Warriors: Ashfur's Insanity

Chapter 32

Ashstar woke up. He realized that he'd sat near the fire all night in the rain. It was still raining. He sat up, alerted. "Jaywing? Stoneheart?" He called. He started to walk over to the hill that he last saw them. The hill was steep. Ashstar tried to make his way down, but he tripped and started to roll. He unsheathed his claws and tried to hook them into the grass. He kept rolling over and over until he reached the bottom. He lay there for a moment, panting. 

Ashstar got to his paws and put his nose to the ground, trying to pick up a faint scent of his kits. Nothing. Did they leave me? 

"Stoneheart!" Ashstar called. "Jaywing!" He yowled. "Where are you?" 

Ashstar sighed. He walked around, trying to look for his kits. The rain got harder and colder. Ashstar gasped. He saw a small carved cave with a rocky overhang. Could Jaywing and Stoneheart be nesting there? 

He ran towards it. When he got to it, the rain immediately went away. He was protected by the rocky overhang. The rain got harder. Ashstar curled up. He closed his eyes. 

Jaywing was curled up beside Stoneheart. She heard thunder. She jerked her head up. Ashstar was nowhere to be seen. She prodded Stoneheart in the side with her paw. "Stoneheart! Wake up!" She mewed.

"What?" Stoneheart lifted his head sleepily. 

"Remember when we found this shelter and said that Ashstar would find his own way here?" She asked.

"Yeah. That was your idea," Stoneheart meowed. "What about it?"

"Well, Ashstar isn't here!" She mewed. She got to her paws. It was foggy outside. The rain was also getting harder. Jaywing could hear it. 

"I'll go look for him!" Jaywing meowed. 

"We should wait for the rain to stop," Stoneheart meowed. "I don't need you getting sick," He mewed.

"I don't care if I get sick. I want to find Ashstar!" She hissed at her brother. "If you want to stay here, that proves you really don't care!" She hissed. "Maybe you forgot that Ashstar gave up his territory for you," She meowed. "He gave up his territory for you. And maybe that was a waste," She meowed.

Hurt flashed across Stoneheart's eyes. 

"Stoneheart, you owe Ashstar!" Jaywing meowed. "He saved your life," Jaywing meowed. She turned slowly and padded from the warm den. 

"Jaywing, I...," Stoneheart began. "Jaywing I'm sorry," He meowed.

"'Sorry' doesn't help find Ashstar and it doesn't help get back territory!" Jaywing growled. She broke into a run. Her paws carried her towards an open field with no grass. She was out here, alone. Nobody to talk to. Nobody to walk with. She looked at sun. It was beginning to set over the steep hill that rose in the distance. She remembered that she and Stoneheart had come over that hill, looking for shelter.  

Ashstar woke up. He felt cold. He shivered. The stone beneath him touched his claws. Coldness seared into his heart. Everything that happened was stuck in his mind. Millie's death. 

"Help!" A small voice cried.

Ashstar gasped. That sounded like Mothpaw.

"Mothpaw? Is that you?" He called from the cave.

The hard rain from last night had eased into a light rain.

If there was a cat in his Clan right outside of this cave, he had to find them. 

He ran from the cave. A small orange shape was standing on the hill. 

"Hey!" Ashstar called. 

After a moment, the orange shape came running towards him.

It was Mothpaw.

"Ashstar!" The medicine cat apprentice cried. 

"Mothpaw!" Ashstar cried. 

"Ashstar...Brightheart is...dead," Mothpaw mewed. "The rogues killed her. We went to get herbs. But then Crow told us no. Next, he slashed his claws across her throat! When I saw Brightheart lay still, and when her blood pooled all around her and around my paws, I knew that's when I should've ran!" She cried.

"Mothpaw," Ashstar breathed in her scent. His muzzle rested on her head. "There's nothing we can do about Brightheart's death. Right now, we need to get back to my shelter. There's a huge storm coming," He could taste the watery taste of rain on his tongue. 

"Where's Jaywing?" Mothpaw asked. "I want to see my mother. Is she with you?" She asked.

"No. It's a long story," Ashstar meowed. "I'll tell you tonight," He meowed. "Do you know where anyone else is?" He asked. 

"No," Mothpaw meowed. "I'm alone. I wouldn't of been alone if Brightheart hadn't of died," Her eyes were clouded with sadness. 

"Come with me," Ashstar meowed. "We'll try and find Jaywing and Stoneheart in the morning," He meowed. His tail touched Mothpaw's spine. They started to walk to the shelter. 

Jaywing trudged slowly through the thick undergrowth. She finally came to a clearing. She realized that she was on the hill that Millie died on. She ran up to the middle of the clearing. Maybe Ashstar had traveled downhill. She started to walk across the clearing. She knew this was a big, wide hill. And it was steep, too. She padded in silence. The sun was setting now. The light rain was turning hard. Storm clouds were rolling across the sky. Lightning flashed in the distance. The sun was sinking behind a rise in the distance. 

Jaywing ran across the clearing. The slope took her off guard. She tripped in mid air and fell, rolling down the hill. Grass spattered in her mouth. She unsheathed her claws and tried to hook them into the slope. The rain was harder. She felt mud slide under her. She finally rolled to the end of the hill. She stood on her paws, shaking mud from her fur. She felt dizzy. Her fur was spiked like a hedgehog. The hard rain pelted down on her fur, washing the mud away.  

By now, the sky was getting darker. Storm clouds chased each other across the sky, trying to hit each other with lightning. Jaywing's paws felt tired, and her mind whirled. She saw a rocky overhang with a cave carved under it. She felt like she couldn't run towards it. Tiredness tugged at her paws. 

Jaywing neared and saw two shapes huddled together in the cave. The sky got darker. The rain got harder. Strong wind whirled around her. Cold rain slapped her face. 

The two shapes were cats. One was a small golden cat. The other was big and gray.

Jaywing recognized them as she got closer. She took another step forward. That's when the weather swirled around her. The rain turned into snow. Cold wind swirled around her. Her soaked body became more cold. She shivered with cold and hunger. Her paws tingled. She got closer to the cave. She then broke out into a run. She darted towards them.

"Ashstar!" She called.