Warriors: Ashfur's Insanity

Chapter 72

Mothstripe woke up in a dark place, the smell of death hitting her nose. Mist curled around the gray trees and crawled across the short, brown grass.  A dark shape was heading towards Mothstripe. Then, a cat stepped out. Mothstripe gasped as she saw a dark ginger tom with amber eyes and white-tipped tail.

"Alderheart?" Mothstripe gasped.

Two deep faded gashes were cut into Alderheart's throat. Dark blood welled on the wounds, and his eyes were black with thin amber pupils. "Heh, surprised to see me here?" He asked, griping the grass with his claws.

"But how?!" Mothstripe whimpered. "I thought.... I thought you were nice!" She hissed, shrinking back.

"Oh, but only the Clans thought that," Alderheart sighed, closing his eyes. "I killed Stoneheart on purpose and sacrificed myself for Ashstar so I could earn my place down here, getting trained by the rogues," He meowed. "If you don't mind me telling you, I also let Sorreltail die."

"No!" Mothstripe whimpered. "How? Why? What made you turn so evil?" She asked, feeling sick.

"Nothing. Just realizing that the Dark Forest is better than ThunderClan. I wanted to train as a warrior, but StarClan made me a medicine cat. I took the training of the Dark Forest cats and in return for their training, I had to kill two cats in ThunderClan," Alderheart grumbled, lashing his tail.

"You're a monster! I trusted you! You acted like a fatherly figure to Twistedfoot! Where did all your love go for your Clan?" Mothstripe growled, bristling.

"I never had any love for my Clan," Alderheart snapped. "I just found a way to fake it."

A huge dark brown tabby tom with a white underbelly and black eyes with thin ice-blue pupils. 

"Hawkfrost?" Mothstripe gasped.

"Oh Mothstripe, just know that bad times are coming. Most of your kin will die," Hawkfrost snapped. "The Dark Forest is growing."

Coming back from the Gathering, Ashstar led his Clan home. I must do something about the rogues. The other leaders discussed getting rid of them, claiming that it's better to do nothing than something. They were preparing for the upcoming battle. WindClan agreed to help ThunderClan with the rogues. 

"Ashstar?" A soft voice echoed in Ashstar's den. 

Ashstar opened his eyes in the gloomy darkness. Squirrelflight was standing in the entrance of his den. "What is it?" He asked.

"When will we attack the rogues before they cause any more problems?" Squirrelflight hissed. "After all, Russetstar and Crowstar were what caused us to move away from the Lake," She pointed out. 

"No, that was Wolffang's fault," Ashstar hissed. "Not Russetstar's or Crowstar's. But don't be worried, the battle will be tomorrow."

"So, Ashstar, we've agreed to fight together against the rogues," Harestar rasped. 

Ashstar leaned close. "Yes," He nodded. I'm on my last life. But I have to stop Crowstar. He turned away form Harestar, who had Antpelt, Eaglefeather, and Fernwhisker with him. 

"I shall now choose the cats who are coming to the battle with me!" He yowled. "Jaywing, Squirrelflight, Ivypool, Ferncloud, Blossomfall, Bramblehawk, Sootwing, Firestorm, Thistlepatch, Ambertuft, Falconflight, and Palewhisker," Ashstar smoothly called out their names. "Fluffypelt, I'd like for you to watch over the camp."