warriors: in the trees

prologue, three moons prior

The sky thundered with pouring rain, turning the battleground into a muddy mess. The hollow leading to the river waters that divided LavenderClan and their rivals, JadeClan, ran brown with mud. Falling droplets clouded Ivylight's vision, but she could make out the vague shapes of her opponents. Ivylight could smell the strong scent of wet fur and fear; the anticipation felt like several repeated slashes to her face. She surveyed the enemy ranks with a determined gaze and unsheathed claws. As Ivylight glanced at the beige tabby tom at the front of the clan, the gray she-cat's muscles tensed, preparing to leap into the frenzy about to erupt.

Applestar flicked his tail, permitting LavenderClan to sprint down the cliff. Within seconds, Ivylight lept from the shelter of the trees that had shielded her. Her gray pelt swam through her clanmates gracefully, JadeClan's thundering paw steps growing louder. Ivylight searched for an opponent to confront.

Out of the corner of her eye, the speckled deputy noticed the black pelt of a rain-soaked warrior struggling to defend herself against a burly white tom. Ivylight was lucky the storm covered not only the white tom's sight but also his scent, allowing Ivylight to sneak behind him effortlessly. With great force, Ivylight knocked him off his paws with a surprise attack. He squealed in surprise and went limp long enough for Ivylight to pin him down in the mud. The LavenderClan deputy spat his face and dug her razor-sharp claws into his fur. The rain washed away the spurting blood bubbling from the tom's shoulder.

Ivylight tightened her grip on the weakened tom, pushing him further into the rain-soaked floor. He struggled against her, attempting to use his back paws to rake her stomach. Ivylight lowered her jaws to his neck, prepared to deliver the final blow...

"Ivylight!" a she-cat yowled. Ivylight felt the wind get knocked out of her as a significant force struck her, forcing the gray she-cat off the enemy and rolling in the mud. The white tom ran off the battlefield with a cry for help.

Ivylight scrambled to her paws. "What the- Sootshadow? I saved you!" she hissed at her smoky companion.

"Warriors don't fight to kill!" the older warrior scolded. "Have you learned nothing? Applestar surely could- forget it. We'll deal with this later."

Before Ivylight could reply, she got thrown into battle with a tiny tom whose golden fur was matted with mud.

Curse you, Sootshadow!

Ivylight dodged easily as the young cat- presumably an apprentice- lazily lashed out blows. Ivylight weaved around the clueless tom's paws and caught a chunk of his tail in her claws, yanking out a clump of fur. The apprentice scrambled away without another look and ran into the woods neighboring LavenderClan's territory.

The sky thundered again, and the rain started to fall harder, washing away the blood that had already been shed in the short moments of the battle.

The fighting had begun to thin out already; opposing JadeClan warriors started to flee, and most Ivylights clanmates, including herself, were left without a battle to fight.

With a fierce yowl loud enough to cover the sound of the pounding rain, all the clawing and spitting ceased. The remaining JadeClan cats slowly backed away from their rivals, grouping to stand behind a relatively small black tom. Applestar weaved his way through the other side of the field to stand before the tom, a look of triumph and pride on his pale ginger face. LavenderClan stood victoriously behind Applestar. Ivylight joined them, bristling at the sight of the JadeClan cats' stupidly smug faces.

"This isn't over, Applestar!" JadeClan's leader hissed. He lashed his furless tail. "You've won only one battle out of all to come. JadeClan will not stand down!"

Ivylight lunged forward, testing the opponents. She chuckled as the warriors flinched, cursing at her. A tail laid on her back, a warning sign from Sootshadow to not anger their rivals anymore.

"I think it's over, actually, Ratstar. Don't challenge LavenderClan again." Applestar's mew was stern, seemingly unaffected by the cold rain soaking his beige fur.

The sky brightened in a series of blinding white-gold flashes. Ivylight was dazed. She heard the rumble of thunder, the crack of a tree, and the shrieks of several cats.

Ivylight leaped back as the earth rumbled from the impact of the tree. She heard a tom yowling for help as the great oak slowly crushed him. JadeClan warriors raced to help as soon as they recovered from their dazes, clawing and pushing at the fallen wood.

"Who is it?" a brown JadeClan warrior asked. Several moments passed, the clearing filling with the sounds of falling rain and scratching claws before the gold apprentice responded.

"Ratstar!"