story

"why are you so mad at me?! just tell me!"

a yowl of desperation echoed through the shadowclan territory, causing a great amount of distress and panic amongst the woodland creatures, birds cawing and flying from their resting places, and rodents scurrying back into their dens in fright.

the source of such yowl was a large black and gray tom, a black mask marking on his face, and light gray stripes amongst his face. the rogue's crimson eyes were wide with anxiety and concern, along with sadness. though he was often considered intimidating due to his big appearance, the male was probably one of the friendliest rogues out there. he was calm, and often gave flowers to clan cats, and to close friends as well. ancalagon however, was nowhere near calm. he was in distress, his heart was thumping incredibly loud in his chest as he looked at the slightly shorter tom that stood a few lengths away. both rogues were oddly tense on the sunny day near the carrion place. the clouds littered the bright blue sky, and the chilling breeze blew through their pelts, but neither reacted, but the trees' branches would sway in rhythm with the wind, along with the bushes and grass. the only thing that caused this day to not seem so sunny, was the trees that loomed over the two brutes, the branches and their leaves working together to stop most of the sun's rays to peek through. not only that, but the tension between them was concerning.

what could have caused such pressure between the two, who were formerly best friends?

burning'pelt hissed in irritation towards ancalagon, who was on the brink of tears. "IT'S BECAUSE OF COTTON!" the ex-clan cat blurted out, making the tom in front of him flinch in surprise. "wh- because of cotton?" he echoed in disbelief, stepping back. cotton'cloud, a fluffy white and hazel brown clan cat with curled ears, a stubby tail and striking yellow eyes, who visited regularly, and had slowly caught feelings for the black and gray rogue, and had just recently told him that she was expecting his kits. the tom was more than thrilled to hear such news, and had told burning'pelt when he could, but things didn't turn out how ancalagon hoped.

"just- just go back to who you love better with your kits," burning'pelt's words were spat with venom, something ancalagon would have never expected from the usually funny, extroverted tom, "and if she's BEEN a queen, that means you've done this more than once." the orange rogue spat, turning from his former friend and to the thunderpath, intending to cross it and leave. "do not follow me." the tom demanded, but ancalagon, naturally stubborn, disobeyed this demand.

"b-burning, wait!"

ancalagon swiftly trotted after, but tried keeping his distance as he looked at who he once called his friend. "i.. still don't understand- aren't you proud- that i'm going to be a father?" the former kittypet breathed, his crimson oculars scanning burning'pelt for any signs that the burning' ancalagon knew, would return. unfortunately, the opposite happened. the orange gent spun around, growling. "you just don't get it do you?" he growled. "i LOVED you, ancalagon. i wanted to be your mate so badly, but your skull was too thick to catch a hint." he hissed.

the charcoal and smokey gray pelted tom froze in place, tail lowering further than it already had. "wh- wait.. what..?" he breathed, slowly stepping back. no, no this can't be true. please don't let this be true. the mainecoon's mind was racing, scrambling for hints that burning may have given. how did he not realize this sooner? rocks of guilt seemingly filled his stomach as he felt rather heavy, forcing back tears and to keep himself together. "you have anything to say, hm?" the other tom grumbled bitterly. ancalagon looked at the red flowers he had dropped earlier, their petals slowly wilting and dropping. wilting like their friendship. the tom sniffled. "i-i'm so sorry. i, i didn't know- but- we can still be friends, right?? everything's not over, right?" he mewed hopefully, glancing up at burning'pelt who stared in disbelief. "you really think.." the tom cut himself off, before saying "you're funny, anca."

slowly, the tom turned around again, facing the charcoal path. " 'no regrets', is what we said. we can't go back again." burning would hiss back to the already heartbroken tom, "hope you know i wish you all the love you're looking for." he muttered, but it was bitter and dry, meaning it was unlikely the formerly windclan tom really meant it. he looked across the thunder path, making sure monsters weren't going to barrel their way down the path with its cacophony of noise, and horrid stench that came with it. after ensuring his safety, he crossed swiftly.

quickly, ancalagon followed after, refusing to give up. "darling, nobody said that it would last forever." he desperately tried to reason, referring to his relationship with cotton'cloud. burning would let out an enraged and bitter hiss. "that doesn't mean you didn't try to get there." he retorted. the black and gray tom hesitated before countering, "I never said that we would die together!" finally, burning would spin around again to look into anca's crimson optics, his emerald eyes flaming with rage. "that doesn't mean it was a lie, remember?!" he yowled. "i've tried giving you chances, but you're too stubborn. i guess that means your kits will have to grow up without a father." burning'pelt snarled, taking ancalagon off guard. the big tom hesitantly stepped back.

"what?"

he mewed in shock, and before he could process what was said, the orange tom with brown splotches leaped forward, colliding with the charcoal rogue, and the two tussled. 'what do i do? i can't fight him!' his mind spiraled as he was suddenly pinned to the ground, met with bared teeth. anca didn't even have his claws unsheathed. he couldn't. there had to be another way. "burning, don't do this, please!" he pleaded, kicking burning off. not hard, but just enough to get him off.

ancalagon scrambled back up, eyes wide as tears welled within them as he took a few steps back, trying to grasp his spiraling thoughts and think of a way to get through burning'pelt, but there was nothing. the orange tom was jealous, and angry, and both emotions took control of his actions. ancalagon was too deep in thought, and didn't even realize burning had run towards him until claws met his shoulder, raking deep and keeping hold as the slightly smaller tom gripped onto anca, biting into his side, making the rogue howl in surprise. 'there is no other way.' he thought defeatedly, and he grimaced, knowing that if he couldn't get through to burning, he'd have to kill him. ancalagon would flop onto his side that burning was holding onto, winding him. the fluffy tom got up, furrowing his eyebrows as he placed a paw on the enraged male's chest, his claws still not unsheathed. "burning, you don't have to do this. we can still be friends!" he attempted to reason. "i will not rest until you're dead! my one chance at love, taken away from me!" the stubborn male snapped, kicking and raking his back claws across ancalagon's belly until anca gave in, jumping back. 'please, don't do this.' he pleaded in his head as he saw burning jump onto a boulder, propelling himself to anca, but ancalagon quickly darted away, sniffling. he didn't want to have to do this. but burning showed no signs of letting up, and ancalagon had no clue how to calm him. "to tell the truth, i can't believe we got this far." burning spat. "but i know that we've been hardly holding on." he added, grabbing the bigger tom's hind leg with his jaws, ensuring a strong grip and he'd pull back, causing ancalagon to collapse, and the two writhed and wrestled among the ground, fur flying and claws (burning's in particular) slashing, and blood splattering amongst the ground.

'if i don't fight back somehow, i might end up dying.' anca thought. his kits, without a father? no.. that can't happen. he refused. the tom refused to leave without saying goodbye. the charcoal tom hesitated, but finally unsheathed his claws and managed to swipe them across burning'pelt's face, kicking him off and the tom sprung back up onto his big paws. "burning, please.. it's.. it's your last chance." his sentence nearly trailed into a whisper, voice cracking. it pained him to say that. he didn't want it to be burning's last chance. "one of us is going to die. and it won't be me. time can heal, but this won't." the angered male would state, lunging at anca again.

ancalagon grimaced, tears still in his eyes. 'i'm so sorry, but i need to be there for my future kits, and for cotton.' the tom thought. he'd leap back so burning would land on the grass, and anca would swipe his claws at the tiger orange tom, forcing himself to move closer and clamp his jaws around his enemy's shoulder, warm, metallic tasting blood filling his mouth. burning'pelt shrieked in pain, twisting and collapsing on his side and getting onto his back. at first, the gray tom thought this was on accident, but it was actually intended. it caused anca to be standing over burning, exposing his belly and his own shoulder. burning would lift his forelegs and brought his claws down ancalagon's side, making the bigger tom reel back and inhale sharply in pain. before he could recover, hind paws collided with his face, meaning he was just kicked, making him step back farther.

claws sliced across his thigh, making anca whip around and grab the shorter tom's hind leg, pulling back and making him lose his balance. swiftly, anca would pin burning'pelt down and sniffled, prepared to do the killing blow, but burning clamped his jaws around the tom's thick furred throat. ancalagon had a great amount of fluff around his neck and throat, but he was beginning to feel canines sink into his skin. he yowled in shock, clawing at the male's belly until burning gave in to the pain and released ancalagon. blood roared in ancalagon's ears and the pain was unbearable. the tom couldn't recall getting into such a serious fight before. but, he knew he couldn't give up and just accept his fate. he had to end this.

as burning stood, anca had ran towards a tree and pounced onto it, before propelling himself towards the male and barreling into him, forcing his weight onto burning. this winded the orange tom, and using the amount of momentum anca was granted, he grabbed the smaller male's scruff and threw him into a boulder nearby, a dreadful thud heard and a grunt of pain followed after. burning'pelt was already looking worse than anca, and the tom wished it didn't have to be this way. he really didn't like using his strength like this, against someone who he once called close. but.. he needed his future family to be safe, and that wasn't going to happen until burning'pelt was dead. this had to happen. "was there something i could have said to make your heart beat better?' ancalagon whispered as he watched burning struggle to get up, only for the more muscular rogue to pin him down, forcing most of his body weight onto the orange furred tom this time. "if only i had known you had a storm to weather.." the tom choked out, tears in his eyes. "i know it's already over now. there's nothing left to lose." burning hissed, but it was obvious he was in pain.

ancalagon inhaled shakily, "i'm so sorry." he breathed, placing his jaws around the tom's throat, and he bit down as hard as he could, hopefully able to make it as quick as possible. burning would choke, gasping for air, but unearthly gurgles followed instead, blood welling in his mouth as he slowly grew limp. and eventually, the tom was gone.

the wind blew past, and ancalagon felt a shiver run down his spine as he let go of the corpse's throat. he wasn't cold at all.. but knowing he had to kill who he thought of as a friend, hurt more than any of the wounds that he bore. "i got what i wanted.. but the consequence was something i would have never wanted in exchange." the tom murmured, looking at the pool of blood that stained the green grass that danced in the breeze. 'two burning hearts that dared to break.' he thought bitterly, slowly picking up the limp body of the ex-clan cat, and buried him beside a tree, in the shade.. something burning'pelt always enjoyed. the still living tom would grab roses and violets, the flowers that burning always expected ancalagon to bring. "darling, nobody said that it would last forever.. but that doesn't mean we didn't try to get there" he breathed, referring to their friendship. "i just wish it didn't have to end like this, in tragedy." the tom added, slowly standing up and heading to the stream to wash his pelt of the blood that stained his paws. 'he wanted revenge.. but he lost in the end.' the tom thought sourly, staring at the water with dull, heartbroken eyes. this wasn't what he wanted.