Warriors: Ashfur's Insanity

Chapter 24

"We've come to take your territory!" Crow meowed. "But we know how precious  this land is to you," The black cat waved his tail in Ashstar's face. 

The tall golden tabby she-cat stepped forward. "And there's more of us!" She meowed. "So you can say goodbye to your territory!" 

Crow nodded. "That's Honey," He explained. 

Ashstar thrust his muzzle in Crow's face. "Get out of here before I rip off your pelt and hang it in the forest!" He hissed.

Crow smirked. "Rip off my pelt? How would you do that? Take your claws and pluck out every hair on my pelt?" 

Ashstar glared at him and lashed his tail. "Shut up before I rip your throat out!"

"Rip out my throat?" Crow snarled. "I'd like to see you try. Even Honey beat that stupid gray she-cat that said this territory was yours. That stupid gray cat was so weak, to bad Honey didn't kill her," Crow sneered. 

"You call my daughter stupid one more time, I dare you!" Ashstar hissed.

The small tabby she-cat stepped forward proudly. "The stupid she-cat could barely defend herself," She hissed.

Ashstar immediately turned on her. He sunk his claws into her shoulders and heaved her back.

"Don't let him pin you, Hawk!" Crow yowled.

Ashstar realized that his Clanmates were gathering around to watch.

Thornclaw pushed his way to the front of the group. "Ashstar! Don't fight her!" The deputy hissed. 

Ashstar ignored him.

"Hawk, you're my deputy, you'll do good," Crow meowed.

"Wait!" A voice cried.

Wolfpaw burst from the crowd of cats. He scrambled over to Ashstar and Hawk.

"What do you want?" Ashstar hissed.

"Please! Let me fight! I want to fight Hawk! And then I can prove to all of you!" Wolfpaw meowed.

"Well, young cat, this is a death battle," Crow meowed.

Hawk's ears pricked. "A death battle?" 

"Lets go then!" Wolfpaw hissed. He leaped on Hawk and pinned her down. His claws slashed at her eyes. 

Ashstar wondered where the rude gray apprentice had learned such cruel moves.

Hawk lashed out at Wolfpaw, but he dodged her blow and sunk his claws into her belly. He shoved her to the side, and she rolled away. Hawk scrambled to her paws, backing up towards Crow. 

"Go and fight, weak kittypet!" Crow growled. He unsheathed his claws and sunk them into Hawk's pelt. He shoved her so hard that she tumbled over her paws and fell on her back. Stomach exposed, Wolfpaw lifted his paws. He swung them down on her exposed belly. Hawk let out a painful screech. 

Hawk then lashed out and hit his chest. Blood spattered on her face. With Wolfpaw being stunned, Hawk slithered under his grip and got to her paws. She lunged forward and sunk her teeth into his scruff. She hauled him into the air and threw him. Wolfpaw scrambled to his paws, but then staggered and fell, blood pooling around him.

Hawk ran towards him, about to give him the killing blow.

Wolfpaw then exploded from the ground. He jumped into the air and landed on Hawk, sinking his teeth into the back of her neck. Hawk wiggled under his grip. Then, with a cut-off wail, she fell still. 

Wolfpaw got off of her. He looked around, blood staining his claws and muzzle.

"Hey, you're a pretty good fighter," Crow meowed to Wolfpaw.

Ashstar's heart jumped into his throat. This won't go well...

"Do you want to join our group?" Crow asked. "You'd be well," He meowed.

Wolfpaw hesitated. 

Ashstar's heart twisted as he wondered what the apprentice would say. He can't say yes! Or maybe he should...

"No!" Wolfpaw hissed. "Your stupid group seems weak. Maybe you should leave!" He hissed.

"We'll be back," Crow meowed. "We'll create a Clan stronger than anything, and it doesn't allow weakness. Our Clan will be the strongest, and we'll come back and kill every one of you!" Crow hissed.

Wolfpaw's eyes flashed.

Ashstar looked at Wolfpaw, fear tugging at his claws. 

"On second thought, I'll join you. I'll make your Clan stronger than these weak Clans. We can be called ClawClan. We'll be unstoppable," Wolfpaw meowed to Crow. 

"Wolfpaw!" Cinderheart raced forward. "You can't leave!" She cried.

Ashstar stepped forward, and saw as Softpaw and Bunnypaw stepped forward. "Wolfpaw..." He whispered.

Wolfpaw turned to glare at his brother and sister and mother and father. "I'll leave if I want to. You never loved me anyway," He turned and stalked away with the rogue cats. 

The clearing was splashed with blood, and the bodies of the dead rogue cats.

Ashstar climbed to the top of the great rock. "Poppyfrost! Purdy! Longtail!" He called. "Take the dead bodies of those rogue cats and burry them in the forest."

Longtail looked confused. "Why should we burry cats we don't even know?" He asked.

Ashstar glared at him. "Do you want to attract foxes in camp?" He hissed.

Longtail sighed and the rest of the elders followed him.

Ashstar padded into his den. His paws slipped on the moss and he fell onto the moss. He curled his tail over his paws. Sleep made his eyes drag down, and blackness covered his vision. Oh Wolfpaw....why did you leave your own father...

Ashstar woke on a hill. The grass was gray beneath his paws, and it rippled limply in the wind. Fog was all around him, but he saw the tiniest trace of red farther into the fog. Ashstar padded towards the glowing red. A cloud of blood touched his nose, stinging his throat and making him cough. Ashstar flexed his claws. What is this supposed to mean? 

He then heard exhausted noises coming from farther down the slope. He also heard the running of a stream. Ashstar slowly padded down the gray slope, trying to see through the thick, white fog. I don't like this place, he thought. He heard the agonized moans of a cat as he padded closer, and the quiet stream was running slower. The scent of death was thick now, and the blood smelled so strong, Ashstar thought he could taste it on his tongue.

Quiet laughs were coming from the stream, and the fog was parting away. Now, Ashstar could see a gray cat hunched over. His fur was ruffled. He then turned, his amber gaze rested on Ashstar, then he quickly turned. Did he see me? Ashstar twitched his ears. That's Wolfpaw!

Ashstar ran forward, but an invisible wall blocked him. Ashstar stalked along the wall, trying to see what his son was hunched over. His heart stopped. Softpaw's body lay in the stream, and now the blue water was turning red. Her head was twisted, and her dull blue eyes were starring right at Ashstar. Blood trickled from a large gash in his throat, and Ashstar realized that her throat had been ripped out. 

"Softpaw..." Ashstar breathed out. 

Wolfpaw's mouth dipped blood, and his claws flexed. "This is how powerful I am," The gray tom moaned. "I killed my sister."

"Wolfpaw!" Ashstar called out. Wind rattled everywhere. The fog was starting to roll in again. 

Wolfpaw raised his paw to his throat, his claws unsheathed. "Why did I kill my sister? I guess I thought I was to good."

"Wolfpaw! No!" Ashstar cried out. The fog covered Wolfpaw now. Ashstar clawed desperately at the invisible wall in front of him. "Wolfpaw!" Ashstar yowled. "No!" He cried out. Shadows swallowed his vision, and the last thing he heard was Wolfpaw's screech cutting off. He's dead.