Ashfur's Redemption: Chapter 1

The air begins to grow thin as the tom’s breaths become heavy. W-Where am I? His icy blue eyes clance around his shrroundings, but only to find nothing but pitch blackness. I can’t see a thing! Am… Am I in the Dark Forest? He begins to take a few steps ahead of him before coming to a halt. There’s no way this is the Dark Forest. I can’t see anyone let alone a tree in sight. I can’t even feel the grass. It’s just… cold stone. The gray tom looks down as he shifts his paw, as if he could see the ground below him. Suddenly, a flicker of light catches in the distance his attention. “Is anyone there?” With his attention in front of him, his pelt begins to prickle as the light flickers closer to him. “Who are you?” Taking a few steps back, his claws unsheathed as he glances around in an attempt to find a place to escape to. I won’t be able to find a safe place to hide in this darkness— I can’t even see my own paws! The flickered light grows closer to him as the tom closes his eyes shut, preparing for an attack of some sort. After what felt like moons passing by and hearing his own heartbeat being the only noise he can hear, a familiar scent catches his nose. He opens his eyes and draws his attention towards the light in front of him. “B-Brindleface?”

The light dims down, outlining a form of a she-cat that matches who the tom said. She nods her head and gives him a warm smile. “Brindleface, I can’t believe it’s you. Ferncloud and I missed you so much.” His smile began to falter. “You shouldn’t have died— I could’ve saved you. I’m sorry” He lowers his head in shame as Brindleface shakes her head. “You are not to blame for how I was destined to die. I could not be any less proud of you than I am now of what a fine warrior you became.” Her words gave the tom warmth until a realization hit him, starting to notice the cold air vaguely blowing through his pelt. Bringing himself to ask, “D-Did I die?” The she-cat’s smile slowly vanishes as she nods, confirming his question and adding, “You were killed by Hollyleaf, near the riverbank.” There it was. He began to feel a wave of emotions in his chest. Revenge? No. It was more painful for him to call it that. It’s almost as if it were— “Sympathy?” he said aloud. Brindleface tilts her head, curious. “Sympathy? For the one who killed you?” His eyes cloud with more mixtures of emotions. “I deserved it after what I put her through- after what I put all of them through. I was never going to announce the secret about those three being someone else’s kin. It must’ve been hard for Hollyleaf to find that out…” Brindleface lets out a quiet purr. “You’ve grown up a lot. On behalf of Starclan I—”

A loud yowl interrupts Brindleface. The tom notices the horror on her face as she stared behind him. Curious, he turns his attention to see a large, thick-furred tabby tom running towards them with murder shown in his eyes. The gray tom’s pelt prickles with intense fear and confusion as he’s unable to move. With a million thoughts running through his mind, unable to think he said, “B-Brambleclaw?!”

diversified.

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• Warrior’s Judgement is a fanmade anthology AU that bends and “twists” the perspective of certain cats. Why is this an anthology? Because all of the stores I’ve done on these 5 characters follows certain rules. It was easier to bundle it up into one AU instead of making 5 individual ones.

• A Warrior’s Judgement was given the name after the outline of Ashfur’s story: Ashfur’s Redemption. When a cat dies, or is dying, they will undergo a trial to see where they end up in the afterlife: Starclan or the Dark Forest. Except, only cats who believe in Starclan or even the warrior code can go through a trial. Those who don’t believe in it at all will go through a punishment or end up at Null, which is no where.