AshfurXBrambleclaw

Challenge #3
Ashfur X Brambleclaw
Title: Pity Before Honesty Before Love

The gray tom sat on the shore of the lakeside, it had been only a few sunsets since the death of his secret mate Hawkfrost. He had been suffering since that fateful night. Ashfur had not eaten or slept since he saw the bleeding body of the RiverClan warrior. The gray warrior was suffering from a disease that had made all cats miserable, no matter who they were, some never recovered. The disease of a broken heart. The memory of the dead body was awful. A blood covered, wooden steak was wedged his way into Hawkfrost's throat, causing him to bleed out all over the clean grass underneath him.

Ashfur had not seen who killed his lover, but only knew it was someone in ThunderClan. "I promise you Hawkfrost...I'll find who did this...And avenge you...I'll miss you..." he remembered saying to the dead body of his mate. His muscular, brown tabby fur was stained with blood. He couldn't sleep, he knew that. Hawkfrost's dead body would haunt his dreams. Ashfur had refused to sleep, so he refused to dream about the bad RiverClan tom.

A cool voice snapped back to reality, "Ashfur? You're still here?" The flecked tom turned around quickly to see Hawkfrost's brother, Brambleclaw. The muscular ThunderClan deputy had lighter fur than his brother, and amber eyes, but there was an obvious resemblance. "Oh...Hawk- I mean...Brambleclaw...What are you doing here?" he asked, confused. The ThunderClan deputy sighed, "You seem to be taking Squirrelflight's choice very harshly..." he said, thinking that the reason Ashfur had a broken heart was because Squirrelflight chose Brambleclaw as a mate rather than him.

"Oh! I had forgotten about Squirrelflight..." he said quietly with a slight chuckle, "I liked her all this time, when Hawkfrost was there, waiting for me..." he thought to himself at the irony. "He pities me." Ashfur concluded, "No...I'm fine. You're the better tom anyways. You being deputy and all." he said, trying to shrug it off. Brambleclaw smiled softly, "He has Hawkfrost's smile..." he observed with a sad smile, "Well, that may be true...but we can still be best friends, right? Nothing's changed." he smiled again at the gray warrior.

The muscular deputy looked down at Ashfur with hope glistening in his eyes, hoping that he wasn't going to loose a friend over Squirrelflight. Ashfur simply nodded, "Of course Brambleclaw, we're still friends. Just because you won over Squirrelflight doesn't mean we're not friends." he said with a smile. The ThunderClan deputy gave a hefty sigh of relief, "That's good, I'm glad you're not stuck in the past." Brambleclaw mewed, walking next to Ashfur, leading him back towards camp.

"Where are we going?" he asked, looking up at the muscular deputy.

"We're headed back to camp, Stupid." he teased with a purr and a smile.

"I'm not stupid!" Ashfur said over dramatically, acting like it offended him. Brambleclaw pushed him with a laugh, "Calm down, I was only joking." he purred softly. The purr that Brambleclaw had made sent Ashfur flying through his memories, "Even his purr reminds me of him...Even if he never told me he loved me...I still knew it was true..." he smiled, hoping Hawkfrost was in a better place now.

The tabby tom nudged Ashfur, "You okay? You seem very spacey tonight." he concluded. The gray tom darted his blue eyes into Brambleclaw's amber gaze with a simple purr and smile, "I'm fine you worrying clump of fur!" he teased back. The two toms continued to walk towards the camp, teasing and laughing together. As they walked into camp, they were greeted by a ginger she-cat with green eyes and a white paw. "Brambleclaw! Ashfur!" she greeted. "How ARE you two?" she continued on. The young she-cat warrior had not seen either of the toms since the previous morning.

Ashfur was the one who answered, "Evening Squirrelflight, We're fine, how are you?" The leader's daughter pouted as she glared at Brambleclaw, "Lonely! Stupid Brambleclaw hasn't seen me since yesterday!" she padded over to him, "Are you avoiding me!?" she questioned. Before Ashfur or even Brambleclaw could even say anything, Squirrelflight was bombarding the ThunderClan deputy with questions. The gray tom flattened his ears, feeling unneeded since this was a matter between mates. He nodded a silent goodbye to Brambleclaw and walked off towards the warriors den.

'You should get some sleep when we get back.' Brambleclaw had said on their way back. Ashfur didn't want to admit it, but Brambleclaw had the right idea, he needed sleep if he was going to find out who killed his lover. "Once I find them...I'll avenge you....My love..." he thought himself as he closed his eyes heavily and quickly.

The next morning, Ashfur was awoken abruptly by a a sharp pain in his tail. He yowled in pain as he awoke quickly, standing straight up. The warriors den was empty with the exception of himself and the cat that had stumbled over his tail. He turned around to see Brambleclaw, flat on the floor with a nervous laugh, "Sorry Ashfur...Didn't mean to awaken you..." he mewed, "Is your tail okay?" he continued. Ashfur sighed a bit, for a reason, he felt as though he couldn't be angry with Brambleclaw. The gray tom decided to change the subject.

"What did Squirrelflight bark at you about yesterday?" he asked, with a teasing glare in his shining blue eyes. The question caught the ThunderClan deputy by surprise as he rose off of the cool den floor, "I'll tell you on a hunting patrol. Just me and you, Let's go." The large muscular tabby stood up and began walking, not even waiting for Ashfur's response. The blue-eyed warrior dashed off after him as the two left camp.

Once they were at the sandy beach of the lake, they had already pooled together a total of two mice and a large sparrow. "Let's take a break, we've earned it!" Ashfur exclaimed with a purr. The larger brown warrior nodded with a happy gleam in his amber eyes, "Sure, Let's take a walk on the shore too, is that alright?" he asked.

"Sure, why not, it's been a while sense we've talked. Besides, you still need to tell me about what happened between you and Squirrelflight." he purred mischievously. When it came to clan gossip, Ashfur was like an elder or a queen. He nudged his friend, "Come and tell me!" he urged. The amber eyed tom smiled and chuckled a bit, "Oh alright...If you must know...Squirrelflight has  been wanting kits ever since I agreed to be her mate." The sapphire eyes of the other warrior had a hint of confusion, "Is she really that desperate?" he asked with a chuckle. He realized soon after that Brambleclaw might get offended if he called his mate desperate.

Brambleclaw smiled a bit, "Yea...I guess so...Besides, I...I think I'm falling out of love..." he said sadly. "I mean...she's great and all...But I don't think she's the one for me." he said, glancing over the shining lake. "Want to know a secret?" he laughed a bit. "That laugh...Hawkfrost..." Ashfur purred slightly, "Sure, why not?" he mewled as the muscular brown tabby reminded him of his deceased mate.

"You know the Great Journey right?" he asked, "The one where Tawnypelt, Feathertail, Stormfur, Crowfeather, Squirrelflight, and I went on?" How could Ashfur forget, Brambleclaw and several other cats made a journey to find a badger named Midnight, who told them about the incoming destruction of the forest. "How could I forget?" Ashfur said, "What are you getting at?" he asked, his blue eyes now shining with curiosity. The ThunderClan deputy took a deep inhale before saying, "I had a thing with Crowfeather during the journey..." he admitted.

Ashfur's heart skipped a beat, "You...You like toms?" he asked, unable to hide his astonishment. "He...Likes toms..." he confirmed in his head. Brambleclaw chuckled nervously, "Yea...I think the reason I'm falling out of love with Squirrelflight is because I'm falling in love with...well...a tom." he continued on. The gray tom felt his heart skip again, "A...A tom...Like...Who...?" Ashfur looked deep into the amber eyes of the deputy. A soft, loving gaze was behind the amber sparkle as he stepped to Ashfur, nuzzling the smaller tom close, "I...I think it's you..." he said in a hush whisper.

"Did...Did he just..." Ashfur's thoughts were spinning and his head wasn't much different. His pelt was hot with embarrassment as he looked around nervously, "I...I think you got in Leafpool's catmint..." he said, not wanting to meet eye contact with the muscular...and suddenly handsome tom. The amber eyed warrior purred a bit and used his tail to lift Ashfur's chin up, making them meet eye to eye. "No...I'm not on catmint. I'm aware of every word I'm saying..." he purred softly.

Ashfur's fur grew hotter then a drought in Greenleaf. "B...But...Squirrelflight..." he managed to say, getting lost in Brambleclaw's gaze. The deputy simply shrugged, "I've been meaning to break it off with her anyway..." he whispered, leaning in as he bit his ear. Ashfur purred a bit, Hawkfrost did that exact same thing on their first night. "B...Brambleclaw...I...I'm not into toms..." he said softly, keeping a constant purr. Brambleclaw smiled and whispered, "I know about what you and my brother did..." he mewled.

Ashfur froze in fear, "He knows I tried to kill Firestar...?" he thought horrified, "W..What did we do...?" he asked in a hush whisper himself. "You did...Mate things..." he said bluntly, "So I know you like toms..." Brambleclaw mewled as he stopped biting the ear and started biting his neck softly, earning many purrs from the smaller gray warrior. "Br...Brambleclaw...I...I can't...Hawkfrost..." he mewled, enjoying it anyways. The broad deputy bit slightly harder, "He's gone..." he said softly, "Now you have me...Love..." he mewled. The two toms spent the entire night together underneath the halfmoon.


The End <3