Ashstar II

*Character art by Marsh*

## Description

Ashcloud is a strong gray tom with amber eyes. His pelt fades into a dark gray at the rear.
He is a medium-sized tom who's speed more than makes up for his slight lack of size when it comes to engaging with larger foes.

## History

* ***The Beginning***

The reincarnation of Ashstar, Ashkit was born into DustClan under the reign of Boarstar. He was quick to align himself with many of his friends from his past life (without his recognition) within the nursery as he became increasingly close with Fadedkit, Cobrakit, and Fallenkit. As an older kit, Ashstar II began to hear the voice of Ashstar I in his head, and though he didn't pay too much attention to it at the time, he would begin to take the advice that he was given and understood the voice within his head to be some sort of helper. From the moment he was born, Ashkit possessed the same fire and determination to be the best as his previous life, and he became set upon becoming one of the greatest warriors DustClan had ever seen.

As an apprentice, Ashpaw proved himself to be an extremely capable fighter, skilled far beyond his age as he was even able to spar against multiple apprentices at once (though this would later be revealed to be due to the help of his past life). For this, he was set to be mentored by the leader of DustClan herself, Boarstar. Whilst he was initially thrilled by this decision, it would come to be the main reason for his eventual departure from the clan. Boarstar would prove to simply not have the time nor commitment to the apprentice as he would've liked, and thus he grew angry and dissatisfied as if he was wasting his time and his opportunity to grow strong.

* ***The Canyonstar Saga***

This is when Canyonstar would enter Ashpaw's life, yet little did he know that they would grow to be life-long enemies in the end. At the time, there was significant tension between both GladeClan and DustClan due to issues with forbidden relationships. Canyonstar felt extremely bad for the burden he'd put upon Boarstar's shoulders and in an attempt to make up for it, he found Ashpaw patrolling along the GladeClan border and offered to train the apprentice, which Ashpaw eagerly accepted. For the next couple of moons, the two would train in a secret hollow that Canyonstar had created. It was here that Canyonstar would push Ashpaw to his limits, and though the training was rough, the two would become good friends as a result of it. A couple of moons later, a fire would break out within GladeClan that would cause the entire clan to evacuate to the old LionClan camp within their territory. Just barely catching a glimpse of the smoke rising over the treeline, Ashpaw, thinking of his friend and mentor, sprung into action and quickly broke off towards GladeClan territory. Coming to a halt at the GladeClan/DustClan border, he stared ahead into the dense smoke and flames and managed to spot the large silhouette of Canyonstar carrying an apprentice through the flames. Unable to stop himself (and much to the dismay of his previous life), Ashpaw sprinted ahead into the flames and ash in order to help Canyonstar, and once he was at his side, the two managed to make their way back to the LionClan camp.

Though some didn't take too kindly to his presence, Ashpaw stuck around with the remaining GladeClan cats in order to provide them with any assistance that they might need. He felt as if he was in debt to his mentor Canyonstar for providing him with the proper training that he'd needed in order to become far stronger and far more skilled than ever before. Thus, he would stay with the GladeClan cats until the next gathering, where he actually decided to defect to GladeClan (much to his friends' dismay). As an apprentice of GladeClan, he was known for sitting atop one of the tallest rocks in the old LionClan camp, and it was around this time where he'd meet his future leader and best-friend, Halfmask.  Eventually, he received his warrior name, Ashsun, and became a fully-fledged warrior of GladeClan.

Ashsun lived peacefully within GladeClan for a few moons, where they thrived under Canyonstar’s leadership until the faithful day that the leader would propose to have GladeClan join the Society, a strange upcoming group which sought to put aside the differences between the clans and create peace throughout the land. Ashsun instantly saw this group as a dishonorable group of individuals which went against the natural order of the clans and StarClan’s teachings, and thus he looked to Canyonstar in horror and anger as he witnessed his best friend turn his back on him and betray the Clan as a whole. Something changed within Ashsun that day, as Canyonstar leaving GladeClan would be the spark which would ignite a neverending blaze within the warrior, one of anger and hatred towards anything Society-related, including his old mentor. After Canyonstar left GladeClan and became Sun, Halfstar (then Halfmask) appointed him deputy and renamed him Ashcloud at his request, removing any and all connections he had to his old friend and mentor.

* ***The Light in the Darkness***

As the threat of the Society rose within his very own territory, Ashcloud would come to be one of the most prolific Anti-Society representatives amongst the clans, as he vowed to exact his revenge upon Sun for his betrayal. Ashcloud, in the brief absence of Halfstar during her pregnancy, would speak in place of the GladeClan leader at two separate gatherings, where he'd make his feelings known amongst the clans and the Society member's that lingered within the gathering-place. He made bold claims that the Society would eventually change its ways from simply wanting peace, and that their desire towards uniting the clans would eventually lead them to take action. It didn't take long for Ashcloud to become one of the greatest threat's to the Society, as his traditionalist attitude and willingness to inspire/lead others proved to be quite the thorn in the Society's future plans. As the threat of The Society grew, and GladeClan was still recovering from their great divide in which half of the clan left along with Sun, Ashcloud proposed to Halfstar that GladeClan lower the apprenticeship age to 5 moons. Though she was hesitant, Halfstar realized the possible impending threat of the future and agreed, though it was to be kept secret from the other Clans. Thus, GladeClan proved that it was willing to do whatever it took to defeat the impending enemy, and even though they broke the code by doing so, Ashcloud ensured Halfstar that StarClan would understand their good intentions and spare them from any punishment.

* ***Love amongst the Blood***

As the Society continued to grow, Ashcloud would begin to make frequent solo patrols along the GladeClan-Society border, as there still weren't enough healthy GladeClan cats for him to assemble a formidable border patrol whilst also leaving the camp protected. It was during one of these patrols where he'd meet Melody, originally Larkpaw of CavernClan, who he instantly recognized as one of the leaders of the Society. Finding it humorous that the Society had made such a young she-cat one of their leaders, he decided to mock and tease her with his words instead of simply attacking her, calling her things such as "sweetheart," and expressing his thoughts about the wrongs of the Society. The two would continue to meet time and time again, though they didn't intend to, and slowly but surely, feelings would start to develop between the two, though they would not be expressed until later on.

They did shine through, however, on one particular patrol, where Ashcloud saw Melody and instantly recognized that she was suffering through some sort of significant illness, as she experienced difficulty collecting the sticks that she'd normally had no issue with getting together. Ashcloud felt a sort of unusual concern towards the she-cat, as his heart told him that helping her would be the right thing to do. He'd hoped that his act of kindness could show her that the Society's ways of thinking were flawed, and the Clans could still help each other out without being one group. He took her to the abandoned tunnels and kept her there to take care of her, despite Melody's stubborn behaviors.

Ashcloud led Bristlehound, Woollypelt, Mistyflower and Sorrelchaser into The Society's former GladeClan territory with a band of warriors, believing that they sought a diplomatic meeting. He talked with Melody briefly until he noticed her signaling something with her tail, which he quickly brought to the warriors' attention. The Society ambushed them and, after a battle, took Ashcloud hostage and brought him to the LionClan camp. There, he was guarded by Melody in a den, where the two confronted their conflicted feelings for each other. They continued to meet in secret afterwards, until Melody left the Society and went missing.

With Melody's help, he escaped the LionClan camp at the same time a patrol of GladeClan and CavernClan cats had been sent out to do the same thing. He passed out while escaping and Lionstar carried him back to CavernClan camp, where he stayed overnight to recover.

After the fight at GladeClan with The Society, the Clans' retreat to CavernClan, and the flood, he focused himself on strategizing against the Society.

Ashcloud led the charge into the final battle between GladeClan and the Society. As the moon covered the sun, Ashcloud took Sun's final life. Ashcloud declared himself Ashmoon from that point forwards. He reunited with Fadedpath, who had come to help, as had Curlingstar. (Not super important but: after the battle, he hugged Halfstar, Robinpaw and Woollypelt and it was very cute.)