How Villains Pasts Shaped Their Futures Part 2 by Silverdusk

Silverdusk discusses how Ashfur’s past influenced him.

Hello my friends! Today I’m posting the second part of my How Villains Pasts Shaped Their Futures series.
I’ve already done Tigerstar.
So now I’m doing Ashfur!

When we think about Ashfur, we think about the fire scene and Ashfur’s obsession with Squirrelflight.
But there’s more to Ashfur then just that.

Firstly, Ashfur has a sister named Ferncloud.
Ferncloud was in a relationship with Dustpelt *cough cough her uncle cough cough*
They had a nice, positive relationship that probably led Ashfur to believe love was sweet and simple. (Thank you to Ospreysplash, who made this point in one of her articles.)
Ashfur loved Squirrelflight and was appalled to discover her affection for Bramblestar.

But could it be possible Ashfur also disliked Bramblestar for another reason?
Many people hold Bramblestar’s bloodline against him.
And Brambleclaw’s father Tigerstar actually killed Ashfur’s mother Brindleface. He must have felt extra betrayed that Squirrelflight would like the son of her mother’s murderer.

Ashfur could’ve also felt envious of his sister, watching Ferncloud have kits and be happy. Maybe seeing everybody around him fall in love pushed him over the edge.

Ashfur had potential to be a great warrior. He really did. But his feelings got in the way. Ashfur really wanted Dustpelt to be made deputy in Graystripe’s Vow.
Was it because he was Ferncloud’s mate? Did he expect that Dustpelt would become leader and then Ashfur would be made deputy because of how he’s related to Ferncloud?
Well imagine how Ashfur felt when Brambleclaw became leader.
Ashfur must have felt like nothing would go his way and he would probably feel even more jealous.

Maybe it was that Ashfur couldn’t bear seeing all his Clanmates get mates while he was alone.

It is rumoured that Swiftpaw and Brightpaw had a crush on each other.
Brightpaw was willing to risk a lot to go with him to fight the dogs. If Ashfur was aware of his denmates’ feelings for each other, this could have another impact on how he viewed love.
Let’s face it.

From Firestar and Sandstorm to Brackenfur and Sorreltail, love in ThunderClan has been pure and true as long as Ashfur has been alive.
He must’ve thought it was unfair that only he had to struggle with a bad romance.

Now, looping back to Ashfur and Ferncloud. Their close, tight knit siblings. But did Ashfur feel he had something to prove?
Ashfur isn’t disliked among his Clanmates (or at least he wasn’t before he became a killer)
But Ferncloud was a cherished and important cat that every ThunderClan warrior liked.
Did Ashfur hope to show her that he was also well-liked?
That he was also good with kits as well as a strong warrior?
Or maybe even that he was better suited to deputyship and leadership then Brambleclaw.

And that concludes my article!
Great StarClan this was actually hard to write. Unlike the Tigerstar one.
Scourge is next!

Thanks for reading and have a good day!
~Silverdusk

https://images.app.goo.gl/qtVLZcumYcPZjxKr5