This is the second part of the three pieces I wrote for Lonely-Ghost-606's Squirrelcrow AU.
This is an alternate version of the famous fire scene.
...
Squirrelflight fought as hard as she could through the pain.
She felt the heat of a thousand blazing claws linger across her pelt, almost as strong as the stinging wound in her shoulder. She grit her teeth on the branch in her mouth as the heat made another bite of agony pulse on her wound.
It would be easier to let go of the branch. To get away from this destruction.
But she would never do that. Not as long as she heard the frightened voices of her kits.
They were huddled against a cliff face, a wall of hungry fire circling them. She could see the terrified stares of Hollyleaf and Lionblaze peering over the fire that separated them from their mother, Jayfeather was crouched on his belly cowering, his glazed eyes trembling, as he felt the fires looming closer.
"Just hang on!" Squirrelflight yowled, though her voice was muffled, "I'm coming!" She needed to drag that branch to the fire quickly; their only chance was to escape over the bridge before the fires consumed it. She could hear them screeching words of encouragement her way, but it was hard to tell if it was out of belief or desperation.
The fire was quickly devouring Thunderclan camp, and she could hear her clanmates yowling a way away, there was a light patter of dark rain but it was nowhere near strong enough to quell the raging blaze.
Squirrelflight pulled at the branch again, only feeling the wood move a little, sluggishly dragging through the dirt. A panic stung at her heart. She would never reach them at this rate.
She pulled again and again, almost tripping over her own paws as she desperately scrambled to move the branch. The pain in her shoulder was slowly becoming unbearable and she could only feel the heat expanding as she struggled. A muffled shriek of helpless terror made her throat go raw; the horror of what was happening, and what would soon happen, now digging into her like a lion's claws.
She still struggled, no matter how painfully certain her failure was becoming. She just bit down harder and growled with a push of determination. They were her kits. She was their mother. She couldn't give up on them, no matter how much it was hurting. They were hers to protect, and she would fight until it killed her. Even if she was consumed herself by the ravaging storm of orange and red, she would not leave her children behind! She'd die first!
Then, aside her angry, throttling desperation, she felt the branch become lighter in her jaws.
A cat was beside her, the other end of the branch clamped in their strong jaws. For a moment she thought she knew who it was, but reality soon took hold as she recognised the dusty, grey coat of her clanmate.
In her dire alleviation that help had arrived, Squirrelflight didn't think once of the history she shared with this tom. It had all been moons ago after all.
Ashfur pulled the branch from her jaws, holding it up well as he dragged it towards her kits. "Help me push it into the fire!" Squirrelflight pleaded. Ashfur didn't look at her, but he obeyed. The tom didn't need her help, as he swiftly dragged the branch along, throwing it onto the fire and making a secure bridge between the three cats and their awaiting mother.
The relief and joy Squirrelflight felt could have made her cry. It was going to be okay. Soon they would be across and they could get to safety before a single hair on their pelts was lost.
But soon Squirrelflight felt a growing puzzlement as she realised that Ashfur was not moving to let them past. He stood at the end, blocking them from escaping their side of the branch. He had his back to her, staring stiffly at her kits. Squirrelflight's unease only grew as she saw a dawning horror begin to make way onto her kit's faces. She could just about see Ashfur's neck fur prickling with threat, warning or demanding them to stay back. It looked like he was preparing to pounce on the most vulnerable prey.
What was he doing? They didn't have time to waste. The fire was stroking the underside of the branch. "Ashfur get out of the way!" Squirrelflight yowled, stepping forward with a rush of confused enmity. "Let them get out."
Ashfur didn't move from his spot; his tail only lashed out viciously. Then keeping one paw on the branch, Ashur turned back to Squirrelflight.
The orange molly felt horror twist in her stomach. Ashfur's teeth were open in a snarl, and she saw nothing but savage hatred in the icy mist of his eyes. Squirrelflight kept a furious expression, but she was quickly realising that whatever hope she could have expected from Ashfur was becoming as toxic as the clouding smoke.
Ashfur's lip curled as his head cocked mockingly to the side. "I don't think he's coming to save you, Squirrelflight." The grey tom's voice was a poisonous murmur. "Are you proud of the choice you made?"
Ah. So that was what this was about.
Squirrelflight would have been openly surprised if her anger wasn't building faster and faster. It had been a lifetime ago since Squirrelflight had ever had those kind of interactions with the tom. When they were young, he had never hidden his interest in her. He had always been near at the worst moments, lusting and breathing down her neck, and the friendship Squirrelflight had felt for the tom had morphed into irritation and then resentment.
She had rejected him. She'd made her choice. It wasn't her fault he couldn't accept that.
And now he wanted to do this! All because of his own twisted obsession. Squirrelflight wouldn't accept that.
The ginger molly growled openly, "Ashfur, let them by now! It has been too long!" She snarled, "I'm Brambleclaw's mate, not yours! Whatever problems you have with me, leave them out of it!"
Ashfur's whiskers twitched, as if considering her words. Then the line of his mouth twisted and shattered into a laugh. Icy and shattering. Squirrelflight couldn't help but feel her tail fur quiver. Something was wrong!
"Brambleclaw!" Ashfur cackled, his eyes narrowing further as his smirk broadened. "Oh I don't think he'll have anything to say about this." Ashfur was clear in his implication, but Squirrelflight sensed something buried inside his words.
"What have you done to my father?" Lionblaze roared from across the branch.
Ashfur only laughed again, glancing back momentarily at the tom to give him a snake like hiss. "I have no interest in that fool. After all," Ashfur's smile faded, replaced by a menacing rage, cutting right into Squirrelflight. "He's suffered because of you as well!"
Somewhere deep in Squirrelflight's heart, something began to sting.
"What are you talking about?" Hollyleaf demanded, anger and fear mixed in her voice. She must have taken a step on the branch as Ashfur screeched for them to stay back.
Ashfur's tail began to swing coolly, as he stared down at Squirrelflight like she was less than a fox. "I'll admit, I hated Brambleclaw for moons. I never understood what he had done to deserve you over me! You gave him about as much time as me after all!" He hissed through clenched teeth. "But don't lose sight Squirrelflight, you have always been the one I've wanted to see suffer!"
The black hatred in his tone dripped onto Squirrelflight like blood. He hated her that much? They'd never even been mates! Squirrelflight considered, jaw hanging open. She shook her head, his issues meant nothing to her. "If that's true then why don't you come here and take it out on me?" She offered, malice oozing from her fangs.
Ashfur snorted in disgust. "Killing you wouldn't be enough of a punishment. You deserve to feel pain every day of your life!" The corners of his lips turned up as he swung his head back cockily. "That's why I wanted to kill all those unlucky enough to be tainted by your love." He spat out the word like a bone. "Starting with your father."
"What?!" Squirrelflight's eyes went wide.
"Who do you think sent Firestar to where the fox-trap was?" Ashfur sang with a splintering chuckle. "Killing him would have made you feel what you deserved!"
The tight snare ripping into her father's throat. The pool of blood around his neck. The trembling of his limbs as death began to take him.
Squirrelflight felt hot venom in her breath. That was all Ashfur's fault. He would have killed his own leader to hurt her! She saw Ashfur smirking above her, his dirty grey coat darkened by the blaze around him. Squirrelflight felt she was truly seeing the real Ashfur for the first time ever.
"Of course, Brambleclaw saved him then." Ashfur frowned as if remembering a tragic memory, "But he's not here now. And-"
"Enough!" Squirrelflight screamed, stepping forward with unsheathed claws. "You can do what you want with me, Ashfur! But if you harm those cats, I will drag you into the fire myself! If you have any loyalty left for Thunderclan, you'll let them go and deal with me instead!" She would fight him, even if she would most likely lose, she would do everything in her power to rip him to shreds.
"A slow learner, I see." Ashfur insulted her, but something else grew in his leer. "I already told you, you need to feel the pain of losing everyone you love! That is what will satisfy me!" He curled his claws in, as if breaking the souls of all of his enemies right there and then. Then he craned his head, looking back at her kits jaggedly. "Besides, I haven't lost my loyalty to Thunderclan. I tried to kill a kittypet, and now," He slowly turned back to Squirrelflight, his blue eyes piercing her. "I'll rid my clan of these filthy half-clan creatures!"
The roar of the blaze had begun to groan and crackle, but Squirrelflight could still hear her own world shatter as he said those words. She stared ahead, her vision darkening as Ashfur's triumphant leer came over her like a great shadow.
But what was worst was she could hear the confusion, the fear, the growing anger in her kits voices as they began to question the madness they had just heard.
"Did you honestly think no cat would see you sneaking off in the night?" Ashfur spat. The weight in Squirrelflight's chest was now sickening. "You and that Windclan mongrel are nowhere near as clever as you think you are!"
She thought she'd been careful. She'd made sure that there was no patrol, no one awake to see her indulge in her night time meetings.
She'd been mistaken. Foolish.
"Squirrelflight." Lionblaze's voice came over to her. She looked up and her heart panged. There was a new seeded fear cracking in his face. "What does he mean? He's lying right?"
He sounded terrified. Squirrelflight's breath became cold, she tried to form words but found no power to make a sound. Ashfur knew more about them than themselves, and that was Squirrelflight's fault. The heat of the fire began to sting on her fur, but her bones were numb and pained from a dull bitterness.
"I'm no liar!" Ashfur snapped, not taking his eyes off of the ginger molly. "This traitor is the liar! She's the codebreaker!" Squirrelflight looked up again, her eyes hollow on the tom, and she could see the enjoyment lingering around him. He felt he had power over her, he enjoyed the feeling that he was exposing her for all to see!
"Codebreaker?" Hollyleaf's voice was low, something dark brewing inside it.
Something began to boil in Squirrelflight as well. Off of Ashfur's smirk, she felt an anger like never before, a raving ire that made every hair on her body stick out like thorns. No. If she was going to be revealed, it was going to be on her terms! She would not allow this vile tom to have that kind of power over her and her kits!
Her kits deserved that much from her, at least.
"Yes." The twisted pleasure seemed to drool along Ashfur's lips. "This lying she-cat is a codebreaker, and you three are nothing but the spawn of her and some-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Her scream pierced the air, as if sending flames back and making the rain shimmer an orange glow as it met the scorching ground. Every cat stared at her, even Ashfur looked troubled by the ferocity in her voice. Squirrelflight swallowed heavily, dragging down the rawness in her throat and any of the voices begging her to not say what she was about to.
She took a breath, glaring up into the cold glare of her clanmate. "It's not your story to tell, Ashfur. It's mine." She went on, her voice now leading ahead of her mind, ignoring Ashfur's throbbing anger. "I was the one who gave birth to them. I was the one who went against the warrior code. And I was the one who took Crowfeather as my mate."
Squirrelflight stared on hardly, not letting her heartbreak become revealed as she saw the horror plastered over her kits faces. They were finally hearing her truth, but it was far too late. This moon should have passed long ago.
She was fully exposed now. As bare as a newborn kit. But at least they were on her terms. She had denied Ashur that satisfaction.
And he was livid at that.
She tried to refocus her anger onto Ashfur who had begun to tremble with rage. She could see how much he felt cheated of his revenge. Good! "So, you're admitting it? You admit that you went against your clan!" Ashfur spoke slowly, toxic corruption rumbling in his throat.
"Yes." Squirrelflight said it plainly, careful to show no emotion. It only made Ashfur angrier. That was good. She could see his claws beginning to unsheathe. If she could get him furious enough, he would lunge at her, and that could give the three enough time to escape.
Ashfur wanted this to be his triumph, Squirrelflight needed to do all she could to deny him the pleasure.
Didn't Ashfur realise she'd suffered already? Did he think she enjoyed the fact that the father of her kits, the tom she loved so dearly, that she was denied his touch or the look of his face every morning?
She was facing the consequences of her decision every day. Forever she would be together and apart from Crowfeather, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't do it all over again if she was given the chance.
"It is true. I mated outside of my clan." Squirrelflight hissed, her tail lashing out in faux confidence. "And I still don't regret it." She could see her kits now becoming astounded by her words, but she could also see Ashfur's pelt begin to prickle.
"You disgusting little snake-heart!" Ashfur growled, lightly stepping forward on the branch. He had complete malice in his gaze and Squirrelflight could see he was clearly fighting to remain composed. She braced herself. "You're a traitor! You gave up your honour to join tails with some rabbit chaser!" A brief pang of hurt echoed in Ashfur's face. "You left me aside for that!" He hissed softly.
"Ashfur," Squirrelflight began gently, though her face was openly hostile. Instantly, with a flick of her ear, her tone became icy. "If you believed there was ever anything between us then, you truly are blind!"
"So instead you chose some filthy moor-mongrel?!" Ashfur yowled, "What could he have possibly had that I didn't?"
Squirrelflight's glare was as rough as sand. "It wasn't about what he had. It was who he was." Her tongue clicked with a sharpness that made Ashfur flinch. "And he's as greater cat than you could ever be."
She was being deliberately cruel, but she never lied. She had shared moments with Crowfeather that no cat could ever understand, not even her own kits. She was the only judge of why she had fallen in love with him.
Complete devastation flashed across Ashfur's muzzle, followed quickly by a fury that mixed with the flames around him. His neck now spiked like a porcupine, and he took another step forward, muscles clenching. That's it. Squirrelflight thought. Come and get me, you mange-pelt.
"So, that's how much you hated me, was it? Enough to betray your own clan."
Squirrelflight snorted with contempt. This tom was unbelievable. "Don't think you're that important to me. I mated with Crowfeather because I loved, and still love, him alone." If her words were claws, her tongue was sharper that those from Bloodclan. And they were clearly wounding the pride of her enemy. "I never even thought of you."
Ashfur drew back, his fangs now bared in betrayed contempt. Squirrelflight felt a twitch of satisfaction in how her cruelty was affecting the tom. She felt no guilt, this fox-heart deserved none of her sympathy. If her words could strike him dead, she hoped the fire would swallow his body whole.
"Clearly." Ashfur growled, "That's just how selfish you are. You have no right to call yourself a Thunderclan cat." His eyes darkened. "You have no right to live at all."
This was it. This had to be the moment he caved in and lunged. Squirrelflight could see the desire to hurt and kill in him, as long as he targeted it on her, then her kits had a chance.
That was all that mattered. Even if Ashfur killed her here, she would be able to rest as long as she knew they were safe.
But Ashfur stopped short, straightening himself up again with a crooked sigh. Squirrelflight felt panic twist her stomach. "But I'll keep you alive for now." Ashfur rumbled behind his clenched jaw. "You'll suffer in the end. I'll make you watch these pieces of fox-dung die. And I'll enjoy watching you break when the clan praises me for it!" He stepped back, making sure his body was a wall between her and her precious children.
No! Squirrelflight felt her resolve crumble as her plan was enveloped by the flames. Fear once again took hold over her heart. She couldn't just spring at Ashfur herself, with the wound she had he would easily throw her into the scorching tongues below.
She tried to cast away Ashfur's words. There was no way that Thunderclan would just accept his actions, surely. They still had to care about the three, they had grew up there! They were her father's grandchildren, for the love of Silverpelt.
But somewhere inside her mind. No matter how small; a seed of doubt lay there. And that was enough to make Squirrelflight beyond terrified and aghast.
"And then," Ashfur stared down at her still, malicious glee returning in his smirk, "You can continue to live, knowing that I'll be going after your special little Winclan filth next."
The heat now scratched at Squirrelflight's spine. Thoughts of what Ashfur promised lay terrible indents into her nerves. No. She couldn't just sit by and let this happen. Not to her kits. Not to Crowfeather. She's failed to subside the tom with her words, and she saw there was too much fury in Ashfur's soul for begging to work, but she still had her claws. And she could still fight until the end, even if it was a losing battle.
She had to try, at least. It was all she had left.
Ashfur must have seen the battle in her expression because he laughed mockingly out loud. "You think you can beat me. You'll just get yourself killed, and I have no use for you then."
Squirrelflight's muzzle parted into a wide snarl. "Too bad for you." She wouldn't allow him this pleasure. She would fight until she was a bloody mess if she had to. Her kits were al she had left in this life, they wouldn't pay for whatever quarrel Ashfur had with their mother.
Ashfur coiled his body down into a fighting stance, he leered as he used his tail to beckon the she-cat closer to his twitching claws. "Fine. I have enough information to shame your name, it won't matter if you're dead when you're clan rejects you."
She saw the embers beginning to climb across the branch. It was now or never. Live or die, she couldn't waste anymore time.
Squirrelflight tried to absorb the pain of her wound, sucking in whatever agony she could muster. She tensed her claws and readied herself to pounce.
She took another glance at her kits, full of apology and love and everything else she would never be able to say if she lost here. They just looked on in horror. Squirrelflight hoped it was laced with love instead of disgust.
Her back legs rooted to spring.
Then the flames around them rumbled as a voice roared towards them.
"Squirrelflight! Is that you?"
She recognised the voice. But it offered her no peace. Just another, more guttural clench of terror.
Ashfur began to laugh again, his claws sheathing as he gazed over the approaching tom, his neck rising up tersely. "Just in time."
Squirrelflight didn't look Brambleclaw's way as she felt his hulking figure beside her. In fact, the fight drained from her as she took in how lost she truly was. All Ashfur had to do was say a few words, and whatever Brambleclaw felt for her was sure to cave away and corrode with hate.
"Ashfur?" Brambleclaw's voice was heavy with confusion. "What are you doing there? Why are you two just standing around like tree stumps?!" The deputy demanded, Squirrelflight could hear his tail thumping against the ground in panic.
"We were just having a little chat." Ashfur said calmly, "Weren't we Squirrelflight?"
The ginger molly said nothing, she couldn't find the strength to anymore.
"A chat?" Brambleclaw meowed, aghast. "Are you mouse-brained? We need to-"
"Brambleclaw, help us!" Lionblaze's voice rang over the fire. Ashfur glared back at the tom while Squirrelflight felt wetness prickling in the corners of her eyes. Her world was unravelling and she couldn't do anything. She was powerless.
"Lionblaze?" Brambleclaw's voice rose urgently. Squirrelflight could hear the terror erupt in his tone. "Oh Starclan! Ashfur, what are you doing? You're blocking their way!" There was so much worry in his panic. So much love for his kits.
Squirrelflight looked up at the brown tom. His fur was on edge, and a strength Squirrelflight had only seen in the most dangerous moments was beginning to seep into his muscles.
How quickly would it take for it to fade? Would she even be able to blame him when it happened? He had loved these kits as his own all their lives, no matter what she thought of him she could never deny the true care and passion he had for the cats that he believed were his own.
Squirrelflight wished she had told him so long ago. He didn't deserve the pain that the truth would pierce him with.
"That's the point, Brambleclaw." Ashfur meowed. His ear flicked calmly like he was about to be placed on patrol.
The Deputy's ember eyes blazed up in shock before beginning to burn softly. "This isn't the time for games, Ashfur! Let them get through, now!"
"I'm not the one who's been playing a game, Brambleclaw." Ashfur cast an icy smile to the ginger cat beside the shaking tom. "So, are you going to tell him or should I?"
Squirrelflight glared delicately up at her beaming enemy, but she said nothing. She didn't care anymore. The tremendous crushing sensation wracking across her small body kept her subdued and silent. Within moments she would lose everything.
"Whatever this is, it can wait!" Brambleclaw yowled, his claws digging into the dirt threateningly, "I'm warning you, Ashfur. I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't get out of their way, I'll get you down myself!"
Ashfur didn't seem to pay any mind to the warning as a confident flash came into his eyes. He looked at Brambleclaw like he was a passing friend. "You don't need to worry about them." He grinned, actually sitting down as he paused for a sneering moment of drama. "They're not yours, after all. They're not even Thunderclan."
Silence reigned for a moment where everything seemed to break in Squirrelflight's mind. She couldn't bare to look up at Brambleclaw's face at that moment. She was sure that his expression would destroy her before he turned on her with his own teeth.
All those years that he had played, laughed, and watched his kits grow into the fine young cats they were now. Now bitterly stung. Squirrelflight couldn't blame him if he hated her, the pain of what he was currently going through had to overshadow her own.
Ashfur sighed sadly, but the smile was still clear on his lips. "I'm afraid it's true, Brambleclaw. Because of this little viper's lies, you've been raising the kits of some mouse-spined Windclan cat." Whatever concern Ashfur wanted to convey was ruined by the stark enjoyment radiating from him.
Brambleclaw remained silent.
Squirrelflight sank lower, every moment of silence just boiled the rage that was sure to implode. It would all be over soon.
"She's deceived you for all these moons," Ashfur snarled, Squirrelflight could just about see the flames glinting off his claws as he rose a paw into the air, pointing sharply at his former obsession. "But we can make her pay. And she will, Brambleclaw. And we'll start by making her watch while-"
"Get out of the way, Ashfur. I won't say it again."
A beating moment of surprised silence pulsed across the smoking land like a growing heartbeat.
Squirrelflight, once she has fully captured what Brambleclaw had said, the still, soft anger in his voice, looked up. Honestly she expected to see two burning amber eyes begging her to die on the spot.
But Brambleclaw's neck was still outstretched towards Ashfur. The hatred burning around him was directed at the grey tom.
There were a thousand emotions that coursed over Squirrelflight at that moment. But it was astonishment that she enunciated, sweeping over her and making her tail rise from the dirty ground.
Ashfur looked shocked as well, but there was a twitch in his eyes. A mad fury. He licked his lips, speaking calmly. "Did you not hear what I just-"
"I'm not deaf!" Brambleclaw roared, his teeth sparkling in the dark, burning air. He snarled for a second, then he drew back with a tight breath, and a low growl that revealed a complex storm, as well a throbbing, deep pain. The deputy turned, and Squirrelflight's jaw hung.
He looked exhausted.
Brambleclaw inhaled with a grumble. "I'm just not stupid."
What Squirrelpaw realised then was both relieving and terrifying.
Her voice was plain and stupid. "You…You knew?"
Brambleclaw's silence, his tired eyes, said everything. "Of course I did." He said levelly. "You don't think I didn't wake up once when you snuck out all those nights, right?" He kept the resentment in his tone relaxed, but it was undeniably there.
Strangely enough, Squirrelflight firstly felt a strong sympathetic rush for her pretend mate. He knew that the kits he raised were not his own, and it looked like he'd known for a long time. He'd been hiding, himself, and keeping her darkest secrets buried. Why?
"You knew?!" Ashfur cried out into the night, his blue eyes full of their own fire. "You stupid flea-brain, why didn't you say anything about it? She's been playing you for a fool! You have been raising half-clan kits that were never you're own! Why didn't you say something and make her pay when you had the chance?! You're Deputy for Starclan's sake!"
Inside Ashfur's fury, Squirrelflight couldn't deny she wondered the same questions. She'd lied to Brambleclaw, he'd raised Crowfeather's kits, and he had said nothing about it. The desire for answers was almost as bright at the flames.
Brambleclaw kept his head low, then heavily raised it, his eyes drawn towards the cats he had raised. They looked on him with a mixture of deep confusion and sadness. Brambleclaw mostly looked pained. The agony of a deep loss that would never be returned.
"Whoever their father is, it doesn't change the fact that they are my kits." Brambleclaw said tightly, his great shoulders rising up. "Not to me, ever. I raised them since they were small, I watched them grow." He looked softened by tragic memory.
Squirrelflight was right, he did love them. And what he was willing to do for them was becoming clearer and clearer and it just made Squirrelflight feel so much worse about this.
"Even if…Even if they're not mine. They will always be my kits!" Brambleclaw reared up again as a tight-chested anger began to spill, hidden for moons. "I wasn't going to lose them just because of their mother's actions! They will always be Thunderclan cats, and they will always be my children; I'm not going to let any cat take them away from me!" His burning stare found Ashfur again.
"And I'm not going to let you kill them either!"
Brambleclaw's intensity roared that he was not lying. Squirrelflight now felt tears mixed by guilt and relief form around her eyes. Brambleclaw loved these kits so much! So much that he would never let them go even though they didn't share his blood. Here, he was on the same side as her.
"B-But you- She betrayed you! Is your loyalty so easily tempted by some half-clan scum!" Ashfur demanded, now screaming with the rage he had shown only minutes ago. But now, his screams were strained by frustrated enmity!
"She lied to me." Brambleclaw admitted. He didn't look at her but Squirrelflight could see the numb pain underneath his amber glare. A stab of heartache ran through her. He didn't deserve this. "But." Brambleclaw strained his neck up again, his tail swinging furiously, "She's still their mother, and they're still the kits I raised. My loyalty is clear enough!" He took a thundering step forward.
"And I'll fight to protect them. So do the right thing, Ashfur, and get out of here!"
Squirrelflight swallowed hard, knowing she didn't have the right to be as relieved as she was.
Ashfur stared hard, but trembling, shaking as his plan shattered in front of him. Squirrelflight knew that he realised he stood no chance against Brambleclaw, but she also knew that the brown tom would only attack him if he was forced to. Ashfur still had the chance to leave this behind.
But the screwing of his face, the beat of anger. It wasn't going to be that simple.
"You treacherous scum." Ashur drew his head back, filling with a breaking look. "You'd give up your own respect for this!" The grey tom cocked his head to the side, his fur rising on his back. Squirrelflight began to see something dangerous looming over Ashfur, something that made fire return to her heart.
"Ashfur, just walk away from this." Brambleclaw's voice was commanding but also underscored by a small plead.
"Don't order me around." Ashfur growled, his paw scratched the branch, leaving deep cuts on the wood. "You've lost that right." He settled his gaze on Brambleclaw, perked by a dark determination. "Fine then. You want to protect your pretend kin of half-bloods and liars, then you can suffer with them!"
Squirrelflight's jaw hung. He was truly going to fight them? He was mad! Or perhaps he just didn't care anymore.
"Ashfur, stop this!" Squirrelflight caught the desperation in her voice. Maybe it was the flash of loyalty she still had left to Thunderclan; even despite all that Ashfur had done and promised to do, she didn't want to see him dead.
"No." The grey tom didn't look at her, fixed on Brambleclaw like he was a fox approaching clan territory.
"I don't want to fight you, Ashfur." Brambleclaw reasoned, his voice softening in one last plea to his clanmate. There was something troubled in his eyes, a deep panic that approached with the fire.
Ashfur blinked once, and any light left was gone. "Then stay there and die!"
The grey cat sprang from the blazing branch, tooth and claw aiming for the cat he once respected then hated within a breath of air. Brambleclaw didn't flinch, but horror overcame his expression as he seized up. His front paws caught Ashfur's chest and kept the teeth from lunging at his throat, but the weight still brought Brambleclaw down onto his back.
Squirrelflight was about to lunge in when she suddenly remembered that the branch was barren now. She took a moment to see Brambleclaw kick Ashfur off his chest with his back legs, and in that brief security she raced to the branch, screaming as loudly as she could through the crackle and the smoke.
"Come on, quickly!"
The three followed her command swiftly. Lionblaze nudged Jayfeather up and kept him steady as the blind cat bit onto his brother's tail to follow him over the wood. Hollyleaf followed behind, her gaze still plagued by darkness.
Allowing a small breath of true relief to escape her, Squirrelflight twisted back to see if Brambleclaw was in danger. He and Ashfur were wrapped in battle, snarling and hissing, the grey cat biting at the air between his and the larger cat's throat. Brambleclaw held him back, while clearly holding himself back. Squirrelflight gasped. He was still trying to keep himself from killing the grey cat.
Brambleclaw yowled as Ashfur caught his cheek with his claws, sending him back a pace. Ashfur moved to hit him again, and Brambleclaw only blocked the move with his shoulder, taking in the blow with a hiss of pain. He swung a strong paw at his opponent, missing by a whisker but not looking frustrated by it.
This fight could have been over by now. But Brambleclaw didn't want that.
Ashfur seemed to rise with a confident strike at the brown tom's foreleg. Then his ear twitched as he heard the sound of paws against the branch again, Wildly, he turned away from his target, letting out a savage roar as he saw the three cats advancing to safety.
"No you don't!"
He twisted his body, thirsty with bloodlust for his new prey. Squirrelflight sprang between him and her kits, growling fiercely, ready to take the blows before he could stop her kits from reaching the other side. Ashfur didn't seem to care though, as he readied to pounce, dim ferocity glowing all around him. He wanted to taste blood, enemy's blood, and he wouldn't waste anymore time.
And when Brambleclaw saw who Ashfur was aiming for now, he couldn't afford to either.
The brown tom leapt, crashing onto the grey cat before he could pounce, and holding him down with one paw, unsheathed. Ashfur howled, his eyes darting to the side to show where his interest still was, and his paws ripped through the air at Brambleclaw's face, writhing to get out of his grip. Brambleclaw breathed in deep breaths, trying to hold onto his composure, but Ashfur's swipes were quick and strong and he was quickly tearing away at the paw on his chest. Within seconds he would be free again, and ready to dodge Brambleclaw, ready to meet his prey.
Brambleclaw felt his pressure beginning to slip, something painful, pleading and terrifying shimmered in his eyes, he grimaced and looked on the verge of tears, then he thought of Ashfur escaping again and putting this force onto his kits. Then Brambleclaw cracked, sinking down and latching his teeth into the grey cat's throat.
Somewhere In Brambleclaw's field of vision, he thought he could see faces in the flames, faces that he wished to forget, two hulking brown toms, congratulating him for his kill.
With tears in his eyes, Brambleclaw made the world go black and he twisted his eyes shut and killed for the second time.
Ashfur's eyes filled with shock for a terrible moment, but Brambleclaw was merciful. He snapped his neck to the side, forcefully dragging Ashfur's throat with him with a twisting force. There was a splitting crack, then Ashfur's limbs laid still and his eyes became empty.
Squirrelflight watched as Brambleclaw dropped the body and stepped away warily. She looked at the corpse, anger, horror, and sadness, as well as things she couldn't grasp now, waved over her like a storm. Brambleclaw's gaped, his eyes trembling, disgusted. Blood smeared his lips and ran across his fangs, dripping down only a tail-length away from where a small puddle of crimson was forming around the corpse's neck.
Squirrelflight felt the silence as she saw her kits run towards the shaking deputy. Lionblaze stared down at his former mentor, an ill expression on his muzzle. Hollyleaf stared as well, but her green eyes flickered with a growing rage.
All Squirrelflight knew was that they all felt sick.
"Is it true?"
Squirrelflight turned and her ears sank back. Even though he couldn't see her, she could feel Jayfeather's judging expression looking all over her.
She found her breath, but she she still wanted to vomit. "Yes."
Jayfeather's unseeing stare hardened over her, as if searching in places Squirrelflight could never imagine. Then his head lowered with a grumble.
Squirrelflight stuttered for breath. "I wanted to tell you-"
"Don't start with that fox-dung!" Squirrelflight flinched, Hollyleaf approached quickly, piercing her mother with a savage glare. "If you wanted to tell us you would have already! But you didn't! You lied to us all!"
"I-I know," Squirrelflight pleaded, she didn't try to stop the tears. Seeing such anger on the face of the kit who used to snuggle into her tail-fur was too much for her heart to grasp. "You have every right to be angry. But I promise, whatever I did, I was only thinking of you!"
Hollyleaf growled, "If you were thinking of us when you broke the code, you're worse than Ashfur said!" Her face filled with a painful look. "We're half-clan. We're not clan cats! Because of you!"
There was nothing but pure venom on her daughter's tongue. It was toxic and cruel and killing.
"Does that pathetic Windclan Warrior even know? Or did you lie to him, as well?"
"He…He knows." She wanted to add that he asked about them every time they met, but Hollyleaf only seemed to get worse, her own claws looking ready for a fight.
"Oh, so you told him and not us?!" Hollyleaf screeched, "So your loyalties lie with Windclan strays and not your own family. Your own mate!"
"Hollyleaf!"
The cats all went silent as Brambleclaw's voice rang out again. The brown tom was still shaking, but he kept his legs firm, as if keeping everything he had left together. He blinked once, twice, then rose a heavy stare over them all.
"This isn't the time to talk about this. We need to leave now."
Behind Squirrelflight, the branch had become enveloped by a mist of red fire. It truly had been too close. The air was becoming harder to digest and the heat was becoming painful to bare.
Hollyleaf still looked distraught, fury and heartbreak laced in her snarl. "She… She went against you."
"We'll talk about that later." His eyes went on Squirrelflight again, heavy and pressing and drained from the truth. "Believe me, we will. But I wasn't honest either, I never told any of you that I knew."
"That's different and you know it!" The black cat snarled with a stubbornness that painfully reminded Squirrelflight of someone close. "She's a codebreaker!"
"And I've killed my own clanmate." Brambleclaw said slowly, his paws sinking in as his muzzle creased. "What does that make me?"
Hollyleaf stared on sorrowfully.
Squirrelflight felt the burden of everything begin to close in on her. Everywhere she looked there was pain and destruction. She felt guilt close around her heart like a snake's jaws.
They didn't deserve to suffer like this. Not because of her actions.
Brambleclaw drew up again, licking the blood from his mouth, visibly trying to hold back his vomit. He inhaled and hardened his gaze. "This talk is for another moon. We need to find Thunderclan, now."
He didn't wait for a protest, he just turned and began to pace away, waiting for them to follow him. Hollyleaf cast Squirrelflight another hateful glare, but she said nothing as she nudged Jayfeather along with her, not hesitating to shove her mother aside as she did so.
It was clear where her trust laid now.
Squirrelflight stood there, examining everything, feeling the burning agony overtake her. She wasn't sure if she would even notice if the fire began to envelop her. She'd lost her kits, she saw their anger and disappointment, her intentions meant nothing, only the outcome.
She took a glance at the body of her clanmate and felt nothing but pain. Pain that it had come to this, pain that she had lost her kits, pain that in a way Ashfur had succeeded in making her suffer.
The heat began to eat away at her feelings, leaving her numb.
Maybe if she just stayed put, she wouldn't have to see that look on her daughter's face anymore.
A nudge to her side woke her from her trance.
She slowly met the eyes of her first born.
"Come on." Lionblaze's voice was not the one she recognised, it was weak and cracked, clear devastation on his face. But lingering on the edge, his voice carried concern. "We need to go."
However small it was, Squirrelflight just thought, hoped, that she could see understanding in her son's eyes.
Perhaps it was just a passing thought.
But at least Lionblaze didn't turn away until she was walking beside him.
They didn't look back as they followed Brambleclaw away from the fire and blood and the burning actions of the past. The consequences of the future was all that lay ahead.
And Squirrelflight would face them.
The feeling of Lionblaze never leaving her side held enough hope to carry her forward.
...
AU by Lonely-Ghost-606
Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.