worked rather in her favor as she vowed to be single forever the moment she got her warrior name. Assassin and Orangepaw met in Twolegplace and quickly developed a friendship before they even knew they shared the same father—this break in Assassin's cold shield caused him to realize he wasn't cut out for rogue life, and in late winter he traveled to the Clan to ask to be accepted. He entered an apprenticeship under Ficklestar himself, two cats close to the same age, and became fast friends. He became a loyal warrior.

***

"So here we are," Russetstripe told Tallstar, who had been very quiet through the last overview. "My life—my kits. You asked how Assassin became a warrior, and now you know—and you know he's got the true heart of one." Russetstripe's eyes became almost challenging, daring Tallstar to disagree, and quickly the leader nodded his head.

"Indeed!" Tallstar meowed, "I will admit, I had my concerns when he killed that rogue, but it obviously shook him up about as much as it did that cat who was watching. Blackblizzard? Ficklestar's brother, you said?"

"Indeed. The two have hated each other for a long time… Orangeflash loathes him, and Assassin does too. I'll be surprised if he isn't banished." Russetstripe sounded almost smug as he brought the scene back up. "Oh, we missed a little—sorry. Looks like my daughter finally arrived to save the day. Oh… erm…" he trailed off as he saw the ginger form crash not into the traitor Blackblizzard, but the blood-splattered form of the WindClan leader.

"What's she doing?" Tallstar demanded, shocked, watching Russetstripe's daughter bundle the smaller tomcat off the black-and-white tom's chest. Russetstripe was hyperventilating, and his voice was shrill. "See?!" he squeaked, "See what happens when I'm not there?!"

"Shut up," the leader snapped, leaning in to watch, "She's saying something…" the cat had released her leader and had bounded back to the fallen traitor's side, meowing something…

"Sorry I'm late…"

***

It had been a day or so below when Tallstar returned to the viewing pools to check on Russetstripe. The fluffy ginger cat was perched next to his same pool, watching gloomily the scene inside. Tallstar came up quietly behind the warrior.

The tabby didn't even turn his head. "Look at her," he growled quietly, sharp eyes locked on the flamelike form racing across the moor in his vision. Tallstar leaned in—she seemed to be dancing, racing down the grassland with the wind blowing her fur. She seemed happier than Tallstar had ever seen her—why was Russetstripe so angry?

"What's wrong with that?" the black-and-white leader asked curiously. "She's running through the territory looking happy."

Russetstripe hissed his frustration and threw a paw at the pool, breaking and shattering the reflection into a million ripples as he turned towards the leader, eyes dangerous. "She just left the Clan, is what she did!" the dark ginger warrior hissed.

Tallstar twitched an ear, surprised. "So did you, at one point, you know."

"That was different! Do you know why she's leaving?! I left because I thought the Clan would be better off without me—she knows very well how important she is, and she's leaving anyway!"

With a sigh, the StarClan tom scratched an ear. "No, Russetstripe, I don't know why she's leaving. Want to fill me in?"

The image re-formed in the pool, and it was night—from the blood still caking the fur of Blackblizzard and Ficklestar it was the same night that the battle in twolegplace had taken place. At the foot of the Windy Tree sat the cat who'd tried to kill his leader and brother; the pibald form of Blackblizzard. In the tree above him was his brother. The Clan was circled around them, some hissing, some looking shocked. Tallstar got it—this was a trial. A trial for Blackblizzard.

His eyes picked out the thin, dark form of Assassin sitting in the front row next to a giant tabby she-cat. His orange eyes were gleaming with admiration for his leader—and with promise. He wanted Blackblizzard gone.

Orangeflash, however, had shrunk down, fur and ears flattened, facing the other direction, looking completely torn. Blackblizzard was trying to defend himself, and her ears slowly raised and she hesitantly turned her head, meeting his eyes.

Something passed between the two and Tallstar recognized it immediately, a blossom of sorrow swelling in his chest. It was like a lightning bolt. Orangeflash, who'd sworn never to fall in love, had done just that—and she'd chosen Blackblizzard.

As the new exile walked, head down, a path clearing for him out of his hissing former-Clanmates, he paused for an instant in which he whispered something to Russetstripe's daughter. She tried not to meet his eyes and stared at her feet as he left the camp forever. Slowly, her eyes lifted, and they moved to Ficklestar, still standing proud in the leader's place—and they were so icy cold Tallstar took a step back. Ficklestar had just banished his brother, and something told him Orangeflash was not a cat who forgave easily.

She left the next morning. No wonder she was so happy—she was exiling herself, banishing her own pelt from the Clan to be with the cat she thought had done right. Tallstar shook his head and bit his lip in raw admiration.

Russetstripe was wailing in the background. "How could I have been so stupid? If I'd known, maybe I could have sent a sign to her somehow… something to tell her to stay away from Blackblizzard…! Oh, this is horrible!"

A very dry, icy voice came out of the darkness and Tallstar turned his head, surprised, to see Icetail slip out of the shadows. "Then perhaps it's a good thing you didn't know," she told her mate coldly, "She would have gone just in the opposite direction, just to spite you. You just don't get it, do you?"

Russetstripe turned towards her indignantly. "Get what? Get that my only daughter is leaving WindClan to be with an exiled traitor?"

Icetail spat. "You don't think it's a little weird that you haven't moved on by now? Why do you have to consider it your life goal to meddle in our daughter's business? She's got her own life, she's making it herself, and there's nothing you could or should do about it." Her fury made Russetstripe deflate.

"But…" he trailed off, bristling, "EXILED!"

Tallstar chipped in, eyes blazing, lifting his chin. For a moment he was a true StarClan leader, pelt shining with so much starlight he was hard to look at. "If your daughter has left the Clan, it is because she truly believes it was the right thing to do—and that she really and truly loves Blackblizzard." His eyes flashed as he drew himself up. "As her father, you should be satisfied that she's happy. Icetail is right—not only are these… visions… unhealthy, but they're very invasive and very cruel to your daughter. If Icetail hadn't interceded, you would have trespassed on several very private moments. Am I right, Icetail?" he met her eyes and she nodded.

Russetstripe squawked and jumped around to look at her. "You knew I was missing important visions?!" he demanded, outraged. Icetail struck him with a paw on the side of his head, making him stagger. "All I knew was that my daughter's private life was getting snooped out by her father," she growled. "How would you have liked it if you knew your mother was watching you every second of your mortal life?" Russetstripe flattened his ears in chagrin.

Tallstar remembered how Icetail had left the camp to be on her own when she birthed Orangeflash—of course she understood privacy, and instinctively she'd been protecting her child from the prying eyes of Russetstripe all this time. No wonder the tomcat was frustrated!

"You hear me, Russetstripe," Tallstar told the cat slightly more gently, "I have sat here and watched your whole life—I think I understand you about as well as any cat could. And I am telling you that you cannot go on like this." Slowly Russetstripe looked, a desperate flicker in his eyes, back at the vision in the pool; Orangeflash running beneath the dark cloud cover, tiny hailstones peppering her fur as she flew through the storm.

"Don't you want her to be happy? She is, now. If you really love her, let her go… I just want your promise. That you won't watch her anymore. It's not right, Russetstripe." Icetail said softly, eyes clouding over. The ginger tomcat moved, nodded, slowly and achingly, and shut his eyes. He extended one paw towards the pool and the vision faded, the milky depths turned clear once more.

"It is done," the tomcat said in a voice swimming with regret, but also with new strength. "She has that right."

Icetail flicked him with her tail in relief and circled him, steering the gloomy tom towards the glittering fields beyond where the cats of StarClan could hunt in peace among the stars. "You did well, Russetstripe," she told him, "She'll be better off without you. Come on, I'll introduce you to a few cats." Their tails wound together as pawstep by pawstep they faded, only a trail of glittering stardust where their paws had touched the earth.

***

Russetstripe glanced around him for a moment before he tiptoed to the edge of the pool. Within the depths swirled a thin, dark tomcat; eyes of fire, by the name of Assassin. The tabby settled down, tucking his white paws beneath him, and chuckled quietly to himself as the next set of visions began.

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THE END!

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Snoopy Russet's gonna spy on Asseh now xD

Ah well. Asseh might actually appreciate it, if he's lucky.

XD thanks to everyone that read and reviewed this story.

Tallstar and Warriors are copyright to Erin Hunter.

Ficklestar and Blackblizzard are copyright to Streakz

The plot between BlackxOrange was designed by Streakers and Meself

And all other characters including Russetstripe himself, his mates, his children, his associates, and anyone else in the story besides them ^^ are copyright to myself.

If you steal I'll seriously break down and cry.

Then I'll get mad and come kill you and put your arms in a dehydrator.

Thank you all SO much for reading!