Lilypetal's POV

"...and there you have it," I finished, pausing in my pacing to face the gray-speckled tom in front of me once again. I then sat down, wrapped my tail around my paws, and tilted my head to the side. "What do you think, Ashfur? I get something that I want, and you get something that you've wanted for a very, very long time."

I then narrowed my eyes as I began to twitch my whiskers. "And something tells me that you almost want it more than power, or more than information to use against the Clans, hm?"

I tried to sit patiently, my fur tingling from the strange, eerie cold of the Dark Forest as Ashfur sat in silence, his deep blue eyes not revealing a thing as he seemed to fall deep into thought.

But after a few moments, the tom let out a sigh. "Very well," he breathed, only sounding a bit wary as he stood up. "Where would this transaction take place?"

I was trying to hold back my relief and triumph as much as I could. Instead, I took a step closer to Ashfur, giving the Dark Forest warrior a hard look. "Once you and the rest of the Dark Forest cats arrive, travel to the edge of the stream between the ThunderClan and WindClan border - there's a waterfall that pours down into the lake," I explained sharply. "Meet me there as soon as you can. You surely don't want to waste any time."

Well, at the moment, it sure felt like Ashfur was wanting to waste time.

It felt as if I had been pacing at the edge of the stream for moons and moons, my heart pounding in anticipation of the gray-speckled tom's arrival. If he even comes at all...

I then stopped in my tracks, giving a flick of my ears as I felt my stomach twist up into a knot. What if he really doesn't show up?

I then shook my head quickly, let out an irritated hiss, and continued in my pacing. Don't be silly. What I told him pretty much ensures that he's going meet me here, I reminded myself. I mean, it's been the driving factor for everything that he's done. Surely he wouldn't give up on it now?

I then let out a sigh, trying to push away any worried thoughts as I continued to pace. I tried my best to focus on the sound of the water pounding down to the ground from the waterfall that flowed from the stream just a few tail-lengths away from my spot.

And while the stream was typically a very familiar spot for me, I was currently on WindClan's side of it. I knew it was exactly where I needed to be, but I hated that I didn't at least have the comfort of smelling my own Clan's scent markers.

After a bit more nervous pacing, I decided to walk towards the edge of the stream once again and peer over the small cliff that led to the water below. I nearly let out a startled yelp as my paw touched the dead tree that stretched across the water - connecting one of side the stream to the other, giving a cat easy access to each side of the border.

After I got over the fact that I hadn't tripped and fallen over the edge of the cliff, I backed away a pawstep and touched the log with one of my forepaws. I watched as it shook just a little, the other side shifting from its spot just a little.

I let out a small grunt of satisfaction. Good.

I then more cautiously looked down at the stream from where I stood at the top of the cliff. Gee, that would've been a bit of a fall... I thought, a small chill running down my spine.

The water below seemed to be cheering me on with how wildly and rapidly it flowed, winding its way around the reeds, and crashing against the rocks before making its way down the waterfall. And even from my distance from the stream far beneath my paws, I could just barely see my own reflection in the flowing water.

Just as I always did when I actually got to take a look at myself, I could easily see the determination and desire burning in my hazel eyes.

Now, I knew that I'd have to use it to my advantage, just as I always had in the past. You've always had a certain gleam of determination in your eyes, from the day that you first arrived in ThunderClan. Firestar's words a couple days ago echoed back into my mind. Since then, it's seemed to grow stronger, darker and deeper with every moon.

I then took a deep breath as I looked away from the water. Firestar was definitely right about that, I then thought. Since I've found ThunderClan, and found a real family and Clanmates infinitely worth fighting for, my determination has risen and blazed as strongly as the sunrise itself.

"Lilypetal."

With that deep, familiar voice that I heard in the distance, I froze in my place, closed my eyes, and took one long, deep breath as I sent a quick prayer to StarClan. And this is why.

I the forced myself to turn around and look towards the other side of the stream to see Ashfur slowly approaching into sight, his blue eyes gleaming through the darkness. After so many moons of anger, fear, resentment and grief, this is where it ends. "Ashfur," I meowed, running up to the edge of the stream to greet him. "Welcome."

The Dark Forest warrior let out a snort, meeting me from the ThunderClan side of the stream. "Welcome?" he replied, lashing his tail. "You say 'welcome' as if I'm the one that's kept you waiting."

I gave him a shrug, the edges of my mouth extending into a small smirk. "Well, I was the one standing here while you emerged from the forest like a snake with legs."

"Well, you see, Lilypetal, I actually was here much earlier - just as we all arrived," Ashfur explained. He then sat down, his eyes widening as he seemed to be feigning an offended, surprised expression. "I wandered over to this meeting spot to find that you weren't here yet!"

I sat down as well, trying to ignore my violently pounding heart that almost seemed to be defeaning me. "Well, you see, Ashfur, I have many, many other cats aside from you that I needed to help tonight," I meowed to Ashfur, flashing him a slightly teasing look. Maybe you could've done without the entire heap of Dark Forest cats attacking my Clanmates, and then I would've been here on time...

I then brought my attention to a small pebble that lied at my paws, and I flicked it over the edge of the cliff with one of my claws. "I warned you that we might be a little late."

Ashfur let out a huff, narrowing his eyes. "I suppose that you did."

I was then surprised to see him stand up and begin to almost wander aimlessly around ThunderClan's border. "With that in mind, I decided that I may as well take a little walk around this old territory while I was waiting for you," he breathed, slowly lifting his head to look up at the looming oak trees. "Reminisce a little, search for memories, looking back at my past self that once thought he'd lost everything..."

I simply watched the gray-speckled tom, actually managing a purr of amusement as I listened to his muse. "You are one strange cat, Ashfur."

The Dark Forest warrior then abruptly paused, his gaze flashing with anger as he whipped his head back in my direction. "And you are lucky that you're doing me a favor, otherwise I certainly wouldn't let that comment slide."

I then felt my heart skip a beat as he padded back up to his edge of the cliff, and his blue gaze burned into mine once again. "So, where is she?"

I tried to keep my fur flat, and simply flashed Ashfur a mockingly confused look. "Where is who?"

Ashfur then barred his teeth, almost as if to hold back a growl as he rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, I know that you're smarter than that, Lilypetal," he muttered. He then meet me with an even harsher gaze that demanded the answer he was seeking. "Squirrelflight - where is she? You promised me that I'd get to speak with her, and convince her to come back to the Dark Forest with me."

The gray-speckled tom's eyes then sparkled ominously for a moment, which simultaneously sickened me and gave me a strong twinge of hope. "You told me that you'd bring her to me," Ashfur went on, taking another step closer to the edge as his eyes began to blaze with eagerness and desperation. "Have you-"

"Keep your fur on, Ashfur," I replied, cutting the tom off.

I then gave the log that stretched across the stream one last tap with one of my paws before flashing him a reassuring glance, pushing away the guilt with what I was about to say. "Yes, everything's ready. Squirrelflight came here with me, but she slipped away for a moment to get a drink further down the stream."

I then took a deep breath before taking a step back, eagerly beckoning Ashfur over with my tail. "But she'll be so happy to see you once she gets back!"

I watched nervously as Ashfur's gaze immediately fell down to the log that would serve as his bridge across the stream. Hopefully. "This is new," the tom muttered, lightly jabbing at the log with a paw. His blue eyes glowed with suspicion.

I made sure that Ashfur wouldn't get any time to question it. As much as he had the right to be suspicious, there wasn't any room for any suspicion with what I hoped would happen.

I let out a snort and gave the warrior another shrug. "Oh, that old tree was doomed to fall any day now, so I figured I'd go ahead and push it over while I waited," I explained. "That way neither of us have to deal with taking a chance of missing the leap it'd take to get across without it."

I didn't let Ashfur even try to reply, and began to pad deeper into WindClan's territory. "Come on! Let's get this done - you get Squirrelflight; I get the satisfaction of knowing that you're staying away from my family and Clanmates," I called back to him.

I then slowly came to a stop a few fox-lengths away, turning around to look back at Ashfur. "Let's finish the deal."

I then watched, having to push down my apprehension more than ever as Ashfur glared back at me, his gaze dark and uncertain. But despite that, he actually put a paw up onto the log, and then proceeded to step all the way onto it after a moment's hesitation. He peered down at the rumbling water below, giving the log the lightest shake before seemingly deciding that it was safe, and beginning to walk across.

I only got to feel relief for the briefest moment at the fact that he'd fallen for my words. I'll have to bask in my success later, I told myself, my courage replacing apprehension as I began to pelt back towards the stream.

I then leaped onto the log just in time to prevent Ashfur from making it all the way across. Now, it's showtime.

As I had expected, Ashfur looked immensely bewildered at the fact that I'd blocked his way. "Lilypetal, what are you doing?" he hissed back at me, unsheathing his claws so that they sank down into the bark.

I simply gave him yet another shrug. "I'm standing on this log," I answered him, tilting my head to the side and raising a single eyebrow. "What does it look like?"

Ashfur's eyes slowly narrowed down into slits. "Get out of the way," he demanded to me through gritted teeth.

I looked up to the sky, pretending to contemplate his words for a moment before flashing him a mocking-apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, Ashfur," I sighed to him. "I can't do that."

I was then shocked to see Ashfur's eyes actually flash with fear and uncertainty for a heartbeat. He whipped his head to each side just once before locking his gaze with mine, and I found that I was looking back into two blue flames. "Lilypetal," he muttered in a creepily low voice. "Where is Squirrelflight?"

I blinked back at Ashfur. "Squirrelflight?" I repeated, turning my head to look further down the stream. "Hm, well, she's certainly taking a long time to take a drink, isn't she? I wonder if she's even coming back?"

I then gave our surroundings a good scan before looking back at Ashfur, my eyes widening as I let out a gasp, pretending to be just as shocked as Ashfur would surely be in a few moments. "Oh goodness, it appears as if she's bailed on me. How rude of her!"

I took a step closer to the Dark Forest warrior, then fastening every single one of my claws into the tree we were standing on, making sure that my grip was as tight as it could be.

I then let my gaze fall on Ashfur once again, knowing that I couldn't waste one more moment. "But that doesn't matter."

Sending another prayer to StarClan for strength, I then proceeded to use all of my weight and the strong grip that I had on the log in order to completely shift it to the side. To my luck, I managed to shift it on the side opposite of mine, and Ashfur's side of the tree was yanked from its edge, causing the side that he had entered on to plummet down to the stream, landing with a splash.

Despite the tree now being completely tilted to one side, my claws managed to keep me in my same place. As soon as the log had fallen, Ashfur had lost his grip and began to fall backwards, but he quickly scrambled to his paws once again.

And sure, he was steady on his paws now, but also completely trapped.

I was blocking the only way out, which was the other side of the log that was still gripping on to its edge.

I stared back at Ashfur, trying to hold back a sneer as he glanced nervously around him, the raging stream and the waterfall flowing just tail-lengths below him. "That doesn't matter..." I repeated. "My quarrel isn't with Squirrelflight."

I then took another step closer to the gray-speckled tom, and my eyes narrowed, a mix of rage, determination and certainty running through my blood. "My quarrel is with you, Ashfur," I then whispered to him, recalling the exact words that Ashfur himself had said to a certain she-cat several moons ago. "It always has been."

In that moment, Ashfur's eyes seemed to flash with horror and realization for just a moment before washing over with immense anger. "Why, you..." he growled, his gray fur beginning to bristle out. "You said 'no tricks'!"

I looked away from Ashfur to examine one of my unsheathed paws. "...Define trick."

"You... you idiot!" Ashfur then roared, taking a nervous glance at the high water below him every couple of heartbeats. "What happened to our deal? You realize that this means that our agreement is gone; I can still harm your family, anyone I choose, and you won't have any sort of hold on me."

I couldn't help but purr with amusement, knowing very well that Ashfur's words were a whole load of mouse-droppings. "Oh, please! I never believed that you were actually going to follow through with that for the smallest moment," I insisted. "You were going to manipulate the situation, and just get what you wanted out of it!"

I then let out an almost pleased grunt, tilting my head to the side again. "But I suppose that I can't scold you for that, though - it's what I'm doing!" I admitted before flashing Ashfur another sneer through narrowed eyes. "Squirrelflight isn't showing up, Ashfur. She was never going to show up." But you thought so, which is why I was so easily able to get you here, I thought to myself as I reflected on my plan. Thanks to what I learned from Squirrelflight herself, I found your biggest weakness... the motivation for everything that you've done.

In all the time that Ashfur and I had been at each other's throats, I truly don't think that I had ever seen him so angry. Shockingly enough, it didn't intimidate me in the least. "How dare you?!" he barked back at me. "And you make me out to be a fox-heart?!"

"I most certainly do, because your motivations are horrible, selfish, and petty," I replied confidently, trying to thrive off of Ashfur's rage rather than be intimidated by it. "You were here to get something that you never even deserved in the first place, and I'm here because you've messed with my Clanmates and my family countless times over."

I then nodded to the racing water below us. "And I think you deserve to be a little deceived after all that you've put me through; after all that you've put so many cats through," I murmured, then letting out a snort. "Actually, you more than deserve it!"

The more that I had spoken, the more that my focus on my plan and the situation was beginning to falter as grief began to take over. So, I took a deep breath before speaking again, ready to continue to execute what had been swirling in my head for days and days now. "But even so, I'm not here to kill you, as easy as it could be to do right now."

I then sat down on the log, simultaneously making sure that Ashfur still had no way to get past me. "I'm simply here to give you a new proposition," I went on. I then began to flit my eyes around our surroundings - the cliffs that now towered over us, the stream below, the rocks that jutted out from the water, and the reeds that shivered with the softest breeze. "I just thought that I'd make it all a little fun."

I then narrowed my eyes back at Ashfur, first using my tail to gesture towards myself, and then to the log. "Does this setting look somewhat familiar to you, Ashfur?"

Ashfur didn't say so, but the knowingness in his blue eyes was clear. Instead, he murmured through gritted teeth, "What do you want, Lilypetal?"

"I was actually just about to ask you a similar question!" I exclaimed, feigning excitement as I raised my tail in the air. "You see, I brought you here to give you a choice, Ashfur."

I then reflected on the advice my brother had given me just days ago - the advice that had partly prompted this entire scheme. I'd give them a chance to show remorse; to promise that they'd changed. Oreo's words now ran through my head. Obviously, this cat was very hurt by what I'd done to them, and felt that revenge was the only way to reflect that...

Still keeping my firm on the log, I wrapped my tail around my paws. "I've given you the list before, and I'm sure that the list loops over and over in your head constantly - you know how much harm you've brought to my Clanmates," I went on. "I've always assumed that I'd never see the end of it, and that killing you would be the only way to make that happen."

"Then why don't you?" Ashfur challenged, a slight glint of amusement and mischief in his eyes. "Are you too scared to even try?"

"Of course I am," I admitted, then remembering my own daughter's words about Snowstorm from our last meeting. "But many times, determination and willingness overshadows any lack of courage."

Next, my thoughts went to the kittypet flashbacks that I'd been having for the past few moons. In one of them, I had witnessed warriors showing mercy to even the most untrustworthy cats. "And I'm also not like you. I am a warrior - I don't need to kill to win my battles."

I then further advanced on Ashfur, so that he was only a couple of pawsteps from where the log stuck into the water. "Which is why I'm going to give you a couple of choices, Ashfur," I then meowed.

I then leaned close to Ashfur, staring deep into his gaze through challenging narrowed eyes. "We can make this easy - you can swear that you're never, ever going to lay another claw on my family, Squirrelflight, or any of my Clanmates ever again, and I'll let you go, so that you can return to the Dark Forest where you belong."

Ashfur scarcely revealed how he felt about that, and only narrowed his eyes as he stared back at me. "And if I don't swear to that?"

"Then I'm going to knock you off of this tree with a single swipe, and you'll plummet down into the water, landing on the sharp rocks below. Then, you'd probably drown, unless you know how to swim!" I hissed, resulting in Ashfur's eyes widening with horror and shock. "But as I said, that doesn't even have to happen, Ashfur."

I then had to take a deep breath and look away for a moment, my next words being a little forced. "I'm willing to give you a chance to change, as much as you may not deserve it."

I glanced back at Ashfur, and was bewildered to see that he actually looked somewhat conflicted - he was shifting uncomfortably in his spot, and he was staring down at the ground. "If I 'don't deserve it', as you say, then why are you even considering giving me any sort of chance?"

I actually found myself trying to meet his gaze this time, my hope rising in the fact that things might not have to end, or risk being ended, so badly. "Because I've had to remind myself that revenge is never the answer, even when we believe that it may bring us the justice that we're seeking," I answered, then cocking an eyebrow at the gray-speckled tom. "If someone had learned that lesson a long time ago, we wouldn't be here, would we?"

I was further encouraged when Ashfur actually let out a dismissive grunt and sat down again, as if he hated the fact that my words were getting to him. "Come on, Ashfur," I meowed more lightly. "I know that you're in the Dark Forest, but that doesn't mean that you're completely doomed to ever become a better cat, to feel sorry about all that you've done." I've seen the same thing happen to my daughter's son, and now he's an incredibly noble warrior that any cat would look up to...

I then took yet another deep breath, and took a step back as I watched Ashfur close his eyes, as if he actually was contemplating everything I'd said to him. His pained expression revealed that he seemed to be in some sort of battle with his own thoughts.

At this sight, I was filled with an overwhelming amount of hope, and I wondered if Ashfur was actually going to be able to look back on his past, how his hurt had driven him to do things that his true self, his old self, would never even think of doing.

For a moment, I actually thought that I might be able to step off of this log with a changed cat.

But my heart sank when Ashfur finally opened his blue eyes, and they blazed with just as much malice and hatred as they ever had before.

I tried to stay in place as Ashfur slowly stood up. "But what do I even have to feel sorry for, Lilypetal?" he asked me in his typical menacing tone. "Why should I want to change? I've done nothing but thrive with everything that I've done since Squirrelflight rejected me all of those moons ago, since I first was exiled from ThunderClan!"

He then took a step closer to me, his eyes narrowing. "In fact, seeing you suffer because of all of the pain I've brought upon you has brought me more satisfaction than I ever could have imagined!" he seemed to realize out loud. "Revenge did bring me the justice that I sought out."

He then used his tail to gesture to our surroundings, and he let out a sinister purr of amusement. "I've torn you down so much that you would do anything to put a stop to all of it!" he laughed. "You think that you can get me to change, after how much I've succeeded? Please!"

His dark gaze was burning so deeply into me that I was sure I was going to be burnt to a crisp within heartbeats. "You've heard many times by now that I'm nowhere near finished with you, Lilypetal. You're going to continue to live in fear..."

I then watched as his unsheathed claws dug deeper into the log, practically causing the bark to peel off from its trunk. "If you even live to see another day at all."

As I began to fill up with an overwhelming amount of dread, Oreo's words crossed my mind once again. And who knows? Maybe they wouldn't change even if they were given the opportunity to... but I'd still take that chance.

I had to close my eyes for a moment. I took that chance, and Ashfur didn't take his... I thought, trying to keep my breaths even as the reality of what I would have to do next began to set in. So this is how it has to be.

I slowly opened my eyes again, my gaze locking with Ashfur's as I braced myself for the fight that would hopefully end all of the suffering me and many other cats had endured for moons. Too many moons. "Alright," I breathed. "So be it."