the story varies from clan to clan, but ashfur remembers the first time he heard about the siren in the river at sunningrocks.
she drags toms down to the depths of the river when they scorn their lovers, speckletail had whispered to the kits in the nursery so many seasons ago. they say that when you go to the river at night, you can hear her song.
he never believed it; most of those kinds of stories turn out to just be tales, anyways. a gray cat with eyes as big as an owls who hides in the branches of trees, watching wayward apprentices. a white molly who runs out onto thunderpath when you try to cross it at night. that kind of thing - just a ghost story.
he'd all but forgotten about it until the clans moved to the lake territory, and he first heard the siren's song the night after he planned with hawkfrost to have firestar get stuck in the foxtrap.
it somehow was the most terrifying and beautiful sound he'd ever heard - there was the part of him that instinctively wanted to run from it, and the part of him that wanted to follow it. it reminded him of the times when his mother was alive, when he caught the biggest prey on his first outing as an apprentice. when squirrelflight had looked at him and smiled and told him that she enjoyed having him in her life.
he almost wanted to follow it. he stared into the fog, trying to find where the sound was coming from - it was like it was everywhere at once. as though he could pick any direction and he'd always end up finding the source.
one of his clanmates calling out to him, asking him what he's doing so far out this late, is what breaks the trance; ashfur jogs up to spiderleg and asks him if he heard anything. spiderleg looks at him quizically, telling him that the only one out here is ashfur. there's not even the scent of a prey animal. ashfur follows his clanmate back to camp.
over the next seasons, he'll hear it sometimes - when he goes out alone, straying close to the lakes edge, he swears he can hear it. sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's subdued - but it's there.
calling for him. wanting him to follow.
after the fire, the song is as loud as it ever was. it's beautiful, so powerful he can't think of anything other than finding out where it's coming from. he follows it through thunderclan's territory - this time it's leading him to windclan, to the stream. he can picture it in his mind, and for some reason, part of him thinks squirrelflight will be there. brindleface, maybe.
the closer he gets, he can finally hear words.
come along, it's singing. he can picture the best moments of his life again - but this time, new memories are thrown in. the way squirrelflight cowered when he threatened to tell her dirty little secret. how scared lionblaze, jayfeather, and hollyleaf were. having the leverage over them all that he did. come along, ashfur. come to the water, come and find me. don't you love my song?
and he does. he wants to find the voice - whoever it is, whatever it is. he no longer is thinking about squirrelflight, about getting his revenge against her - his only purpose in life is to find who is singing, who wants to see him so badly.
the stream is finally in front of him. it's still, the moonlight reflected on the surface - he can see the tips of his ears as he gets closer, and then his face.
his pupils cover almost his entire iris. he can see the faint ring of blue, but from this angle, from the darkness around him, they look completely black.
you're here, it sounds like it's behind him now. maybe she is. you're finally here. you know what happens to toms who come to the river, don't you?
his reflection stares back blankly. he can hear the rushing of water in his ears, and for some reason, the cries of kittens. the sound of a molly wailing as her babies are swept away. a rough voice, telling her to leave and never come back.
as another reflection begins to slowly appear behind him, he can see tortoiseshell fur. glowing amber eyes.
"do you know what happens to them, ashfur?"
annaxmalina
snowghoul
theartofmadeline
blakekathryn
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2087
