Warriors: Ashfur's Insanity

Chapter 66

Ashstar, Flowerstar, Mothwing, Willowshine, Duskpelt, Reedwhisker, Sappaw, and Pinepaw all started to walk over to RiverClan territory. The river could be heard gurgling by. 

Flowerstar looked grim, her head a bit low. 

"Why aren't you happy?" Ashstar asked her. "You're the leader of RiverClan!" 

"I- I'm expecting Rust's kits," Flowerstar muttered. "But he's in ShadowClan," She sighed. 

Ashstar bristled. "What? Why didn't you think about this?" He growled.

"I love Rust, but," Flowerstar began. "I just wish he would come to RiverClan with me to see his kits be born," She sighed.

"Well, talk to Tigerstar about it and see if he'll allow you to have Rust," Ashstar meowed. 

Flower's head drooped a little. "But what if he doesn't allow Rust to join my Clan?" She asked.

"ShadowClan is still nesting in my camp since we haven't chased the rogues off their territory yet," Ashstar meowed, looking to the side. "And you'll have to be careful because the rogues could try to take your territory, and you don't have many warriors," Ashstar pointed out.  

"Rust would be amazing if he was over here!" Flowerstar purred, her tail flicking. 

"Yeah," Ashstar muttered. 

RiverClan's camp was neat. It had many dens and a big clearing. A tall tree stretched to the sky and a hollow had been wounded under it with roots screening the den. 

All of a sudden, he heard paw steps running towards them. A muscular white tom with a torn ear and blue eyes shot from the grass on the far side. His pelt was stained with blood.

Ashstar arched his back and unsheathed his claws. He hissed at the white tom and lashed his tail. For some weird reason, this tom's scent seemed sort of familiar.

"Ashstar! It's me, Ice! From the Tribe of Rushing Water!" The white tom cried. 

Ashstar then gasped in surprise. "Ice? What are you doing here? You live in the mountains!" He added. 

"The rogues from your old territory!" Ice cried. "They came in the cave and fought us! Most of us were killed," He whimpered.

"Is any other cat with you?" Ashstar asked.

Ice flicked his tail. "Y'all can come out now," Ice called to the bushes behind him.

More cats stepped out of the bushes. Ashstar recognized all of them. Flower, Ant, Fire, Leaf, Storm, Lightning, Cloud, Orange, Morning, Rock, Bug, Puddle, and Star. All of them were covered in scratches. Flower had scratches covering her eyes and blood trickled down her face and dripped from his whiskers and muzzle. Her ear was torn and two deep scratches were across her shoulder. 

Ashstar heart stopped as he realized Stoneteller wasn't here. He knew that Rain was Stoneteller's mate, but she wasn't here. Flower was Stoneteller's mother; Flower was pretty old. Ant was Stoneteller's son. 

"Where is Stoneteller?" Ashstar gasped. 

Ice's eyes turned dull and he looked at his paws. In fact, every cat's eyes turned dull, and they studied their paws, not meeting Ashstar's intense stare. 

"He," Ice choked out. He looked up, his eyes reflecting a lifeless body as if he was playing through memories. "He was killed by Darktail," He whimpered. His voice was shaky and his eyes stared through Ashstar as if he could see past him.

Ashstar knew that Stoneteller was Ice's best friend. They'd grown up as kits together. He saw anger in Ice's eyes. 

"Darktail," He snapped out the name. "He's such an evil cat!" He growled. "Killing other cats without mercy!"