𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 〖ʷᵃʳʳⁱᵒʳ ᶜᵃᵗˢ〗

VII

As the two cats continued to bound through the woods, the ghostly glow of the Pale-tree became stronger and stronger. Soon enough, as the two mollies were just a few paces away, Spiderpaw had to squint her eyes to protect them from the bright glow. It was almost like the moon, and even the stars surrounding it, had crashed down to earth, but still emitted their own light.

At first, Spiderpaw couldn't see much of the tree. It appeared to be a large blob of light in her vision, hued slightly blue. Then, it slowly became more defined. Slowly, branches presented themself in her vision. She could see the leaves, and the white bark which was marked with black. It was a stellar birch, thin, yet she could sense that cats had been visiting the tree for years, even centuries.

Palebriar slowed to catch her breath as they approached it. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She breathed. "We have a tradition, actually, us prophets. We...we like to scratch the bark, prove that we were here. My mentor...she said that the claw marks in the tree suggested that MorningClan, or some body of cats, have been here for generations. Now, come on! We have to sleep in the roots before it gets too late."

As Palebriar finished speaking, Spiderpaw heard a rustle in the bushes. Just before she could react, a blur flew from them and collapsed on top of the prophet. Spiderpaw gasped in shock, seeing that a blue-gray tabby had just pinned her senior, and was writhing on top of her.

"Wh—" Palebriar yelped in shock. "Who in the stars' name are you?!" The cat was still firmly on top of her, delivering little kicks to her chest.

"This is my territory!" As the cat spoke, Spiderpaw immediately identified that he was a tom. "My twolegs live here, so it is mine!" As he yelled the final word, he pushed harder onto the she-cat's chest. Palebriar gasped in pain.

"But we've never seen you before, and we've been visiting for generations—" Palebriar protested, but she was quickly cut off by the tom. "So what?! My housefolk just got here, which means it belongs to me now!"

From the way he spoke and the selfish air about him, Spiderpaw could tell he was a kittypet. Her paws felt rooted to the ground. She had to do something! She looked up at the stars. Please forgive me for committing acts of violence on your sacred grounds. Then, she leaped with all the gracefulness of a one-winged bird, her claws unsheathed and her paws outstretched. "Get away from her!" She hissed as she did so, secretly hoping it would make up for the awkward leap.

For a few moments, the world was a blur of the ground, then the sky, and then the ground again. She felt the tom's weight under her. He felt younger, maybe an adolescent—around the age of a new warrior, it seemed. Like what Spiderpaw had heard of many kittypets, his fur was soft. His face was rounded. His green eyes stared up in defiance and annoyance. "Why do you have a kitten out here with you? Did you get lost from your home, or something?"

Spiderpaw looked over to Palebriar, ready to hear a quick reply from her. However, much to her horror, she saw that crimson blood had stained the molly's blue-and-cream chest. She was lightly swaying on her paws, her back lit by the glow of the Pale-tree. Like a tree in a storm, Spiderpaw feared that her fall was inevitable.

As Spiderpaw and the kittypet tom began to actually struggle and fight, there was nothing elegant about it. Luckily for Spiderpaw, he didn't seem to be much of a fighter either. They clashed for a few moments, silvery claws gleaming in the half-moon and teeth bared. Spiderpaw got a good hit or two in, as did the tom. Spiderpaw felt claws slice her cheek. She would be on her paws, and then off. She wondered how warriors were able to do this.

Eventually, they broke apart, both staring warily at each other. The tom had a slice on his side, one on his upper leg as well. His fur was messy, something that seemed to especially peeve him. Spiderpaw felt pain and adrenaline spiderwebbing across her own body; there was no way to tell where unmarked flesh ended and a wound began. As they broke, she took the time to run over to Palebriar, who was laying on her side. She was taking sharp breaths. Spiderpaw saw that the kittypet had landed harsh scratches all up and down her chest; individually, they were bad, but together, there was a lot of blood. She stared up at Spiderpaw, her eyes dull. "Palebriar," Spiderpaw whispered.